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The Masks of Nyarlathotep

Companion

Inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft - 1890-1937

“This face is a mask, and what it covers is not human.” - Through the Gates of the Silver Key, 1934

The Masks ofNyarlathotepCompanion

By Bret KramerAnthony Warren, Matthew Pook, Sam Zeitlin and Dave Sokolowski

With C. J. Bowser, J.P. Chapleau, Don Coatar, David Conyers, Mike Czaplinski,

Zoe Noah Dillon, Hal Eccles, Sam Friedman, Mathew Gregory, James Haughton, Paul Maclean, Pete McKenzie, James Morton,

Neil Shaw, Scott Slemmons, and Hans-Christian Vortisch

Art by David Conyers, Adam Crossingham, David Lee Ingersoll, Javier Rubio, Jani Savolainen, Christopher Spatola, and Eric Smith

Design, Picture Research and Layout by Adam CrossinghamProject and Editorial by Bret Kramer

2013

The Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion is published by Innsmouth House

The Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion is a supplement for the Call of Cthulhu game,and requires the Call of Cthulhu rulebook and the Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign,

both published by Chaosium, Inc., to play

© 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 the respective authors, artists, handout artists,mapmakers, and other contributors. All rights reserved

Call of Cthulhu® is the registered trademark of Chaosium, Inc. and is used under license

The names, descriptions, and depictions applied to this supplement are derived fromworks copyrighted by and include trademarks owned by Chaosium, Inc., and may not be

used or reused without its permission

The new spells, artifacts, occupations, tomes, and species of creatures presented in thisbook are available for use to all of Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu licensees as part of “the

heritage of the Game” requirements

Similarities between characters in Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion and persons living, dead, undead or immortal are strictly coincidental

Reproduction of material within this book for the purposes of personal or corporateprofit, by photographic, electronic, digital, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited

The authors, artists, mapmakers, handout artists, and other project personnel havededicated their efforts free of charge for this publication. 100% of the profits of the sale

of this publication go towards the upkeep of www.yog-sothoth.com, the premier H.P.Lovecraft and Cthulhu Mythos gaming site on the world wide web

Visit our website at www.yog-sothoth.com

ISBN 000-0-00000-000-0 (pdf)

An Innsmouth House Press publication. Published June 2013

Title Page Versoviii

Editor: Bret KramerAssistant Editor: Matthew PookGraphic Design & Layout: Adam CrossinghamPre-generated Character Layout: Jon PotterArtwork:Cover art: Eric SmithChapter covers: Jani SavolainenSketches and portraits: Christopher SpatolaAdditional art: David Conyers and David Lee IngersollPicture Research: Adam Crossingham, BadgerMcInness & Bret KramerPhotographs: Mathew GregoryMaps: Steff Worthington

Contributors-C.J. Bowser: Keeper’s Notes: CairoJ.P. Chapleau: Keeper’s Notes: Hong Kong Don Coatar: Using Customized Newspaper Stories,

The God of MitnalDavid Conyers: Keeper’s Notes: Kenya, New Character

Templates for AfricaMike Czaplinski: What if Erika Carlyle Sells Roger’s

Books? Last Stand at Fat Maybelle’sZoe Noah Dillon: The Magical Mishaps of Masks, The

Black RitesHal Eccles: Keeper’s Notes: Hong Kong, World Events

of 1925Sam Friedman: Tale of Priest Kwan, Gods of RealityMathew Gregory: The Case of the Cat’s CradleBret Kramer: About the Brotherhood of the Black

Pharoah, Africa’s Dark Sects, the Al Azif, the Bookof Dzyan, Books of Eibon, The Burning Within,Elias’ Other Books, the G’harne Fragments,Gavigan’s Scrolls, Goddess of the Black Fan, Godsof Reality, Keeper’s Notes: Australia, Keeper’sNotes: Kenya, Keeper’s Notes: New York, Livred’Ivon, Introduction, Liber Ivonis, Life as a God,Musings on the Bloody Tongue Cult, Other Masksof Nyarlathotep, People of the Monolith, thePeople of the Monolith Paradox, PnakoticManuscripts, Reading on the Road, R’lyeh TextCommentary, Scene: Jackson Elias’ Funeral, ‘Tent-pole’ NPCs, Tools of the Bloody Tongue, Travel inMasks of Nyarlathotep, True Magick, UnquietSpirits: A Séance with Jackson Elias, UsingJackson Elias, Whispers from the Crawling Chaos,Wondrous Intelligences, World Events of 1925

James Haughton: The Mirror of Gal, The Sword ofAkmallah

Paul Maclean: Foreword, Masks & Tape, Larry DiTillioand Lynn Willis Interview

Pete McKenzie: ‘Tent-pole’ NPCs

James Morton: Using Jackson EliasMatthew Pook: Character Generation and

Replacement, the History of Masks ofNyarlathotep, Keeper’s Notes: New York City, Pre-generated Characters, Scenario Suggestions

Neil Shaw: Wondrous IntelligencesScott Slemmons: Goddess of the Black FanDave Sokolowski: On Running Masks of

Nyarlathotep, Keeper’s Notes: Australia, Keeper’sNotes: London

Hans-Christian Vortisch: The Shanghai MunicipalPolice

Anthony Warren: About the Order of the BloatedWoman, Hell’s Kitchen, The Jin-Jiang House,Keeper’s Notes: London, Keeper’s Notes:Shanghai, The Raid on Gray Dragon Island, Travelin Masks of Nyarlathotep

Sam Zeitlin: Elias’ Nairobi Notes, The Mask ofHayama, Selections from the Livre d’Ivon, ThePaintings of Miles Shipley

Proof-readers- Hal Eccles, Andy Miller, Matthew PookKeeper Feedback and Additional Proof-reading- JeffOkamotoChinese Assistance: Susan Zhang and Anthony WarrenFrench Assistance: Christian LehmannGerman Assistance: Ole BentsenHindi Assistance: Benedict ChapmanAustralian Expertise: Richard Watts

Credit Where Credit is Due:Larry DiTillio wrote and conceived of Masks ofNyarlathotep; additional material and furtherexpansion to the campaign was crafted by LynnWillis. The ‘Complete’ edition included material fromGeoff Gillan, Michael MacDonald, Thomas W.Phinney, and Kevin A. Ross as well as by SandyPetersen and Penelope Love.

A version of “The Shanghai Municipal Police”appeared originally in The Pyramid online magazine(http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/) and appearshere by permission.

A version of the interview with Larry DiTillio andLynn Willis originally appeared on Yog-Sothoth.comand is used with permission.

Character images used in the pre-generatedcharacters are based on images from Silent-Movies.com and are used with the kind permissionof that site’s owner, David B. Pearson.

We’re only making plans for Nigel.

ixBrothers of the MoNC

INTRODUCTION 1NYARLATHOTEP BY H. P. LOVECRAFT 2INTRODUCTION 4A HISTORY OF MASKS OF

NYARLATHOTEP 7LARRY DITILLIO/LYNN WILLIS

INTERVIEWS 11‘MASKS’ AND TAPE 15

KEEPER’S UTILITIES 19RUNNING MASKS OF

NYARLATHOTEP 20USING NEWSPAPER STORIES 29‘TENT-POLE’ NPCS 32MAGICAL MISHAPS OF ‘MASKS’ 38WHISPERS FROM THE CRAWLING

CHAOS 43OTHER MASKS OF

NYARLATHOTEP 50

JACKSON ELIAS 53USING JACKSON ELIAS 54ELIAS’ OTHER BOOKS 58UNQUIET SPIRITS: A SÉANCE

WITH JACKSON ELIAS 60

SCENARIO:THE GOD OF MITNAL 62

NEW YORK CITY 83KEEPER’S NOTES FOR

NEW YORK CITY 84Keeper’s Tips 84Quick Reference NYC 89Getting Around 89Local Government and Law Enforcement 89Map of New York 90Hotels 91Libraries and Museums 92Hospitals and Asylums 93Newspapers 94NPC Names 94Sample Cultists 94Travel 95Bibliography 96Pre-generated Characters 96Plug-in Scenarios 97

WHAT IF CARLYLE SELLS THEBOOKS? 99

MUSINGS ON THE CULT OF THEBLOODY TONGUE 102

TOOLS OF THE BLOODY TONGUE 108

SCENE:JACKSON ELIAS’ FUNERAL 110

x

Table of Contents

ENCOUNTER:LAST STAND AT FAT MAYBELLE’S

112

ITEMS AND TOMES:THE PEOPLE OF THE MONOLITH

PARADOX 118THE MASK OF HAMAYA 121AFRICA’S DARK SECTS 124LIFE AS A GOD 126PEOPLE OF THE MONOLITH 130PNAKOTIC MANUSCRIPT 132SELECTIONS FROM

THE LIVRE D’IVON 136BOOKS OF EIBON 139

LONDON 141KEEPER’S NOTES FOR LONDON 142

Getting Started 142Keeper’s Tips 144Quick Reference London 152Getting Around 152Map of London 153Local Government and Law Enforcement 154Hotels 155Libraries and Museums 156Hospitals and Asylums 157Newspapers and Mass Media 159Liverpool and Southampton 159Embassies and Consulates 160Rearranging London 161Divided by a Common Language 161Firearms 161Currency 162NPC Names 162Sample Cultists and Criminals 163Travel 163

Bibliography 164Pre-generated Characters 166Plug-in Scenarios 166

THE PAINTINGS (AND DRUGS) OFMILES SHIPLEY 170

ABOUT THE BROTHERHOOD OF THEBLACK PHARAOH 173

SCENARIO:“THE BURNING WITHIN” 176

TOMES: GAVIGAN’S SCROLLS 185YE BOOKE OF YE COMMUNICASIONS

WITH YE ANGEL DZYON 188THE G’HARNE FRAGMENTS 191LIBER IVONIS 196

CAIRO

KEEPER’S NOTES FOR CAIRO 200Getting Started 200Keeper’s Tips 201The Clive Expedition 206Meeting with a God 207Quick Reference Cairo 211Getting There 211Getting Around 212Sample Dragomen 212Vehicular Travel 213About Cairo 215Map of Cairo 217Hotels 218Museums 221Hospitals and Asylums 222Universities 223Government and Law Enforcement 224NPC Names 225

xiTable of Contents

A Murder of Cultists 226Bibliography 227Pre-generated Characters 227Plug-in Scenario 227

ITEMS AND TOMES:AL AZIF 229BLACK RITES OF LUVEH-KERAPH 233THE SWORD OF AKMALLAH 236

KENYA XX

KEEPER’S NOTES FOR KENYA 240Keeper’s Tips 240Quick Reference 249General information on Kenya 249Government 249NPC Names 249Travel 249Mombasa 250

Getting Around 250Local Government and Police 250Hotels 251Libraries 251Hospitals and Asylums 252Newspapers 252

Nairobi 252Getting Around 252Local Government and Police 252Hotels 252Libraries and Museums 254Hospitals and Asylums 254Newspapers 255

To the Mountain of the Black Wind 255A Horde of Cultists 257Bibliography 257Pre-generated Characters 258Plug-in Scenario 258

NEW AFRICAN CHARACTERTEMPLATES 260

ABOUT THE CULT OF THE SMALLCRAWLER 263

TOMES:THE CTHAAT AQUADINGEN 269

AUSTRALIA XX

KEEPER’S NOTES FOR AUSTRALIA 274Getting Started 274Keeper’s Tips 274Quick Reference: Australia 281Climate 281Local Government and Law Enforcement 282Communication 283Hotels 283Libraries 283Hospitals 283Asylums 283Newspapers 284NPC Names 284Travel 284Bibliography 285Pre-generated Characters 285Plug-in Scenario 286

TOMES:WONDROUS INTELLIGENCES 287GODS OF REALITY 291

SHANGHAI XX

KEEPER’S NOTES FOR CHINA 298Getting Started 298Map xxKeeper’s Tips xxGrey Dragon Island xx

Table of Contentsxii

Quick Reference: China xxGeneral Information xxQuick Reference: Shanghai xxShanghailanders: The Population xxClimate xxGetting There xxThe International Settlement xx

Getting Around xxLocal Government and Police xxHotels xxLibraries and Museums xxHospitals and Asylums xxNewspapers xx

The French Concession xxGetting Around xxLocal Government and Police xxHotels xxLibraries xxHospitals and Asylums xxNewspapers xx

The Chinese Areas—The Old City, etc. xxGetting AroundLocal Government and PoliceHotelsLibrariesHospitals and AsylumsNewspapers

Embassies and ConsulatesFirearms and WeaponsMass Media, News, and PostCulture ShockPidginCrime and PunishmentCurrencyNPC NamesA Murder of CultistsBibliographyPregenerated CharactersPlug-in Scenario

KEEPER’S NOTES FOR HONG KONGGetting StartedKeeper’s TipsQuick Reference: Hong Kong

General InformationHong Kong’s DistrictsGetting ThereGeography and ClimateGetting AroundLocal Government and Law EnforcementHotelsLibraries and MuseumsHospitals and AsylumsNews and Mass MediaFirearmsCurrencyNPC Names

THE SHANGHAI MUNICIPAL POLICEOTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT

AGENCIES IN SHANGHAIGarde Municipale de la Concession Française (French Concession Police)Nihon Ryoji Keisatsu (Japanese Consular Police)U.S. Marshal

THE GREEN GANGSELECTED GEARREFERENCES

LOCATIONS:THE JIN JIANG GUEST HOUSEHELL’S KITCHENABOUT THE ORDER OF THE BLOATED

WOMANWHAT OTHER GROUPS KNOWSEND IN THE MARINES!GETTING THEM ON YOUR SIDETHE SILENT SERVICES OF SHANGHAI

BritainFranceItalyJapanU.S.A.

LAUNCHING AN ASSAULT

xiiiTable of Contents

Grey Dragon Island MapThe OppositionRunning the AttackAftermath“Dropping the Bomb”

SCENARIO:“BLOODY BOTANY”

TOMES:GODDESS OF THE BLACK FANLIVRE D’IVONR’LYEH TEXT COMMENTARYSEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS

OF HSANTALE OF PRIEST KWANTRUE MAGICK

TRANSIT

TRAVEL IN MASKS OFNYARLATHOTEP

METHODS OF TRAVELShipRailAircraftAutomobilesAnimal

CUSTOMS, IMMIGRATION, ANDTHE LAW

The United StatesThe United KingdomEgypt, the Kenya Colony, and Hong KongShanghaiAustralia

MONEY AND BANKSNew YorkLondon

EgyptKenyaAustraliaShanghaiMajor Banks

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERSTRANSIT SCENARIO SUGGESTIONSREADING ON THE ROAD

SCENARIO:“THE CASE OF THE CAT’S CRADLE”

APPENDIX A: CHARACTERGENERATION AND PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS

ON REPLACING CHARACTERSPRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS

APPENDIX B: TIMELINE FOR1925 AND THE RISE OFCTHULHU

TIMELINE FOR 1925THE RISE OF CTHULHU

APPENDIX C: HANDOUTSAND NOTES

HANDOUTSNOTESINDEX

Table of Contentsxiv

IntroductionHow the Horror Began

Nyarlathotep... the crawlingchaos... I am the last... I will tellthe audient void...

I do not recall distinctly whenit began, but it was months ago.The general tension was horrible.To a season of political and socialupheaval was added a strange andbrooding apprehension ofhideous physical danger; a dangerwidespread and all-embracing,such a danger as may be imaginedonly in the most terriblephantasms of the night. I recallthat the people went about withpale and worried faces, andwhispered warnings andprophecies which no one daredconsciously repeat oracknowledge to himself that hehad heard. A sense of monstrousguilt was upon the land, and outof the abysses between the starsswept chill currents that mademen shiver in dark and lonelyplaces. There was a demoniacalteration in the sequence of theseasons — the autumn heatlingered fearsomely, and everyonefelt that the world and perhapsthe universe had passed from thecontrol of known gods or forcesto that of gods or forces whichwere unknown.

And it was then thatNyarlathotep came out of Egypt.Who he was, none could tell, buthe was of the old native blood andlooked like a Pharaoh. Thefellahin knelt when they saw him,yet could not say why. He said hehad risen up out of the blacknessof twenty-seven centuries, andthat he had heard messages fromplaces not on this planet. Into thelands of civilization cameNyarlathotep, swarthy, slender,and sinister, always buyingstrange instruments of glass andmetal and combining them intoinstruments yet stranger. Hespoke much of the sciences ofelectricity and psychology—and

gave exhibitions of power whichsent his spectators awayspeechless, yet which swelled hisfame to exceeding magnitude.Men advised one another to seeNyarlathotep, and shuddered.And where Nyarlathotep went,rest vanished, for the small hourswere rent with the screams ofnightmare. Never before had thescreams of nightmare been sucha public problem; now the wisemen almost wished they couldforbid sleep in the small hours,that the shrieks of cities mightless horribly disturb the pale,pitying moon as it glimmered ongreen waters gliding underbridges, and old steeplescrumbling against a sickly sky.

I remember whenNyarlathotep came to my city—the great, the old, the terrible cityof unnumbered crimes. Myfriend had told me of him, and ofthe impelling fascination andallurement of his revelations, andI burned with eagerness toexplore his uttermost mysteries.My friend said they were horribleand impressive beyond my mostfevered imaginings; and what wasthrown on a screen in thedarkened room prophesied thingsnone but Nyarlathotep daredprophesy, and in the sputter of hissparks there was taken from menthat which had never been takenbefore yet which showed only inthe eyes. And I heard it hintedabroad that those who knewNyarlathotep looked on sightswhich others saw not.

It was in the hot autumn thatI went through the night with therestless crowds to seeNyarlathotep; through the stiflingnight and up the endless stairsinto the choking room. Andshadowed on a screen, I sawhooded forms amidst ruins, andyellow evil faces peering frombehind fallen monuments. And I

Nyarlathotep

saw the world battling againstblackness; against the waves ofdestruction from ultimate space;whirling, churning, strugglingaround the dimming, cooling sun.Then the sparks played amazinglyaround the heads of thespectators, and hair stood up onend whilst shadows moregrotesque than I can tell came outand squatted on the heads. Andwhen I, who was colder and morescientific than the rest, mumbleda trembling protest aboutimposture and static electricity,Nyarlathotep drove us all out,down the dizzy stairs into thedamp, hot, deserted midnightstreets. I screamed aloud that Iwas not afraid; that I never couldbe afraid; and others screamedwith me for solace. We swore toone another that the city wasexactly the same, and still alive;and when the electric lightsbegan to fade we cursed thecompany over and over again, andlaughed at the queer faces wemade.

I believe we felt somethingcoming down from the greenishmoon, for when we began todepend on its light we driftedinto curious involuntarymarching formations and seemedto know our destinations thoughwe dared not think of them.Once we looked at the pavementand found the blocks loose anddisplaced by grass, with scarce aline of rusted metal to showwhere the tramways had run.And again we saw a tram-car,lone, windowless, dilapidated,and almost on its side. When wegazed around the horizon, wecould not find the third tower bythe river, and noticed that thesilhouette of the second towerwas ragged at the top. Then wesplit up into narrow columns,each of which seemed drawn in adifferent direction. Onedisappeared in a narrow alley tothe left, leaving only the echo of ashocking moan. Another fileddown a weed-choked subwayentrance, howling with a laughter

that was mad. My own columnwas sucked toward the opencountry, and presently I felt a chillwhich was not of the hot autumn;for as we stalked out on the darkmoor, we beheld around us thehellish moon-glitter of evil snows.Trackless, inexplicable snows,swept asunder in one directiononly, where lay a gulf all theblacker for its glittering walls.The column seemed very thinindeed as it plodded dreamily intothe gulf. I lingered behind, forthe black rift in the green-littensnow was frightful, and I thoughtI had heard the reverberations ofa disquieting wail as mycompanions vanished; but mypower to linger was slight. As ifbeckoned by those who had gonebefore, I half-floated between thetitanic snowdrifts, quivering andafraid, into the sightless vortex ofthe unimaginable.

Screamingly sentient, dumblydelirious, only the gods that werecan tell. A sickened, sensitiveshadow writhing in hands thatare not hands, and whirledblindly past ghastly midnights ofrotting creation, corpses of deadworlds with sores that were cities,charnel winds that brush thepallid stars and make them flickerlow. Beyond the worlds vagueghosts of monstrous things; half-seen columns of unsanctifiedtemples that rest on namelessrocks beneath space and reach upto dizzy vacua above the spheresof light and darkness. Andthrough this revolting graveyardof the universe the muffled,maddening beating of drums, andthin, monotonous whine ofblasphemous flutes frominconceivable, unlightedchambers beyond Time; thedetestable pounding and pipingwhereunto dance slowly,awkwardly, and absurdly thegigantic, tenebrous ultimategods—the blind, voiceless,mindless gargoyles whose soul isNyarlathotep.

H.P. Lovecraft, December 1920

IntroductionBret Kramer

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

1. Throughout this book we shall refer to the campaign in this manner rather than by the title of the most recent edition (The CompleteMasks of Nyarlathotep), if for no other reason than to save some space. When we refer to the campaign (especially with page citations)we are referring to the 3rd Edition unless otherwise indicated.2. Or Nyarlathotep; pick your favorite. As an interesting side note, my word processing program’s spell check program suggests his nameshould be spelled “charlatan.” I find that a very worrying coincidence.

4 Introduction

What you are reading is a labor of love; love forboth the campaign Masks of Nyarlathotep1 andfor the website Yog-Sothoth.com. Without thelove for both campaign and website, this projectwould never have come into being. Love is anodd word to bandy about in the context of Callof Cthulhu (since the only thing Cthulhu loves isa handful of cultists) but in this case it is apt. Ithas now been twenty-five years since Masks ofNyarlathotep was first published and, more sothan perhaps any other role-playing gameproduct of that era, Masks of Nyarlathotep hasendured mostly intact. Much like the game itwas written for, I think this is a testament to thestrengths of the original product: a compellingstory, interesting characters, and great flexibility,to name a few.

When I first conceived of this project, underthe influence of too much Yoo-hoo and coldmedicine2, I never imagined how vast it wouldbecome… How (dare I say it?) cyclopean itwould become. This is a big book. Please do notconsider the size and range of topics covered inthis book as an implicit critique of the originalcampaign. The campaign can be run just fine asit is, and over the last twenty-five years it hasbeen run more times than we know of, eachtime without the benefit of the material in thisbook. The contents of this Companion insteadreflect the myriad directions the campaign itselfhas inspired other Keepers to take in their owngames.

What this book brings together are theideas, the inspirations, and the occasionalinnovations of the gamers who have run Masksof Nyarlathotep over the past twenty-five years,and presents them as a resource for those whowant to run (or re-run) this classic campaign.All are drawn from the collective experience ofthe membership of Yog-Sothoth.com (a.k.a.YSDC), the premier website for all things Call ofCthulhu (and Lovecraftian gaming moregenerally). This project was in part inspired bythe breadth and depth of the answers given toKeeper queries there; I realized that there was alarge body of Keepers in the YSDC communityand collectively, they had probably considerednearly every permutation of the campaign. Theother spark of inspiration came when PaulMaclean, the founder of Yog-sothoth.com, putme in touch with David Conyers, anothermember of the YSDC community.

Both David and I had mentioned to Paul thatwe had been toying with the idea of doingsomething with Jackson Elias, so he suggestedthat we combine our efforts to greater effect.While that project did not come to fruition, Inevertheless realized there were aspects of thecampaign that might yet be further exploredand could be done so in a similar (or evenexpanded) manner. Combining my notes fromthe Jackson Elias project with my notes fromwhen I ran Masks of Nyarlathotep, I approachedPaul with the idea for this book, and this projectwas born.

Introduction 5HOW TO USE THIS BOOKThe most helpful way to consider this work is toimagine that Masks of Nyarlathotep is a mealand that the suggestions, options, andexpansion offered by this Companion aregarnishes, side dishes, and spices that you as theKeeper can use to enhance that meal. There is alot of information here; using all of it may serveto overpower or over-embellish the campaign.Instead, we suggest that you make changes andadditions as a chef would, with an eye towardthe enjoyment of your “diners,” keeping eachelement in harmony with the thing as a whole.As we so often repeat throughout the book –know what your players (and you yourself) wantout of the game and make choices that will suitthose needs.

The Companion is broken into ten chapters.The first, of which this essay forms a part, servesas an introduction to the book and thecampaign as well; these articles are not aboutrunning the campaign so much as they place thecampaign itself into its greater context, that ofthe game Call of Cthulhu, and that of the worldof the 1920s. The next chapter, “Keepers’Utilities” collects advice on, and discussion of,concerns that extend throughout the campaign,including general advice for Keepers, and adviceon the use of dreams and the role of magic inthe campaign. This is followed by “JacksonElias,” which discusses that ill-fated journalistand how he may be used prior to Masks ofNyarlathotep (and perhaps later), including ascenario that features the still-living Elias, “TheGod of Mitnal.”

The next six chapters, mirroring theorganization of the campaign itself, present thesix major destinations of the campaign: NewYork, London, Cairo, Kenya, Australia, and China.Each of these “location” chapters begins withspecific notes for the Keeper, giving expandedcoverage of the city or region in question andoffering suggestions of how to handle the issuesthat may arise therein during a run of thecampaign. These Keeper’s Notes are augmented,as needed, by specific articles about particulartopics of interest or concern, depending on thelocation; for example the New York chapterincludes notes about Jackson Elias’ funeral,while Shanghai contains a lengthy analysis of

the issues which undoubtedly arise when theinvestigators come to raid Gray Dragon Island.In certain cases, short encounters or scenariosare also provided.

Each “location” chapter concludes with oneor more short pieces about the tomes andartifacts that can be recovered there. Thesewrite-ups describe the tome, present whatresearch about it may uncover, and present thecontents as might be learned by both a skim anda thorough read through. A few samplequotations are also provided for the Keeper;these sometimes incorporate handouts given inthe original campaign. The Sanity costs,Cthulhu Mythos skill increases (and any otherskill checks), and spells contained are providedin the campaign book itself. The Keeper shouldrefer to it, or the Keeper’s Companion Vol. 1 forfurther information on these details. As to spellsspecifically, while these are sometimes alludedto in the descriptions of the various tomes, wefelt it was best to avoid explicitly stating whatwas contained in any given text since thatdecision is best made by the Keeper on a case bycase basis after careful consideration of theneeds of their own campaign.

Our final chapter deals with travel and thetimes in the campaign between locations,including notes on the various methods oftransport and the issues arising from readingtomes while on the move. There is also ascenario, “The Case of the Cat’s Cradle,” a non-Mythos mystery in the style of Agatha Christie,which offers weary investigators a pleasantchange of pace from the machinations of theCrawling Chaos.

The book concludes with three appendices.The first of these regards character creation andincludes twenty-seven pre-generated characters.These have been specially created to be insertedinto an ongoing campaign, as needed. Notesregarding these characters are given in theappropriate “location” chapter, depending onwhere they would most likely be encountered.The second appendix presents headlinescovering the major events of 1925 and early1926, as might be read by investigators duringtheir travels. These might also proveinspirational to the Keeper; among these arenotes about the rise of R’lyeh in 1925, included

6 Introductionfor those who desire them. Finally, the lastappendix includes handouts from articles in thisbook as well as an expanded version of JacksonElias’ notes from Nairobi.

SPECIAL THANKS:Our thanks begin with the creator of thecampaign, Larry DiTillio. The ideas we play withhere began in his fevered brain and for sharingthem with us, he has our undying appreciation.We hope he does not mind too much what wehave done to his baby.

No less deserving of thanks is Lynn Willis.Lynn edited and developed the campaign fromits inception and served to steer it through itsvarious editions and permutations. Since thestart of this project, Lynn has retired fromChaosium. His absence is sorely felt. It was hisinitial encouragement that drove this projectforward and his imprint on Call of Cthulhu isunmistakable.

We would also like to extend our thanks toPaul Maclean, the creator, web master, and heartand soul of Yog-Sothoth.com. This work is ademonstration of the strength and energies ofthe community he has fostered at the site. Wehope we have acquitted it well.

Bret – My thanks go out to all of the people whohave assisted in the creation and completion ofthis project, particularly Paul Maclean, MatthewPook, Anthony Warren, and Adam Crossingham,but including everyone listed (or who shouldhave been listed) in “People of the Monograph.”This book would not have happened withouttheir aid, advice, and encouragement. I wouldalso like to extend my thanks to themembership of Yog-Sothoth.com for theirencouragement and the occasional email askingwhy the book was not yet finished.

I would also like to thank my wife Maria forbearing with me as I beat my head against thecomputer keyboard or spent hours onlinelooking up information about Chinese bookbinding instead of making dinner.

Additionally, I would like to thank Alysia,Eric, Greg, Jen, Matt, and Thad, who playedthrough this with me many years ago.

Lastly, I want to thank Brian Bull, who onceloaned me his copy of the box set and got thiswhole thing rolling…

Matthew – For Bret; my thanks for letting mebe a part of the insanity. For Louise; with loveand thanks for your forbearance. (And not justduring the interrupted World of Warcraftgames.)

This book is dedicated to Daisy, who liked to siton my lap while I was working, and to Ella, whodid not. You are both missed.

Lynn Willis

IN MEMORIAM

Lynn WillisMonth XX, YearJanuary 18, 2013

Chaosium DudeCo-creator, Call of Cthulhu

Editor & Contributor, Masks ofNyarlathotep

Appreciated & Missed

7

Masks of Nyarlathotep was published as a boxedset in 1984, the range and size of its contentdeemed too large to publish as a single book. Itwas the first of several campaign and settingsupplements that Chaosium would publish forCall of Cthulhu. Inspired by a biography of JomoKenyatta that he wrote for the television showAgainst the Odds, Larry DiTillio developed thecampaign that would become known as Masksof Nyarlathotep from a single scenario. Where“The Carlyle Expedition” merely had theinvestigators having to track a missingexpedition lost in Africa, Masks of Nyarlathotepwould have the investigators tracking downmembers of the Carlyle Expedition across theworld in a globe-trotting campaign against theDark God and his minions. The contents,expanded and developed by Lynn Willis,included five color-coded booklets that in turndetailed the campaign’s five chapters: New York,London, Cairo, Kenya, and Shanghai. Also in thebox were over forty clues and handouts, themost notable of which was the matchbook coverfor the Stumbling Tiger Bar, a clue appearing inthe very first part of Masks of Nyarlathotep inNew York that would link the mystery of themissing Carlyle Expedition to the very last partof the campaign in Shanghai.

The campaign was well received by themagazines of the day, receiving a rating of 9from reviewer Phil Frances in White Dwarf #71(November 1985), who wrote, “This is the bestcampaign I have ever seen from Chaosium orother sources. It will take some beating.”Reviewing with “extreme bias” in issue #9 of thefanzine, DAGON (November 1985), MarkMorrison wrote “This is fantastic. As Chaosium’s

first boxed campaign it’s a little overwhelmingand a lot over budget, but sell your grandmotherto lay your paws on a copy. She’ll probably go toa good home, and Masks is well worth thesacrifice.”

Unfortunately, one chapter was missingfrom Masks of Nyarlathotep. It was decided thatincluding the Australia section would make thecampaign too large and thus too expensive toproduce at the time, and as the chapter was themost esoteric of the original six, it was droppedfrom the campaign. It would appear in the 1987campaign supplement, Terror Australis, as thescenario “City Beneath the Sands.” Althoughnotes were included for integrating it into Masksof Nyarlathotep, this version of the scenario wasdesigned to stand alone. Playing “City Beneaththe Sands” was never integral to successfullycompleting the campaign, but nevertheless fansof Call of Cthulhu expressed theirdisappointment at it not being in the boxed set.

Marc Gascoigne praised the supplementoverall in White Dwarf #90 (June 1987), but saidof the three scenarios in Terror Australis that“City Beneath the Sands” was “…the weakest asit calls for a well-armed and equipped party tosurvive all of its rigours. Even so it does have abrooding feel about it and survivinginvestigators can congratulate themselves on ajob well done.” The supplement received athumbnail review in Dragon Magazine #124(August 1987), in which Ken Rolston said ofTerror Australis that “Literate, macabre doomshambles from each page. Good reading, and agood campaign setting for COC adventures.”

In 1989, Masks of Nyarlathotep wasreprinted in a second edition that collected

Masks of Nyarlathotep: A Publishing History

Matthew Pook

Introduction8Masks of Nyarlathotep, boxed set, 1st edition

9A Publishing Historyeverything that had been in the boxed set. It stilldid not include “City Beneath the Sands” from

Terror Australis though. The most notableaddition was the series of color plates

by artists Keith Berdak, MarkRoland, Nick Smith, and Tom

Sullivan. Lee Gibbons’ new coverreplaced Tom Sullivan’s depiction of

Nyarlathotep and a leopard that hadgraced the cover of the boxed set.

Jim Bambra, writing in issue #158 ofDragon Magazine (June 1990), evaluated

this second edition of Masks ofNyarlathotep as “…the epitome of COC

adventures. It contains detective work,action, and indescribable horrors in all the

right quantities. The writing and editing arefirst class; the adventures perfectly capture whatCOC is all about. No one should be without acopy of Masks of Nyarlathotep. Make sure youput it at the top of your shopping list.”

The full six parts of the campaign would notbe brought together until 1996. The thirdedition of the campaign, now titled TheComplete Masks of Nyarlathotep combined thecontents of the original boxed set with “CityBeneath the Sands” from Terror Australis. Thisalso marked the first time that “City Beneath theSands” had been reprinted. In addition to the

new chapter, The Complete Masks ofNyarlathotep included new artworkfrom Jason Eckhardt in the form of

thumbnail portraits for nearly all ofthe campaign’s NPCs. Tom Sullivan

also provided a number of new, muchlarger pieces. New advice and aids for the

Keeper included listings of theconnections between the various chapters

of the campaign. Absent though were thecolor plates that had appeared in the second

edition, though some images were adapted toblack and white.

The campaign received a score of 10/10 inArcane #17 (March 1997), as well as themagazine’s Seal of Approval. Reviewer SteveFaragher wrote “If ever there was a campaign –

for any role-playing game – that couldbe described as a work of art, this isit. It’s a piece of sustained imaginationthat is the equal of many classics of

Masks of Nyarlathotep,book format,2nd edition

Introduction10literature and cinema and has passed the test ofany imaginative work – time. It still reads asfreshly and well as it did 13 (gulp) years ago.”Further, The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotepwould be voted the Best Roleplaying Adventureby the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts &Design at the 1997 Origins Awards.

The demand for The Complete Masks ofNyarlathotep was such that Chaosiumcommissioned a reprint from Lighting Print, butthe resulting editions of both this campaign andseveral of Chaosium’s other older and out-of-print supplements were deemed to be ofinsufficient quality, and so the publisher didnot pursue this avenue. The Complete Masksof Nyarlathotep would be reprinted in a“Reset and Revised” third edition in 2001.To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Callof Cthulhu, Chaosium used this editionof the campaign to publish a hardbackedition of the campaign in 2006. In2008, Chaosium also released thisversion as a PDF, making it availablein electronic format for the very first time.

The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep,Book format,3rd edition

11

YS: How were you introduced to Call ofCthulhu?

Larry DiTillio: I was friends with most ofthe Chaosium crew and when they first gotCall of Cthulhu, Steve Perrin called me and saidSandy Petersen had this new adult-orientedRPG and would I like to do a scenario. Sincethis offer came with a free copy of the game, Iof course said yes. Gamers love free stuff morethan anything else.

Lynn Willis: That was probably in early1981. We had been unsuccessfully looking for ahorror or a science fiction role-playing game.Greg Stafford had been in correspondence withSandy Petersen; he had been nurturing ideasfor a Lovecraftian role-playing game whichincluded a new characteristic – Sanity. Theconcept was exciting. Quite a bit of play-testing followed. Though there were somemodest changes, the design was highlysuccessful, and was published late in the fall of1981.

YS: How did the idea for Masks of Nyarlathotepcome about? What attracted you to write for anRPG?

LD: When Steve called he said most of thescenarios they already had in all dealt with typ-ical Lovecraftian stuff (dank New Englandcountrysides, weird little towns and villages,etc.). He wanted me to do something different.Since I had just done a biography of Jomo

Kenyatta for a TV show called Against theOdds, I had all this African history roamingaround my head and said, hey how aboutsomething set in Africa? At the time I was onlyplanning to do a scenario about a missing ex-pedition in Africa that the players would betrying to track down. I called it ‘The CarlyleExpedition.’ I had no idea how vast it wouldget at this point.

As for writing for RPGs I had already donethat both as a gamer and a professional (work-ing for Flying Buffalo Inc.), so it was not toofar-fetched an idea for me.

LW: Tadashi Ehara originally wasChaosium’s financial officer as well as apartner in the firm. He regularly chided me fordelivering projects late for publication. Mydefense always was “Yes, but I was making thisor that better” with new text, art, and so on.With that in mind, Tadashi gave me a double-edged present. He had arranged that LarryDiTillio write a role-playing campaign, Masksof Nyarlathotep. He requested that Larry writeonly a single draft, since (as Tadashi needledme) I would have thrown away most of whatwas produced anyway. Perhaps it wasTadashi’s thought to entangle me in my ownpreconceptions and temptations, and therebylearn a moral lesson after bogging down in theproject. But DiTillio had written a classic pulpnarrative in Masks. The manuscript hurtledfrom terror to terror. It was impossible for meto lose my way. In fact, I even got to echo the

Interviews with Larry DiTillioand Lynn Willis

Paul Maclean

Note: This interview was conducted in 2003 and originally appeared on Yog-Sothoth.com. It has been revised and slightly updated.

rhythmic episodes of the text in its physicalform: the original box contained six separatebooklets, each face in a different color, eachwith a map on the front of the city or regionalsetting emphasizing the player characterchoice of destinations as DiTillio had conceived.Ultimately, of course, it’s all Tadashi’s fault!

YS: How long did it take to write and produce?LD: All told, about 8 months to write. Lynn

can say better than me how long it took to pro-duce.

LW: Time of production – that is editing,text emendations, art, layout, final copy – threemonths seems likely. Long enough to for me totake some flak. Nobody complained once theysaw the supplement, though.

YS: What attracted Chaosium to the proposal?LD: Well, by the time I added all the sec-

tions it had become a very global campaignand outside of the “Silver Twilight” scenariothey had never published anything that exten-sive.

LW: See above.

YS: Did any of the original concepts have to bemodified to fit in with the Call of Cthulhu game?

LD: No, I stuck to the basic game, though Idid add a number of new spells.

LW: No. Lovecraft wrote fiction in differentveins, and similarly there have been differentsorts of supplements and scenarios. “The Callof Cthulhu” is a pulp story, and Masks ofNyarlathotep is a pulp-style supplement insimilar vein, right down to the cultist orgies.Similarly, there are more subtle narratives suchas “The Dunwich Horror” (which must be readas closely as “Herbert West – Reanimator”,say), which could be matched with “H. P.Lovecraft’s Dunwich”. There are rarelypersonal narratives such as “The Outsider” or“The Rats in the Walls”, for obvious reasons.

YS: How was Masks of Nyarlathotep play tested?LD: I ran it for my game group and at sev-

eral conventions.LW: Only the New York chapter was played

out. The Chakota attracts questions like flies.I’m sure the other chapters would havebenefited from a careful survey, though I don’trecall special play problems emerging.

YS: Masks of Nyarlathotep was the first boxed setsupplement to be produced for Call of Cthulhu,why the change in format?

LD: Again this is a better question for Lynn.But basically the thing was so massive it justscreamed to be boxed. The manuscript wasabout 400 pages long and that doesn’t countall the material Lynn added.

LW: We had boxed RuneQuest supplementsfor several years; indeed, at that time the boxedsupplement seemed to be a generalexpectation. I remember a meeting discussingthe cost of supplements in which people fearedthat unboxed large books would be perceivedas lacking gravitas! In this case, the boxusefully stored all the booklets, with room forcharacter sheets, etc.

YS: The original edition of Masks of Nyarlathotepdid not include the Australian chapter, were youhappy with that decision?

LD: Hell no. Every section was meant to beincluded but it had gotten so huge it wouldhave been too expensive to do at that time andsince Australia was the most esoteric link, itwas dropped.

LW: If I’d had more money and more time,probably Australia would have gone into theoriginal box. I didn’t realize that stating thatthe Australia chapter existed and not offering itwould provoke people.

YS: The second edition appeared in 1989 as aperfect bound book with color plates by artistssuch as Lee Gibbons and Nick Smith. Do youthink the artwork captured the feel of Masks?

LD: Yup, I was very happy with that print-ing, but still no Australia.

LW: Yes and no. The b/w interiors areuneven, at the very least. Compare that withJason Eckhardt’s thumbnail characterdrawings in the third edition – he manages tocommunicate a great deal of those characters

Introduction12

with just a few lines. Tom Sullivan’s newer,larger illustrations in the third edition are alsomuch more effective and expressive. Gibbons isone of my favorite illustrators, but the 1989cover is not my favorite Gibbons – his Cthulhusare. On the other hand, Nick Smith did some ofhis best work in the 1989 book: the groupportrait of the expedition is quite fine. Iadmire his art deco rocket and the discreetportrait of Ms. Choi. The Chakota and thewerewolf seem to me unsuccessful at invokingfear, but more than any other artist wecontinue to receive queries about his work,where he lives, and so on. The Tom Sullivanportrait of Nyarlathotep and the leopard wasthe 1984 cover painting; I have a fondness forit. The Mark Roland piece has a dense, lonelysilence about it that maintains my interest.

YS: The third edition (The Complete Masks ofNyarlathotep) came out in 1996, this time featur-ing the missing Australian chapter (previouslypublished in Terror Australis). How much involve-ment did you have with these later editions?

LD: None at all. I just collected my royaltiesfrom edition 2 and am still waiting for royaltieson edition 3.

LW: All on the editorial side and artassignments. There are some keeper’s aids inthis edition that I’m very pleased with,particularly the “Selected Connections”.Shannon Appel did some editorial and all of thelayout. The interior art seems to me muchmore even and rhythmic, informative andtrustworthy.

YS: Are you happy with how the published edi-tions of Masks of Nyarlathotep have turned out?

LD: Absolutely. They did an incredible job.LW: All the versions have been received well.

The third edition is surely the best and doeswell by its text. There might be room for anedition formatted to the 20th Anniversary style,but that would be only for the sake ofconsistency. There probably would be nosubstantive changes.

YS: Larry, given the great success of Masks ofNyarlathotep have you ever had plans to do morewriting for Call of Cthulhu?

LD: Not at present. I am a TV/screenwriterby profession and am sticking to that.

YS: Other than Masks of Nyarlathotep have youwritten any other RPG materials?

LD: Plenty. I edited and was the major con-tributor to CityBook 1 from Flying Buffalo (forwhich I got the Origins award that year), wroteThe Grey Knight for the first edition of Pen-dragon (one of my best pieces) and a Storm-bringer scenario which appeared in DemonMagic. I also did a big Tunnels and Trolls dun-geon called The Isle of Darksmoke.

YS: Do you still play Call of Cthulhu?LD: On occasion, though my time is limited

so my game group usually goes for Europeanboard games.

LW: No, these days I can’t play games. I domiss them. I used to believe in games with someemotion, and then I somehow I lost that. Ihave something of the same problem withfiction, but I can re-enter the fiction if I work atit. The games no longer reward no matterwhat I do.

LD: ...and to finish, I have to recount my fa-vorite Masks of Nyarlathotep story. I got theextremely fantabulous opportunity to meetRobert Bloch several times. Bob was truly aGrand Master of horror writing (if you haven’tread him, do so) and knowing he loved theCthulhu Mythos (and had actually known Love-craft personally), I gave him a copy of Masks ofNyarlathotep and he promptly insisted I sign itfor him. I was blown away. Me, a game, TV,movie hack signing my work for RobertBloch!!! I doubt I ever felt that special again.

13Interviews

Larry DiTillio – RPG bibliographyChaosium Inc.Call of Cthulhu-Masks of Nyarlathotep-Terror Australis (City Beneath the Sands)-The Complete Dreamlands-The Creature Companion-Ye Booke of Monsters I-Ye Booke of Monsters II

Different Worlds (magazine)-Sword of Hollywood (movie review column), 11-13, 22, 24-33, 35, 36, 38, 39, 41, 43, 44-“System Snobbery”, #7-“You Gotta Be Fiendish”, #10-“Come, Clash with the Titans”, #14-“The Cup of Death”, #31-“Blame it on Cthulhu”, #35

Pendragon-The Grey Knight-Tales of Mystic Tournaments

Stormbringer-Demon Magic

Flying Buffalo Inc.-City Book I

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Magazine)“The Eldritch Connection: Magic Items in FRPGaming”, #12

Tunnels and Trolls-The Isle of Darksmoke

TSRDragon (Magazine)-“Painted Ladies and Potted Monks”, #36-“Groundsquid”, #39-“Role-playing and Morality”, #43-“Glyphs of Cerilon”, #50-“Poisons, the Toxins of Cerilon”, #59-“Chagmat”, #63

Introduction14

Larry Di Tillio

Lynn Willis

15

Masks of Nyalathotep is now over 20 years oldand like many game groups before us, wejourneyed our way through it with losses of bothlife and sanity in an effort to stop the terriblemachinations of the Mythos. Unlike manygroups before us, in 2005 we decided to record itas we played, resulting in over two days of RPGaudio from start to finish.

So you may ask: how did a group fromBradford in West Yorkshire come to record sucha thing? As usual it all started by accident...

How It BeganBack at the start of 2003 during a session ofDungeons & Dragons held at the BradfordUniversity Role-Playing Society (BURPS), I wasgiven a small boundary microphone by a friendfor use with my MiniDisc recorder. To test outthe little microphone I set it to record, did a few“Speaking 1, 2, 3” tests, and then forgot about it(and so left it running). Going home thatevening, before wiping the disc I found a ratherclear audio recording of a thirty-plus minutesegment of our gaming session. Since I had awebsite, I expected it might make a nice littlecurio tucked away in the archives. What I didnot expect was the reaction to it.

Within a few days this low-quality MP3 filehad been downloaded over a thousand times –this still at a point in time when most peopleonly had dial-up connections. The response wasquite striking. For the first time, people couldhear other role-players playing in their nativehabitat, regardless of geographical or temporalboundaries. It would seem that people oftenwonder what other groups are like and this wasa new way to find out directly. The consensus, ofcourse, was that they were like virtually anyother group. Even this small recording exposed

some the universal similarities in “gamerdom”(language, behavior, food). Indeed, so popularwas this novel form of audio that it was followedby more recordings, including some made ofCall of Cthulhu sessions. At first short snippetsof games, then single sessions, and finally thedecision to record our entire Masks ofNyarlathotep campaign.

We began on 14th September, 2005, in thedining room of “Innsmouth House.” By thispoint we had moved on from the limitedcapacity of the MiniDisc recorder onto an iRiverIFP 790, which allowed us to record full gamesessions direct to the MP3 format. The recorderwas artfully hung from the light fitting, using itsinternal microphone. As might be expected theinitial recording quality was not the best, but bysession #12 (in the Egypt-set “Underneath thePyramids”) we had upgraded our recordingsystem to the more professional Marantz PMD670 recorder and an Audio Technica AT 841Aboundary microphone, combined with a 50%increase in bitrate. This led to much clearerrecordings that captured more of what wasgoing on around the games table.

Why?An obvious question might be, “Why do this?”It is difficult to say for certain why audiorecordings of role-playing games should bepopular, but in the four years since we beganmaking the recordings we have had a wide rangeof feedback from which the following key pointshave become apparent:

• The recorded games remind lapsed orinfrequent players of what they miss. In away, recordings can act as a surrogate gameand help maintain interest and enthusiasm

Masks & TapeTHE RECORDING OF AN EPIC CALL OF CTHULHU CAMPAIGN

Paul Maclean

in RPGs, whether it is highly-active listening,or use as audio wallpaper. Recordings can bea good way to assess how new games can beplayed. There is often a difference betweenreading a role-playing book and actuallyplaying the game itself. An audio recordingprovides an example of the latter.

• People who are curious about role-playing,but never quite sure what it is, can nowlisten to games being played. This is a farmore powerful introduction than the typical“What is role-playing?” section found at thebeginning of many rule books, especially ifyou have no one else to introduce you to thehobby.

• Sometimes they are listened to purely forentertainment as part documentary (of theplayers’ lives) and part radio-play, by peoplewho may never anticipate playing RPGs, butwho find the stories and the banterengaging.

• Tips & examples. On occasion a Keeper ofArcane Lore might listen to a recording toidentify potential pitfalls in the plot, and tosee how some sections of the campaign canbe played out.

Often the reasons can be a mix of the above, andas such recordings of role-playing sessions havegrown tremendously since 2003, especially withthe introduction of widely available broadbandaccess, allowing much quicker downloading ofrelatively large files.

RecordingBy the time the group had begun to record itssessions of Masks of Nyarlathotep, they had allbecome comfortable with the recording process,so what you hear is what our group, at least,sounds like when playing Call of Cthulhu. We donot profess to play Call of Cthulhu the “one trueway.” There is no such thing. We can say weplay it for our own entertainment and hopefullythat is something that comes through on therecordings, even years later.

In more recent times our own gamerecordings have moved on to a much higherMP3 quality and even better equipment aspeople’s connection speeds have improved andour budgets have grown. Today in our Call ofCthulhu games we often use the binaural(dummy head/kunstkopf) recording techniqueto help give the sensation that the listeners areactually at the table, due to recording in 3DSurround Sound. This is how we recordedHorror on the Orient Express and will likelyrecord future campaigns as well. Originally, thefiles were simply available as straight downloadsfrom the website, but since 2004 we have alsomade use of Podcasting, a very convenient wayto automatically deliver episodic content. Ofcourse, it is not necessary to do all this or do itusing this method, but people do record theirgame sessions, using a variety of methods andequipment to suit them. Whatever the method,by recording these sessions gamers are helpingto capture and promote the tremendous fun tobe had with tabletop role-playing games in a wayunthought-of a few years ago.

Introduction16

Other Masks, other gamesThe BURPS crew are not the only intrepid band to battle Nyarlathotep’s schemes—the Gaming Grunts (http://www.thegaming-grunts.com/blog/) have recorded their sessions as well (making use of some material from this Companion) as well as an earlierrun-through of Day of the Beast.

Meanwhile, more real-play audio for Call of Cthulhu can be found at RPGMP3 http://www.rpgmp3.com/ (Beyond the Mountainsof Madness), and Role Playing Public Radio http://slangdesign.com/rppr/ (Play-testing for Pagan Publishing).

Fun Fact: The original name for Masks was TheCarlyle Expedition (see White Dwarf #49, page 35).

ResourcesGame Audio Recording (Methodology)http://www.yog-sothoth.com/wiki/index.php/Game_Audio_Recording

Podcasting wikipedia articlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting

17Masks & Tape

The FutureThere now exists a plethora of “actual play”recordings featuring a multitude of games andplaying styles offered by numerous groupsacross the world. There have also beenexamples of video recordings of games on theInternet, and while novel in and of themselves,RPGs seem best suited to audio due to theirinherent nature of being a descriptive andimagination-based medium.

Of course, there is nothing to stop you fromrecording and making public your own gamingsessions using an inexpensive recorder,recording software, and some free web hosting.Then again, no one says you have to record andput your audio on the net either. Sometimes it

is just nice to have an archive, for reference orfuture nostalgia, perhaps one day as a documentof a quite particular social pastime.

This relatively new form of entertainmentappears set to carry on; even now the originalrecording from 2003 seems of another age, asnapshot frozen in time. If you have neverlistened to such recordings before, give it a go,you (or your friends) may be surprised.

In all we recorded 26 sessions of our ownversion of the Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign,featuring every dice roll, every Sanity-blastingterror and every joke (good or bad). In a way itis our own little piece of preserved gameshistory. I can only encourage you to do the same.

Masks: Players of the GameLeft to right: Claire Simpson, Finlay Patterson (Keeper of Arcane Lore), Abigail Burton, Neil Young. (Out of shot,Helen & Paul Maclean). In the middle of the table, the Audio Technica AT841A boundary microphone, used fromepisode #12 onwards.

Introduction18

Keepers’Utilities

The Art of Creating &Maintaining Fear

INTRODUCTIONOf all the Call of Cthulhu campaigns available,what brings us back to Masks of Nyarlathotep?What is it about this globe-spanning, planet-saving adventure, now a quarter of a century old,that has players—both investigators andkeepers—returning again and again?

There is no one answer to that question,certainly no single correct one. What mattersmost is that you have decided to run the damnthing. This is no small decision as the campaign,classic or not, requires a sort of Herculean (or isit Cthulhuean?) effort to tackle from start tofinish. Helping you to do this is the purpose ofthis book; this article in particular is intendedto give you a greater understanding of how torun this campaign successfully and help todeliver a satisfying gaming experience for all.

The most important thing to remember isthat everything in this book is simply advice.You are the final judge of what will provide themost enjoyable experience for you and yourplayers. Read the suggestions offered here anddecide for yourself what and how (or how not)to incorporate them into your own game.

INITIAL CONSIDERATIONSThe most important thing to determine is thesort of game that you and your players seek.Communication is the key here. Ask yourselfwhat sort of game you want to run—do youwant a gritty, street-level tale of personal horrorwith exotic backdrops? A two-fisted pulp romp?A cat-and-mouse pursuit around the world? Ask

the same questions of your players and carefullyconsider how to best achieve balance betweenthe two. As you prepare for the game, keep thisover-arching goal in mind and it will help toguide you in all your work. Remember: dashedexpectations are the surest way to wreck acampaign!

ORGANIZATIONThis campaign has a substantial amount ofinformation to keep track of in order to ensurethat you and your players stay engaged andfocused. Your key to success is learning tocombine various methods for tracking all theclues, NPCs, monsters, spells, villainous plotsand timelines… and knowing how they all mixup when your players join in.

How well you organize yourself willdetermine the ease with which you tackle thiscampaign, as it needs to be controlled andmanaged with the certainty of a lifelong GM –someone with the experience and passion tohold a role-playing story together for at least ayear, if not two.

That’s right: depending on how often yourgroup meets and how long your sessions last,this campaign can take a year or two to run(assuming you visit all the locations), andholding everyone’s attentions (including yours)for that long – to keep the game both fun andcompelling – is the fundamental challenge youwill face during that time. Broken into bits, theindividual scenarios and adventures are complexenough, but looking down the calendar atrunning a campaign that crosses the continents,

Keepers’ Utilities20On Keeping Masks of

NyarlathotepBy Dave Sokolowski

saves the world from certain doom, and evenpits the investigators against Nyarlathotep itselftakes serious dedication. So where to start?

RESEARCH IS YOUR FRIENDDepending on the sort of game you are lookingfor, the extent of research that is useful to youwill vary greatly. Everyone will benefit from asolid understanding of the various chapters inthe campaign, but a fast and loose pulp gamewill probably require much less outside workthan a more “simulationist” run. This is why wesuggest determining your game-play goals inadvance.

The Complete Masks of NyarlathotepIt’s not enough to just read the campaign a timeor two (you have read it, yes?) and expect toknow it from there. Spontaneous play requiresfamiliarity with the source, and you do bothyourself and your players good by reading thecampaign enough times that you can intuitivelynavigate the entire book. Bookmark favoritepages and put together some photocopies orreference cards for any other materials you need

to reference regularly(maps, weapon and skilllists, NPC stats, etc.), andrevisit the currentchapter before everysession. Focus on whatcomes first; most of yourattention should be onthe New York chapter.Use it to practice theseskills and they will serveyou well in the future.

(If you are new to theCall of Cthulhu system,take some time to getcomfortable with therules as well; run ascenario to two beforeyou attempt biggerprojects.)

Non-Fiction SourcesGot any atlases around

the house? Encyclopedias? Been to the libraryrecently? Why not go find books and otherresources about the various locations, look atthe pictures, read the stories, and immerseyourself in what your players will face? Anyperspective you can find on Cairo, Shanghai,Kenya, Australia, and even New York City andLondon in the 1920s will serve you well. EachKeeper’s Notes article makes a few suggestion,but these are by no mean exhaustive.

Fiction & MoviesReading about the dangers your players face canonly serve to put you in the mood. ReadLovecraft, as well as the Nyarlathotep Cycle, andanything else Mythos related to set your head inthe right spot. Also watch globe-trottingadventures such as The Mummy or Raiders ofthe Lost Ark for atmosphere, pulp-tropes, andpacing.

The InternetMuch of what is suggested above can be doneonline. Even something as simple asbookmarking a few useful websites in advance

21On Keeping...

Prior planning prevents poor results.

will save time and provide inspiration.Obviously, the best resource for Keepers is Yog-Sothoth.com, from whence this Companionitself was born. You can use the site to askquestions of other Keepers, read journals andwebsites of those who have played the game,and just poke around for ideas.

(We feel obliged, as people whose work hasbeen pirated and posted on various file-sharingsites, to remind you that downloadingsomething for free that normally you would payfor is a great way to save money and drive thepeople who make said project out of business.)

THEMESIn a campaign as vast as this one, there is alwaysthe risk that you or your players will start to losethe thread of the campaign. The surest way tokeep on track is to include one or more of theunderlying themes that reoccur throughout thecampaign. Consider these the foundations uponwhich you can build your own experience.

Nyarlathotep & Its Masks“And where Nyarlathotep went, rest

vanished, for the small hours were rentwith the screams of nightmare.”—Nyarlathotep

Nyarlathotep’s masks are discussed elsewhere inthis book (see page XX); use the informationthere to explore the god, its cults, and cultists.How does the Harlem-based Bloody Tonguecult’s practices differ from the Kenya-based one?How does the dry isolation of the Australia’s Cultof the Sand Bat match against the sweatingurban crush of Shanghai’s Order of the BloatedWoman? Know what drives your cults and usethese motivations to spin a different threat foreach location, cult, and their respective avatar.Familiarity breeds contempt; keep things variedand never let the players grow used to thehorrors of Nyarlathotep or its cults.

Identity and Desire“If we knew what we are, we should

do as Sir Arthur Jermyn did; and ArthurJermyn soaked himself in oil and set fireto his clothing one night.”—FactsConcerning the Late Arthur Jermyn andhis Family

Nyarlathotep’s threat is based on hisreappearance in various Masks around theworld, so the theme of identity is already builtinto the story. But who says only he gets to havemore than one identity? As the investigators digfurther into the mystery, the game brings manypeople into view, all of whom could temporarilyimprint their identity onto the investigators: theCarlyle Expedition, Jackson Elias, Erica Carlyle,Bast worshipers in Egypt, the Vanes of CastlePlum, even the attendants at the sanitariumwhere Roger Carlyle himself is confined; eachholds a critical story that the investigators needto understand. Any time you bring NPCs andtheir conflicted identities into play, you build astronger theme both inward toward theinvestigators and outward towardNyarlathotep’s masks. Likewise, contrast thepublic and private “faces” presented by the NPCsencountered.

Secrets Man Was Not Meant to Know“It is for this latter reason that I urge,

with all the force of my being, finalabandonment of all the attempts atunearthing those fragments ofunknown, primordial masonry whichmy expedition set out to investigate.”—The Shadow Out of Time

On the opposite side are Secrets—the ones thatjust barely comprehending will send you into anasylum. While peeling away the layers of thegrand mystery is a noble and just endeavor,eventually the center is reached and all isrevealed. Instead of releasing the secrets a littleat a time, build up the release to onemonumental exchange of knowledge, makingtrue comprehension a terrible reckoning andshowing that ignorance is truly bliss.

Keepers’ Utilities22

MOODOnce you’ve established the sort of game youand your players want, you should consider howto best use mood in your running of thecampaign.

A convenient way to consider mood is todetermine where you fall in two importantcontinua in relation to the game: H.P. Lovecraftversus Robert E. Howard and Personal Horrorversus Cosmic Horror.

The former is a helpful gauge of tone,between verisimilitude and dime-novel action.To paint it very broadly, in Lovecraft’s work, thestory builds slowly, with academics delving intomysteries best uncovered in libraries andarchives, while in Howard’s stories (to use himas a stand-in for a host of other authors), thehero is usually a soldier or adventurer who divesheadlong into danger and action. The play ofthe campaign includes options for both of theseelements—and there is no reason why bothcannot be a part or your experience—soconsider to what extent you want to feature orgloss-over these parts.

The other continuum is that range betweenintensely personal horror, such as thediscoveries made by the narrator of “The Rats inthe Walls” or “The Outsider” and the cosmicterror experienced by the protagonists of “TheCall of Cthulhu” or “The Shadow Out of Time”.Personal horror is rooted in characters and ifyou want to feature this theme, be sure thatyour players have well-developed back-storiesand have rich enough personalities so that theimpact of, say, uncovering that your ancestorswere cannibalistic ghouls actually packs apunch. Consider the very personal horror that aplayer of the pre-generated character Raoul LuisMaria Piñera would experience discovering thefate (and motivation) that drove his former loverHypatia Masters to become the mother forNyarlathotep’s vile spawn…

On the other side of things, with cosmichorror, the challenge is to make the psyche-shattering discovery of the truths of the Mythosresonate with your players. The possibility thathuman life might be extinguished by the returnof the Old Ones is always a good stand-by, butconsider the impact of finding Nyarlathotep

lurking behind a host of divinities or thenightmarish future Earth ruled by the Yithians’beetle-hosted minds as equally chilling greatertruths to uncover.

As ever, a mix works best. Know yourselfbut especially know what frightens your playersand play off of these fears to make the stakes ofthe campaign something more than abstractnotions or comments on a character sheet.

‘KEEPING’ THE STORYWith the big questions out of the way, yourconcerns turn to the more practical aspects ofthe campaign.

PacingOne of the critical methods for managing yourMasks campaign is pacing—not only for eachindividual episode, but also the overall ebb andflow of the party’s trials and tribulations.

Decide in advance the plotting of each gamesession—do you want to end each evening ofplay in a climatic way like a television show orlet things build like a mini-series? Having a basicstructure to play off of always helps when youfind yourself struggling, even if for a fewminutes. Whether it’s based on TV, comicbooks, pulp novels, literary chapters, or movieacts; picking a standard style to stick with allowsyou to frame the beginning, middle, and end ofeach game in those specific terms. You cancertainly change the style from time to time, butdeciding your framework up front can onlyempower you to take chances later.

CultsThe cults Nyarlathotep uses to forward itsagenda are discussed in more detail elsewherein this book, but it’s important to keep in mindthat each cult has both a different perception ofthe world (via the various Masks) as well asdifferent agendas, despite the overarching planto unleash the Crawling Chaos on mankind.With each different leader and location, howand what the cults are planning should dictatehow they treat those pesky investigators. Asyour investigators first approach each cult, takenote of what the cult leader is specifically

23On Keeping...

seeking at that moment, and whether thatbranch of the cult knows about the investigatorsand how much of the mystery they haveuncovered. (If nothing else, these fundamentaldifferences between the cults give rise totensions that can be used to justify any numberof investigator-saving plot devices.)

And don’t be afraid to use the cult leaders todrive the story along—need to move the Londonchapter to a quick close? Just have Gavigankidnap the investigators from their Londonhotel and bring them to the cult compound upnorth. Finish the chapter with most of theplayers locked up in the cells, with one or two ofthe players tied up outside and ready to besacrificed, just as the local cops plan their raid.The cult leaders can be puppets for you, just asthe cultists are puppets to their master…

Jackson EliasConsider introducing Jackson at some pointprior to January 1925. The more he is knownand liked by your players, the stronger theirmotivation in pursuing his killers and themystery they are attempting to conceal. Thechapter on Jackson Elias discusses this in moredetail.

Just because Jackson’s been horriblymutilated and murdered by an evil cult doesn’tmean he’s unavailable as an NPC. This is ahorror game and the dead have a lot to say, sowhy not let Jackson stick around to tell his ownstory? He can be a found in an old telegram, aghost, a dream, a zombie... see pages XX, XX,

XX, and XX respectively. Let Jackson live on inwhatever state best suits your game.

LocalesAs mentioned earlier, research is a Keeper’s bestfriend, giving you facts and images to flesh outyour game. But how do the various locationscreate different gaming experiences? What willbe different for your investigators between thefoggy streets of London and the labyrinthinealleys of Cairo? Will the New York chapter bestraightforward, with the follow-up in Londonbuilding the paranoia of a global cult? Or willyou wait until Cairo to spring the true horror ofNyarlathotep? What if you lack the time to runthe whole campaign—could the game end at thebirth of the spawn in Kenya? Regardless of thespecific challenges presented by the locales, it’scritical to know how each chapter builds on theprevious, how much of the mystery has unfoldedboth before and behind the scenes, and what thestory (and your players) need before they stepoff the boat at the new country.

CharactersOne final practical consideration is theinvestigators your players generate. Be aware ofwhat skills they have at their disposal! If none ofyour players speak Arabic, you will need toprepare an NPC translator for their use in Cairo.Likewise, if your players have come up with agroup of academics with an average CON of 7and the combat abilities of an angry sparrow,you will need to adjust the murderous abilitiesof Mukunga’s assassins (unless you want a

Keepers’ Utilities24Where do we go from here?The campaign itself, though relatively open-ended as these things go, still tends to assume that investigators will proceed roughlyin the chapter order, from New York to London, then on to Cairo, Nairobi, Australia, and finally Shanghai. Unfortunately, there isno telling what clues your players will cling to in their adventures or what leads they will give the greatest priority to. You shouldalways be willing to shape events to steer your players to one location or another, as need be. One of Masks of Nyarlathotep’sstrengths is that each chapter can be tackled in any order—stopping the cult in Shanghai is no guarantee that M’Weru will notsucceed where Penhew failed, after all. Leave ‘bread crumbs’ but don’t drag players along by their noses—if dashed expectationsalways ruin campaigns, the sensation of being railroaded generally has the same result. Knowing your players and how they willapproach the mysteries of the campaign will make sure you are prepared for their next stop.

One possibility not usually considered is that investigators might return to a locale later in the campaign. Be sure to knowhow the situation left behind might change in the absence of your investigators—if they left Cairo with Omar Shakti hot on theirheels, they should not be able to relax for long upon their return, even if it is months later!

bunch of dead academics, of course). The richerthe characters your players develop, the greaterthe number of plot and character hooks you canuse to propel the story forward (see page XX).Remember, interesting characters meaninterested players.

MAKING BIG CHANGESIt has been said before—this is your campaign,do what you want with it! Make it work for youand your players. What follows are a fewpotential major changes you could make to thecampaign while leaving much of its frameworkintact. If you know what you want out of yourgame, adjust accordingly.

No Jackson Elias?While this may sound odd coming from a bookwith a whole chapter dedicated to this intrepidreporter, there is no reason that your playersmight not come to the campaign from anentirely new direction. Elias is not the onlyresearcher who might take an interest in theCarlyle Expedition; similarly, Erica Carlyle (orany of the NPCs from the article “Tent-poleNPCs” on page XX) may retain the investigatorto act of their behalf. So long as he is replacedby an equally strong motivator, Elias may bespared.

Change of PlaceIf Elias isn’t essential, there is nothing stoppingyou from changing one or more of the locationsvisited in the campaign. The most obviousoption is to begin the action in London ratherthan New York; replace the Bloody Tonguecultists with the Brotherhood of the BlackPharaoh, make Carlyle and his party all Britishsubjects, and the resulting necessary alterationsbecome obvious.

Similarly, if you would rather have yourinvestigators fighting cultists in Singapore orChicago, you may consider relocating one of theother chapters. Just be careful that what youhave moved makes sense—moving theMountain of the Black Wind to Wisconsin willonly baffle your players.

Change of EraWhile we are busy redoing things, why notchange the era?

1890sProbably the easiest to pull off, a Gaslight run ofthe campaign requires mostly cosmeticadjustments. Be sure though to check thehistory of the various cities visited—New Yorkof 1890 is very different than the city it wouldbecome in three decades. Likewise, Nairobiwon’t be founded until 1899. Shanghai in themidst of the Boxer Rebellion offers an evergreater level of danger to players... Consider alsoreplacing Penhew’s rocket with somethingperhaps more period appropriate—an ArtNouveau Zeppelin, perhaps, or a flying shippowered by Cavourite?

ModernSeemingly easier than Gaslight, thetechnological changes of the modern era serveto complicate things more than the political andcultural circumstances of the period did for the1890s. Nothing quite breaks the mood morethan having the players debating about satellitetelephones when they should be worrying aboutShantaks. Especially if running a Delta Greengame, it may be difficult to justify why a groupof Americans are wandering the globe after Dot-com millionaire Roger Carlyle. There may besome interest to be had in reimagining thevillains of the piece as established citizens oftheir respected nations rather than shadyforeigners—imagine if Mukunga was a majordonor to a City Councilman in New York or if HoFong was a high-ranking Communist Partymember.

Dark Ages/Cthulhu InvictusObviously, the locations must change. London(or some other provincial town) might stand infor New York, while Rome (or Constantinople)could stand in for London. In an Invictuscampaign, Cairo should be replaced byAlexandria, Memphis, or Karnak, as that city isnot established until many centuries later.Meanwhile, the Mountain of the Black Wind

25On Keeping...

might have to move to Kush and Shanghai maybecome Baghdad or a city in India. The rocketshould probably be abandoned, but the overallplot is still viable.

DreamlandsOurs is not the only world that Nyarlathotep hasplans for. Why not a plot against the cities ofthe Cerenerian Sea? Bloody Cults may be lesscommon in the Dreamlands, but this is made upfor in an abundance of Black Galleys, MoonWine, and Minions of Karakal.

THE PARTYAlthough the campaign’s backstory forms thespine to the game, your investigators certainlyflesh it out. As such a critical component, theirgeneration cannot just be random, nor can theirongoing management be left to the players’whim. If this campaign is to be successful, youmust carefully guide the players, the building oftheir investigators, and how the story allows forthe ebb and flow of investigators’ various skills.Consider the guidelines given on page XX anduse them as needed.

The StoryDeciding the investigators’introduction point is the mostimportant decision relating tocharacter generation the playerswill make—how do they knowJackson Elias? And how does hisdeath suck them into the mysteriesof the cult? While this is discussedelsewhere in this book, one pointmust be made here: the furtheryour investigators get from theiroriginal relationship to Elias, themore difficult it will be to keepthem engaged. All investigatorsneed motivation, and Elias’ death isultimately only one part of thepuzzle.

Generating InvestigatorsOnce you’ve decided how to matchup Elias with the party, you musthelp the players build investigatorsthat will be useful in unraveling themystery. While the “royal three”COC skills (Spot Hidden, Listen,Library Use) are always helpful, anumber of other skill categoriesmust be carefully monitored withan eye for upcoming chapters andencounters. Languages are themost obvious match-up for the

various international locales, but the party willmost likely engage in breaking and entering(Sneak, Hide, Climb), discussions with local law

Keepers’ Utilities26

Although comforting, firearms are not always the bestsolution.

enforcement (Law, Persuade, Credit Rating), andold-fashioned archaeological research(Archaeology, Anthropology, History) along theway. Make sure they’re well equipped to tacklethese challenges—they have enough work intackling the cult without needing to findsomeone to speak Arabic or Cantonese.

One helpful option is to tell the players inadvance that certain types of skills will be usefulin the campaign (depending on the game youhope for). Saying “language skills will be handy”or “investigators familiar with Near EasternMythology are helpful” seems like fair warningto players.

Focus, Focus, FocusAs previously mentioned, keeping the partytogether and focused on dismantling the cultisn’t as easy as it seems. Why are theinvestigators poking around the Ju-Ju Housewhen they could be home reading a good book?Elias’ death and the mysteries of the cult aregood introductions for the party, but be sure toidentify every investigator’s motivation beforethey join the party, especially for thosereplacements who show up halfway through thecampaign. Investigators unfamiliar with bothElias and his works are going to be hard pressedto sacrifice their lives and sanity for some deadauthor that no one in the party actually knew.

Myriad possible motivations exist to keepthe players engaged and focused (greed,searching for the unknown, higher calling,blood oath, etc.), but again, it’s critical that youplan out how to keep the party motivated. Italso helps if they all have the same generalmotivation—this is why Elias is introducedinitially, but once he’s dead a single motivationcan be harder to find.

Death & InsanityMasks of Nyarlathotep is a very deadlycampaign, and you would do well to managewhen and where investigators die or go insane.And while whittling down investigator Sanity isa lot of fun, when and where the final collapsecomes can be critical to the game’s flow and theplayers’ involvement. For starters, try to use aninvestigator’s death or permanent insanity to

close an episode (only open an episode that wayif you’ve discussed it with the player and havetheir replacement ready and waiting).Furthermore, take note of the dead or insaneinvestigator’s skill set and how that loss willaffect the overall story – it will create problemsto kill off the Egyptologist before the party getsto Egypt. Finally, it is your responsibility tomake every death and insanity matter to thestory. Yes, some players will throw theirinvestigators into death’s maw just to see whatcomes out the other end (but hopefully notbecause they’re bored), but even when they dosomething totally reckless (such as uncoveringthe pit in the Ju-Ju House), it should have somelasting effect on the party, the story, and, mostimportantly, the players.

T.P.K.This is also discussed elsewhere in this book (seepage XX), but still bears mentioning here – thatawful moment of game-mastering where theKeeper is willing to sacrifice all storymomentum to bask in his investigators’ blood:the Total Party Kill. Use it wisely, for it may notonly infuriate your players, but derail allprogress and cohesion the party has generated.Only truly imaginative Keepers can pull off aTPK that is greater than the sum of the deadinvestigators—if you find yourself and yourinvestigators heading toward a TPK, make itworth something. Make it grand, make itdisturbing, mad, and totally memorable, but,most importantly, make it serve the story.

TRICKS OF THE TRADEAll of these suggestions are good for getting youto think about running Masks, but somepractical advice is helpful. You need actual toolsyou can hold in your hand to help you when yousit down at the game table (or computer).

Index CardsKeep a stack of blank cards next to you, rightbeside the stack of the ones filled with yourscribbling. As mentioned before, you can usethe cards to pull thoughts and reference points

27On Keeping...

together, but there are some specific items thatcan be tracked via cards:NPCs – What are NPCs up to? How far along in

their plans are they? Have investigators metthe NPCs and do they know of their plans towreck the cult’s plans? Each important NPCshould have their own card in advance; makeup others on the fly when you have come upwith them on the fly.

Locales – While taking notes on the largerlocales (London, NYC, etc.) is useful, thesecards should also list any specific locationthe investigators have visited where theymay have affected the “normal” state ofevents. This includes not only the specificcampaign locations (Penhew Foundation, Ju-Ju House, etc.), but also the places you’vecreated on the fly to address story needs:hotels, police stations, libraries, etc.

Tomes & Artifacts – This starts as simple notetaking, but will help greatly as the campaignevolves—list the tomes and artifacts theinvestigators have found, any spells they’velearned, and specific episodes of magicthey’ve encountered, then use these lists toplot the investigators’ evolution frominnocent to hardened investigators. It isgreat to just pull a card out anytime aninvestigators reaches for that occult tomeand know how many times they’ve used it—and how much Sanity it has cost them. Thisis particularly helpful if using the alternaterules for reading tomes on page XX.

Plot points – Finally, use the cards to track allthe various timelines and plot points yourinvestigators are careening toward. Anysummonings, kidnappings, and other evildeeds the cults are involved with can betracked on a card—then just pull it out whenthe time is right and you’ll have all theimportant data at your hands.

JournalingOne of the best ways to keep yourself honest isto publish a journal online for others to view.Yog-Sothoth.com allows users to post journalsfor others to view, and you can use it to stirdiscussion with your players as well as otherKeepers. It’s a great method for compiling your

gaming records in a public forum, as well asrunning ideas past others.

ENDING THINGSThe final important decision of the campaign ischoosing an end point. There are severalpotential climaxes in Masks of Nyarlathotep—the rites beneath the Sphinx, the Mountain ofthe Black Wind, Gray Dragon Island, or even theCity of the Great Race—are all options. Considerwhere your players are at. So long as everyone ishaving fun, there is no reason that play can notcontinue until you’ve run out of cults andcultists. If fatigue is setting in, if cynicism is amore common emotion than fear or excitement,it is time to wrap things up. As always, make theconclusion as memorable as the start, withpreparation, planning, and energy, a good timeshould be had by all.

Keepers’ Utilities28

One of the easiest things that a Keeper can doto invigorate his Masks of Nyarlathotepcampaign is to create newspaper articles in thewake of the investigators’ actions. Consideringthat they are following in the footsteps of theCarlyle Expedition, there is little doubt theparty’s actions will be newsworthy—if notoutright illegal—on more than one occasion. In1925 even a small city boasted several dailynewspapers all eager for a scoop, and the majornewspapers (such as in New York or London)typically published an afternoon edition. Muchlike today, these articles ranged from the factualand stodgy to the lurid and sensationalist,though in keeping with the pulpy mood ofMasks of Nyarlathotep, the latter isrecommended. Outright speculation, half-truths, and fictionalization are all fair tactics!

The article, “Occult Author Slain!” isincluded as it reports on an action that willprobably occur at the start of the campaign. TheKeeper should feel free to alter or expand uponit as required. The material in [italics] is not partof the actual article, but rather instructions forthe Keeper. Note the breathless tone andspeculative nature of the article—one must gainreaders!

BEHIND THE SCREEN

Obviously, the Keeper will need to create thesearticles between sessions, which may or may notbe convenient depending on the amount ofmaterial covered each session. For instance, ifyour group somehow plays through the entireNew York chapter in a single 12-hour marathon,

then the article included will lose much of itspunch as those events will have happened daysago “in game.” In such a situation, it is best towrite up an article describing the events at theJu-Ju House, and have it ready for your nextsession. Your investigators will need somethingto read as they cross the Atlantic.

Over the course of the campaign, manysessions will end with something “newsworthy”which can easily be incorporated into an article.Just remember that it does not always have toinvolve a grisly murder! Any sort of oddoccurrence or unusual event might warrant aparagraph or two. In a backwater town, themere arrival of the investigators will be enoughto warrant a mention and a photograph. Often,the investigators’ actions will demand a story byitself—“Flamboyant Americans Rent FishingFleet!”—and such a story surely demands asequel in tomorrow’s edition, “Fishing FleetDestroyed: Are Americans to Blame?” As always,a Keeper should keep his eyes and ears open anduse this device to reflect the deeds of his heroes.

These newspaper stories can also be a meansof keeping the investigator party moving. Whileit is unlikely that investigators will growcomplacent about being stalked by anassortment of murderous cults or dogged bytireless police detectives, a series of newspaperstories highlighting the investigators and theirunusual (or even illegal) activities can remindthe players that it is time to move on. Likewise,a gaggle of reporters just outside their hotelmight inspire what assassins and lawsuits couldnot. Lastly, while it is unlikely that mostinhabitants of, say, Shanghai keep abreast of the

29Using Customized

Newspaper ArticlesBy Don Coatar

London or Cairo newspapers, unflattering (orlaudatory) items in the press should no doubtinfluence those in the know at futuredestinations. Investigators sought forquestioning in the tragic Cannon Street Hotelfire might not be greeted very warmly by theirnext concierge...

Finally, the use of reporters over the courseof the campaign provides a ready-made pool ofreplacement characters or NPCs, should youneed them (and you will need them). Make sureyou create believable, classic names ahead oftime—nobody wants to play Jose Doritos orJohn Smith (see the Keeper’s Notes for eachlocation for various suggested names). Who isto say that the nosey Welsh reporter from theLondon Beacon will not follow the group toCairo? Perhaps he will arrive just in time to helpthe characters out of a scrape in Shanghai?Such reporters, when used as replacementcharacters, have a built-in character hook andrequire a minimum of the suspension ofdisbelief upon your part and that of yourplayers. The pre-generated character CatrineBlichfeldt (see “Appendix B” on page XX for herstatistics) was created with this background inmind. An interested journalist investigator willalready know of at least one strange eventinvolving the group and reporters are by natureboth curious and intelligent. Be careful not tooverdo it though; one or two reporters over thecourse of the campaign is fine, but not aftereach and every chapter.

The Keeper looking for an added degree ofverisimilitude might include portions of actualperiod newspaper stories on the backs of hisfictional stories. Such stories can be foundonline via newspaper archives or at sites like theHP Lovecraft Historical Society—http://www.cthulhulives.org/toybox/PROPDOCS/1920sNews.html

Keepers’ Utilities30Sample Newspaper Story

O c c u l t Au t h o r S l a i n !GRISLY SCENE IN MANHATTAN

HOTEL ROOM!Manhattan, New York — Well-knownadventurer and author Jackson Elias wasfound brutally murdered in his mid-townManhattan hotel room yesterday evening.The still-warm body was discovered by [PCsname or names here], who were to meet thatevening with Mr. Elias. Although the NewYork Police Department has not yet releaseda report of the crime scene, a source says thehorror inside the room reminded him of “ablood-splattered slaughterhouse.” DetectiveMartin Poole of the 21st precinct is leadingthe investigation but would not confirm thesereports, offering, “This is an on-goinginvestigation. I have no comment at thistime.”

L a s t M o m e n t s o f L i f e !The [# of investigators] arrived at the

Chelsea Hotel room and heard “suspiciousnoises” from Elias’ room.

[This section should be customized basedupon the actions of your players. The followingsections are offered as an example. Keep thelanguage exciting and sensationalistic—remember,you are trying to lure readers! If none of theinvestigators spoke to police, then simply have thereporter speculate as to the course of events.]

M u t i l at i o n !According to [whichever investigator spoke to

the police], [insert gruesome quote here]. Policesources later confirmed [whatever claim wasmade, if it was truthful]. The slain author’s facewas also mutilated. The scene reminded oursource of the infamous “Jack the Ripper”murders in London. “There was bloodeverywhere—the walls, the bed, the ceiling!It was more gruesome than words!”

31Using Custom NewspapersE s c a p e ? N o t S o Fa s t !

Acting quickly in spite of the horror aroundthem, the [# of investigators] gave chase to the twothugs who attempted to make their way downthe icy fire escape. One of the two, a wiry, dark-haired Caucasian, was able to escape. The other,an African Negro, plummeted to his death fromthe third story. While the two men were chasedoutside, the subdued man came to and escapedfrom the hotel room. A very large knife,apparently the murder weapon, was recoveredby police from the scene. Anyone withinformation about the escaped suspect shouldcontact Lt. Poole at the 21st Precinct. [Adjustdetails as necessary]

(please see “Witness Sought” on page 5, column2)

Witness SoughtA passerby near the Chelsea Hotel reports

seeing [something the characters did]. Police are[taking some action that follows up on the eyewitnesstestimony. This action likely will involve the police seekingone or more of the player characters]. [Here is a samplequote:] “It’s very likely this man could have seensomething important. We would like to talk tohim”, said the investigating detective, Lt. Pooleof the 21st Precinct.

Stolen Vehicle RecoveredThat same night, a stolen 1922 Hudson

sedan was recovered near the Chelsea Hotel.Police suspect that the vehicle may have beenused by the murderers. Dr. ThomasWitherspoon, an uptown dentist, reported thecar stolen about 3 hours after the murder. Policesay that Dr. Witherspoon is not a suspect.

Blackout!Making matters worse, this area of

Manhattan lost all its electrical power due to theferocious ice storm last evening (see Weather onpage 3). Police speculate that the killers mayhave seized the opportunity of the freakblackout to commit their heinous crime. Powerwas restored at 11:20 PM. A spokesman for the

New York and Brooklyn Electrical Companyreports that heavy ice created a short-circuit inthe transformer that supplied power to theChelsea Hotel area.

Author Made EnemiesJackson Elias had written many books

exposing cults as frauds and debunking popularsuperstition. He has exposed such organizationsas the Thuggee Assassins of India, the head-hunters of the Amazon basin, and the Witchesof England. Most recently, Jackson was writinga sequel to his 1915 title, “The Smoking Heart”,which explored Mexican death cults.

Elias was no stranger to controversy andadventure. Ignoring the great risk to his life, theauthor would travel in disguise to infiltratesecret foreign organizations. Numerous deaththreats have been made on him since his first titlewas published in 1910, “Skulls Along the River”.Jonah Kensington, Jackson’s close friend andpublisher at Prospero House, called Elias “Aman of conviction and bravery. He only wantedpeople to know the truth. He felt these cultswere like a form of slavery, the way theybrainwashed you from a young age to believeall sorts of nonsense. I think Jackson was avisionary in his field.”

A private service will be held for Mr. Eliason Saturday. Mr. Kensington asks thatsympathy donations be directed to theInternational Children’s Refugee Fund inJackson’s name.

—Marcus Ballard, metro pool reporter

New York Pillar-Riposte, January 16, 1925, MorningEdition

Masks of Nyarlathotep is an open-endedcampaign with a fixed start, but no fixeddestination or line of investigation, save the one-year deadline of the Great Ritual. While this isone of the campaign’s great strengths, it cansometimes lead to directionless, confused, oreven unmotivated investigators. Fortunately,there are several very useful NPCs who can servethe needs of the Keeper and the campaign byproviding direction, information, and evenmotivation if need be. In case of crisis, such asthe death of a majority of investigators, theseindividuals can also be used to generate thenucleus of a new group. This article provides adiscussion of eight potential “tent-pole”1 NPCswho can serve the Keeper as a means to movethe game forward.

In each case, the NPC acts as a tool for theKeeper to shape the direction of the campaignand the actions of the investigators. As such,each should be used both sparingly and withcaution. Call of Cthulhu is a game for the playersafter all, and not one in which the Keeper shouldact out his or her agenda for the campaignheedless of the players’ wishes. Each potentialally possesses certain advantages, disadvantages,and limitations that the Keeper should considerbefore employing him or her.

JONAH KENSINGTON

Unlike most people, while he might scoff atclaims of magic and occult powers, JonahKensington is likely to believe that the cults the

investigators encounter are real and responsiblefor Jackson Elias’ murder. Most reasonablegroups of investigators should be able to make apersuasive case to the open-minded editor andso enlist his aid. Kensington has an interest inbringing Elias’ murderers to justice as well asuncovering the truth about the CarlyleExpedition, and has some limited financialresources available to support such aninvestigation. If the investigators, for some oddreason, do not seek him out, Kensington couldno doubt introduce himself at Elias’ funeral (see“Scene: Jackson Elias’ Funeral” on page XX) orotherwise make the first move.

Beyond providing motivation to theinvestigators (and some limited funding), thereare a number of other ways that Kensington canbe of assistance. Established in New York, hemight be able to exert some small influence ontheir behalf, so gaining an otherwiseunobtainable interview, or access to a restrictedlibrary collection. His connections within thelocal (and to a lesser extent national andinternational) press justify his role as theconduit for all sorts of newspaper stories, andalso directing a certain type of replacementinvestigator to the party. The pre-generatedcharacter Roman Harkov is another authorworking for Prospero Press and if he is used atthe start of the campaign, can easily beintroduced to the party by Kensington if theirranks have been thinned.

Because Kensington was one of Elias’ fewconstant connections, there is always the chancethat the intrepid reporter might have sent someother research notes back to his editor – notes

Keepers’ Utilities32“Tent-pole” NPCs:

TOOLS FOR THE KEEPER TO COORDINATE, FUND, AND MOTIVATE THE PARTY

By Bret Kramer, with Pete MacKenzie

1. They ‘prop up’ the whole campaign.

that arrive just in time to put the investigatorsback on course. Less obvious help is alsopossible. What might Kensington be able topiece together from Elias’ expense reports oreven from something as simple as a businesscard sent back from Shanghai or Cairo? Even ageneral recollection of Elias’ favourite haunts orhabits could come in handy in steering the partytoward a new discovery; for example,mentioning that Elias always liked to stay at acertain hotel while in London can open up wholenew avenues of investigation.

As an equalizer, remember that the moreuseful Kensington makes himself to theinvestigators, the more likely it is that the betterorganized villains in the campaign will seek todo him harm. Hopefully the investigators willwarn their new friend of the dangers that hehimself faces and urge him to take certainprecautions. Remember that Mukunga and hisbranch of the Cult of the Bloody Tongue have noaversion to either killing or kidnapping if theysee the need. Likewise, while Kensington shouldmost likely be a gentleman worthy of trust,there is no guarantee that some other group oragency might not have some source or contactat Prospero Press. If you want the Order of St.Jerome (for example) to dog the investigators’every step, a secretary acting as a spy for thegroup is a plausible and convenient option.Kensington also has a professional reputation toprotect and will drop investigators if they getinto serious legal trouble.

ERICA CARLYLE

Erica Carlyle, with her vast resources andintimate connection to the case, seems like anobvious candidate for this role. There areproblems here, in part outlined in the campaign.To put it briefly, she is far harder to persuade asto the dark nature of her brother’s doings, letalone the veracity of nefarious cults and evenmagic, than Kensington; simply meeting withher will pose a challenge to most investigators.That being said, if your investigators manage tocontact the reclusive heiress, under certaincircumstances she might be prepared to renderthem substantial aid. (As discussed in the next

entry, even if Carlyle herself is not swayed by theinvestigators, there are other possible allies thatsuch a meeting will generate.)

Characters with the greatest chance ofenlisting Erica Carlyle’s support for theirendeavours will be those of a respectablebackground (such as having a high CreditRating, academic credentials, or a solidprofessional reputation). Scholars and well-heeled society types will do much better thanprivate investigators and journalists.Investigators should also be free from scandal ora reputation that by association will do harm tothe Carlyle name. Those who attempt to contacther via proper channels will tend to fare betteras well. Bradley Grey will almost certainlyattempt to protect Erica from uncouthinterlopers who crash a party or otherwise usefalse pretence to gain her confidence. MissCarlyle is not so hide-bound that a bold play tomeet with her will be rejected out of hand, butshe is highly concerned with both her privacyand with propriety.

If the Keeper wishes to force the issue, anattack on her Westchester mansion by theminions of the Bloody Tongue Cult will go a longway toward convincing Miss Carlyle toreconsider aiding the investigators. As discussedin the New York chapter article, “Erica CarlyleSells the Books” (see page XX), Mukunga greatlydesires Roger’s old Mythos tomes and might,especially if hard-pressed by the investigators,make another attempt to seize them. Thesuccess or failure of an attack is up to theKeeper, but should be based on the desired pacefor the remaining portion of the New Yorkchapter. Another failed attempt might simplymove things along, but a successful attack,perhaps including the death of Joe Corey andheavy doses of Mythos magic, will almostcertainly transform Carlyle into an ally.

A more remote possibility is that a meetingwith the investigators might spur Carlyle intoreviewing some of the terrible tomes held in thelibrary safe (she did skim parts of the PnakoticManuscripts after all); perhaps that tomementioned some strange detail recounted by theinvestigators that burned itself into her memoryand aiding the investigators might play a part in

33Tent-pole NPCs

her attempts to come to grips with that (oranother) weird and awful book.

Either option should be considered carefullybefore being employed by the Keeper; Carlyle’svast resources make her aid a prize that shouldbe earned rather than given away freely.

As to what aid Erica can offer, while it iscertainly greater than what can be given by anyother potential benefactor, there are somelimitations that the Keeper should remember.Carlyle’s power and connections are all entirelyabove board. She knows neither how to gaincontacts and resources from illegal sources norwill she brook impropriety on the part ofinvestigators. Those who fail to heed herrequests for circumspection and discretion willfind themselves abruptly cut off from any futuresupport (or contact) – not a good situation ifyou are trapped in Egypt with the full weight ofthe Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh beingbrought to bear on you. In any case, she willalmost certainly demand that investigators keepher own name out of their work. Woe betidesany who break this confidence! Additionally,unless she has borne first-hand witness to theoccult (or Mythos activity), she will treat reportsof supernatural events as a sign of foolishness,or at worst, of incompetence on the part ofinvestigators, and react accordingly.

Given all of these conditions and limitations,what sort of aid can Erica Carlyle offerinvestigators? She can fund travel to any part ofthe globe, so long as their movement can bejustified to her or one of her subordinates. Bothtickets and accommodation provided will berespectable, but not ostentatious and there mayoccasionally be delays in obtaining them if theparty has not kept in close touch. A modest (butnot insubstantial) stipend may be awarded toinvestigators with a clear need, but this too willbe monitored for abuse.

BRADLEY GREY

Under most circumstances Bradley Grey, EricaCarlyle’s “chief confidante” (and family lawyer),will serve as her agent through which she willinteract with the investigators. The nature andthe degree of Grey’s involvement will vary

depending upon Carlyle’s interaction withinvestigators. Carlyle will certainly meet withthe investigators at least once so that she mighttake their measure and may do so again in thefuture if she trusts or takes a liking to them.More likely though, all future interaction will beconducted through Grey so as to shield MissCarlyle from any potential scandal. The Keepershould bear in mind that each NPC has theirown view of the investigators’ reliability andworthiness, and that sometimes these viewsmay not align.

One option, in case the investigators fail tomake a good impression on Carlyle but areotherwise above board and promise to findsome resolution to the story of the CarlyleExpedition, is to have Bradley Greyindependently enlist the investigators’ services.Grey, as Erica Carlyle’s confidante, knows thather public façade of disinterest in her brother’sfate masks a deep pain caused by Roger over theyears and therefore might think it worth therisk to aid the investigators despite hisemployer’s unfavorable reaction.

Under these circumstances, the support thatGrey can provide is far more limited thansupport given with Carlyle’s blessing. Anyfinancial aid will need be of a modest nature andoff the books. Likewise the investigators will bebarred from making any mention that they areworking at the behest (even indirectly) of Greyor especially of Miss Carlyle. If they do so, and itbecomes publicly known, Grey will immediatelydisavow all knowledge of the investigators andany connection between them and the Carlylefamily. If the investigators persist in makingsuch claims or make claims that damage thefamily reputation, Grey is prepared to file suitfor slander... or worse, if need be.

Grey will be able to provide details about theCarlyle Expedition, including an itinerary (theofficial one, at least) and contact information forany of the people employed by it, such asWarren Besart. Unfortunately, this informationwill now be six years out of date. Otherinformation, such as Dr. Huston’s files on Roger,can be obtained by Grey if the investigators areable to persuade him of its worth. Grey will seekto shield Erica Carlyle (and himself, to a lesser

Keepers’ Utilities34

extent) from any exposure to scandal, evenwhile he is operating without her approval.

The Keeper should consider making use ofthe pre-generated character Finlay Patterson, aprivate investigator in Grey’s employ, either as areplacement character dispatched to aid theparty or as an NPC foil sent by Grey to keep tabson the investigators (even if the party is notworking on either Grey or Carlyle’s behalf). Greymight also be able to put the investigators intouch with another pre-generated character,Claire Simpson, a nurse formerly in Dr. Huston’semploy.

MICKEY MAHONEY

In many ways, this newspaperman can fill muchof the same roll that Kensington does (or did, asthe case may be), though there are certainimportant differences between the two. Thetwo most significant to consider are resourcesavailable to Mahoney and the purpose behindMahoney’s support. Mahoney, even more thanKensington, has financial limitations. The Scoopis not a national publication—let alone aninternational newspaper; it lacks the sort ofresources that a larger (or more respectable)publication possesses. While his contacts incertain circles of London are without peer,Mahoney’s support will be meager compared toKensington’s—he might occasionally be able towire some funds to investigators but lavishpurchases (or even 1st-class passage on an oceanliner) are beyond his means. Though fond ofElias, Mahoney also lacks Kensington’s personalconnection to the slain journalist, undercuttinghis enthusiasm for the story if things get toodangerous or too expensive. Additionally,Mahoney is a thoroughgoing skeptic and willbalk at stories of centuries-old cults (especiallyones operating secretly in London and headedby respectable gentlemen), inhuman creatures,or the cosmic threat of the Old Ones. If theinvestigators’ needs are humble and they arewilling to post him the occasional story about“The Weird Mummies of Egypt” or “LovelyShanghai Lasses,” then they can count on hiscontinued help. If they burn down half ofNairobi and send hysterical telegrams about

blasphemous horrors from beyond time andspace, he will drop them immediately. Mahoneymay also direct the investigators to the pre-generated character Stephen Hughes if they arein need of a medium (as ever, Mahoney correctlysees through the charming “psychic”) orotherwise need to bolster their numbers.

SSATHASAA

Perhaps the least likely ally imaginable, theserpent man Ssathasaa presents the Keeper withan unusual potential benefactor. It is possiblethat Ssathasaa is already dimly aware ofNyarlathotep’s plan because of Shipley’spaintings of the Howler in Darkness and theMountain of the Black Wind. If he learns of theplan to open the Great Gate, most likely fromcaptured and mesmerized investigators, it wouldnot require his super-human intellect to realizethat his plans for recreating the Serpent Manempires of old will be seriously impeded by areturn of the Old Ones. Having a means toescape should his meddling fail (via Shipley’senchanted painting) should certainly emboldenhim to take action.

Ssathasaa lacks the financial wherewithal tobankroll investigators; even the pittance theymight gain from Mickey Mahoney is, at least inthe short term, beyond his scaly grasp. If needbe, with a little time it is possible that Ssathasaamight assume the place of some wealthier pink-skinned ape creature (perhaps an unwary artcollector?), though his desire to remainundetected by the annoying mammals willprevent him from replacing anyone of too greata means. While Ssathasaa’s background beforestriking his bargain with Miles Shipley isuncertain, it is implied in the campaign by thecreature’s Arabic and English skills that he spentsome time moving in human society. Even so,by his very nature, the creature has an imperfectgrasp of human culture and society. (Note:Ssathasaa’s skill in Arabic may be of particularuse if somehow the investigators gain the CairoMuseum’s copy of the Al Azif; Ssathasaa willalmost certainly covet this tome and demand itbe given to him should he learn that it has comeinto the possession of the investigators.)

35Tent-pole NPCs

What the Serpent Man lacks in mundaneresources though, he makes up for in hisvoluminous knowledge of the Cthulhu Mythos;with a skill of 45%, Ssathasaa is probably thebest equipped being in the campaign to answerthe investigators’ questions (aside from certaincultists or divine beings who will probably beless inclined to assist investigators). A quicktelegram to Ssathasaa might resolve manymysteries, if he is willing to help, but do notallow him to become a resource without adownside. While it is true that he knows much,Ssathasaa is also aware of how fragile the humanmind is (he does have to tend to Shipley afterall); he will probably tell the investigators whatthey need to know and no more. Similarly, hemight be willing to teach one or two of his spellsif it will aid the investigators – Contact Yig,Mindblast, Voorish Sign are all options here; hewill be loath to teach them Deflect Harm,though Consume Likeness might amuse him andCall Azathoth, under a different name andinaccurately explained, might be given toparticularly gullible investigators to eliminatesomething like the Mountain of the Black Windor Cairo (as well as the investigators).Additionally, Ssathasaa might be able to providesmall quantities of the Dust of Suleiman or eventhe Plutonian Drug. (Presumably, Ssathasaa’sversion of the spell does not require the mummythat the traditional version calls for – how manyhuman mummies did the ancient Serpent Menhave on hand, after all?)

How the Keeper role-plays the relationshipbetween the investigators and their inhumanally will depend on whether the investigators areaware that he is an eons-old inhuman bipedalreptile. The probability is that Ssathasaa willattempt to make use of a human puppet, eitherdirectly via Consume Likeness (Mickey Mahoneyor an unwary art collector as above are bothoptions) or indirectly (what some might call the“Bosley” approach) via a cut-out such as asecretary hired for that purpose. He will onlyreveal his true nature to the investigators ifhard-pressed. Investigators who probedShipley’s unearthly paintings might be mollifiedwith an offer of his aid with their greater quest,but, as ever, Ssathasaa’s primary goal is his ownsurvival and all else is secondary. Saving the

world (so that he can conquer it) always comessecond to saving his own skin… err… hide.

NIGEL WASSIF

If the Keeper desires a campaign with a dash ofespionage or “mundane” conspiracy, then theycan do so by employing this erstwhilenewspaperman. Were Wassif to know of thethreat posed by Omar Shakti and his allies inNairobi and Shanghai, there is no doubt that hewould seek to act. There is also little doubt thatHis Majesty’s Government, no matter what sortof evidence is presented to it, would not believein tales of magic, potent foreign cults, andinhuman gods of madness. Lacking otherresources, Wassif might conceivably turn to agroup of resourceful but zealous amateurs toinvestigate or perhaps even eliminate this threatto King and Country.

In such a scenario Wassif will always presenthimself as the agent of certain unnamed officialsin the British government – men of greatimportance who for that reason cannot benamed – seeking to uncover and eliminate thethreat posed by the members of the CarlyleExpedition. In addition to the informationpossessed by the Cairo Bulletin, Wassif will beable to provide some moderate amount offinancial assistance and the names of potentiallyhelpful individuals in most locations visited inthe campaign – remote parts of Australia notwithstanding. These contacts will mostly behelpful (sometimes criminal) people who canimpart or obtain information at a price, notactually spies or British officials. Otherwise, hecan assist investigators in clearing up somemoderate degree of local police troubles or inmoving them quietly out of Egypt. It should beremembered that his influence is far exceededby that of Omar Shakti. In dire circumstances,Wassif might recruit like-minded men andwomen into joining surviving investigators ifsome disaster befalls the majority of them.

In any case, Wassif as a patron will be asubtle and circumspect one. He will notjeopardize his position or his work to aid theinvestigators, save where there is an indubitable

Keepers’ Utilities36

and immediate threat to the British Empire. Theinvestigators are disposable, Wassif is not.

DR. ALI KAFOUR

Dr. Kafour, director of the Egyptian Museum,makes a knowledgeable ally in the investigators’battle against Nyarlathotep and his cults. Aswith Mickey Mahoney and Ssathasaa, hisfinancial resources are negligible (especially incomparison with a millionaire like Erica Carlyle),but he is one of the few potential investigatorallies who knows anything of the CthulhuMythos. In essence, Kafour is a lessknowledgeable version of Ssathasaa above, butmuch more reliable and less prone to eating theinvestigators. His location puts him in anextremely difficult position, one that will beuntenable if the Brotherhood of the BlackPharaoh turns its attention to him. If word ofhis possession of the Al Azif reached certain ears,there is very little that Kafour or his investigatorallies could do to save him. Perhaps the bestway in which the good doctor can be used, is asan NPC who pieces together the elements of theplan to open the Great Gate that theinvestigators have overlooked, rather than act asan organizer or recruiter of new investigators inlater chapters. He can then send them on theirway, forcing them to confront the true extent ofthe horror before them, but neverthelessforewarned of the dangers ahead, perhaps witha few scraps of helpful information on how toprevent the Carlyle Expedition’s secret agenda.Kafour then is best as a short term, albeit veryvaluable, ally.

The Keeper might also consider havingKafour be affiliated with the Sword of Snefru(see Worlds of Cthulhu #5). This option is on the“pulpier” end of Call of Cthulhu gaming though,and the Keeper should only do so ifincorporating this anti-Mythos group fits withthe feel of his individual campaign. See also the“Keeper’s Notes for Cairo”, page XX.

JOHNSTONE KENYATTA / OLDBUNDARI

This duo is more likely to serve as a campaignreboot than as a wealthy patron. Yet whenpaired together, Kenyatta and the ancientshaman have the combination of determination,organization, and awareness of the dangerposed by the machination of Nyarlathotep toserve as an effective organizing force behind anygroup of investigators. If some or all of theinvestigators fall in Kenya, Bundari, especially ifhe has met them, will come to know that thedanger posed by M’Weru and his minions is fargreater than simply the horrors they inflict onneighboring tribes. The pair will seek to aid anysurvivors that they can find and match themwith others who would have reason to believethem. The two pre-generated characters for theKenya chapter (see page XX and XX) fit the billnicely, but who knows Bundari might spy asstalwart defenders against the Mythos whilecommuning with the cosmos? (In other words,there is much room to fudge things if you needto restart the campaign.) While their financialresources are meager at best, Kenyatta andBundari should be able to aid investigators inleaving Kenya and at least pointing them in thedirection of the other members of the CarlyleExpedition.

37Tent-pole NPCs

TWO MISTAKES AND AREMEDYThough Masks of Nyarlathotep is undoubtedlyone of the greatest role-playing campaigns everwritten, it has its flaws. Two of them relate tothe role of magic in the game.

First, Masks of Nyarlathotep includesnumerous sorcerers of various ability levels,some who literally know every spell in therulebook (and that list in the rulebook hasgotten longer since the campaign was firstwriten). On the other hand, it gives practicallyno guidance on what a Keeper is supposed to dowith all of them. Just which spells will be usefulin a given situation?

Second, the spells selected for each characteroften seem to have been rolled at random. It isoften difficult to justify why a magician has aparticular spell, or to come up with anexplanation as to why it would be useful. Whatis Penhew going to do with Contact Sand-Dweller out on his yacht? Not only that, somespell-casters do not even meet the requirementsto cast the spells they are supposed to know!

Once these two difficulties areacknowledged however, the canny Keeper canuse them to make his task easier. Here is oneway to make this work:

Open your copy of Masks of Nyarlathotep tothe first sorcerer that the group will encounter—this is most likely Mukunga. Go through hisspell list, and lightly pencil through each spellfor which you cannot think of a use for. (If thephrase “lightly pencil through” nearly stopped

your heart, make a list of the spells somewhereelse and do the same.) For example, unless yourgroup of investigators can summon a Byakhee,Mukunga’s Bind Byakhee need not be included.Scratch it out.

What else will prove less than useful? Startwith the Call Deity spells. The suddenappearance of an Outer God is likely to destroyany group of investigators, disrupting campaigncontinuity and lessening the impact of Masks ofNyarlathotep’s carefully-crafted high points. IfAzathoth destroys London, the group willprobably remember that more than breakinginto or out of Misr House. You can also dispensewith the Contact spells. Most sorcerers will lackthe conditions to cast such spells, the time towait for the contact to be made, or a job forwhich that they cannot simply dispatch willingcultists or summoned beings to do, perhapsusing such minions to gather information orlocate the investigators. These and other optionsare best left up to the Keeper’s imagination.Similarly, scratch the Enchant and item creationspells, or anything that requires excessivepreparation. If a sorcerer can make anenchanted item and use it during an encounterwith the investigators, then he should have it.

These directives are not absolute; if as aKeeper you are fairly certain that a particularspell will be useful in a situation, leave it in. Bythe end of this exercise, you should have clearedthe board and be ready to take a closer look atthe shorter list of spells that remains.

Keepers’ Utilities38The Magical Mishaps

of MasksBy Z.N. Dillon

THE BIG THREETwo particular incantations and one type of spellare pivotal to playing a successful sorcerer inMasks of Nyarlathotep.

MindblastOn the downside, this spell will either compelthe Keeper to adjudicate the effects of insanityon the fly, or to work out appropriate reactionswith the players in advance. Still, anyone who isrunning Masks of Nyarlathotep should be usedto that. The Mindblast spell has two majorbenefits. For the caster, its success almostguarantees that the target will be renderedhelpless for the duration of the fight. For theKeeper, a character incapacitated with insanitycan be ignored in combat, meaning that thecharacter will likely survive to continue the fightlater, maintaining the continuity of thecampaign.

Power DrainNo sorcerer is going to cast this spell for a roundjust to gain a measly 1d6 Magic Points from afoe. Nonetheless, two matters should be notedin the spell description. First, nothing says thespell cannot be cast on your friends—or yourfanatical minions. Second, the spell fails tospecify when the extra Magic Points disperse ifnot used. That having been said, letting everycult leader walk around with hundreds of MagicPoints is probably a bad idea; these pointsshould disperse in a matter of hours.Nonetheless, the cannier sorcerer might fill upon two or three followers if he knows thattrouble is on the way.

Summon/Bind spellsThese spells will be the staple for most of thesorcerers in Masks of Nyarlathotep. It isprobable that these spells will be cast numeroustimes, and if he is studious, that an investigatorwill learn one or more of these spells from themany Mythos tomes to be found in thecampaign. The Keeper needs to pay carefulattention to the casting requirements given inthe rulebook, and to decide whether any

summoned creature arrives automaticallybound or whether a Binding spell is necessary.(Tandoor Singh’s attack in Kenya implies theformer, for instance.) Similarly, can thesummoned creature be directed to a particularplace or person, or must the caster point to thetarget?

ByakheeThese creatures of Hastur work best as attackersfrom ambush or as steeds for cult leaders toescape upon. The Keeper should note theposition of Aldebaran in the night sky, especiallyin locations south of the Equator.

Dark Young of Shub-NiggurathOnly M’Weru can summon such beings, andwhile the slopes of the Mountain of the BlackWind are forested, she will have to depart hercaverns to do so.

Dimensional ShamblersA simple knife of pure metal is all that isrequired to summon these beings. They areexcellent for sneak attacks or retrieving valuablepeople or objects.

Fire VampiresAlthough they lack the versatility of othersummoned monsters, Fire Vampire immunity toconventional weapons makes them idealassassins. Picking the site of their battle well—away from inconvenient sources of water—isadvisable, though the Keeper should as ever becareful to avoid killing the group. As withByakhee, noting when Fomalhaut is in the sky isimportant though only in more northerlylocales.

Hunting HorrorThe traditional servitor of Nyarlathotep, theHunting Horror should make a frequentappearance. Their size and lack of subtletymeans that a hunting horror is best used tosmash through walls, grapple an opponent, andlift off into the air with the person in its coilswhile bullets bounce off its hides. A Hunting

39Magical Mishaps

Horror’s low damage can be explained as apreference for playing with its prey, much like acat batting around a mouse (except of course,without the Sanity loss). They do need to be keptout of daylight and remember that they can onlybe summoned at night (and out in the open)and this requires a human sacrifice.

Servitor of the Outer GodsThe limited number of days on which thesebeings can be summoned makes theirappearance unlikely. Nonetheless, if the starsare right, be sure to determine the creature’sstatistics and especially spells in advance.

PLAYING THE OPPOSITION

If you expect the sorcerers in Masks ofNyarlathotep to go toe-to-toe with heavily-armed investigators, you should rethink yourstrategy. Most sorcerers lack the Magic Pointsto carry out more than a couple of attacks, andthe Magic Point resistance contests may notallow the later attacks to have any effect.

The key to playing a sorcerer is to wageguerrilla warfare. Spells can often be cast farfrom their targets without their target evenbeing aware of the attack. Even when line of siteis needed, concealment is usually possible, anddistractions generally easy to arrange. Once thedamage is inflicted, the sorcerer can fade intothe night or the crowd, leaving his enemy toclean up the damage and the sorcerer to recoverafter his exertions. In twenty-four hours or less,the sorcerer will be just as strong as before.

THE SPECIFICS

MukungaHis first move in combat will be to grab thescepter, granting him at least one powerfulattack. Do not dismiss Create Zombie, despiteits high cost. The effect of sending a fallenfriend against the investigators should be

disturbing, necessitating Sanity checks, as willdismembering the once-walking corpse.Similarly, the latter will require a lengthyexplanation to the authorities. Mukunga canalso summon Hunting Horrors to deal with hisenemies; these creatures are intelligent enoughto follow complex instructions and, in certaincircumstances can be quite deadly.

SsathasaaThis serpentine sorcerer combines an incrediblePOW with a surprisingly unimpressiveassortment of spells. He is best handled in asubtle manner—even Deflect Harm requires thecaster to stand still for an entire round whenused. If he can get an investigator alone,Ssathasaa can Mesmerize him (the Keeper willneed to bump Ssathasaa’s Cthulhu Mythos up to50% to meet the spell’s requirements) toundertake any action he desires, includingunlocking the closet with Shipley’s painting andcalling out to the other investigators. Asdiscussed above, it is best not to let the CallDeity spells tempt you.

Edward GaviganThe two scepters provide a quick boost toGavigan’s Magic Points that could prove usefulin a crisis. Although Quicken Fog-Spawn is quiteliterally atmospheric, it is debatable whether it isworth the expenditure of both POW and MagicPoints to cast it. Cloud Memory can be used toconceal when an investigator has beenkidnapped and interrogated or to conceal othercrimes committed by the cult. With SendDreams, Gavigan can inflict nightmares uponthe investigators (alternatively, a vision of a falsebeneficial ally can be used to mislead). Steal Lifecan be used offensively as well on a capturedinvestigator. If rescued, his fellow investigatorsshould discover the strangely aged victim whocan relate some clue before expiring. Lastly,remember that Gavigan knows how to use ashotgun—one would-be ambusher in my gamewas surprised when Gavigan whirled on him andlet loose with buckshot at close range.

Keepers’ Utilities40

Tewfik al-SayedTewfik’s Mirror of Gal is a powerful tool, both inits ability to spy upon the group and as a weaponagainst them (though the POW cost for asuccessful kill is high). Unfortunately, Masks ofNyarlathotep provides little in the way ofpersonality notes for Tewfik, especially withregard to his relationship with Gavigan, whichwould clarify his reaction when he discovers theinvestigators. The Keeper should attempt toflesh this out beforehand. See the article“Musings on the London Branch of theBrotherhood of the Black Pharaoh” on page XXfor one approach to this problem.

Omar ShaktiShakti is the first of our “pick a spell” magicians,capable of casting any spell in the rulebook. TheKeeper should choose some appropriate spellsbefore the investigators encounter him, basedon their capabilities and on what has proven tobe effective so far. Especially recommended areFlesh Ward, Vanish (with a prepared box), Fist ofYog-Sothoth, and Grasp of Cthulhu. See the“Keeper’s Notes for Cairo” (on page XX) for morethoughts on this most dangerous villain.

NitocrisTreat as Shakti.

Dr. Ali KafourIf his trust is gained, his spells might aid theinvestigators with red tape, as well as defendingcertain items against magical attack. TheKeeper should refrain from him casting Chantof Thoth unless the group is having particulartrouble.

Tandoor SinghA canny and crafty caster, Singh’s largestproblem is mechanical—he does not have theMagic Points necessary to carry off that nastyspell of his, let alone enough to make anyresistance roll afterward. The easiest solution isfor the Keeper to give him an amulet providing10 Magic Points strictly for the purposes ofresistance rolls made when binding a

summoned being. The “Keeper’s Notes forKenya” describe a likely talisman (on page XX),one that also grants a bonus in summoning andbinding fire vampires.

Old BundariHis most useful spell in the context of the gameis probably Earthly Serenity. He is more a mysticthan a magician. His powers are subtle, butsignificant.

M’WeruThis is one definite exception to the preferredlow-key method of sorcery. Standing next to analtar with hundreds of Magic Points, M’Weru isfree to completely destroy her foes withShrivelling, knock them off the mountain withFist of Yog-Sothoth, and cause excessive carnage.To keep the party from being slaughtered

41Magical Mishaps

Magic,Madness& Mortality

wholesale, the Keeper might allow any MagicPoint contests to be made against M’Weru’spersonal total of 19 rather than the hundreds inthe altar.

The Sand Bat AcolytesThe acolytes’ main advantage is their sheernumbers, allowing them to summon multipleHunting Horrors or to target a singleinvestigator with more than one Shrivellingspell.

Robert HustonGiven his personality, Dominate seems to be thenatural course for Huston. For physical combat,his Lightning Gun will likely be Huston’s firstchoice.

Ho FongUnder the rules given in Call of Cthulhu 6th

Edition rules, the Wave of Oblivion spell changesso that those who do not know the spell cancontribute 1 Magic Point each to meet its costs.Thus, Ho Fong (and Jules Savoyard later) can castthe spell without having to pay the total 30Magic Points cost, provided that some willingworshipers are on hand.

Carl StanfordDo not forget his cane and his magic box.Otherwise, follow the same guidelines as OmarShakti.

Sir Aubrey PenhewFist of Yog-Sothoth may be his best option.

ON THEIR SIDE

It is quite possible that the characters will learnspells as the campaign progresses. Here aresome of the commonly available ones, withthoughts as to their use.

Contact Elder Thing, Create ZombieBoth of these spells have limited applicationwithin the game. Few players will get much useout of them.

Contact Deity/NodensThe remote locations that Nodens favors can befound in practically every chapter of thecampaign. Judging how the Elder God will bereceived, and how much he is willing to do, willbe a difficult task. It is known that Nodens isfriendlier towards artists and dreamers, and hewill likely have more sympathy towards smallerand less heavily armed groups. He might statethat his concerns lie elsewhere, but if nothingelse, contact with Nodens should provide thegroup with some useful tool, such as the Daggerof Thoth (cf. the scenario of that name).

Eibon’s Wheel of MistThis might look like a campaign-busting spell,but it has serious limitations. It takes a while totake effect, the people inside must remainstationary, and they cannot fight back. Withproperly played cultists and monsters, it shouldgive the group an occasional breather, but notenough to derail the campaign.

The Eye of Light and DarknessIf the group puts in the effort to learn andperform this spell, they deserve whateverbenefits it gives. Just bear in mind thatNyarlathotep will throw everything he has atthem while they are casting it.

Magic is fundamental to the world of Call ofCthulhu and Masks of Nyarlathotep. A well-prepared Keeper can strike the right balancebetween drama and fairness when it comes tospell casting, keeping players on their toes, andguaranteeing enjoyment for everyone. Knowyour spell-casters and their spells and you’ll beon solid footing throughout the course of thegame.

Keepers’ Utilities42

The Keeper preparing to run Masks ofNyarlathotep should note that dream visionsplayed a role in the madness of Roger Carlyle aswell as in the mental decline of Jackson Elias,among others. Clearly, Nyarlathotep often usesthe human subconscious as a tool for hisinscrutable purposes and the Keeper shouldemulate him in this.

What follows is a list of potential dreams ornightmares that can beset your investigators.The origins of these dreams is up to the Keeper;obviously, dreams showing informationunknown to the investigators should have somesupernatural origin, be it precognition, the spellSend Dreams, or even Nyarlathotep himself. Thedreams are organized in rough chronologicalorder, as events of the campaign usuallyprogress from New York to London andeastwards from there....

A Keeper might also find Mark Morrison’sarticle “Plagued by Dreams” from H.P. Lovecraft’sKingsport (p. 89-91) to be an excellent source ofinspiration for running these dreams and forcrafting dreams of his own. Bracketed text ismeant as commentary for the Keeper and is notintended for players, while text in italics can beread as a description of a dream if desired.Customization and personalization of thesedreams will greatly add to the horror and isrecommended to the Keeper.

Jackson Elias’ Murder (0/1d2 SAN, possiblymore if Elias was close friend)You are pacing back and forth in a hotel room—it is the Chelsea Hotel! Notes and papers arespread across your bed and desk, interspersedwith photographs and other bits of evidenceabout the Carlyle Expedition. A glance at theclock reveals it is half past 7. You are mutteringto yourself. What you are saying is importantbut you can only hear snatches of it—[these areup to the Keeper; warnings of grave danger, theinvestigators’ names, references to the CarlyleExpedition—this is a chance to remind theinvestigators of a clue overlooked or to givewarning of a coming danger].

You feel a great sense of apprehension anddread. Suddenly there is a knock at the door. Itmust be your friends! You hear yourself saying“Finally, they’re here!” and throw the door open.Instead of your friends you see three men, twoblacks and one white. Suddenly, one of themstrikes you, leaving you stunned. You regainconsciousness to find yourself held fast by two ofthe men while the third scores your foreheadwith a switchblade. You try to cry out at thesting—but your voice is lost in a gag. The bloodweeps from the cuts, rivulets running up anddown your forehead as you swing your headround to see what your tormentors are doing. Ina panic you realize that one man is holding awickedly sharp machete, muttering in somestrange language. You struggle with all yourmight as you see him raise it up above you but to

43Whispers from the

Crawling ChaosUSING DREAMS IN MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP

By Bret Kramer

no avail—there is tremendous, overwhelmingpain as he brings it down, stabbing into yourabdomen. The pain is unbearable and, beggingGod to save you, your world goes dark.

Sacrificed by Cultists (0/1 SAN if victim is astranger, otherwise as above)Similar to the previous dream, this dream placesone of the investigators in the place of thesacrifice of one of the many Nyarlathotep cultsin the campaign. It is up to the Keeper todetermine the circumstances of the dream. If itis a vision of what has happened to someone elseor a vision of the investigator beingoverpowered and killed, be sure to emphasizewhatever clues you hope the investigator takesfrom the dream. The ritual murder weaponshould feature prominently. This can be aparticularly effective dream to inflict upon aninvestigator who abandoned an innocent (oreven worse, a companion) and let them fall intothe clutches of one of the campaign’s cults.

Birth of a Chakota (1/1d2 SAN)A variant on the cult sacrifice nightmare, theinvestigator is the willing victim of the spellCreate Chakota, most likely occurring in thebasement of the Ju-Ju House.

You are surrounded by nude men and women,all wearing a strange headdress [these areBloody Tongue cultists—an Idea roll to identifythem in the dream], all chanting in some foreigntongue [Kikuyu]. A tall African man wearingstrange robes and some sort of tiger claws overhis hands [Mukunga] steps forward and intonesa different chant in an unknown but most viletongue, quietly at first and then with growingvolume. Strangely, you find yourself joining inthe chant, the words joyously tumbling forthfrom your lips. Suddenly you are gripped by aterrible pain—throwing up your arms you seethe people melt away. You collapse to the floor,overwhelmed by painful convulsions. Just asquickly, the pain fades and a new joy is felt… asis a great hunger. A group of three shackled men[these may be previous victims of the cult asdiscussed in the article “Musings on the Cult of

the Bloody Tongue” on page XX] are broughtforward and you feel yourself rise up on a greatblack column that was once your body, your jawopening ever more widely as your meal—for thatis what they are — screams. As they areswallowed, you feel their faces somehow joiningyour own and you see with their eyes.

“Death” of the Carlyle Expedition (1/1d3 SAN)This dream should be similar to, but less potentthan the vision of the expedition from the BentPyramid in the Cairo chapter. Most likely, theinvestigator should experience the dream fromof the point of view of one of the porters,perhaps they might even make a momentaryescape from the slaughter, only to be pursuedand killed by one of the attacking creatures. Ifan investigator seems to identify with or havesome personal connection to (or even hate) oneof the expedition members, perhaps theinvestigator could take their role instead, as theyreveled in the murder and destruction theywrought. The final image should be of theMountain of the Black Wind in the distance,wrapped in the tiny lights of ascending cultistsand surmounted by the writhing Black Wind.

The Black Pharaoh (1/1d2 SAN; bargainers losenothing)This dream works best for an investigator whoeither thinks him or herself beyond the reach ofdanger or who would be tempted by the offerNyarlathotep will make. The Keeper shoulddecide if the vision here is a legitimate sendingfrom the Dark God or just the product of theimagination, and plan accordingly if any bargainis struck. Any gift granted by Nyarlathotepshould come through subtle means and never ina way which directly reveals his involvement. Nopermanent good should come of it, unless indoing so it would further the paranoia of yourinvestigators. The bargain struck allows theKeeper to override one action of an investigatoror some other generally unacceptable momentof Keeper interference, if desired. Generally, thisshould only be done at some crux of thecampaign. Alternatively, after some gravemistake on the character’s part or some failure

Keepers’ Utilities44

of their own making, have Nyarlathotep appearagain, thanking the investigator for their service.

You are alone in your room, half-dozing in achair. You notice the faint scent of incense in theair and hear a strange low noise, something akinto chanting perhaps. You rise from your chairand exit the room into the hallway. Instead offinding the building you expected, you suddenlyare in a large stone chamber of Egyptian style[similar to the throne room from the BentPyramid]. Seated on a throne is a figure in fullEgyptian regalia, a lithe but powerful man withdusky skin. The very air crackles with electricityand occasionally you catch strange movementout of the corner of your eye. The man beckonsyou forward with a casual gesture and when youapproach, he speaks. His voice rushes into yourears, dripping with unspeakable power.

[For the overconfident] “For a moment it amusesme to touch your mind, pathetic creature. Doyou really think in all your fury and action youcan influence my grand plan? Are you soimpossibly confident and foolish to bear suchdelusions?” [His reply of course depends on theinvestigator’s words or deeds and should beadjudicated by the Keeper. Attacks are of no use.The following reply is one possibility, of many.]“I see. In that case, I wish to show yousomething.” He gestures to a dish of water nowfloating between the two of you. Within you cansee the interior of a train. Jackson Elias is seatedin one of the cars, reading a newspaper. Twomen are seated across from him in the car,discussing the difficulties of Europeancolonialism in Africa. For a moment one of themen’s faces darkens, looking a bit like the manon the throne. He then says, “You know youcan’t trust the natives either. Look at whathappened to that millionaire, Roger Carlyle. Hewas supposed to have been killed by some nastytypes… or so they say.” Across the compartment,Elias perks up his ears. A moment later he canbe seen jotting down a quick note on a pad in hispocket.

The dish fades from existence. The other manstares directly into your eyes. You realize with astart that his eyes are bottomless, like holes

opening into the depth of space where galaxieswheel and the very essence of the universeflickers and dies. “Do you truly think that any ofwhat has passed so far has not been part of mywill?” You awaken in your chair, the smell ofincense still heavy in the air.

[Those who can be tempted] “You have anunattained desire, do you not? Give it voice nowand I will fulfill it.” [He will pause for a reply. Ifnone is forthcoming or if asked about the priceof his help, he will reply.] “Of course, your kindexpects there to be a bargain. I will give youwhatever you wish so long as you give to me amoment of your free will, at a time of mychoosing. It is a very simple exchange, is it not?”[He will not bother with bargaining, but he willtempt the wavering investigator with visions ofthe investigator having his desires fulfilled.There should be no dice rolling here - anydecision to aid the Crawling Chaos should be afreely made one. If the investigator agrees, hewill press his hand to their cheek and say “Youhave my thanks. Enjoy the boon I have grantedand the life you will have, but never forget thatwhich you owe me.” If the investigator refuses,have them then experience the first dream asabove.]

Rites at the Misr House (0/1d2 SAN)The investigator is witness to (orsacrificed during) the periodicsacrifice or orgiastic ritualsconducted at theMisr House,as per

45Whispers from...

the campaign book. Captured investigators orothers held by Gavigan (such as the pre-generated character Paul Maclean) can be seenas well. The Servitors of the Outer Gods andShantaks may or may not be witnessed, as perthe Keeper’s wishes—why spoil the surprise?For an extra measure of cruelty, inflict thisdream frequently upon Mr. Maclean’sunfortunate fiancée Helen Coulson.

Beneath the Sphinx (0/1d2 SAN)Similar to the Misr House dream; instead ofwitnessing the rites there the investigator sees(or is a victim at) the rites held beneath the Gizaplateau. The presence of the Nitocris mummy isreasonable foreshadowing—having members ofthe Clive Expedition present is likely too muchof a give-away, however.

The Mountain of the Black Wind (0/1d2 SAN)The investigator is part of the throng ascendingthe mountain. M’weru should definitely be seenand the bloated Hypatia Masters might beglimpsed. The ritual witnessed may either be a(comparatively) mundane one or the ceremonyto open the Great Gate, at the Keeper’s whim.The investigator may be able to determineroughly where he is on Earth if he makes aNavigate roll.

Visions of Hypatia Masters and the Spawn(1/1d2 SAN)The Keeper can have investigators of either sexundergo these visions. Adjust details, genders,etc., as necessary.

Version A: You are at a dance in some unknownglitter palace [a very high-class speakeasy],dancing with a beautiful girl. All around youcouples dance to one hot jazz song after another.Liquor flows freely and spirits are clearly high.Your partner is a very attractive young woman[a halved Idea roll to immediately recognize heras Hypatia Masters]. You dance for a while andshe presses close against you, her body warmand enticing. After a lull in the music, she

whispers a provocative suggestion into your earand the two of you leave the floor, sneaking intoan unlocked private room. There, passions taketheir course. She is beautiful, alluring,irresistible. Your arousal — and hers — isundeniable. Just as your passions reach a climaxyou stare into her eyes and are suddenlyoverwhelmed with terror. She is smiling coolly,almost cruelly, her eyes suddenly pure blackorbs… are those stars...? And she says to you in avoice as deep as the sky, “Behold and despair!”You stagger back from her, as her belly, no—herabdomen—begins to swell, suddenly glowing. Allthe while, the girl is laughing madly, ceaselessly.The light from her grows too bright to lookupon, the brightest point a strange tri-part eyethat you are certain stares down on you. Youawaken.

Version B: You awake to find yourself strappedto a hospital gurney. You are dressed in apatient’s gown and almost immediately you seethat you are in the final days of pregnancy. Asyou struggle against your bonds a doctor entersthe room. He is slender, darkly handsome, butyou loathe him immediately. You know thatyou’ve met him before, but the memory of whohe is or where you’ve met fades as you try torecall it. He wears a large gold ring on his righthand (the other is covered by a glove), whichmakes a cold clinking sound as he grips hold ofthe arms of the gurney. He is speaking to you,but you are solely focused on his hand—the flecksof dried blood along his cuticles first, and thenthe gem in his ring. It is a ruby—no, onyx— andit seems to soak in almost all the light. Deepwithin it you see tiny flecks of light… stars...? Youare startled when he grasps hold of your armsand speaks. “The time has come. You need notbe afraid, it will be over quickly.” His voice iscruel, almost mocking. You feel him place ahand on your distended belly and he whispers afew words in an inhuman tongue. Suddenly, youfeel the baby within you quicken for the firsttime. A weird glow suffuses your body—it is as ifyou are being illuminated from within. You feela sudden and sharp pain and the child movesand you resume your struggle against yourbonds, to no use. The doctor has suddenly gone,but your thoughts are focused on your greatpain and the ever-increasing light from your

Keepers’ Utilities46

womb, which has grown larger—far larger thanyou know it should—and become translucent. Itis with this realization that you begin a ceaselessscream, for the child you bear is no baby, butsomething far greater and far worse than anyman, as you know from the bright red shine ofits great tri-lobed eye. You awaken.

Grey Dragon Island Rites (0/1d2 SAN)The dreamer should be witness to the islet’smany Deep One hybrids and most likely to someof the Order of the Bloated Womanmembership, perhaps even Penhew himself. Ifsomehow an investigator bears the taint of theDeep Ones, this dream may accelerate histransformation. Like the dream about theMountain of the Black Wind above, this visionmay be of a regular ceremony or of the ritual toopen the Great Gate, though in the latter casethe rocket’s launch can be observed, perhapsmistaken for a bizarre eruption.

In the City of the Great Race (0/1 SAN)You are alone and in the dark. When you cryout, your voice echoes from distant walls. As yougrope along blindly, you feel your feet kickingaside great heaps of sand or dust and the airsmells strange and flat, almost lifeless. After aseeming eternity you discover a gently slopingramp which you begin to follow in hopes offinding a way out. As you slowly climb the rampyou see a faint light in the far distance, almosttoo faint even for your now hypersensitive eyesto notice. You follow the light, first along theramp and then across a vast cavern—you canfeel dry and brittle stalagmites here and there—and finally find it comes from a long, featurelesshallway, nearly fifty-feet across and just as high.The ever growing light comes from the end of thecorridor, along which you now begin to move atan increasing pace. You are overcome with theimpulse to charge forward and you burst onto agreat ledge overlooking a chamber of vastproportions. The ceiling is clearly cave-like butthe floor is filled with vast squat buildings manystories in height. Some are weird towers girdedby broad ramps while others are flat-toppedpyramids. It is from the top of one of thesepyramids that both the light and the noise you

have just now noticed comes. Atop the structure,perhaps a quarter of a mile across the room anda few hundred feet below, on a flat zone perhapsfifty-feet square, are gathered several dozen men.Some are white, others darker, and they arechanting and dancing around a burning oildrum (there are also strings of electric lightsrunning down a ramp on the pyramid to severalother locations in the room). Some carry smallclubs, which they brandish frequently.Occasionally the chanted words can beunderstood; some in an unknown language [aregional aboriginal dialect; a Know roll ispossible for Australians or linguists], others inEnglish, which are prayers cried out to “theFather of All Bats.” At the climax of theirchanting, a board is placed across the barrel,extinguishing it, leaving the room in darkness…save for the strange glowing red eyes of a greatcreature above the gathered throng. You feelthose same eyes turn and look at you. Youawaken.

Creation of the Great Gate (1/1d2 SAN)You are a crewman on a freighter of some sort,hard at work at some machinery [a Know roll torecognize the boiler room] when the ship isrocked by some sort of dull reverberation.Through the voice pipes, the first mate calls for afull stop and there is a queer commotion amongthe men. You are sent topside by the engineer tosee what the matter is and when you reach thedesk, you are stopped dead in your tracks. Highabove you, the Sun has been eclipsed by theMoon, but this is not what is most strange.Below the eclipse you see an amorphous purple-black cloud from which a shower of glowingsparks is descending. As you stand dumblywatching, the cloud grows and seems to pulse,throwing out smoky strands—almost like limbs.You are snapped back to attention when one ofthe sparks falling from the cloud lands with atremendous hiss just a few hundred yards off thestarboard bow, throwing a plume of water andsteam. The crew is in a panic now, but your gazereturns to the sky above where the cloud isparting in the middle. Through the very middleof it you see the dark night’s sky but the way itmoves is almost like the opening of a great andterrible eye… you awake suddenly, gripped with

47Whispers from...

an inexplicable panic, like you’d only barelymanaged to escape a terrible fate.

If the Keeper desires, some details from thedream will hint toward the general location ofthe ship but nothing too specific should berecalled.

The Nyarlathotep Museum (1/1d3 SAN)You find yourself in a large and prestigiousmuseum, familiar and yet at the same time new.It is filled with many exhibits showing antiquesof great value from all the peoples of the world.There are medieval tapestries and fine Chinesevases, Mayan stelae and African tribal fetishes,Greek bronzes and Indian textiles. There areeven rooms full of the artifacts of culturesunknown to you—a mosaic depicts a race ofgolden-eyed men with strange ears, in anotheryou see what looks to be a great Olmec head, butexecuted in brass. It is a menagerie thatstaggers the imagination. The common threadconnecting them, at least the ones you recognize,is that they are depictions of various divinities.You pause before an Egyptian bust of what mustbe a pharaoh. A card beside it says “Nephren-Ka,the Black Pharaoh”; as you turn to walk awayyou brush the card, causing it to fall. Hiddenbehind it is a metal plate bearing a singlecurious word—“Nyarlathotep.” You examine thenext artifact, a ceremonial robe from Asia,executed in fine green and black silk, depictinga colossal human figure playing some sort ofhorn and surrounded by a host of tiny dancers.Looking down at its card, you see it crumble intodust - revealing another metal plate bearing theword “Nyarlathotep.”

You turn and hurry out of the room, entering areplica of a medieval chapel with stained glassdepicting the crucifixion. A motto above Christ’shead cracks suddenly and tumbles to the floor.In the void left, the word “Nyarlathotep” hangsin the air in burning letters. All at once, yourealize you are in great danger. A million eyesall stare at you from every corner. Everywhereyou turn, there is another “Nyarlathotep”—everypiece bears its name and countenance. You runnow, holding back a terrified scream. Through

one gallery to another you charge forward,through rooms displaying the work of inhumancultures not of this age and vaults of artifacts ofspecies long dead of worlds distant. All are“Nyarlathotep.” At last you reach the building’sdoors and plunge through them. Outsideeverything is horribly wrong. Nothing haschanged, but in every face, in every thing, in theair, even in the spinning black void that hasreplaced the Sun, all of these are Nyarlathoteptoo.... You awaken.

Depending on the background of theinvestigator, certain details of the dream shouldbe altered; if the investigator is a specialist inMayan history, the scene in the chapel might bereplaced with a similar one revealingNyarlathotep to be Tezcatlipoca; a zealousMarxist would find a copy of Das Kapital thatwas written by Nyarlathotep, etc. The Keepermay grant the unfortunate sufferer of thisdream a single point of Cthulhu Mythos.

“Nyarlathotep” (1/1d2 SAN)We need only turn toward the dreams ofLovecraft himself, in particular his dream-inspired “Nyarlathotep,” with the investigatortaking the part of that poem’s narrator. See theIntroduction of the Companion for a copy.Alternatively, if the Keeper has the investigatorsuncovering more of Elias’ papers as thecampaign progresses (as discussed on page XX),Elias himself may have experienced this dreamand written it down.

The World After the Gate is Opened (1/1d4 SAN)This dream should be used to cajoleinvestigators who are considering abandoningtheir quest to thwart the Dark God and shouldonly be used sparingly. The location isnominally New York City, but should be changedto reflect the nationality and preferences of theinvestigator.

The sunlight awakens you. You are in JacksonElias’ old room at the Chelsea Hotel but it is nothow you remember it—you are atop a bare

Keepers’ Utilities48

mattress, the furniture is gone, and the door hasbeen nailed shut from the inside. There is a smellof ozone, chlorine, and sulfur in the air… as youawaken, you realize that the sunlight is muchruddier than normal, like a sunset. You aredressed in a tattered suit that is badly torn inseveral places. In the distance you hear whatsounds like thunder or perhaps the sound ofartillery.

Rising from your rough bed, you make your wayto the fire escape and climb down to the alleybelow. It is filled with great heaps of trash,including the burned shell of a car… the modelis unfamiliar to you, oddly bulbous and of agarish color, but the manufacturer is a popularone. At the end of the alley a broadsheet poster,slapped over an advertisement for hair tonic,loudly proclaims “SEE NYARLATHOTEP THEAMAZING!” Reaching the street you are startledto see that nearly every streetlamp bears a nooseand most of the nooses are occupied by somesorry victim, now dead many months or more.The street is littered with wrecked cars,overturned carts, and all manner of debris. Hereand there are human bodies in various states ofdecay; their poses suggest a great panic.

You make your way through the ruined citynorthward, toward Central Park. Thedestruction and death you encountered earlieris everywhere and inescapable. At times you feelyou are being watched, but you see no signs oflife apart from the occasional rat (large andmisshapen ones at that) and the strange birdsyou can see circling high above in the duskyorange sky. At an intersection you find the wreckof an overturned bus. Someone has splashed thesymbol for the Cult of the Bloody Tongue[alternatively the Keeper could select someother symbol] on the roof in brown paint.

Reaching the park, you suddenly behold a sceneof mass horror—bodies heaped like cordwood ingreat mounds and crawling over these heaps ofhuman remains are things that, though theywalk on two legs, cannot be called men. Beyondthe great mortuary mounds you can see signsthat a great fire has destroyed much of the citybeyond… as you silently survey the awful scene

you are suddenly aware that some great force ismoving across the land. A great three-leggedtitan strides—that sound you have been hearingis its footsteps - across the open land of the park,its two clawed appendages swinging as it moveswhile its terrible sinuous red head twitches and it writhes. Suddenly it stops in its movement andturns its bulk towards you. Though it lacks whatmen would call eyes, you know that its gaze hasfallen upon you as it lets off a terrible, roaring,nightmare of a howl. You feel the very air growelectric as the sky above you grows gelid andcoalesces into blasphemous semblances of beingstoo awful of which to speak. Doom overtakesyou and… you awaken.

49Whispers from...

Nyarlathotep, it is said, has 999 forms. Whetherthis is an accurate count or literary short-handfor “many” is beside the point; only a handful offorms appear in the campaign. These are theBlack Pharaoh/Nephren-Ka (Egypt), the God ofthe Bloody Tongue (Kenya), the Black Wind(Kenya), the Bloated Woman (Shanghai), theFather of All Bats (Australia), and the SmallCrawler (India) – the latter in name only. AKeeper wanting to expand the already vastscope of Masks of Nyarlathotep need only lookto one of Nyarlathotep’s other forms forinspiration.

What follows are two lists; the first namesthose avatars that seem best suited as additionsto the campaign along with some suggestionson how best to accomplish this. The second listis of all the forms taken by the Crawling Chaosthat this author could uncover.1 The best source(or sources) of information about eachparticular avatar is provided after the name;those marked with (F) are from fiction ratherthan from any game material. Underlinednames indicate entities and concepts comingfrom real-world religions and mythologies.When in doubt, the first place to turn to is theMalleus Monstrorum, which covers many ofthese “masks” on pages 180 to 208. Likewise, the

Encyclopedia of the Cthulhu Mythos is anexcellent resource.

CAMPAIGN AVATARS

Ahtu - Secrets of Kenya, “Than Curse theDarkness” (F)Also known as “The Spiraling Worm,” thisbeing’s cult is strongest in the Belgian Congoand has some ties to the Cult of the BloodyTongue. If investigators decide to follow NevilleJermyn on his search for the city of the WhiteGorilla, Ahtu and its cult make good potentialfoes. Otherwise, the relative proximity of thecult makes it a viable addition to the campaign.

Aku-Shin Kage - Secrets of JapanHints from Ho Fong’s warehouse in Shanghaisuggest some connection to Tokyo and thisparticularly bloody avatar makes a good choicefor Japanese cultists (assuming that they are nota branch of the Order of the Bloated Woman).Also known as “The Dark Warlord” andappearing sometimes as the historical figure

Keepers’ Utilities50The (Other) Masks of

NyarlathotepBy Bret Kramer

“And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying,My name is Legion: for we are many.”

Mark 5:9

1. This list does not cover the range of titles given to Nyarlathotep (The Crawling Chaos, the All-Seeing-Eye, the Black Messenger of Kar-neter, The Father of the Million Favored Ones, etc.,) nor does it list every possible variation on individual names (e.g. Niarlat, Narlato, Nyhar rut hotep, etc.,) since they do not represent distinct forms.

Oda Nobunaga, a 16th century Japanese daimyo,this avatar encourages brutality, war, and (asNobunaga) violent nationalism.

Isoge, the Japanese naval intelligence officer,may become involved because he is reallyinvestigating this problem, and has found a linkto the Japanese sect.

The Haunter of the Dark - “Coming of Age”from Unseen Masters, The Haunter of theDark (F)Though the Father of All Bats (also known as “Flythe Light”) is already discussed in the campaign,the other cults surrounding this avatar’sworship are distinct enough from theirAustralian counterparts to warrant a mention.The Keeper looking to presage the Australiachapter might consider having some connectionbetween the Great Gate conspiracy and theStarry Wisdom cult of Providence, R.I. Recallalso that the Shining Trapezohedron is said tohave come from Nephren-Ka; perhaps a risenNitocris will seek it for her own inscrutablepurposes?

Shugoran - “Tiger Transit” from Delta Green:Countdown, Black Man with a Horn (F)This south Asian horror, primarily worshiped bythe vile Tcho-tcho people, would make a goodaddition to the campaign geographically, as theFederated Malay States (and the great port ofSingapore) lie between Mombassa, Shanghai,and Port Hedland. What role the Black Manwith a Horn has to play in the greater campaignis left up to the Keeper to decide.

Tick-Tock Man - Ramsey Campbell’sGoatswood, I Dream of Wires (F)Perhaps this being is in some way involved inthe creation of the technological wondersbehind Penhew’s rocket. The historical exampleof John Murray Spear’s 1854 attempt to createthe “New Motive Power” (also called “The GodMachine” by critics) might offer inspiration.

ALL AVATARS

Baron Samedi – New Orleans Guidebook

The Beast – The Day of the Beast

The Black Bull – Im Zeichen des Stiers (In theSign of the Bull)

The Black Demon – “One in Darkness” from TheGreat Old Ones

The Black Lion – Nyarlathophis: A Fable ofAncient Egypt (F)

The Black Man/The White Man – Return toDunwich, The Devil’s Children

The Bringer of Pests – “Ten Commandments ofCthulhu Hunting” from Cthulhu Casebook

The Crawling Mist – Elysia (F)

The Dark Demon – The Dark Demon (F)

The Dweller in Darkness – The Dweller inDarkness (F).

The Effigy of Hate – “Regiment of Dread” fromTales of the Miskatonic Valley

The Faceless One/God – The Faceless God (F)

The Father of Knives

The Floating Horror – The Floating Horror (F)

The Green Man – “Eyes for the Blind” from DarkDesigns

The High Priest Not to be Named/Thing in theYellow Mask – The Dream-Quest of UnknownKadath (F). Also discussed in H.P. Lovecraft’sDreamlands.

51(Other) Masks

The Horned Man – Return to Dunwich

The Host – The Star Pools (F)

Jack O’Lantern/Halloween Man – “Halloweenin Dunwich” from Halloween Horror

Kokopelli – Kokopelli (F)

The Kruschtya Equation

Lrogg – Ramsey Campbell’s Goatswood, TheInsects from Shaggai (F)

The Masked Messenger – Secrets of Kenya

Messenger of the Old Ones – “The Rise ofR’lyeh” from Shadows of Yog-Sothoth

Nyarlatophis – Nyarlathophis: A Fable of AncientEgypt (F)

Pazzuzu – “The Priestess” from Last Rites

The Pool of Shadow – The Arkham Evil

The Queen in Red – Stark Raving Mad!

Set – “The Sun-Dial of Amen-Tet” from LurkingFears

The Skeletal Horror – “Thoth’s Dagger” fromCthulhu Casebook

The Skinless One/Xipe Totec – Horror on theOrient Express

Tezcatlipoca – A Resection of Time

Thoth – “Thoth’s Dagger” from CthulhuCasebook

The Wailing Writher – Escape from Innsmouth

The Wicker Man

Keepers’ Utilities52Human formsNyarlathotep, as in H.P. Lovecraft’s work by thattitle, has taken on a number of human guises. Theaccuracy of the following list is left to theindividual Keeper; if everyone is Nyarlathotep,what would be the point?

! Stephen Alzis (Delta Green: Eyes Only) ! Lostalus Black (Shadows of Yog-Sothoth)! Randal Flagg a.k.a. Marten Broadcloak,

Richard Fannin, Leland Gaunt, Walter o’Dim,and many others (various Stephen Kingstories, especially The Dark Tower series)(F)

! Jesus of Nazareth (The Dreaming Stone)! Adolph Hitler (Delta Green)! Dr. Ravana Najar (Escape from Innsmouth)! Mr. Skin (‘Funk-a-thulhu’ from Toying with

Humans)! Gen. Harley Patton (Delta Green)! The Royal Pant (At Your Door)

There are undoubtedly many more.

The Keeper can take inspiration from any of thehuman forms listed here, especially from TheDreaming Stone, for running investigatorencounters with Nyarlathotep (such as in theBent Pyramid).

Jackson EliasThe Cause of the Horror

A lot of weight is placed on the shoulders ofpoor Jackson Elias—it is his death, after all, thatis supposed to provide the impetus drivingplayers into the greater mystery of the CarlyleExpedition. While other interests (saving theworld from utter destruction, for example) willhopefully propel the investigators to the end ofthe campaign, a mixture of revenge andcuriosity over the murder of their adventurousfriend is critical to launch the campaign. While

some players are more thanwilling to base their headlongrush into the darkness solely ona few paragraphs in a handout,others need a less obvious sortof coaxing. This articlediscusses some methods thatthe Keeper can use to integrateJackson Elias into his gamebefore Masks of Nyarlathotepbegins, providing both bettermotivated players and a usefulNPC, as well as some tips formaking use of him once thecampaign begins.

INTRODUCING ELIAS

Presuming that your investigators have at leasta vaguely sketched-out background, there aresome obvious points where Elias can beconnected to one or more characters. Generallyspeaking, investigators who have spent sometime abroad, especially in locations visited byElias as per his books (see page XX for specifics),may have encountered Elias there. Professionalauthors, journalists, and occultists may have runacross him during their work (though true-believer style occultists might not care too muchfor him), while soldiers, sailors, explorers, and

big game hunters may have had a brief meetingwith him as well.

The choice for the Keeper is whether Elias isto be met in play (“Pleased to make youracquaintance. My name is Jackson Elias…”) or ifhe is introduced via the narrative provided bythe Keeper (“You remember an Americanreporter you met in Leopoldville once…”). Theformer option simply requires a bit of Keeperplanning whereas the latter, so long as it isskillfully handled, should be seamless. In thiscase, the Keeper should strive for two things—plausibility and utility. Elias, if he is an “oldchum,” should only be encountered by theinvestigators under reasonable circumstances:there is a much greater chance he just happensto be in Boston than he is also incarcerated inthe same obscure Peruvian jail as theinvestigators. Additionally, Elias’ presenceshould provide some benefit to theinvestigators, either through his expertise (inlanguages, people, customs) or his distinct skills(particularly interpersonal ones; Elias seemsremarkably adept in making friends).

When met, Elias should provide aid to theparty, not vice versa. If the investigators aretrying to make sense of the ranting diary of anexplorer now missing along the Orinoco, havean investigator recall Elias as an expert on theregion. If the party is mounting an expeditionto Timbuktu, have their department chairsuggest him as a resource. Having alighted fromtheir ship, Elias could step in and smooth oversome minor problem on the quay with theSingapore customs officers. Whatever thecircumstances, if Elias is friendly and helpful(but not too helpful as that tends to raisesuspicions), most players will at leastreciprocate.

When portraying Elias, particularly duringan initial encounter, be sure to remember his

Jackson Elias54Using Jackson Elias

By Bret Kramer, with James Morton

charm, curiosity, and openness to newexperiences. Elias is a seasoned traveler, neverjaded; he is overwhelmed by wanderlust and adesire to see new horizons. Don’t make toomuch of him if he will distract from the focus ofthe scenario, just be sure that he makes animpression.

ELIAS IN AN ONGOINGGAME

Once Elias has been established as a friend andally to the investigators, it is sensible to havehim make occasional appearances in yourongoing campaign. Investigators may call onhim (through telegrams, expensiveinternational telephone calls, or even by post) toanswer questions or to provide backgroundinformation on the topics that he is a specialistin, such as cults.

Another way to maintain contact betweeninvestigators and Elias is to have Eliasperiodically send his friends a copy of his latestbook (see the article “Jackson Elias’ Books” onpage XX) or even simply the occasional postcardor telegram. A short dedication inside the frontcover (“Thanks for your help in Goa, JE”) may bein order, and might help cement a relationshipbetween the author and the investigator.Remember that some of Elias’ books offer skillchecks, which should pique even the mostcallous player’s interest in staying in touch withtheir old pal.

The one critical caveat to any use of Elias isthat the Keeper should work to make sure thatElias is never personally exposed to the forces ofthe Cthulhu Mythos. Elias is foremost a skepticand should remain so until he discovers thedeadly conspiracy behind the Carlyle Expedition.Knowledge of the Mythos would certainly haveaffected the way in which this intrepid reporterwould have handled the case—perhaps he wouldhave left it alone altogether!

This monograph provides one scenario, “TheGod of Mitnal,” which has Elias calling upon theplayers for assistance in an investigation. AKeeper can also adapt other scenarios to involveElias in some way, making his sudden murder all

the more shocking. Thescenario “Well of Sacrifice” fromMysteries of Mesoamerica, ifadjusted to remove theexplicitly Mythos content is oneoption from the same region.The greatest necessity for any ofthese is that Elias remainsalive… at least until January 15,1925.

There are two approaches toensuring his continued survival—either keeping Elias out ofharm’s way, or by usingserendipity to save him shouldevents turn sour. This authorprefers the former but allows that, if usedsparingly, Elias can be allowed to escape fromdanger as needed. The investigators should notview Elias’ continued survival as a Keeper fiatthough. If Elias seems just a bit lucky to havelived so long and is thought of by theinvestigators as a perennial survivor, the horrorof his murder might be ever so much thegreater.

HELP FROM BEYOND THEGRAVE

Even after his death, Elias can continue to play arole in the campaign in an indirect fashion (see“Unquiet Spirit: A Séance with Jackson Elias” onpage XX for more a directapproach). Elias visited a greatmany places in his pursuit of thetruth about the CarlyleExpedition and it is possiblethat he may have stored,hidden, or given to someone inconfidence, some piece of usefulevidence that he uncoveredduring his investigation. In thiscase the Keeper might rely uponJonah Kensington or someother ally or friendly contact ofElias’ (Mickey Mahoney,Johnstone Kenyatta, Jack Brady,etc.,—see “Tent-pole NPCs” onpage XX for further suggestions) to point the

55Using Jackson Elias

investigators toward some helpful stash of cluesfrom Elias. Remember that Elias made friendseasily and managed to keep them even as hetraveled the world, so at every stop along theway there might be help waiting, even if it issimply someone who remembers Elias fondlyand might be more willing to offer aid becauseof their mutual friendship.

Elias’ clues could be something as simple asKensington mailing the investigators the key toa safe-deposit box in London (which justreached him, curse that foreign postal system!),or as complex as an encrypted sheet from anotepad left in Shanghai.1 Use this option tospur your investigators when they're stuck, butcarefully match the clues and complexity withyour players' abilities.

KILLING ELIAS

Finally, when the time comes, you will need topull the trigger on Jackson Elias and have himkilled by that trio of Bloody Tongue cultists. If

desired, you might want to let the investigatorsknow that during the months before his deaththeir friend Jackson was absent for some time. Amutual friend might ask after him, perhaps evenJonah Kensington himself. Broad hints thatJackson is acting unusually will bear dividendswhen the campaign begins. Alternatively, if aninvestigator has some skill or knowledge thatElias might see as useful in his investigation ofthe Carlyle Expedition, have him send a terselyworded telegram questioning the player. Makesure any contact with Elias avoids revealing hisspecific interests before the time is right.

At long last, when Jackson Elias contacts theinvestigators to arrange their meeting at theChelsea Hotel, if all has gone well, you will nothave to explain that his behavior is strange orthat his demeanor is wholly unlike his usual self;the players will instead simply compare the manthey knew to the man calling on them now.Their anxiety will be all the greater when theyascend the elevator to the fourth floor; theirhorror absolute when they open the door toroom 410…

57Using Jackson Elias

1. We offer two tidbits from Elias in Hong Kong and in Shanghai. See pages XX and XX.

JACKSON ELIAS, Investigators’ Friend & AllySTR 13 CON 14* SIZ 10 INT 15 POW 18 DEX 9 APP 12 EDU 15 SAN 90 HP 12Idea 75% / Know 75% / Luck 90%. Damage Bonus: +0*Elias’ CON will be higher when he is younger, before his foreign travels.Attacks: Fist 68%, 1d3+dbSkills: Anthropology 61%, Credit Rating 32%, Fast Talk 68%, Library Use

83%, Occult 45%, Persuade 86%, Psychology 49%Languages: Afrikaans 18%, Amazonian Tribal Dialects 22%, Arabic 9%,

Cantonese 16%, Dutch 22%, English 94%, French 38%, German21%, Hindi 16%, Latin 16%, Portuguese 49%, Quechua 37%,Spanish 86%, Turkish 11%

Special abilities: Ear for Languages - Elias is a quick study of human languages and tends to learn themwith comparative ease. For each week that he is immersed in a language, Elias gains 1d5% inthat language (to a maximum of 40%). If the language uses the Roman alphabet, his skillpercentage is for both the written and the spoken form, otherwise his reading ability will onlyrise 1% per week. His facility in the new language declines at 1% per month after he is nolonger immersed in it, to a minimum of 10% (or his current skill rating, whichever is lower).

One important note - Elias’ skills will change over time. The statistics given for Elias are those possessedjust before he embarks on his pursuit of the Carlyle mystery. A Keeper should feel free toadjust them as needed depending on the circumstances. Elias is intended to be a strong-willed and charismatic journalist who is a remarkable, but not superhuman, being.

While they won’t be of any particular use duringthe campaign, it is possible that curiousinvestigators will take an interest in the otherbooks of Jackson Elias. Alternatively, a Keeperwho has introduced Elias into his games beforerunning Masks of Nyarlathotep could have Eliasperiodically publish books and mail them to hisdear old friends.

The Keeper should use the following list as aguide to the contents of Elias’ earlier works andchange them as necessary to make them anoptimal fit for his campaign. The works all showsomething of Elias himself and the Keepershould stress his inquisitiveness, relentlessdetermination, skill as an interviewer, andwillingness to take risks. All of the books werepublished by Prospero Press and are availablefrom Jonah Kensington. Each book has asuggested skill increase (or in some cases skillcheck) if the reader takes the necessary time toread and study it fully.

Skulls Along the River (1910)Elias’ first book (though he had some individualstories published before) this is an unvarnishedand very readable account of Elias’ journey tothe headwaters of the Amazon River in search ofa legendary tribe of headhunters, the Jivaro-Shuar. While some of the content is shocking,Elias’ skill as a writer and gift for language areclear, as was his ability to gain the trust of thenatives, and the book was a solid seller.

Two weeks to read; skills bonus:Anthropology +1, Survival: Jungle +1.

Masters of the Black Arts (1912)An expanded collection of articles written byElias, this book is an unsystematic compilationof various sorcerers throughout history. Topicsincluded Hecate, Egyptian curses, AlbertusMagus, Kabbalah, Agrippa, Chinese Geomancy,John Dee’s angel communication, vonReichenbach and the Odic force, and the GoldenDawn. While by no means comprehensive, Elias’strength is his ability to write for a generalaudience without any sense of condescension.Readers will note his overriding skepticism anddistain for charlatans.

One month to read; skill bonus: Occultcheck.

The Way of Terror (1913)Elias compares the methods by which a numberof cults indoctrinate and control theirmembership. The comparisons reflect a numberof core practices common to such groups,including indoctrination, control of food,removal from regular society, etc. The authorclearly sets himself in opposition to suchpractices and vehemently condemns modernmovements utilizing them.

One week to read; skill bonus: Psychology +1.

The Smoking Heart (1915)Following up on his work in South America, Eliasundertook a number of trips to Central Americaand the Yucatan in particular. Basing much ofhis work off of local oral tradition andinterviews, the picture he paints of ancientMayan society is in stark contrast to the utopianastronomer view currently in vogue. His mostshocking suggestion is that many local religious

Jackson Elias58The Books of Jackson Elias

By Bret Kramer

practices are holdovers from before the Spanishconquest.

Three weeks to read; skill bonus:Anthropology +1.

Sons of Death (1918)This work examines the Thuggee, in history andin modern times. Perhaps Elias’ mostcontroversial work, this book claims that theThuggee cult was not extinguished by theBritish during the nineteenth century, but hadsurvived elsewhere (particularly in London andSouth Africa). During the course of hisinvestigations, Elias claims to have joined aSouth African branch of the group and presentsevidence that the group was still committingritual murders.

One month to read; skill bonuses: History +1,Anthropology +1.

Witch Cults of England (1920)Elias spent a year in the United Kingdomresearching witch trials and interviewing

modern practitioners of what he terms aswitchcraft, generally solitary practitioners andfragments from the Golden Dawn or like groups.The book itself outlines the history, such as it is,of witchcraft in Great Britain up until themodern day. Elias’ portrayal of witches issympathetic and he views witch hysteria as theworst sort of mob mentality.

One month to read; skill bonus: Occultcheck.

The Black Power (1921)His most recent work was an expanded andrevised version of The Way of Terror,incorporating a wider number of cults,particularly ones from Asia and Africa. The workis a clear improvement over the original and ismore tightly edited and organized. While Eliasstill clearly despises those who exploit others viacultic practices, he allows his evidence topersuade readers rather than simplycondemning it himself.

One month to read; skill bonus: Psychology +2.

59The Books

Witchcraft!Jackson Elias didn’t find Häxan-styledevil worship in England.

Sometimes elements of a campaign cometogether unexpectedly, and even with acampaign as vast and famous as Masks ofNyarlathotep, the Keeper should be prepared forplayer ingenuity trumping its authors’ planning.While usually these moments can be finessedwith a bit of quick thinking (as well aspreparation), there are a few moments when alittle forethought can go a long way topreserving the integrity of the game.

Consider for a moment that the core of thecampaign is first the quest to uncover theparties and motivation behind the murder ofJackson Elias, followed by the resultant discoveryof the conspiracy behind the “disappearance” ofthe Carlyle Expedition. When the investigatorsreach Cairo it is likely that they will encounterthe Clive expedition’s medium, AgathaBroadmoor. With her 75% chance to “contactthe soul of a specific dead person,” it might bepossible for the investigators to resolve much ofthe campaign’s mystery with a simple séance. Inwhich case, what is a Keeper to do?

The simplest solution is mere Keeper fiat—have Broadmoor killed or kidnapped, or haveher proclaim that his soul is gone (eaten byNyarlathotep as a sort of amuse-bouche, nodoubt) and thus cannot be contacted.Obviously, this is not a particularly elegant fixand may appear to players, especially those whostruggled mightily to gain her service, as a cop-out. Successful Call of Cthulhu “Keeping”depends on a certain level of trust on the part ofboth players and investigators, and dangling thecarrot of a genuine medium before the groupand then yanking it away stands a good chanceof damaging this trust.1 Or as Lovecraft put it,

“…doe not call up Any that you can not putdowne.”

Aside from simply barring this course ofaction, the Keeper has several good options fordealing with the situation. If Elias is contacted,there is no guarantee that he will be in a “fit”state to answer any questions. After all, hismurder was as cruel as it was abrupt and so hemight not be fully aware of what happened tohim. Witnessing a display of your good friendJackson Elias’ psychic suffering should surelyhave a cost in Sanity points as should actuallyinforming him that he was brutally murdered.Elias’ spirit should, at best, be undertremendous emotional strain, which after all,was his state just prior to his death. Considerhow incoherent Elias’ London notes were. It iseven possible that the horror of his finalmoments pushed him over the edge of madness.A ranting, lunatic spirit Elias is unlikely to be theclearest source of information.

Darker possibilities abound—what if Elias isnot just insane but in his final momentsembraced all that he had opposed? Hearing theman you are trying to avenge praise the God ofthe Bloody Tongue or shout prayers to the BlackPharaoh should certainly sap an investigator’swill. Worse yet, what if Nyarlathotep himselfshould decide to force his way into Broadmoorjust as her séance with Elias’ spirit is on the cuspof endangering his plans? Imagine your players’reaction when she suddenly shifts from the (atbest) confused and frightened Elias into thecold, mocking, mighty voice of the CrawlingChaos. Certainly Miss Broadmoor will probablybe worse for wear should this happen, and in alllikelihood she will refuse to hold a séance for

Jackson Elias60Unquiet Spirits:A Séance with Jackson Elias

By Bret Kramer

1. Especially since the villains themselves are using her to contact Nitocris.

61Unquiet Spirits

Steven HughesOne of the pre-generated characters provided for the London chapter, Steven Hughes, is a professional(albeit fake) medium and clairvoyant (see page XX). If the Keeper desires, instead of being introduced as areplacement character, it is possible that Mick Mahoney suggests Mr. Hughes to the party for his services asa medium. While the editor of The Scoop is clearly cynical, it is not improbable that he might be taken in byHughes enough to think of him as genuine. In this case, Hughes will attempt learn all he can about Elias inadvance in order to bamboozle the investigators; hopefully they will be cunning enough to see through sucha charade.

Alternatively, if Hughes is being used as an investigator, his shock at encountering a genuine medium likeBroadmoor will be particularly acute. The Keeper should feel free to inflict the maximum Sanity cost onHughes should he bear witness to one of her sessions, perhaps even more so if she contacts someone hehas previously claimed to have reached ‘beyond the veil.’ Undoubtedly, such an encounter would have asignificant impact on the character, possibly transforming him from a cynical and skeptical manipulator to azealot for the cause, driving him to the bottle, or even destroying his remaining sanity.

them again, assuming that her mind and bodyremain intact. Though more often said of theKing in Yellow, it is a terrible thing to fall intothe hands of a living god.

From a pragmatic perspective, if theinvestigators have visited London and conductedtheir research both there and in Cairo, howmuch more does Elias know than theinvestigators? Probably not enough to spoil theoutcome of the campaign because Elias’ preciseknowledge of the plan to open the Great Gate isuncertain (his main source is Brady, after all). Allhe knows for certain is the date of the ritual, andthe probable location of the cult’s ritual sites,though his awareness of the City of the GreatRace and Grey Dragon Island is unclear. He alsoknows that Carlyle broke some kind of magicalseal while the Carlyle Expedition was in Egypt.Much of what Elias is aware of should by now beold news to the investigators, otherwise theywould not have embarked on their globe-trotting campaign. Other specific information,such as Ho Fong being the head of the Order ofthe Bloated Woman cult in Shanghai or thatTandoor Singh is a cultist, and so on, may or maynot be known to him as the Keeper sees fit.Ideally, Elias should relate just enough to spurthe investigators toward whatever locale theKeeper wishes, and little more.

Finally, the Keeper should treat a séancecontacting Elias as an opportunity to create agreat gaming moment. Build upon the dramaand inherent tension in such a scene—dim the

lights perhaps oreven have the playershold hands while youplay the role ofBroadmoor. Be ready toinflict Sanity rolls and ifpossible prepare somederanged dialogue forElias or even amenacing speech fromNyarlathotep himselfbeforehand. A littlepreparation can makeit quite memorable.

Jackson Elias - “…doe not call upAny that you can not put downe.”

KEEPER’S INTRODUCTION

This prelude to Masks of Nyarlathotep isdesigned to be played in one or two sessions asa light introduction to the campaign. Like thebulk of the main campaign, it can be run invarious styles from pulpy and fun to realistic andsuspenseful. The Keeper can expand on thisscenario, but it is deliberately straight-forwardand rather lenient towards the investigators.The scenario can be made more challenging forexperienced players by increasing the numberof opponents and making them betterorganized.

The goals of this scenario are:• To allow the players to settle in to their

characters, find their voices, and get to knoweach other “in character.” New players willhave plenty of opportunity to experience theCall of Cthulhu rules in a variety ofsituations.

• To establish a history and reinforce thefriendship between the investigators andJackson Elias. This scenario predatesJackson’s investigations into the CarlyleExpedition, so their meeting Jackson is ameans to showcase his quick intellect andcharisma. The Keeper’s aim is to transformhim from an NPC into a person that yourplayers like and value as a friend of theirinvestigators, making his eventual murdermore gut-wrenching and visceral.

• To introduce gun-runner Walter Kimble, arogue of an NPC who may be used as a wild-card later in the campaign.

KEEPER’S SUMMARY

The characters receive a telegram from JacksonElias requesting their help in the Yucatan, wherehe is investigating a death cult related to theMayan god, Ah Puch. He cryptically asks themto conduct some background research on a mannamed Walter Kimble, but does not tell themmore. The investigators will be able to learnsomething about the mysterious Kimble beforethey travel by steamer across the Caribbean tothe old port city of Campeche. Once in thepicturesque seaport, the characters meet atHotel San Miguel before seeking out Guillermo,the local station-master at the rail station, whoknows the location of Jackson’s camp. Thecharacters will take a narrow-gauge spur linethat winds deep into the rugged jungle. Alongthe way, they will encounter terrified locals andseveral odd rumors that hint of the supernatural—exactly the sort of thing Jackson would beinterested in. After a long and difficult journey,the investigators will arrive at Jackson’s camponly to find it ransacked and abandoned.

The investigators will not know this yet, butJackson and his camp crew have beenkidnapped by Walter Kimble and his men andbeen taken to nearby Mayan ruins where Kimblehas set up shop. The truth of the matter is thatJackson had discovered the Ah Puch cult was afraud and was about to expose Kimble.

Hoping to scare off the player characters, agroup of men will visit the investigators in theguise of Ah Puch. Such a parlor trick certainlywill fail against stalwart Call of Cthulhuinvestigators, no doubt exposing the deception.

Jackson Elias62The God of Mitnal

By Don Coatar

Wherein the players travel to the steamy jungles of Central America to help out an old friend,and find that an ancient god has emerged from the Underworld…

Clues left by the men should lead on to theruins.

The characters will have to figure out a wayto infiltrate the ruins, deal with the armedguards, and rescue Jackson Elias. While itappears a daunting task, this encounter isactually very flexible and can be adapted tonearly any group or any plan. Whether or notthe resulting plan is successful, either outcomewill result in a reunion with Jackson and aneventual meeting with Kimble. Hopefully, yourinvestigators will carry the day with theirbrilliant planning and daring actions. Ifunsuccessful, they will join Elias in his cellbeneath a ruined pyramid, but fortunately forthe investigators, the Mexican authorities havebeen alerted and will arrive on the next train.

THE TELEGRAM

Ideally, the scenario begins with each playerbeing handed a telegram from Elias. It will besomething along these lines:

Handout #1:

CAMPECHE RR STATION MEXICO

SORRY NO TIME FOR PLEASANTRIESSTOP REQUEST YOUR HELP IN LOVELYYUCATAN INVESTIGATING A-H P-U-C-HCULT STOP NEED TWO FAVORS STOPBRING GUNS LUCKY STRIKES GIN STOPNEED ALL AVAILABLE INFO ON WALTERF KIMBLE STOP ASK TEXAS RANGERSSTOP EVERYTHING YOU CAN FIND STOPWILL TELL MORE WHEN YOU ARRIVESTOP BILL TICKET TO PROSPERO PRESSNEW YORK STOP MEET FRIENDS ATHOTEL SAN MIGUEL CAMPECHE MEXICOSTOP ASK FOR GUILLERMO AT RRSTATION DO NOT TELL OTHERS STOPJACKSON ELIAS

END

The Keeper should customize this telegram tosuit each investigator. Jackson is unlikely to aska respectable Professor of History to bring himguns and booze; likewise, he is not going to aska streetwise mobster to research Kimble.

RESEARCH

While the investigators will certainly researchWalter Kimble, they also may seek additionalinformation. Success will depend on where thecharacters do their research, and require severalLibrary Use rolls.

The Keeper who wants to run this scenarioin just a single session should place all thebackground information on Kimble in the handsof Jonah Kensington of Prospero Publishing.The Keeper will need to rework the language ofthe telegram in this case.

Walter F. Kimble of TexasUnless one or more investigators happen to bebased out of Texas, the simplest way ofobtaining basic biographical information onKimble would be to hire a local to do theresearch on the investigators’ behalf. Thismethod will simply take a day or two and a fewlong distance telephone calls or (more likely) around of visits to the telegraph office; areasonable charge is $10 to $15. The hired agentin Texas will report back the following day.Alternatively, if somewhat anachronistically, thisinformation can be relayed over the telephone,though the investigator will need to succeed ineither a Persuade or Law roll in order to cajolethe County employee he gets on the telephoneto perform the research and arrange a time tocall again. One or more Luck rolls couldcomplicate the proceedings further, if desired.

Whichever method is used, the followinginformation will be relayed:

Walter Francis Kimble, b. June 1893 toAnnabelle Marie Kimble, (father unknown),Brownsville, Texas; no known siblings; enlistedUS Army February 3, 1915. Kimble has no

63The God of Mitnal

surviving relatives (and investigatorsshould be discouraged from looking intothis dead-end route).

The two best sources of information onKimble are the United States Army and theTexas Rangers. A generous Keeper may relocatesome or all of this information to other majorlaw-enforcement agencies (such as the New YorkPolice Department) to expedite the scenario.

The Texas RangersThis famed Law Enforcement agency is based inAustin, Texas and will grant information uponany legitimate request (a Law Enforcementbackground or similar Credit Rating roll). TheKeeper should not make getting thisinformation too difficult as it is needed to getthe scenario started. The Texas Rangers willreadily impart the information because they areinterested in following up any informationleading to the whereabouts of Walter Kimble.“Big” Bob Henderson, an aging but stillimposing Ranger working at the Austin officewill take an interest in the investigators’ effortsand offer to help out where he can, but will notleave Austin. One option would be to haveHenderson assign a Deputy Ranger toaccompany the investigators, either as an NPCor a new player character. The pre-generatedinvestigator, Robert Scott Bennie, is provided forthis purpose. Technically speaking, the Rangers’jurisdiction ends at the Texas state line, but inreality, they pursue suspects across both stateand international boundaries.

Handout #2:• Kimble is wanted by the Texas Rangers to

answer charges that he was part of PanchoVilla’s raiding force into New Mexico inMarch 1916. It is likely he maintainedfrequent contact with the Mexican Generaluntil his assassination in 1923. During thistime, Kimble is suspected of supplyingarmaments and munitions to the Villistas(Villa’s army).

• The Rangers have a copy of Kimble’s U.S.Army file, as well as any other informationthe Keeper puts here.

• Since early 1921, Kimble has been activelyinvolved in gun running throughout theCaribbean Basin. Authorities claim to havespotted him operating in Colombia, Cuba,Haiti, Panama, and on the Mosquito Coast.He is known to speak fluent Spanish, as wellas French and several native dialects. He isconsidered “armed and dangerous,”although one field report states:

Handout #3:…quite possibly the sneakiest bastard I’ve

chased in a long time. He’s like a snake in theweeds you can’t sink your heel into. This fellowwould sell his mother to pay off his father. He’ssmarter than you think he is, so take plenty ofcaution if you try to apprehend him. Mostlikely, he has loyal men around him who’ll dowhat he says. Make matters worse, he speaksSpanish like he was born in Oaxaca! Watchyour back around Kimble…

Outstanding WarrantsHandout #4:• United States Army, January 1916, (AWOL)• Texas Rangers, July 1916 (connection with

Pancho Villa)• The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, March

1918, (liquor smuggling charges in Windsor,Ontario)

• Delaware State Police, September 1921,(burglary)

Known AliasesMikhail Vassili, Esteban Santos, Martin Glasser.

United States ArmyYou should try to make it easy for yourinvestigators to access this information. TheUnited States Department of the Army inWashington D.C. would be the best place tostart, but you could relocate this information toan Army facility in Texas. A reasonable requestand perhaps a Credit Rating roll will grantaccess. In reality, this dossier would be private,

Jackson Elias64

65The God of MitnalGod of Mitnal Handout #1

God of Mitnal Handout #2

God of Mitnal Handout #3

God of Mitnal Handout #4

however, in this scenario it serves to propel theplot. If your players don’t think to ask, theRangers have a copy of this file.

Handout #5:• Walter Francis Kimble enlisted in the United

States Army, February 3, 1915. Completedbasic training and was assigned to the 36th

Infantry Division. He was assigned to theQuartermasters Corps, Fort Stockton, PecosCounty, Texas.

• Acquitted at Court-martial for killing afellow soldier, October 1915, (EarlMacIntosh) in a bar fight. “Insufficientevidence” was cited, though Kimble wasreprimanded.

• Between 1915 and 1916, Kimble was asuspect in three separate incidents, all ofthem involving missing supplies from Armytransports. Kimble was acquitted in all threecases.

• After a 3-day leave, he was listed AWOL onJanuary 10, 1916. He was last seen inLawrence, Kansas.

• He is wanted by US Army investigators andlocal authorities in connection with a rail carfull of munitions reported missing near St.Louis, Missouri on November 20, 1917.

Other Leads to KimbleThese are optional and merely add to Kimble’scriminal dossier, but they do provide potentialhooks for new Player Characters. Keepers areencouraged to make up additional backgroundfor Kimble as needed.• Pinkerton agents, working for the DuPont

Corporation, would like to interview Kimbleregarding burglary charges in the state ofDelaware (September 1919).

• Kimble was last seen in the British Honduras(modern-day Belize). A Venezuelandiplomat reported he was operating underan assumed name, dealing in surplus Turkishrifles from the Great War. (March 1921)

Ah PuchFour hours and a Library Use roll at any majorlibrary will reveal this information (failed rolldoubles the time):

Handout #6:Also known as Hunhau, he was the Mayan

god of death who ruled over Mitnal, the land ofdeath, the lowest and most horrible of the ninehells. Ah Puch was often represented with thehead of an owl on a human body. This figure ofdeath has survived to this day, the Indians ofCentral America and Mexico still believing thatsomeone will die when an owl screeches. Inother representations Ah Puch is shown as askeleton or a bloated corpse, adorned withbells. This is likely the deity commonly called“God A” from the surviving Mayan codices.

Additionally, a successful Anthropology orArchaeology roll will reveal:

Handout #6a:Ah Puch is related to Mictlantecuhtli,

the Aztec god of the dead. He appears as abloody skeleton wearing a necklace of humaneyeballs, and is associated with spiders, owls,bats, and the direction North. The LatinAmerican Christian-pagan myth of SantaMuerte (Saint Death) likely has its roots in theancient worship of Ah Puch andMictlantecuhtli. Santa Muerte appears as thegrim reaper, with a scythe and scales of justice,although he may also appear in female form,dressed in white and wearing a gold crown.

Prospero Press, New YorkThis publisher, specializing in unusualanthropological and occult titles, is detailed inthe New York Chapter of Masks of Nyarlathotep.The publisher, Jonah Kensington, is a goodfriend of Jackson Elias, and can be used tofacilitate group meetings, travel arrangements,and the like. Prospero can be reached directlyby telephone during business hours.Kensington will grudgingly arrange 2nd-class

Jackson Elias66

67The God of Mitnal

God of Mitnal Handout #5

Jackson Elias68God of Mitnal Handout #6A

travel via steamer for the player characters,should they request it. He naturally wants toknow what Elias is up to, but cannot himselftravel at this time due to an impending deadline.(The Complete History of Cannibalism is due atthe printer in ten days…)

If this prelude is to be run in a single session,Kensington will hand over a folder containingthe Kimble background information. Jonahconfesses that “as usual, Jackson didn’t tell me adamn thing. ‘Find everything you can on thisguy’ the telegram said. Sure, I’ve got nothingelse to do… You know, if I had a dollar for everytime Jackson sent me on one of these chases…”

The overworked publisher is more thanhappy to pawn off this responsibility on theinvestigators. He doesn’t have any otherinformation to add, and it seems he must havemislaid Elias’ telegram.

THE YUCATAN

Campeche, MexicoThis beautiful walled city was once the mostimportant seaport in the Yucatan, but as thesisal industry declined, so did Campeche. In the1920s it is still a vibrant, bustling port. Sisalfibers, used in making rope, arrive by rail fromthe surrounding plantations while massivetropical hardwood logs are sent to mills forprocessing. Sprawling fortifications surroundthe city proper, which mostly consists of thebusiness district and the homes of the merchantclass, while the poorer natives reside in thesurrounding barrios, each with its own Catholicchurch. The humid air is rife with the smells offish, diesel fumes, lumber, and saltwater. Mostafternoons bring a fierce downpour, but thewaters of the Caribbean spare Campeche thebrutal heat and humidity of the inlandrainforests.

The Keeper wishing to play through thisscenario in one evening might simply begin withthe player characters all meeting up at the HotelSan Miguel. In this case, you should expeditethe investigators’ research with a few skill rolls,

specifically those that reveal the background onKimble.

Hotel San MiguelThis ordinary two-story stucco structure locatednear the commercial docks caters to travelers ofmodest means, typically sailors on shore leaveand Latin American businessmen. Carlos is theubiquitous Desk Manager. A stocky native ofCampeche with a thick mustache and thinningbrilliantined hair, he is more than happy to helpwith any requests. Carlos is always neatlydressed in pressed khaki pants and crisp linenshirts, and his English is excellent. He runs aclean, quiet hotel, and will not hesitate to callthe police at the first sign of trouble. If asked,Carlos knows nothing of Ah Puch or any suchMayan mythology. He is a devout Catholic anddismisses these inquiries as “pagan nonsense ofthe Indians.”

Investigators wanting to relax can enjoy theevening breeze on the lovely outdoor patio, LaTaverna, ringed by palms and tropical flowers.Candles on each table provide a warm glow asthe sky turns from gold to pink to indigo. Awaiter takes orders for hot cafe con leche, coolmugs of cerveza (beer), or locally-distilledtequila; teetotalers can get warm Coca-Cola inmilky glass bottles at twice the price of beer.

Asking the LocalsSome investigators will want to make inquiriesof the locals, asking about Ah Puch, JacksonElias, or strange goings-on. The Keeper shouldrole-play to whatever extent they wish,rewarding such inquiries with some knowledge.Each requires a successful Spanish roll as well asthe other skill roll given below and at least halfa day of interviews and socializing perinvestigator.

Anthropology: Although almost the entirepopulation of Campeche is Catholic, many holdsome belief in the gods of the Mayans and Aztec.Typically, this is manifested in various hybridbeliefs that mix elements of each faith. Thesebeliefs are more common among the poorerbarrios, where the people fear the old gods arenot gone.

69The God of Mitnal

Bargain or Fast Talk at a local cantina orcafé: a few men recall an incident from ninemonths ago, when a gringo calling himself“Esteban Santos” (one of Kimble’s many aliases)began selling old bolt-action rifles to some localfarmers. One of the men, Octavio, purchased arifle, which he is quite proud of, and would loveto show the player character… (Anyone with amilitary background making a Knowledge roll orRifle skill check can identify it as a Turkish 1887design, manufactured by Mauser for the Turkisharmy). The men do not know what became ofSantos.

Although Jackson Elias did pass throughCampeche, no one, save the station masterGuillermo (cf.), remembers seeing him.

Psychology or Occult: A “death cult”operating deep in the jungles is stealing childrenand sacrificing them to the Mayan god of theunderworld, Ah Puch. He has dug his way backto the earth after all this time and seeksvengeance! Those telling this tale are most likelyto be amongst either the very young or the verypoor.

Estacion CentralCampeche’s only railroad station is a crowded,noisy place where passengers jostle withlivestock, and the air is thick with wood smokeand oil. Steam trains loaded with sisal andtropical hardwood logs rumble through a mazeof switches; poor Mexican workers, peasants,and farmers jump aboard flatcars outwardbound for the plantations and the jungle. A fewinquiries will locate Guillermo, the mustachioedstation-master, dressed in a loose, sweat-and-grease stained National Railway shirt and abattered wide-brimmed hat. A strong, heavy-setman with a weathered, overworked look to him,Guillermo is checking documents on a clipboardand smoking a hand-rolled cigarette when theinvestigators spot him. He scowls as theyapproach him, especially if they begin in English.Guillermo actually speaks passable English, butplays dumb until he learns that the charactersare friends of Elias’ and so will earn his trust.

The Station Master is rather busy, but he willmake time for them if Elias’ name is mentioned,more so if he is shown his telegram. He will leadthe investigators to his cramped officeoverlooking the main switching yard where hecan speak in private. Initially, Guillermo will beguarded with news about his friend, but byshowing him Elias’ telegram, the Station Masterwill realize that these must be the men Eliassent for. At once, his demeanor shifts from gruffand suspicious to friendly and talkative.Guillermo retrieves a green bottle of xtabentún(an anise and honey liquor mixed with rum)from his desk and hands each character amismatched cup, toasting his friend Elias andhis amigos.

Guillermo’s Story:“Elias arrived here about a month

ago, asking my help in hiring a few menfor a camp crew. He said he wastraveling into the jungles to look forsome Mayan ruins. Of course, I couldhelp him—we have many men here whoneed work—so Elias left with four men,one burro, and supplies. He took thefirst east-bound train and went on footfrom there.

A little over a week later, Señor Eliasarrived back here for more supplies. Hetold me he had made a terrific discoverynear a pyramid there—something Iwould hardly believe! I asked him to tellme more, but he smiled like he alwaysdid, and said he would tell me the wholestory very soon. But first, he said, I mustcall on some of my friends from Americato help me out—there are some things Icannot do alone. So he told me to expectyou here in Campeche—and when youarrive, I was to give you this…”

[Guillermo retrieves a sealed envelope froma locked desk drawer and hands it to theinvestigators.]

Jackson Elias70

71The God of Mitnal

God of Mitnal Handout #7

Handout #7:Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for coming to my aid!I trust Guillermo has been a gentleman?Honestly, Guillermo and I have known eachother for years – he is a friend of truth and agood man. He will supply each of you with apass, but don’t expect a Pullman Car! Tell theengineer to let you off at mile #126, just beforethe trestle bridge. Follow the river upstreamfor a few miles, and you will find my camp. Takecaution and watch that you are not followed. Ihave a story that you will not believe! See yousoon, and I hope you remembered that gin.

– J.

Guillermo will try to aid the characters withany reasonable requests, but he is quite busy. Heis not wealthy, but he does have many contactshere in Campeche. Most standard equipment(rope, lanterns, blankets, machetes, guns, etc.)can be easily acquired in one day for the marketprice.

Any character examining the map andmaking a Navigate x 2 or an Idea roll will seethat milepost #126 is the most remote part ofthe line, where it passes through rugged jungle-covered hills. There are no villages orplantations nearby.

THE TRAIN RIDE

Each investigator receives a stamped passthat allows him to ride one of the openflatcars on a freight-only route;

unfortunately theonly train departs

in the latemorning. The train

the characters take

is composed of a small, powerful steamlocomotive, a tender, five flat cars, and twoboxcars (both empty and locked). The crew issimply one engineer, Antonio, and his fireman,Juan; neither speaks English. The flatcars aresparsely occupied by perhaps two score travelers—all locals who mostly speak Quiché andsometimes a little Spanish. They, along withsome livestock, secure themselves between thebales and crates of freight.

This is an extremely uncomfortable way totravel. The ride is bumpy and uneven, and theflatcar lacks the shock-absorbing springs of apassenger coach. There are no seats orhandrails, so investigators need to be careful.Luckily, the train rarely achieves more than 20miles per hour. The locomotive burns wood,and everything behind it (including theinvestigators) is soon powdered with fine, whiteash. At times the exhaust drifts back along thetrain, shrouding the investigators in eye-watering smoke.

The train departs from Campeche late in themorning, and the journey seems to take foreveras the train winds its way through the sisalplantations. Finally it climbs up in elevation intothe rainforest. Frequently, thetrainpulls offon asidingto letanothertrain pass on

Jackson Elias72

The jungle railroad is bumpy anduneven.

the single track. During these delays, many ofthe investigators’ fellow passengers jump off tostretch their legs, the children to play, thewomen to chat, and the men to smoke.Everyone scrambles back aboard as the trainlurches to life. By mid-afternoon, the skies growdark and a steady rain drenches the characters.By nightfall, a warm fog shrouds the jungle.

The locals avoid the investigators, who areleft alone on a flatcar of their own. Over thecourse of the trip, the number of otherpassengers thins. Small groups and familieshelp each other off at various unnamed village,plantation, and riverside stops. The train stopsfor slightly longer at a few nondescript villages,where the investigators may purchase mangoesor tortillas from local vendors. No one really hasany information of interest to the investigators,and most of the locals are quite shy. If they havenot heard any of the rumors (see “Asking theLocals”), you can insert one here. By the timethe train nears the investigators’ destination,there are only a handful of passengersremaining. Sitting directly in the center of the

adjacent flatcar is an older woman who clutchesher rosary nervously and prays. Her name isMaria Muñoz, and she is returning home aftervisiting her brother in Campeche. She speaksonly Spanish and a Psychology roll will revealthat she fears something in this area of thejungle. If engaged in conversation she will openup to a female investigator, or to a maleinvestigator who appears to honestly share herconcern.

Maria’s Story:This is the place where the old gods

of the Maya sealed up the pit to theunderworld – it leads to Mitnal, the placeof demons. They built a great pyramidatop it to seal it forever, but somethingterrible has happened. The path to theunderworld has been opened, and AhPuch seeks to collect bodies once again.Listen for the owl. As they say, “Cuandoel tecolote canta... un hombre muere.”[When the owl cries, a man dies.] Manyhave disappeared here in recent months

73The God of MitnalKimble in the Yucatan: Keeper’s BackgroundWalter Kimble arrived in Campeche about five months ago, looking to disappear for a while. It seemed the noose was tighteningaround his neck, and that was a feeling Kimble didn’t much care for. It was nothing new for Walter, and he had a plan: he wouldmake a quick buck trading some old Turkish rifles he had stored in Monterrey, and then recruit a few loyal men and head backinto the deep jungle where no one would find him. When the heat died down, he’d make his way back. To guarantee he was leftalone he decided to pose as one of the reincarnated Mayan gods, hoping native superstitions would keep away the curious. Hehoped to replenish his resources, and then make his way to Cuba next spring. Revolution was in the air there, he heard.

Events progressed well; Kimble was able to accumulate some operating funds, recruit a handful of loyal men, buy a few cratesof Chinese fireworks, and retreat safely into the high jungles of the Yucatan. Soon he identified a ruin that would make a suitablebase.

Once established there, Kimble began his ruse. Ah Puch had escaped from Mitnal (the Mayan underworld) and he demandedsacrifices. Within weeks, word had spread that a strange creature haunted the jungles. One man reported that he had actuallyseen a man with the head of an owl. Fear spread like wildfire, and Kimble’s men were able to extract offerings of both food andbaubles from the terrified locals.

All was going well until two weeks ago when Jackson Elias’ camp was discovered. At first, Kimble tried to scare him away,but it was clear this was no coward. In fact, Elias had been monitoring Kimble’s activities in secret. Fearing that this archaeologist(which is what Kimble believed Elias to be) could threaten his entire operation, Kimble ordered his capture. Hopefully word ofa nosy foreigner’s disappearance would spread to the local villages and bolster the myth of Ah Puch. Kimble planned to departthe jungle soon, and he only needed to avoid official notice just a few weeks longer. Kimble plans to be halfway across theCaribbean before this meddler has been set free and made his way back to civilization to spread the legend of Walter Kimbleeven further…

By the time the investigators arrive in Campeche, Jackson and his men have been held for nearly two weeks and severalescape attempts have failed. Overall, they have not been mistreated, though they are forced to cut wood, dig latrines, and performother menial tasks.

– can you not feel it? May God protectus from the demons!” (She quicklymakes the sign of the cross.)

“Please, you must not stop here. Youare safe on the train if you do not touchthe earth! I know these things – the oldways are not dead – please, you mustlisten to me!”

Maria honestly believes what she says andwill try to talk the investigators out of theirbusiness. Her beliefs are supported by therecent wave of missing locals (most haveactually been recruited by Kimble).

If your investigators did not previouslyresearch Ah Puch, you may allow them anAnthropology or Occult roll to recall somedetails of that god (see handouts # 6 and 6a).

Nearly four hours later, perhaps an hourbefore sunset, the train finally chugs towardmilepost #126 and the trestle. Hopefully, theinvestigators have made arrangements withAntonio, otherwise they must jump from theslow-moving train. Juan walks down from thelocomotive to see if everything is alright, and hislantern provides some welcome light. A SpotHidden roll notices the fireman’s eyes aredarting about nervously. If questioned, he sayshe thought he heard something, maybe a jaguar.Yes, he knows the locals call this place “Mitnal,”but doesn’t know what that means. He quicklyjogs back to the locomotive. Juan’s brother-in-law disappeared from this very area, and Juan isvery superstitious. He is not convinced that thestories about Ah Puch are false, so is taking nochances.

MILEPOST #126

After a blast of the steam whistle, the chuggingof the locomotive fades quickly and the soundsof the living jungle take over. The gurgling ofthe swift-moving river can be heard nearby. Thefirst few stars (and perhaps the Moon) appearin the dimming sky but they are rapidlyobscured by a light fog. Soon, each investigatoris swarmed by hungry mosquitoes. Any lightsource will also attract buzzing flying beetles

and moths as wide as a child’s hand. Therailroad grade embankment drops steeply offinto the jungle where thick undergrowth makesit impossible to move without hacking a pathwith a machete. A Navigation or Spot Hidden orTrack reveals a narrow path close to the river,but this takes almost 30 minutes to find. First,call for a general Listen roll to hear the shrillscreech of an alarmed bird (Natural History orBiology will identify it as an owl; a Spot Hiddenroll sees movement in the underbrush).Hopefully, your investigators have learned of theowl’s connection to Ah Puch… The mood hereshould be ominous and dark.

TO ELIAS’ CAMP

An overgrown trail such as Elias described in hisnote, does continue along the river, deeper intothe jungle. It is difficult to follow in the dyinglight, but not impossible. Check versus Track orNavigate to pick up the trail, then once everyhalf mile to follow it. A bright lantern grants a+25% bonus. Each failed result indicates 20minutes of searching for the lost trail.

The way is not easy: it climbs steeply upslick, rocky cliffs, and dives precipitously backdown into bug-infested swamps as it parallelsthe swift water. Often, the path must be hackedclear of creeping vines and thorny weeds; anIdea roll suggests the path has not been traveledrecently. At one point, the trail passes by aleaning stone stele that seems to loom suddenlyout of the dark jungle. A light source can revealbarely discernible weathered Mayan hieroglyphsalong one side. While the script isundecipherable (and will remain so for severaldecades) the imagery is clear, even by lanternlight—a skeletal figure standing atop a mass ofskulls looking upwards, flanked by two owls, allin a cave or chamber. Several scrolls (or perhapssmoke) reaches upwards out of the mouths ofthe figures depicted on the stele. Atop this scenestand a group of Mayans in elaborate animalcostumes (priests perhaps), each of whom isholding some artifact—some corn, a knife, abowl, a rod, and a disk. They flank a taller figurethat holds what appears to be a pyramid. The

Jackson Elias74

top portion of the stele is broken off and cannotbe located.

(The actual discovery of the camp shouldoccur just around twilight. To this end, simplyfudge the distance from the railroad to Elias’camp. If the investigators set out immediately,then it takes them just over an hour; if theydecide to camp first, then set out at first light, itwill take them all day to reach the site. Thetiming here is important to establish the mood,as it leads directly into the next encounter, “TheGod of the Underworld.”)

Call for a Spot Hidden as the trail leads to asmall hand-hacked clearing nestled against abend in the river. Success notices a small darkshape that silently darts into the deep shadowsof the jungle. An “impale” success (roll 20% orless of the skill level) perceives the cat-like formof a jaguar. The rushing of water drowns out theinsect noises of the jungle and forces all Listenrolls to suffer a -10% penalty.

The camp itself is obviously abandoned, andappears to have been looted. In fact, Kimble’smen stormed it two weeks ago. The jungle hasbegun to reclaim the clearing. A torn fragmentof canvas and a few broken wooden poles are allthat remain of the two tents. Many bits andpieces of other gear can be found: an old fire-pit,a broken cot, a smashed lantern, empty sardinecans, bottles, ropes, etc. A few drops of bloodwill be found on a large flat stone. Perceptivecharacters, with a Spot Hidden roll, will notice acrumpled pouch of tobacco, Elias’ favoritebrand…

Allow the investigators some time to collectevidence, but it should be obvious thatsomething terrible happened here. While youshould never intentionally mislead your players,do not come right out and confirm or deny anyof their theories. What unimaginable fate hasbefallen their friend? What sort of creaturecould do this? While the truth is relativelymundane, investigators may well concoct amore sinister explanation.

THE GOD OF THEUNDERWORLD

Note: this encounter must occur at night (see“To Elias’ Camp” for details on how to ensure thishappens). You should try to spring thisencounter on your party at the moment ofmaximum impact, perhaps when they areseparated or bumbling about in the darkness, orat a moment of high anxiety.

Amar, Jose, and Davide are three of Kimble’smen who have been dispatched to keep an eyeon the trail leading back to the railroad tracks.Their job is to collect any gifts left and to makesure none of the locals or roaming chicleros(chicle-gum harvestors) wander too close to theruins where Kimble has his camp. Havingobserved the investigators disembark from thetrain earlier, they are planning on rolling out thewhole “Ah Puch” circus, complete with costumesand special effects. Unfortunately for them, theinvestigators are very late and the men haveshared much of a bottle of tequila and a pouchof marijuana. By the time the investigatorsreach Elias’ camp, Amar, Jose, and Davide aredrunk and more than a bit stoned. Acting withbadly impaired judgment, they neverthelessdecide to go through with their plan.

At some point, call for a Listen roll to noticesomething odd barely audible above the din ofthe water—the sound of wooden chimes, likewind chimes, but the sound does not coincidewith the wind. The atonal chimes are joined bysome chaotic notes played on a flute or recorder-type instrument. This manic “music” seems tobe coming from a distinct direction, and growsin intensity and tempo.

Allow your investigators a moment to act,but then interrupt them without warning inyour best ominous Keeper voice:

“Suddenly, a sickly, intense red glowbursts to life in the jungle about 60 feetaway. It appears to be coming from theground, and casts long, strange shadowsinto the surrounding trees. The smell ofsulfur wafts in on the breeze, and the

75The God of Mitnal

flutes and chimes suddenly go silent.Rising in the nearby jungle, partiallyobscured by the thick undergrowth, iswhat appears to be a man-like figurewith a beaked, birdlike head. The figureis backlit by the red glow, and it holds aflaming skull.”

Call for a Sanity check (0/1) at this point.Failure means the investigator is paralyzed infear momentarily. Success allows a Spot Hiddenor Anthropology roll, which will hint thatsomething is not quite right with thissituation…

The Creature addresses the investigators inraspy, slurred Spanish:

“Here is the skull of a trespasser! Iam Ah Puch, who escaped from Mitnaland now I walk the earth. You will leaveall your food and goods here and neverreturn to this place or I will eat your souland steal your skull and… eat your

children! Quickly, I hunger!”

Allow the investigatorsa moment, then call for a

one-half Listen, FastTalk, or Psychology roll(player’s choice).Success reveals thecreature is slurringits words, while acritical success(1/20th of skill)reveals it sounds

drunk. If theinvestigators hesitate,

Ah Puch willcontinue, “Fools!

I call losdemonios

from belowtheearth!”

Los Demonios!At this point, two “demonios” can be seenmoving through the jungle toward theinvestigators. Both of them have faces, chest,arms and legs painted white in a skeleton-motifwhich contrasts with their dark skin. In thedarkness, they appear fearsome as they lopeforward, arms waving crazily. Any characterwho failed his initial Sanity roll should makeanother Sanity check (0/1). Inexplicably, one ofthe demonios suddenly disappears from sight.Anyone approaching this area can hear Davidegroaning in pain after toppling over a log. Josecontinues toward the investigators withoutincident, but will try to stay partially hidden inthe jungle. Screaming maniacally, he will thentoss a Chinese fire bomb toward the characters,which bursts into bright flame (1d3-1 damage)and smokes for 1d6 rounds. A Dodge roll avoidsdamage.

As the foul-smelling smoke fills the jungle,Amar (Ah Puch) slowly begins to realize thatthings are going poorly. In a drunken panic, hedecides to run. Amar jumps down from hisperch on some rocks, takes off his owl-headmask, and beats a hasty retreat through thejungle. Call for a Listen or Spot Hidden to noticehis flight; allow a +25% bonus to any characterwho was specifically watching Ah Puch. Hemakes no effort to alert his friends. Anyinvestigator who acts quickly may catch him (heis impaired after all) by making two successfulDEX x 4 rolls before failing three of these rolls.Any hesitation will require a successful Track rollbefore an investigator can attempt to run Amardown.

Regardless of Amar’s fate, Davide willcertainly be captured by the investigators. Josewill try to flee, but he is slower to identify thesituation than his boss, so the investigators havean extra round to nab him. Any of them willsurrender immediately at the first sign ofgunplay. Jose and Davide have between them sixof the Chinese flash bombs, two woodenrecorders, a set of wooden chimes, one stonepipe, two books of matches, and two machetes.

The three men speak only Spanish, and willcrack easily under pressure, especially if violenceis threatened upon them. These are not thebravest or brightest of men. Amar knows

Jackson Elias76

Los Demonios!

Esteban Santos, a gringo from Texas, has beenusing Ah Puch to scare the locals away fromsome ruins, where he is stockpiling guns.Davide and Jose are mere lackeys and have onlya dim understanding of the whole arrangement.All three know Santos commands about 15armed men and if asked, know that a fewprisoners are being held inside the old ruins.Yes, one of them is a gringo matching Elias’description… Only Amar knows what happenedhere at Jackson’s camp, although he thinks theywere bounty hunters trying to capture EstebanSantos. Jose and Davide have no idea who wascamped here.

Curious investigators searching thesurrounding jungle can determine how “AhPuch” was created. The menacing red glow stillilluminating the jungle is created by two largedry-cell lanterns fitted with red glass. The sulfursmell was provided by a different kind of smoke-bomb type fireworks. The lanterns are in decentshape and the batteries will provide 2d4 morehours of light. The flaming skull was indeed ahuman skull with a small bowl of keroseneinside it. An empty liquor bottle, a box ofmatches, a little food, and some blankets canalso be found nearby.

THE RUINS

At long last, the battered, bitten, and sweatyinvestigators hack their way to a rise on the trailoverlooking an ancient river valley. Brightsunlight filters down through the canopy. Ifthey have a prisoner, he will indicate a darkgeologic feature that blends in with the junglefar below. With no prisoner, a Spot Hidden orGeology is required to notice the ruined form ofa small Mayan pyramid, half-collapsed into thesurrounding growth. Kimble is careful, and hasordered no cooking fires during the day, so thereis no tell-tale smoke. At this distance, no otherdetail can be discerned. The ruins are about amile away, although the trail will cover twicethat distance as it switches back down into thevalley.

Most of the men camp on the far side of theruins, out of sight of anyone approaching on the

trail. They keep two burros and two horses tiedup about 100 yards from their camp, near theriver. Kimble and his right-hand man, ArturoLopez, camp inside the ruins.

At dusk, the men light fires and cook dinneroutside, making the camp easier to spot.Typically, they sit up smoking, drinking andplaying cards until midnight. By night, there isonly one man assigned to guard duty. He makesa circuit of the entire area once every couple ofhours.

Inside the Pyramid of MitnalThe ruined Pyramid itself is partially collapsed,and resembles a large, rocky mound. The intactportion is weathered and overgrown, but clearlyman-made. A single large fracture at the base ofthe structure is the only entrance. AnArchaeology roll will recognize this as a tunneldug most likely by looters. To go inside, onemust duck down, and then descend about 5 feetbelow ground where it emerges in a small(about 12 feet by 20 feet) rectangular chamberwith one collapsed wall. It is cool and quiet.There are two cots, a crate-table, and somedisorganized personal belongings here. Often,Kimble and Arturo will be here playing cardsand drinking. A narrow passageway anglesdownwards towards the center of the Pyramidfor 25 feet, and it terminates in a tiny sunkenchamber filled to the ceiling with woodencrates:• 102 bolt-action rifles, 6 per crate; (Mauser

M1903, 7.65mm Mauser, action: bolt,capacity (5, clip loaded), HP: 12 , ROF: 1/2,range: 120, damage: 2d6+2)

• about 8000 rounds of ammunition• 2 crates of canned meat and beans and dried

cornmeal

77The God of MitnalChinese Flash bombFuse: 1d3+1 roundsBase Chance: (DEX% or Throw)Base Range: 20 feetFumble: 96-00 (indicates dud)Damage: 1d3-1 points flame damage, Dodge negates; may igniteflammable materials; thick white smoke billows out for 1d6 rounds,obscures vision (perception skills at –40%)

• assorted bottles of liquor• one crate of various Chinese fireworks (160

fire bombs, 40 smoke bombs, 30 othervarious noisy and flashy rockets and such)

Along one side of the passageway, a crudewooden doorframe has been bolted into place.The door has a small, narrow window atapproximately knee-level where food and watercan be passed through. The door itself issecured with a stout wooden bar and a padlockpilfered from the railroad (easy to pick:Locksmith (+50%) or half Mechanical Repair).The prison cell is an irregularly shaped roomroughly 15 feet by 22 feet. The collapsed stoneblocks of the ceiling are between 3 and 6 feetabove an equally uneven floor, making this avery uncomfortable place to stay. Inside aresome threadbare wool blankets, a lantern, amakeshift checkerboard scratched into the

stone floor, some stone tokens, and achamberpot. A calendar has been etched intoone wall, along with some bad poetry andgraffiti.

Naturally, Elias and his men will be elated tosee the investigators. Elias himself, skinny andunshaven, will leap into action, should thesituation require it, otherwise he will wearilygreet his old friends with a warm smile and ahearty handshake. His weeks of captivity havenot dulled his dry wit, “Well, it’s about time—what took you so long?” His two local men,Camargo and Tochel, are mismatched brothers:Camargo is tall and thin, and Tochel is short andchunky. They both speak marginal English, andhave a dark sense of humor about the wholesituation. Two boys, Maxtla and Copel, arefrightened and flee as soon as they are able.

RUNNING THE FINALE

Events of this section will depend largely on theactions of your investigators, so the Keepershould view this section as a mere guideline.During the day, three individual guardsirregularly patrol around the ruins within 200-500 yards. Typically, they just hide out near oneof the trails, as it is very difficult to sneakthrough the jungle. They are armed with rifles,and will not hesitate to capture any loneintruders, although they are hardly diligent(unless alarmed, they have Listen and SpotHidden 15%). A large group moving on the ruinswill send the sentry running back to thePyramid to report to either Arturo or Kimble.

It is likely that the investigators will concoctsome kind of assault plan. After all, theyprobably will have the jump on the bad guys,and they should have some ordnance with them.As long as they come up with somethingreasonable, you should give them a better-than-fair shot at success, considering that Kimbleisn’t really expecting trouble and so hasn’tordered any state of alarm or high-alert, andthat his men are hardly trained soldiers. He isdefinitely not expecting an armed group ofintelligent adventurers. The mood of the finaleshould be pulpy and action-packed. In short,

Jackson Elias78

don’t go out of your way to put roadblocks infront of your characters: let their plan work solong as the dice cooperate. If they plan onsneaking in by night—fine, that would probablywork. A coordinated ambush, guns blazing?Sure. A distraction to one side? Certainly!Listen to your players here, and they’ll tell youwhat kind of fun they are after.

No plan survives contact with the enemy, soyou should be ready for a complete failure on thepart of your stalwart investigators. Should suchan outcome occur, proceed on to the“Captured!” section.

Events at the Pyramid will play outdifferently depending upon circumstances andtime of day. If alerted, Kimble and his men willtake up defensive positions and attempt to repelany assault. Most of his renegades are actuallypretty decent shots (assume a Rifle at 50%), andwith lots of ammo and good cover (hopefullythe investigators will take cover themselves),this will turn into a long firefight. Keepers canrun it tactically or simply narrate most of theaction, calling for a few rolls. Should thecharacters get the drop on Kimble’s gang, theymight be able to split them up and defeat them.

Should a firefight develop, you should beaware that the rules for gun combat in Call ofCthulhu are lethal. New investigators willquickly discover that guns are dangerous.However, killing off a player character does notfit with the tone of this scenario. There will beplenty of chances for investigator death inMasks of Nyarlathotep. The jungle providesexcellent cover (one-eighth chance to hit atstandard range), but that diminishes withdistance. Should an investigator behavefoolhardily or simply be very unlucky, they mayvery well take a bullet. As the Keeper, youshould avoid killing an investigator here, if at allpossible, but injury is perfectly acceptable.

Probably a better strategy to take thePyramid would be to avoid an all-out gunfightand use stealth to sneak in. Some groups maywant to confront Kimble, and he is alwayswilling to try to talk his way out of trouble.Others may be intent on finding Elias andgetting out alive. Some groups may decide toboldly walk right in and demand the release ofElias. In any event, you should take any

opportunities to steer your group toward WalterKimble.

Depending on how things are going for him,Kimble will be either smug or contrite. He isalways amiable and willing to chat, and will nothesitate to tell the investigators his plan. It islikely that Arturo is lurking somewhere nearby,keeping a watchful eye on “The Boss.” Kimble isno fool, however, and should things go poorlyfor him, he will make sure he has an insurancepolicy. Gambling these Americans have come forElias, Kimble will use him as a bargaining chip.

Kimble will not hesitate to use a bound Eliasas a human shield. However, Kimble has nointention of shooting the author, though theinvestigators do not know this. Allow theconversation to play out, with Kimble lookingfor any opening to make his break for freedom.If the investigators are especially diligent, theymay take him alive and secure their friend.

A TWIST?

If your group appears to be having an easy time,or if the Keeper wants to extend the scenario abit, Kimble and six of his men can be removedprior to the arrival of the player characters.When the investigators assault the Pyramid,these men just happen to be away, hunting forgame. They will of course return later, once theinvestigators rescue Jackson Elias and take thePyramid. This option places the investigators ina defensive posture inside the ruins. Luckily forthem, they have a stockpile of arms andammunition. Elias and his two men will gladlytake up arms to defend themselves.

CAPTURED!

Should the plans of the investigators go afoul,one or all of them may be captured and throwninto the cramped prison cell within the ruinswhere they will be reunited with Jackson Elias.Elias’ two men, Tochel and Camargo are alsohere, as well as two frightened local Indian boys,Maxtla and Copel, who were caught snooping

79The God of Mitnal

around a few weeks ago. Once Kimble hassecured the area, he will summon theinvestigators for questioning. In his Texas drawl,he asks who they are, what they are doing here,etc. Kimble is a shrewd fellow, so he will likelyknow if he is being lied to (one-half Fast Talkrolls against him). Should the investigatorsactually level with him and tell him the truth,Kimble will be rather amused by their tale. Eliashas already told him the truth—that he is anauthor who debunks cults and myths. Kimbleplans on keeping the lot of them here underguard until he is ready to leave. Recent eventshave accelerated Kimble’s timetable, and hehopes to head to the coast within four days. Heplans on releasing the lot of them, but heprobably won’t admit to that.

If the investigators are captured, they shouldbe allowed to make an escape attempt, cleverplanning being rewarded with a chance ofsuccess. Remember, Kimble’s guards are notexactly of the highest caliber and it is feasiblethat they may fall for a well-executed trick.Again, Elias, Tochel, and Camargo will lend ahand. If the characters do not produce aningenious plan to escape, simply keep themunder lock and key until the cavalry arrives…

LOS FEDERALES

No good pulp story would end with the heroesin shackles, and certainly not this one. Shouldthings go awry, you can count on the well-timedarrival of the Federal Police, or Los Federales. Asmall, well-armed force led by the dashingCapitan Emelio Rios will arrive on the next trainfrom Campeche. Rios and his twelve diligentofficers have received word of the strangeactivities and have been dispatched to keep thepeace. They can be employed at the Keeper’sdiscretion to either rescue the haplessinvestigators, or track down the escaped Kimble.If the investigators have carried the day, simplyhave them encounter Los Federales back at therailroad tracks. They would be more than happyto take Kimble and his scoundrels into custody.Captain Rios would love to hear the whole storyover a cigar....

EPILOGUE

Wrap up “The God of Mitnal” in an upbeatfashion. Elias will be in good spirits, Kimble’sdeception will be foiled, and the Texan shouldbe in the custody of either the investigators orLos Federales. Should Kimble be with the playercharacters, you should keep your eye open forany moment where they let their guard down.Kimble has wriggled his way out of manysituations tighter than this. Unless theinvestigators are diligent, he will break free andskulk off into the jungle at his first opportunity.Perhaps Arturo has been following along, hiddenfrom sight? If the gun-runner has been turnedover to Captain Rios, then you don’t have toworry about anything. Kimble will be takenback to Campeche and charged with kidnappingand other crimes against the State. No doubt,the police will want a detailed statement fromthe investigators.

(Unless they actively follow the proceedingsover the next few weeks, your investigators willhave no way of knowing that Kimble escapesfrom custody.)

As for Jackson Elias, he will be more thanhappy to join the investigators for a few days ofrelaxation in Campeche. However, he cannotstay long, as he must travel to Africa to researchhis latest project. If anyone asks, he will adopthis trademark smile and cryptically dodge thesubject, admitting only to pursuing “theunfortunate fate of a certain very high profileexpedition…” This is not at all out of characterfor Elias—he rarely discusses his currentinvestigation with anyone other than JonahKensington, his publisher.

Back in Campeche, Elias will spend a coupleof days lounging on the beach with the playercharacters, but will be missing from his hotelroom early the next morning. The hotelmanager or concierge tells the investigatorstheir bills have been taken care of by Mr. Elias,and he will hand over this sealed note:

Jackson Elias80

81The God of MitnalHandout #8

Hello my friends, or should I say farewell?I do apologize for leaving so suddenly, but anopen berth became available on a steamerbound for Morocco, and I simply could notpass up that chance! I promise to send you acopy of my essay entitled “The God ofMitnal”—and trust me, you play no small rolein the story! I should have it completed by thetime I cross the Atlantic. Once again, I cannotthank you enough. Without you, I would stillbe buried in that accursed pyramid like someMayan priest! Ah Puch indeed!

I’ll write when I have the chance. When Ireturn to New York, I know a fabulouschophouse in Soho where we can catch up onold times—it will be my treat!

Your friend,J.E.

REWARDS/PENALTIES

Any Sanity lost due to ‘Ah Puch’ or ‘los demonios’is restored.

Any character with only base skill level inSpanish, Quiché, Track, or Navigate (pick one)may make a roll against their INT x 5: successgrants him 1d10 extra points in that skill.

All characters gain +1d3 to Credit Rating.

God of Mitnal Handout #8

NPCS

Walter KimbleA.k.a. Esteban Santos, Arms Dealer & Con-ManNationality: American; Age 31; Birthplace: Brownsville, Texas, 1893.STR 11 CON 13 SIZ 12 INT 17 POW 15DEX 15 APP 12 EDU 12 SAN 75 HP 13Damage Bonus: +0Attacks: Fist 30%, damage 1d3+db

Kick 60%, damage 1d6+dbGrapple 35%, damage specialKnife 55%, damage 1d4+db.38 Pistol 65%, damage 1d8Rifle 60%, damage 2d6+2Shotgun 40%, damage 4d6

Languages: English 75% (own), French 20%,Quiché (and various dialects) 15%,Spanish 65%.

Skills: Appraise Military Hardware 75%,Bargain 45%, Disguise 70%,Chemistry 20%, Climb 60%, Conceal 50%, Credit Rating 50%,Dodge 55%, Fast Talk 82%, Forgery 45%, Hide 80%, Law 15%,Listen 60%, Locksmith 25%,Mechanical Repair 30%, Occult 15%,Persuade 40%, Ride 40%, Sneak 60%,Spot Hidden 40%.

A slender figure of average height, Kimble is amost unassuming villain. Indeed, his narrowface would be hard to pick out in a crowd (a factwhich has served him well). Kimble alwaysappears to squint, even at dusk or indoors, andhe has a tendency to hold his gaze upon peopleas if sizing them up. His skin is usually tannedand weathered, giving him a Hispanic or nativecast. Greasy brown hair is usually kept in checkwith a bandana or sweaty sombrero. Kimbletends to dress in native fashion wherever hegoes; currently he is wearing loose trousers, afilthy military-style shirt, and a hand-wovenponcho. Kimble always has a revolver hiddensomewhere on his person. Observant characterswill notice the one constant of Kimble’swardrobe: his cowboy boots.

Kimble is a surprisingly charming man witha wry sense of humor and an easy demeanor.His Texas drawl comes through in English orSpanish. He tends to make friends quickly.People trust him. He speaks fluent Spanish, andhas a good grasp of languages. One of his manytactics is to incorporate some aspect of the localreligion, folklore, or myth into his particularscheme. Currently, he has used the Ah Puch cultto pacify the local population. Kimble typicallyrecruits a small circle of loyal natives to facilitatehis “business propositions”; he then makes surethat circle is well-rewarded. He is adept atdisguising his appearance and blending in withthe native population. Below the surface,Kimble is always thinking and scheming. Hisquick mind is always two or three steps ahead,usually weighing his escape options. As easily ashe makes friends, Kimble will sell them out justas quickly, but not without good reason—atrusted contact is worth his weight in gold. Hehas no hesitation about using innocentbystanders to insure his safety.

Kimble will resort to many tactics, but he isnot entirely ruthless. He prefers the threat ofviolence to the act of violence, and personally herefuses to engage in force unless absolutelynecessary; he uses his henchmen for such“unpleasantries.” It is an odd arrangement, butKimble is adept at playing the “good cop” whenhe needs to crack someone. He is willing toabandon any situation in midstream to ensurehis safety. Like la cucaracha, Kimble is asurvivor. Although he would never admit it,Walter is driven by his anti-authoritarianism.He despises imperialism and colonialism, andtakes great delight in irritating the powers thatbe, particularly the Americans. Deep down, hehas a soft spot for the downtrodden peoples ofthe world who, he feels, have been given a rawdeal. On the surface, he claims he wants to“make a million bucks and retire to my ownisland somewhere…”

In recent years, Kimble has worked closelywith General Pancho Villa, the Mexican folkhero. He claims to have been in Villa’smotorcade in Parral, Chihuahua in 1923 whenthe General was assassinated. Kimbleconsidered him a visionary, and always hasglowing words for his departed friend (whendealing with Kimble, award a bonus to any

Jackson Elias82

investigator who mentions Pancho Villa infavorable terms).

The Keeper should role-play Kimble as ascoundrel, but not a detestable one. He wasforced to kidnap Elias because he was about toexpose his scheme, nothing personal. Theplayers should want to apprehend Kimble, notkill him. The Keeper should press the issue, butnot too far; feeling out the characters, and haveKimble react to their leads—push their buttonsand touch on issues they care about. He shouldultimately escape the brilliant plans of theinvestigators, thus allowing the Keeper to bringhim back later in Masks of Nyarlathotep.

Arturo Lopez Right-Hand man to Walter KimbleSTR 13 CON 15 SIZ 9 INT 12 POW 10DEX 11 APP 9 EDU 10 SAN 46 HP 12Damage Bonus: +0Attacks: Fist 81%, damage 1d3+db

Grapple 79%, damage specialMachete 54%, damage 1d6+1+dbMauser 1908M rifle 74%,

damage 2d6+2.38 pistol 53%, damage 1d8

Languages: English 15%, Spanish 50% (0wn).

Skills: Leadership 61%, Listen 50%, Play GinRummy 37%, Tactics 20%.

Arturo is an unshaven fireplug of a man with afoul mouth and growling voice. He was once asergeant in the army, and he does a good job ofdirecting the mundane operations of the camp.The men have a healthy respect for him, mostlybased on fear: Arturo is your basic elevatedbully. He obeys Señor Santos without question,and thinks he is a genius.

Jackson EliasSee page XX.

Tochel and CamargoJackson’s Loyal MenSTR 16|11 CON 12|15 SIZ 16|10 INT 12|12POW 10|14 DEX 12|14 APP 10|10 EDU 9|9SAN 44|56 HP 14|13Damage Bonuses: +1d6|+0Attacks: Fist 55%, damage 1d3+db

Machete 65%, damage 1d6+1+dbRifle 45%, damage 2d6+2

Languages: English 10%, Spanish 75% (0wn).Skills: Gloomy Prediction 70%, Hide 80%,

Track 65%.

83The God of MitnalUsing Kimble Later in the CampaignKimble may reappear later in the campaign, but the Keeper should not force his re-entry. Instead the actions of the players shouldlead the Keeper to him. Really, Kimble can appear anywhere, with anyone, doing anything, with only one exception: he should neverbe (knowingly) working with the cultists. Wherever he surfaces, he will be among the locals on the fringes of the law. Chancesare very good that at some point, a group will decide they need guns, dynamite, grenades, liquor, etc… the sort of goods whichare Kimble’s bread and butter. Whether he is running guns for the I.R.A., atop a camel with Bedouin raiders, advising the buddingKenyan Independence movement, or lurking in the Gulf of Aden with Arab pirates, Kimble will be there for the investigators. Hisgrasp of language allows him to find a niche among any outlaw society from Shanghai to Cairo. He will always appear dressedlike the locals and will adopt an appropriate alias. Of course, his appearance should be a surprise, and the investigators will haveto Fast Talk, Persuade, and bribe their way through several layers of lackeys and henchmen before they are reunited with ‘the manwho can help you.’

The Keeper has a great deal of flexibility here, depending on the Yucatan encounter with Kimble. He can be used to help theinvestigators, join them, or can double-cross them at the worst possible moment. Of course the latter is recommended, andwouldn’t it be great if Kimble could once again elude capture? The campaign should not become ‘Where is Walter?’ trying to findKimble, but rather the players should identify this adversary as a potential ally in their fight against the Mythos. The Texan wouldprobably be horrified to learn some portion of what the investigators know… perhaps horrified enough to help them out. It isalso possible that Kimble knew Jack Brady back in his mercenary days or even Bret Johnson (from the scenario Mystery of theCat’s Cradle; see page XX)…

These oddly mismatched brothers have beenwith Elias since he left Campeche. They have awarped, somewhat dark sense of humor, muchbolstered by Elias’ own.

Maxtla and CopelFrightened boys (with identical stats)STR 7 CON 12 SIZ 6 INT 9 POW 12DEX 13 APP 12 EDU 4 SAN 58 HP 9Damage Bonuses: -1d4Attacks: Machete 40%, damage 1d6+1+dbSkills: Hide 80%, Sneak 75%, Run 75%.

These two 10-year old boys have been missingfrom their village for nearly three weeks, and areoverwhelmed by all this. They have befriendedTochel, Camargo, and Jackson, who keepassuring them that they will return to theirfamilies. They will run off into the jungle assoon as possible and will return home to muchjoy a few days later.

Los Hombres Assorted thugs and bandits

STR CON SIZ INT POWDEX APP HP db1 16 8 12 11 11 11 11 10 +1d42 9 12 15 10 15 13 12 14 +03 10 11 11 13 8 10 8 11 +04 15 13 12 12 10 10 14 13 +1d45 14 9 14 8 11 14 9 12 +1d46 15 10 13 9 9 11 8 12 +1d47 9 13 13 11 12 7 10 13 +08 13 14 16 9 6 13 9 15 +1d4Attacks: Fist 65%, damage 1d3+db

Rifle 50%, damage 2d6+2Average skills: Drink Tequila 50%, Listen 30%,

Spot Hidden 30%, Track 25%.

There are 16 of these desperados, among them:Amar, Jose, and Davide. Most of them are small-time bandits, thugs, and bullies who are happyto make a few dollars scaring the locals. Noneof them are very bright, but all of them canthrow a punch and shoot a rifle. These men areloyal to “Esteban Santos,” but only so long asthings are going well for them. If the situation

is beginning to look bleak, they are very likely tohigh-tail it into the jungle unless Arturo isstanding there to bolster their courage.

Captain Emelio RiosDashing Policeman and possible deus exmachinaSTR 14 CON 13 SIZ 15 INT 14 POW 13DEX 11 APP 16 EDU 13 SAN 65 HP 14Damage Bonus: +1d4Attacks: Fist 72%, damage 1d3+db

Pistol 77%, damage 1d10Rifle 73%, damage 2d6+4

Languages: English 40%, Spanish 75% (0wn).Skills: Hide 50%, Leadership 70%,

Listen 50%, Strike Heroic Pose 85%,Tactics 40%.

Captain Rios is a larger-than-life figure with ahuge smile full of gleaming teeth, a head ofthick, jet-black hair, and a handsome, deeplytanned face. He emerges from the jungle in hisimmaculate khaki uniform and hand-stitchedsombrero, always ready to save the day or collectthe villains, as necessary.

Jackson Elias84

New YorkWhere the

Horror Starts...

CHAPTER OVERVIEWIf Masks of Nyarlathotep is a roller-coaster, thenthe New York chapter is the initial hill. A greatnumber of things will rush forward, not theleast of which is establishing the centralmysteries of the campaign. If things go well, theNew York chapter will inject enough energy intothe campaign to propel it all the way until theend. Preparation in a few areas will help toensure that things don’t go off the rails, so tospeak.

GETTING STARTEDYou should obviously have read the entirety ofthe campaign and reviewed the New Yorkchapter especially before play begins. Yourplayers are certain to ask the largest number ofquestions regarding the main characters andevents of the campaign at the start and thebetter grasp you have of things now, the easier itwill be to pass this information on and to keepthings moving forward. Hopefully thisCompanion will help in that regard. Likewise,take some time to familiarize yourself with theinvestigators themselves. This should be easy ifyou are running this as part of a largercampaign. If your adventure begins with Masksof Nyarlathotep, take some time for charactercreation, making sure that it is a collaborativeprocess between you and your players. Theyshould begin with characters that they want toplay and who are also useful and plausible to thecampaign. At a minimum, there should be atleast one character with strong ties to Elias; themore connections between the investigators andElias, the better. Consider using the pre-generated characters (see pages XX to XX) if youor your players are having some difficulty in thatregard. If you want to forge a link between

Jackson Elias and the investigators, the scenario“God of Mitnal” (on page XX) is provided forthat purpose.

KEEPER’S TIPSAs a Keeper, you should have several goals forrunning this chapter. The first is to establishinvestigating the mystery of the Carlyleexpedition as the impetus of the campaign.While a previous relationship with Elias iscritical (and has hopefully already beenestablished), the true fate of Roger Carlyle andhis companions should be as interesting toinvestigators as it clearly was to Elias. Build itup as a great puzzle, with a guarantee of famefor the bold heroes who resolve it. Even if someof their initial assumptions are wrong (such asthinking that Jack Brady was to blame for themassacre), the more that your players arecaught up in the mystery, the easier it is for youto motivate them to embark on a round-the-world adventure.

The second goal is presenting possiblefuture destinations. While London is the mostlikely second port of call in the campaign, theclues in Elias’ hotel room and elsewhere inManhattan point to all of the other locations inthe campaign (and beyond). Try to gauge asearly as possible which location holds the mostimmediate investigator interest and begin toprepare for that chapter. Do not be afraid ofleaving a clear trail pointing to one of the futuredestinations for the players; it is not railroadingif they decided to go there of their own accord,even if they were simply following the breadcrumbs you left out. At the same time, do not bestunned if your party decides that Shanghai (orNairobi or Hong Kong) is a good first stop. Thelonger you have anticipated these eventualities,the more prepared you will be.

New York86Keeper’s Notes: New York

Bret Kramer, with Matthew Pook

A third goal is to instill an air of mysteryinto the campaign. Aside from just the secretsof the Carlyle expedition and its members, muchof the fun of the game comes from theinvestigators probing the unknown. There is adual advantage here; exotic locales provide asense of wonder and adventure to even ratherpedestrian activities and they also adhere tomany of the “pulpier” traditions of the game;simultaneously, as Lovecraft wisely said, thestrongest and oldest fear is of the unknown. Ifyou establish a sense of mystery early on, youwill be well-situated for the adventures and thehorror to come. Do not be afraid to let somemysteries linger; not every question can beresolved immediately. Delayed gratification is a

good thing, so long as some progress is beingmade.

One factor to remember when running thissection is the weather. Jackson Elias ismurdered on the 15th of January, 1925; this wasone of the snowiest Januarys in New Yorkhistory. You can use this historical tidbit for avariety of purposes. A clear mood can be setwith the snow—the white powder blanketingand muffling everything; the pervasive cold onlypartially fought off with determined effort.Contrast this with a stuffy office meeting withErica Carlyle or the palpable humidity of thebasement of the Ju-Ju House. Investigators maybe aided in their pursuit of cultists (and viceversa), at least in the open, by the brightness of

87Keeper’s Notes

The Fawcett ConnectionWhile Jackson Elias is a fictional character, he is inspired by a very real sort of figure, the globe-trotting explorer romanticized inpopular culture from the era. One real-world example is Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett, explorer, cartographer, surveyor,theosophist, decorated veteran of the Great War, and member of the Royal Geographic Society. Between 1906 and 1924, he mademultiple expeditions to South America, before leading his eldest son Jack, and his son’s best friend, Raleigh Rimmell, on one lastexpedition in 1925. Their fate in the uncharted jungles of Brazil remains a mystery even today.

Fawcett was also friends with the authors H. Rider Haggard and Arthur Conan Doyle (and is regarded as the basis for ConanDoyle’s Professor Challenger stories, as well as one of the inspirations for pulp heroes as diverse as Indiana Jones and Kent Allard,a.k.a. ‘The Shadow’); it is not unreasonable for him to be friends with the gregarious Elias. It is likely that Elias would have metFawcett during his first trip to South America, which becomes the subject for Elias’ first book, Skulls Along The River (see Elias’ Books,Page XX). If so, Elias would certainly dedicate that book or the next, The Smoking Heart, to his good friend, Percy Fawcett.Besides sharing the year of their (presumed) death, Elias and Fawcett share one last connection. Both are in New York in January,1925, each attending to very different concerns. Shortly after, Fawcett will depart with his young companions by ship, bound forSouth America. Over the following months the world will follow Fawcett’s progress reports – literally run out of the jungle onfoot by messenger to a telegraph station – with avid interest. His last report will come at the end of May on the 25th, andnothing will be heard from the expedition again.

Bringing Colonel Fawcett into the New York chapter of The Masks of Nyarlathotep requires little more than the leaving of aclue or two in Elias’ room at the Chelsea Hotel. These should be as easy to find as the others and should come in the form oftelegrams. One of these should be an answer to the same telegram that Elias sent to the investigators requesting their aid, whilethe other should be an invitation to dinner.

There is nothing to stop the investigators from contacting Colonel Fawcett, who will be upset to hear of his friend’s death.Unless the Keeper needs someone to impart further clues about the life of Jackson Elias or to provide helpful hints if theinvestigators are currently at a loss as to how to progress further, Fawcett will be able to offer little beyond his sympathies.Depending upon whether or not the Keeper wants to add a degree of historical verisimilitude to their game, it is quite possiblethat Fawcett will be prepared to help the investigators uncover those responsible for Elias’ death and perhaps provide limitedfinancial support or a letter of introduction. Under no circumstances, though, will Fawcett be prepared to join them on aglobetrotting expedition to uncover the fate of the Carlyle Expedition. He has his own expedition all fully planned and he hassponsors to answer to. At the very least, Fawcett will attend Elias’ funeral (see page XXX).

It is always possible that Fawcett himself is following up on some hitherto unknown clue provided to him by Elias, directinghim towards the lost city of Z and his destiny… a clue somehow connected to Nyarlathotep’s schemes. It is left to the Keeperto expand upon such a possibility.

the snow on the ground, while it alsoprovides an added danger during anychase. The heavy snow may also down

power lines, blockrailway lines, oreven forcebusinesses toclose early. Akindly Keepercan use thesnow as

justificationfor an

investigator surviving a fall from a building, suchas the Chelsea Hotel and its apparently fragilefire escape. Of course, a cold draft seepingunder the door to room 410 might be the firstsign that something is not right within…

In a similar vein, remember also that duringthe winter, there are only about ten hours ofsunlight available (for instance: sunrise onJanuary 15, 1925 is 6:48 A.M.; sunset at 4:51 P.M.)so the investigators will probably spend a goodamount of time in darkness. While this may be

helpful, if the players are the skulking sort, oncethe investigators are known to the BloodyTongue Cult you should strive to make theapproach of night a time of dread. Like thesnow, night (and darkness more generally) caneasily be a recurring motif of the campaign.Stress the lengthening shadows, the darkcorners, the flickering and feeble light of a streetlamp… if you note the darkness and theshadows often enough (and occasionallyreinforce these references with sudden, nastysurprises) your players will demand to play withthe lights on. Remember that Mukunga needsdarkness to summon a Hunting Horror and thatthe moon is waning until the 24th…

Set the scene clearly with the events in room410. Hopefully your players will not be soparanoid, at least not yet, that they will besurprised by Elias’ murder and the cultists there.Give some hint (such as the cold draft suggestedabove) that something is amiss, then confirmtheir suspicions with cultist prangas flying.Make the battle there furious, bloody, andpersonal. Be sure to describe each of the cluespresented impartially but in as much detail asthe investigators desire, allowing them to assessthe importance of particular items. Whenthings begin to slow, have Listen rolls all aroundto notice the arrival of the police…

As the first potential difficulty in thecampaign—assuming the investigators prevailagainst the cultists in Elias’ room—the New YorkPolice Department can play an important rolein this chapter. Lt. Poole is an important NPChere and his assessment of the investigators willbe critical to their future relations with theforce; be ready to role-play him. If theinvestigators flee the murder scene, they will bereasonably sought as possible accompliceswhereas if they encounter and battle the threethugs in the room, they may either be viewed asheroes or as ruffians in their own right. CreditRating, Persuade, and similar skills will beimportant in play, but make the investigatorsoffer an explanation of their actions rather thansimply have the dice take over.

Upon arrival, the investigators will almostcertainly be observed by the hotel staff at thefront desk. Perhaps the investigators even askabout Elias at the front desk. There can be

New York88

Snowfall in NYC

multiple witnesses for their arrival at the hotel,allowing Lt. Poole or some other detective totrack them down, if need be. Hopefully theinvestigators will foster a positive relationshipwith the police, if for no other reason than toprovide them with some support for an all-outraid on the Ju-Ju House.

As Keeper you must also decide exactly howdifficult you wish to make things for theinvestigators in their dealings with Erica Carlyle.The campaign itself suggests that evencontacting Erica Carlyle could be a challenge.Her retainers, such as Bradley Grey, could posean obstacle. Her prominence, however, suggestssome points of contact, in, for example, a gala atthe Carlyle estate. Those wishing to elaborateon the interplay between the investigators andMiss Carlyle should consider the optionspresented in the article “What if Erica Carlyledecides to sell Roger's books?” on page XX.Depending on your investigators, you shouldadjust these obstacles to make them less thaninsurmountable, as some of the information sheprovides is key in propelling the campaignforward and, like Jonah Kensington below, sheor her associates can be a useful organizing NPCfor investigators (see page XX).

A similar decision must be made related tothe medical records of Dr. Huston. If none ofthe investigators are physicians, theft is the onlyviable route to obtaining this information.Breaking and entering may be particularlychallenging (or even outside their ethical limits)at the start of a campaign. Descriptions ofRoger’s dreams might be obtained throughother sources, such as a Keeper-created

confidante of the elder Carlyle orhis sister Erica, while rumors ofHuston’s affair with a patientmight be learned from a lessdiscreet associate of the doctor.The Keeper can also make use ofthe pre-generated character ClaireSimpson (page XX), a nurseformerly in Dr. Huston’s employ,as a means of obtaining Roger’srecords.

Investigators who are able togain Erica Carlyle’s confidence arepresented with the first opportunity in thecampaign to obtain Mythos tomes and gainpoints in their Cthulhu Mythos skill. Some ofthe issues arising from this are discussed in thearticle “Reading on the Road” on page XX;proposed content and elaborations on furtherconnections between the tomes and thecampaign are discussed in the articles on theindividual books themselves. Reading thesetomes should not be presented as a mundanechore as their very words work to erode theinvestigators’ Sanity and reinforce the truth andnightmare power of the Mythos. Similarly, besure to keep close track of what spells arelearned by the investigators in order to be readyin case they make use of them and also to inflictdamage to their own minds due to the aliennature of those magics. Finally, remember thatseveral of the campaign’s more dangerous NPCs(such as Lin Tang-yu) are hungry for Mythosknowledge and that an ever-growing collectionof tomes is a tempting target.

89Keeper’s Notes

All Roads Lead to NairobiUnlike Elias’ notes for London or Hong Kong, the papers remaining regarding his time in Kenya are coherent and present concreteclues. When combined with the presence of the Bloody Tongue Cult in New York City and the fact that the Expedition met itsfate (of whatever nature) in Kenya, it is possible that investigators will want to travel directly to Kenya. One option in this caseis to allow the investigators to arrive in Africa but have their investigations stymied by their lack of information, only to have themreturn at a later point, once they have gained some inkling of the plot to create the Great Gate, etc.

Otherwise, consider ways to mitigate some of the dangers posed there by M’Weru and her minions and to perhaps relocateMiss Masters to another site or find some means to direct your players towards London or Cairo first, even if only briefly. It maybe worth noting that most ships to Nairobi will go through the Suez Canal and hence right past Cairo. And as Kenya is a Britishcolony, it will be easier to find a ship in London going to Nairobi than it will be to find one in New York.

We have included an expanded version of Elias’ Nairobi notes for use as handouts on page XX in Appendix C. Rememberthat these may be adjusted as needed to steer your players toward or away from certain locations and persons as desired.

Lieutenant Poole, NYPD

90 New YorkOne further factor that the Keeper must

consider is which languages the investigatorsare able to speak and read. As it stands, thecampaign contains tomes in Arabic, Chinese,Dutch, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, English, French,Hindi, and Latin, as well as items in several othertongues (such as Gavigan’s scrolls). It is unlikelythat every party will be fluent in all of the manytongues used during Masks of Nyarlathotep; beaware of what languages your investigators havein their repertoire and how you will resolve anygaps, such as an NPC translator or replacementcharacters. A subtle hint or suggestion (or eventhe right pre-generated character from thisbook) can greatly ease their burden.

The investigators’ relationship to JonahKensington is another important issue toconsider. As discussed in the article “Tent-poleNPCs” (page XX), he is an obvious backer for theinvestigators and their efforts to avenge theirmutual friend, Jackson Elias. As a life-long friendof Elias as well as his editor, Kensington has boththe motivation and the resources to fund, if to alimited degree, future investigations. He is alsoin possession of some useful clues, as containedin Elias’ notes from Nairobi and London, makinghim an important lead as well. If yourinvestigators somehow do not seek him out, he

should seek them out, perhaps at Elias’ funeral.If all else fails, have Elias give him their namesor otherwise leave a clue pointing Kensingtontowards the investigators.

A point of concern related to Kensington,but affecting a host of other NPCs throughoutthe campaign, is what sort of danger they areexposed to through the actions of theinvestigators, whether accidentally orintentionally. Mukunga’s branch of the Cult ofthe Bloody Tongue will most certainly seek toseize Elias’ Nairobi notes as well as eliminate afuture source of irritation if they are aware ofhim. If the investigators are incautious, theiradversaries will learn of their allies and willrightly view them as potential weak-points,means to either slow the investigators or forcethem to abandon their work. Hostages are anobvious means of leverage, but otherpossibilities abound. Consider also what mighthappen if the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaohlearns that Kensingston, thought safe back inNew York, is backing the investigators. Theymight contact Mukunga and have him eliminatethe publisher, or worse, somehow compromisehim, allowing the cult to know (and evencontrol) the information passing between theinvestigators and their erstwhile ally.

The January 24th EclipseIn a wonderful bit of historical coincidence, a solar eclipse - visible in New York City itself - occurred on January 24th, 1925. Thisis a great potential book-end to the Great Ritual of January 1926, foreshadowing of the campaign’s probable climax and perhapspointing investigators toward the secrets behind the Carlyle expedition.

The eclipse is the frequent topic of newspaper stories in the weeks before its occurrence, with tips given to potentialobservers (smoked glass and pinhole cameras being common suggestions, though the former is not particularly safe); be sure tomake it an often mentioned item in the local newspapers (and in general conversation) before the event. A great number ofscientific studies of the eclipse are publicized, including an aerial observation of the event by the USS Los Angeles; the dirigible passingover the city that morning. The eclipse, while visible in the city, is only total above about 83rd Street. The eclipse begins about9 A.M. local time (with the total eclipse lasting about two minutes, starting at 9:09) and ends at around 9:30.

The eclipse can also have a more direct effect on the events of the New York chapter. Obviously eclipses specifically, anddarkness more generally, are important to Nyarlathotep’s cults. It seems likely that Mukunga and the cult of the Bloody Tonguewill see this event as a moment of holy significance, holding a ritual at the Ju-Ju House (assuming the investigators haven’t disruptedtheir vile rites there). This would be an excellent time to sacrifice any captured investigators or enlarge the chakota; if the Ju-JuHouse is out of commission, perhaps in a roof-top ceremony at Fat Maybelle’s? While darkness is said to be a critical element inthe Summon Hunting Horror spell, a total eclipse seems like a reasonable exception to that rule.

Aside from the actions of local cultists, the eclipse is a plausible excuse for some sort of insane premonition of the GreatCeremony, particularly for any psychic or mediumistic investigator. Failing that, consider incorporating the eclipse into one of thedreams discussed in the article “Whispers from the Crawling Chaos” on page XX.

Thanks to Yog-Sothoth.com’s NanocTheCivilized for pointing this out!

Keeper’s Notes 91Finally, a few points related to Mukunga

and the Cult of the Bloody Tongue should beconsidered. They constitute the one activegroup working in direct opposition toinvestigators in this chapter and so shouldrespond to the actions of investigators in adynamic way.

The first goal of the cult should be toascertain who the investigators are and whattheir motives are; this can be a mixture of covertand overt methods ranging from simplesurveillance to breaking into their homes.Investigators should have a chance to detect thatthe cult has taken an interest in them either viaskill rolls (“Make a Spot Hidden check. It looksas if someone picked the lock to your room.”) orhappenstance (“Make a Luck roll. Your friendDawson Toombs at the Daily Post rings you upthat night and mentions that a dodgy lookingchap was asking questions about you.”) Famousor publicity hungry investigators may be at adisadvantage!

If the investigators are viewed as a threat,the cult will respond—remember that Mukungaand the cult are practiced criminals andmurderers, and are more than willing to spillblood to protect their secrets. Depending on thestrength of the party and the risk that they arethought to pose, any number of cultists(equipped with a variety of weapons—see “Toolsof the Bloody Tongue” on page XX forsuggestions) can be dispatched to waylay them,booby-trap their vehicles, burn their homes, orotherwise do them ill. While the cult will mostlikely seek to remain anonymous, direcircumstances may spur them to more publicaction. If such violent methods do not dissuadethe investigators, Mukunga has a variety ofmagics available to him, including summoninga Hunting Horror. Assisted by an act of sabotage(a blackout in Manhattan, anyone?) this creaturecan wreak much havoc on a party.

It may be helpful to take some notes duringplay to keep track of what the Cult of the BloodyTongue knows about the investigators. This willalso prove of use when play moves to London, ifsome fragment of the New York cult survives topass on a warning to Gavigan and his followers.

QUICK REFERENCEGetting AroundNew York and its boroughs, as well as thesurrounding communities, are connected by avery modern system of road, rail, and shippinglinks. Railway lines connect the city to thesuburbs and a twenty-four hour subway systemallows for inexpensive transport around theManhattan and portions of Brooklyn, and theBronx. Buses are more often found further outin Queens and on Staten Island (then calledRichmond). Taxi cabs are ubiquitous and caneither be called for in advance or hailed at thecurbside. Their drivers are frequently expertson the city, or at least think themselves to be so.Private vehicles are also an option, though out-of-towners unaccustomed to city driving mayfind the congestion of New York City’s streetsvexing. (Traffic jams can always be used to delayinvestigators or those pursuing them, ifdesired.)

On the water, frequent ferries run betweenManhattan, the other boroughs, some of theharbor islands (including the Statue of Liberty),and New Jersey. These tend to only run duringdaylight hours. Remember New York City isbuilt on several islands and that many of themodern tunnels and bridges that cross out ofthe city were not built until later decades;entrance and egress to the city, and Manhattanin particular, is therefore much more restricted.

If money is an issue, most subway fares areabout five cents, while cabs start at fifteen, plusthat again for every quarter mile. Walking,always popular, is free, if not particularlycomfortable over long distances in January.

Government and Law EnforcementThe New York Police Department is the premierlaw enforcement organization in New York City.Its Manhattan headquarters is at 240 CenterStreet (downtown, near Little Italy) withmultiple precinct houses throughout the city.Police officers are generally equipped with a .38revolver and a nightstick. While some patrolcars may have radio receivers, two-way radiotransmitters are not used until the 1930s.Arrested investigators will usually be taken to a

New York92

New York and environs

93Keeper’s Notesnearby precinct house for processing, withanyone who is not immediately released on bail(Credit Rating rolls apply, obviously; locals willbe in better standing than out-of-towners orforeigners) being held at the Welfare IslandPenitentiary until the date of their trial or theycan arrange bail. While standing trial, prisonersare held at the evocatively nicknamed “TheTombs.”

Both the Bureau of Investigation and theProhibition Bureau have offices in the city,though it is unlikely that investigators wouldhave cause to interact with these organizations.See the article “Musings on the Bloody Tongue”on page XX for some suggestions regardingthese Federal agencies in this chapter.

Murder victims (such as Jackson Elias) andother suspicious deaths are the responsibility ofthe New York City Medical Examiner’s officewhich performs all of the autopsies in the city.This office is headquartered in Bellevue Hospital(East Side, between Kip’s Bay and the Gashousedistrict) and the remains are retained in themorgue until they are either turned over tofamilies (or other claimants) or are buried by thecity at the Potter’s Field on Hart Island.

HotelsAs befitting a city of its size, there are far morehotels available than can be usefully listed in awork such as this. Some of the more famousinclude the Plaza Hotel (5th Avenue and 59thStreet), the Algonquin (59th Avenue West and44th Street, of the eponymous “Round Table,”which continues to meet throughout the 1920s),the Waldorf-Astoria (5th Avenue, between 33rdand 34th Streets; demolished to make way forthe Empire State Building in 1929), theRoosevelt Hotel (Madison Avenue and 45thStreet; newly opened), and—particularly for thiscampaign—the Hotel Chelsea (see box on pageXX).

Most of the major hotels are located inManhattan, as that island is the most commondestination for both visitors and travelers.While there are hotels in the other boroughs,these tend to be more middle-classestablishments rather than the grand palaceslike those bordering on Central Park or adjacentto the great train stations. Perhaps even more

About the Hotel Chelsea

I was daydreaming of better days At the Chelsea Hotel before I scared you away-Camper Van Beethoven“That Gum You Like is Back in Style”

The Hotel Chelsea, located at 222 West 23rd Street, in New York’sChelsea neighborhood, is one of the city’s most storied artists’haunts and an unsurprising residence (however temporary) for amaverick journalist like Jackson Elias. Curious Keepers might beinterested to learn a bit more about the opening location for thecampaign.

Started in 1883 and completed in 1884 the building wasoriginally intended to be a co-operative apartment complex. Attwelve-stories high the red brick building was the tallest buildingin New York at the time and would remain so until 1899. In thatperiod the Chelsea neighborhood was the heart of New York’stheatrical scene, and the building was popular with creative types.Unfortunately, the rise of Broadway as a theatrical hub contributedto financial problems that bankrupted the original co-operative.This caused the property to be converted to a hotel in 1905,which it has remained ever since. Often many of the rooms havebeen held by the same guest for long periods of time, in somecases for several years.

In the decades since its construction, many luminaries havespent time at the Chelsea—directors Stanley Kubrick and Milo!Forman; writers including Mark Twain, Arthur C. Clarke, William S.Burroughs, Simone de Beauvoir, Jean Paul Sartre, Arthur Miller,Tennessee Williams, and Jack Kerouac; actors such as LillieLangtree, Dennis Hopper, and Uma Thurman; and a range ofmusicians including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, LeonardCohen, Tom Waits, and Dee Dee Ramone, several of whom wrotesongs about the hotel.

The Chelsea has also seen its share of tragedies beyondJackson Elias’ fictional demise. In 1953 alcohol poisoning did inresident poet Dylan Thomas while The Lost Weekend authorCharles R. Jackson took his own life in his room at the Chelsea in1968. The hotel’s most famous death is, of course, NancySpungen’s unsolved 1978 murder, allegedly at the hands of the SexPistols bassist Sid Vicious.

Today the Hotel Chelsea remains a gathering point for writersand artists. For reservations and other questions, seehttp://www.hotelchelsea.com/.

so than the grand hotels, guests at moremoderate locales are expected to comportthemselves in a respectable manner and thosewho fail to do so, even if the breach was causedby another (such as a Bloody Tongue cultistassaulting an investigator in his room), may beforced to find new accommodation. CreditRating or Persuade rolls may forestall ejection,depending on the circumstances.

A host of cheaper establishments arecommon in neighborhoods like the Bowery orHarlem, as well as near the various docks andtrain stations. These will range in quality fromthose frequented by poor but respectabletravelers (a bit shabby perhaps, but veryconscientious about their reputation and thebehavior of their guests), to flop-houses of thesort frequented by sailors (with shared roomsand no amenities to speak of), to no-questions-asked, bed-by-the-hour establishments whichinvestigators may risk their safety (and sexualhealth) simply by visiting (and which may ormay not be affiliated with one criminal gang oranother).

City LibrariesThe greater New York metropolitan area is hostto a substantial number of world-class libraries,as well as fine institutions specializing in morelocal concerns.

American Geographical Society (Broadwayand 155th St.). This organization holds asubstantial collection of maps and books ofinterest to the group’s membership and itsdedication to the expansion of humanunderstanding of the world. The collection isonly open to paid members—a Credit Rating rollor affiliation with an academic institution willsuffice to gain admission.

Columbia University (campus at Broadwayand 116th St.). Centered under the dome of theLow Library (the Butler Library, as seen inGhostbusters, does not replace it until 1934), theUniversity’s substantial collection is open tostudents and other academics and researchers.Investigators lacking credentials may get bywith a Credit Rating or Persuade roll. Thenearby bronze statue of “The Great God Pan”

New York94

The New York PublicLibrary, 5th Avenue

95Keeper’s Notesmay unnerve some investigators, depending ontheir earlier encounters with the Mythos…

Hall of Records (Chambers and CentreStreets). This facility holds the various recordsof all New York City history—birth and deathcertificates, deeds and titles, et al. Manyinvestigators will no doubt avail themselves ofthis institution.

Long Island Historical Society (128Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn). Focused primarilyon local history, this library may be of help whenresearching Roger Carlyle’s family background orother New York-specific material.

New York Historical Society (Central ParkWest and 76th Street). Focused on New Yorkhistory (and American history more generally),this fine institution may be of more limited useto investigators than some of the other librariesin this section; the collection here is impressive,nevertheless. The nearby American Museum ofNatural History may also be a draw forinvestigators.

The New York Public Library (5th Avenue,between 40th and 42nd Streets; as well as 43branch locations). With a collection of over twomillion works, this is the premier library in thecity. It is open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to10 p.m. (save Sundays when it opens at 1 p.m.)and houses everything from daily newspapers tomedieval manuscripts. The rare book collectionis open only to scholars.

New York University (Washington SquarePark, in Greenwich Village). Similar to ColumbiaUniversity’s facilities, if perhaps slightly smaller,and more convenient to Southern Manhattanlocations.

HospitalsIn the mid 1920s there are more than onehundred hospitals serving the greater New Yorkarea, providing the most advanced medical careavailable. Those listed here are the largest or areotherwise remarkable.

Bellevue (East 26th Street—see also under“Asylums” below); the oldest public (and one ofthe most widely known) hospital in the UnitedStates and employs some of the premierphysicians and researchers in the country. It isopen to admissions on a twenty-four hour basisand operates a fleet of ambulances. The city’smedical examiner and morgue (see above)operate under the auspices of the hospital.

French Hospital (West 30th Street) andPolyclinic (West 50th Street); near Hell’sKitchen; therefore these two frequently treat theneighborhood’s residents and the police officersinjured there.

New York Hospital (West 16th Street,between Fifth and Sixth Avenues); maintains anambulance service.

Presbyterian (Madison Avenue and 70thStreet); many patients are charity cases. In 1925it merges with the New York State PsychiatricHospital (see below) and the Sloane Hospital forWomen.

Roosevelt (59th Street and Ninth Avenue);small but specialized in acute surgical cases.

St. Luke’s Hospital (113th Street andAmsterdam Avenue); open to patients of all races(unlike most of the others listed here) and offersfree services to the poor.

AsylumsLike its hospitals, New York’s psychiatricinstitutions are as progressive as you can find inthe era, but many are still mired in the practicesand problems of the past, particularly issues offunding. A Keeper looking to expand on apsychiatric stay should consult The Taint ofMadness from which the cure and survival ratesare taken for these institutions.

Bellevue Psychiatric Pavilion (94% survivalrate, 61% cure rate); frequently treats criminals,violent patients, and detoxifying addicts of allstripes (the cure rate for the mentally ill is

96 New Yorksubstantially lower). This facility focuses moreon containment and pacification rather thantreatment. “Bellevue” is used as shorthand slangfor any psychiatric hospital.

Brooklyn State Hospital (81% survival rate,48% cure rate); this institution is intended forthe insane of Brooklyn and is badlyovercrowded.

Manhattan State Hospital for the Insane(92% survival rate, 26% cure rate); this is one ofthe largest psychiatric hospitals in the world,situated on Ward’s Island. Uses some inmatesfrom the nearby Blackwell Penitentiary asorderlies. It is overcrowded.

New York State Psychiatric Hospital (97%survival rate, 68% cure rate); in 1925 thisinstitution joins with Presbyterian Hospital. Amodern facility with an affiliated teachingprogram.

NewspapersThe number of daily and weekly newspapers inNew York in 1925 is shocking to our sensibilitiesin light of the vast consolidation of the industryin the past half century. Some newspapers hada morning and evening edition while others hadjust one (the name sometimes reveals this).Newsboys and newsstand vendors are awakeand about even in the pre-dawn hours andmight make for excellent witnesses or sources.The following list (useful for handouts and asemployers of journalist characters) is partial atbest and ignores many of the city’s publications,especially those in the boroughs:

• The Daily News (photo-heavy tabloid)• The Daily Graphic (tabloid)• The Forward (socialist, in Yiddish)• The New York American (Hearst owned,

sensationalistic and very inexpensive)• The New York Amsterdam News (Black)• The New York Evening Globe (progressive)• The New York Evening Journal (Hearst

owned)

• The New York Evening Post (pro-Republican)

• The New York Herald Tribune (newlymerged and declining, literaryexcellence)

• The New York Morning Telegraph(entertainment focused, affluent)

• The New York Pillar-Riposte (gossip-oriented, fictional)

• The New York Times (staid)• The New York World (Pulitzer owned)• Il Progresso Americano (Italian)• Staats-Zeitung (German)• The Wall Street Journal (business)

OTHER TOPICS

NPC NamesNew York City in 1925 is the world’s largest city,surpassing London (at least in population) inthat year. Its inhabitants come from all over theglobe, from nearly every culture and religion,and therefore the range of possible names forNew Yorkers is equally vast. As a rough rule ofthumb—wealthier individuals tend to haveEnglish or Dutch last names, middle classindividuals draw from a broader range,including Italian, Irish, and Eastern Europeanones.

A “Horde” of CultistsEvery Keeper can use a few more cultists; hereare a dozen. These can be used to bolster thenumbers of the cultists in the campaign itself orin some of the articles from this chapter. As isdiscussed in the article on the Cult of the BloodyTongue, there are some skill and statisticdifferences between Kenyan and other African-born cult members, and those recruited in theUnited States.

New York Traffic

Keeper’s Notes 97Assorted Bloody Tongue Cultists Kenyans# STR CON SIZ INT POWDEX APP HP db1 9 10 15 10 4 12 13 13 -2 13 11 11 13 13 15 14 11 -3 10 8 12 8 11 8 10 10 -4 15 13 16 13 13 11 11 15 +1d45 10 8 9 16 15 9 10 9 -6 17 12 15 11 10 10 11 14 +1d67 13 15 14 10 10 12 13 15 +1d48 15 16 17 12 12 13 10 17 +1d6Attacks: Pranga 45%, damage 1d6+2+db

Parry 30%, damage specialFist 60%, damage 1d3+db (see also “Tools of the Bloody Tongue”on page XX for other options)

Languages: Swahili 75%, English 35%.Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 2d6+3%, Dodge 30%,

Hide 60%, Jump 55%, Listen 50%,Occult 10%, Sneak 60%, Spot Hidden 35%, Track 50%.

American Born# STR CON SIZ INT POWDEX APP HP db1 13 11 12 10 9 13 8 11 +1d42 12 10 12 8 9 10 11 11 -3 14 16 13 11 7 13 9 15 +1d44 11 9 11 11 7 14 14 10 -Attacks: Fist 50%, damage 1d3+db

Small Knife 40%, damage1d4+dbPranga 25%, damage 1d6+2+dbColt Police Positive .32 Revolver 35%,

damage 1d8Languages: English 35-75%.Skills: Credit Rating 3d10%,

Cthulhu Mythos 2d6%, Dodge 30%,Hide 30%, Jump 40%, Listen 50%,Occult 20%, Sneak 40%, Spot Hidden 35%, Track 20%.

TRAVEL

New York is a travel hub for the United Statesand from it investigators may embark onvoyages to nearly every part of the globe. Seethe chapter “In Transit” on page XX for moreinformation.

Ship: This is the most likely means of leaving thecity for the next chapters of the campaign.Manhattan is the home to many miles ofdockyards, as are the other boroughs and thenearby communities; the Dutch founders of thecity picked an excellent anchorage.

Individual lines have their own piers, withlines such as American, Atlantic Transport,Cunard (the RMS Mauretania departs fromhere), Furness Withy & Co., Reardon & Smith,Red Star, United States, and White Star all sailingfrom New York to London, Plymouth, orSouthampton.

For investigators wanting to be cunning,Transat (or CGT—Compagnie GénéraleTransatlantique) serves New York from Le Havre,and Hapag (or the Hamburg America Line)serves Hamburg from Hoboken, New Jersey.

Rail: While it is unlikely that investigators willdepart New York by rail, in the event they wishto do so (to interview Miriam Atwright at

98 New YorkHarvard, or to go to San Francisco en route toShanghai) this is a simple matter as the city is ahub of rail traffic on the Eastern seaboard.Multiple passenger stations, usually named fortheir initial destinations (e.g. PennsylvaniaStation) provide links to destinationscountrywide and can be reached via the city’ssubway system.

Automobile: Other than a trip to the Carlyleestate, rail travel is superior to automobile interms of speed and cost. Investigators may takethe Atlantic Highway to Boston, though the tripwill take a full day (or more, depending onmechanical issues, weather, and the like) whilean express train to the city will take but a fewhours.

Air: As Charles Lindbergh’s historic trans-Atlantic flight is still some two years away,barring a personal zeppelin, reaching any of thepotential future destinations for the campaignis not possible by air. Until the 1928 opening ofthe Newark Airport, the area lacks any dedicatedaircraft facilities, even for a private aircraft.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/RESOURCES

The obvious go-to book for running this chapteris Secrets of New York as it is the last word forNew York City as it comes to Call of Cthulhugaming. A useful supplement to this book is“Only After Dark” from The Book of DarkWisdom #1, as it contains material aboutGreenwich Village omitted from that book dueto lack of space as well as a short scenario (forwhich see below) set in the city. Both books arestill available as of this work’s publication. (TheKeeper should note, however, that Secrets ofNew York regrettably does not make any effortto incorporate the characters and events ofMasks of Nyarlathotep into its text.)

The opening chapters of the epic campaignBeyond the Mountains of Madness (OOP, PDF)are set in and around New York City and whilethe events therein are set several years in thefuture (1931) the information about dock areas

may be of interest if you anticipate any wharf-side encounters.

Lovecraft lived for several years (1924-1926)in Brooklyn and some of his stories reflect hisown (admittedly negative) take on the city; “He”,“Cool Air”, and “The Horror at Red Hook” are allset in the city itself. The book From the PestZone (edited by S.T. Joshi and David Schultz)collects all of Lovecraft’s New York period storieswith full annotation and may be of interest aswell.

For a quick idea of what the city (Manhattanat least) was like in the period, Peter Jackson’s2005 remake of King Kong is convenient andeasily obtained. Remember though, the film isset in 1933; some of the buildings (especially theEmpire State Building or the Chrysler Building)would not yet be constructed in 1925, nor wouldthe Depression era griminess be in evidence.

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS

Eleven pre-generated characters are provided forthe first section of the campaign, either as initialcharacters or early replacements. Each has someuseful hooks for integrating them into theaction, either through Elias or the CarlyleExpedition. Feel free to adjust theirbackgrounds and personal connections as bestsuits your campaign.

Helen Alexander—This archaeologist is anassociate of Henry Brinded (see below) and is,like that antiquarian, a potentially ‘experienced’investigator.

Zack Allemby—A Harlem resident and“conjure-man,” Allemby is connected to Elias viahis mentor Dr. Fisher. Alternatively he maysimply have run afoul of the Bloody Tongue cultand be on the lookout for someone looking todo that group harm.

Catrine Blichfeldt—A Society reporter forthe Pillar-Riposte, Blichfeldt has been probingaround the edges of the Carlyle mystery and willmost likely seek out anyone asking too manyquestions on the case. Alternately, Elias mayhave contacted her before his death, perhaps as

Keeper’s Notes 99a means to contact Erica Carlyle in order toconsult Roger’s books.

Henry Brinded—This Boston antiquarian(and potentially ‘experienced’ investigator, if sodesired) is an acquaintance of Elias and a long-time correspondent.

Simon Exton—A physician specializing intoxicology, Exton treated the globe-trottingauthor after a trip to the Amazon proved mostdangerous to his health. They have remained intouch over the subsequent decade.

Roman Harkov—A fellow author workingfor Prospero House, this White Russian folkloristis a social friend of Elias.

Finlay Patterson—A potential mole or tail,Patterson is in the employ of Bradley Grey, EricaCarlyle’s aide and is hired by him to keep tabs onthe investigators and their blundering about inMiss Carlyle’s affairs. If Carlyle or Grey arecooperating with the investigators, he can beassigned to accompany them. Otherwise, thisformer rum-runner will follow the investigators,only to have them become aware of him by hischoice or as events require.

Raoul Luis Maria Piñera—Hypatia Master’sformer lover, Piñera will be encountered bythose investigating the Carlyle expedition,particularly if they are inquiring after MissMasters.

George Randall—This English big-gamehunter made Elias’ acquaintance last year whilein Nairobi, and would have crossed-paths againif Randall had not departed London for a bit ofa Teddy Roosevelt-inspired hunting trip to theAmerican and Canadian Rockies. On his return,while visiting New York, he contacts ProsperoHouse in mid January…

Claire Simpson—A former nurse in theemploy of the “late” Dr. Huston, Miss Simpsonwill be found by investigators wanting to probethe doctor and his records.

Neil Young—As George Randall’s valet andgunsmith, Mr. Young goes where his employerdoes.

PLUG-IN SCENARIOS

Sometimes an additional scenario is needed.These scenarios are those that are the mosteasily adapted to a Masks of Nyarlathotepcampaign (or if a less-perfect fit, contain somevery appealing elements worthy of inclusion)and worth considering in the event that yourinvestigators need to tarry in New York just alittle longer. Note: Books listed as OOP are Outof Print and only available from used booksellers or at auction; PDF indicates that a versionis available for download at sites likerpgnow.com or drivethrurpg.com.

Title: Thoth’s DaggerType: Parallel Adventure

(Boston/New York to Cairo)Source:Curse of the Chthonians (PDF), Cthulhu

Casebook (OOP)Notes: In some ways, “Thoth’s Dagger” is almost

a version of The Complete Masks ofNyarlathotep in miniature, involving theinvestigators in the efforts of a cultdevoted to the Outer God to obtain animportant artifact. Possession of thisartifact will drive the investigators totravel to Egypt through a series ofincreasingly debilitating visions inflictedupon one of their number. Once therethey can encounter another ofNyarlathotep’s aspects beneath thesands of Egypt and possibly dispel him,at least temporarily.

Although this scenario exposes theinvestigators to another cult devoted tothe Crawling Chaos, the necessary hasterequired to get to Egypt requires theinvestigators to bypass London, or atleast postpone a visit until a later date.One solution would be to run “Thoth’sDagger” before attempting Masks ofNyarlathotep, almost as a dress rehearsalfor the campaign enabling the Keeper tohint at the threat to come. Anothersolution would be to relocate thebeginning of the scenario, perhaps evencombining it with the events of thescenario “The Auction” in a European

city. This would ameliorate the effects ofthe visions and if the investigatorssucceed, they will have gained temporaryvictory, though not one that affects thecampaign. The Keeper should providesome information about CopticChristianity, as members of this faithform important allies in this scenarioand its sequel, “The City Without AName.”

Title: Dead Man StompType: Sidetrek Adventure (New York)Source:Call of Cthulhu Core RulebookNotes: Another scenario that involves

Nyarlathotep’s meddling in mankind’saffairs, although the investigators mayonly become aware of it if the Outer Godmockingly informs them of it during alater encounter in the campaign. Thestrength of the scenario is its obviousdepiction of the racial andsocial divide of the time aswell as the point where

the rich and the crooked came together—Jazz and the speakeasy. It sets theflavor for New York of the period andparticularly highlights the racial divide ifone of the investigators is coloured, suchas Zack Allemby, one of the pre-generated investigators provided.

Title: Only After DarkType: Sidetrek Adventure (New York)Source:The Book of Dark Wisdom Issue 1,

Volume 1Notes: The vandalised offices of a minor

publisher put the investigators on thetrail of a nascent ghoul cult whilstalso taking them on a tour ofGreenwich Village’s notable sights.One option with thisadventure wouldbe to replace itspublisher withJonahKensington,

perhaps

New York100

New York waterfrontand ferries viewed from

Brooklyn

throwing a red herring in the path of theinvestigators when they investigate thebreak in and Jackson Elias’ death.

Keepers looking to develop a NewYork based anti-Ghoul campaign mightalso examine the scenario “Lurker in theCrypt” from Fatal Experiments as well asthe section “Keepers of the Faith” fromDelta Green: Countdown for twodifferent takes on what may lurkbeneath Manhattan. Be wary of running"Lurker in the Crypt" as written. In itsoriginal form, the scenario is notoriouslyefficient at killing whole parties.

Title: People of the MonolithType: Sidetrek Adventure (Europe)Source: Shadows of Yog-Sothoth

Notes: This scenario is reallyonly relevant if the investigators

obtain the copy of ThePeople of the

Monolith found in Erica Carlyle’s safe. Aswritten, it has no bearing upon thecampaign and is no more than anotherred herring. One option to integrate intothe campaign might be to switch thesubject of the tome and the scenario’sdestination to Africa, but this requires agreat deal of effort upon the part of theKeeper. A more detailed description ofthis poetry collection is included in theNew York chapter.

101Keeper’s Notes

What if Erica CarlyleDecides to Sell Roger’s Books?

Mike Czaplinski

This section assumes that, rather than breakinto the Carlyle House and crack the safe, theinvestigators approach Erica Carlyle with anoffer to purchase one or more of her brother’soccult tomes. This could happen in a number ofways; during the play session which inspired thisarticle the investigators were all affiliated with areputable institution of higher learning (thefictional “New York City University”) andmanaged to make the proper Credit Rating andPersuade rolls to convince her that they wereasking for reasons of legitimate scholarship andnot out of any desire for salacious sensation-seeking. If somehow the investigators create abad impression with her, Erica might decide tosell the books to simply get rid of another badmemory of her tragic brother’s madness.Consider this option if it will facilitate play.

Carlyle will have Bradley Grey send outdiscreet inquiries to several dealers in collectablebooks in the New York area and elsewhere(London, Boston, and Chicago). Of the fourbooks in her possession, only Justin Geoffrey’sPeople of the Monolith will hold any significantvalue to conventional dealers ($75 perhaps,depending on the version of course) while ThePnakotic Manuscripts and the Livre d’Ivoncommentary will be of immediate interest toonly a few rarified collectors. One of theseindividuals is Aloysius Marloner, of Brooklyn,New York, who deals in peculiar tomes and willrecognize The Pnakotic Manuscripts and the

Livre d’Ivon commentary for what they are.Though neither a cultist nor Mythos scholarhimself, Marloner has extensive connections incertain esoteric circles, and is aware that there isa standing anonymous buyer for any books fromthe Carlyle collection.

THE BIDDER

Marloner will offer Miss Carlyle $2500 for the setand, as a show of good faith that his will be thebest, provides the addresses of the Boston,Chicago, and London dealers to Miss Carlyle(which at the Keeper’s discretion may includethe address of the Boston shop owned by thepre-generated investigator, the antiquarianHenry Brinded). If the investigators have made afavorable impression on her, she will let themknow that she has received a sizable bid for theset, and will provide them with Marloner’s card.No matter what, she will not make any decisionon whom to sell to until she hears from all of thedealers she has sent inquiries to; this will take3d6 days, half of that with a successful Luck rollif the investigators are in a hurry.

If contacted, Marloner’s response willdepend largely on the investigators’ approach,that is, he will be positively inclined to talk tothem if approached in a non-threatening

102 New York

What if Erica Carlyle... 103manner (using Persuade, etc.), but willabsolutely refuse to talk if approached in anegative manner (intimidation and threats).Research into his background (requiring aLibrary Use roll or a day’s worth of footwork andtelephone calls) will reveal that he is as heappears — a legitimate dealer in antique books.His sideline in rare occult tomes is not publicknowledge; New York residents or fellow dealersin antique books making a successful Occult rollwill be aware of his reputation however. If askedabout his interest in Carlyle’s books, Marlonerwill simply say that when he heard the titleswere available he jumped at the chance toacquire them. If Marloner is confronted withthe fact that his offer is considerably more thanthe value of the volumes, he will reveal thatthere has been a periodically repeated offer(beginning when Carlyle was reported killed in1919) from a New York-area buyer to acquire anybooks of this sort from Roger Carlyle’scollection, no questions asked. Marlonertelephoned the bidder and was given a price thatthey would be willing to pay, as well as a retainer.Since the offer was a public one, Marloner willfreely pass on the address and name of thecollector — one Coleman Lloyd, of Manhattan.

GETTING THE BOOKS

Marloner can be persuaded to rescind his bid ifhe is offered a substantial bribe; approximately$500 will do. He will also be willing to sell theinvestigators the books if they can outbid thestanding offer for the collection. Finally,Marloner can also be persuaded to abandon hisefforts if he is shown incontrovertible evidenceof Lloyd’s criminal links (see below) or someproof of his demise, though investigators shouldbe cautious if they make it seem like they hadany involvement. If, however, the investigatorstry to Fast Talk, intimidate, or otherwise bullyMarloner, he will bring their meeting to end asquickly as possible, and thereafter have nofurther dealings with them. If the investigatorsresorted to physical threats or violence, the bookdealer will call the police and make a complaint,accusing them of harassment or assault.

If the investigators offer Marloner a higherprice for Carlyle’s books, he will then attempt tocontact his original buyer. Realizing that thebooks might be at risk, Mukunga (for it is thatnefarious cultist behind Lloyd’s offer) will thenapproach Marloner through an intermediaryand double the original offer to $5000, in cash.

If the investigators somehow persuade EricaCarlyle to have the books auctioned, Marloner isprepared to bid as much as $3000 ($5000 ifMukunga is aware there is some competition)for the set. If he is outbid, he will regretfullyinform Coleman of the loss; as a token ofappreciation Marloner will be told to keep his$500 retainer. Unfortunately, within a week ofthis event, the newspapers will carry a smallobituary for Marloner, who will be reported ashaving been found brutally stabbed to death bya robber in his home. The Bloody Tongue cultwill then resume its attempts to steal the booksfrom Erica Carlyle or their new owner(s). Ifthwarted, it is possible that Mukunga willinform Gavigan and the Penhew Foundation ofthe books’ existence to enlist his aid.

THE OTHER BUYER

Coleman Preston Lloyd, Marloner’s potentialbuyer, lives in an apartment building in theUpper West Side of Manhattan. Lloyd is thefallen son of a wealthy Albany, New York family(an uncle is a Superior Court judge) who hasbeen drowning himself in liquor, supplied by theBloody Tongue cultists, for several years now. Heis an affiliate of the cult, though more for theorgies and steady booze than any particularbelief in the group or its god. An investigatorwith connections to New York society (pre-generated character Catrine Blitchfeld forexample), or who is willing to spend a daydigging through the society pages (andsucceeding in a Library Use roll), will learn thatLloyd has been disowned by his family due to hisdissipated lifestyle, occasional arrests forviolations of the Volstead act, and hisfrequenting of Harlem “jazz” clubs. He supportshimself by means of an ever-shrinking trustfund.

Marloner (or a little research) provides atelephone number for the building, butmessages left for Mr. Lloyd will not be returnedunless the investigators give a particularly goodreason, such as feigning that they are inpossession of the Carlyle books. If Lloyd returnsthe investigators’ telephone call, a Fast Talk rollwill be needed to convince him to meet withthem. Lloyd will arrange to meet them in hisrooms (as per the description below), but willbe reinforced by 1d3+1 Bloody Tongue cultists(see the notes to this chapter on page XX forstatistics).

Visitors to the building (a modest six storyaffair with an inattentive doorman and arecently installed elevator) will only find himhome if the party can succeed in a halved groupLuck roll, otherwise he is out and they must wait1d6 hours until he returns (almost certainlydrunk). If in, Lloyd will only answer the door ifthe investigators succeed in a Fast Talk roll(double if they claim to have liquor), otherwisehe ignores visitors. Alternatively Lloyd could betracked down at a nearby speakeasy.

Whilst the door to his rooms is secure (STR20), the room’s various windows are often leftopen or unlocked (some of which can bereached via a fire escape — a Jump roll or aladder is required to reach its lowest level).Inside, the apartment is in disarray and stinks ofsweat, alcohol, cigarette smoke, and spoiledfood. What was once well-appointed furniturehas been abused and left in poor condition.Scattered everywhere are empty liquor bottlesand impromptu ashtrays. A few pieces ofAfrican art (bric-a-brac purchased from the Ju-Ju House to mask liquor deliveries) are scatteredabout and, if his rooms are carefully searched,Lloyd’s Bloody Tongue headdress can be foundtucked into a drawer along with ammunition forhis pistol.

Lloyd is a poor negotiator, especially whenhe is intoxicated. If it comes to a fight, Lloyd willuse his pistol, though he prefers to flee the sceneand telephone the police, rightly assuming anypotential liquor charge will be trumped bybreaking and entering or assault. Given achance, he will contact the cult and inform themof curious investigators and request the aid of1d4+1 burly helpers.

NPCS

ALOYSIUS MARLONER, age 63 — innocent bibliophile caught up in unknowndangersSTR 8 CON 7 SIZ 8 INT 13 POW 10DEX 10 APP 9 EDU 16 SAN 50 HP 8Languages: English 80%, French 75%, Latin 40%.Skills: Bargain 56%, Credit Rating 41%,

History 61%, Appraise Book 73%,Persuade 44%.

COLEMAN PRESTON LLOYD, age 33 — dissipated cultist allySTR 11 CON 8 SIZ 12 INT 10 POW 10DEX 6* APP 8 EDU 15 SAN 19 HP 10* Actually 11, but unless he is forced to sober up he will be impaired

Attacks: Colt Model 1903 .32 Automatic 30%, damage 1d8;

Fist 50%, damage 1d3Languages: English 75%.Skills: Credit Rating 10% (with a successful

Persuade he can bluff at 65%), CthulhuMythos 2%, Drink Alcohol 96%, Fast Talk 55%, Feign Sobriety 62%,Persuade 35%.

New York104

Above: Coleman Preston Lloyd

Below: Aloysius Marloner

105Musings on the Cult of the

Bloody Tongue in New York Bret Kramer

INTRODUCTIONLittle background information is given in Masksof Nyarlathotep regarding the origins orworkings of the Bloody Tongue cult, particularlyits New York City branch. This short articlehopefully fills in some of these blanks, giving theKeeper a better idea of how the cult works andtakes as its basis both the material presented inthe campaign and Mike Czaplinski’s articles inthis chapter, as well as some real-world criminaland cult groups.

HISTORYThe story of the Cult of the Bloody Tongue inNew York City begins in 1916, with the arrival ofM’Weru at the behest of Nyarlathotep. With thepowers and abilities granted to her byNyarlathotep, as well as her own remarkablefaculties, she set about fulfilling her darkmaster’s plans. While the heart of her plan wasto set in motion the events leading to thecreation of the Great Gate, one side project thatfacilitated the greater scheme was to establish abase of power in her new home. Thecombination of the contacts she soon made withseveral powerful locals (including Roger Carlyle)and her own magical powers made this arelatively simple task. Mundane means wereused to smuggle a group of Kenyan cultists intoManhattan and establish a base for the nascentcult; the Ju-Ju House was forcibly taken from itsformer owners and the cult space beneath wascreated.

M’Weru, using the alias Anastasia Bunay, didnot publicly connect herself to the group andinstead devoted herself to her work with Carlyle,but she continued to lead the group in secret.Day to day functions of the cult were conductedby a series of imported Bloody Tongue leaders,but the first few of these men displeasedM’Weru and can still be seen as part of theChakota. Mukunga M’Dari proved a better fitand remains a fanatical devotee and unwaveringdisciple of M’Weru.

Her departure with the other members ofthe Carlyle expedition in 1919 led to substantialchanges to the cult. Mukunga sought todemonstrate his loyalty to M’Weru by expandingand strengthening his branch. The cult widenedits recruitment beyond a scattering of dissipatedwhites and into the black population of Harlem.Carlyle’s departure removed the cult’s primarysource of funding and in response the groupexpanded its criminal enterprises intosmuggling and, with the start of Prohibition in1920, bootlegging. Mukunga was able tosuccessfully affiliate himself with some of thecity’s larger rum runners, giving the group ameasure of protection; this, combined with thefact that the group confined most of its activitiesto Harlem, to insulate the group from outsideinterests, either civic or criminal.

Today the New York branch of the BloodyTongue cult bears two main responsibilities: toaid in the export of components for Penhew’smissile and to monitor Erica Carlyle (thoughafter her trip to Kenya to confirm her brother’s“death,” there has been little to do on this pointuntil Elias’ arrival in New York). The former task

106 New Yorkis only slightly more difficult, leaving ample timefor the Cult of the Bloody Tongue to engage in ahost of vile activities …

MEMBERSHIPThe cult’s membership numbers fewer than onehundred die-hard devotees with a few hundredmore individuals loosely affiliated. Of that total,only about a quarter are whites with theremainder being black. The most devotedmembers are primarily African blacks (most ofthose being Kenyans) along with a smattering ofwhites. The division between the more looselyaffiliated members is more even, about halfwhite and half black, with the blacks beingalmost all Americans.

The distinction between members is a clear,if not explicitly stated one. The die-hardmembers frequently attend the rites beneaththe Ju-Ju House and have, at a minimum,witnessed one of the cult’s murders. Many ofthese individuals have been initiated into thehigher secrets of the group and have a CthulhuMythos skill of up to 15%. A Keeper shouldassume that these members are fanatical intheir devotion to the cult and would be willingto die to protect its secrets.

The more loosely affiliated members mayhave witnessed or taken part in the cult’speriodic orgiastic rites, but are not generallyaware of the more extreme aspects of itspractices; some number of these individuals aresolely tied to the group’s mundane criminalenterprises, being customers for its illicit liquorand drugs. These incidental members have onlya few points of the Cthulhu Mythos skill at best.They would be more willing to divulge thesecrets of the group (and unwilling to die for it),but their knowledge of the Cult of the BloodyTongue is fragmentary and limited. Thetestimony of several of these secondarymembers, especially if corroborated by materialevidence, would be enough to secure thesupport of the police.

If Mukunga is killed, it seems likely that oneof his disciples, drawn from the ranks of thehardcore devotes, will replace him. Fortunatelyfor investigators, he or she will have a morelimited range of spells—Contact Nyarlathotep

(Bloody Tongue form), Mindblast, CreateZombie, Power Drain—and will most likelydevote themselves to preserving the group andconsolidating power rather than seekingvengeance against the investigators.

OPERATIONSThe New York branch of the Cult of the BloodyTongue, while in contact with the “mother” cultback in Kenya, remains autonomous and isfinancially supported wholly by local members.Some of this support comes from directdonation to the group or by pocketing thesalaries of some of the cultists, particularly theKenyans employed as dockworkers underMukunga’s control; profits generated by the Ju-Ju House are also funneled into the cult. Theremainder of the cult’s revenue comes fromcriminal activities. These criminal enterprisesfall into the following categories:

Rum-running: The most pervasive of thegroup’s criminal enterprises, it is also the leastprofitable. Centered primarily on Fat Maybelle’sbar in Harlem (but also sold by a small informalnetwork to individuals) the cult runs a loosedistribution network centered in Harlem.Mukunga makes use of his influence at thedocks to import limited quantities of qualityforeign alcohol (mainly for use at Fat Maybelle’s),but most of their stock is poor quality “bathtubgin” produced locally by larger criminal gangs.See the discussion of the Prohibition Bureaulater in this article for more information on thispart of the cult’s operations.

Drug trafficking: In the earliest days of thegroup, the drugs distributed were Mythos-tinged narcotics brewed by M’Weru. Today, thecult acts as a middleman for other criminalgangs in the city, aiding their smuggling ofmundane drugs into the city in exchange for theopportunity to share in the traffic. The cult’ssmall trade in cocaine and various opiates ismostly intended as a lure to draw rich whitemembers. In addition to those illegalsubstances, the cult also deals in khat, astimulant common to East Africa, and popularamong the cult’s membership. The main

Bloody Tongue Cult Musings 107

customers for this commodity are the Kenyanmembers of the group, though the trade in thisstill-legal substance has expanded slightly intothe Harlem community.

Smuggling: Aside from liquor and drugs,sometimes the cult will import other goods,either for paying clients or to resell at a profit.This activity is directed by Silas N’Kwane, who issecretly taking a cut from the profits. Mukungawould no doubt kill him if this was discovered.The same network is used to export rocketcomponents to Penhew.

Blackmail: Another hold-over from M’Weru’speriod in New York, the Bloody Tongueblackmails those respectable whites who haveparticipated in the cult’s rites or are using itsdrugs or alcohol, threatening exposure of theirillicit activities unless a certain amount is paid.Often the victims are the families of drug-addicts or alcoholics; though in a few instancescertain useful individuals (custom inspectors,police officers, judges) have been targetedspecifically to put them under the influence ofthe cult. The investigators will be mostdispleased when a tainted cop “accidentally”loses the evidence against the cultist who killedtheir friend…

Kidnapping: A variant of the above blackmailscheme; the cult will persuade a member toassist in faking his own kidnapping, especially ifthe “victim” comes from a well-to-do family withsubstantial resources. The victim is cut in for ashare, so providing the cult further leverage overthe member. The goal is to convince the familynot to alert the police, so the ransom amount isusually something that the victim can paywithout tapping into their savings. Anespecially risky practice, the cult will engage inthis only once or twice in a year, at most, andonly if the reward is substantial.

Theft: A final criminal activity directed by thecult is used for more rarefied ends; Mukunga isattempting to expand his occult knowledge bymeans of theft. After an early disastrousattempt to plunder Roger Carlyle’s library, hehas focused on more poorly guarded works. Hehad a great success several months ago in thetheft of Africa’s Dark Sects from Harvard’sWidener Library and will certainly continue tobe on the look-out for works of interest,including tomes held by the investigators; seethe article “What if Erica Carlyle Decides to SellRoger's Books?” on page XX for moreinformation of a similar pursuit.

About KhatKhat is the common name for the leaves of the Catha edulis, a large evergreen shrub that is found in East Africa and the ArabianPeninsula. Known for many centuries as a stimulant, appetite suppressor, and euphoric agent, users chew the leaves in greatquantities to obtain their high.

The cult’s khat trade comes directly from ships bound from East Africa and Arabia, usually in the form of blocks of the driedleaves. The leaves are reconstituted and then distributed to cult members, some of whom sell their portion to others. If theKeeper wishes, khat chewing might be a subtle indicator of cult membership (it can stain the teeth and mouth), though it mightbe mistaken for chewing tobacco unless the resultant residue is examined: khat is green and so is the resultant product. Anyonefamiliar with tobacco can instantly determine the difference.

In 1925 it is not illegal to import khat into the United States but even so, the cult keeps the practice a secret, claiming it ispacking material for the various tribal knick-knacks sold at the Ju-Ju House. Only a trained botanist would recognize khat forwhat it is (a Keeper might allow a halved Biology roll if the investigator lacks the Botany skill); the average police officer or customagent would assume it to be a mundane plant.

An attempt to grow khat in the United States has been started in the past year under Mukunga’s direction using roof-topplanters, but it has been so far unsuccessful.

108 New YorkRESEARCH

AcademicInvestigators looking for information on the cultwill be mostly frustrated, at least initially. As perthe campaign, a day spent searching a majorlibrary and a successful Library Use roll canpositively identify the cult’s symbol as belongingto the Cult of the Bloody Tongue, acontemporary group in the Kenya colony andalso “an ancient cult which is thought to be anoffshoot of a nameless cult driven out ofdynastic Egypt.”

Additional research should be able touncover little more than is given in Elias’ Nairobinotes. Traveler’s accounts might mention thegroup in passing, perhaps tying the cult to theambiguously located Mountain of the BlackWind, as well as making clear the unsavorypractices of the group. One common themeshould be that the locals hold the group infearful reverence. Even experts on Africanreligions, such as there are, can do little morethan identify the cult’s symbol and provide thename “The God of the Bloody Tongue.”

Law EnforcementThe combination of the cult’s secretive natureand its primarily preying on the residents ofHarlem has shielded it from attention from NewYork’s various law enforcement agencies. Thisis slowly beginning to change, in part due to theever-growing number of ritualistic murderscommitted by the group in the past few years.

New York Police Department: As stated in thecampaign, while certain information is knownto members of the New York Police Department(and Lieutenant Poole in particular), thatesteemed organization’s grasp of the Cult of theBloody Tongue is limited at best. It is clearly upto the investigators to crack the case.

The NYPD is aware of nine murders(including Jackson Elias) in the past two years inwhich the same strange mark has been carvedinto the body. This number may be expanded ifthe Keeper wishes—remember that more thanthirty people have died to feed and enlarge the

Chakota, six bodies have been made intozombies, and at least one sacrifice is neededeach time Mukunga summons a HuntingHorror, in addition to the monthly sacrificesbeneath the Ju-Ju House. Diligent investigatorsshould have no problem finding victims of thecult; the challenge should be linking the victimsto the cult, the Ju-Ju House, or other cultcenters.

The Keeper might want to prepare a fewnotes on the other victims of the Bloody Tongueknown to the police. They should be a mix ofraces and incomes and create a pattern thathelps to clarify the activities and interests of thecult. The following list of victims offers somepossibilities to Keepers:• Walter Van Buskirk, a private investigator

hired to find a missing dilettante (now amember of the cult);

• Rev. Elijah A. Johnson, a Harlem ministerand activist who preached againstimmorality in Harlem and crossed Mukungaunawares;

• Michael Conley, a longshoreman who askedtoo many questions about the cult’sshipments;

• Richard “Ritchie C.” Cederecci, a low-levelgoombah dispatched from one of the city’scrime families to intimidate the cult;

• Roberta Barlow, a Harlemite woman whospurned the advances of a cultist;

• Adolf Thurmond, a cultist who reconsideredhis involvement after witnessing the rites ofthe cult.

The Prohibition Bureau: Since this federalbureaucracy doesn’t exist in the modern era, it isoften overlooked by both the Keeper andinvestigators. That is most unfortunate sincethe Cult of the Bloody Tongue is trafficking inbootleg alcohol and these illegal activities areknown to certain agents of the Bureau. Aninvestigator with some contact in the agency(someone with a law enforcement backgroundfor example) or who contacts it directly andseems respectable (a successful Credit Ratingroll or Law roll) will be told what facts theBureau knows.

Fat Maybelle’s is a known speakeasy and hasbeen raided twice by the agency, once in 1922

and again the following year. The owner, one“Fat” Maybelle Hopkins, was fined the first time,but was cleared of all charges the second afterthe PB agent who conducted the raid wasaccidentally struck by a car a few days before thecase went to trial. Investigators who probefurther into the matter can learn that momentsbefore his death, the agent was seen speakingwith a man matching Mukunga M’Dari’sdescription and that according to the driver ofthe truck that struck him, the now-deceasedagent was running and shouting “like amadman.”

If the investigators mention the Kenyanconnection of the cult, the Bureau could compilea list of any raids in which Kenyans werearrested or East African goods wererecovered,providing another potential lead for stymiedinvestigators. Bootleg liquor that is obtained bythe investigators as coming from Fat Maybelle’sor a Bloody Tongue cultist might also be tracedback to its source by the Bureau.

As a final lead, the Bureau arrested oneBennington J. Conway, a white former associateof the cult and notorious addict of all kinds, in araid on a speak-easy this past fall. Conwayattempted to bargain his way out of the arrestby providing information on the cult, includinga discussion of some of the rites beneath the Ju-Ju House. Unfortunately for the already unstableMr. Conway, his tales of orgies and vile sacrificeswere taken as proof of his insanity and he wastransferred into the custody of BellevuePsychiatric Pavilion, where he remains inJanuary of 1925. A Keeper can use Conway tofeed whatever information he would like to theinvestigators, remembering that all of it shouldpass through the filter of Conway’s owndelusions and a potassium bromide haze.

In a happy coincidence of history, theBureau’s two most famous agents—Isidor “Izzy”Einstein and Moe Smith—are operating inManhattan in the winter of 1925. A Keeperwould be remiss not to involve these two largerthan life characters to participate in a raid on FatMaybelle’s or even the Ju-Ju house if theinvestigators can give good cause. For moreinformation on Messrs Einstein and Smith seeSecrets of New York, pages 19-20 or, for a fullerdiscussion, the Keeper’s Companion, Volume II,page 47. The accompanying article about theBureau on pages 44-49 is a must read for theKeeper as well.

The Bureau of Investigations: The precursor tothe FBI, it is unlikely that this agency will eitherinvolve itself into the events of the New Yorkchapter of Masks of Nyarlathotep or provideuseful information about the Cult of the BloodyTongue.

If somehow an investigator has somecontact with the Bureau (if the investigatorsplayed through Escape from Innsmouth beforethis campaign, for example) it is up to theKeeper to decide what sort of information or aidthe Bureau can provide.

Certainly the weird activities at the Ju-JuHouse might smack of Red subversion toDirector Hoover… And investigators invokingthe Mann Act might help as well.

Other Agencies: If the Keeper so wishes, otherbodies (such as the Coast Guard or theDepartment of Labor) might have usefulinformation to pass onto the investigators,depending on the circumstances of theircampaign, but such leads would need to bedeveloped on an individual basis.

Bloody Tongue Cult Musings 109

The Manhattan skylinefrom New Jersey

StatisticsDue to the variety in its membership, a range of possibilities exist for Bloody Tongue cultists. Thestandard statistics given in the campaign seem a bit off (as the cultists are, to a man, very ugly andpossessing a sub-standard intellect) so use these as desired.

Kenyan Import STR 10-15 CON 12-15 SIZ 9-14 INT 8-15 POW 8-12DEX 10-13 APP 8-13 EDU 4-6 SAN 0 HP 11-15Damage Bonus:+0 / +1d4Weapons: Fist 60%, damage 1d3+db

Pranga 45%, damage 1d6+2+db Tiger Claws*, damage 1d4+dbAfrican Throwing Knives*, damage 1d4+2+db

Languages: Swahili 65%, English 35%.Skills: Climb 60%, Cthulhu Mythos 15%, Hide 60%, Jump 55%, Listen 50%, Occult 10%,

Sneak 60%, Spot Hidden 35%, Track 50%.* These weapons are only carried by a few Bloody Tongue cultists.

Harlem CultistSTR 10-14 CON 10-14 SIZ 10-16 INT 8-15 POW 6-12DEX 10-13 APP 9-14 EDU 6-12 SAN 3-30 HP 10-15 Damage Bonus:+0 / +1d4Weapons: Fist 55%, damage 1d3+db

Small Knife 45%, damage 1d4+dbPranga 30%, damage 1d6+2+db

Languages: English 60%.Skills: Climb 40%, Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Drive Auto 35%, Hide 40%, Jump 40%, Listen 40%,

Occult 10%, Sneak 50%, Spot Hidden 45%, Track 35%.

White CultistSTR 8-12 CON 6-10 SIZ 9-13 INT 8-14 POW 6-12DEX 10-13 APP 8-13 EDU 12-16 SAN 3-30 HP 8-12 Damage Bonus:+0 / +1d4Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1d3+db

Small Knife 45%, damage 1d4.32 revolver 35%, damage 1d8Pranga 25%, 1d6+2+db

Languages: English 70%.Skills: Climb 40%, Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Drive Auto 35%, Hide 40%, Jump 40%, Listen 40%,

Occult 25%, Sneak 30%, Spot Hidden 35%, Track 25%.

110 New York

111t

In Masks of Nyarlathotep, as in pulp fiction more generally, one of the conventions is that eachblood-thirsty cult uses its own particular and unconventional weapon; the Brotherhood of the BlackPharaoh has its spiked club, the followers of the Father of All Bats their bat-teeth-studded club, andthe Order of the Bloated Woman the sickle. Bloody Tongue cultists wield the pranga, described bythe campaign as “long African bush knives.” It is quite possible that investigators might not beimpressed by, or even fail to realize the specific importance of, what amounts to a variation of themachete. This article presents a trio of deadly devices that may be deployed by thatcult, including two that are rather distinctive.

Pranga: A standard piece of equipment in Kenya, this typically eighteen-inch longmachete (more commonly called the panga) would stand out if carried openly inmost parts of the United States – New York City especially. Nevertheless, thisweapon does have a number of advantages that explain why it might be used bythe Cult of the Bloody Tongue. Unlike firearms, there are no restrictions onforeigners (and Africans in particular) possessing a pranga, at least no more sothan any other sort of large cutting implement. Additionally, while it does notpossess the grace or style of something like the rapier, the pranga is a weaponwhose basic usage can be learned quickly and with a minimal special training – lessif the cultist is Kenyan and already familiar with it. As a weapon, it is inexpensive,sturdy, and requires little maintenance. Finally, as made clear in too many recentAfrican civil wars, it is an efficient tool for use in acts of torture and to terrorizecivilians.

Lion’s Claws: Mukunga, the high priest of the New York City branch of the Cult ofthe Bloody Tongue, owns a set of gloves to which has been affixed several lion’s claws. Primarily heuses these in cult rituals, but he might also use them as a weapon; it is possible that other cultmembers have a set as well. If so, it is unlikely that a set of lion’s claws would be immediately usefulto the average, untrained cultist. The claws are more easily concealed than the pranga, andno doubtthat a group of specially selected killers each bearing a set would have a certain intimidation factor

The Tools of the Bloody Tongue:

The Pranga & Other OptionsBret Kramer

(with a tip of the hat to Brian Sammons, hunga-munga enthusiast)

on most opponents. It would also leave some ratherdistinctive wounds, a lead that Lt. Poole would certainlypursue and that may assist stymied investigators.

(Since the description of Mukunga’s claws is unclear, wehave assumed that the claws have been crafted into a rigworn across the hand as part of the gloves, and not simplyattached to the gloves’ fingertips, making them somethinglike the Indian bagh nakh or “tiger claw”. Mukunga’s “lion’sclaw” equipped hit-squad’s claws would be made of morefunctional, but less ceremonial, iron.)

Use of this weapon raises the possibility of connections tothe Leopard-Man society of the Congo and West Africa. AKeeper seeking to expand on the African chapter of Masks

of Nyarlathotep or spin off further adventures should consult Secrets of Kenya (or the monographMysteries of the Congo) for more information about the Leopard Men and their practices; collectorsmight also examine E.S. Erkes’ short profile of the group in Different Worlds #39.

African Throwing Knives: Answering to a host of other names (generally referringto a specific tribe’s particular throwing knife), this type of weapon is indigenousto the ‘Dark Continent’, and in the hands of Bloody Tongue cultists, should makefor a unique and memorable weapon. A flat knife constructed of iron, each usuallyconsists of three blades angled in such a manner that the odds of the blades, ratherthan the handle, striking the target are increased. The African Throwing Knife is aparticularly effective weapon against lightly or unarmored foes, combiningmultiple cutting surfaces and a greater mass than in the type of throwing knifeknown in Europe or the Americas. It is possible that in traditional warfare, theAfrican Throwing Knife, by virtue of its rotation when thrown, was capable ofwrapping around the edge of the hide shields used by many tribes and inflictingdamage on the shield-bearer.

For the Keeper looking to add a layer of intrigue, a knife embellished withengravings depicting the god of the Bloody Tongue or even shaped in its likeness(one blade the “tongue” the other two its limbs) would no-doubt unsettle all butthe steeliest investigators and leave a distinctive calling card for the cult.

Weapon StatisticsSkill base Damage Range Attacks HP

Pranga 25% 1d6+2+db Touch 1 15Tiger Claws 10% 1d4+db Touch 2 3Throwing Knives 20% 1d4+2+db STR x 1.5 1 15

The Keeper will also find the section “Weapons” from Chapter Two of Secrets of Kenya (p. 46-48) to be of interestfor a selection of other traditional African weapons.

112 New York

113Scene: The Funeral of

Jackson EliasBret Kramer

A friend to the last, Jonah Kensington will makearrangements to have Jackson Elias buried in theEvergreens Cemetery in Brooklyn. The service isto be held at noon on a date convenient to theKeeper in the cemetery’s chapel, a picturesquestone building used when the decedent has nolocal church. Due to the condition of hisremains, there will be no viewing of the body.As it is January (and a snowy one at that), Elias’remains are to be stored in a mausoleum on thegrounds after the funeral. The interment isscheduled for some time in March, dependingupon the weather.

The service is conducted by Rev. Lawrence T.O’Dell, Jr., a minister with the Seaman’s Church,in Manhattan. While Elias was ostensibly aChristian, he did not regularly attend anyservices and Kensington, otherwise at a loss,asked the church (a branch of the Episcopalianchurch which provides ministers to ships andsailors in New York Harbor) to provide anofficiant for the service. The Reverend, a quiet-spoken, considerate man in his forties, has spentthe preceding day talking to Kensington andlooking over Elias’ writings.

The eulogy he gives begins with a reading ofPsalm 13 and is surprisingly moving, touchingon Elias’ wanderlust, generosity of spirit, abilityto quickly make friends, and his dedication tothe triumph of truth and civilization overfalsehood and barbarism. He proclaims therelatively small turn-out to be a sign that as Eliaswas a man of no fixed home, only the worlditself is a large or fine enough cathedral tocontain all those who mourn his passing. Hiscomments end with the hymn “Sunset and

Evening Star,” which is performed a cappella byRev. O’Dell and anyone wishing to join in.

The only other scheduled speaker is JonahKensington. His words are few, but hisfriendship with Elias is as clear as his emotion.His friendship with Elias was one of severaldecades beginning when both were copyboys atthe New York Observer; Kensington offers a fewanecdotes highlighting the depth of theirfriendship and Elias’ virtues. He concludes bysaying that he almost awaits some quicktelegram from Elias in Heaven, asking forfinancing to cover expenses with the promise ofinterviews with the Evangelists and the chanceat an exclusive with Satan,if time permits.

Other speakers arecertainly possible. If theKeeper wishes to introduceparticular NPCs to theinvestigators (at least thosesomehow connected toElias), this is an opportunemoment; the explorer Col.Fawcett (see the Keeper’sNotes for this chapter) isone option. Likewise, ifElias was introduced atsome earlier point to thegroup, such as in “The Godof Mitnal” or some otherElias-connected scenario,NPCs from those scenariosmight reappear now. Thefuneral is also a greatmoment to introduce new

Rev. LawrenceT. O’Dell, Jr.

114 New YorkElias-connected investigators to the main party:including Roman Harkov, Henry Brinded, andSimon Exton (from Appendix II, “Pre-generatedcharacters” on page XX), or a characterdeveloped in concert with a player.

It is up to the Keeper to decide to whatdegree that this scene be role-played out. Itwould seem coldly mechanical to simply have aspeaker make a Persuade roll to measure howmoving or inspiring his or her words are; at aminimum a few words from the player wouldseem in order.

After the service, there is opportunity for thegathered mourners to speak as they gather inthe foyer to collect their coats and wait for theircars. The mood is somber, but tinged with afeeling of closure and relief. A small Sanityincrease (1 point) might be granted forreligiously minded investigators. For the Keeperthis period can be an opportunity for role-playing or for a potential encounter with thecultists…

SPICING THINGS UP

A Keeper looking to insert some action intothese somber proceedings can have the event bewatched by one or more members of the Cult ofthe Bloody Tongue. A solitary white cultist (Cfrom the roster) will arrive late for the service (aSpot Hidden roll to note him, otherwise JonahKensington points him out after the service)sitting in the rear of the room and carefullywatching the funeral-goers. He is a new convertto the cult and is exceedingly nervous. Ifinvestigators approach him after the service hewill claim to be here for a later service; an Idearoll reminds investigators that this service willnot begin for several hours. If anyone attemptsto detain or further question this cultist, he will

flee; the heavy snow cover on the groundmaking any attempt to track him automatic.

The remaining Bloody Tongue cultists areparked nearby in a 1921 Cleveland Sixautomobile. They have been ordered to observethe goings-on at Elias’ funeral and to wait fortheir companion to return from within. Whilewaiting they have carefully taken note of thelicense numbers of the various attendees ofElias’ funeral, as per Mukunga’s orders.Whether the cultists will be able to depart withtheir companion peacefully will depend uponthe actions of the investigators. If he fails toreturn after the conclusion of the service, theywill linger no more than twenty minutes, atwhich point they will flee, fearing the worst.While they have no plans to attack anyone at thefuneral, they will fight to defend themselves; buttheir first goal will always be to flee.

BLOODY TONGUE CultistsSTR CON SIZ INT POWDEX APP HP db

A 13 15 14 9 11 11 9 15 +1d4B 11 14 12 11 10 12 11 13 -C 10 10 9 13 9 14 10 10 -D 12 12 11 10 11 13 10 12 -Attacks: A & B - Pranga 45%, damage 1d6+2+db

Parry 30%, damage specialFist 60%, damage 1d3+db

C - Switchblade 50%, damage 1d2+dbFist 60%, damage 1d3+db

D - Colt Police Positive .32 Revolver 35%, damage 1d8 (3 per round)

Fist 50%, damage 1d3+db

Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 15%, Hide 60%, Jump 55%,Listen 50%, Occult 10%, Sneak 60%, Spot Hidden 35%, Track 50%.

Option – A Grisly ReminderIf the Keeper wants to ratchet up the gruesome factor, the Bloody Tongue cultists seize Elias’ remains and reanimate him as azombie – a final humiliation for their foe. Investigators encountering his reanimated corpse will lose 1d4/1d8 points of Sanity uponseeing the undead reminder of their friend. While the body would most likely be kept at the Ju-Ju House, it could also be left inan investigator’s residence or apartment to kill them.

115Last Stand at Fat

Maybelle’sMike Czaplinski

INTRODUCTION

It is possible that while the investigatorssuccessfully disrupt the Bloody Tongue’sactivities at the Ju-Ju House, some portion of thecult may escape. If the players decide to stickaround to track them down, or return to NewYork later in the campaign, or if the Keeperwants to give them news updates from NewYork during their travels, here is a mini-scenariothat outlines the cult’s response.

TROUBLE AT FATMAYBELLE’S

After being forced from the Ju-Ju House,Mukunga M’Dari (if he survives) and theremaining cult members will waste little time infinding a new hideout and location for theirtemple. He chooses the one place where heknows he can operate with impunity – thebasement of Fat Maybelle’s, a run-down Harlembar at 139th and Lenox. Within a few daysMukunga and the surviving Bloody Tonguecultists will create a new Chakota and quicklymove to enlarge it with a few subsequentsacrifices. Mukunga then commands thecreature to tunnel beneath the bar and carve outa chamber for the cult’s use. This tunnel runsfrom the basement of the bar down to andbeneath an existing subway line and then to acavern the Chakota has gnawed out. When not

needed by the cult, the loathsome beast is keptbound by wards in a curtained alcove off themain chamber of the new temple.

Within a week of the loss of the Ju-Ju House,the surviving Bloody Tongue cultists embark ona string of kidnappings throughout the city,snatching vulnerable people (vagrants, sailors,prostitutes, and marginal cult members beingthe most likely targets) in order to enlarge theChakota or to create more zombies. It may besome time before the police catch on to thecult’s resurgence; it will be up to theinvestigators to finish off this remnant of evil.

LEADS TO THE NEW TEMPLEOF THE BLOODY TONGUE

The investigators can uncover thereorganization of the cult through one of twomethods. The first would be to attempt to seekout Mukunga or any of the surviving cultists. Afew Fast Talk or Persuade rolls with trustingHarlemites point towards Fat Maybelle’sspeakeasy. (Alternately a captured BloodyTongue cultist might reveal this information.)The Keeper should decide how difficult this lineof investigation is to follow; the article “Musingson the Cult of the Bloody Tongue in New York”(page XX) may be of use here as well.

Alternately the investigators notice a story inthe New York Daily Graphic (a newspaper notedfor its salacious “yellow” journalism), screaming“MONSTERS LOOSE IN THE SUBWAY?” The

116 New Yorkstory itself briefly details a subway accident onthe Lenox line when a northbound trainunexpectedly struck its brakes. The officialexplanation is a braking system failure, but theGraphic claims in an interview with SeamusFlynn, the train driver, that he slammed on thebrakes when he saw “a big hairless bear”standing across the tracks in the darkness of thetunnel. The MTA has no comment other than tosay that Mr. Flynn, 53, had suffered a “blow tothe head” during the accident and is currentlyunder a doctor’s supervision. The rest of thestory is a commentary on Mayor Hylan’s lack ofvigilance in the upkeep of the subway systemand mockingly suggests the beast wasdispatched by his political enemies at StandardOil. The story is accompanied by an artist’simpression of “The Bear” (an oily quadrupedalblob shown menacing a cringing train driver). ANavigation, Know, or New York City Lore roll willidentify the point of the accident as near 139thStreet and Lenox Avenue.

If Flynn is sought out by investigators, theygain some additional details (again it is up to theKeeper on how difficult it is to track down andobtain an interview with Flynn). Investigatorscan confirm (via a Medicine roll) that Flynn didsuffer a head injury, but (via a Psychology roll)that he is being truthful about his claims. Inaddition to the information reported in theDaily Graphic, he indicates that the descriptionof the creature given in the article is notaccurate to what he reported and that the beastwas simply the size of a bear, was morebrownish in color, and seemed, somehow, tohave many pairs of eyes. Investigators who havealready encountered the Chakota can make aconnection between the two creatures, if theplayers do not, with an Idea roll.

FAT MAYBELLE’S

The building occupied by Fat Maybelle’s is ofrelatively new construction (1893) and is one ofthe many brownstones that make up much ofNew York City. The building is five stories tall,with the ground floor being occupied by thebarely concealed speakeasy and the remaining

Last Stand at Fat Maybelle’s 117floors being used as apartments of a rather poorquality. The building is owned by one MaybelleHopkins. Poorly maintained, the whole thingexudes an unwelcoming air.

Ground FloorFront Area: This is the heart of Fat Maybelle’s “legitimate”operations: a dingy, ill-lit, and badly-kept bar.The only window faces onto the 139th street andany view of the interior is obscured by signs andsun-faded placards advertising liquors that havelong since become illegal; they are supersededby a poorly painted sign advertising music.Along one wall are high-backed booths whileround tables surrounded by a ragged collectionof mismatched chairs fill the middle of theroom, all huddled under the feeble breeze froma ceiling fan. A battered upright piano sits nextto the door to the back-room; it is out of tuneand in very poor repair, having not been playedin years. This is not a place conducive tomerriment.

There are usually up to a dozen customers inFat Maybelle’s at any one time. As this is duringProhibition, Fat Maybelle’s does not openly sellliquor. If asked at the bar though, Fat Maybelle(a beefy woman in her fifties) will herselfunflinchingly pour two fingers of the customer’schoice … so long as his choice is whiskey. Shegets it from the Kenyan dock workers so it is atleast fairly unadulterated, though the label’sclaim of Canadian manufacture is dubious atbest.

Aside from bootlegging, Fat Maybelle getsmost of her income from renting out theapartments above the bar and is not tooparticular about whom she rents to. There areseveral illegal Kenyans rooming upstairs, all ofwhom are affiliated with the cult. Fat Maybelleis not a member of the cult, but she lets thecultists meet in her back room freely and hasrecently (and unknowingly) allowed Mukungato construct a new temple underneath the bar.She simply thinks that she has let Mukunga usethe more spacious basement for his weeklyreligious meetings (as well as the roof on somemoonless nights) and is not foolish enough toask the menacing Kenyan any questions.

Mukunga is also “treating” herfor an undiagnosed case oftuberculosis with variousKenyan traditional medicines.If she were somehow persuadedto cross M’Dari, he would nothesitate to eliminate herimmediately.

The Back RoomThis is an area Fat Maybellekeeps for private parties, butsince Prohibition began no onewants to have a party in a drybar. Mukunga has essentiallytaken this room over as hisoffice, conducting non-magicalbusiness and running thecriminal elements of the cult’soperations from here. Exceptfor the table and chairs, theroom is plain and bare.

The BasementThe door to the basement is right beside the barand marked “Private.” The cellar itself is feeblylit by one naked bulb and smells vaguely likedamp vegetation. Roughly ordered crates fill theroom, each marked with various whiskeymanufacturers’ stencils, and there are creaky,dusty shelves bulging with old bottles, piles ofglasses, cleaning supplies, and other odds andends. At first glance, the basement seemsinnocuous, if poorly kept. A search of the roomfinds two out-of-place items — a hat box holdingseveral Bloody Tongue headpieces and a 30-footlength of knotted rope.

A successful Spot Hidden roll will reveal theremains of a painted circle on the stone floor ina large open area just in front of the staircaselanding. An Occult roll will suggest it has somemystic purpose, but it is of unfamiliar form.Anyone who has been exposed to the Chakota inthe Ju-Ju House will, with a halved Idea roll,immediately recognize the awful scent of thecreature.

A second Spot Hidden roll while examiningthe circle will reveal a series of seared spots onthe floor. A Chemistry roll will reveal that the

118 New Yorkcharred spots and bricks have been exposed toextreme heat or some sort of acid. There aresome smaller marks leading away from thecircle towards a crate marked “Scotch Whiskey.”This very large crate sits on its side, hinged andlatched shut.

If the crate is opened, a draft of hot air, heavywith the scent of lubricant grease and graphitebrake pad lining pours forth, followed by thedistant squeal of metal on metal. The back ofthe crate has been pried off and there is a rough-hewn hole leading down at a sharp angle. AnIdea roll will note the walls to have been gougedsomehow from the soft limestone and a SpotHidden roll recognizes clear bite marks fromwhat appears to be human teeth.Understanding this costs the observer 0/1 pointsof Sanity.

The TempleThe hole leads down at a steep angle for abouttwenty feet; the footing on the irregular surfaceis treacherous (players must match their DEXversus a DEX of 19 on the Resistance Chart; ifthey fail they slide roughly down for 1d2damage). The cultists descend with theassistance of a rope, which is kept in thebasement above, use of which makes theresisted DEX roll a 5). The rough tunnel endsabruptly, opening into a 4-foot high electricalconduit. Another few yards on, the conduitconnects to the Lenox Avenue Line subwaytunnel; the cover closing the conduit havingbeen forced up by some great force.

The subway line consists of two rail linesrunning parallel and separated by a row of thicksupports. Trains run, save for late at night,about every five minutes. The investigators willhave at least a minute’s warning (rumbling,ringing along the tracks, a light from thedowntown end of the tunnel, etc.) and shouldget out of the tunnel as soon as possible. If theyremain in the tunnel, they must match an activeSIZ 16 against their own defending SIZ to avoidgetting hit by the train (i.e., smaller charactershave an advantage to avoid getting hit). If theyget hit by a train, they should make a Luck roll:if they pass they take 3d6 damage, and if theyfail they suffer 6d6 and must make a Dodge roll

Last Stand at Fat Maybelle’s 119

(assuming they somehow survive!) or bedragged for an additional 3d6 points.

The third rail (which transmits power to theelectrical subway cars) is also a danger. It iseasily avoided if the players think of it (anyonemaking an Idea roll will remember it) and tellthe Keeper they are doing so, but if they do notsay so, then each time the player crosses thetracks they must make a Luck roll. Failureindicates that they have touched the rail and willtake 1d10 points per round until pulled off, andthe player pulling another off runs the risk oftaking 1d10 points themselves (Luck roll toavoid).

Directly across from the conduit’s end is apiece of plywood covered by a dark wool blanket

concealing another passage chewed into therock. The tunnel, its strangely eroded wallsdamply glistening in the light, leads into achamber 16 feet wide, 10 feet long, and 15 feethigh. The floor in the center of the room ispainted in blood with the symbol of the Cult ofthe Bloody Tongue. A black curtain hangsdirectly opposite the entryway.

As soon as the players enter the area(assuming they investigate when the cult is notperforming a ritual), they hear a weird collectionof quiet whimpers and weeping coming frombehind the curtain. The source of the noise is thenew Chakota, which is currently “resting” in asmall pit it has dug for itself. It is aware of anyoneentering the chamber and attacks anyone not

NPCS

“FAT” MAYBELLE HOPKINS, sleazy barwoman, age 53STR 14 CON 9* SIZ 17 INT 13 POW 12DEX 10 APP 9 EDU 10 SAN 23 HP 13Damage Bonus: +1d4Attacks: Fist 55%, damage 1d3+db

Cudgel 60%, damage 1d6+dbDouble-barreled shotgun (buckshot) 33%,damage 2d6/1d6/1d3 (shotgun is kept behind the bar)

Skills: Accounting 25%, Bargain 41%, Credit Rating 30%, Fast Talk 55%, First Aid 45%, Ignore Mukunga’s Activities 99%,Listen 46%, Throw 43%.

* Maybelle suffers from tuberculosis. If she for some reason enters combat, shemust roll under her CON x 5 each round or be incapacitated by a coughing fit.

THE NEW CHAKOTA, the spirit of not-quite-as-many facesSTR 16 CON 13 SIZ 13 INT 0 POW 13DEX 3 Move 4 Hit Points 13Attacks: Bite 30%, damage 1d3 per face, 1d8 faces per targetArmor: The Chakota is immune to all firearm damage.

Fire, magic, or other weapons can harm it. Skills: Wail inhumanly 100%, Burrow 70%.

wearing the ceremonial headband of the cult. Itpursues intruders as far as the subway tunnel; aKeeper hoping for some spectacular deus exmachina might consider having the Chakotaelectrocuted or struck by an on-coming subwaytrain if things go particularly poorly forinvestigators. This Chakota is not nearly aslarge as its sibling from the Ju-Ju house – if theinvestigative party is particularly large the Keepermight consider adding 1d3 “faces” to it for eachparty member over four. Investigators backed bysquads of police officers or other fodder shouldbe pitted against a few zombies as well.

120 New York

HANDOUTS:New York Daily Graphic news article

Last Stand at Fat Maybelle’s 121

The conventional chronology for People of theMonolith work has its author Justin Geoffreyvisit Stregiocavar, Hungary in 1921 withpublication of this poetry collection coming fiveyears later, in 1926. Considering that RogerCarlyle left New York in 1919 and Erica Carlylesays she has not touched the books since herbrother left for London (not to mention that thecampaign is supposed to start in 1925), this canpresent a bit of a continuity problem for theKeeper. This article presents five possiblesolutions to the paradox created by theplacement of the People of the Monolith inCarlyle’s collection as well as the potentialcomplications arising from its weird Chthonianskin binding.

IGNORE THE PROBLEM ORCHANGE THE DATES

This is the simplest answer. Some players maytake no notice of the incongruity between thedate of People of the Monolith‘s publication andCarlyle’s departure from New York, making thisarticle’s suggestions moot. Alternately, a Keeperlooking for the simplest solution to implementcan easily adjust the date of Geoffrey’s Europeantour back a decade or so, having him in Hungaryaround 1911 (then part of the Austro-Hungarian

empire) with the book itself being publishedsome time after. While this contradicts thestandard chronology for Justin Geoffrey and hiswork, such a change will have no significantimpact on the campaign. The Mythos is, ifanything, flexible.

REPLACE IT

Since the contents of People of the Monolith haslittle direct bearing on the campaign (thoughsee the final two entries for some possibilities tocorrect this situation), it would be an easymatter to substitute Geoffrey’s book withanother book of Mythos inspired poetry—Edward Pickman Derby’s Azathoth and OtherHorrors. While the Sanity point loss for readingthis is slightly higher (1/1d4 versus 1/1d3) andthe Cthulhu Mythos skill bonus is greater (+4versus +3) this book is a better fitchronologically, since the earliest publishedversion can be plausibly said to have beenprinted before the Carlyle Expedition’s April,1919 departure. In keeping with Masks ofNyarlathotep’s description of the book’s rarity,presumably Carlyle’s version of the book wasfrom the 1916 (Cambridge) edition. Using thisversion would also offer the Keeper a chance toretain the Chthonian binding, since it was asmall and potentially peculiar run of only fifty

The People of theMonolith Paradox

Bret Kramer

Shallow are the actions of the children of men Fogged was their vision since the ages began

—“Monolith”, T. Rex

122 New York

copies. The Keeper’s Companion, Vol. 1 (pages45-6) has a fuller description of the book and itscontents.

The John Tyler OptionThe chronological problem can be finessed withthe involvement of John Tyler, friend of JustinGeoffrey and publisher of his work. As a NewYorker, especially as one who moved in some ofthe same circles as Carlyle did before hisdeparture, we can imagine that Tyler made theacquaintance of the wealthy and eccentricCarlyle. After Geoffrey’s encounter with theBlack Stone, he is said to have given a publicreading of some of his poetry in New York. Tyler,ever the opportunist, saw his friend’sremarkable new work as a chance to impress thewealthy Carlyle. Tyler, who had returned to hisIllinois home in the interval, was unaware of theloss of the Carlyle Expedition (poets can be soself-absorbed) and mailed his wealthyacquaintance a lavishly assembled advance copyof the collection in an attempt to impress himand raise funds towards a regular print run.Presumably Erica Carlyle would, upon receipt ofthe book and a quick perusal of its contents,stow it away with the rest of Roger’s occultjunk. (The Keeper will need to alter her claimmade when interviewed by the investigatorsthat she has not touched his books since hisdeparture for Europe, but this is a trivialcorrection.) The version offered in this chapteris based on this proposition.

The Carl Stanford OptionIn the Shanghai chapter, investigators have thepossibility (if the Keeper desires) to cross pathswith Carl Stanford, immortal sorcerer,houseguest of Ho Fong, and villain of thecampaign Shadows of Yog-Sothoth. To furtherhis own plans by ingratiating himself with HoFong, Stanford gave his personal copy of thebook as a gift to the then undecided Carlyle. Hesaw it as a means to convince him of the truth ofthe Mythos and of the power of those devotedto the Great Old Ones and their ilk; alternatelythe Keeper can have Carlyle as an early member

of the group “Look to the Future!” (the nominaldate for that group’s creation is 1924, so again aproblem of chronology arises), and so have himobtain the book via their time-travel magic.Either way, the book in the safe was actuallypublished in 1926; Stanford’s copy (perhaps withsome evidence that he once possessed it) wouldbear his cryptic notes; perhaps relating to thecoming rising of Cthulhu or some hint of thingsto come in this campaign, such as Stanford’salliance with Ho Fong. Investigators who puzzleat this anachronistic version of People of theMonolith should make an Idea roll; those failingare convinced that the book was somehowconveyed from the future (with a loss of onepoint of Sanity) while success indicates that theinvestigator has persuaded himself that it is acleverly done forgery. If he is disabused of thisnotion, such as when the book is actuallypublished, the investigator will still suffer thesame effect as if he had failed the Idea roll.

This version of People of the Monolith willprobably point investigators towards Shanghaiand Ho Fong. The Keeper should thereforeadjust the directness of the clues to fit howclearly he wishes to make the link between theCarlyle Expedition and Shanghai.

The ‘Shadow Out of Time’ OptionAnother twist on the time-travel option wouldbe for Carlyle to have obtained a Yithianproduced copy of People of the Monolith duringthe preparation for the expedition. Though it isunclear if the members of the Carlyle expeditionhad an interest in the city of the Great Racewhere Huston eventually encamps before theirdeparture for Europe1, Carlyle did clearly have aninterest in occult texts and came into possessionof a copy of the Pnakotic Manuscript. That bookdiscusses the Great Race and is possibly basedon an actual Yithian text; it follows then thatCarlyle would have had some interest in allthings “Yithic” and therefore turned hisconsiderable wealth towards finding otherfragments of their civilization.

This version of People of the Monolith wouldbe a portion of one of the Great Race’s myriad

1. This author believes that the concrete planning for the Great Ceremony did not begin until after the disappearance of the group in theBent Pyramid.

Monolith Paradox 123

124 New Yorkbooks—only the back cover is intact and manyof the strange cellulose pages are missing andoriginal binding has been lost. The work is nowheld together with cheap twine. The work ishandwritten and contains occasional passageswhere minor errors have been corrected in aseparate hand (it is up to the Keeper if thehandwriting belongs to either the copyist oreditor or matches that of Justin Geoffrey’s). Thefirst page or two seem to be the concludingparagraphs of an essay on the symbolism of theTarot; the title is then given along with theauthor at the top of the page following.

Scientific analysis (a Chemistry roll with theuse of a laboratory will suffice) will identify thecover material as some sort of aluminium alloy,but not one known to modern science and onethat is remarkably, almost supernaturally,resilient. Similar analysis (a Biology roll) of thepages using a microscope will show that they areindeed a form of cellulose, but the cells areperfectly regular and further that the edge ofthe sheet was not cut, it grew to these exactdimensions. Likewise the “ink” is not an ink atall but some unknown chemical or reagentapplied to the cellulose by a nib of some kindthat caused the cells to change their structurein a way to become black. The precise biologicalorigins of both the pages and the “ink” areimpossible to determine. The whole thing ishighly resistant to damage and will beunaffected by immersion in water, alcohol,alkalines, acids, solvents; the pages can only bedamaged by the hottest of flames. The work canbe bent or twisted by extreme force (STR 20+);the cover will slowly revert to an intact stateafter 1 hour per STR over 20 of the attack, whilethe pages will revert at twice that rate. Thepages can be cut by sharp instruments but tendto piece themselves back together over time ifleft in contact; the cover plate cannot be cut orpierced. Each inexplicable discovery requires aSanity roll, with a potential loss of 0/1 pointseach.

The work can be traced if investigators areable to gain access to Carlyle’s financial records,which is only possible with Erica Carlyle’sassistance. The work was purchased inDecember of 1918 from a Mortimer Wycroft, ofPort Hedland, Australia. While some of hispapers have been lost, a thorough search will

uncover a description of the piece written by anintermediary buyer upon its purchase. Itreports that Wycroft claims to have obtained thework from a prospector over a decade ago whoin turn said he traded the book for some gear toan Aborigine in the Great Sandy Desert in theearly 1890s. Carlyle paid handsomely for thework. (This version of People of the Monolith isan obvious clue pointing the investigatorstowards Australia and the Huston. Keepers notwishing to direct their investigators there mayomit the sales records for the work.)

ABOUT THECHTHONIAN SKIN

It is unlikely that investigators with littleexposure to the Cthulhu Mythos will have thefaintest clue in regards to the Chthonian skinbinding of People of the Monolith as outlined inMasks of Nyarlathotep. With a chance onlyequal to their Cthulhu Mythos skill to recognizethe origins of the material, many investigatorswill only recognize it as an unusual (andunidentifiable) material, clearly animal in origin,but of a species unknown to science; and that isonly if they attempt to analyze it at all. It is forthis reason that several of the preceding optionsomit the Chthonian skin cover entirely.

The only real payoff for the Chthonian skinbinding comes after the attack on the mosqueof Ibn Tulun, in Cairo. The curious Dr. Vabreauxcan make a definitive comparison between thecreature that will attack the mosque and thebinding of People of the Monolith; this mightreinforce the connections between the CarlyleExpedition and whatever group was behind theattack on the mosque, though presumably atthis point in the campaign, the link wouldalready be clear.

How and why someone would go to thelength to obtain a Chthonian skin for thebinding of a relatively minor Mythos text issomething that remains unclear, at least to thisauthor. Depending on the desires of the Keeper,and if he exercises any of the options for Peopleof the Monolith as outlined above, the book’s

Monolith Paradox 125unusual binding may be omitted altogether.Alternatively, the Keeper can choose to retain itas, if discovered, it makes undeniable thestrange nature of Carlyle’s book collection—though presumably books collectively addingtwenty-three points to your Cthulhu Mythosskill would have a similar, if not greater impact.Additionally, a cruel Keeper might use long-term

possession of the book as a determining factorin whether the investigators are targeted by theattacking Chthonian if they happen to be onhand when the creature attacks either themosque or investigators in possession of theGirdle of Nitocris.

Another monolith

APPEARANCEObviously African in origin, this polished brown-black mask is made of strange, porous wood; itfeels light in one’s hand. The lines are smoothand curved; the mask has enormous, raisedcircular eyes that cast deep shadows and a smallmouth mounted with little white teeth atirregular angles. A Medicine roll reveals theteeth to be human. There are no ears but thenose is thick and angular. Curving spirals havebeen lightly carved all over the surface of theface, interrupted only by raised spots thatrepresent sores or blemishes. The bottom edgesare rough and broken and once this mask hadsomething attached there (apparently a tangledstraw mane), but that rotted or was torn awaylong ago. The two eyeholes are small and hiddenaway in the base of the mask’s great sockets.

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

This mask is most likely from the Congo (as canbe determined by an Anthropology or halved

Archaeology roll). Although the tools used andsome of the stylistic touches fit variousCongolese spirits or gods individually, mostfeatures (and certainly the combined effect) arenothing like any single figure from any of theregional religions.

The wood that comprises the body of themask is remarkably light and sturdy.Investigators making a Biology roll recall somesimilarities between the unknown wood of themask and specimens recovered by the ill-fatedAngley-Richards expedition. Mentioned inpassing in an unsigned editorial mourning thedeath (by malaria) of botanist Charles Angley,several “most unusual” wood samples wererecovered by the expedition, their descriptiongiven matching several of the mask’s wood’sunusual properties. The samples wereunfortunately lost after the disappearance ofgeologist and expedition co-leader DanielRichards following his return to Europe. Theexpedition, as can be learned with a Library Useroll, had conducted a biological and geologicalsurvey of the region known as the Mountains ofthe Moon, which lie between the Uganda andthe Belgian Congo. Investigators were at a loss

The Mask of HayamaSam Zeitlin

The Mask of Hayama is the only literal mask that appears in Masks of Nyarlathotep, sometimescausing player (rather than investigator) fixation. On its own, the mask is a potential characterkiller, given the lack of any clear sign that simply donning the mask can subject investigatorsto a potential Sanity loss of up to 100 points. A forgiving Keeper might consider reducing theSanity loss to something a bit less immediately incapacitating, say 1/1d10 or 1d5/1d20.

The second consideration arising from the mask is potential growth in an investigator’s CthulhuMythos skill. While the skill point increase is easily kept track of, the Keeper should not forgetthe potential for dramatic role-play when an investigator who has gained an increased insightinto the Mythos succeeds in a Cthulhu Mythos skill roll. Instead of simply informing theinvestigator that he recognizes some name or entity, have him endure some terrifying flashbackto when he was wearing the mask, visibly staggering or suffering some other physical reaction.Perhaps the visions grow stronger as time passes…

126 New York

Mask of Hayama 127to explain how the legless and crippled Richardsmanaged to disappear and elude discovery bythe authorities. (The curious Keeper is directedto the story “The Tree-Men of M’bwa” by DonaldWandrei.)

If taken to a professional botanist or otheracademic, they cannot identify the wood but willwant to relieve the characters of the mask forfurther study. It is up to the Keeper to whatlengths these worthy academics would resort to,though their methods should not be as extremeas murderous cultists.

SAMPLE VISIONS

A Keeper in need of visions of the variousentities potentially witnessed by those donningthe mask should consider the following visionsas examples and should expand upon them ashe sees fit.

Shub-NiggurathThe investigator finds herself on the edge of apool of bubbling, primordial muck, out of whicheyes, lips, limbs, and grotesque sexual organscontinually boil and recede. The pool is oily andglistens with a polychromatic sheen.Occasionally, small obscene entities capable ofself-locomotion will arise out of the pool, andfrantically attempt to swim, run, or fly to theshore. Most fail, as great muddy tentacles formto drag them back under, but a few reach theinvestigator and run past. Most are disturbinglyeyeless. Suddenly, the shore begins to sink, thepool advances from all sides. The investigatorsoon finds herself on a small island rapidlyshrinking even as she watches. When the muckreaches her feet, thousands and thousands ofeyes sprout from the pool and all simultaneouslyswivel to stare at her. Then she wakes up. If theinvestigator failed her Sanity check, she is leftwith a terrifying sense that the thing she justwitnessed is somehow in her and in all livingthings.

AzathothThe investigator falls through the floor, throughthe crust of the earth, through the mantle andthe core, out the other side and into space.Protected somehow from the elements and fromearthly needs (save for hunger), aeons seem topass as the investigator falls (in reality, only afew seconds). At last, a terrible mad pipingbegins all around him and he sees beneath himthe court of Azathoth. Monstrous creatures,parodies of earth-beings but made of bits offlowers and frogs and octopi play long flutes andfloat around stranger entities still; the only lightcomes from a cloud of burning green gas.Everything writhes and pulses to the beat of themusic and all revolve slowly around an inchoatespherical mass the size of a planet, a radiantsplendor of seething nuclear protoplasm. It isthis that the investigator falls towards. Whenhe is about to reach the surface, everythingturns black. If the investigator failed his Sanitycheck, he suddenly realizes that everything inthe entire universe is spinning around this mass;that it is in some meaningful way divine and thecenter of all things.

Yog-SothothThe investigator finds herself trapped in atransparent glowing sphere or bubble. Soon,she sees that she is surrounded by countlessother such spheres, all rubbing up against eachother in the black void. Occasionally, half-seenhorrors will brush or smash against the sphere,causing a sound like the breaking of glass. Thesphere shakes, but it always holds. Most of theother spheres are empty, but a few distant oneshold strange entities and perhaps even a fewhumans. These spheres are moving through themorass towards the largest bubbles, which aremassive beyond measure - only their oily sheenand slight curvature betrays them as spheres atall. Upon realizing this, the investigator’s ownsphere begins to slip rapidly up next to thenearest titanic sphere. Held within the giantsphere, the investigator sees her memories, laidout like so many pinned butterflies. The smallersphere floats into the larger one, and theinvestigator can interact with her past self andsurroundings - though anything she touches

ages and corrodes almost instantly. At adramatically opportune moment, theinvestigator’s sphere moves swiftly away andbegins to wander through countless giantspheres, each containing an alien world strangerand more unlikely than the one before. At last,her sphere reaches an area of the sphere/bubblenetwork that is sparse and dimly lit, the spheresbegin to wink out one by one, and theinvestigator is left alone. Then everything goesdark. An investigator failing her Sanity check isleft with a feeling that the mass of spheres issomehow alive and nearby even in the wakingworld - as if she could reach out and touch it, ifonly she knew how.

Nodens The investigator finds himself on a seeminglyendless chessboard plain under a starless sky.The sound of hooves approach from the distanceand soon a chariot appears, drawn by blackstallions with manes of fire. The chariot is agiant half-shell that floats a foot or two abovethe ground; its rider is a wiry old man with wildwhite hair and carved hide armor. He wields atrident-like harpoon. The chariot stops near theinvestigator and the rider extends his handexpectantly for the investigator to clamberaboard. Then the horses bray and the chariotleaves the chessboard plain into a dark abyss.The rider begins to question the investigator,trying to find out who he is, why he has come,and if he is his worshipper, or a worshipper ofthe Outer Gods. If he (the rider) catches theinvestigator in a lie or determines that he is aservant of the Outer Gods, he hurls thecharacter from his chariot sending him crashingdown and out of the trance. Otherwise, a semi-civil interview can be conducted. Nodens offerslittle information beyond his name and title(“Lord of the Great Abyss”), though exactly whataid he might provide a character who asks theright questions is the province of the Keeper.More likely, the investigator will be disorientedand will receive little more than a warning aboutthe dangerous world into which he hasstumbled. When the interview concludes,Nodens returns the investigator to thechessboard plain and disappears into thedistance; the character awakes shortly after.

128 New YorkFar Right:

Night Visions

129

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Green cloth over paperboard, 6” by 8 !”; 328pages, with the title stamped on the spine.Though the date of publication is listed as beingonly four years previous (1921), this book is invery poor condition. The spine is broken, theback cover is cracked, and multiple pages aredog-eared. There are also some marginal notesin pencil; a successful EDU x 1 roll (or LibraryUse) can identify these comments as beingSwahili written in Roman characters. Theauthor is given as one Nigel Blackwell; nopublisher is listed. The end paper inside thecover bears a bookplate indicating it belongs toHarvard University’s Widener Library.

SKIMMING

This book collects the papers of Nigel Blackwell,a minor self-funded African explorer. Noattempt seems to have been made to organizeBlackwell’s work (there is no index for example)and the topics vary widely. The focus of thework is on African cults and esoteric religiouspractices - the more gruesome or vile the better.Cannibalism and bestiality are some of the morecomparatively tame practices discussed. Theauthor treats the blasphemous religious claimsof the various African tribesmen he discusseswith an undue and unexpected degree ofcredence. Regions discussed include East Africa(the Kenya Crown colony and German EastAfrica in particular), the Belgian Congo, andWest Africa (especially the Niger River basin).

RESEARCH

A single Library Use roll can uncover this work’sbackground. This book was published with agoodly amount of controversy (almost anyreference to Blackwell in the popular presscomes from this period) after the author’sdisappearance and presumed death during a1919 expedition into the Belgian Congo. WhileBlackwell’s estate was contested between theauthor’s various heirs, his notes were compiledand published by one of the parties in anattempt to profit from them. In the resultinglawsuit the opponents of the book’s publicationeventually prevailed; the presses were stoppedand most of the already completed copies weredestroyed. Africa’s Dark Sects (sometimesmistakenly referred to as Africa’s Dark Secrets)was then placed in a legal limbo. ApparentlyBlackwell’s heirs opposed publication out of thefear that the book’s scandalous contents wouldembarrass the family. Only the book’s semi-scholarly approach prevented it from beinglabeled as obscene and banned outright.

Blackwell was not affiliated with anyacademic organization and tended not to makepublic the findings of his expeditions. Oneexception to this trend, which can be uncoveredwith a successful Library Use roll, is an interviewhe gave to The African Beacon, a monthlypublication dedicated to the betterment ofAfrica and in particular the opposition toBelgian abuses in the Congo. As part of adiscussion of abuses by rubber planters nearCoquilhatville, Blackwell reports that locals haveabandoned the new Christian churches in favorof an ecstatic cult called “Hatoo,” whichpromises the restoration of maimed limbs anda painful death for Westerners. While thearticle’s authors focused on how this shows the

Africa’s Dark SectsBret Kramer

130 New Yorkspiritual damage caused by Belgian cruelty,Blackwell seems more interested in the rites ofthe group, which he hints he might haveattended.

THOROUGH READING

Africa’s Dark Sects is a collection of the writingsof the late Nigel Blackwell (1872-1919?), anerstwhile African explorer and an epicure of thebizarre. The contents are primarily drawn froma series of safaris that Blackwell undertookbetween 1902 and 1916, visiting French WestAfrica, the Congo, and the Kenya crown colony,as well as shorter forays into other regions.Blackwell’s interests focus on marginal orsecretive tribal religions, particularly thoseinvolved in blood sacrifice and other outré rites.Generally clinical in its presentation and style,the work outlines the rites and practices(sometimes from pre-colonial days but moreoften focused on the modern era) of numerousAfrican groups and traces links between theseAfrican religions and cults in the Americas.

Blackwell’s writing style is dense andfrequently refers to other authors’ workswithout clarifying commentary or explanatorydiscussion of the cited work’s connection to histopic. These cryptic references reduce the clarityof the book and reinforce the impression thatthis is a raw and unfinished work that wouldhave been well served by an editor. Blackwell’sfrequently stated fixation was the notion thatAfrica, being relatively untouched byChristianity and Islam, held the keys to the“truth” about human religion and history grateson the educated reader as well. The text isgruesome, unwholesome, and deeply shocking.

Of particular interest to investigators is ashort segment about Kenya’s “Bloody Tongue”cult, as the paraphernalia and symbols of theKenyan cult are identical to the New York Citygroup of the same name. The Mountain of theBlack Wind is discussed, though no location isgiven. A marginal note mocks Blackwell’slimited knowledge of the group. Also of interestis that the book’s spine has been broken opento a section about a Niger River delta cult’s grisly

necromantic rites designed to raise the dead andmake them into slaves called “zambi.”

QUOTES

Beyond the reach of the great Abrahamicfaiths, Africa retains the primal truths ofhuman society and religion; society is as rawand unformed as the landscape. The Gods areknown by their old names and not prettied upby hymns and incense. It is here in this greatcontinent of the Id that Man may truly knowhimself. That Man, as a whole, is so brutal anduntamed at his heart, only shocks theunlettered or those blinded by the falsetrapping of the prison we have built forourselves in our so-called civilization.

– – – – –

The cult, named in whispers by the natives‘The Bloody Tongue,’ is supposedly based farin the interior, but has followers in Mombassa,Nairobi, and even Muslim Zanzibar. Theiridols are human shaped though surmountedwith a long red trunk instead of a head, and itis rumoured that more than one missionary hasdiscovered that when the whites leave, thenatives swap a head topped by a crown ofthorns for one with a bloody ‘tongue’.

– – – – –

The sorcerer would then rend flesh fromhis own body, usually the arm, and spit thebloody offering into the mouth of the bodysupposed to be raised. A great chanting wouldbe then undertaken by both sorcerer and hisaudience. The words are not in the nativeYoruban. I have attempted to capture themphonetically: “Hu ning lui mugluwal nafwugah nagal atzu tuti yok sog tok foo takun.Atzu tuti fu takun! Hu ning lui. (Compare viz.Waite and Zimmerman)”

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

White leather over wood, crown quarto, 7!” x5”, unnumbered but about 160 pages; aholographic (i.e., handwritten by the author)account by one Montgomery Crompton bearingthe title “Life as a God” within a poorly renderedfrontispiece of faux-Egyptian styling. The text issloppy and erratic in brown, and sometimesfading, black ink (investigators suspecting thework was written in blood will be disappointedif they test for this; the ink is simply of lowquality). The book was amateurishly bound andthe spine is separating in places. Examinersmaking a Medicine roll (or a ! Biology roll) willrealize that the book is bound in tanned humanskin; people experienced in book binding (Craft:Book Making) or the rare book trade (theantiquarian occupation) can make the samediscovery with a Know roll. In either case, thisknowledge costs 0/1 points of Sanity.

SKIMMING

This work purports to be the diary (though itfunctions more as an autobiography) ofMontgomery Crompton, a British soldier andartist. Its first few pages recount his life asmember of the landed gentry in NorthernEngland up until he is dispatched in 1801 toEgypt under General Sir Ralph Abercrombie.Seriously wounded in battle, he recovered afterseveral weeks of a high fever and a series of whathe claims were occult visions. Remaining inEgypt to recuperate, he was inducted into asecretive cult. Claiming to have survived fromancient times, the cult worshiped a mythical

figure known as the “Black Pharaoh”, aforgotten ruler of ancient Egypt said to havepossessed magical, possibly divine, powers. Asa cult member, Crompton witnessed andparticipated in acts of torture, murder, and rape,as well as weird magical ceremonies all in praiseof this Black Pharaoh (sometimes called “NivrinKa”). In 1805 he returned to Great Britainwhere, settling near Liverpool, he and a groupof other British converts attempted to replicatethe cult and its depraved rites before beingthwarted by unnamed, but mockinglycondemned, local authorities. Cromptonapparently composed this work whilstincarcerated in an asylum. Even from a quickskim, it is obvious that the author was amurderously sadistic lunatic prone tomegalomaniacal delusions, foremost of which isthat he would achieve god-hood through hisoccult practices.

RESEARCH

Research into Crompton’s life is substantiallyeasier in Britain than it would be elsewhere; theKeeper can assign a bonus if undertaken there(or alternatively assign a penalty to researchdone elsewhere) depending on the size of thelibrary.

An initial Library Use roll can confirm that aMontgomery Crompton was born in Lancashirein 1774, the fourth son of a minor noble, whoserved as a Lieutenant in the 28th NorthGloucestershire Regiment and was seriouslywounded at the Battle of Alexandria. A fewscattered references also mention Crompton’sinterest in art and his unsuccessful efforts as apainter and later a sculptor. A second Library

Life as a GodBret Kramer

131

132 New YorkUse roll can ascertain that before hiscommission in the army, Crompton was thefamily black sheep — first sent down fromuniversity and then bankrupted as part of afailed investment scheme. After he returnedfrom Egypt he was embroiled in some sort ofscandal and confined to an asylum, apparentlydying some time after 1807.

If the Keeper wishes, additional research(particularly if done once the investigatorsarrive in London) can uncover specific details ofCrompton before and after his time in Egypt.Journals and diaries of the period mentionCrompton in reference to his various failuresand how he obtained his commission solelythrough his father’s influence.

Court proceedings record his arrest in 1807,following his implication in the disappearanceof a number of children from the Gilbert’s Unionworkhouse where he was employed.Newspapers and commentators from the periodallege that the staff of the workhouse in WestDerby (near Liverpool) were overworking theirwards and had attempted to conceal a numberof deaths from the authorities. Several note theestablishment’s unseemly reliance upon itsEgyptian servants and aides as well asCrompton’s own erratic public behavior. Forreasons unclear the case was dismissed (thoughthe workhouse was closed down and itsbuildings soon demolished), and after a briefstay at the York Retreat, an early asylum, he wasgiven over to the custody of his family.

Particularly persistent investigators maytake interest in Crompton’s artwork. A few ofhis earliest paintings survive in privatecollections and small museums; his themes arepastoral and his talent marginal at best. Only ahandful of his far superior later works survive;most were destroyed by his family. Twopaintings of Egyptian scenes are held by theWalker Art Gallery in Liverpool; donated by theestate of Montgomery’s nephew, Eustace, in1878. The artistic skill is markedly improvedover Crompton’s earlier works. Both of thepaintings are vivid and skillfully rendereddepictions of the plateau of Giza (including theSphinx), one by day and the other by night.Viewers making a halved Archaeology roll (or anEgyptology roll) will recognize it as depicting the

area at the end of the 3rd Dynasty, just beforethe construction of the Pyramids; those alsomaking an Idea roll will realize that Crompton’sknowledge of the site is uncannily accurate (andcontradicts what was known at the time whenthe paintings were created). This realizationcosts 0/1 point of Sanity.

Finally, investigators making a Luck rollwhile investigating Crompton will find areference to him in an article in the ManchesterGuardian about an 1853 fire at the LancasterRoyal Grammar School:

“…the fire began in an attic areadedicated to the storage of excessequipment and other materials as of yetunused by the school in its new location.One peculiar item lost in the fire was anunfinished bronze bust of an Egyptianpharaoh by an Old Lancastrian, one Lt.M. Crompton. A veteran of the Egyptiancampaign against Napoleon, hebequeathed the bust to the school beforehis death in 1811. The bust, bearing anelaborate and complete headdress butlacking a finished face, was a figure ofschoolboy rumour, as it was consideredgood luck to rub the beard beforeexaminations. Apparently the heat of thefire was of such a degree that the bronzebust was fully melted.

Of the two boys killed in the fire, itwould appear that they started theconflagration, no doubt accidentally,while exploring the apparently unlockedrooms. It is without doubt thatnegligence on the part of the school staffled to this oversight.”

No amount of investigation will uncover anysurviving papers or writings of Crompton’s,though his signature can be located; thehandwriting is a perfect match.

THOROUGH READING

This work records the insane words ofMontgomery Crompton, an English soldier,

Life as a God 133artist, and devoted member of the so-calledBrotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. Cromptonbriefly details his life before he went to Egypt aspart of General Abercrombie’s army. Theyoungest son of a minor member of the nobilityand part of an extended, but well regardedLancashire family, Crompton was a poorstudent, sent down from the University ofEdinburgh for his habitual drinking andgambling, as well as violent outbursts in public.Against his family’s wishes Crompton elected topursue a career as a painter but insteadsquandered his small allowance on liquor andgambling.

Rather than disown him, Crompton’smother persuaded his father to purchase acommission in the army for their son in thehope that he would see it as an opportunity tomake something of himself. Crompton took upthe commission begrudgingly and, except forthe fact that it eventually brought him intocontact with his new master, the author heapsboundless scorn upon his time in the army. Sentto Egypt along with his regiment, the 28thGloucestershire, Crompton was struck in thehead by a French cavalry saber at the battle ofAlexandria. For several weeks Cromptonlanguished near death, a time during which heclaims he first had visions of the being he wouldcome to know as the Black Pharaoh. It spoke tohim and told Crompton that he was the onlytrue God and that all other gods were false godsor reflections of his glory.

Upon his recuperation, Crompton journeyedto Cairo where he indulged in copious amountsof opium in an attempt to reconnect with thisnew god. Instead, he somehow (Cromptoncredits dream visions) came into contact with agroup of like-minded British and Europeanexpatriates (and some Egyptians) who initiatedhim into the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaohvia a series of orgies and murderous rituals.Crompton expounds at great length about thewonder, beauty, and truth of his new faith —though mostly what he recounts are rites andrituals that shock and turn the stomach of eventhe most hardened reader.

Specific details of the group’s rituals arerecounted (such as the sacral nature of the newmoon, which Crompton likens to, “the face of

the Pharaoh of Darkness watching over theworld”), as well as regular orgiastic rites andmonthly rites of human sacrifice. Fearful beasts(including sulfurous bat-horse things, sinuouswinged serpents, and even more loathsomeamorphous and indescribable flautists) are alsodiscussed as bearing witness to and, shockingly,taking part in both types of rite. The symbols ofthe cult, including the inverted ankh and thespiked club are also described. (Readers of thework will immediately recognize said club whenit is first encountered.) No record is made of thegroup’s specific prayers or invocation, but thetext is littered with rhapsodic paeans givingpraise to the greatness of the Black Pharaoh,including many honorific titles as well asapparently his Egyptian name Nevrin Ka(alternately Nefrin or Nephrin Ka, Crompton’sspelling is irregular).

While Crompton acknowledges that he anda number of his fellow members of theBrotherhood returned to England some time in1805 for the purpose of expanding the worshipof their dark god, he refuses to give much detailon this topic, stating cryptically,

“the night air knows best those ritesand praises that were voiced by our lips,and the ever waxing crimson flow knowsour offerings, but no cunning art willcompel me to betray my Brothers stillfree to reap harvest of Britain’suncleared fields.”

On several occasions Crompton is grantedvisions of the time of the Dark Pharaoh’s reign,including a personal audience with the godhimself in his throne-room. Cromptonproclaims passionately and often that he is bothsane and yet destined for immortal godhood, forexample in a short space a paragraph statingthat he is “more right of mind than any man”and “will walk with his Lord as a god over theashes of the Empires of Men when even the Skyis brought to heel and the Moon made void.”Crompton is unquestionably mad.

QUOTES:

The man standing before me was of swarthy complexion, but with a haughty bearing befittingan Emperor. He reached out a hand to touch my cheek, my wound shrieking in agony until hebrushed it, washing away my pains. He spoke to me, in low tones, with a voice like a mother toan infant babe. He spoke to me of his grand design which would unseat the rule of Man for therule of the true Gods, and how I might serve him. I knew in my truest heart that this was thepurpose I had so long sought, that in His service, I would be made whole and pure and thatthose who had wronged me so greatly would be brought low. I wept in joy and promised I wouldserve him gladly.

– – – – –

The beggar was held fast by my brothers and I, eyes tearing with joy, struck him mightilywith the sacred club again and again, until he was rendered insensate by the pain and his limbswere useless. Filled with wordless praise for Him who Dwells in the Shadow before light comes,I turned it in my hands then pierced the wretch’s heart with the cunning bronze spike. Hisscream of agony washed over me and I was reborn as a full Brother and servant of the Pharaohof Shadows.

– – – – –

Its angles were magnificent, and most strange; by their hideous beauty I was enrapturedand enthralled, and I thought myself of the daylight fools who adjudged the housing of this roomas mistaken. I laughed for the glory they missed. When the six lights lit and the great wordssaid, then He came, in all the grace and splendour of the Higher Planes, and I longed to severmy veins so that my life might flow into his being, and make part of me a god!

134 New York

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

White leather, 6!” x 10"”; 104 pages, title oncover page. This slim volume looks to have beenhand-crafted with an eye towards qualitybordering on opulence. The pages and leathercover are excellently hand-stitched and thepaper used is top quality. The pages themselveswere printed as individual lithographic plates,that is to say, etched on plates rather than witha regular moveable-type press. Every page haselaborate geometrical designs along theboarder; there is no artwork as such, save forgrotesques incorporated into the first letter ofeach poem.

The most striking feature of the book is theunusual medallion on the front cover. It appearsto be a very thin slice of some sort of polishedtranslucent rock (a Geology or " Know rollidentify it as a “nodule,” a type of geode with atotally filled interior), placed over a thin sliverbacking, creating a weird mirror-like effect inrich gray and white tones. The pattern of crystalformation is highly symmetrical and suggestive

of organic forms. Careful study and anothersuccessful Geology roll may lead to a single pointof Sanity loss, if the Keeper chooses, as the formin the “geode” clearly appears to be a crosssection of a worm-like creature, unknown toscience, curled in around itself.

The front page bears, in a bold hand, adedication “To Mister Roger Carlyle. I hope youfind these words to be as inspiring as yours wereto me at our last meeting. My regards toAnastasia—Tyler.” There is no publisher or dateof publication given.

A successful " Know roll can identify theauthor as a minor American avant garde poet ofdubious reputation.

SKIMMING

This work is a collection of poetry by one JustinGeoffrey. The poems are in a modern style,generally without fixed meter or structure, butwith a clear thematic link—menace, horror, anda (sometimes romantic) nihilism. Titles include

People of the MonolithBret Kramer

People of the Monolith presents a number of difficulties for the Keeper hoping to adhere to thetraditional chronologies of the Cthulhu Mythos, as not only is this book not supposed to havebeen published until 1926, the events that drove its author mad did not occur until two yearsafter the departure of the Carlyle Expedition! This description attempts to reconcile theseinconsistencies; see the article “The People of the Monolith Paradox” on page XX for a discussionof these issues and other potential solutions.

Additionally, the description in Masks of Nyarlathotep for this book says that it was “handboundin the skin of a Chthonian;” this author finds such a possibility dubious at best. While the 5points of armor accorded to Chthonians certainly pales before even some mundane creatureslike the rhinoceros, the difficulty in obtaining such a strange cover material does not mesh withthe already implausible back-story accorded this take on the book. The following descriptionincludes an adjustment to the description of the book that can be disregarded, as can the datingof the work, as the Keeper sees fit.

135

136 New York“Out of the Old Lands,” “Strutter in Darkness,”and the titular poem “People of the Monolith”.The work is disturbing and shocking, at least toa more sheltered reader. The stark horror of thepoet’s words are not tempered by the beauty ofhis writing.

RESEARCH

A few hours in a library of moderate or largersize (in the U.S.; elsewhere a more extensivecollection is necessary) and a Library Use roll, ora Know roll by a professional writer, will informthe researcher that Justin Geoffrey (born 1898 1,in Monticello, New York) is an avant garde poetgenerally held in scorn by polite society.Charitably derided as “Baudelairian,” his workfocused on the dark recesses of the human souland has been condemned as obscene. Hiscontribution (the poem “White Divan ofSorrow”) to a New York amateur poetry society’sjournal (“The Chanter”) in 1918 resulted in apornography charge against its publisher and itswithdrawal from circulation.

In 1921 2, while visiting various historicalsites in Eastern Europe, Geoffrey apparentlytook ill and suffered a severe bout of madness.He returned to the United States, and after a fewreadings of his new works (including the titlepoem from this volume) disappeared from thepublic eye. His current whereabouts areunknown. He has no known published workaside from a few poems in disparate collections.

If investigators have some connection to thebohemian artist community, a successful Luckroll will allow them to run into a poetacquaintance that saw Geoffrey at a reading inGreenwich Village after his return from Europe.He was distracted, easily confused, and jumpedat the slightest start. The reading was cut shortabout half-way through by another man, JohnTyler, a Chicago writer and poet and friend ofGeoffrey’s. The performance, despite the poet’sclear instability, was mesmerizing and farsuperior to Geoffrey’s earlier works, theacquaintance recounts.

THOROUGH READING

It is clear why the author of this collection has apoor reputation; these poems are not the workof a healthy mind. The constant refrain is thathumanity is a temporary master of the Earth, atbest and that, lurking on the edges of ourperception, is the great truth of the world.Humanity, the poems suggest, is inexorablydoomed, either from our own vices, or ourweakness vis-à-vis the true masters of the world-great sleeping gods who will arise and destroyall. In certain places, fragments or signs of theseonce mighty beings can be found (cf. themonolith of the title). Despite the subjectmatter and the obvious derangement of theauthor, some of the poems here are arresting,even moving.

QUOTES

They say foul beings of Old Times still lurkIn dark forgotten corners of the

world,And Gates still gape to loose, on

certain nights, Shapes pent in Hell.

– “People of the Monolith”

– – – – –

They lumber through the nightWith their elephantine tread;

I shudder in affrightAs I cower in my bed.

They lift colossal wingsOn the high gable roofs

Which tremble to the trampleOf their mastodonic hoofs.

– “Out of the Old Land”

1. Or 1878, if following the ‘Change the Dates’ option detailed in the “Paradox” article. 2. Or 1911, again as left.

KEEPER’S NOTE

This work is written using what is referred to asMiddle English (specifically late Middle English),an archaic form of English used from the timeof the Norman invasion until the 15th century.Although the text is not as difficult to read as

other Middle English works because of itsrelative lateness, it still presents a challenge tothose unfamiliar with the peculiarities of thedialect. If the Keeper desires, readers of thiswork must make a Read English roll at ! oftheir normal skill level. If using the optionalreading rules as outlined in the article “Readingon the Road” (p. XX), the initial period wouldrequire a " Read English roll. Each successwould grant 1d10 points (cumulative) to futureRead English rolls for this tome until themodified skill matches the original.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

A manuscript, 10” x 12.5” bound in pale greenleather. The cover has no title, only a peculiarpentagram-like symbol, seared into the heavybindings. The title page gives the work’s name,followed by a subtitle “As written in the so-calledPnakotik Scrolls, as translatid from the Greke bythe author togeder with addicional remarkesupon that worke in the light of Newe Lerning.”The print is neat, typeset in archaic English (aKnow roll identifies it as late Middle-English). Aprinter’s mark says “Trevisa et fils. 1496,” but thebinding appears to be much more recent.Periodically plates (presumably bearingillustrations) appear to have been carefully cutfrom the book. Pencil annotations in modernEnglish appear frequently in the first third of

the work (usually glossing the more archaiclanguage), but decrease in frequencyafterwards. Anyone familiar with Roger Carlyle’shand will recognize the handwriting as his.

SKIMMING

This work claims to be a translation of anotherwise unknown series of documents (ThePnakotic Manuscripts) brought to the West afterthe fall of Constantinople in 1453. These are saidto be Greek translations of even olderdocuments chronicling an otherwise unknownepoch of the pre-human history of Earth. Theunidentified translator claims to have obtainedthis work, also called The Pnakotik Scrolls andThe Scrolls of Pnakotus, from an unnamedrefugee from the Byzantine Empire. Thistranslation was made in conjunction with thehelp of another (also unnamed) Greek scholar.

The body of the text is a haphazard jumbleof myths outlining the history of variousfabulous kingdoms and civilizations of Earthbefore the rise of Man (as well as other placesspecifically said to be not of this world).Discussions include a catalogue of various racesin residence on the Earth during the ages beforeman, the actions of various legendary figures,and the myriad inhuman deities worshiped byboth. A final section traces the mythic historyof the book itself, from fragments uncovered insome vast non-human library (the so-called “cityof Pnakotus”) to the scribes of vast pre-historichuman empires who consulted with improbable“others” (some sort of flying, barrel-shapedbeings) in their efforts to understand the work.It seems likely that this work is a compilation ofa host of mystical texts, many of which arepreserved only in fragmentary form.

The Pnakotic ManuscriptsBret Kramer

137

138 New YorkRESEARCH

Diligent research can uncover a smattering ofreferences to the Pnakotic Manuscripts, but thepicture they produce is unclear at best. Each ofthese items requires a successful Library Use rollunless otherwise noted.

Multiple sources make reference to the workin passing. One typical example comes from an1891 counter-point review of Frazer’s GoldenBough in the English Historical Review, whichcondemns the work for “treating Christianityand Christ in the same manner as one woulddiscuss Roman paganism, let alone mysticaldrivel like Agrippa or the patently ridiculous‘Pnakotica’.”

A fuller mention can be found in a portionof the travel journals of the American explorerRoland Godfrey, published as Expeditions in theArabian Peninsula, including crossing the vastdesert by camel, with visits to Mount Sinai, andnotes on the Arab people and their ways (1821):

“The Bedouins’ superstitions onlygrew as we crossed that Great Sandyvoid. Eight days out of Muscat, as weprepared to camp down for the night,several of the men spent an inordinateamount of time in prayer, adding severalchants in something other than theArabic prayers they ululated so manytimes. When I asked the dragomanabout this, he grew taciturn and refusedto comment. Undaunted I put thequestion to him again the next day,making rightly the assumption that thelight of day would restore the couragethe night so often saps from the lesscivilized races. He told me that the mengrew fearful as we passed near the site ofthe ancient city of Hiram, or Iram, whichGod brought low for its sins. This fabledcity of a thousand pillars, so he related aswe rode on, was bedeviled and once thehome of dark sorcery, where fellscriptures were studied, like the Scrollsof Al-Banaqatiqa, a work detailing thesecrets of the Creation that was stolen bySatan and written in the language of the

angels. Happily such melancholy talkfaded as we moved steadily closer to thecoast…”

The best description can only be foundthrough diligent research and comes from anauction catalogue from the Austrian auctionhouse of Ausperg from 1883. It can only befound in the largest libraries or with a successfulLuck roll at a small institution, perhaps tuckedinto another work. An English copy of the workvery similar to Carlyle’s is listed thusly:

“The Pnakotic Manuscripts, English.Published by Trevisa and Sons (London?),1496. Bound in calf-skin, with brasshasps and ornamentation. Work isintact with some slight evidence of waterdamage, yet with no damage to text.Said to contain the wisdom of theancients, translated from Greek scrollsnow lost, this is a rare book of magic andmysticism from the period, with a printrun in this edition of almost certainlyfewer than fifty. Of special interest tocollectors of incunabula and those withan interest in the occult. From a privatecollection. Starting bid is 200 F.”

Anyone making an Occult roll (or anyprofessional occultist making an Idea roll) willrecall an article in The Elder Truth, an amateurpress journal put out by a Chicago-areaTheosophist society, from May of 1921, in whicha member recounted his spirit meditations andattempts to reach the “Hidden Lamas ofShambalah.” In one section the authormentions mediating upon “the wisdom of thePankotic texts [sic] and the Seal of Pankot [sic],”which resulted in a terrifying vision of someterrible lupine spirit or demon. A note at thestart of the article mourns the author’s recentdeath in an automobile accident, having lostcontrol of his car in a high-speed turn.

A successful Anthropology roll will uncover areference in the Proceedings of the AmericanAnthropological Society (Fall, 1922) in a letterfrom Derek Wheeler, an Americananthropologist conducting field research nearLima, Peru. In a longer letter about the general

condition of the native peoples there, herecounts the following:

“One elder in a very remote village inthe Pisco River valley recounted to melore from the time of the Pizarro andhow when he sacked Cuzco he destroyedthe sacred knot writings of the Incanpeople, the so-called quipu. Foremostamong these were those said to havebeen compiled by a legendaryquipucamayoc (scribe) named Pah-Na-Hota, a semi-divine figure who is said tohave come from the sea just after thecreation of man. He is said to haverecounted the word of the gods and thetrue history of the creation of man andthe world. This figure is an obscure oneand if any other scholars haveencountered references to Pah-Na-Hota, Iwould be most interested to learn ofthem.”

With a successful Cthulhu Mythos roll, thesymbol on the cover can be recognized as apoorly done reproduction of the Pnakoticpentagon, a powerful warding symbol.

THOROUGH READING

This book claims to be a compilation of the mostancient texts known to some prehistoric humancivilization (or civilizations), called by thetranslator Lomar, though it is unclear if this ismeant to describe a single civilization or a typeof civilization. While some attempt has beenmade to keep the various fragments inchronological order, the translator admits theprogression from most ancient to relativelymore modern is a matter of conjecture. Thetranslator also repeatedly reminds the reader ofthe veracity of the work and expounds at length

on the history of the text he (presumably) istranslating 1. A few marginal notes indicatewhich sections of the work were recorded in“the elder script” though no examples are givenof this language.

The earliest portions discuss the earliestdays of the Earth, a fragmentary chronology ofthe arrival and feats of various “gods” and races.A catalogue of wars between the various powerstakes up much of the space, followed closely bya chaotic and incomprehensible genealogy ofthese various entities. Sometimes the translatorwill preface certain sections with discussions ofother occult tomes that may clarify particularlyobtuse passages or cryptic references, althoughthese references are nearly as veiled and unclearas the original material.

Despite the vagaries of the text, the authorrepeatedly demonstrates uncanny (if erratic andincomplete) knowledge of history, astronomy,geology, chemistry, and biology for a 15thcentury writer, let alone a Byzantine scholar oreven more ancient source. A passage describingthe fall of the “Elder Ones” 2 civilization relatesthat fragments of their great cities persist “inTerra Australis or the Anti-powds” and clearlydescribes Antarctica (and in particularpenguins) while the chronology of the passingof the book from one human civilization toanother conforms more closely to modernunderstandings (setting aside issues likeHyperborea) than the presumably Biblicalworldview of the translator’s period.

Some of the fragments differ markedly incontent, discussing otherwise unknown localessuch as Ulthara, Mount Hatikala, and the Sea ofCerenarae and the apparently humans residentthere. It is unclear if they refer to yet anotherunknown pre-human civilization or someextraterrestrial location.

Certainly a more bizarre compilation of factsand legends has probably never been seen.

1. From “ancient Lomar” to “Hyperborea”, then to “Atlantis”, from which it passed to the Egyptians, then to the Greeks (via Crete), and fi-nally to the Romans and the Byzantines. The copy used by the translator came from an anonymous Greek scholar who claims to have ob-tained it from certain documents preserved after the destruction of the Akoimetes monastery, in Constantinople, though no proof is given.A few other documents saved from the collection are mentioned obliquely, but they are not cited.

2. An aside in this passage indicates that the men of Lomar knew of rites to call upon this race and, in exchange for unspecified sacrifices,aided them in translating the most ancient portions of the Pnakotica. The ritual is fully described thereafter.

Pnakotic Manuscripts 139

QUOTES

“And from Sykranoetia reysed Xatogia, taking the formeof a grete furred tode, he dwelled in the cavernes of Ienkaeand the walkyng serpents of Ioth helde Him in gretereveraunce much to the grete anger of Yigge, the God of thosebeasts...”

– – – – –

“Myghty was the war betwixt the Elder Ones and theDwellers in Real-yea and yet upon the endyng dayes of saydwar, the Elder Ones drew strong powyrs hild by the Spear ofNeth and unmayd the verry lande of the Earth and Real-yea was caste downe beneeth the wayves of the GreteWestern Ocean.”

– – – – –

“Hyer on the sloep climmed Goode Sansu, tho the sloepof Hatikala grewe ever more steep, for he sot the Godsthemsylves, sayd as they were to dwellin at the verry sumit ofthe Peake. But naughte was to be found there save Ice andSnowe, for the Gods dwelt ayleswere...”

140 New York

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

A parchment bundle, 10” by 15”; 179 pages. Thepages are obviously old, and have suffered fromboth the elements and the negligence of pastowners. The most obvious damage to the workis that the back edge of each sheet is ragged - anIdea roll will allow the realization that themanuscript has been torn from some sort ofbinding. The work is handwritten and copiouslyilluminated with grotesque faces, obscenemarginalia, and a recurring curious sigilresembling a triskelion (a Cthulhu Mythos rollidentifies it as a symbol connected to the wizardEibon). While it is obvious that Romancharacters are used, the condition and age of themanuscript makes the language difficult todetermine (an Idea roll to recognize it as archaicFrench), but judging from the paper and scriptused, an expert (or a Library Use roll and a half-day’s effort) can date the creation of this work tothe mid to late 15th century though thelanguage is a Norman variant of French from anearlier period.

SKIMMING

The book purports to be a commentary 1 on theLiber Ivonis (Book of Eibon), a work supposedly

written by Eibon, a sorcerer in distant antiquity.The author of the commentary is one Gaspar duNord, a self-proclaimed sorcerer from Averoigne,a region in south central France. The discussionwithin, written in an elliptical and didacticmanner, is a wide-ranging commentary onancient and contemporary theology, magicalritual, and fantastic history. The author focusesupon the lives and magical discoveries of severalantediluvian sorcerers in a kingdom called“Hyperborea,” with a particular emphasis on“Eibon,” the supposed author of the originalwork. Eibon apparently entered into some sortof pact with a powerful being (perhaps a god?)known as Sathojuè, granting him both greatermagical abilities and access to arcane secrets.Other powerful beings and species arementioned in only passing detail, but include arace of ophidian magicians and a malevolent andimmense white worm that brought Hyperborealow in some icy apocalypse.

The author also boasts not only of his ownmagical studies under the wizard Nathaire, butalso of his defeat of his former master. Thoughdu Nord claims that his purpose is to giveinstruction to the novice magician, he oftenobscures his meaning in allegory or obliquereferences. A reader lacking either a copy of theLivre d’Ivon or a familiarity with the conventionsand philosophy of the various medieval magicaltraditions will find Selections from the Livred’Ivon a daunting and frustrating work.

Selections from the Livre D’Ivon

Sam Zeitlin

1. A Know or History roll will remind investigators that the Middle Ages saw the height of a literary form called the commentary. In an agewhen intellectual authority was the province of the ancients many scholars chose to write commentaries on one of the old masters,especially Aristotle, rather than write an original work. Depending on the author, a commentary might hew close to the text, or simply useit as a starting point for wider-ranging meditations. Du Nord’s work is of the former category, rather than the later.

141

RESEARCH

General information about the Book of Eibon ispresented in the article “General Notes on theBook of Eibon” on page XX.

If examined by an expert, this work can bepositively dated to the mid 15th century, mostlikely to a monastery in northern Italy, possiblynear Turin. A marginal gloss suggests that anearly owner was the Visconte de Mana, a noblein the court of Duke Carlo I of Savoy.Investigators examining Roger Carlyle’sactivities before the departure of his titularexpedition can uncover that he purchased acollection of Medieval manuscripts and papersfrom an unnamed French collection in May of1918. The lot is described as “about two-hundredparchment pages in poor condition bearing anantique French commentary.”

THOROUGH READING

In this lengthy commentary, Gaspar du Nordattempts to illuminate the wisdom of Eibon, asorcerer living in ancient Hyperborea, adding hisown knowledge along the way. The author, aself-described magician writing in the Frenchcity of Vyones, claims that the master of hismaster’s master learned at the feet of Eibon, theUnfathomable One himself, suggesting thateither Gaspar or one of his mystic predecessorslived an unnaturally long life.

The author quotes the original textextensively, and dissects the material in detail,offering allegories, legends, prescriptions, andinterpretations of the book’s narrative sections,which apparently cover the experiments andtravels of Eibon across Hyperborea and into evenstranger realms.

Much of the book centers on Sathojuè, afurry, toad-like deity worshipped by both Eibonand du Nord. Du Nord describes Sathojuè as apatron of sorcerers, an essentially benevolentmaster who asks only for obeisance and secrets.

Much of Eibon’s power stemmed from a pactwith Sathojuè, and du Nord considers the ritesof the god, though the details areuncharacteristically sparse. In one passage, duNord describes Eibon’s journey to meet Sathojuèat his great hall of bones beneath MountVourmitadre, and speculates at length on wherethis place might be found (Armenia, heconcludes). He also describes various caves inAveroigne advantageous for calling uponSathojuè’s amorphous black servant creatures(described as snakes made of pure darkness) butdoes not give explicit directions to any of thesecaves or exact instructions as to how Sathojuè’sservants can be summoned. Du Nord’s repeatedclaims of Sathojuè’s benevolence do not squarewith the depiction of the being or its servitors.

In addition to Sathojuè, du Nord describes anumber of other powerful and strange entities:a mighty entity called “the Lord of the Abyss” or“Nodens, the Great Hunter,” along with amethod to contact him; the great worm RelimShai Corte, who laid waste to Hyperborea; andthe dreadful “Hommes du Serpente,” a race ofbipedal snakes who commanded great magics.Further, du Nord describes the vastsubterranean kingdoms of Ioth and Niqai;instructs to the reader on where Shagai, astrange world once visited by Eibon, may befound in the night sky; and gives directions toreach the lost vale of Pnath2. Du Nord includespassages describing his own journeys andmeditations, as well as his battle against aformer mentor, the magus Nathaire, and lastlygives a set of specific instructions for anenchantment that will conceal the caster fromthe sight of any creature bound by the magic ofa powerful being alternately referred to as “theBlack Man (Le Homme Nuit),” “The Lord ofNight,” or “The Thousand-Faced God.”

2. Though, as he assumes that the determined traveller can make his or her own way “beyond the wall of sleep,” the directions are oflimited use.

142 New York

QUOTES:

…I therefore submit this commentary. It contains no wisdom that is not a reflection of thewisdom of the Unfathomable One, Eibon the Inscrutable. It contains no secret that is not His,and no power. I, whose language is paltry and whose art is dim, scribe this meager work onlybecause I fear that in my error I have corrupted the text of the Book, and wish to absolve myselfto the reader of my crimes of omission by presenting what little knowledge I possess of the landabove the north wind, and the deeds wrought by the men who dwelled there.

– – – – –

By certain signs and secret signals, it may be deduced that the hoary huntsman whom theUnfathomable One speaks of in the parable of the Eremite is one and the same as the Huntsman,whom the witches and the farmers whisper of in the dark forests of the Empire to the east.Those who would speak with Him would be wise to travel where men do not go: to the darkplaces of the forest, or the harrowed shore. It is there that the seeker must make the seven-pointed star upon the ground, and burn the seven tallow candles, and break a stave of ash, andmend a spear of elm. It is there that one must call Him by his secret name, Nodens, and mediateupon the Eremite’s rhyme: ‘King of empty spaces/Lord of lonely places/I risk the huntsman’swrath/my mind has wandered from the path/as sun slips beneath the sky of grey/Huntsmanmake me predator not prey.’ Know this, however: He is no friend of the magus, for he hates themagician’s gods.

– – – – –

The sky grew dark when I reached the blighted lands, and I knew that Nathaire had grownvery strong indeed. He had scribed his name in the Black Book, and his new master, le HommeNuit had sent two black dragons to serve him. In the endless night they were ever-watchful, butthe learned one need never hold fear in his heart save of Sathojuè, who is everything and nothing.Recalling the texts I had studied so long, I considered Eibon’s symbol and how it might callforth a wheel of mist, that I might travel unseen by yellow eyes. It is written that one need butcross the arms across his chest and speak the words: xiothui terragyrus maturin...

Livre D’Ivon Selections 143

LIBER IVONIS AND EIBON

A successful Occult roll can confirm the Book ofEibon as an obscure occult text, purporting tobe both the grimoire and testament of Eibon, amagician of ancient Hyperborea. Furtherresearch (and one or more Library Use rolls atthe Keeper’s discretion) can uncover thefollowing information. The earliest knownversion of the Book of Eibon is a late 9th or early10th century Medieval Latin edition attributedto Caius Philippus Faber (almost certainly apseudonym, as suggested by the Latin name‘faber’), a scholar and cleric at the court of Louisthe Blind, King of Provence.

Faber claimed to be translating an even oldertext, possibly of Greek origins. A few sourcessuggest that this was a work known as TheTeaching of Ibo, which had circulated at thecourt of Charlemagne more than a centuryearlier. Faber’s book was a mystical text similarto works like the Key of Solomon or the“writings” of Hermes Trismegistus;contemporary magical writings attributed to anancient authority, in this case the Hyberboreansorcerer, Eibon. During the early medievalperiod antiquity was equated with authority,suggesting that Faber was attempting toestablish the importance and truth of his workby linking it to archaic, more divinely connected,

authorities. It is unusual in that the ancientsource described is unknown in either theChristian or Classical traditions, and that thekingdom of Hyperborea described does notmatch the Hyperborea of Greek myth.

More recent editions and translations ofFaber’s Book of Eibon are known to exist.Gaspar du Nord is said to have created a Frenchlanguage translation (called the Livre d’Ivon) inthe 13th century, followed by an unknownauthor’s English translation The Book of Ibon(probably a translation of the French) in the 17thcentury. Investigators may come across apassing reference to a different Englishtranslation in a note from the English HistoricalReview of May 1906, discussing the late Dr. N.H.Daniels:

“I must also add, as his former pupiland a frequent caller to his home, thatProfessor Daniel’s library also includedmore esoteric works, such as severalof Robert Fludd’s alchemical treatises, anevocative Persian copy of the Zohar, anda beautifully illustrated copy of the Bookof Ibon. Printed in 1672, it catalogued allmanner of fell sorcery, such as could beconjured up in the Gallic imagination ofGaspar the Norman. I find it curiousthat no mention of those works appearsin his bequest to the Society. Perhaps his

General Notes on the Book of Eibon

Bret Kramer

There are three different versions of the Book of Eibon that investigators may have the chanceto read or examine during the course of the campaign. Research into the any of the works willuncover much of the same information. For the convenience of the Keeper, this material iscollected into a single entry.

144 New York

Book of Eibon Notes 145heirs might elucidate us as to thedisposition of these works also, for thesake of scholarship? Books such asthese, more valuable for their insightinto the primitive mind than their actualcontents, should not be discarded simplyfor being fanciful.”

HYPERBOREA

A Know roll (otherwise a Library Use roll) willinform investigators that, according to Greekmythology, this was a kingdom to the far north,whose people flourished peacefully under thepatronage of the god Apollo. The kingdom’sname literally means “beyond the Boreas [NorthWind].” The people of Hyperborea weresupposed to have exceptionally long lives andreside in a kind of utopia.

An Occult roll will uncover a scattering ofreferences to a few half-formed theories that theGreek legends had some basis in reality; perhapsas a northern outpost of an early Atlanteanculture or, as posited by certain racially-basedtheorists, as part of some Aryan ‘Thule.’Theosophists hold that Hyperborea was thehome of a pre-human species (one of the so-called ‘root-races’), said to be gelatinous,semi-astral beings— human in outline, but verymuch different in biology and without intellectas we regard it.

GASPAR DU NORD

Comparatively little is known about thisindividual. A Library Use roll can identify him asthe translator of the Livre d’Ivon and havinglived in the 13th century in central France; ascattering of references also refer to him as amystic or sorcerer. Little more can be learnedunless the investigator can read French, in whichcase an additional discovery can be made in awork on the ecclesiastical history of Averoigne(from 1844) by Father Michel Ernaux, S.J. In afootnote he records:

“One exception to the vigorouspersecution of heresy demonstrated bythe pious bishops of this era is theunusual figure of Gaspar (sometimesCasper) of Normandy. According to anow lost 16th century chronicle ofVyones, in 1232 Gaspar, described as asorcerer, provided an unspecified servicefor the city, thereby defending it fromthe witch Nathaire. For his service, thecity’s bishop (despite Pope Gregory IX’sadmonitions against heresy and hiscreation of the Papal Inquisition theprevious year) granted this Gaspar apardon for “all acts of Witchcraft andHeresies past, present and future.” He issaid to have remained an inhabitant ofthe city to the end of his days, perhapsdue to the protection offered to him bythe local church leadership. The childrenof the city still recall him in the oldrhyme, “un pour les pauvres, deux pourle froid, troi pour Gaspar le bon et St.Augia” (the last presumably being St.Augustine of Hippo known for hischarity).”

New York146KEEPER’S CAMPAIGN NOTES

LondonHorror at the

Heart of Empire

Keeper’s Notes:London

Anthony Warren, with Bret Kramer and Matthew Pook

148 London

CHAPTER OVERVIEW

The London chapter will probably be theKeeper’s first chance to truly shine in a Masks ofNyarlathotep campaign, as regardless of whenthey arrive the group will face a fully organizedcult with zero tolerance for interference in itsplans. Both you and the players will have thedaunting task of tying together multiple storylines without getting lost or de-motivated, allwhile keeping the story humming along. This isnot always easy, but it is very rewarding.

Wherever the London chapter sits in yourstory (usually, but not always, after New York),the Keeper must keep the investigators on theirtoes. Wherever the investigators break andenter, however many Hackney taxi cabs theysmash up, irrespective of leads they kill beforeimparting important clues, there should alwaysbe the fear of failure. London is your chance toprove your skills as a Keeper—pull it off withboth subtle terrors and nail-biting action andthe players will stick around for more.

GETTING STARTED

One of the best things you, as Keeper, can do foryourself and your players is to get a map ofLondon, bigger and separate than the one foundin the Masks of Nyarlathotep book., and learnabout London’s physical and sociologicalgeography. Contemporary 1920s maps areavailable on the internet, but even a modernroad map can make the difference between a

good game and great game, especially if youexpect your player to get caught up in car chasesor visit the city’s numerous tourist sites. WhileLondon’s districts, parks, waterways and inner-city roads have changed little since 1925, beaware some Tube stations and hotels were builtmuch later and that German bombs in WorldWar Two did inflict real damage, in human andarchitectural costs. As Keeper, it is critical foratmosphere that you know the differencebetween Soho, Limehouse, and Westminster, theclass of people that live and work there, and howthe investigators will be treated when they visit.Keep a list of the boroughs at hand with acouple of lines reference for each, especially ifyou decide to use the recommendations under“Rearranging London” later in this article.

It is also important for everyone to knowwhat they are trying to accomplish, includingthe Keeper. Three broad goals for the Londonchapter stand out: Having provided numerousclues to your players in New York, you mustcontinue to deepen the mystery and build theparty’s motivation for continuing. Whileinvestigating some horrible, globe-spanningblood cult just because it killed Elias will servethe investigators well for now, down the road inEgypt or Kenya the party might consist ofpeople who never knew him. It is your job asthe Keeper to thicken the plot and provide othermotivations, whatever they are: revenge for thedeath of friends or relatives, the rescue of aninnocent recently kidnapped and intended forhorrors unspeakable, a lust for the fame orfortune that comes with unearthing ancientartifacts and mysteries, or simply, a desire tosave the world. Remember to build the mysteryof the Carlyle Expedition and to keep one eye on

Westminster Bridge leading tothe Houses of Parliament andWhitehall

Keeper’s Notes 149the long term story with a ready hand to sowmotivational seeds that can be reaped later.

While broadening the overall mystery, youalso need to keep the party focused. There aremany new clue threads to track down inLondon, and regardless of whether you want todistract the players with a red herring or two,you must keep things moving. Dawdling is nofun for anyone. It is fully possible for the partyto meet Gavigan, break into the Foundation andsteal the clues, investigate the Blue Pyramid andthe cult headquarters, and yet still not knowwhat to do. Players love to stare clues in the faceand shrug their shoulders, so you must keeppushing and pulling them along the conspiracy;even if you have to kidnap, bludgeon, kill them,

or all three, to do it. Masks ofNyarlathotep is a long campaignand lingering in London wastestime—as a Keeper you need toescalate threats until players knowthat they must face Gavigan andhis cult, understand that theBrotherhood threatens theworld, and truly act to stop itsnefarious deeds. The party hasa mission in Britain—do not letthem assume otherwise.

Another importantdecision you should makebefore the party arrives inLondon is whether to play all,some or none of the redherrings. If the partycomes to

Londonfrom

New York—the most likely course—then they arehot on the heels of Elias’ killers and looking forpaths to follow. One reason to include redherrings (those provided in the campaign orothers included in this Companion) is todemonstrate that not every mystery and Mythoselement is tied into some grand conspiracy, andthat investigators must also be cautious whilepursuing evil—because it is easier to die at thehands of a lizard-man serial killer than uncoverwhat Edward Gavigan knows about the CarlyleExpedition. Though red herrings help deepenmysteries and keep the players off-balance, becareful; if ill-played they serve as nothing morethan a distraction that leaves your playersconfused and frustrated. Judge the party’sability to pick through clue strands to untanglethe “real” mystery and then roll out the redherrings when appropriate. However many redherrings you use, know why you are includingthem and how they will keep your partyguessing. Take notes before you begin, as oncethe adventure starts it is very hard to slip themin without people noticing you that arewallpapering over cracks in the plot. Andremember too that just because you have themprepared it does not mean that you have to usethem.

The simplest red-herrings are the ready-made side treks. More subtle methods ofwaylaying wily investigators are just as easy, ifplanned in advance, means of rolling red-herrings back into the main plot.

150 LondonWhen a party gets it into its collective mind

that a particular clue must lead somewhereimportant, it is very hard to persuade playersotherwise. For example, if the investigatorsfixate on Ssathasaa from “A Serpent in Soho,”introduce a tenuous link between it and Gavigan(perhaps he sends one or more of the paintingsabroad on the Ivory Wind or stores them in hisEssex estate). Wherever the party goes, havesomething to reel them back to the cult; apopular informant hospitalized, a body fishedfrom the Thames, or another Mythosinvestigator willing to trade information forrevenge on Gavigan.

Finally, the Keeper should remember thatMasks of Nyarlathotep is international in scope;what happens in one country will influenceanother and this is not always linear. InformingGavigan about Jonah Kensington without firstcrushing Mukunga’s cult in New York might endwith the Prospero House editor suffering a fatesimilar to that of Jackson Elias. Crippling PunjiChabout’s warehouse operation will slow or stopthe Brotherhood’s movement of rocket-equipment to Shanghai, forcing Sir Aubrey orHuston to resolve this bottleneck. Log everyvictory or disaster and trace it to its logicalconclusion before the party reaches their nextdestination.

Finally, consider the chapter’s theme. ForLondon, if there is a single defining theme it isduality; good and bad, light and dark, yin andyang. Much of the campaign is based onappearance masking inner decay, but rarely isthis more apparent than in London. Everywherethe investigators turn they will find thisfestering rot; from Gavigan’s charming exteriorbelying his personal evil, to Bertha Shipley’s truescaly form; from the fog that hides a terriblecreature, to Eloise Vane’s curse. Somethingrotten lies in the heart of England. Let theplayers feel that inhuman pulse.

KEEPER’S TIPS

The first stop on British soil (unless by freighteror similar) should be either in the ports ofLiverpool or Southampton, and investigators

who left the last country under dubiouscircumstances might just find themselves underthe scrutiny of His Majesty’s Customs. There isnormally a 50% chance of bags being searchedeven if the party has done nothing wrong. CreditRating can help allay this, however. Firearmswill be confiscated if lacking a visa—and anyarmed investigator will be asked toughquestions about their reasons for visiting GreatBritain. He might even be detained or deported.

Once in London, the Keeper shouldhighlight the little things that make it foreign.Traffic drives on the opposite side of the road tomuch of Europe and all of North America. Coalfires are more common than in New York, soeverything is coated with a thin layer of sootthat tickles throats and noses. Hats will bedoffed, doors held open and pleasant greetingsoffered—things that some Americans and mostAfricans or Asians will find odd. Refrain frominundating your players with local ‘colour’;instead slide them in: a sudden sneeze will coathandkerchiefs in gray-black mucus, the rainleaves dirty snail-like trails down taxi windows,and a glance in the wrong direction nearly hasthe character run down while crossing at anintersection. A Luck roll during an outdoorchase to dodge a car can serve as a convenientreminder.

England’s weather during 1925 is one ofmild winter and a milder summer, though thereis always the threat of showers. In Derbyshire’speaks and vales, heavy rain can strike withoutwarning, turning dirt paths into quagmires.Snowfall of a few inches is not unusual in thedepths of winter; Edale may well get anythingup to a few inches, but any sort of heavy snow inLondon will surely be a surprise. More extremeweather is unknown, though in January 1926,both Britain and Europe were beset by a cyclone-like weather pattern that wiped out telegraphlines, flooded much of London, and killeddozens. Whether this is linked to Nyarlathotepis up to the Keeper.

The archetypal London fog, “smog,”“peculiars,” and “peasoupers” can be a stapleof this part of the campaign, especially when itcomes to lurking cultists and monsters.Realistically most are nothing more than a lightmist, though a more ‘pulp’ campaign may keep

Keeper’s Notes 151

London fog-bound indefinitely. Fog is usuallyrestricted to areas bordering the river.Throughout December, January, and February,there is a 40% chance of nightly fog with a 10%chance during daylight hours. During summerthere is twice the listed likelihood of fog blowingin from the Thames. The color can bedisconcerting, ranging from eggshell toluminescent yellow-green and the smell off-putting; sometimes of sulfur, fish, salt, or otherunidentifiable chemicals. Sound carriessurprisingly far during a peasouper, mainly aspeople stay inside and the area shuts down.While public transport usually stops during theworst fogs, pedestrians should be wary; not alldrivers are so sensible.

Mickey Mahoney is the first step, so tospeak, in London. Part patron, part hindrance—how much of either depends heavily on theinvestigators’ actions. Players who rely on hisassistance rather than getting their hands dirtyshould be penalized by having him disappear onhis own inquiries or ignoring them asunprofessional. The yardstick by which todecide whether the Brotherhood attempts tokill him is the success of the investigators’efforts—the better they are doing, the morelikely that Gavigan will attempt to pick off theparty’s resources and the greater the chancethat Mahoney will end up floating in theThames. If he discovers that the cult is real, thenhe could make a perceptive replacement for anylost player character, but he better serves thecampaign as an NPC. For suggestions on usingthe scrappy editor as an aid to the party, see thearticle “‘Tent-Pole’ NPCs” on page XX.

Introducing Gavigan and showing his cult’sfull capabilities is the next step. Theinvestigators need perspective on the dangersthey are facing. Whereas the Cult of the BloodyTongue was certainly deadly, in comparison tothe foes to come, it is still nothing more than anannoyance. Gavigan and the Brotherhoodoperate on a far grander scale. International inmembership and scope, with far more violentand otherworldly tools at hand, the LondonBrotherhood and its venal leader are likely thefirst top-tier foe that the investigators will face.

An important consideration is how muchGavigan knows about the investigators. If theinvestigators made a quick and innocent escapefrom America with Mukunga either dead oralive, but unsure of who it was that caused himso much trouble, Gavigan may give up clues tohis cult involvement before even knowing whothe party is. If the investigators actedindiscreetly in New York, then Gavigan willprobably expect their arrival in London, perhapsgoing so far as to have the authorities on thelook-out (ample reason for customs to relievethem of their firearms) for them. A cruel Keeperwith careless players might portray Gavigan andthe Foundation not as the enemy, but as a friend(“A cult killed poor Mr. Elias you say? My, howterrible! Please, don’t hesitate to ask for myassistance!”), stringing them along, coaxinginformation from them, and maybe pointingtowards this chapter’s red herring scenarios.

Remember that, unlike Mukunga—Gaviganis a gentleman with the money and standing tomake life very miserable for the investigatorseven without doing anything overtly violent.

A More Ruthless BrotherhoodOne difficulty with Gavigan and the United Kingdom chapter of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh, as written, is that togetherthey are actually somewhat superfluous to the campaign. In the other chapters the villains are critical targets; even if the partyflees from Shanghai, Australia or Kenya without neutralizing the villains there the investigators know that they must return at alater date to stop them opening the Great Gate. There is no such fundamental incentive in London.

For some investigators this might be a welcome situation—a problem they do not have to solve. Players should not rest easyon this thought. Not being central to any one part of the conspiracy allows the Keeper to use Gavigan to replace any of thecampaign’s major villains if they are somehow eliminated. Did a lucky shot kill Penhew in a Shanghai street? Gavigan can replacehim on Grey Dragon Island. A well-thrown bundle of dynamite did in Omar Shakti before the ritual beneath the Sphinx? Gavigancan fill in during the ceremony to revive Nitocris. Likewise, if the Keeper desires, Gavigan can actively pursue the investigatorsduring their global trek and dog them at every turn. He has the wealth and power to do so, and if the players cross him, he hasthe motivation as well.

1. In the 1920s, the rarity of such denominations meant that the buyer signed the note’s back when spending it. The shop would cashthe note at a bank as soon as possible, where it is sure to be noticed as stolen money, complete with the signature of the investigator whoused it.

152 LondonAfter all, the word of a respected Britishacademic versus that of a gaggle of unwashed(and probably foreign) conspiracy-theorists is aone-sided argument. At his word, investigatorscan be barred from learned institutions,pilloried in newspapers, or named in libellawsuits. If he can tie them to anything thathappened in another country, he may leakbiased but very damaging stories to the press orpolice—“VISITING SCHOLARS LINKED TOHARLEM ROBBERY!” is a headline fewnewspapermen can turn down.

In order to find out more about the playercharacters, the Brotherhood will also follow theinvestigators about London. This is easy:cultists can track the group everywhere,utilizing their familiarity to hide in plain sight,posing as clerks, busboys, waiters, and bellhops,anywhere a non-white can go by unnoticed.White cultists might even pose as taxi drivers,driving a group to their demise (see “GettingAround” on page XX). No matter how andwhere the investigators go, the Brotherhood willprobably be there first. Spot Hidden rolls shouldbe allowed once the investigators begin tosuspect that something is amiss. Whether thecult is willing to follow investigators to LesserEdale or elsewhere outside of London is left tothe Keeper, as the Egyptian brothers will bemore obtrusive outside of major cities.

If the party remains ambivalent to Gavigan’spower, a warning might be necessary. Thegroup can be accosted by a gang of armed thugs(non-cultists but hired by the Brotherhood)demanding that they direct their interestselsewhere; a dead stray dog—rather than food—is delivered by room-service; a favored ally, suchas Mahoney, is subject to a beating or, worse, ismurdered. Investigators might also get a tasteof their own medicine with their hotel roomsransacked by cultists and prized Mythos booksstolen. Nothing quite stokes the ire of players asbeing robbed. Stolen books or items will likelyend up in either Gavigan or Tewfik al-Sayed’spossession (and perhaps become a point ofcontention between the two powerful men).The short scenario “The Burning Within” on

page XX can also serve as a demonstration ofboth Gavigan’s power and his malicious cruelty.

Finally, when it becomes clear theinvestigators represent a real danger to him andto the Brotherhood, Gavigan will attack.Gavigan has skills, spells, and artifacts at hisdisposal that are capable of easily maiming allbut the most battle ready investigators. He justneeds to avoid getting caught doing it — thesocietal façade must be maintained, as it doeshim no good to have the Penhew Foundationexposed when only a couple of (investigator)lives stand in the way of empoweringNyarlathotep. Consider Elias’ murder- mundaneand not obviously done at Gavigan’s behest,which suggests he either underestimates hisenemies or prefers traditional methods. Thetime may come, however, for the Brotherhoodto drop the hammer and dispense someindiscriminant justice. A good moment for thisis at a dramatic juncture: if the investigatorsattempt to go public or bring external forces tobear against the Chabout warehouse, thePenhew Foundation basement, or Misr house(for example) then they can expect all hell tobreak loose…

At some point the investigators will probablywant to break into the Penhew Foundation androot around Gavigan’s office, hopefully afterthey realize that he is their enemy. His secretroom can be a double-edged sword, for whenGavigan finds out that someone—presumablythe investigators—has broken into and searchedthe Foundation he will definitely consider thema significant threat. If they were caught beforefinding anything incriminating Gavigan, hemight leave their fate to the police rather thanrisk killing them.

If the investigators find the secret room, allbets are off and Gavigan will go straight for thejugular. Investigators who leave fingerprintslying around can be traced by the police (as wellas by Gavigan) and the same for those who tookany of the £5 notes1. Fortunately (?) forinvestigators, the Brotherhood prefers to firstkidnap and interrogate, rather than directly kill,its enemies and lost investigators may yet

2. In the description of the scrolls on p.48 of Masks of Nyarlathotep it says that Gavigan cannot cast Send Dreams as he lacks a specificcopper bowl. If using the supplementary scenario “The Burning Within” assume Gavigan does have one; perhaps keeping it in hisapartment where its mystical qualities are unlikely to raise suspicion.

Keeper’s Notes 153

survive relatively intact in the basement of MisrHouse. The tomes hidden in Gavigan’s secretroom—The G’harne Fragments, Book of Dzyanand Liber Ivonis, along with the various scrolls 2

(cf.)—might aid the investigators if they wish toplay Gavigan at his own magical game,particularly if they decide to take the bluestoneCthulhu idol with them (we assume this is madeof an Australian olivine basalt in aboriginalstyles, coming as it does from Australia). Oddly,the statuette offers no Sanity loss either to useor look at, making it a rather handy ‘battery’ forspells—as long as it is not stolen and turnedagainst them by cultists later on, of course. Ifthe Keeper wishes, the idol might have a Sanitycost of 0/1 points. Inspector Barrington can beintroduced as the detective in charge ofinvestigating the break-in if he has not yetentered the scenario.

Whenever and however Chief InspectorBarrington is brought ‘on stage’, he is a foil forinvestigative excess and an ally in dire times. Hisconnections are not vital (and many groups havebypassed him altogether) but once met heshouldn’t be relegated to a mere informationdispensary. Barrington is reactive, working hisown parallel investigation. He may even cometo some of the same conclusions theinvestigators do—and unlike them, he has apolice force to use at will. Do not give his aid tothe investigators easily, as he must follow thebounds of the law, and lawbreakers arelawbreakers, regardless of how tall a tale theinvestigators spin.

His predecessor’s disappearance,presumably at the hands of the Brotherhood, isan untapped source of role-playing andinvestigation. A small but identifiable clue to hispredecessor’s fate somewhere in the cult’spossession will go a long way toward gaining theInspector’s support: a dirty warrant badgestamped into the mud outside Misr House, apocket watch bearing his initials in Tewfik’sshop, or his mummified remains tucked into anunused sarcophagus in the Penhew Foundationbasement are all options. Barrington and histruncheon-toting constables also make a logicaldeus ex machina if things go badly for theinvestigators. He may have an undercoverScotland Yard officer tailing them if he thinksthey know more than they’re letting on. And ifthe investigators find themselves about to besacrificed at Gavigan’s estate, the suddenappearance of several score Bobbies, blowingwhistles and waving pistols, would make areasonable conclusion to the chapter.

If Gavigan declares all-out war against theinvestigators, then anything from kidnappings,break-ins, beatings, murder, arson, and a rangeof Mythos beings all may be thrown againstthem. Though Gavigan is likely to hang backand keep up the gentlemanly façade, he doeshave at his disposal a range of mundane andmagical weapons to direct against his enemies.His spells, particularly summoned beings, canspell the death of many an investigator, thougheven through these subtlety is key—a Servitor ofthe Outer Gods appearing in Charing Cross

The Year of Living DangerouslyWhile 1926 far outstripped 1925 in political upheaval, investigators will still find Britain in the grip of strikes and economicdepression. Even in the richer parts of London, shops with soaped-up windows, clusters of out-of-work young men, and hecklingstreet-corner firebrands evangelizing new religions or outlandish opinions are not unusual. Tourists can expect political manifestos(be they communistic tracts, fascist polemics, utopian dogma, or something altogether stranger) thrust into their hands on theLondon Underground, and the sight of police rousting the angry jobless masses from the awnings of union-run job centres.Bedraggled newspaper-sellers wearing sandwich-boards emblazed with slogans such as “THE END IS NIGH!” or “2nd ENGINEERSTRIKE IN FORTNIGHT!” are also a regular sight. Out in the countryside, especially in mining towns, work-to-rule strikes andlockouts are common. Investigators heading to or from Derbyshire might be hampered by cancelled trains, rail strikes, or surlycountry-folk. The Keeper does not have to use these elements as part the London chapter, but they provide a clear change fromthe lofty idealism and buoyant prosperity of Jazz Era America.

154 LondonStation will draw more attention than Gavigandesires. In a fight, the Keeper should alsoremember Gavigan’s mundane combat skills;50% in shotgun and cult club and 30% in sabre.His primary concern will to avoiding beingcaught out—he values his façade and it must bemaintained, even if it limits his offensiveoptions.

If Barrington fails to point the investigatorsin the direction of the Blue Pyramid, anycultists tailed from the Penhew Foundation willlikely stop there. In a more “realistic” campaign,the Blue Pyramid should be small,uncomfortable, and pushing the fringes oflegality; if not simply criminal. A “cinematic”campaign makes the Blue Pyramid a popularestablishment running on the fumes of theEgyptology craze of the previous generation; allpseudo-Egyptian décor with fake palm trees,great mock-sandstone edifices, scarab and ankhstitched wall-hangings and “authentic” Egyptianwaiting-staff. In either case the notion that thedancers would be tipped £1 notes isunbelievable. More likely a few coins would beleft on the tables and collected by waiters.

Yalesha’s role in the scenario is left ratherambiguous; why was her boyfriend killed?3

What do the investigators do with her after sheinforms them about Tewfik al-Sayed? Moreimportantly, does her sudden revelation to theinvestigators feel forced or flow naturally (sheseems to surrender herself to the players’ mercyremarkably quickly for a fearful innocent)? Oneway of handling the latter is to have her find theinvestigators a day or two after their first visit,having wrestled with her conscience; another,crueller method, is to have her working for theBrotherhood and luring the party into a trap. Ifthe Brotherhood otherwise suspects (or knows)that she is a leak, she will certainly become oneof its next victims—or be found at Misr Estate atthe climax of the scenario as a prisoner orbreeding partner. A group needing a guide inCairo could do worse than Yalesha, and shemight make a serviceable replacementinvestigator, although the Keeper will need togive her a few more skills to round out herlimited repertoire.

How the nefarious high priest Tewfik al-Sayed fits into the overall hierarchy of theBrotherhood of the Black Pharaoh is ambiguous.All that is known is that he is a high priest in thecult, that he wields surprisingly potent Mythospowers, and that he is a rival to Gavigan.Whether he is a loyal cleric unaware of Gavigan’sjealousy, a twisted xenophobe unwilling toaccept a white man as a fellow priest, orsomething between the two is up to the Keeper.How he comes to the party’s attention issomewhat more open-ended. If Gavigan believesthe investigators to be ignorant of the Mythos(or at least thinks them ignorant of hisinvolvement) he might point them towardsTewfik al-Sayed himself. He will likely do this ifthe group shows interest in Egypt or theFoundation’s displays. Alternately, the humblespice merchant might be recommended byGavigan as an expert to be consulted onquestions involving the Arabic language orobscure Egyptian secret societies. If Gaviganwarns his rival that the investigators are ahazard, or if the group brings obviously Mythosobjects to him (particularly anything stolenfrom Gavigan’s secret room!), Tewfik will try tokill them or at least steal the artifacts.Investigators seeking more info on Egypt ormentioning they are traveling there soon mightbe urged to speak with Omar Shakti once theyarrive. He will be sure to inform the goodly Mr.Shakti of their impending arrival…

For suggestions on making use of the intra-cult tensions between Gavigan and Tewfik andsome speculation on the relationship of bothmen, see the article “Musings On the LondonBranch of the Brotherhood of the BlackPharaoh” on page XX.

Once a few clues have fallen into place, itmight be the right time to distract theinvestigators with a red herring. Both A Serpentin Soho and The Derbyshire Monster should behandled with care; the former can wipe out anill-equipped group of investigators over thecourse of a single session, and the latter is notmuch more than a lycanthropic shaggy-dogstory (if you will excuse the pun). Both arerelatively simple, self-contained and linear in

3. Masks of Nyarlathotep states that amongst Gavigan’s preparatory sacrifices at Misr House is an English-speaking Egyptian male willingto help his rescuers; perhaps this is Yalesha’s lost love.

Keeper’s Notes 155nature, though their conclusions can seriouslyaffect the rest of the campaign. Both sidescenarios need obvious beginnings and endings,primarily to let the players know that while bothscenarios involve occult activity (and are quitedeadly) their scale is anything but comparableto Gavigan, the Brotherhood, or the members ofthe Carlyle Expedition.

“A Serpent in Soho” is notorious as ascenario with a high casualty rate. WhileSsathasaa is a wily foe—surpassing most humanopponents of this campaign in intelligence—thebiggest threat that the investigators will mostlikely face is the painting in the closet, whichcan take out an entire party if they are careless.Ssathasaa, though, is the star of the scenario;incalculable, cold, and ageless, and the Keeperneeds to remember that he is not just anothercultist but a monster of vast possibilities. Ifthings are going badly, he is quite prepared tocut and run and let Shipley take the fall for theprostitute killings. He might even be willing tobargain with investigators—though this is adangerous course of action. He is not humanand attempting to give him human qualities oremotions serves only to deaden the impact upondiscovering his true form. If investigators wishto take him on as a sort of patron orencyclopaedia of the Mythos they should pay forhis aid in sanity and blood. Consider the pricehe extracted from Miles Shipley for his visionsas a rough guide. See the article “‘Tent-pole’NPCs” for suggestions on how Ssathasaa mightfunction as an investigator patron. Even if theinvestigators seek to avoid his malign influence,his Consume Likeness spell allows Ssathasaa toget closer to the investigators, if he so desires…

“The Derbyshire Monster” is a goodscenario if the investigators need to recuperateor get out of London for a few days. Lesser Edaleitself serves to show the simpler, rustic life thatexists outside England’s great cities; Keepersshouldn’t fear hamming up this scenario—in anarea as pastoral as this, from the car run by thevillage doctor or veterinary surgeon, it couldalmost be considered Victorian. Feel free tothrow in surly shepherds, superstitious publandlords, and ruddy-cheeked, pipe-smokingfarmers. With gentle prodding the scenarioshould play out with the minimum of Keepereffort. Nevertheless a few things should be

remembered: casting of silver bullets actuallyrequires more than a simple village blacksmith(the melting temperature of silver is somewhathigh), and investigators trawling the hills withshotguns and taking pot-shots at pet dogs aregoing to find Constable Tumwell less thanhelpful. For added chaos, Keepers might like tothrow in a rival (and perhaps more gun-happy)gang of investigators, parapsychologists, or evenbig-game hunters, who arrive to bag thisunknown beast and claim reward or reputation.As the body-count rises, the more likely it is thatpolice and outsiders descend upon the village.

Some players will feel cheated at the lack ofsolution provided for Eloise’s curse, but this isCall of Cthulhu after all and there are noguarantees of happy endings here. A kindlyKeeper might let investigators who kill Eloiseget bail (which they can then skip) or have adespondent, but understanding, Vane family notpress charges at the vicar’s behest. Otherwisetrigger-happy investigators should get their justdesserts in court, followed by Lawrenceswearing his unending vengeance against anywho escape the noose. If the investigators didwell, the Vane family can make a useful ally—especially with the elder Vane’s astoundingCredit Rating. In a pinch, Lawrence Vane mightserve as a new investigator.

Before unleashing “The Thing in the Fog,” itis a good idea for the players to anticipate it.Masks of Nyarlathotep assumes thatinvestigators will see the relevant newspaperclipping and will obtain Mahoney’s very helpfulnotes and learn of the creature’s vulnerability.As it stands, there are a number of unansweredquestions. Who is Groot and why is helanguishing in a Scottish asylum so far fromLondon? Presumably he upset the Brotherhoodin some way and fled north to Scotland toescape their grasp. Whether his sanity wasbroken by his encounter with the Fog Thing orsome later attack is left to the Keeper. Groot’smadness is a handy way of showing theinvestigators the Brotherhood’s long reach. IfGavigan is angry enough, the Thing in the Fog isan easy way for him to kill off the party—perhaps too easy. Novice players may behobbled by the creature’s inexplicable powers,especially if they become unwilling to ventureoutside during one of London’s frequent fogs.

Limehouse’s Chinatown

156 LondonOthers might not link the beast to theBrotherhood or Gavigan at all. If the monsterhas derailed the adventure, lift the fog or sendthe group outside London for a few days.Experienced players and those who havereturned from Shanghai or elsewhere shouldnot be given such a reprieve. The short scenario“The Burning Within” serves a similar functionto this encounter and may replace it or reinforceit as desired.

The Keeper should note that the Thing inthe Fog needs active control by its summoner,something possible only as long as he remainswithin a certain radius. For once, Gavigan needsto get his hands dirty. If still ignorant of thePenhew Foundation being part of this wholeconspiracy, this Mythos creature might be agood way to show involvement—perhaps theybump into Gavigan or spot his parked car whilefleeing the creature? Or maybe he uses himselfas a diversion to lure the party into his tendril-laden trap?

The Limehouse Docks are often overlookedby Keepers and players alike. Chabout is only amiddle-man, but his position is important. Ifthe flow of artifacts between London andShanghai ceases flowing, it is safe to assumeGavigan’s position will be jeopardized and theGreat Gate may be put at risk. Both results willgreatly upset their enemies and might inspire

them to seek revenge. Likewise, Gavigan is notthe only user of Chabout’s dockside warehouseand other more mundane, but no lessdangerous, customers might think aboutpunishing meddlesome investigators. London’sEast End is riddled with many crime gangs, allvying amongst each other for their cut of themarket. None look kindly upon interlopers.

Enterprising investigators might be able tobuy Chabout’s help with money or favours, orsimply overcome him with judicious applicationof force with or without the aid of theMetropolitan Police. The combination ofcontraband and Mythos curios that can beseized here will go a long way in persuading theauthorities (and Inspector Barrington inparticular) of the truth to their otherwise insanesounding claims about Cults and conspiracies.This trust may become aid which will proveinvaluable later, especially in gaining support fora final assault against Gavigan or theBrotherhood as a whole.

The Ivory Wind and its place in thecampaign can be more or less importantdepending on investigator action and Keeperdesire. As a link in the chain between Ho Fongand Gavigan the ship and crew can appear inShanghai, London, or at points in-between asnecessary. The crew can serve as extra musclefor either cult or simply operate as mercenaries,willing to cut and run at a moment’s notice.Boarding the ship, aside from whatever evidencemay be recovered (as per Chabout’s warehouseas above), may also allow investigators thechance to raid Gavigan’s estate more easily.Using the Ivory Wind as a Trojan horse to landinvestigators and a squad of police or soldiersright on the unsuspecting cultists at Misr Househas served more than one group of players well.

Turning to Misr House—this is where you, asKeeper, pull out all the stops. If things haveground to a halt or hit some other impass,kidnap the party, then bring them up toGavigan’s mansion for a sacrifice orimpregnation; if they are lucky, they find aningenious way of overpowering their guards orthe authorities arrive in the nick of time.

The towns of Colchester and Harwich(pronounced Har’itch) are ideal locations fromwhich to launch any operation, both being a

4. The discussion of the Liber Ivonis in this chapter suggests that Gavigan owns the estate openly (his vanity would demand nothing less)and implies that while he purchased the estate legally, he may have used some sorcery against the former owners. The former ownerswere occultists in their own right and it seems likely that the place has attracted its shares of rumors and folklore.

Keeper’s Notes 157

short train-ride from London. Colchester is alsogarrison to a large contingent of the BritishArmy and home to an experimental mentalhospital, though the only way of reaching theEstate from here would be overland, such as itis. The nearest villages, such as Walton, havereceived the benefit of Gavigan’s generosity onmore than one occasion and he is well thoughtof by most local leaders and constabulary.Popular opinion might not follow fully those oftheir city fathers, particularly among someelements who look upon Gavigan’s employmentof foreigners as his household staff with at bestscorn.

Misr House is only thinly sketched and it isup to you, as Keeper, to make it a night toremember. There are some points to decide; forexample, is it public knowledge that Gaviganowns the place or is it listed under a false name?Did he wrest control of the estate from theprevious occupants by methods legal or illegal4?The Naze and surrounding land are speckedwith small hamlets, poachers, and gamewardens; what do they think of Gavigan and hisestate? Is it shunned due to the strange lightsand weird noises that roll across the fens onmoonless nights? Remember that while countryestates often had telephones, the Essex coast ofthe 1920s lacked such amenities; no one is going

to be able to easily communicate in or out of thehome, for good or ill.

When and how the investigators arrive, andwhat and whom they see can be vital if you needto keep things moving. If the Brotherhood orinvestigators are still unsure of the other side’sintentions, Gavigan might invite them to hisestate, either honestly or as an ambush.Investigators could also impersonate legitimatevisitors and attempt to talk their way past thestaff; the manner of entry and plausibility leftfor the players to develop and the Keeper toadjudicate. The Brotherhood gathers for ritualsacrifices every new moon (roughly monthly),though the nature of particular ceremonies isleft to the Keeper. The type of ceremony willhave an impact on attendance and should bedetermined by how you want the scene to playout. In a campaign veering into pulp, theinvestigators will find themselves battlinghordes of insane cultists and Servitors of theOuter Gods as soon as they catch sight of thestele and its inhuman ritual uses—whereas more“Lovecraftian” campaigns might see onlyfleeting and terrible glimpses of the ritual fromthe windows of Misr House as investigatorssneak about its (hopefully) empty rooms,searching for clues and aiming to escape beforethe unholy ceremony ends.

Bringing in the Big GunsColchester Garrison is home to the 413 (Essex Yeomanry) Battery of the 104th (Essex Yeomanry) Brigade, Royal Field Artillery;a rapid deployment unit of howitzers, cannons and mortars drawn by horses and some light trucks. Alongside these 100-oddartillerymen are another hundred or more infantry, and fifty mounted cavalrymen. No tanks are stationed here, though theremay be a pair of Rolls-Royce armored cars that can be dispatched at relatively short notice. Both are Armored Car, Rolls-RoyceType A (1920), each capable of 45 mph, with a crew of three, armed with a .303 caliber Vickers Mark 1 machine gun, and armoredto a value of 18. There is room for two soldiers to sit comfortably (or four uncomfortably) in the small bed at the back. It shouldbe noted that visibility from inside the vehicle is terrible. For further information on these vehicles the Keeper should consultthe scenario “Armored Angels” in the Fearful Passages anthology.

Harwich has some twenty to forty Royal Marines trained in shipboard combat and naval landings, along with as many RoyalNavy sailors as have been allowed off their berths to get drunk and make merry before hitting the high seas. Essex police mightrequest assistance from either Harwich or Colchester’s garrisons, though it would take at least an hour for these soldiers to arriveat Gavigan’s Estate; not including time to find out what’s going on, make plans, set up their weapons and give aid. Larger artillerypieces, cavalry and armored cars are far too heavy to cross the Naze’s marshlands, but should be fine if they stick to the roads.

158 LondonNote too, that if the investigators stumble

into or find the sex ceremony at the cultheadquarters, what is to stop the cultists fromarranging a second mother for Nyarlethotep’soffspring? Just because poor Miss Masters isalready on that path does not mean that anothersuitable mate would be unwelcome. Whateverhappens, the investigators should feel like theyescaped by the skin of their teeth. (Do remainsensitive to the feelings of your playersregarding issues of rape and impregnation; thegoal of the game is to create a sense of horrorand wonder, not hurt feelings.)

One question that is fair to ask at thisjuncture of the story is how does Nyarlathotepregard the investigators? Does it think orbelieve the investigators constitute a threat? Orare their actions so small as to not even warrantits notice? Gavigan is one of his chosen andmost probably communes with his master withsome regularity. The gods of the Mythos arepurposely incomprehensible, but somespeculation on their relationship with thosewho worship them may prove beneficial in thiscase. Gavigan’s arrogance suggests he will avoidtelling Nyarlathotep about the investigatorsuntil the situation has spiralled well out of hiscontrol. As Nyarlathotep is potentiallyomniscient he probably has no need for updatesfrom this speck of a being, but there is no reasonto think he might take some umbrage at thisslight and omit some useful information to hisover-confident priest. Likewise, it is generallyuseful to consider Nyarlathotep’s goals, wherehe places his attention, and how directly hemanipulates his servants. As a divinity,Nyarlathotep’s motivation and actions do notalways make sense to mere mortals, but theKeeper needs to have some idea as to whetherthe god’s goal is to protect his minions fromthese meddlesome interlopers or if he is reallyseeking to spur the investigators on as hisunknowing scourge, punishing fallible servantsfor their inflated self-assurance and pettyignorance.

By the chapter’s conclusion, both playersand characters should have come to theconclusion that the conspiracy runs far deeperthan just the murder of poor Jackson Elias.Unless the Brotherhood still has the upper handin Great Britain or the party fled from the

authorities, they now have a base of operationsand a few new useful associates to use on theirtravels. Now it is simply a case of decidingwhere to head next…

QUICK REFERENCE

Getting AroundLondon has a fully modernized transportationnetwork that can serve the party’s every need.With underground trains, street-level trams,busses, and black cabs all available, theinvestigators have not just numerous means ofgetting from museum to library, but alsonumerous means by which they can escapetails—be they cultist or the police—or shadowsuspects of their own.

In the mid-1920s, Great Britain is connectedby one of the most advanced railway networksin the world. The Underground, a.k.a. The Tube(subway), with its automated ticket machines,connects all of London’s boroughs for a cheapand accessible price. It is not twenty-four hoursthough and most stations are shut between 1AMand 5AM. Foreign travellers will bedisconcerted, however, to find that flights ofstairs marked “Subway” are a safe foot-trafficroute to cross under busy roads, not a means toa Tube station!

The omnipresent open-topped London buses(not all of them red) run into the small hoursand crisscross the city. Electric trams arecheaper, but do not run in the West End or theCity, have fewer stops, and often close earlierthan the buses (usually before midnight).London’s famed black taxicabs (Hackneycarriages, to give their proper name) can eitherbe called for in advance or hailed at the kerbside.All taxi drivers are living maps of the city, as eachmust have “The Knowledge”—a photographicmemory of all 25,000 streets and all majorbuildings within Greater London. A true Londoncabbie has 99% in any skill involving London’slayout, which could be used to trip up any wilycultist camouflaged as a taxi driver (in thisperiod practically all taxi drivers are whiteBritons). The only major problem with motor

London and environs

Keeper’s Notes 159

Central London traffic

160 Londontaxis is that they rarely seat more than threepassengers; horse-drawn carriages (the 4-wheeled sort called “growlers”) are cheaper andseat up to 6, if investigators don’t mindsqueezing together. The 2-wheeled “hansom” isnow rarely seen except as private carriages foryoung, courting couples.

London is not designed for privateautomobiles—traffic jams and snarls areinfrequent, but irritating, and a complex system

of one-way roads andside streets makesdriving a chore.Investigatorsseriously wishing tohire a car can do sofrom local garages orvia their hotel.Ferries travelbetween the banks ofthe Thames but donot officially carrypassengers; insteadsuch “holiday

steamers” travel the river to docks in thesuburbs or nearer the coast, and usually only inholiday seasons.

Outside of London and other large towns,taxis are mostly unknown, leaving locally runbuses of varied quality to cater to travellers.Dray horses, carts, and horse-drawn carriages—while still seen in cities—are obviously morecommon in the countryside. Such work animalsare only slowly being replaced bymechanization, and in rural areas only richgentry and the village doctor or veterinarian arelikely to own a car. Some citizens own amotorcycle (with or without a sidecar), butthese are usually reserved for young workingclass tearaways or upper-class playboys.

Train tickets cost between one and threepence a mile, depending on 1st or 3rd classseating, with the Underground at a flat ! penceper mile. Taxis and buses are in the range of !pence per mile also but drivers should be tipped3d or so for their service. Though manyLondoners walk, investigators will find doingthe same can be tough going; without a guide,the cities twisted streets will throw unwarystrollers for a loop. Even hardened Londonerssometimes stumble on shortcuts and streetsthey didn’t know existed, even after havingpassed them every day for years on their way towork! (The Stephen King story “Crouch End”plays off these fears and may proveinspirational.)

Local Government and Law EnforcementGovernment within Greater London is run bythe London County Council (LCC) and itssubsidiary Borough Councils. Not yetamalgamated into county governments, mosttowns and villages feature their own powerfulcouncils and police constabularies. GreaterLondon has about half a dozen different policeforces, but only two are important enough forKeepers to worry about: • The Metropolitan Police Force (or Met),

headquartered at New Scotland Yard,situated in the Norman Shaw Building,Victoria Embankment (opposite CannonRow police station, on the road borderingthe Thames—NOT at Victoria Street asshown in the Masks of Nyarlathotep book)covers most of Greater London, includingmuch of the suburbs and river;

• The City of London Police Force (or CityPolice) at 26 Old Jewry handles the squaremile of the City proper.

Where There’s Smoke...Until 1938, Britain’s fire services were privately run, usually by insurance companies or – in the case of country villages – byvolunteers. By comparison, the London Fire Brigade is one of the world’s oldest and busiest government services. There are morethan fifty station houses across London, all fully motorised with Leyland engines (six firemen to a car), and with the latest in fire-fighting appliances – including breathing apparatus. Most areas of the city can be reached in ten to fifteen minutes. Contactingthe brigade isn’t difficult either; every few streets are “fire-posts,” poles fitted either with telephones (linked directly to thenearest fire station) or alarms that sound when the glass cover is broken. Few things in life are as likely to bring out a sense ofcommunity, and have a street pitch in with buckets of water and freshly brewed cups of tea, as a fire...

New Scotland Yard

Keeper’s Notes 161A Keeper does not need to sweat the detailswhen it comes to whose jurisdiction it is whenmurder is discovered; assume that within a mileand a half of Covent Garden (using the map’sscale in Masks of Nyarlathotep) is the City ofLondon.

Across England, station houses arerecognizable by the blue lamps above theirentrances. Foot patrols are supplemented bymotorcycles, mounted police and patrol-cars(the latter able to receive, but not send, radiomessages), while bicycles are used in thecountryside. Plainclothes detectives, likeBarrington, work for their respective force’sCriminal Investigation Department (CID). Oneuseful piece of equipment for CID detectives isthe “murder bag”, a doctor’s bag filled with thenecessities of basic forensics, includingdisposable gloves, bags, swabs, vials, a tape-measure, and similar. While the police do notyet have their own forensics department, theydo use civilian experts. Firearms are doled outto mounted police, police bodyguards, anddetectives, but not all officers carried themwhile on duty. Uniformed constables could begiven permission to carry a small pistol onpatrol (at night 5% foot policemen are likelyarmed with a .32 pistol or similar; increasing to15% in seedier areas).

Colchester, Southampton and Liverpool allhave a similar police arrangement to London.Harwich’s constabulary (which would coverGavigan’s estate) fields two dozen officers ofvarying ranks, more used to rousting sailors andbreaking up domestic disputes than raiding cult

ceremonies, and wouldrequest assistance from

London orColchester

CID if

needing detectives. Lesser-Edale is served onlyby Constable Tumwell; extra officers anddetectives will be brought in from either Derbyor London. In such rural areas a posse ofpitchfork and torch wielding villagers, withperhaps one or two armed with a shotgun,might serve as the only useful police force atshort notice.

Arrested investigators are interrogated and,if charged, brought before the nearestMagistrate’s Court to plead and determine bail(Credit Rating helps here, though frequenttravellers may find their passports revoked).The availability of bail being granted isdependent on the severity of the alleged crime,the weight of evidence against the investigator,and the likelihood of absconding. In lesser caseslike Poaching bail cannot be refused, and inserious cases like High Treason it cannot begiven without order by the Secretary of State orthe High Court.

Prisoners not given bail will be held at thenearest gaol until trial. Skipping a court date fora felony is a serious offence and Britain’sinternational reach is not merely overstatement;investigators heading for foreign climes shouldbeware, as there could well be local policewaiting on the dockside. Serious trials are heldbefore a judge and jury at a Crown Court (themost famous in London being The CentralCriminal Court—better known as the OldBailey, found between Holborn Circus and StPaul’s Cathedral). The English legal system iscomplex, but most crimes are similar to thoseof the United States. While the lengths ofimprisonment given out in sentencing aresomewhat lenient compared to most otherwestern countries, liberal use of corporalpunishment such as caning is more common.The death penalty is reserved only for thosefound guilty of murder, treason, arson in royaldockyards and piracy with violence.

Prisons in London include the notoriousWormwood Scrubs (Notting Hill), Pentonville(Pentonville) and Brixton (Lambeth), all ofwhich cater to remand prisoners awaiting acourt-date. Derby County Gaol at Friar Gate,Derby, with its imposing towers, 25 foot wallsand firing-slits, holds those charged or convictedduring the course of “The Derbyshire Monster,”

Tottenham Court Road lookingnorth from Charing Cross Road.

The YMCA has the tower.

162 Londonand anyone on the wrong side of the Essexjudiciary is likely to wind up in a cell atChelmsford Prison, 32 miles as the crow fliesfrom Charing Cross Station, in the middle of thelight-engineering town of Chelmsford.Foreigners might be deported to their homecountry to serve their sentence, but this is highlyunlikely; few countries bother to entertain thisright and fewer still consider Britain’s legalsystems corrupt.

HotelsLondon is host to countless hotels, ranging fromfive star establishments to dingy doss-houses.The largest and most elegant are in the WestEnd, although every quarter has its lesser knownbut just as sumptuous hotels for half the price.The Ritz (150 Piccadilly), the Savoy Hotel(Strand), Claridge’s and Brown’s Hotel (bothMayfair), and the Waldorf (Aldwych) are alllocated in central London. Major railwaystations often have their own hotel on-site, all ofgood quality. The Great Eastern Hotel atLiverpool Street Station is recommended for anygroup that knows that it is going to be travelingby rail. Prices range from 15/6d to £10 or morea night. Finding a bed outside of the city centercan be a chore, with hotels lost in London’sknotty layout, but second-tier hotels are oftenas good as their more famous brethren. Costs

vary at around 10s to 18/6d a bed. Larger hotelsusually have a bar, restaurant, dry-cleaningservice and other amenities. Temperance andsome private hotels do not serve—andsometimes do not allow—alcohol on theirpremises.

The cheapest hotels are in the slums androokeries that pock even the nicest districts.Bywords for crime, vice, and poverty, they arelittle more than doss-houses, some doubling asbrothels or opium-dens, offering dirty anduncomfortable beds (Luck roll to avoid bedbugsor lice) for as cheap as 3d a night. Small hotelscatering to specific minority groups are ofvarying quality, but nearly impossible for otherethnicities to enter. In the suburbs andcountryside the ubiquitous bed-and-breakfast(B&B) holds sway, often run by a married-coupleor spinster—who may prove unaccommodatingwhen it comes to foreigners, alcohol use, or thestrange moldering tomes that investigatorsbring into their homes. Travelers will findYMCAs and boarding-houses in larger towns.

Remember that rooms in all establishmentsin Great Britain are charged by the bed. Hotelstaff finding a room being used to keep half-a-dozen young men will expect monetarycompensation at the least. Most will simplyeject the patrons, and some may press chargesfor gross indecency or homosexuality. Non-white patrons may well encounter racism. Byrule of thumb, the better dressed and the morewell-spoken an individual is, the less chance hehas of being unfairly treated.

Libraries and MuseumsIt is impossible to throw a stone in Londonwithout hitting some library, bookshop, ormuseum. Many specialize, particularly on themost obscure of subjects, so investigatorswanting information, books or translations willfind someone, somewhere that knows the bestplace to go. Some specific locations are listedhere, along with the information that might beable to provide and the reasons whyinvestigators might visit. Remember that theseinstitutions do not lend works to patrons, savefor the public lending libraries.

Keeper’s Notes 163• The British Museum library, with some

three million texts and famed domedreading room, is located on Great RussellStreet. Open daily from 9am to 6pm, passesare free, but limited to serious applicantsengaging in scholarly research. Legend hintsit has a Latin version of The Necronomiconin its restricted collection, as well as severalother Mythos tomes. Considering thelengths cultists and investigators will go toobtaining these books, getting a hold of oneshould be more difficult that filling out arequest card however.

• The London Library at 14 St. James’ Squareis Europe’s finest subscription collection.Divided into seven areas of study and with avast catalogue of esoteric and occultmanuscripts, the waiting list is anything upto two years—on top of an annual £10payment! Visitors may get a temporary passif seconded by a member.

• Greenwich Observatory in south Londonhas incredibly accurate notes andchronologies of astrological phenomena,though these are not generally open topublic perusal. Investigators trackingeclipses and similar can request info bytelephone.

• The Central News Agency at Ludgate Circus,and General Newspaper Offices at Lincoln’sInn have back issues of most British andsome foreign newspapers and may be of helpresearching the Carlyle Expedition if theinvestigators failed to do so in New York.

• Lloyd’s Register of Shipping at FenchurchStreet has information on the make,movements and owners of every merchantship in the world since 1764; most useful if agroup needs to trace the Ivory Wind,Luxuriant Goddess, or Dark Mistress.

• Private reading rooms, clubs and libraries,though requiring payment for their use, arebetter quality than the free public lendinglibraries provided by borough councils.

• The Imperial Science Museum, NaturalHistory Museum and Victoria & AlbertMuseum are all located in Kensington onExhibition Road.

• The Petrie Museum of EgyptianArchaeology, a collection of some 80,000

items and presumably a rival to the PenhewFoundation, is located at Malet Place,Westminster. Its collection is closed to non-academics, but the curators are alwaysavailable for other services and may haveopinions about Elias, Gavigan, the PenhewFoundation, or the Carlyle Expedition.

• The largest collection of lecturers,professors, and academic texts on Kenya andChina in London can be found at the veryliberal School of Oriental Studies, at 2Finsbury Circus.

Book shops at Charing Cross Road, Cecil Court,and open-air markets including PortobelloRoad are famed for their wares, as are a numberof specialized auction houses.

Discerning bibliophiles can hire book-finding agencies to locate rare manuscriptswhile copy houses will duplicate andmimeograph books left with them. Only legiblebooks in a Latin alphabet can be reproduced(limiting most Mythos texts), but a good typistcan copy some 250 pages a day. The latter mightbe useful if the investigators are thinking of“borrowing” and then returning Gavigan’sbooks.

HospitalsSince 1922 the government has provided a basichealth insurance that allows everyone to see adoctor (called a general practitioner or GP), buthospital visits are not covered by this insurance.In fact, ambulances (motorized in London since1908) are so expensive that most people needingemergency care are taken to hospital by thepolice, fire brigade, or private taxi! Still, aninvestigator without money is unlikely to be leftto die in street like his grandfather might havebeen. Most doctors do house-calls and the lessbed-ridden can either visit a GP at their localpractice or travel to the famed Harley Street(Bloomsbury), with its pick of doctors, surgeons,and quacks. Britain’s hospitals are some of thebest in Europe and are internationally respected.

Bartholomew’s Hospital (The City) is one ofthe largest and oldest hospitals, located amongstthe icons of The Square Mile. Bart’s is also hometo some of the best medical book collections,

164 Londonmedical exhibits, and laboratories in Britain—ifnot Europe. It is also home to the office of theChief Medical Examiner, whose coroners andmedical examiners conduct the autopsies(known as post-mortems) up and down the UK.(Pre-generated character Maurice Paterson is anemployee of this institution.)

Charing Cross Hospital (east of Nelson’sColumn) and St. Mary’s Hospital (Paddington)are the preeminent teaching hospitals andnursing colleges in London.

Guy’s Hospital (near London Bridge) is wellregarded, as is St. Thomas’ Hospital(Westminster) which is a brief ten-minute walkfrom the Houses of Parliament.

University College Hospital (Bloomsbury,near the British Museum) has one of the bestdentistry and ear surgeries in the country.

Investigators seriously injured during thehunt for the “Derbyshire Monster” would findthe nearby Derbyshire Royal Infirmary (Derby,Derbyshire) of particular benefit.

Essex County Hospital (Colchester, Essex) isthe nearest major hospital to Gavigan’s Essexestate, though much like Colchester’s mentalasylum (see below) quality of care can fluctuatewildly.

The deceased, both from natural orunnatural means, are collected by, and taken to,either the nearest hospital or private mortuary.Post-mortems are only likely to be carried out inthe event of a suspicious death, though workingclass and “foreign” communities (includingRoman Catholics) often argue against thepractice. Sometimes their wishes are respected.

AsylumsMost asylums do their best with limitedresources, and while patients will receive bettertreatment at a private hospital, such institutionsare unlikely to take on violent or disorderlypatients. Most of the asylums worthy of aMythos hunter are in the leafy suburbs on theoutskirts of London, with overflow into Surrey.An investigator needing gentle psychotherapyshould visit a psychologist in Harley Street(Bloomsbury).

• Banstead Lunatic Asylum (Surrey): (20%cure rate) Opened in 1877 for chronicallyinsane paupers, it was amalgamated into theLondon County Council system in 1889.Most of its approximately 2000 patients (3/4female) are nervous breakdowns, alcoholics,epileptics and similar. Few violent cases arehere.

• Bethlem Royal Hospital (Southwark): (30%cure rate) The oldest continually runningmental hospital in the world (and source ofthe word ‘bedlam’), by 1920 Bethlem hadreceived the Royal writ and is powerful andrich enough to take national celebritiesunder its wings… with the utmostdiscretion, of course. This service came at aprice however; the hospital managed to sueand undercut its patients with surprisingability. From 1900 to its move to Kent in the1930s, Bethlem will be involved in a numberof private court cases involving clients andtheir families, including—in the early 1900s—a landed gentleman who hung curtains ontowhich he had sewn tapestries depicting theprivations and supposed horrors of hisexistence there. Bethlem is consideredprogressive, open and exclusive (for thosewho have the money to choose to be there).For others, the regime and system can bejust as bad as any other asylum.

• Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum(Berkshire): (0% cure rate) Situated in thedesolate wilds near Crowthorne, Berkshire,some thirty-two miles outside London,Broadmoor houses only the criminallyinsane. At nearly 300 acres, it is a prison forpeople unable to stand trial due to mentalillness or those found not guilty by reasonsof insanity. Security is tight, though visitingdoctors and psychologists can be grantedpermission to interview patients. Family andfriends will be refused access withoutwritten permission and are limited to onevisit every six months. The grounds arebeautiful and well-cultivated, and theinterior is far removed from its gothicfaçade, with only the most dangerousprisoners segregated. Its sister asylum isRampton State Institution, a far tougherinstitution. The lack of cure rate denotes

Keeper’s Notes 165Broadmoor’s intent to incarcerate ratherthan cure.

• Brookwood Hospital (Surrey): (40% curerate) With approximately 1500 patients,Brookwood is also the center of the district’ssocial life with fêtes, weekly dances, sportsand other popular events held on thegrounds with both staff and patientinvolvement. It is one of the better hospitalsof its type (especially compared to its nearbyCane Hill), but overcrowding makes entrydifficult. Those with money are more likelyto be accepted.

• Cane Hill Mental Hospital (Coulsdon,Surrey): (15% cure rate) With the mottoAversos Compono Animos (“I bring relief totroubled minds”), Cane Hill was the thirdmental hospital established in Surrey andserves as a partner to Brookwood. By the1920s it was taking the overflow fromBrookwood, resulting in a serious drop inquality of care.

• Colney Hatch Mental Hospital (Norwood,London): (20% cure rate) One of the betterknown mental hospitals, the term “ColneyCase” is synonymous with “insane.” NewSouthgate Station in London runs trainsbetween the center of London and thestation right outside the hospital. A well-stocked and managed pathological andclinical laboratory is staffed by a male nurseand a medical assistant is located on site.

• City of London Mental Hospital (Kent):(30% cure rate) An imposing gothic edifice,complete with a farm, some sixteen milessoutheast of London. With its increasedfunds from taking in private patients, theyhave become one of the most progressiveasylums in Britain.

• Rampton State Institution(Nottinghamshire): (0% cure rate) The“Broadmoor of the North” also holds thoseconsidered dangerous and violent, thoughunlike its sister site there is no necessity forthe incarcerated to have committed a crime.Security is tight, prisoners isolated and thestaff brutal. Investigators or cultists foundcriminally insane in Derbyshire will be senthere. As with Broadmoor, the lack of a cure

rate denotes that Rampton is meant toincarcerate rather than cure.

• Severalls Hospital (Colchester, Essex): (Seebelow for cure rate) Twenty years old,Severalls is built just outside the BritishArmy garrison town of Colchester. Unlikemany of its contemporary institutions, it isgender-segregated and possesses free rangein applying “experimental” cures includingECT (electro-convulsive treatment),trepanation and the ‘wonder-cure’ lobotomy.An investigator who winds up going insaneat Gavigan’s estate will come here. Curerates vary by treatment and doctor; between5% and 30%.

• Pastures Asylum (Derby, Derbyshire): (25%cure rate) Derbyshire’s mental hospital,Pastures was opened in 1849 as a countyasylum serving all but the city of Derby itself.A successor hospital, Kingsway, coveringDerby proper, was opened later. Thoseinvolved in “The Derbyshire Monster” mayneed a short stay here by its end.

News & Mass MediaAll of the major newspaper offices (and mostjournalist friendly pubs) in London can be foundon Fleet Street, which has become a byword foranything involving journalism. American-stylejournalism is en vogue and newspapers nowcater to every political aspiration, geographicalarea, or social strata. Tabloids like The Tattlerand News of the World are gossip rags coveringthe bad habits of high society, while The Scoop(fictional) does a tidy business in strangephenomena, occult hogwash, and pretty girls.In the broadest strokes: The Times is for seriousjournalism; the Morning Post is for the middle-class; The Daily Chronicle is sensationalist; andthe Daily Herald is the only true socialist paper.Fleet Street never sleeps, and newsboys andnewsstand vendors scattered across the citylabor in the pre-dawn gloom. The BritishBroadcasting Company (BBC) controls Britain’scivilian radio network. Its news broadcasts arefewer than today and more inclined towardsreports from the Empire than foreign sovereignnations. While light music, live orchestras,interviews and educational broadcasts areplayed, jazz and similar “American” styles are

166 London

not. Cinemas can be found in all towns and citiesand in many smaller countryside villages.

Telegrams may be sent from any post office(and some larger hotels maintain an affiliatedtelegraph-room for their patrons), whilepackages and letters can be sent for about 1/-per ounce of weight internationally. Thegovernment-owned Royal Mail handles all post,so there’s usually little fear of it beingintercepted by cultists. If a call needs to bemade, some half of all telephones in Britain canbe found in London, with public sets available inmost hotels, public houses, department storesand chemists. Privately-owned telephones arelimited to the rich.

Liverpool and SouthamptonLocated on the west coast, Liverpool is Britain’sthird largest city, sprouting around the mouthof the River Mersey where it serves as anchor formost voyages to or from the Americas. LikeLondon, it is a thriving center for immigration,with a growing population of Irish and ScotsCatholics (some 25% of the inhabitants), andreplete with museums, hotels and culturalhistory. Unlike London, textiles and heavyindustry are the main sources of employment;trades rapidly dying out in the capital’s white-collar boom. Trains run directly to London’sEuston Station (a short distance north of thePenhew Foundation building) from LiverpoolLime Street Station. The first sight of Liverpoolfrom the Irish Sea will be the thick dark coalclouds that hang low over its buildings and thevast docksides where an Empire’s ships are born,live, and return to die. Liverpool residents(known as Liverpudlians) can have thick accents.One way of showing the group they are not in

Kansas anymore (so to speak), is by making thetaxi driver that brings them to the railwaystation from the dockside completelyunintelligible, though he will understand theinvestigators perfectly. This is perhaps worth a0/1 Sanity loss for those expecting England to beAmerica, but with older buildings…

On the south coast is Southampton, adedicated port town for both civil and militarytransport. Passage to Europe, Africa or theOrient will surely begin or end here, thoughinvestigators will find little to hold theirattention apart from hotels, Hartley UniversityCollege (affiliated with the renamedSouthampton University in 1952), and theentertainments usually expected of port-towns.There are no notable museums or libraries ofoccult study. Trains regularly leave for London’sWaterloo Station (on the south bank of theThames, opposite the Houses of Parliament).

Embassies and ConsulatesThe following list is not definitive, but may beuseful for getting legal counsel: • American (U.S.) Embassy: 4 Grosvenor

Gardens (Westminster, near Victoria RailwayStation)

• Chinese Legation: 49 Portland Place(Marylebone, in Westminster)

• French Embassy: Albert Gate House(Westminster, near Hyde Park)

• German Embassy: 9 Carlton House(Westminster, near Hyde Park)

• Japanese Embassy: 10 Grosvenor Square(Mayfair, in Westminster)

While the Soviet Union is recognised by theUnited Kingdom, most people using the Trans-Siberian Railway get their travel visas from the

Egyptians in BritainIn popular culture, Egyptians were often perceived as fez-wearing Muslims (or Mohammedans to use the contemporary term),swarthy and clove-chewing. It was by not living up to these blatant stereotypes that immigrants easily slipped under the public’sradar. Christian Egyptians made a far higher percentage of immigrants to Britain, rather than Muslim Egyptians and, while someworked at menial jobs, many found high-paid employment as translators, architects, chefs and more. In gangland port cities, Turkic(i.e., Islamic) gangs comprising varied Middle Eastern and old Ottoman nationalities carved out turf and enforced Sharia law inlocal communities. Beside the Penhew Foundation, table-waiting at the Blue Pyramid, or living at Misr House, foreign cultists couldfind employment in a great variety of legal and illegal jobs, just like the large Egyptian community they are drawn from. Ifinvestigators assume that every Egyptian is a cultist or their ally, use this prejudice against them.

Keeper’s Notes 167German or French legations. The League ofNations has an office at 11 Waterloo Place(Trafalgar House, near Piccadilly Circus RailwayStation), and representatives of the variousDominions (Canada, India, etc.) and the CrownColony of East Africa (inclusive of Kenya) can befound at offices dotted about Westminster.

OTHER TOPICS

Rearranging LondonWhile there is nothing inherently wrong withthe locations provided in Masks of Nyarlathotep,Keepers and players will note that most of theplaces the group travels are clustered around thefashionable (though often dingy) West Endborough of Soho or the East End docksides ofLimehouse. By moving these places around, aKeeper can provide a more varied chapter andpaint a more complex picture of London. Manyof the boroughs listed below are not shown onthe map of London given in Masks ofNyarlathotep, so the Keeper needs to notewhere they are if he decides to use them…

The Blue Pyramid: Locating this nightspotin Soho is logical considering the area’s fame orinfamy as a center for nightlife but, in a“realistic” setting, a foreign club’s notorietywould be greater and its legality more dubious.A Keeper might prefer to move it nearer to therough-and-tumble working-class squalor of theEast India Docks at the Isle of Dogs, about twomiles east of Limehouse (visitors will probablycatch a train to the nearby Blackwall Station),where its exoticism can cater to sailors andimmigrants missing the Cairene spirit. This areaof the East End, though neglected, is also morereputable than Limehouse due to its white,conservative, proletarian population—giving it a“salt-of-the-earth” atmosphere missingelsewhere.

Tewfik’s Spice Shop: The official setting forTewfik’s store is a stone’s throw from both theBlue Pyramid and the Penhew Foundation, andnestled among the warren of alleys that lead offthe bustle of Oxford Street. While notimpossible, this does seem rather odd; the Soho

of the 1920s is rather far from the center ofLondon’s Egyptian spice trade. As with the BluePyramid, the Isle of Dogs might be a moreaccommodating site, although the deprivedborders of Bethnal Green just north of thedocklands, with its hive of immigrant shops andburgeoning Muslim population, could serve as afine place for Tewfik to masquerade as a faithfulMuslim businessman.

Miles Shipley’s Home: Moving Shipley’sresidence a half mile north, to near BloosmburySquare and the British Museum, puts it straightin London’s Bohemian heart. As the scenariomentions the Bloomsbury Group as Shipley’scustomers it seems an oversight to not put himin their midst. For a less refined grade of would-be artiste, Fitzrovia—just west of TottenhamCourt Road—is considered crude even by thoseBloomsbury residents who enjoy “slumming it”.If a Keeper wants to make Shipley a fallen BrightYoung Thing living on his (now dead) mother’smoney, he should move his home to thesophisticatedly sordid borough of Chelsea,which lies south of Hyde Park. Considering thetype of terraced house described, Chelsea is amore likely candidate in a “realistic” setting.

The Penhew Foundation: Though thescenario says that Gavigan walks to Tewfik’sstore, it is hard to believe that a gentleman ofhis wealth and sophistication would be withouta car and driver, and Tottenham Court Road is acurious choice of location for a museum, asmuch of the surrounding area is residential innature with various classes of theatricalentertainment. A Keeper might move it toSouth Kensington, a borough famed for its runof museums, Royal Societies, beautifularchitecture, and all less than a half hour’s carride to Soho, via Hyde Park and then up OxfordStreet. Alternately, the part of Lambethbordering the Thames and opposite the Housesof Parliament is an interesting place to put theFoundation: heavily urban but relatively middle-class, it is an unlikely location for an Egyptiandeath cult to hide its Egyptian members fromprying eyes.

168 LondonDivided by a Common LanguageAs in New York and Australia, Britain is apredominantly English-speaking country whereAmerican investigators can easily navigatebetween most cultural boundaries, fitting inwith the native speakers and tip-toeing aroundsocietal mores if the Keeper so desires, butconsider utilizing the differences...

Regardless of where they go in London orBritain in general, a party of loud Americans willstick out like a sore thumb and occasionally faceuncomfortable situations. Foreigners will alsostruggle to comprehend the dialectal slang ofEast End dock workers or Derbyshire locals,probably offending someone in the process. AKeeper who is also a budding actor can certainlyexercise his vocal talents (the Cockney gangster,simple-minded “Mummerset” accented farmer,and prim-and-proper Received Pronunciationare staple stereotypes), but must remember thata little goes a long way. The more self-consciousKeeper who is unwilling to dabble in amateurdramatics should still feel free to smatter thedialogue with a few Britishisms here and there;a smattering being better than trying to blindthe players with clever patois.

FirearmsIn 1925, many British households—particularlyin the countryside—had a firearm for homedefence or hunting. Weapons and ammunitioncan be purchased at hunting and departmentstores, specialist weapon-sellers or from moreundesirable sources. Licenses need to be shownat point of sale (except when buying shotguns),and getting a license is a time-consumingprocess for foreigners. Temporary permits areavailable from the Chief Constable of the localconstabulary, but will take weeks to get, cost thesame 5 shillings as for Britons, and last only theduration of the stay. Investigators thinking ofgetting forgeries should reconsider; most aremore expensive than the real thing and arepunishable by up to a year’s hard labor. Welltraveled Investigators or firearms enthusiastssucceeding in an Idea roll will know to apply fora firearms visa before setting sail for England.Weapons brought into the United Kingdomwithout an import license are sure to be

confiscated without the visitor giving goodreason (and simple self-defence is not anacceptable justification). Criminal charges mayfollow if there is evidence of criminal intent.While machineguns, sub-machineguns, andflamethrowers are not strictly illegal (so long asa license is held) they definitely causeconsternation for local authorities if importedor bought. Such weapons are also ratherdifficult to find on the open market and sellersoften had close ties with law enforcement. UKcitizens may own up to 30lbs of explosives,though it needs registering at purchase.

CurrencySterling (pounds, shillings and pence, written£/s/d or LSD) comprises of a bewilderingassortment of coins and notes (the latter in 10s,£1 and £5 denominations). There are 12 pence tothe shilling and 20 shillings to a pound. MostBritons consider it to be more sensible thandecimalization and mocking it is a very goodway of being ejected from a shop or pub. Theexchange rate during the mid-1920s is atroughly US$5 to £1.

NPC NamesHub for the British Empire, it will surprise noone that names from every corner of the worldrub shoulders in London. Indian, Chinese,African and other minority names are commonin high-immigration areas; Jewish namesfrequent Petticoat Lane and Bayswater; Irishnames are common in Camden; and so on.

The common British forenames listed below(taken from the 1900 census) can often beshortened (usually amongst friends or if used bythe working class)—for example “Lesley” to “Les”and “Elspeth” to “Ellie.” Masculine nicknamesfor girls (“Frankie,” “George,” “Phyl,” and so on)saw a surge in fashion during the period.Underlined names are more common for theupper classes, as are ‘double-barreled’surnames—those joined by a hyphen—such as“Campbell-Bloom” or “Averill-Savage.”Surnames, though stereotypically used as“upper class” British first names in fiction, wererarely found as such in real-life. The Keeper whodoes not mind making up some cringe-worthy

Keeper’s Notes 169examples can give his NPCs such monikers as“Sir Barnstable Curtis-Lee” or “Pippin Uckley,” ashe sees fit.

British Male First Names: Alan, Alec, Alfred,Alex/Alexis, Alistair, Andrew, Anthony, Archie,Aubrey, Bernard (pr. BER-nuhd), Basil (pr. BAH-sel), Bill, Bob, Charles, Christopher, Clive, Colin,Culverton, Dashiel, David, Derek, Edmund, Eric,Frank, Fred, Gary, Gordon, Graham, Harry,Horatio, Ian, Isaac, James, Jeffrey, Jeremy, Jude,Julian, Kenneth, Lee, Lesley, Michael, Morris,Mycroft, Ned, Neville, Nigel, Norris, Patrick,Peter, Ray, Reginald, Robert, Roderick, Roger,Rowland, Rupert, Samuel, Stephen, Stratford,Terrance, Tobias, Trevor, Victor, Warren, Wendy,William, Wilkins, Winston, Zachariah/Zak

British Female First Names: Abigail, Ada,Adrianne, Aileen, Amanda, Amy, Belinda,Beatrice, Brenda, Carol, Cheryl, Christine, Diana,Dorothy, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Elspeth, Emma,Francesca, Gail, Gertie, Gwendolyn, Harriet,Helena, Hilda, Honor, Iris, Isabel, Jane, Janis,Jenny, Jo, Judith, Katherine, Kay, Laurie, Lindsay,Louise, Lucy, Mabel, Madeleine, Margaret,Marilla, Mary, Matilda, Mildred, Natalie, Olivia,Phyllis, Polly, Rebecca, Rosalie, Ruth, Sally, Sarah,Shirley, Susan, Tabitha, Tammy,Thomasina/Tamsin, Valerie, Vanessa, Wenda,Wendy, Winnie, Zoe

British Surnames: Abbot, Aldred, Anderson,Archer, Averill, Bailey, Barnstable, Bleasdale,Bloom, Brady, Brewer, Brookes, Brown, Burgess,Cable, Campbell, Chamberlain, Chissick, Clarke,Corbett, Curtis, Dalziel, Dangerfield, Davies,Dawson, Dedlock, Dehn, Dobson, Doughty, Dyer,Eaton, Edwards, Elliot, Evans, Faber, Finch, Ford,Fraser, Freeman, Gabriel, Gibson, Gogan, Gray,Green, Griffith, Haigh, Hall, Harker, Harrison,Healy, Hobbs, Hydewell, Idle, Insull, Jeeves,Johnson, Jones, Kavanagh, Kemp, King, Knight,Lamb, Lawrence, Leather, Lewis, Loxton, Lucy,Lyndsey, Lynch, Maghie, Matthias, Meats,Mitchell, Moxon, Napier, Newton, Norris, Odd,Owen, Palmer, Pascoe, Peel, Pippin, Pook, Porter,Quatermass, Quinn, Raven, Reynolds, Rimes,Risholt, Roberts, Savage, Scott, Sedgwick,Sharpe, Shoesmith, Simpson, Smith, Steel,Taylor, Thomas, Titmarsh, Tompkins, Turnbull,Uckley, Updike, Vine, Walker, Warren, Watkins,

Watson, West, Wilkins, Williams, Wilson, Young,Zedan

CULTS AND ROBBERS

Considering the international flavor of theLondon chapter, both British and “foreign”cultists are provided. These villains can also beused for muggers, cutthroats, footpads, organgsters one may stumble upon in the darkercorners of Whitechapel and Poplar.

British CultistsSTR CON SIZ INT POWDEX APP HP db

1. 12 10 09 14 10 09 11 08 +02. 11 12 15 09 09 12 13 14 +1d43. 15 15 11 10 07 13 10 13 +1d44. 13 13 14 12 08 12 09 14 +1d45. 15 15 13 10 07 13 10 14 +1d46. 11 12 12 13 10 15 12 12 +07. 12 11 15 11 11 13 10 13 +1d48. 10 14 13 11 13 16 15 14 +0Weapons: Cult Club 50%, damage 1D8+db

Blackjack 40%, damage 1D3+knock out*Fist/Punch 50%, damage 1D3+dbButcher Knife 30%, damage 1D6+db.38 Revolver 35%, damage 1D10Sawn-Off Shotgun 40%, damage 4d6/2d6/1d6**

Skills: Bargain 15%, Climb 30%, Cthulhu Mythos 1d6+3% (Cultistsonly), Dodge DEXx3%, Fast Talk 40%,Hide 50%, Language: English 60%,Listen 50%, Locksmith 25%, Sneak 40%, Swim 30%, Throw 40%.

* Weapons of choice for disguised cultists and mundane crooks** Such shortened shotguns are not criminal but the police are veryinterested when they find people carrying them in public; cultistsand felons usually hold them back for ambushes, bank-robberies orhome-defence.

170 LondonForeign Cultists

STR CON SIZ INT POWDEX APP HP db1. 10 12 09 11 10 14 10 11 +02. 12 14 15 09 13 11 13 15 +1d43. 11 09 11 10 07 11 10 12 +04. 12 13 10 12 10 12 09 12 +05. 13 11 13 13 12 13 10 12 +1d46. 17 13 16 07 09 10 09 15 +1d67. 14 15 11 14 10 11 10 13 +1d48. 09 10 08 12 11 12 12 09 +0Weapons: Cult Club 50%, damage 1D8+db

Butcher knife 40%, damage 1D6+dbFist/Punch 50%, damage 1D3+db

Languages: English 15+3d6%, Own 60%.Skills: Bargain 10%, Climb 40%,

Cthulhu Mythos 2d6%, Dodge DEXx3%, Fast Talk 40%, Hide 45%, Language: Listen 50%,Locksmith 30%, Sneak 45%, Swim 25%, Throw 40%.

TRAVELBritish citizens do not need passports to leaveor enter the UK (although it may speed theprocess), but foreigners need passports ordeposition of entry unless they want to be sentback to their place of departure on the nextboat.

Ship: London is a merchant dock ratherthan a transport port, and passenger traffic outof or into the capital is light. Freighters like theIvory Wind are sometimes willing to take onpassengers who do not mind the sights, smells,and sounds of true sea-life, but investigatorsshould do so at their own risk: foreign registeredships are far less reputable than their Britishcounterparts. Travel to or from New York wouldbe from Southampton or Liverpool via theCunard Line or the White Star Line. Thosewishing to go to Kenya leave from Southamptonby Union & Castle, with stops along theMediterranean. Travel to Australia or Shanghaiis via the Peninsular and Oriental SteamNavigation Company or P&O; ships alternatebetween Shanghai and Hong Kong stops (whichmeans that a wrong journey needs an extra tripby train or air from Hong Kong to Shanghai),

and after a short stop in Japan, terminate atDarwin.

Rail: Even the smallest village features itsown station and prices are relatively cheap(travel to Lesser-Edale via 1st class should not bemuch more than £1 per person London, even onholidays). The Underground connects much ofLondon, but before the 1930s there were noposted maps within stations themselves.Foreigners without a guide should stick totraveling about London on the surface.

Automobile: Though a car could be of someuse in visiting Gavigan’s Estate on the Naze orfollowing cultists around the city, trains are thebetter bet for visitors going further afield.

A second-hand Ford Model-T or similar smallcar might be picked up for just shy of £50;investigators insisting in travelling in betterstyle will pay for such luxury exponentially.

Air: Before 1928, Imperial Airways (IAL) isthe only British company that flies to Europe(Paris and Luxembourg particularly) fromLondon’s Croydon Aerodrome. Somecontinental airlines run pan-Europe flights, butnone go further south than Italy; still, this canshave precious days off trips to Kenya or theOrient. Most private-owner pilots are membersof local flight clubs (often with a club-ownedairstrip). Recently introduced laws havesignificantly tightened rules governing aircraft.A plane cannot fly more than three miles outsidea registered aerodrome without registering it, acheck of the plane needs to be carried out by aregistered air-mechanic (from the pilot’spocket), and all manner of forms anddocuments need to be filled out. WesternEurope enforces similar edicts. Investigatorswanting to leave such forms to someone elsemight prefer to hire planes and/or pilotsthrough Thomas Cook or similar travelcompanies. Costs can be exorbitantly expensiveon intercontinental flights, but as thesecompanies usually have premises in all majorBritish colonies (including Egypt and EastAfrica) they have good access to local strips andeven offer chauffeuring to the nearest town. Theinvestigators who spring for an airplane willquickly learn to bring a registered pilot andmechanic; rural airstrips are unlikely to havetheir own

Keeper’s Notes 171BIBLIOGRAPHY/RESOURCES

Both The London Guidebook and GamesWorkshop’s Green and Pleasant Land aredesigned specifically for playing in the UnitedKingdom, though both are unfortunately out ofprint. A Keeper willing to scour the internetmight be able to find copies of either, thoughprices tend to be steep. The London Guidebookis invaluable for the Keeper who thinks that hisinvestigators are going to spend a lot of time inthe capital, while Pagan Publishing’s The GoldenDawn (sadly also out of print) and Cthulhu byGaslight 3rd edition, might also be of use thoughboth are written for the 1890s. The monographKingdom of the Blind (written by the author ofthis chapter) is an in-depth look at the UnitedKingdom throughout the decade, though aimedmore at campaigns set in the Great Britain andnot London specifically, is available at time ofwriting. Useful information on the police,armed forces, politics and more can be foundwithin its pages, along with a number of newcults and individuals. For those needing deepercontemporary information on London duringthe 1920s, a portion of Muirhead’s Short Guideto London, 1928 can be found in Yog-Sothoth.com’s downloads section.

There are hundreds of films and televisionseries featuring England in the 1920s, each withan emphasis on different aspects of life duringthe period. If time is no obstacle, episodes oftelevision dramas like Upstairs Downstairs, TheHouse of Eliot, Jeeves & Worcester and TheForsyth Saga are all good examples of everyday1920s life. Bright Young Things, a cinematicversion of Evelyn Waugh’s novel Vile Bodies, is afrequently hilarious look at the rich youth of theera, while Gosford Park is a flawed murder-mystery film featuring an interesting clashbetween English society and American visitors.Most libraries in Europe, America and Australiaalso stock DVDs of Agatha Christie’s Poirot(starring David Suchet) which, while jumpingabout in year and quality, do a passable job ofpresenting interwar British detective-work.[The editor of this book always found theintroductory section of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs.Dalloway to be an evocative description of aLondon morning in the mid 1920s.]

Selected London BibliographyCarr, C.T, Kneale, L., & Nicolle, E.T., “British

Isles” Journal of Comparative Legislation andInternational Law, Third Series, Vol. 4, No. 2(1922), pp. 1-18

Ferris, Paul , Sex and the British: A Twentieth-century History (Michael Joseph Ltd.) 1994

Graves, R. & Hodge, A. The Long Week-End(W.W. Norton) 1994

Hattersley, Roy, Borrowed Time: A History ofBritain between the Wars (Little, Brown) 2007

HMG, August 16th 1920. Firearms Act, 1920,10& 11 Geo. V, c. 43. An Act to amend the Lawrelating to Firearms and other Weapons andAmmunition, and to amend the UnlawfulDrilling Act, 1819. London: His Majesty'sStationery Office.

Holdsworth, W.S., A History of English Law(Methuen and Co., Ltd.) 1926

Horwood, C. Keeping Up Appearances:Fashion and Class Between the Wars (TheHistory Press Ltd.) 2005

Kohn, Marek Dope Girls: The Birth of theBritish Drug Underground (Granta Books) 2003

Martienssen, Anthony, Crime and the Police(Penguin) 1953

Pugh, Martin, ‘We Danced All Night’ A SocialHistory of Britain between the Wars (The BodleyHead Ltd.) 2008

Roberts, Andrew [2001]. Asylums Index2001—Index of Lunatic Asylums and MentalHospitals [Online]. Available:http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/4_13_TA.htm [Accessed: 28/05/09]

Stevenson, J. Pelican Social History ofBritain: British Society, 1914-1945 (Penguin) 1984

Szachnowski, L., O’Connell, G. & Carson, D.,The London Guidebook: 1920s Orientation forRoleplayers in the Capital of the World(Chaosium) 1996

Tamlyn, P., Green and Pleasant Land (GamesWorkshop) 1987

Thomas, Donald, An Underworld at War:Spivs, Deserters, Racketeers and Civilians in theSecond World War (John Murray PublishersLtd.) 2004

Warren, Anthony, Kingdom of the Blind(Chaosium) 2008

Wright, Patrick, TANK: The Progress of aMonstrous War Machine (Viking Books) 2002

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS

Four pre-generated characters are provided inthe likelihood that events in London prove fatalto one or more of the investigators. All tie intothe locations or people involved in the chapterand can be used as additional NPC investigatorsif the Keeper wants to bolster the number of theinvestigators’ allies. Suggestions for additionalNPCs who might be recruited or becomeinvestigators are scattered throughout thischapter as well.

Helen Coulston—A librarian who works forthe Penhew Foundation, Miss Coulston will beencountered outside the Foundation looking forher missing fiancé, Paul Maclean.

If the investigators agree to her pleas forhelp, they will be drawn further into Gavigan’sperfidy and eventually to a confrontation at MisrHouse where Paul can be found.

Paul Maclean—An archaeologist andrestorer of artifacts working at the PenhewFoundation, Paul will only be encountered atMisr House where Gavigan is planning to havehim sacrificed. Gavigan was hoping to inducthim into the Brotherhood, but Maclean balkedat the idea. Although shocked at what he hasseen, Paul will be prepared to fight the forces ofthe Mythos.

Maurice Paterson — A doctor andpsychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of

“Shell Shock” victims,Paterson will be met ifthe investigators have

played through thescenario, “The

Mauretania”from The

Asylum &Other Tales

and seen hisuncle fall

victim

London172

Victoria Station rail terminus

to the Mythos. Paterson might inherit a numberof Mythos tomes from his uncle. He may also beencountered if an investigator requires eithermedical or psychiatric treatment whilst inLondon, as the good doctor is a noted Freudian.

Stephen Hughes—Mahoney’s occultism andspiritualism expert, Hughes is a popularmedium with matinee idol looks. While inreality a fraud, he will conceal this as much ashe can. After encountering the reality that is theMythos, however, there is a good chance he willuse his skills to oppose its evil.

PLUG-IN SCENARIOS

The following scenarios are merely some ofthose that can be slotted into a longer Masks ofNyarlathotep campaign as additional redherrings, if desired. A wide assortment ofscenarios set in Great Britain is available as it isa popular location for writers. As always, it isbest to use these extra scenarios judiciously, asotherwise your investigators will be busy inLondon until well into the next decade.

Title: Vile BodiesType: Sidetrek Adventure (London)Source:The London Guidebook (OOP)Notes: Another body in the Thames might be a

red herring for the “Slaughter in Soho”section of the London chapter, with thecultists behind the death of youngsocialite, Agatha Simms, using the spateof bodies dumped in the river as a coverfor their own deeds. The scenario offersthe Keeper plenty of room to createcontacts for the players, includingMaurice Paterson (who could be treatingthe villain of the piece?) and a leadingfigure in the Chinese underworld(though historically Brilliant Chang wasin prison until the first few months of1926), who might have links to Shanghai.Maurice has been written up in theLondon section for use as either a non-player or a player character.

Title: The Horror of the GlenType: Sidetrek Adventure (London/Scotland)Source:Green and Pleasant Land (OOP)Notes: Another article in The Scoop marked by

Jackson Elias leads the investigators toScotland to look into another strangemurder. It has links to Africa, thoughWest Africa, not East. The Keeper couldinfer links between this scenario andwith the encounter with Neville Jermynin the Kenya chapter, though this againwould be a red herring. The scenario’ssuggestions that the investigators workfor the paranormal researcher HarryPrice and that they possess some degreeof official authority are both easilyignored and their absence does notgreatly affect the events of the scenario.Alternatively the Keeper can replaceHarry Price with an NPC of his own, orwith the medium and occultinvestigator, Stephen Hughes, who isprovided for use as an NPC or additionalplayer character.

Title: The Blanford HorrorType: Sidetrek Adventure (Oxford)Source:The Whisperer #1 (OOP)Notes: The scenario begins with a letter from

Lord Blanford asking the investigators tolook into a burglary at his country home,but any number of the newspaperarticles in the scenario could have beenmarked by Jackson Elias, especially asLord Blanford visited Kenya in 1919.Although the scenario would need a littlere-working, there is opportunity here forthe Keeper to stage an internecinesquabble within the Cult of the BloodyTongue as they take revenge upon athief.

Title: Death in the PostType: Sidetrek Adventure (London)Source:Green and Pleasant Land (OOP)Notes: A mysterious papyrus and a beastly

murder hide a revenge plot at the handsof another Nyarlathotep cultist. Thescenario itself suggests that the police

173Keeper’s Notes

174 Londonmight think that the culprits might bean organization like the Cult of theBloody Tongue, but what if that was trueand the cult were taking revenge for theincarceration of one of their own? Thescenario’s investigative journalist caneasily be replaced by the campaign’sMickey Mahoney or become areplacement player character.

Title: MouthbreathersType: Sidetrek Adventure (London/Lancashire)Source:MinionsNotes: The Scoop yet again provides an article

that might be of an interest to theinvestigators. “The Route of All Evil”might look like another red herring, butthe slough of accidents on a Lancashirecounty road hides the fact that there areother Mythos forces still at large andworking to their own agenda in spite ofthe globe-spanning conspiracy that theinvestigators find themselves up against.In particular, the Cult of Cthulhu and thepervasiveness of the Deep Ones alongthe coasts around the world and beyond(which may influence Shanghai). If theKeeper wishes to add and pursue thisaspect to the campaign, he mightconsider adding the scenarios “The Beastin the Abbey” or “The Lambton Worm”listed below to his campaign.

Title: The Beast in the AbbeyType: Sidetrek Adventure

(London/Northumberland)Source:The Unspeakable Oath Issue 5 (OOP),

The Resurrected Volume Three:Resurrected

Notes: The author of this scenario suggests itsuse as a red herring for the Londonsection of Masks of Nyarlathotep. A localpriest asks the investigators to look intoa series of deaths that he claims to havesupernatural cause, perhaps connectedto ruins of a local abbey although hisparishioners fear that a ghostly blackdog might be responsible. That theactual culprit is connected to the Cult ofCthulhu and the appearance of several

Deep Ones can continue a thread begunin “Mouthbreathers” or as a successorscenario if the investigators have alreadybeen to Shanghai. The Keeper shouldarrange such that the priest’s letter isreceived by either The Scoop or if he is amember of the party, Stephen Hughes.

Title: The Lambton WormType: Sidetrek Adventure (London/County

Durham)Source:The Unspeakable Oath Issue 5 (OOP),

The Resurrected Volume Three:Resurrected, Pyramid Magazine(online).

Notes: “The Lambton Worm” has parallels with“Mouthbreathers,” although neither theCult of Cthulhu nor Deep Ones make anappearance. This is a small affair thatcan be initiated through yet furtherresearch into The Scoop’s chaoticarchives and will reveal that there areothers aware of the Cthulhu Mythos anddoing their best to stem its influence.

Title: Signs Writ in ScarletType: Sidetrek Adventure (London)Source:Sacraments of Evil (OOP/PDF).Notes: Like the earlier “The Eyes of a Stranger”

this scenario lets the investigators fullyexperience the horrors of London’s EastEnd. As with several other scenarios forCthulhu by Gaslight, “Signs Writ inScarlet” gives a nod to the notoriouspredations of Jack the Ripper, butupdating the scenario to the 1920s is arelatively easy task and the NPC, DoctorChristopher Blessing, makes a suitablereplacement investigator, or he can bereplaced by the pre-generatedinvestigator/NPC, Maurice Paterson.Although a copy of Ludvig Prinn’s DeVermiis Mysteriis is integral to thescenario, the Keeper might want toreduce the number of occult tomes alsoavailable in the scenario. Likewise theKeeper might want to make someadjustments to the side scenario “TheBurning Within” if making use of “SignsWrit in Scarlet” as well.

Keeper’s Notes 175Title: The Paddington HorrorType: Sidetrek Adventure (London)Source:White Dwarf 88 (OOP)Notes: With an investigator kidnapped and in

need of rescue before being turned intoan undead slave, “The PaddingtonHorror” can be particularly useful ifthings start slowing down and theplayers are lost as to where to go next.The villain, Bryant-Hoskins, can be madea high-ranking disciple in Gavigan’s cult,and clues liberally dropped to Kenya orEgypt (the rites involved inzombification could be the same asMukunga’s in New York) or back to

Gavigan. The only serious problem isthe ambiguous reason for the

cult’s digging, leaving theKeeper to consider other

motivations.

Title: The Vanishing ConjurerType: Sidetrek Adventure (London)Source:The Vanishing Conjurer (OOP)Notes: Specifically recommended as a sidetrek

to Masks of Nyarlathotep, this quest toinfiltrate a circle of stage-magicians andfind a missing entertainer can beintroduced by Mahoney and used asanother clue to Shanghai, a red herring,or a satisfying interlude; it also allows formore chances to mingle with the upper-classes than the London chapter’sseedier locales might allow. Many of thecharacters presented in this scenariocould serve as investigators laterin the campaign. If ChingLung Soo’s plan succeeds, itwill prove to be a casualty-heavy climax, with eventhe fate of the PrimeMinister (!) in thebalance. A Keeper

might instead wantto place the stakes

of failure atthe demise of

fictional VIPs ratherthan play too much

with history.

Whitehall looking north towardsthe Cenotaph, past the Home andColonial Offices

London176

THE PAINTINGS OF MILESSHIPLEY

Investigators who call upon the deranged artistMiles Shipley will no doubt wish to view hisshocking paintings. Unfortunately for theKeeper, aside from his painting of the Mountainof the Black Wind (and the dangerous paintingin the closet), none of the other paintings aredescribed. While Keepers are an undoubtedlyquick-witted lot, describing nearly two-dozenoutré paintings on the fly is a tough task. TheKeeper in need can draw upon the list ofpaintings provided below.

Tier 1: 61) A portrait of a beautiful woman, unnaturally

pale, sleeping delicately on a verdant carpetof writing serpents. There is a bite mark onher neck, and as you look closer at thepainting, you realized that her flesh has asickly greenish cast.

2) A storm at sea. A ship in the middle-distanceis wracked by the elements. Dark shapesgather beneath the waters.

3) Two men kneel before a massive tree. Thefruit of the tree is rotten and filled with

maggots. The maggots’ faces are strangelyhuman. In the background are dark treeswith intertwining trunks and sinuousbranches.

4) A castle on a moor. Mutilated bodies areimpaled on its ramparts. Things that are notquite birds circle overhead, silhouetted bythe setting sun.

5) An abstract piece, done in darker shades,this painting nevertheless suggests nothingso much as a sheet of bubbling, roilingnecrotic flesh, gleaming with an oily sheen.

6) A lovers’ embrace. Both man and womanhave suffered greatly from some wastingdisease, as their bodies are bloody, decayed,and insect-ridden.

Tier 2: 51) A city of dark, windowless towers made of

some kind of black stone.2) A screaming woman being throttled by a

massive, coiling thing made of smoke andshadow.

3) A view of a human head from above. Muchof the skull has been removed, and the skinpinned aside in triangular flaps to reveal thebrain beneath. Fungal growths are paintedalong the border.

Miles Shipley and His Things

Sam Zeitlin

The London chapter red herring “A Serpent in Soho” presents the Keeper with certainchallenges aside from deranged artist Miles Shipley and Ssathasaa. This article can beused to expand upon certain details of the artist’s grotesque body of work as well as hisother interests.

177Miles Shipley’s Things4) While this canvas initially seems completely

black, a closer study shows that Shipley hasexperimented with paints that reflect lightdifferently. A careful viewing reveals afaceless humanoid horror with long, gracefulwings.

5) Tiny serpents devour an infant child in itscradle.

Tier 3: 41) It is night. A vast black mountain rises from

a savannah. A great figure rises over themountain, blotting out the moon. Its headis a massive red tendril. Near a temple-likebuilding, tiny human figures lift their handsimploringly towards the creature; eachwears a headdress of the Bloody Tongue.

2) A man lies sprawled on a black stone. Theman’s eyes look straight at the viewer. Hislower torso is dissolving into a flood of blackbeetles. The stone is covered in carvings inGreek. A successful Greek roll identifies thetext as gibberish.

3) A sandy beach. The sky is grey and overcast.On the sand is a massive creature not quitelike a starfish. Looking closer, you can seethat the brushstrokes subtly come togetherto form faces, human and otherwise,contorted into grotesquerie.

4) A monk praying before a massive crucifix.Though Christ’s body is clearly wooden, it iscovered with searching green eyes that eruptfrom the messiah’s flesh; these eyes have aterrible semblance of life.

Tier 4: 61) An extreme close-up of a human eye. The

pupil reflects endless rows of teeth, stackedone atop the next.

2) A humanoid figure made of rope andwooden slats stands astride a hilltop. Whereits “hands” would be, were it human, areinstead nooses, from which hang a man and

a woman, their necks bent at unnaturalangles.

3) A surprisingly normal painting of a veryfamiliar apartment, voyeuristically seenthrough the windowpane. Lit by a dim lamp,one of the PCs can be seen hard at work athis or her desk.

4) A hill at night. Dark figures dance by thelight of a fire. In the sky, a single star gleamsunusually brightly. (an Astronomy or !Know roll recognize it as the starFomalhaut).

5) A painting of an amphora, painted in Greekblack figure style. The decorations on theurn are depicted performing cruelmutilations on restrained victims, andcoupling with ill-shaped bent-backed things.

6) A self-portrait; Miles Shipley depicts his ownshape as blotchy and inchoate. He is inshadow, seated, in a garden. Thin greensnakes crawl among the weeds. The skyseems blurred and unnatural.

The Keeper should also remember thatviewing each of these relatively mundanepaintings, at least in comparison to the gatepainting, costs 0/1d3 points of Sanity. With overtwenty paintings to review, the collection as awhole might serve to eliminate an overcuriousinvestigator or two, if the suggestion to concealthe total Sanity loss from investigators isheeded1. While such a character loss might be aLovecraftian object lesson about curiosity, fewplayers will be particularly thrilled to be undoneby canvas and oil when there are greater horrorslurking. The Keeper might instead considerconcealing the Sanity loss until the total is fiveor more at which point the investigator shouldbe asked to roll a check against temporaryinsanity. If the Idea roll is failed, the investigatorwill grow ill or otherwise be physically forced toleave while those making the roll can remain ifthey wish, but would at least be aware that theirviewings have been resulting in some seriousmental shocks. Phobias may be assigned asdesired.

1. Alternately, make the Sanity loss for viewing the whole of the collection 1/1d6 to balance things out; after all, seeing a living Deep Oneor Ghoul might be less upsetting than looking at a row of Shipley’s paintings, according to the campaign.

THE PAINTING IN THE CLOSET

One of the single most dangerous items in thecampaign, Shipley’s painting/gate is a serioushazard to investigators as the more closely it isexamined, the more likely it is that one or moreinvestigators will find themselves trappedsomewhere in the Mesozoic era. The chances ofsurviving there are actually worse than thosedescribed in the campaign, as in addition to theSerpent People and various poisonous snakesthere is the irresistible danger from exoticbacteria and virii. A kind-hearted Keeper shouldconsider allowing trapped investigators toescape back to the present when someone elseinadvertently opens the gate. Alternately, thepainting may require some activating magicupon Shipley or Ssathasaa’s part and will onlywork if specially prepared, thus preventingaccidental transportation. Finally, the Keepershould be prepared if the investigatorsovercome the painter and his Serpent Man allyand take the painting for their own use. Using itto send someone into the past, even a cruelvillain like Gavigan or Tewfik, should come witha cost to Sanity.

THE PLUTONIAN DRUG

If investigators manage to get a hold of some ofShipley’s doses of Plutonian drug, consider thefollowing list of potential visions. These visionsare for those who take the drug with no aim inmind, or no real understanding of the drug’sproperties. The second listing is the Sanitypoint cost for the vision.

1) Your birth (0/1)2) Life on a medieval Chinese farm (0/1d2)3) Ancient Egypt by moonlight (0/1d3)4) An Atlantean city of green stone and

spiraling statuary (0/1d4)5) A prehistoric forest, with a herd of dinosaurs

in the distance (1/1d6)6) A library of the Great Race (1/1d6)7) The Devonian ocean (1/1d8)8) The cooling Earth (1/1d10)9) Hounds of Tindalos! (1d3/1d20)10) Azathoth Bringing forth the Universe

(1d6/1d20)

A Keeper who is less amused than the authorby the prospect of a Hound-related subplotshould substitute the “Hound” outcome withanother historical vision.

London178

179

CREATION OF THE BRITISHBRANCH

The French invasion of Egypt in 1798 shook thecomplacency of Omar Shakti and theBrotherhood of the Black Pharoah. Centuries ofquiet under Ottoman (and before that Arab) rulehad lulled the Brotherhood into a sense ofinvulnerability and remove from the concerns ofthe mundane world.

Shakti, in particular, was startled by thearrival of what he thought to be Frankishtroops, given his isolation from the world due tohis position in the cult. The defeat of the localOttoman army, and the subsequent defeat of theinvaders by troops dispatched from someobscure northern island further disturbed theimmortal priest.

The ancient cultist pondered deeply howbest to maintain the security and power of theBrotherhood (and himself) in this new world;the solution adopted was to use the sameancient methods that had worked so well inEgypt—corruption, bribery, and seduction—andapply them to these upstart nations. To theseends agents of the Brotherhood sought out

influential Europeans in Egypt and found amongthem a few who could be inducted into theorganization. This recruitment was aided alsoby a small number of individuals who hadvisions or dreams of Nyarlathotep and the BlackPharaoh, a sign the Brotherhood took to be amark of favor from their god.

Once these new recruits had beenindoctrinated into the practices of the cult, theywere organized into small cells and dispatchedto their nations of origin. By the mid 19thcentury, branches of the Brotherhood could befound across Europe, in London, Paris, Naples,Istanbul, St. Petersburg, and Vienna, though notall of these branches of the cult were long tosurvive.

The British branch of the Brotherhood wasthe earliest established, beginning in thesuburbs of Liverpool in 1805 (see “Life as a God”for a discussion of this period and memberMontgomery Crompton on page XX). Initiallythe cult failed to conceal its vile rites adequately,but despite arresting several of the branch’sleading members, the local authorities neverfully comprehended the nature of theorganization they had disrupted. By the 1830sthe cult had managed to find anonymity andsecurity in the slums of several major British

Musings on the LondonBranch of the Brotherhood of

the Black Pharaoh Bret Kramer, with Anthony Warren

Little information is given on the history or development of the Brotherhood of the BlackPharaoh either in Egypt or in Great Britain, so what follows is some speculation on the part of

the authors based on what information exists.

180 Londoncities and was bolstered both by an influx ofEgyptian immigrants and the patronage of aclique of prosperous members.

During this period the majority of thebranch’s membership continued to be native-born Egyptians with a smattering of British“brothers” usually drawn from the upper-classes. While the ultimate leadership of theBrotherhood remained (as ever) vested in OmarShakti and the Brotherhood’s Cairo base, localmatters remained in the control of an EgyptianBrother personally selected for the position byShakti himself.

This situation changed with the induction ofthe Egyptologist Aubrey Penhew (who wasrecruited during his time at Oxford, where asmall affiliate of perhaps a dozen cultistsoperated). Penhew was obsessed with all thingsEgyptological and found through theBrotherhood not just a connection to a societyas old as the Pyramids themselves, but a directconduit to the true gods of Egypt. Penhewproved to be utterly devoted to the Brotherhoodand a tireless follower of the Black Pharaoh. Inrecognition of this devotion, Shakti selectedPenhew to lead the British branch of the cult.Under Penhew’s direction the British branch ofthe Brotherhood grew in numbers, entrenchingitself further into the British establishment. Inreturn, Shakti assisted Penhew in the creationof his eponymous foundation and directed it toseveral sites of historic (though not Mythos)interest. Within a few years the PenhewFoundation established itself as a leading lightof British Egyptology.

RECENT YEARS

Ever loyal to Shakti, the opportunity to furtheraid the aims of the Black Pharaoh by assisting inthe Carlyle Expedition was one that Penhewcould not resist. Knowing that he might leaveEngland never to return, he proposed that hisprotégé Edward Gavigan be made head of theBrotherhood in England, a suggestion readilyaccepted by Shakti.

Gavigan proved a different man thanPenhew however. Where Penhew was

enraptured by all things Egyptian, including theBrotherhood, Gavigan’s greatest loyalties laywith Gavigan himself… and the Black Pharaoh,of course. Gavigan was a self-made man whoreached the heights of society despite therelative poverty of his birth. He embodied notonly a deeply narcissistic personality, but manyof the racial prejudices of his day, whichincluded holding that the modern Egyptian isbut degenerate filth whose failings had long heldback the Brotherhood (and its most importantmembers, such as himself) from greatness.While certain individuals are to be respected—namely Shakti, whom he thinks of as anundiluted “Egyptian” of old—most of theEgyptian-born members of the Brotherhood areto be treated as second-class members at best.

Gavigan’s narcissism and racism broughthim into conflict with Tewfik al-Sayed, whomanaged the day-to-day affairs of cult activity inLondon and the United Kingdom. Tewfik al-Sayed, like Gavigan, views himself as the naturalleader of the Brotherhood in Great Britain, andresented Gavigan’s position in the cult. Also achild of his times and birth, Tewfik al-Sayedharbors notions of Egyptian nationalism (asdirected and controlled by the Brotherhood)and resents the comparative power and wealthof the West, and the British specifically, as thecolonial power currently dominating Egypt.Personally he sees Gavigan as the embodimentof Western hubris and venality and to say thatthe two men loathe each other is anunderstatement. As of yet though, the feudremains a private affair between the two men.

Perhaps unexpectedly to both men, thisrivalry has developed just as Shakti planned.While Penhew was a loyal and devoted subject,the immortal wizard correctly saw that thebalance of power in the Brotherhood wasshifting out of Egypt to the various branches ofthe group. Keeping these branches divided, withtwo or more local leaders vying for control,keeps the energies of the factions within eachbranch of the Brotherhood directed inwardagainst each other rather than against Shakti.There is only room for one man at the top of theBrotherhood and Shakti intends to be that manfor several millennia longer.

To this end he has privately encouraged bothTewfik al-Sayed and Gavigan to feud against eachother. Gavigan has received Shakti’s publicsupport, including granting him the right tohouse the otherworldly black stele at his estatein Essex. Simultaneously, he has granted Tewfikal-Sayed the potent Mirror of Gal, along withprivate assurances that the Brotherhoodremains an Egyptian organization and that onlyEgyptians should lead it. While Gavigan, everparanoid, suspects that Shakti’s support isconditional at best, neither he nor Tewfik al-Sayed truly comprehend Shakti’s overall schemeto keep both men weak.

THE CURRENT SITUATION

The modern incarnation of the Brotherhood ofthe Black Pharaoh in London is fracturedroughly along ethnic lines. Both Tewfik al-Sayedand Gavigan have recruited their own circle offollowers who are more loyal to themselves thanthe overall Brotherhood, creating a verydangerous fault-line between its British andEgyptian-born membership. While both mencontinue to participate in collective rituals, suchas those at Gavigan’s estate, they are bothplanning to eliminate their rival.

Gavigan has repeatedly chastised Tewfik forthe sloppy disposal of cult sacrifices; theMetropolitan police having finally begun toinvestigate the number of bodies that have beenfound in the Thames. Believing that thesemurders are drawing undue attention to thecult, Gavigan is planning to throw the Egyptianmembership to the wolves, so to speak, in theevent that the activities of the Brotherhood areexposed. He has compiled a sizeable dossier onTewfik and his lieutenants that can beanonymously submitted to the police at amoment’s notice. To that end, Gavigan hasconsulted certain members of the criminalfraternity with regard to the feasibility of notjust planting pieces of evidence in the spicemerchant’s flat and shop, but also of emptying itof certain valuable goods (the Mirror of Gal inparticular) as well.

As for Tewfik, his plans focus less onsubterfuge and more on a direct and bloodyassault. Note of Gavigan’s various criminalactivities has been taken and documented in adossier of Tewfik’s own creation, the Egyptianplanning to pass it to the authorities and sotemporarily distract the Penhew Foundation’sdirector by means of a police investigation intogoings-on at his estate. With Gavigan distractedTewfik plans to conduct a sort of “Night of theLong Knives” style purge of the Englishman’sacolytes. Once his rival’s supporters have beenneutralized, Tewfik will call upon his supposedally Omar Shakti whom he believes will supporthis purge once evidence of Gavigan’sincompetence and treachery has been revealed.

For the investigators, this schism in theBrotherhood of the Black Pharaoh can work totheir advantage, even if the nature of it isunknown to them. Both men will attempt toturn the investigator’s scrutiny of theBrotherhood to their favor, potentially usingthem as a tool against their opponent. A seriousblow to either man may inspire his rival to strikeas described above. Likewise any success oradvantage gained by either Gavigan or Tewfik,such as capturing an investigator or acquiringtheir Mythos tomes and artifacts, will trigger ajealous reaction from the other. If nothing else,the sacrifice of captured investigators might bedelayed until a major ritual date when both mencan be present to share in the glory. In extremesituations, the Keeper can justify all sorts ofinadvertent assistance, close-calls or even (ifnecessary) deus ex machina rescues resultingfrom the rivalry of these two villains.Remember, any delay between an investigator’scapture and the ritual itself, would mean anextended incarceration for imprisonedinvestigators at Gavigan’s Essex estate, itself anopportunity for the Keeper to introduce themissing archaeologist, Paul Maclean, especiallyif he has already introduced the investigators toMaclean’s fiancée, Helen Coulson. Bothcharacters can be used as either NPCs or as pre-generated, ready-to-play investigators.

London Brotherhood 181

INTRODUCTION

While Edward Gavigan maintains a façade ofrespectability and propriety, investigators whothoroughly probe his background can find a fewsubtle hints that there is an undeniable darknesslurking within the man. Gavigan enjoysdemonstrating his superiority over others, andhis overconfidence may allow investigators somewarning about how dangerous their foe truly is.

This short scenario is intended to occupyless than a few hours of play but can beextended if the investigators follow up on thesituation in Bannicker Park. It can be playedwith as few as one investigator and might beideal in the event that not all players areavailable for gaming while the investigators arein London.

Keeper informationInvestigators researching Edward Gavigan willfind nothing untoward in his background savefor a short news item from several years back(Handout #1). Gavigan was the target of anattempted assault by a former neighbor, abanker named Hugh Tylesman, who inexplicablyblamed Gavigan for the death of his wife andchildren.

Tylesman crossed Gavigan’s path severalyears earlier while raising funds to build amemorial to the Sudan Campaign of 1916.Tylesman, ever a patriot, made repeated callsupon his neighbors, including Gavigan.

Disdainful of British Imperialism (and privatelydetesting Tylesman) Gavigan offered only apaltry sum. Tylesman pressed the archaeologistfor a contribution commensurate to hisposition. Gavigan, protective of his status, drewupon his new position as the head of thePenhew Foundation and conceived of a wickedsolution...

Gavigan donated an obelisk to Tylesman’sCommittee, falsely identifying it as coming froma minor Kushite ruin in Sudan instead of itsactual source near Alexandria. He also neglectedto report that it was sacred to the FlameUndying (better know as Cthugha) and that, solong as the star Fomalhaut rises above thehorizon, the obelisk acts as a conduit to thatbeing, sapping those nearby of their vitality,haunting their dreams, and occasionallyunleashing Fire Vampires. Gavigan made surethat the first victim of the Fire Vampires wasTylesman.

Within a few months (and after Gavigan hadmoved to Mayfair), the malign influence ofCthugha fell upon Bayswater and the homes inthe immediate vicinity of Bannicker Park. A FireVampire set Tylesman’s home alight, killing hisfamily. Tylesman, already the victim ofdisquieting dreams about the obelisk, witnessedthe attack, driving him irrevocably mad.Drawing upon insane insight, he correctlyblamed the obelisk and its donor. After firstdefacing the war memorial (ineffectually), heattacked Gavigan at his club.

Gavigan was unprepared for the attack butwas fortunate that Tylesman was a poor shot.

The Burning WithinBret Kramer

(with astronomical help from Banshee)

To Carthage then I cameBurning burning burning burning

—T.S. Eliot, “The Waste Land”

182 London

The Burning Within 183

Likewise, Tylesman was fortunate that heattacked Gavigan publicly as otherwise he wouldalmost certainly have been quickly dispatchedby the vengeful sorcerer. Instead, Tylesman wasrestrained by other members of the club andturned over to the police.

Ever cruel, Gavigan was glad to see hisenemy carted off to an asylum. SometimesGavigan torments him still (via Send Dreams)with fiery nightmares of his beloved family.Tylesman, his sanity gone, forever sees a worldalight with horror.

The LeadInvestigators looking for more information onPenhew Foundation head Edward Gavigan will,with a successful Library Use roll as well as aLuck roll, come across a short article from theDaily Mail, dated July 15th, 1920, given inHandout #1.

Alternately, residents of London (includingmany of the NPCs from the London chapter)making a halved Know can recall the details ofthe story, if only vaguely. Additional researchcan find no other reference to Tylesman’s casenor his attack on Gavigan in public sources. AnIdea roll suggests that subsequent events in thecase have been covered up. A second Library Useroll can find a story about the fire that killedTylesman’s wife and children (Handout #2).

Investigators contacting the LondonMetropolitan Police may uncover Tylesman’seventual fate; a successful Persuade, CreditRating, or Law roll (Keeper’s choice) canconvince someone to discuss the case, thoughthe records are sealed. After his arrest Tylesmanwas ruled unfit for trial and, under the urging ofthe certain influential individuals, includingGavigan, he was indefinitely confined to theMalbray Asylum, a private facility in Hackney.

Gavigan gave private testimony to the judgeoverseeing the case, apparently swaying himthat his former neighbor was not criminallyliable for his actions.

THE MALBRAY ASYLUMThe Malbray Asylum occupies the grounds of theold Fitzgerald mansion in Hackney, just off ofTemple Mill Road. It has been a private asylumsince the mid 19th century; London-basedpsychologists or psychiatrists (such as pre-generated character Maurice Paterson) and anyLondoner making an EDU x 1 roll will recall thatthe institution was the scene of a scandal a fewdecades past involving the death of severalpatients and allegations of abuse. The sameinformation will be uncovered by a Library Useroll though in all circumstances, besides amodest announcement of an investigation intothe abuse claims and a full turn-over in staff,specifics on the scandal cannot be found. (Callof Cthulhu Keepers should refer to Kevin Ross’scenario “Signs Writ in Scarlet” fromSacraments of Evil for more detail; the asylumitself is the creation of the excellent Mr. Ross.)

The modern asylum has a good reputationboth publicly and within the legalestablishment; patients are treated well andwith modern methods. Most of the asylum’spatients are middle or upper-middle class andare well treated, including individualizedtherapy. The asylum has a full-time staff of fivedoctors as well as a score of orderlies and a smallgrounds crew. The building itself has space fornearly fifty patients, including a dozen privaterooms; the sexes are strictly segregated with thefemale patients being housed in a modernaddition. The grounds, including the asylum,several sheds, and a carriage house, aresurrounded by a well-maintained stone wall that

The Elias OptionIf the Keeper wishes to guarantee this avenue is pursued, it is a simple matter to add Handout #1 to the collection of stories thatElias researched while in London. Lacking credentials (and looking more than a bit ‘round-the-bend’ himself at the time), Eliaswas unable to interview Hugh Tylesman at the Malbray Asylum before his hasty departure from London. Alternately the articlemight turn up in Elias’ room at the Chelsea Hotel, though this might make the attraction of London irresistible to investigatorsand give too clear an indication of Gavigan as a villain. A more indirect method might be to have the name Hugh Tylesman lightlypenciled onto the back of Gavigan’s business card. The article regarding his arrest would be unobtainable until in Great Britain.

Hugh Tylesman

184 Londonabuts the encroaching residential andcommercial areas that have replaced the oldmarsh and woods.

Interviewing TylesmanAn interview with Tylesman can be arrangedeither directly or via subterfuge. Investigatorswith some medical or law enforcementcredentials can meet with Tylesman during theasylum’s daily (Monday through Saturday) ‘openhours’, when non-dangerous patients areallowed supervised use of the grounds. Suchinterviews can be conducted semi-privatelythough any scene on Tylesman’s part will bring

prompt response from anorderly.

Lacking thea p p r o p r i a t e

credentials orconnections,investigatorswill be forcedto rely onless savorymetho ds .The mostl i k e l y

optionw o u l d

be topretend to

be a

relative or close friend of Tylesman; unfortunatelyTylesman has seen very few visitors since he wasinstitutionalized and none in the past threeyears. The staff of the asylum is aware of this andwill look upon a sudden influx with suspicion.Investigators need to make a Fast Talk roll to blufftheir way through the necessary conversationwith the staff (skill rolls are halved if theinvestigators are unfamiliar with his background);non-British investigators must also succeed in aLuck roll or their story will be investigated anddiscovered to be bogus. The Keeper may assignbonuses or penalties depending on the plausibilityand verifiability of their story.

Other options exist, but more complex rusessuch as gaining employment on the staff are leftto the Keeper’s best judgment. Breaking intothe facility undetected should be all butimpossible.

If the staff is interviewed, a limited amountof new information can be gained. Tylesman isthought to be deluded, irrationally believingthat he is being persecuted by Edward Gavigan,an otherwise upstanding member of society,who in fact (British investigators making aCredit Rating roll will be told) has contributedno small amount towards Mr. Tylesman’sconfinement at the asylum. He is severelypyrophobic, going so far as to extinguish thecigars and cigarettes of others, frequentlybreaking the electric lights in his own room ifswitched on after dark. He often suffers fromnightmares usually involving fire. If asked thestaff can say with some certainty that his dreamsare worst during the Autumn and early Winter(i.e. when Fomalhaut is highest); if investigatorshave researched Fomalhaut previously they willmake the connection with an Idea roll. He is arelatively simple patient to care for and isconsidered a rather pathetic figure.

Investigators who have arranged to meetwith Tylesman will be escorted to him by anorderly or a nurse; he tends to favor a benchfacing the rear of the main building. He will notmake eye contact with interviewers andgenerally does his best to ignore other people.He is a trembling wreck, his mind muddled byroutine sedation. He will only react to certainstimulus as outlined below. A successfulPsychology roll will suggest these topics to

The Burning Within 185investigators. The responses below are a guide—the interview should not end before he canimpart enough information to point themtowards Gavigan and the obelisk.

If the subject of his wife and children israised (particularly if the investigators are cannyenough to use their names) Tylesman will beginto silently weep, occasionally mutteringsnatches of phrases—“beautiful”, “youngthings”, “dear, dear boy”, “Leave them be!”, and“my dear sweet Eloise” all intermixed withcrying out to God.

Gavigan’s name elicits a more violentresponse—albeit a more coherent one, “Damnhim! Damn him! Villain! Liar! Sinner!Murderer! Murderer!! That stone was hisworking, you know! He’s the guilty party! Heshould pay! Damn him to Hell!!” The staff willbe startled by his anger and will approach if theyoverhear.

If questioned about the Bannicker ParkMemorial, Tylesman will look about for any ofthe asylum staff. If they are not present he willspeak in low tones, otherwise he will leanforward and whisper, “The stone is cursed. I tryto tell them that but they won’t listen. It ishungry for victims. It calls out for blood uponblood! Gavigan is to blame!”

If asked about the fatal fire he will also weepand call out to his lost family but willoccasionally mention “flying embers” and“dancing lights, burning and flying”. Anyoneable to make a Psychology roll can elicit amoment of lucidity from Tylesman. He willdescribe the events immediately preceding thefire that killed his family:

He was plagued by dreams of a greatconflagration—sometimes the London fire of1666, other times of being thrown into a bonfireby nude foreigners, other times of flying towardsa great burning star. He will confide that hiswife admitted to suffering them too. One nightafter waking from such a dream, he found hishome filled with smoke. Awaking his wife, thepair struggled to reach the bedroom where theiryoung sons slept. They discovered that it wasthe source of the smoke—the room was engulfedby fire. Tylesman will begin to lose hiscomposure as he recounts seeing a weird ball ofblue-white fire float through the window and

pause over the bed of his youngest, setting himablaze. His wife then charged forward in anattempt to shield their other child, only to beignited herself. Tylesman will lose all composureat this point, begging the moving flame to takehim instead and spare his family. An orderly willmove to end the interview.

Investigators familiar with Fire Vampires ormaking a Cthulhu Mythos roll will be able toidentify the creatures from Tylesman’sfragmentary description.

Investigators interviewing Tylesman maysuffer a Sanity loss of 0/1 points if the Keeperwishes due to his pitiful state.

BANNICKER PARK AND THESUDAN WAR MEMORIAL

Bannicker Park is a green area between (thefictional) Bryant, Millwood, Milett, and HighTabran roads in Bayswater. It can be reachedfrom either the Bayswater or Westbourn Parktube stations (it is equidistant from either); theneighborhood is quiet and thoroughly upper-middle class.

The memorial is striking and a bit out ofscale for the small park. The lower section is aplatform sixteen feet square and made of finewhite sandstone, rising up in three steps to asmaller 12 foot square tier upon which a marblebase rests. Atop the base is the obelisk (seebelow). Each side of the base has beendecorated by a bas-relief sculpture depicting the1916 expedition against the Fur Sultanate andAli Dinar (in what is now the Darfur region ofSudan). One side includes a short dedication tothe troops who died in that campaign, listingthe units that took part in that action.

Several poorly repaired gouges mar the base;an Idea roll will suggest that they were causedby Tylesman’s attack on the monument.

The ObeliskThe obelisk itself is 11 feet tall (17’ including thecontemporary base), 21 inches wide, and madeof grey-black granite. The stone is weathered

186 London

but generally intact and without significantcracks. The very tip of the stone is chipped offand one of the bottom corners has beenrepaired with modern mortar. A Geology rollwill suggest that the obelisk has been subject toprolonged exposure to water.

All four sides bear hieroglyphic inscriptions,though the text on two sides show significantweathering. Anyone making a ReadHieroglyphics roll can determine that the textconsists of prayers to an obscure being namedKa-Thigu-Ra; this being might somehow beconnected to (or perhaps was a child of) the godRa. Additionally there are astronomicalnotations of a particular star that an Astronomy

roll (or alternately a successfulLibrary Use roll) can identifyas corresponding toFomalhaut.

Weather permitting,investigators carefullyexamining the obelisk willnote, with an Idea roll, thatthe stone is almost always freeof snow or rain, even when therest of the park (and even themonument itself) has recentlyseen precipitation. While logicwould suggest that the blackcoloring of the stone (as wellas the shape of the obelisk) isthe cause, this is instead due

to the influence of Cthugha. The stone is, at aminimum, 10° Fahrenheit warmer than thesurrounding atmosphere; it is warmer still whenFomalhaut is above the horizon and will rapidlyheat past the boiling point of water when a FireVampire is released.

Whenever Fomalhaut is above the horizon,day or night, the Fire Vampires bound withinthe stone will quicken into some state of

awareness. Every being within 500’ of theobelisk when Fomalhaut reaches its nightlyzenith must roll against the obelisk’s POW orlose 1d3 magic points. If awake at the time, thevictim will feel a vague sense of unease ordiscomfort; otherwise the drain will beunnoticed save perhaps in strange dreams. Theobelisk’s POW is 10. This may be increased dueto sacrifices or celestial phenomena if theKeeper wishes, perhaps induced by the actionsof Rowan Thannery (cf.).

TYLESMAN’S FORMER HOME

Little can be learned by visiting the old Tylesmanhome. The current owners, Gregory and VictoriaMatthews, will refuse entry to the morbidlycurious, saying that they have no interestpartaking in discussions of the Tylesman familytragedy. Investigators willing to lie about theirmotives and who are able to make a Fast Talkroll can spend a few minutes within thetownhouse. There is no sign of the deadly fire.The only unusual thing that can be observed isthe war monument, which is visible from therooms that face the park, a dark presence thatseems to lurk just outside the window.

INVESTIGATIONS

Bannicker ParkThe park was totally mundane before theinstallation of the obelisk. Since the warmemorial was erected in May of 1919 there havebeen multiple unusual fires in the vicinity of

Fomalhaut: (fom-al-hoe) From the Arabic for “mouth of the fish”, Fomalhaut is a bright blue-white star (appearing reddish due to atmospheric

interference) in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. Sometimes it is called “the Solitary One” due to the lack of other bright starsnear to it. Fomalhaut is most easily visible in late-Summer to mid-Winter (though the Keeper should feel free to fudge thespecifics for the needs of the game). As one guidebook says, “The loneliness of the star, added to the somber signs of approachingautumn, sometimes gives one a touch of melancholy. In November and December, when the winter stillness has fallen upon us, aglance toward the southwest will discover Fomalhaut, still placid and alone.”

Bannicker Park War Memorial

The Burning Within 187Bannicker Park. A Library Use roll can uncoverover a dozen fires reported in the press thoughmost did little or no damage. Beside the firethat killed the Tylesmans, at least four fires havebeen significant enough to require theintervention of the Metropolitan FireDepartment: two house fires, an automobile fire,and the destruction of a newspaperman’s cart.Additionally there has been one fatality, thoughthis will only be noticed with a Luck roll. Thatstory is reproduced as Handout #3.

Investigators with good relations with theMetropolitan Police (or alternately the Londonpress, such as Mick Mahoney at The Scoop) canlearn of the death of Mr. White as well as severaldozen other minor fires that have been kept outof the papers. Many of these involve the deathor injury of an animal, often pigeons butincluding cats, dogs, and once a deliveryman’shorse. In all cases the animal was completelyincinerated, save the horse, which had burns onits head and neck and was shot by the treatingveterinarian. In none of the cases was theperpetrator witnessed (unless the Keeperdesires for the police to suspect RowanThannery) though large sparks might have beenobserved. Within the past year the police havedetermined a lunatic arsonist is loose in theneighborhood but their investigation has been

stymied due to the lack of physical evidence. Nophysical traces have been found at the scene.Officers on foot in the area have been instructedto be on the look-out for suspicious characters.(Investigators canvassing the neighborhoodaround the park might also draw the sameconclusion as the police, as individual residentsare aware of certain minor fires and, gatheredtogether, these interviews point in the samedirection.)

Anyone learning of the fires will notice withan Idea roll that all of the fires have occurredduring the late summer through mid-winter andare usually most frequent and most severe inautumn. The fires also tend to occur in clusters,though there is no clear pattern to these save forseason.

Ka-Thigu-RaInvestigators who translate the inscription onthe obelisk can attempt to investigate the beingKa-Thigu-Ra. A Library Use or Egyptology rollwill provide Handout #4. More information canbe learned about Cthugha as the Keeper wishes.Investigators making use of a Mythos textshould gain some knowledge of Fire Vampires atthe least; Handout #5 provides one possible clueobtained in this manner. Additionally, a

Rowan Thannery, Budding Pyromaniac and Optional ComplicationWhether or not living in proximity to the obelisk is to blame, young Rowan is a pyromaniac. Sixteen years of age, but lookingyounger, Rowan attends the nearby Phillipston School for Boys and is generally overlooked by the other students there, just ashe is at home. For the past few years, and with increasingly frequency and intensity of late, he has been setting fires. RecentlyRowan has been capturing small animals in rubbish bins and then dowsing them with ether (stolen from his father’s chemist’s shop)and setting them alight. He is careful to avoid being observed setting his fires, but he takes pleasure when they are discoveredby others; he will inevitably turn up to the scene of a discovered fire. While so far only animals have been killed in his attacks, itis only a matter of time until his compulsion drives him to greater and more dangerous fires.

Rowan is enthralled by the obelisk and sometimes thinks he can hear it calling to him. Investigator making repeated visits tothe area might take notice of the boy if they first succeed a Luck roll. If he begins sacrificing animals to the stone the frequencyof Fire Vampire attacks will skyrocket; whether or not he can control these like-minded horrors is left to the Keeper. He willmost definitely lash out against anyone perceived to be a threat, including investigators.

ROWAN THANNERY, age 16 – firebug, possible cultist in the makingSTR 9 INT 15 CON 10 DEX 11 APP 11SIZ 8 POW 12 EDU 10 SAN 19 HP 9Attacks: Fist 50%, damage 1d3-1d2Skills: Appear Harmless 84%, Set Fires 91%, Sneak 61%.

188 Londonprofessional Eygptologist who studies theinscription can convincingly demonstrate thatthe obelisk is almost certainly from the NileDelta, not near the Kush border.

Dealing with the ObeliskThe obelisk is relatively benign when Fomalhautis below the horizon. During those months,aside from the stone’s unusual warmth, nothingstrange can be observed. When that baleful staris visible in the night sky the situation will growincreasingly dangerous. There is no need for theKeeper to monitor the nightly Magic Pointlosses to the obelisk; for the sake of thenarrative, whenever the investigators growinterested in the monument (assuming the timeof year is right), the obelisk should be near tounleashing another Fire Vampire. Once theinvestigators have visited Bannicker Park, 1d3days later another fire occurs. Should theplayers be particularly obtuse, additional firesmight be needed—have another fire occur every1d4+1 days afterwards. In this case somewitness, generally someone unreliable, such asan alcoholic or a child, will observe the FireVampire in action. Eventually, there will beanother fatality.

The investigators have several avenues inneutralizing the obelisk. Hugh Tylesman’sinsane attempt to wreck the accursed stone wason the right track, though doing so will almostcertainly attract a great deal of police interest.Any single attack on the stone doing 30 or morepoints of damage will break it. Likewise sledgescan be used to break it apart, though this mayrequire the investigators to pull the stone off thebase. Once the obelisk is broken, the FireVampires bound within will attack. There are atleast 1d4+1 Fire Vampires within; there is noguarantee they will target investigators however.

Alternately the obelisk might be transportedaway from human habitation, buried, orsubmerged. The investigators would certainlyhave to develop either a very clever scheme todo this without being caught or somehow gainthe assistance of the authorities. Investigatorswith the appropriate credentials and connectionmight be able to persuade local authorities toremove the stone either due to “previouslyundetected structural flaw” or legal questions

regarding ownership, though this willundoubtedly attract Gavigan’s attention if notwrath. If Gavigan is gone or discredited, thiscourse of action will be much simpler.

Finally, an Elder Sign will quiet the stone solong as the sign can overcome the current POWof the obelisk. This method does not release anyFire Vampires and neutralizes it so long as thesign remains in place. If somehow an Eye ofLight and Darkness is created that affects theobelisk, the stone will be quieted so long as theobelisk is within the radius of the spell. Otherenchantments may influence the obelisk as theKeeper sees fit.

CONCLUSION

Each death caused by the obelisk afterinvestigators learn of its threat: -1d3 points ofSanity.

Neutralize or otherwise remove the threat ofthe obelisk: +1d4 points of Sanity.

Rowan Thannery is killed / arrested: 0 / +1d2points of Sanity.

The Burning Within 189STATISTICS

HUGH TYLESMAN, age 47—madman, victim ofGavigan’s machinationsSTR 9 INT 11 CON 8 DEX 10 APP 8SIZ 13 POW 7 EDU 20 SAN 0 HP 11Attacks: Grapple 46%Skills: Moan 95%, Rant 90%, Twitch 60%,

Weep 50%.

Assorted Fire VampiresCON SIZ INT POWDEX HP

Blue-white 6 1 11 13 17 4Violet-white 8 1 12 11 19 5Reddish-white 7 1 10 14 15 4Violet-blue 7 1 13 12 16 4Armor: Immune to mundane attacks;

water does 1 hp per gallon.Attacks: Touch 85%, damage 2d6, 1d10

Magic Points (see note)Skills: Track 25%Sanity Loss:0; those showing intelligent action

cost 0/1d4 points.Note: Investigator CON vs. Damage

rolled, success means actualdamaged halved. POW vs. POWroll, investigator failure results inMagic Point loss.

HANDOUTS

Handout #1The Daily Mail

Thursday, July 15th, 1920

London190

Handout #2The Morning PostDecember 8th, 1919

191The Burning Within

Handout #4Mythological Beliefs of theAncient Egyptians (1922)by A.E. Crumbson

London192

Handout #5Further research in a Mythos text

Handout #3The Daily ChronicleOctober 23rd, 1924

193

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTIONS

Six Arabic ScrollsA—A fine linen scroll in Arabic, about five inchesacross, tied with a faded red silk ribbon.* It canbe dated to the 15th century, most likelyoriginating in Egypt or possibly Tunis. TheArabic text is stylized and illuminated, and thescroll is in excellent condition.

B—A cracked, partially fire-damaged, piece ofparchment, about 15 inches across, mounted ona wax tablet (a method used to preserveparticularly fragile texts). The text is in a veryshaky hand and can be dated to the 9th century,most likely from Moorish Andalusia.

C—A vellum scroll in Arabic, about 8 inchesacross, tied with a faded red silk ribbon.* It canbe dated to the early 12th century, almostcertainly to Egypt.

D—A papyrus scroll in Arabic, about 8 inchesacross, untied. It dates from the 8th century,though the writing style is somewhat antique(stylistically similar to the style of the previouscentury), suggesting the possibility that theauthor or scribe was from a provincial region,probably in the Arabian Peninsula.

E—A vellum scroll in Arabic, about 8 inchesacross, tied with a faded red silk ribbon.* Thescript and material suggests the work is ofEgyptian origin, probably mid 15th century.

F—A badly decayed papyrus scroll, probablyfrom the middle of the early Fatimid Caliphate(10th century).

Four Latin ScrollsA—Fragments of a papyrus scroll, written inLatin, pressed between thin glass plates andmounted in a booklet. The language suggests itwas written around the time of the early RomanEmpire (30-40 A.D.).

B—A worn vellum scroll in Latin, about 12 inchesacross, tied with a linen cord. The scriptsuggests it was written in the 12th century; anote at the beginning is in period ecclesiasticalLatin while the bulk of the text is in lateImperial vernacular (probably 4th century).Fragments of a leaden seal bearing the image ofa lion are preserved.

C—A parchment scrap with Latin writing,uneven but between 7 and 8 inches acrossthough it tapers at one end due to tearing orbreaking. The language and the script used

Gavigan’s ScrollsBret Kramer

Along with his collection of Mythos and related occult tomes, Gavigan owns acollection of scrolls in various languages. Most are prayers to Nyarlathotep in his variousguises while a few contain useful spells. It is certainly possible that the investigators willtake an interest in these documents, and should this occur, the Keeper can use this articleto provide a description of these scrolls, making them something less transparent andmore interesting. All of the information on the origin or dating for the scrolls requires anexpert’s examination or some research at a reasonably large library.

* Anyone comparing these documents realizes that they were written by the same person; this costs the researcher 0/1points of Sanity.

suggest an early medieval author, possibly in thelate 8th century, most likely from theCarolingian court.

D—Linen paper scroll in Latin, about 11 inchesacross, untied. The language is very lateMedieval Latin, and is heavy with Italianvernacular. It probably comes from NorthernItaly, possibly Milan, and dates to late 15th orearly 16th century.

Two Egyptian Hieroglyphic ScrollsA—A papyrus scroll in Hieratic Egyptian, about10 inches across, mounted on a wax board. Itprobably dates from the 19th Dynasty (about1200 B.C.).

B—A papyrus scroll in Hieratic Egyptian,* about10 inches across, tied with a faded red silkribbon. It dates from the Tanite (21st) Dynasty(about 1000 B.C.).

Two Medieval French ScrollsA—A brittle vellum scroll in Langues d’Oïl (OldFrench), about 10 inches across, untied, datingto the later 11th century.

B—A fine parchment scroll in Middle French,about 15 inches across; illuminated, illustrated,and tied with a black silk ribbon laced withthreads of silver. It dates to the mid 16thcentury, probably from the court of Francis I.

One Old English ScrollA brittle vellum scroll, about nine inches across,tied with a strip of hide. A Know roll identifiesthe language as Old English. An expert coulddate the scroll to around 1050 AD, making it aremarkable and rare find.

CONTENTS

Six Arabic ScrollsA—This scroll consists of a series of prayers to abeing called the Black Lion, described in the textas a towering sphinx-like monstrosity with thebody of a titanic black lion and the head of aman, but with its face a void opening into thedepths of space. The prayer enjoins the being todestroy unnamed invaders of the lands onceheld by the children of the Iteru (the Nile River).

B—On this scroll are a series of instructions forcalling upon the power of Thoth, called hereIzzu-Tahuti, by invoking his secret name. Thisinvocation is said to diminish the power ofenemies and spirits, but comes at a risk to thecaster. The instructions are confusingly writtenand obscure.

C—The text of this scroll is a lengthy prayer to“The Black Pharaoh” (also called Nephren-Ka),“Master of All Egypt,” “Lord of the ShiningCrystal,” and “Voice of Black Fire and Death.”

D—This scroll describes the ritual magic used tocontrol or perhaps ward against a particular andstrange djinn called the “Dweller in StrangeSpaces” and “Spider of the Void,” which themagician may use to reach distant places and todestroy his enemies. Much of the text is devotedto the creation of a ritual knife of either iron orsilver (or other pure metal), necessary for theritual.

E—The contents of this scroll are a series ofinstructions to a pupil on the preparation andcasting of a spell that allows the caster toinfluence the dreams of his subject. The spellrequires a bowl made from “sky copper,” specificherbs, and blood from the caster and that thevictim must be no more than perhaps twodozen miles distant. One strange referencementions that the author enjoys tormenting hisvictims with visions of a demonic cat.

F—This scroll records a curse, calling upon the“Formless Howler of the Wastes” and “He Who is

London194

Lord Over all Beasts” to bring a pestilence downupon one Hijepha‘oto the Khem, apparently anEgyptian sorcerer of some might.

Four Latin ScrollsA—These fragments contain a prayer to a figuredescribed as “the Black Caesar,” described as the“Lord of All Lands” and “Servant of the Chaosbefore the Titans.”

B—This scroll contains two parts. The first is ashort introduction discussing the origins of thelonger passage; taken from the library of anunnamed Apulian monastery and copied for apotential heresy trial against the monastery’sAbbot as the original was too fragile. The maintext is a prayer to Black Pharaoh similar incontent to scroll A, with a few lacuna.

C—On this scroll is a lengthy but incompleteprayer to a being described as the “Dark Masterwith Smoking Wings,” a monstrous bat-likebeing with a huge tripartite eye, said to dwell in“the Blackness Beyond Night.” The prayer is cutoff during the description of a great gem, sacredto the being.

D—The content of this scroll is a series of prayerscalling upon the might of “The Messenger of theOld Ones,” a cloud-like amorphous being and aharbinger of great destruction. The prayers callupon the being to lay waste to the armies of “theBastard Charles and his wicked court.”

Two Egyptian Hieroglyphic ScrollsA—This scroll relates a prayer to call upon “theBird of Yellow Aztura,” a winged humanoidmessenger. Much of the text discusses theastrological necessities of the rite mostlyinvolving (as can be determined with anAstronomy roll) the star Aldebaran and thecreation of a bone flute, said to attract thecreature.

B—The text of this scroll is in two parts. Thefirst is a prayer to the Black Pharaoh. Thesecond is a plea to the same for his aid bysending an undescribed servant creature,

alternately called the “Uraeus (or cobra) ofTahuti” or “the Death that Dwells by Night”including the offering of a living humansacrifice.

Two Medieval French ScrollsA—The contents of this scroll were clearlywritten in haste as the handwriting is unevenand several passages were smeared by theauthor as he wrote. The text is a prayer to “TheBlack Demon,” alternately described as “LordBlood Tusk” or “He who is feared in the valley ofMinarthè,” offering up the supplicant’s body insacrifice in exchange for the destruction of hisfoes.

B—This finely made scroll consists of a series ofprayers to “L’Homme Nuit,” or “the Black Man,”and includes rites of ritual animal sacrifice,infant sacrifice, and cannibalistic orgies, bestperformed with the aid of “the Brothers of theEarth.” One passage describes the Black Manand calls him “He who wore the Serpent Crownand Howls as a Blackness Across the Land.”

One Old English ScrollThis scroll is a prayer to the “Horned One,” “Lordof All Beasts,” or “The Black Huntsman.”

RESEARCH

Most of the scrolls are difficult, if not impossibleto trace. Foundation records do not mentionthis collection, save for the first Hieroglyphicscroll, which was recovered from a 1911 dig andis currently listed as being “restored.” At theKeeper’s discretion, certain other scrolls maymatch those offered up for auction over the pasttwenty years. The author has intentionallyimplied that certain scrolls (those bearing redsilk ribbons) were given by Omar Shakti; theKeeper may omit this connection if desired.Other subplots, scenario leads, and red herringsmay be developed as needed.

195Gavigan’s Scrolls

London196

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Leather bound manuscript, 18” x 11!” (mediumfolio), slightly damaged with some foxing andoccasionally irregularly sized pages. No title orauthor is given on the cover but a frontispieceidentifies it as Ye Booke of Comunicacions withye Angel Dzyon. The manuscript contains textin archaic English and an unknown set ofsymbols (Occult roll to recognize some as amodified form of Enochian; a Cthulhu Mythosroll identifies the others as Senzar) as well asmarginal notes in what appears to be Greek (aGreek roll to identify as classical Greek, but by acontemporary author). An antiquarian can datethe book to the late 16th century, of Englishmanufacture; certain rare book dealers andrelated specialists can identify the handwritingas belonging to the 16th century Englishastrologer and magician, John Dee.

SKIMMING

This book is a loosely organized collection ofwhat can be described, for lack of a better term,as séances between an unnamed medium and an“angelic spirit” identified in the text as Dzyon(or sometimes as Dzyan). The sessions aresupposed to transcribe the wisdom of Cehuti, anarchangel (?), and are composed of a mixture ofdivine pre-history, angelic law and magic,confounding cabalistic discussions, andsuggestive discussions of how certain humansmay be elevated to divinity. The papers that

form the text seem to have been collected andorganized along specific themes and notchronologically. Some of the portions in thenon-English symbols appear to be writtencontemporaneously with the regular writing butnot in the same hand.

The work itself is confused and sometimesself contradictory. While portions of the Englishtext seem to be translations of the two types ofciphers used, other portions are leftuntranslated. Certain sections, particularlythose dealing with incantations, are heavilyannotated in Greek.

RESEARCH

Anyone making an Occult roll (or occultists andparapsychologists making a Know roll) willrecall the following: Long rumored in occultcircles—particularly by the Theosophist HelenaBlavatsky and her circle—the Book of Dzyan(pronounced “zon”) is claimed to preserve thewisdom of Atlantis, as transmitted via “spiritguides” to certain human mediums. Blavatskyseems to be the only one of these mediumshowever and the quotes from The Book of Dzyanshe published in The Secret Doctrine closelyresemble parts of the Rig-Veda, a Hindu sacredtext. While the contents of this work and thewritings of Blavatsky have some superficialsimilarity, this text is clearly not from the samework.

A trained scholar can identify this work fromvarious signs within as having been in thecollection of Arthur Dee. A Library Use roll (or

Ye Booke of Comunicacionswith ye Angel Dzyon

Bret Kramer

Occult roll, in the case of the elder Dee) canuncover a few basic facts about both Arthur Deeand his father, “Doctor” John Dee. The youngerDee (1579-1651) was a physician and alchemistwho served in the courts of Russia’s Michael Iand England’s Charles I. His father, John Dee(1527-1609?), was a well-known mathematician,astrologer, and hermetic sorcerer from the timeof Elizabeth. Of particular interest are the elderDee’s experiments with scrying and hiscommunications with angels, some of whichwere published. While the methods describedby Dee in those works match those used by theunnamed author of this work, the resultingcontents are rather different. A cipher allowingfor translation of Dee’s Enochian script can belocated in these same books.

THOROUGH READING

Obviously the quartet of languages use in thiswork present some challenges to the averagereader. If only English is known, reduce theCthulhu Mythos bonus of the work to +6.Reading the Enochian (translatable with thehelp of Dee’s published “angel communications”or an Idea roll) grants an additional +2 pointswhile the Senzar sections may be similarlydeciphered with the aid of the translatedportions of the text and a successful Idea roll foranother +1 point increase. The Greekcommentary is of more limited use, but at theKeeper’s discretion may be key in making use ofthe various spells in the text—deviouspossibilities abound with the summon/bindspells in particular.

This book bears no resemblance to works bythe same name promulgated by TheosophistHelena Blavatsky. Instead it conveys theteachings of an “angel” (as claimed by theauthor) named Dzyon, who relates a series ofdivine mysteries to the author. The work isarranged topically, beginning with a discussionof what are described as pre-Adamite humansocieties, including Atlantis. It then progressesthrough a series of incantations to draw forthseveral supernatural beings, including the“willows of Cybele” (as named in the Greek,

possibly some sort of dryad), the “WalkerUnseen,” and the “black bird of the Anemoi” (theGreek wind gods). Each of these rituals requirescertain material components (animal sacrifices,knives, whistles, etc.) and specific chants.Another section outlines an incomplete series ofrituals that allows one to contact the angels,including Dzyon, as part of a path towardachieving some sort of direct connection to theGodhead. A final section, apparently damagedby fire, discuss a rite to contact “the DreamingGod;” the Greek comments on this rite give clearand grave warning of the danger inherent in itscasting.

The author makes no attempt to square theinformation presented by Dzyon into atraditional Christian cosmology and theresulting work is confused and disturbing. Eventhe author finds the pronouncements of Dzyonto be cold and sometimes inhuman. The sectiondiscussing incantation is particularlyunwholesome and bears distinct parallels toother Mythos tomes that investigators mighthave read.

197Ye Booke of...

QUOTES:

Casting againe into ye Shew Stone, ye Angel spake, saying unto me muchof what passed in long-sunk Atlantis and is spoke of by Cehuti. In thosedays ye Nephilim walked ye land and payed obeyance to one such as Glune,crowned in laurels and fearful to behold and served by great beasts whosebodies were like a flower with ye head of a serpent. Another angelrevered as ye father of this race was Dowlot, who wove ye fibers ofcreation and undoes them at God’s command, and his mark is ye crystal rodhe carries which bearest three sides and is yet round. Ye might of thesemen was great and they knew much of magic…

— — — — —

When ye song is played again under winter sky ye one [the Black Birdof the Anemoi] will come to ye learned practicioner. Ye bird subsistethupon carrion flesh and must be appeased before it will labor at your behalf.Ye hunger of such a one can be slaked with ye body of a single child butit is a cruel servant and will oft clamour for more. Be not hesitant tofulfill such whims as it may carry ye unwary summoner aloft if displeased.When it flies with belly-full it can be of great aid to ye subtle magicianand can travel many leagues without tiring.— — — — —

[Be wary! The one who slumbers is a spirit of the greatest darkness.Call not upon him for the price he demands far exceeds the rewards hegrants. Lest ye wish to arouse such a one who dwells in sea-dark chambersand whose very tread maketh the rocks tremble, practice such rites as theseat your own peril. Pay heed to one who has suffered much from whathe hath seen because his grasp exceedeth his wisdom. My dreams are gravetroubled still, years on from such folly, and I fear gravely His eye remainethupon me still.]

London198

v

Bewarethe

BlackSeal!

ph'ngluimglw'-

nafhCthulhu

R'lyehwgah'-

naglfhtagn

199

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

A slim, unadorned, pasteboard-bound work inmedium sixteenmo; 4 !” wide by 5 "” high; 128pages. The title is printed on both thepasteboard cover (a pale cream, with black ink)and the spine, with the author’s name (SirAmery Wendy-Smith) printed below the title.No publisher is listed nor is a date of publicationgiven. The production quality and style suggestsa small university press or that the author paidfor publication himself; the finished product isof inexpensive materials. There are numerousillustrations depicting some sort of cipher orartificial language consisting of haphazardlyarranged dots and a scattering of astronomicalcharts. A handwritten dedication on the titlepage says “Many thanks for your advice and aid,W-S.” Scattered throughout the text are a fewpassages underlined in meticulous pencil lines.

SKIMMING

This work provides a supposed translation ofinscriptions first discovered by British explorerSir Howard Windrop in a hitherto unknown

ruined city in Africa, referred to as “G’harne” bythe author. Expanding on Windrop’s earliertranslation, Wendy-Smith, claims that the textcontains the fragmentary records of a pre-historic, (perhaps even non-human) civilization.Included in the text is an incomplete catalog ofthe various cities of this unknown civilization(including G’harne) as well as discussions of thecities of other increasingly fanciful civilizationsand races. A lengthy passage discusses the fall ofthe city after the collapse of G’harne’s builders’civilization and how the survivors were besiegedby a race of subterranean creatures. Eventuallythe city’s builders were able to trap theirattackers via some powerful enchantment. Ashort chapter presents a labyrinthine catalog ofearlier wars between the builders of G’harne anda myriad of implausible races. Another sectionpresents fragmentary star-charts and a catalogof the planets of our own solar system, includinga body between Mars and Earth, as well as a hostof worlds lying beyond Neptune. A final chapterdiscusses the city of G’harne itself, as describedby Windrop1; a collection of vast, mammoth,eons-old stone blocks worn down by time andforgotten and mostly shunned by the localpeoples. Wendy-Smith (like Windrop) neverexplains by what means he was able to translatethe writings of this lost civilization, saving that

The G’harne FragmentsBret Kramer

Note: While Lumley dates this work to 1934, we have elected to conform to Chaosium’schronological conventions for the book, as outlined below. Sticklers for chronologicalpurity might consider replacing this work with the Eltdown Shards (Winters-Hall’s 1917pamphlet probably), a similar tome in background and content though with differentspells.

1. The specific location of this city is ill-defined at best. Neither Windrop nor Wendy-Smith explicitly states where these supposed ruinsare; this mystery was one of the main criticisms leveled against both men, for if other archaeologists or scientists could not study theseruins first-hand, how could the fantastic claims they generate be proven true? Investigators attempting to determine where preciselyG’harne is will find certain tantalizing clues in both Windrop and Wendy-Smith’s texts, though Windrop’s article points toward theSaharan districts of French Sudan while Wendy-Smith’s translation’s comments upon outfitting the expedition and the tribes encounterednear G’harne suggests the Oubangi-Chari/Anglo-Egyptian Sudanese border.

London200for a promised future book to be written uponhis return from a new expedition to G’harne.

RESEARCH

Investigators who can succeed at a halvedArchaeology roll (as can professionalarchaeologists with a Know roll) can recall thefollowing information automatically; otherwisea Library Use roll is needed. Published to greatcontroversy, The G’harne Fragments marked thepublic humiliation of Sir Amery Wendy-Smith, ahitherto respected expert on ancientinscriptions. After months of bitter (shockinglypublic) debate between Wendy-Smith and mostof the British archaeological establishment,Wendy-Smith used his own money to have thebook published privately. The reception washostile at best, and Wendy-Smith was ejectedfrom his positions in various societies andprofessional organizations, cementing hishumiliation.

In an attempt to repair his reputation he ledan expedition into the African interior to“G’harne.” While the details of what transpiredare uncertain, the expedition ended in some sortof disaster—Wendy-Smith claimed a severeearthquake—costing the lives of the expeditionmembers (all of the whites at least) save forWendy-Smith. This fatal turn (on the heels ofthe loss of the Carlyle Expedition) finishedWendy-Smith’s standing as well as his fortuneand he retired from public life.

Anyone making an Arabic roll will note thesimilarity between the Arabic word al ghariyun,“those of the cave” and “G’harne” itselfwhile the name of the leader of the beings whoterrorize the final inhabitants of the city is givenas ShuddeM’ell, very close to the Arabic shiddaal-Mu’ell, “the violence of/brought forth by theCauser of Destruction.” Both suggest someArabic influence on the naming of the location(as the name given by Windrop comes from thelocal tribes). Investigators following this line of

research (and who can read Arabic) can find acurious reference in the works of Ibn Battuta,14th century Moroccan explorer and writer, in adescription of a trip from Fez to Walatan in whatis now French Sudan:

“After the loss of Ibn Ziri, the takshif[desert guide] warned that to search forhim was a deadly folly. The desert, hesaid, was home to many dangers evengreater than thirst and the burning sun;foremost among these were the childrenof al-Mu’ell, a great desert spirit whoswallows up all those who Allah does notprotect. Al-Mu’ell is said to dwell in agreat cave [literally “al ghariyun”] carvedby the jinn of the South Wind, where hewas once trapped by the magic ofSuleiman, but has since the death of theProphet been loosed upon the world. Imourn for my cousin and pray he issafe.”

Windrop’s 1912 article “Translations ofWritings Found on Stone Fragments from theLost City of G’harne in Africa” 2 can be located inlarger libraries and those specializing inacademic pursuits with a Library Use roll. Thisversion lacks much of Wendy-Smith’s version’sdiscussion of cosmology, the fall of G’harne, andomits many of the more improbable pre-humanelements and is treated by the editors of thejournal as a piece of imaginative native fiction, ofinterest to anthropologists, at best.

At the Keeper’s discretion, stones withsimilar inscriptions to those translated byWindrop and Wendy-Smith may have beenrecently discovered in Sussex (the so-calledSussex Fragments) and can open certain insightsto investigators who can translate the ElderThing cipher.

Investigators in the United Kingdom mightwish to track down either Windrop or Wendy-Smith; whether or not this is possible greatlydepends on the Keeper. Windrop is almostcertainly deceased by 1925; Wendy-Smith hasretired to his home in Yorkshire where he works

2. The Imperial Archeological Journal 26, No. 7 (Nov. 1912): 327-69. The Keeper should consider is to be an incomplete version of TheG’harne Fragments for Sanity costs and Cthulhu Mythos skill bonuses. (Sanity loss 1d2/1d4; +4 points to Cthulhu Mythos, 2 weeks to study/ 4 hours to skim. No spells.)

on his account of the events of his expedition toG’harne as well as his analysis of Britishmegaliths in light of his discoveries at G’harne.Both his health and nerves are poor and it isunlikely that he will be receptive to visitors,particularly ones who are asking questionsabout this book. If he is persuaded that theinvestigators believe his story (and are not goingto further humiliate him) he might be willing topart with some of his secrets. If asked aboutGavigan, Wendy-Smith is unaware of anythingsinister about the man, instead being thankfulfor his quiet support (he could not risk thereputation of the Penhew Foundation, of course)and advice in outfitting his African expedition,as well as making a few very helpfulsuggestions in his translation of the fragments.

THOROUGH READING:

This work presents a translation of a seriesof inscribed tablets or stones discovered inthe hitherto unknown city of G’harne,located somewhere (the author neglectsto say precisely) on the Africancontinent. The work begins with ashort introduction bythe author, Sir AmeryWendy-Smith, whodecries the

archaeologicalestablishmentand itsunwillingness toconsider anyfacts outside oftheir ownnarrow views,quotingShakespeare’sinjunction inHamlet aboutheaven, earth,and Horatio’sphilosophy.This isfollowed by asuccinctrecount ofthe work ofSir HowardWindropand his

201G’harne Fragments

Lost G’harne

discovery of certain enciphered tablets in anunknown African ruin, dwelling at length uponthe scorn cast upon Windrop by the academiccommunity and Wendy-Smith’s own researchinto the field, culminating in Wendy-Smithcoming to accept Windrop’s thesis.

The main body of the book follows, beingWendy-Smith’s translation of the tablets. Thework is organized thematically by the translatorand there are frequent gaps in the text as wellas notes on the strange dot and line symbolsthat make up the unknown language (which thebook calls “the G’harne script”). Annotatedpictures of the strange symbols are provided,but the author provides no clear lexicon or keyfor readers to test his translations.

According to the tablets, G’harne was one ofmany cities built by some alien race that arrivedon the earth in the distant past and establisheda terrestrial empire. The race apparently hadsome biological means of both flight and spacetravel though no details are given. Instead,much of the text is a discussion of the variousother inhabitants this unknown raceencountered on Earth, including furtive butmuch despised fungus beings and an octopoidspecies that they used some sort of super-weapons against, called the Sphere of Nath,sinking the land-masses they inhabited. Of greatinterest to the author is the rebellion of somesort of specially bred slave-creature against itspeople and the grave damage this war inflictedon the civilization.

The work is more fragmentary regarding thefinal collapse of the civilization, but specificdetails about the fall of G’harne are given,including the city's abandonment for the capital(said to be on “the southern land-mass”) and thevarious assaults against the city by a race ofmalevolent subterranean creatures, the “rockworms.” The final act of the inhabitants of thecity was to trap these creatures and their titanicleader within the city by means of anunspecified but powerful enchantment. In thediscussion of the city’s abandonment a lengthypassage details the method used by themembers of the race to summon each other; itconsists of a series of syllables and tones thatWendy-Smith claims are reproducible with someeffort.

Further fragmentary sections provide acosmological discussion of the local solar systemand other worlds known to the author’s race.This includes a body said to have once orbitedbetween the Earth and Mars (since destroyed insome calamity) as well as a planet lying beyondNeptune where the fungus-beings are based.This portion is particularly filled with lacunae; afact much despaired of by Wendy-Smith, who ina foot-note connects this body with PercivalLowell’s hypothesized “Planet X.”

A final chapter discusses the ruins of G’harneitself, including what Wendy-Smith claim areWindrop’s notes about the local tribes.Windrop’s notes discuss the rites and rituals ofan unnamed nearby tribe that occasionallyventure into the ruins to plunder it for certainartifacts. Great detail is given to a ritual danceused to commune with the earth spirits—described as great snakes living beneath theearth, very similar to the text’s “rock worms” aswell as a larger ritual to invoke the spirit of“Shudde M’ell,” the chief of the earth spiritswhom Wendy-Smith equates with the leader ofthe same. A grisly tribal cursing ceremony isdescribed that invokes that being as well,involving a series of elaborate gestures andchants that are said to result in the death of thevictim from magically inflicted internal wounds.The tribe is said to use this as a means to driveaway outcasts or to force confessions. While thetribe’s shaman described the ritual to Windrop,he refused to perform it. In this section, Wendy-Smith also draws a direct linkage between theEgyptian god Nyarlathotep and several Africandivinities, including the God of the BloodyTongue.

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QUOTES:

The third body is the greatest of the home sites in this region of all things, bearingmuch of worth to our people and in great settlements we inhabit it, sharingmuch of the southern lands though at time we made war with those we found

there or who came after our arrival. The Nath Spheres proved of great worth after thecoming of the [untranslatable] and his offspring, laying low his lands and driving thembeneath the greatest of waters. Those who built upon the outer worlds pay us great heedand do not long stay upon this our claim and other native animals pay heed.

— — — — —

In distant ages this attack would have been stopped by the power we control but afterthe rising of the enslaved ones we were greatly diminished. The great rock worms,lead by [untranslatable, but according to local tribes the leader of the “rock worms”

is the being called Shudde M’ell (he who shakes the earth from below)] fears not our toolsand trapped the few who remained within the interior of the city. By plan, these unworthybeings were drawn into the great chambers beneath and were trapped by means of the [?]sign, the shape of which carries potent strength. In this way we have bound him and hischildren here, until such a time that our people are revitalized and can return the amorphousones into bondage and return to punish those who sought to overthrow our dominion.

— — — — —

The local mganga who collect the star-stones do say that for a time the site ofG’harne was inhabited by a degenerate race of men who came from a distantland. They made sacrifices to the great worms dwelling there and lived in great

filth and corruption. They awaited a time when their god, who they called the King ofNight, would come from the land of the great water, after being freed from his tomb ofstone topped by stones, and lead them back to rule there forever. These terrible men, saidnot to be of any tribe, lived there for many ages until they were gathered by two princes,one from the north and one from the east, who carried them forth for reasons unknown,perhaps as slaves. This god, the King of the Night (sometimes called the Black King orLord), is also known as the God of the Bloody Tongue, the God of the Black Wind (bytribes in the Kenya Colony), the Spiraling Worm (in the Belgian Congo), Ndura Oteba, theSender of Great Illness (Somaliland and Abyssinia). My research indicates that it is acommon figure in many African mythologies and seems to show a remarkable diffusion ofan obscure Egyptian divinity called ‘Nyarlathotep’.

203G’harne Fragments

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

A large (25” x 36”) vellum manuscript bound inbrass-capped leather. The interior of the work(entitled Liber Ivonis) is in illuminated Latin,accompanied by copious marginal illustrations,miniatures, and decorated initials (most ofwhich seem to consist of a rather fanciful toador frog). The manuscript binding is in faircondition—some of the brass fittings have beenlost, the inside cover has been gougedrepeatedly (apparently to remove a book plate,the scraps of which remain, but are totallyillegible), and there are recent small scorchmarks on the rear cover. The manuscriptinterior is in excellent condition. The artworkwithin depicts many strange scenes, some ofwhich are rather disturbing and unlike thosefound in a typical medieval work. An expert candate the manuscript to the early 13th century,most likely the Sicilian Court of Frederick II. Thecover is more recent, probably dating from theearly 16th century.

SKIMMING

This work is a grimoire allegedly written by themagician Ivon “of Hyperborea.” It serves as botha grimoire and to provide an autobiographicalaccount of the author’s life, from his time as anapprentice to his departure from Hyperborea.Ivon, after his apprenticeship, journeyed about“Hyperborea” encountering many strangebeings and individuals (some of whom hetraveled with for a time). Most importantly, hepledged his service to some sort of batrachianbeing of great power (Xatogua—“he who sleeps

and is served by crawling shadows”) in exchangefor the being’s vast magical knowledge.

Beyond Ivon’s tutelage under this strangefurry being, there are also discussions ofastronomy, astrology, protective magical signs,and a lengthy passage about a dragon of somesort that laid waste to much of “Hyperborea.”The work concludes with a discussion of Ivon’sflight from this kingdom due to some sort ofreligious conflict as well some commentaryabout his apprentice (apparently written by saidapprentice).

The frequent illuminations of the tome oftendepict the disturbing topics contained within ina shocking manner. The artistic style issomehow more representational than thattypically found in medieval manuscripts, yetcontains elements that would almost bedescribed as modernist, if the book did not datefrom the 13th century; certain stylistic elementssuggest the artist was trained in the PersianMiniature school. The combined effect of theunsettling illustrations with the bizarre text isan undoubtedly disturbing one.

RESEARCH

Investigators hoping to probe the history of thisparticular copy of the Book of Eibon will find notrace of it prior to the 18th century. An obliquemention of it can be found in The Life of the LateLord Philip Nicholas of Harwich, the biographyof an otherwise unremarkable Englishnobleman from Essex, killed during the siege ofPondichéry in 1748. During a discussion of LordPhilip’s Grand Tour, there are several paragraphsdevoted to one Orin Planter, anotherEnglishman encountered by Philip’s party while

Liber IvonisBret Kramer

204 London

in Naples. Planter is described as a scholar andtranslator who persuaded his new companioninto aid him in the (illicit) purchase of severalbooks from the city’s archive. Lord Philip wasgiven a copy of Dante’s Paradiso while Planterobtained a lesser book described as “a medievalmanuscript described as The Book of Ivanus, abrass-bound medical text from the court ofFrederick the Great.” The two parted companysoon after, Lord Philip tiring of the “banker'searnest son's company.”

An Occult roll identifies Planter as a minorfigure in 18th century Swedenborgian occultcircles as well as grandfather to Nicholas Planter(1798-1857), the Victorian Spiritualist and trancemedium. Another Library Use roll discovers an1853 newspaper account of a séance, in which acurious brass-bound book was placed at thecenter of the table during an attempt to contactthe spirit of Lord Nelson. The séance was brokenoff when the elderly Planter cried out somethingabout feeling the presence of “Sataga,” an evilspirit.

Further research into the Planter familyuncovers the curious fact that one line of thePlanter family formerly owned Gavigan’s estate,“Misr house” (so named by Maurice Planter(1824-1887), an amateur Egyptologist andhistorian); the estate owner previous to Gavigan,Sir Tristan Planter, died in the sinking of theShetland ferry Shoney in 1900. The estate in toto(which included a substantial library) was thenauctioned off by the family for a prodigious sum.

General information about the Book ofEibon is presented in the article “General Noteson the Book of Eibon” on page XX.

THOROUGH READING

This book is a collection of writing of the wizardIvon, who lived in a land called Hyperborea insome antediluvian age before recorded history(at least as it is traditionally known). The initialchapters of the work dwell at length about hisapprenticeship to the wizard Xylacus, who

dwelled in a basalt tower in a region calledMuxulanae. Later chapters detail Ivon’sjourneys, sometimes with his companion Salgis,and more often on his own. The mostimportant of these journeys took him to a vastsubterranean realm where he sought outXatogua, the toad-god and master of sorcery. Apact was made between the two and Ivon wastaught many powerful enchantments.

The central portion of the work is adiscussion of these many magical rituals,including those intending to call upon Xatoguaor his servants, ritual preparations of magicians’tools, and a few wards against physical harmand against the magic and servants of other,more inimical, beings. Of particular note is arite designed to shield a caster via an enchantedfog from the servants of “the Thousand-FacedGod of Madness, known as Burning Eye ofDarkness and master of the Shining Gem ofIuggotum.” Other enchantments call upon thewisdom and power (or even call forth physically)a host of strange, and sometimes vastlypowerful beings (perhaps even gods) such as“Xthultus the Baleful Sleeper,” “the Silver LordWho Dwells Beyond All Things,” and (this oneprefaced by the direst warnings) “The Father ofChaos.”

There is a lengthy catalogue of variousinhuman beings, including a long digressionabout some sort of ice dragon who had oncedone great damage to Hyperborea and themagics that might bind it. Additionally there issome discussion of various magical realms orplanes that Ivon traveled to during his studies. Acomplex astrological system is presented inanother section, though the “zodiac” used andthe heavenly bodies examined are unlikeanything found in any traditional system.

The final chapter is said to be written by astudent of Ivon, one Cyron the Varandian, andrelates the final fate of Ivon who was driven intohiding behind a great metal portal thatmagically transported him to a distant world1

after coming into conflict with the priest ofIoundae, the horned goddess; it also does morethan a little to tout Cyron’s might as a sorcererand his worth as a successor to Ivon.

1. There is a lengthy Latin marginal commentary about the incantations and rites used to create such a portal; unfortunately theconclusions drawn in the author’s comments are hopelessly muddled.

Liber Ivonis 205

QUOTES:

The stone has many faces, each shining with a fire from within, showingblack with a first view but other colors may be seen. Each face appearsregular as the others but the working of the stone is such that there are

more sides that are right and proper. It cannot be measured or known. Such isthe nature of the stone brought from Iuggotum, for the very earth there is unlikethat of our world, though they lie within the same sphere of being. The buzzingones who dwelt there carried the stone forth to our world at the behest of theFaceless God for it serves him as a conduit to his power and can call forth “ThatWhich is Born In, and is Lord of, Darkness.” Fear it and seek it not.

— — — — —

Abhotuc the Unclean One, the Forever Father, the Maker and Unmakerof Pollution. Though much is known to this one, it serves no master butits own appetites. The discs of Xacaccus say that it is but one form of

the Dweller of the Cavern of Iaqua and that those who call Abhotuc call forinstead but a finger of the Master of the Elder Tablets. The Subtle Joiner, SheWho is Mother and Lover, She of Myriad Forms, She Who Ever Hungers,was said by Xylacus to be a tendril of this same Power, broken free and of freewill; his wisdom was clouded by certain lusts that only such a One could fulfillhowever. Be wary of any entreaty from ones such as these, for even the mightiestsorcerer, even one as well-schooled as I, am but a morsel to them.

— — — — —

And by such words and signs will the servant of Xatogua know of your pactwith his master and will draw close. Know that not all caves and darkplaces lead to the vast kingdom of Xatogua- look for his mark therein

to be sure that such entreaties will not be in vain. In my practice, I have seencertain clues that I may share with the wise student who has need of such ones asthese- first, seek the moss of Uophan for it grows where he walks…

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207

APPEARANCE

A large, asymmetric grey-white metalmirror held in a gold frame. Thefront surface of the mirror isextremely smooth and highlypolished, while the reversebears a series of markingshammered into the surface.Several sections of theinscription have beendamaged, likely intentionallydue to the precision of thechiselling. The gold frame ismade up of warped or possiblymelted inhuman faces.

FURTHER INVESTIGATION

The MirrorA Chemistry or ! Know roll identifies the mirroras being made from ‘speculum metal’, an alloyof 2/3 copper, 1/3 tin, adulterated with arsenic,which will hold a high polish. Chemical analysiswill discover that the mirror is far more durablethan normal speculum metals and containstraces of an unknown metal that cannot beisolated or identified. While this alloy has beenin use since the late Bronze Age, most ancientmirrors were far smaller.

The FrameThe mirror is enclosed by a gold frame, almostcertainly a much later edition as it is in theRococo style, which depicts a series ofmisshapen, elongated, and sometimes demonic

faces. While the work is of a high quality (andthe gold a very pure but durable 18 karat, mostlikely alloyed with copper due to the reddish

hue) the faces have an unsettling,almost shifting, quality that leaves a

most unwholesome impression. Ajeweller or metallurgist can

determine that the frame is oflate 18th or early 19th centurymanufacture, most likely inFrance, though the alloysuggests Russianinvolvement. There is nomaker’s mark or stamp.

The InscriptionA Know roll can identify the

markings as Cuneiform. AnArchaeology roll will identify the

language used as Babylon-era Sumerian, thelingua franca of diplomatic correspondence inthe ancient Middle East. A second Archaeologyroll or a successful Library Use role will translateit (Keepers keen on historical accuracy may notethat the only Sumerian dictionaries in existencein the 1920s were Sumerian-Germandictionaries). Translation will reveal that this isan artifact of considerable archaeologicalimportance, and significant fame will accrue tothe archaeologist who publishes a paperdescribing it, though such an academic workwould no doubt attract the unwholesomeattentions of the Brotherhood…

The first part of the inscription identifiedthe entity to whom the Mirror was dedicated—“"en-#en ___ Gal (The Mirror [or Wrath] of theGreat ___ )” but the symbol where the God orKing’s name should go has been chiselled out.The cuneiform inscription continues that theMirror was made in Lagash and is a gift from

The Mirror of GalJames Haughton

Center:The Mirror of Gal

King (Lu-Gal) Bur-ra Bu-ri-ia-a! (“Servant of theLord of Thunder and the Lands”) to his“brother”, King of Egypt, Ne-ne-fe-ka-____; (thishas no meaning in Sumerian and is probably aphonetic transcription of the Egyptian Ne-Nefer-Ka-____; The symbol which should representthe patron god of this pharaoh is likewisedestroyed). “When the King my Brother wishesto view his enemy, anoint the mirror with Ub-ra-an. When he wishes to strike his enemy, anointthe mirror with Ga-bé-se-gal. Let there be nomisunderstanding between us.”

Further examination and translation of thetwo substances mentioned reveals additionaldetails:

Obra’an/Ub-ra-an: [Sumerian: “The sound ofthe drum of heaven”: ub—drum; ra—to strike,bang; an—sky, heaven] A successful Occult rollrecalls this as one name for Red Sulphur, acomponent of the Philosopher’s Stone, forwhich a number of Alchemical texts give recipes.Successful Occult and Chemistry (or Alchemy ifthe character happens to possess such arecondite skill) rolls are necessary to produce it,if a text with an accurate recipe can be obtained.Red Sulphur is sometimes referred to as the‘Essence of Thunder’, due to the belief of theancient alchemists that thunder and lightningwere caused by heavenly mercury and sulphurcombining in the clouds in a gunpowder-likeconflagration.

Keeper’s Note: Unfortunately, the smell offreshly brewed Obra’an is peculiarly attractive tothe Hounds of Tindalos (or, as certain Mythosmanuscripts like the Book of Eibon refer tothem, the Thionadelos Kuon, Greek for “TheDivine Hounds of the Invisible Sulphur”). Thebrewer has a percentage chance equal to thenumber of doses created of alerting a Hound. Ifhe does so, and uses the mirror within a numberof days equal to the number of doses created,then the only vision he will receive is that of aHound which now knows where and when heis…

Gabeshegal/Ga-bé-se-gal: [Sumerian: “The milksacred to/from the shrine of the greathowling/buzzing one”: ga—milk; bé—buzz orhowl; se—shrine, sacred, dedicated to a god;

gal—great, supreme] Once the Sumerianinscription can be translated, a Cthulhu Mythosroll suggests that this black, powdery substancemay either be derived from the Milk of Shub-Niggurath, or from the mysterious ores minedby the Mi-Go. If, somehow, either of these canactually be obtained, a Cthulhu Mythos rollwhich is also a successful Chemistry roll enablesGabeshegal to be distilled. A successful Alchemyroll makes the Cthulhu Mythos roll unnecessary.

Investigators being scryed upon by themirror get a POW x 1 or Cthulhu Mythos roll(whichever is higher) to sense “someonewalking over their grave”. Sorcerers withscrying experience who are scryed upon can dothis with a simple Luck roll—if they roll belowtheir POW or Cthulhu Mythos, they can reversethe vision!

RESEARCH

Very little can be learned about the Mirror fromthe usual scholarly sources but a few tantalizinghints can be uncovered by the diligent. Scholarsof Mesopotamia and its civilizations can confirmthat it is a genuine artifact from the KassiteDynasty of Babylon, roughly 1350 B.C. It issubstantially larger and in far better conditionthan comparable examples of speculum metalfrom the ancient world.

The only references to the Mirror occur afterNapoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798. A LibraryUse or Occult roll, once the Mirror has beenexamined, will locate an anecdote about anoccultist operating in Paris during the SecondRestoration, from a biography of the occultistCollin de Plancy:

One fellow made a small fortune claiming tohave a mirror which allowed him to espy theboudoirs of Paris’ most beautiful ladies. Themirror, a dull grey affair curiously stamped withHebrew symbols, was said to have beenrecovered from an Egyptian tomb plunderedduring Napoleon’s excursions there a generationprevious. Anointing its metal with foul-smellingEastern unguents, the mystic gained all sorts ofrewards for his services. He came to a bad end,

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after agreeing to kill, by magic, the husband of awealthy patron. When her agents arrived at hischambers to demand satisfaction, the reprobatehad fled, magic mirror in tow. His body wasfound in a Genoese brothel a few weeks later, hisheart clawed out as if by a wolf.

STRANGE EFFECTS

The Mirror exhibits certain unusual propertiesthat might be noticed by anyone possessing it.Mirrors in its proximity tend to tarnish rapidlywhen brought near, sometimes warping orcracking. Shadowy figures appear in theirperipheral vision, especially when the Mirror isin use. Coverings will not remain long in place,though sheets and the like will only be thrownoff when the Mirror is not being observed.Finally, sometimes what the Mirror reflects doesnot wholly match what would be expected;movements are slightly out of synch, some itemsdo not appear in the reflection (or items notpresent are somehow visible in the Mirror), etc.Very rarely, the entirety of the reflection issomeplace wholly different, such as an Egyptiannightscape, a vast twilight silver plain, or theTemple of Nyarlathotep beneath the Sphinx.Witnessing something so unnatural costs 0/1points of Sanity.

209Mirror of Gal

London210KEEPER’S CAMPAIGN NOTES

This is version 0.9 of the book.

The Companion has been fully edited to this point.

The remainder of the text still needs revision.

Hence why the page numbers reset to 200 with the start of CAIRO.

CairoCairoAncient Land,Ancient Land,

Ancient HorrorsAncient Horrors

CHAPTER OVERVIEWCairo serves as a sort of hub around which muchof Masks of Nyarlathotep turns; it is in this placethat investigators face the Brotherhood of theBlack Pharaoh on its home ground, potentiallybearing witness to one or more of the cult’sdarkest rituals. If they are cautious and morethan a bit lucky, the investigators can learn someof the secrets of the Carlyle Expedition, preventthe resurrection of an ancient evil, and perhapseven gain powerful tools against Nyarlathotep.

GETTING STARTEDAs ever, review the Cairo chapter in thecampaign book and familiarize yourself with itscontents. Read up a bit on Cairo and Egypt inthe 1920s as you are able; see the bibliographysection (page XX) for a few suggestions to thatend.

Although it is unlikely that the investigatorswill jump immediately from New York City to

Cairo, Fariz Najir’s letter to Roger Carlyle, amongother clues, might steer them in that direction.Be warned: Cairo is a deadly chapter forinvestigators even if they have gathered all ofthe clues to be found in New York and London.Because of this, consider judiciously steeringthe investigators towards London as their firstport of call after New York, if at all possible. Ifnothing else, the simple fact of geography mightprovide enough of an incentive to draw theinvestigators away from Egypt, at least initially.

Once the investigators arrive in Egypt, besure to consider the impact of previous events.Critically, the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaohin Egypt is in close contact with its disciples inthe United Kingdom. Barring some duplicity orconfusion upon the part of Gavigan (or Tewfik)– see “Musings on the Brotherhood of the BlackPharaoh” on page XX for options here – OmarShakti will know everything that the Londonbranch of his cult knows, if not more.Unprepared investigators will be walking verymuch into the lions’ den here, a situation madeall the worse if someone has sent a telegram tothe lions in advance.

Because of this and other factors, Cairo is anexcellent place to play on investigator paranoiaand suspicion. Cairo is a demonstrably foreignplace, with a pervasively different enoughenvironment, language, and culture to whatmost Americans or Britons are used to. Theywill likely feel out of place, even isolated.Compounding this natural sense ofdisplacement is the real danger posed byenemies, visible and otherwise, who seek to dothem harm. Give the investigators every reasonto be suspicious of those people that theyencounter, and every interview will be chargedwith fear, making for memorable gaming. Ifthings become too much of a challenge, theinner benevolence or malice of the various NPCscan be made all the more clear, but the

Cairo200Keeper’s Notes: CairoChad Bowser, with Bret Kramer and Matthew Pook

experience will be a richer one if your playershave to judge for themselves if Dr. Kafour is anally or cultist, if they can really trust their guide,and whether or not Mr. Shakti is, in fact, “a verynice guy…”

Finally remember that, for all of theinformation provided and useful leads that canbe obtained in this chapter, the machinations ofNyarlathotep and the Brotherhood of the BlackPharaoh in Cairo are only indirectly tied into thecentral mystery of the Carlyle Expedition.Although Shakti and his plans to resurrectNitocris present a threat to the world, thisdanger is not as immediate as the pendingopening of the Great Gate. If your players dive inand wish to explore all of Cairo’s dangers, allowthem to do as they wish; simultaneouslyhowever, do not force them to battle the cultand its forces if they are exhausted, crippled, ordisinterested. Give them the choice in Cairo onwhat threats that they want to take on. So longas they make the choice to fight Shakti, or theBrotherhood, et cetera, they will enjoy thehorrors rather than feel like they are playing outsome cruel drama of your creation.

KEEPER’S TIPSThe Keeper should have several goals in mindfor running this chapter. The first is to makeCairo distinct. Unless the investigators head toShanghai first, Cairo will be the first truly“foreign” destination1 the investigators visit. Itshould not seem that the investigators are justrevisiting another version of London orManhattan, but with camels and sand. Whilethe Keeper can play the cultural differenceshowever he wishes, he needs to consider themanner in which cultural and languagedifferences can frustrate the investigators. Formost investigators, language will be an issue andthe hiring of a dragoman (see page XX) will becritical. If the party suffered fatalities recently,then the Keeper should consider allowing aplayer to create a dragoman as his newinvestigator (the pre-generated investigator,Asim “Sandow” the Ox is provided for this very

purpose, see page XX) or at least an expat withsome skill in Arabic. While Credit Rating mighthave aided them in New York City and possiblyeven London, Bargain and Other Language(Arabic) will be much more useful in Cairo thanan investigator’s ability to flaunt his socialstanding and family name. Finally social moresand customs vary greatly between Europe orAmerica and Egypt. While Egyptian society is farfrom monolithic, the role of women is evenmore circumscribed here than in the West,though foreign women are generally overlookedby locals for transgressing the many spoken andunspoken rules of conduct. As ever, game-playshould trump historicity.

Another important difference is the climate.Cairo is a dry, dusty, hot city that can bephysically hostile to people who areunaccustomed to it, especially investigatorsarriving from colder climes. During the summermonths (roughly May through September), thedaily high temperatures average over 90° F (33°C) and can reach 110° F (43° C) or more, whilelow temperatures never dip below 50° F (10° C).This frequent heat is compounded by the greathumidity generated by the Nile, forcing all butthe most hidebound visitors to conduct theirbusiness during the early morning or in theevening. Also, great dust storms (haboob) oftenblow in from the surrounding desert, chokingand blinding everyone who cannot escapeinside. The role-playing opportunities duringthese storms – for assassinations, street chases,et cetera should be immediately apparent.Rainfall is negligible, save for the raredownpours that create short-term intenseflooding.

201edit

1. There are plenty of differences between the U.S.A. and the U.K. (as discussed on page XX), but the likelihood is that the similaritiesoutweigh the differences. Invert that ratio in Cairo and make similarities the exception rather than the norm.

The second goal is to present powerful,otherworldly enemies. Omar Shakti2 and,potentially, Nitocris make their first appearancein the Cairo chapter.3 It cannot be stressed toohighly that Shakti is an intelligent and cunningvillain. He has survived for millennia and is notgoing to slip up and reveal either his true natureor his plans like some stereotypical Bond villain.Instead he will make use of his numerousunderlings willing to lay down their life for theBrotherhood, an opportunity he is happy toafford them. Nor does he have any need to evenmeet the investigators, let alone have themattempt to engage him in a stand up fight.Instead, Shakti is best used as a behind thescenes danger rather than as a mustachestroking baddie. The cunning Keeper mighteven present him ostensibly as the investigators’ally, making the moment that his villainy isuncovered all the more terrible, probably bestdone after the investigators have arrived for abanquet at his mansion…

Nitocris, in the form of Shefira Roash, on theother hand, is something of an enigma intendedto be a threat for later adventures. This is notto say however, that the Keeper cannot use“Shefira” to dog the investigators if they decideto stay in Cairo or return to the city at a laterdate. The danger here is more potential thanactual. Shakti is likely to use her in a mannersimilar to Edward Gavigan (see page XX); eitherhaving her pursue the investigators or using her

to replace one of the leaders of the Great Gateritual if they should fall. Even so, she is verydangerous, more so even than Gavigan, and theKeeper should only use her against well-organized, thoughtful investigators, andcertainly not against investigators whose playersare barely scraping by. If she is encountered,remember that she is still new to the 20thcentury and having her pause for a fewmoments of child-like wonder at the sight of acoffee percolator or a wireless set only accentthe horror of her summoning up a cobra at awhim or her casting Wrack on a foe.

The key element for the both of these villainsis that, in Cairo at least, they have greaterconcerns than the investigators and will notturn their full attention to them unless givenvery good reason to do so. Nitocris will beoccupied in establishing herself in the modernworld. Shakti, for all his devotion toNyarlathotep, is not an active participant in thescheme to open the Great Gate and is busyworking to resurrect Nitocris and maintain hiscult empire. His concerns do not fully overlapwith the former members of the CarlyleExpedition. This should all be used to theinvestigators’ advantage.

Returning to the goals for this chapter, thethird is to present potential allies. Cairo is full ofpeople who have suffered at the hand of theBrotherhood, such as Faraz Najir, Nyiti, andWarren Besart. It is also home to those who

Cairo202Omar Shakti (and Nitocris): The Question of their SpellsIn the campaign, Shakti and Nitocris are granted whatever spells the Keeper wishes to give them. It is important that before theinvestigators reach Egypt, the Keeper should have already made the selections for the both of them. An unwise choice will grantthese two villains enough power to annihilate even the most over-powered group of investigators and thoroughly wreck acampaign. Some suggestions have already been made for Shakti in “The Magical Mishaps of Masks” on page XX, but the Keepershould examine the spell selection of other Brotherhood magicians such as Penhew and Tewfik and use this as the basis upon whichto build upon.

If the Keeper owns Delta Green: Eyes Only, he might want to review the spells given to Emir Agdesh (page 50), Dennis Detwiller’stake on a millennium-era Shakti, which includes a fetching portrait. It is best to select a short roster of spells that can be calledupon at short notice by either of these mighty sorcerers so that if they are needed, the Keeper does not have to waste timedeciding between magics or checking the precise casting details from the rulebook.

2. Mr. Shakti’s name is no, technically, proper Arabic. Umar was more commonly used in Egypt and Shakti not Arabic at all, and insteadis the name given to the Hindu concept of the divine feminine. If this is likely to trouble you or your players, perhaps his name can bemodified to Umar al-Shakti, with Shakti being a fictional village in the Nile Delta where the villain has his manor.3. The astute Keeper will note that these villains are so well liked that they make appearances in other Call of Cthulhu books; OmarShakti in “The Fate” chapter of Delta Green: Eyes Only and Nitocris in Unseen Masters.

have some grasp of the Brotherhood’smachinations, such as Dr. Ali Kafour andAchmed Zehavi at the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. All,perhaps save poor Nyiti, have their ownmotivation for aiding the investigators beyondsimple benevolence and this should color theirreaction to the investigators’ efforts. This servesthree purposes. First, it provides the Keeperwith a role-playing “hook.” Secondly, theinvestigators will have to work for the clues thatabound in Cairo and not just expect to have suchclues handed over to them freely. Finally, ithelps build on the aforementioned air ofsuspicion and mistrust. After all, if they have tokeep handing over money to a shady antiquitiesdealer or share hashish with a drug addledexpatriate, can this source truly be trusted? TheKeeper should strive to blur the line betweenobvious friend and foe.

Faraz Najir’s knowledge only extends as faras the Carlyle Expedition, but he can provide alead to the Ibn Tulun Mosque and the Girdle ofNitocris. He is a frightened, venal man whoneeds flattery and payment to secure his aid andthis knowledge. Mention should be made of hishideous burns and any investigators who haveplayed the scenario “The Burning Within” fromthis volume might be granted a Cthulhu Mythos

roll to identify their cause. Najir should beplayed as an impoverished hustler, alwayslooking to make his next score, an unscrupulousdouble-crosser who will sell them out at the firstopportunity, or as a con man willing to spinprofitable lies to gullible foreigners (or somecombination of these) as befits the Keeper’scampaign.

Warren Besart possesses far more usefulinformation than Najir, but his secrets areharder to extract. His most important role inthe campaign is to steer the investigatorstowards Nyiti al Wasta, but he should alsoprovide the Keeper with the chance to play therole of a borderline lunatic drug addict. Whilethe handout of his speech is helpful, the Keepershould do not be rigidly confined to that scriptas he relates Besart’s secrets to his investigators.Elaborations, digressions, even opium fueledhallucinations are all fair game while playingBesart.

Newspaperman (and spy), Nigel Wassifserves a similar role to that played by JonahKensington and Mickey Mahoney in earlierchapters. In this way he can be used as adispensary of information on the CarlyleExpedition as well as on Cairo itself. If theinvestigators turn to him for help with obtaining

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The Black CatThis side-scenario has a closer bearing the campaign itself than those of London or Shanghai, as it allows the investigators to gainsome useful information regarding the Clive Expedition. Their primary source will be the drunken Vanheuvelen, who can be usedin a variety of ways. If time is of the essence, then he should be retained just as a hard to locate drunk, rather someone who isalso suffering under Bast’s curse. That said, the information that he possesses about the Clive Expedition and particularly Clive’slies regarding their discoveries can be learned elsewhere, most likely from Agatha Broadmoor or James Gardner. As suggestedin the campaign, the Dutchman might even be willing to betray the investigators to return to Clive’s good graces. Nevertheless,Vanheuvelen and his feline curse can offer an interesting sidelight to the other horrors of Cairo.

If using this scenario, allow the build-up in the frequency and intensity of the feline stalking both Vanheuvelen and theinvestigators to occur naturally. If “The Black Cat” is intended to be run, then the presence of stray cats needs to be mentionedas soon as the investigators arrive in Cairo. The incidence of a single cat watching an investigator can be brushed off as an oddityat best, but when mobs of them start gathering and watching all of the investigators, it will be more of a shock.

Similarly, Neris needs to be portrayed as a mysterious figure with the suggestion that she has supernatural connections,which will help reinforce the fact that the Dutch archaeologist is in over his head. If the investigators manage to obtain a copyof The Black Rites (see page XX), they will find that it will find that contains some very useful knowledge about Nyarlathotep andthe Black Pharaoh. Should Dr. Kafour be unavailable, then this tome can replace or supplement his help, although the Keepershould be cautious about allowing his investigators the use of some of the spells they contain however.

This scenario can also be tied into “The Case of the Cat’s Cradle” on page XX. Perhaps Vanheuvelen was Professor Delaflote’ssource regarding the temple of Bast and his stolen idol was taken from that place as well. Lastly, if the Keeper wants to expandupon the cult of Bast, he should refer to the article “The Sacred Flame of Bubastis” by Dan Harms in Worlds of Cthulhu #4.

a guide, he might recommend ReggieFortworthy (c.f.), as he can be confident that thesomewhat muddled chap will report everythingthat the investigators do back to him over a cupof tea later. One possible consequence of himbeing so alerted by Fortworthy is that not onlywill he be aware of the dangers faced by theinvestigators while they are in Cairo, he mightalso be able to get them out of a situation inwhich they otherwise face certain death. Oncehe has come to their rescue though, the playersshould not expect that sort of rescue to happenagain.

With perhaps the exception of the suaveEdward Gavigan, the dapper Anglo-Eygptianshould strike a very different pose to that ofother figures previously encountered in thecampaign. Wassif is always at ease, always securein any situation. No talk of deadly cults,inhuman monsters, or murderous savagesshould faze him. Let his cool consideration be aconstant, such that when he does discuss in hisever quiet manner what he knows about theBrotherhood, the unmistakable hint of fearshould demonstrate to the investigators thestrength of their enemies. In addition, give him

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Ambush!If the Brotherhood is trailing the investigators, any time spent aboard a train or steamer, or travelling through the desert by car,is the perfect moment to launch an attack. Disguised appropriately, perhaps as nomads or pilgrims, the Brotherhood’s cultistswill blend into any crowds to get as close to the investigators as possible before striking. If aboard a train or steamer, there willbe guards or a crew who might be able to assist the investigators. Unfortunately for any investigators traveling by car, unless theythought to hire some guards for the trip, they only have themselves to rely on.

When attacking investigators travelling aboard a train or steamer, the Brotherhood will attack intelligently, disguising their trueintentions under the auspices of a robbery. They will not carry any obvious proof of their membership in the Brotherhood (andmight even simply be criminal dupes hired by the Brotherhood), but might give some warning from the Brotherhood at themoment of their attack: “The Black Pharaoh Cannot Be Denied!” A “stranger” (yet another cultist) watching the attack mightflash the Brotherhood’s inverted ankh symbol to reveal the true source of the attack before disappearing into the crowdsurrounding the battle. The attackers will use knives and small clubs, but not guns.

An attack on a car will consist of an open truck full of cultists and one or two sedans used to ram or corral the car or carsbeing driven by the investigators. While it makes tactical sense for the Brotherhood to attempt to stop the investigators beforeattacking them directly, there is nothing – especially in a “pulpier” game – to prevent one or more of the ardent cultists fromthrowing themselves onto the investigators’ vehicle while it is still in motion. Knives will be the weapon of choice for most ofthe attacking cultists, but there might be a few armed with one of the cult’s club or carrying several grenades. These will be No.36M Mills Bombs obtained on the black market, and unless the cultist throwing them has been trained in their use, the grenadesare likely to be as much a threat to his fellow cultists as they are to the investigators. In addition, one or two cultists might havepistols.

Lastly, it is quite possible that the Brotherhood’s intention in any attack is to provide a distraction rather than actually killone or more of the investigators. The commotion of battle is the perfect screen for the theft of a tome or artifact, or for thekidnapping of a single investigator or ally. Only after the dust settles will the investigators realize that someone has snatched theprofessor’s journal, the satchel containing the Girdle of Nitocris, or poor Dr. Gardner…

Besart and the Eye of Light and DarknessIf the investigators decide to call upon him again, at the Keeper’s discretion, Besart might have suffered a drug induced, insanity

fueled insight into the purpose of the Eye of Light and Darkness (or some other Egyptological mysteries such as the Girdle ofNitocris or The Black Rites). Such an insight, perhaps gained from his proximity to Carlyle’s dark ceremony, should be vague butnevertheless be enough to both push wavering investigators in one direction or another and make clear the power and importanceof the Eye. How he relays the details of this insight is up to the Keeper. Perhaps he begins muttering in some strange tongue –Shanghainese, an Aboriginal tongue such as Pidgin English or Kariera, a Mythos language like Tsath-yo, or he cries out a prayer inancient Egyptian. Alternately, let him identify the symbol by its true name: “The Eye of Light and Darkness! Shattered! My dreams–my nightmares–all true!”

the bad habit of smoking a distinctive brand ofcigarette – we humbly suggest Morley Exports,with a distinctive red and gold banded filter – sothat when he rifles through the investigators’rooms or has been watching them discreetlyfrom a nearby window, they will know that hewas there by the smell and a stubbed butt.

As has already been mentioned, Wassifknows of Omar Shakti’s connection to (thoughnot his role in) the Brotherhood and will go sofar as to point this connection out to theinvestigators if they are unaware of it. He canalso highlight the inconsistencies in the coverstories for both the Carlyle and CliveExpeditions, and will even hint at HypatiaMasters’ unusual pregnancy. His socialconnections and position as a journalist cansmooth over any ruffled feathers with the CliveExpedition (at least publicly) as well as worthieslike Dr. Kafour. If necessary, he might be able totrack down any one of the more elusive NPCs inthe Cairo chapter, such as Dr. Vanheuvelen orWarren Besart. Lastly, as discussed in the article“‘Tent-pole’ NPCs,” Wassif can function as aninvestigator patron even outside of Egypt if theinvestigators impress him enough.

Nyiti al Watsa is the most difficult potentialally to locate. She lives in a one-room mud brickhut in El Wasta, a poor community three hoursup the Nile. Despite the time and possibledifficulties in getting to El Wasta, theinvestigators can acquire a useful artifact fromNyiti, as long as they speak Arabic or bring alonga translator. Neither Nyiti nor her son, Unaba,can explain the purpose of the Eye of Light andDarkness, she due to her injuries, he due to hisignorance. Still, she is capable of conveyingwordlessly the critical importance of thefragment. Unaba, while unaware of the exact

nature of the secrets that his mother knows,trusts her utterly and will recognize the truefear in her eyes; if nothing else, allow him toconvey her fears in words.

Compared to many of the NPCs that theywill meet in Cairo and Egypt, the erudite andhelpful Dr. Ali Kafour is closer in type to thosethat the investigators will have grown used toencountering in London and New York. He is aneducated, urbane man whose love of antiquitiesis perhaps greater than his love of people.Despite this quirk, the Keeper should notpresent Kafour as some absent-mindedprofessor. He is cagey and guards hisinformation zealously, as he alone outside of thecult’s higher echelons knows the power and thereach of the Brotherhood and will not trust hissecrets with those who would expose him totheir interest without very good reason. Thisscholar is also a potential patron forinvestigators; see page XX for notes on usinghim in this role.

The final major ally the investigators canmeet is Achmed Zehavi, Nazir of the Mosque ofIbn Tulun (cf). Zehavi, who looks like an agedBedouin, has dedicated his life to protecting theworld from the Brotherhood. He is cognizant ofthe Mythos and believes (wrongly) that if hekeeps the Girdle of Nitocris out of sight, theworld will be safe. His stalwart refusal to givethe investigators the Girdle represents his wayof thinking. After all, if something has workedin the past, there is no reason to take a newapproach. When Omar Shakti first attemptedto raid the mosque, he deliberately used an ill-prepared and poorly led force. The villainwanted Zehavi to become over confident, if onlyto make Shakti’s later raid on and destruction of

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Dr. Kafour and the Sword of SneferuThe Sword of Sneferu (see Worlds of Cthulhu #5 & #6) is an organization devoted to combating Nyarlathotep and the Brotherhood.The battle has waged for centuries and the Brotherhood currently has the upper hand.

It is unlikely that the investigators will be inducted into the Sword, but they might be able to acquire some aid through Dr.Kafour. The good doctor and his ancestors have served the Sword of Sneferu for centuries and he is currently a maqabid in theorganization. Although the organization will do what it can to aid anyone battling the Brotherhood, Dr. Kafour will not, underany circumstances, reveal the existence of the Sword. If the investigators ask pointed questions about Nitocris though, he willintimate that the investigators should seek out the Mosque at Ibn Tulun. Using the Doctor’s name with Achmed Zehavi, they willquickly gain both the man’s trust and a meeting.

the compound more insulting to the Nazir andthose who opposed Shakti and his dark god.

The campaign’s dramatic imperativesuggests that the investigators be present for atleast one Brotherhood attempt to seize theGirdle. It could be as simple as a small group ofarmed thugs, perhaps holding hostage one ofthe boys who bring the men their meals, or itcould be the Chthonian described in thecampaign. If this beast seems like Mythosoverkill, have the attackers be mundane cultistswho have excavated their own passage into theold mosque or perhaps a coterie of ghoulsworking at the behest of the Brotherhood;Nitocris is said to have conducted rites withthose beings after all. Perhaps there is somedeeper connection. If the investigators are boldand fortunate, they might be able to protect theGirdle, for a time at least. The Brotherhood’sassaults on its protector should continue untileither Nitocris is destroyed, Shakti is dead, orthe Girdle is known to have been destroyed orlost.

THE CLIVE EXPEDITIONThis Penhew Foundation funded expedition canserve as doppelgangers for either the lost CarlyleExpedition or the investigators themselves,depending on the mood of the campaign. Theleads to the Clive Expedition can even be laiddown in New York, and certainly should be inplace by the time the investigators have leftLondon; the Penhew Foundation is sponsoringthe dig so any visit to their headquarters shouldinclude mention of their latest project. It is apublic project and well covered in the press;make sure that the investigators are aware of it.

Gavigan, if interviewed might even brag aboutthe many “unique discoveries being made” bythe Clive Expedition.

Anyone making an Archaeology roll candetermine that, while security is not a smallmatter for most archaeological sites, the level towhich the Clive group has fortified itself is muchgreater than normal. It is also possible for anyprofessional Egyptologists to have met one ormore of the professional members of theexpedition previously, particularly if they are ofthe same nationality. Clive and Winfield will bemost surprised and more than suspicious if thepre-generated character Paul Maclean is withthe party as they had assumed him long dead.For his part, Maclean is not aware of eitherman’s involvement with the Brotherhood, butloathes Winfield and knows of his sadism.

Dr. Henry Clive will have little time forinterviews, but will speak to anyone that heneeds to in order to maintain his cover or hisposition. He relegates any tour of their dig siteto either Winfield or Gardner as he always hasmore important work to perform. If questionedabout his cover story regarding the missingremains, Clive will angrily rebut any attempt tocast doubt on his lies and will, if pressed, quicklymove to have the investigators ejected from thesite. If asked questions about his current workhe will bluff and drone on a line ofarchaeological prattle; it can be recognized asbunk with a successful Archaeology roll or anEDU x 1 roll, whichever is higher. If aninvestigator asks him directly about thisobfuscation, Clive he will react as aboveregarding the cover story. He is a loyal cultistand a skilled archaeologist, but a mediocre liar.

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Giza or Memphis?The discussion of the Clive Expedition in the campaign states that while the expedition is based in Memphis, the remains ofNitocris were located beneath the Pyramid of Menhaura – more commonly known as The Pyramid of Menkaure. Geographically,these places are many miles distant, potentially a problem when dealing with astute investigators.

The Keeper has a few options here. One is to relocate Clive and his team to the Giza Necropolis and have them workingthere. Historically, however, rulers such as Nitocris would have had pyramids and tombs built at the Necropolis at Saqqara, nearMemphis. Therefore another option would be to relocate her tomb to either one of the real pyramids there such as the Pyramidof Merenre or create a fictitious one for your purposes. This also helps to keep some distance between Clive and the ritesbeneath the Sphinx, allowing the investigators the chance to observe Clive and other members of his party coming and going fromGiza, especially in the build up to the resurrection of Nitocris.

207editMeeting with a GodCairo provides the investigators their best chance to actuallyencounter Nyarlathotep, at least in a form with which they cancommunicate. Before proceeding with this option, you need tocarefully evaluate if a chat with Nyarlathotep will further yourcampaign. If it will not, by no means should you proceed. Havethe Bent Pyramid contain no further secrets and move theinvestigators along.

If, instead, the event will add to the campaign, it needs to beprepared for with some care. Dr. Kafour is the best, but not theonly lead pointing the investigators towards the Bent Pyramid.In addition, Besart’s encounters at the Collapsed Pyramid hinttowards it, Wassif might know some rumors of the CarlyleExpedition’s visit there, and Brady explicitly describes it. Thekey to this confrontation is in Life as a God (see page XX)wherein the author describes his own encounter with the BlackPharaoh inside the Bent Pyramid. Any investigator who has read(or possibly even skimmed) that work should recall that passageat some point during his stay in Egypt, especially upon any visitto the Bent Pyramid at Dashur. Once inside the pyramid, theinvestigators should find the alien chamber easily, for they arebeing guided by Nyarlathotep himself.

When playing out the confrontation with the BlackPharaoh, you should decide Nyarlathotep’s purpose in thisconversation. He is a god, one of the most powerful beings inthe Cthulhu Mythos. There is no reason that upon meeting theinvestigators that he does not slay them instantly unless itserves his purposes not to.4 Several justifications forNyarlathotep sparing the investigators are possible.

He may be using the investigators to punish hisworshippers. They are divided and have placed their wishesabove the worship of Nyarlathotep. How better todemonstrate their weakness (and his own might) than to havesome puny mortals do them grievous harm?

They may serve some greater role in his schemes. Thefoiling of the opening of the Great Gate somehow aids him infuture decades or even æons. Perhaps it is, for reasons even hecannot understand, the will of Azathoth itself. Who can know?

Boredom. Nyarlathotep is not just immortal, he existsoutside of time. We cannot begin to imagine how jaded andbored he is. Perhaps sparing the investigators provides him thatrarest of treats, a fleeting moment of amusement. Alternately,this is his motivation for aiding his various cultists as well. Lifethen is a game and Nyarlathotep is playing both sides…

Knowing his objectives, consider how to portray him. ReadLovecraft’s poem on page XX. If you have a copy of “TheDream-Quest of Unknown Kadath” examine Randolph Carter’smeeting with Nyarlathotep therein. This seems to have been

the literary inspiration for this encounter:

Then down the wide lane betwixt the two columns alone figure strode; a tall, slim figure with the young face ofan antique Pharaoh, gay with prismatic robes and crownedwith a golden pshent that glowed with inherent light. Closeup to Carter strode that regal figure; whose proud carriageand smart features had in them the fascination of a darkgod or fallen archangel, and around whose eyes there lurkedthe languid sparkle of capricious humour. It spoke, and inits mellow tones there rippled the wild music of Letheanstreams.

Imagine how to represent Nyarlathotep, as you understandhim, as well as his motivations. Consider how the dreamsdescribed in “Whispers for the Crawling Chaos” (see page XX)present him; these even may be used as a template for yourown meeting, especially the dream of the Black Pharaoh.Consider how to best turn the investigator to Nyarlathotep’sgoals as you have decided them. You know your players andtheir investigators best. Use that knowledge freely;Nyarlathotep is the closest being in this game to omniscience,after all. This conversation should be a highlight of the campaign.Make it memorable and use it, like Nyarlathotep himself might,to steer things in the direction you want the remainder of yourgame to proceed. Do not squander this once-in-a-campaignopportunity with a scrambled bit of extemporaneous role-playing and low-grade villain maniacal laughter.

Nyarlathotep takes more pleasure in persuasion thanintimidation; violence should only occur as a response toviolence. Menace can be used as a deterrent – the semi-transparent hunting horror should slow most investigators fromattacking. Even if one of the investigators does something rash,consider having Nyarlathotep doing something short of boilinghim alive in a flash. Perhaps they are turned to stone (for atime) or find themselves suddenly alone in the desert milesfrom habitation. Do not allow a single intractable investigator(or player) to ruin the meeting for the entire group.

If, somehow, the investigators fail to take notice ofNyarlathotep’s conveniently placed map showing the key pointsin the creation of the Great Gate, allow them to discover themby some other means. Warren Besart might sketch this in atrance, Broadmoor could have a vision, Kakakatak (in Australia)might share this with the investigators, Carlyle (if located inHong Kong) could do the same, or even a passage in someMythos text might describe it. The discovery of it in the BentPyramid is just one option of many.

4. Or if you are Brian Lumley.

The detestable Martin Winfield is part ofthe new breed of Brothers that Gavigan has beenactively recruiting into the Cult. He idolizesGavigan and would certainly seek to avenge hismentor’s death or arrest at the hands of theinvestigators. (For his part Gavigan regardsWinfield as a useful stooge, an arrogantmurderer deluded into thinking that Gaviganowes him a shred of loyalty or thanks beyond hisimmediate usefulness.) Winfield is an arrogantmisogynist (female investigators with an APPover 11 will catch him leering with a Spot Hiddenroll; if ever treated in a manner that is notwholly deferential by a woman his malice will beobvious without any roll needed) and anarrogant racist (he is openly contemptuous ofthe Egyptians unless Clive is present). He enjoysdemonstrating his superiority over lesser menand will be happy to resort to malicious pranks,such as showing Vanheuvelen the Bast shrine. Iftasked by Clive to lead a short tour, he will likelyseek out Gardner or Sprech and pawn the taskoff on one of them. Lastly, Winfield might takeit upon himself to lure overly curious visitors (orthose he feel slighted him) to their dooms bysending word that he wishes to meet with themonly to have them ambushed by a summonedghoul or byakhee.

The ill-omened medium Agatha Broadmooris an innocent that the investigators shouldattempt to rescue. She will seek them outduring any visit (perhaps being driven by apremonition) to give them some crypticwarning or message. Her occult powers can be

hinted at during such an encounter, or thiscould be played for laughs or even menace. Ifshe has the chance, Agatha will confide in theinvestigators her fears about the return ofNitocris, though she does not realize her role inthese plans. If she meets with the pre-generatedbogus psychic Steven Hughes, allow him tomake Craft (Medium) roll to recognize that sheis the genuine article. At this point a Sanity rollof 1d2/1d4+1 upon his part is not out of thequestion. For more discussion on the possibilityof Broadmoor being used to contact JacksonElias, see page XX.

The Jungian archaeologist James Gardner(hopefully not to be confused with the similarlynamed actor, as my players did) is, likeBroadmoor, an innocent, though one whosesuspicions are very high. If he meets privatelywith investigators, while he cannot contradictClive’s claims about the mummy’sdisappearance, he will listen with interest to anytheories of what actually happened. If hisinterest is piqued, he might also arrange aprivate meeting in Cairo a day or two in thefuture. Gardner can be persuaded withoutmuch difficulty of the fact that there is somesort of cover-up going on, but he is morereluctant to believe that Clive or the others (saveperhaps Winfield) are involved in somethingcriminal or even occult. Reluctance is not thesame as unwillingness, however. Cunninginvestigators should be able to recruit him totheir side if they present a strong case. Hemight also be used to spur recalcitrant

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A note regarding the SphinxUntil 1925, the Great Sphinx of Giza (as it is known to distinguish it from similar, albeit smaller, monuments) was covered, to onedegree or another, with the wind-driven sands of the desert. While some excavations had been conducted throughout the ages,the Sphinx was in part or wholly, submerged in the sand. Typically only the great head and portion of the back would be visible.Beginning in 1925, Emile Baraize, at the behest of the Antiquities Department conducted a systematic clearing of sand from themonument. While the whole of the Sphinx was uncovered by 1926, the work was slow-going and restoration work wouldcontinue for another decade. The Keeper can adjust the state of the Sphinx’s excavation as needed, but any description of it shouldnevertheless include both scaffolding and mountains of sand. The stele entrance to the Brotherhood subterranean tunnels canbe relocated as desired.

Rumors persist that several passages into or under the Sphinx were discovered during the restoration efforts. In 1925 the“psychic” Edgar Cayce first encountered the sphinx in his dreams. He soon after made several predictions about secret chambersbeing discovered within the Sphinx, each containing a store of ancient wisdom. Were his dream visions from the Black Pharaoh?If the Keeper seeds New York with articles about Cayce’s nocturnal visions of the Sphinx, he might make for an interesting contactfor the investigators if they go to him for help and advice… or he could steer them badly wrong…

investigators into stopping the resurrection ofNitocris, begging them for their help in rescuingBroadmoor after he has managed to escapefrom his captors. In a pinch, Gardner could alsoserve as a replacement investigator, though witha POW of 7, he probably is not a long-termoption.

While Johannes Sprech is implied to be anunknowing servant of Nyarlathotep’s plans, thisdoes not mean that this German nationalist andcryptographer might not side with theinvestigators against Clive and the Brotherhood.While unlikely to be enlisted as Broadmoor orGardner, he is not a member of theBrotherhood; he may baulk at subordinating theVolk under the rule of some Egyptian cult. Hispenchant for daily exercise gives him a reasonfor leaving the compound and it is during theseperiodic constitutionals that the investigatorsmight have the opportunity to talk to him.

When the investigators finally go beneaththe Pyramids, do not hold back. Allow theinvestigators to decide upon which entrancethat they wish to use. James Gardner, whotheorizes that there are tunnels beneath theplateau, might be able to identify the threemundane entrances and potentially theconcealed inscription on the stele at theSphinx’s base. The catacombs beneath thepyramids are a great place for the Keeper to upthe horror level. Stress the narrowness of thetunnels, the eons of dust and emptiness thatdefine them, the weight of the pyramids abovethem, and the flickering shadows that createmonstrous shadows on the walls. When thoseshadows turn out to belong to Children of theSphinx, the horror becomes that much morereal. Rather than rolling for random encounters(that is so very 1984), select a few of the optionalencounters and insert them as you wish.

Do not overdo the dangers of the catacombs;there is no fun to be had if the investigatorsnever reach the Grand Chamber ofNyarlathotep. This chamber, especially if visitedduring a Brotherhood ritual, is one of the entirecampaign’s great set-pieces. How many othersingle rooms in Masks of Nyarlathotep get a full-page description? First consider drawingyourself a larger version than the one providedin the campaign book; it can be hard to read. As

a general rule, be careful about applying all ofthe possible Sanity drains in the room at once;the investigators should instead have a few“warning” losses directing them away from anyclose study of the chamber and instead directtheir attention to whatever villains might bepresent. Even when empty the chamberpossesses several ways for investigators toperish, including the leech pit and the Stairs tothe Underworld. The judicious Keeper shouldavoid letting these ruin his players’ fun.

The campaign suggests that theinvestigators play witness to a ritual in theGrand Chamber, most likely the resurrection ofNitocris. This is a great time to pull out thestops, in a narrative sense, but do not feelobliged to do so if the investigators have alreadyseen a major rite previously in the campaign.The same reservation applies if the investigatorshave, through dint of their efforts, kept theGirdle of Nitrocris from falling into the clutchesof the Brotherhood. If the investigators dointerrupt a cult ritual, be circumspect about theSanity cost. The one suggested in the campaignbook will likely incapacitate the majority ofinvestigators and will spoil the fun. The size andpoor illumination of the Grand Chamber mightserve to justify a reduced Sanity cost.

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The Great Sphinz and Pyramid atGiza (and tourists)

One element to consider in such a pitchedbattle is the sheer number of opponents facingthe investigators. The campaign suggests about800 cultists and 100 children of the Sphinx, amass of opponents that even a gug might takepause at. Consider several options to even theodds. First and foremost, you might supply theinvestigators with some help if they confrontthis horde head-on, be it the British Army orminions of the Sword of Sneferu (c.f.). Ifnothing else, allow the investigators to get theirhands on some heavy weapons, such as a LewisGun or a Hotchkiss Mark I (both weapons usedthroughout the British Commonwealth), or abox of grenades cannot hurt. The magic beinginvoked in the Chamber is rather delicate and ifuncontrolled, the Black Sphinx can do much tothin out the ranks of the cultists if it isimproperly summoned; likewise, spell-castinggone awry can always justify raging gouts ofcultist incinerating energy. Even something assimple as the leech pit – combined with the veryslippery floor – evens the odds a bit more. Thecultists feel safe in their haven, so a brazenattack might lead to mass panic. The samecannot be said for Omar Shakti or the otherbrotherhood priest, but they might at least, beconfused enough to overlook the investigatorsin the mad rush of fleeing cultists. Chaos, foronce, is the investigators’ ally.

Terrain, such as it is, is also on the side of theinvestigators. Allow an Idea roll to recognize theroom’s choke-points, the processional bridge inparticular. The investigators might be able toenter the Grand Chamber in disguise and thenrush the altar or throne area before beating ahasty retreat up and across the bridge. Thismethod is by no means guaranteed, but it offersat least some chance of holding back thegathered mass of cultists. The Keeper mightalso wish to disregard the campaign’ssuggestions about how to destroy the variousarticles needed to resurrect Nitocris. After all,how many investigators have Space Mead attheir disposal? The Keeper should allow forsomething a bit more mundane, if not easilyperformed or acquired, to work instead of thesuggested Space Mead.

Should the ritual to resurrect Nitocrissucceed and the Black Sphinx appear, it is atruly Sanity blasting moment for investigators.

Cairo210CurrencyEgypt uses its own currency for transactions. The standard units arethe Egyptian Pound (£), the piaster (P.T.), and the millieme (mil.). Thereare 10 mil. to the P.T. and 100 P.T. to the £.

In the 1920s, an Egyptian pound was equal to 20/6 English shillingsor $5 American.

TemperaturesEgypt is hot and arid. Here are sample temperatures in degreesFahrenheit (day/night) divided by season.Season Day NightWinter 69° 51°Spring 90° 51°Summer 96° 68°Autumn 89° 57°

Papers?Documentation is how the world goes around. Without it, no oneknows who anyone else is. If investigators lack the proper permits toimport firearms they can attempt to forge them, or purchase forgedcopies. A successful Craft (Forgery) roll and six hours of time is sufficientto create a working fake. A failed roll or insufficient time also createsa forgery, but one that a customs inspector can spot with a Spot Hiddenroll. Ideally this work will occur somewhere other than shipboard…

A false weapons permit can usually be purchased in eitherAlexandria or Port Said for £50.

Alternatively, a well placed bribe of at least £10 will convince ashady customs worker to look the other way. It is up to the Keeperto decide whether or not the customs worker is open to a bribe. Atleast one successful Luck roll to find a corrupt customs agent is needed,as are one or more Bargain rolls; the greater the criminal nature of acargo, the larger the bribe will need to be.

Up or Down?When discussing Egypt, it can be confusing what ‘up’ or ‘down’ Nileactually represents. Going up the Nile means traveling inland, south,toward the source of the Nile. Heading down the Nile takes a travelernorth from the source of the river to the Mediterranean.

The Keeper should decide whether or notmentally broken investigators charge into theritual room or not, and how the cultists react tothe sudden intrusion. It is recommended thatany investigator who wanders into the chambernot only attracts the attention of the cultists,but the Black Sphinx as well. The eyeless beastwill gladly scoop up one or more insaneinvestigators first and then turn its head in thedirection of the still sane ones, buying themsome precious time.

QUICK REFERENCEGetting There

The quickest and most efficient way to reachEgypt in 1925 is by boat. Trains, while an option,have to travel around the Mediterraneanthrough Palestine instead of being able to followa shipping route across the sea. Roads suitablefor car travel are very rare in 1920s Palestine, soinvestigators looking to travel overland undertheir own power will have to rely on camelcaravans. For the most adventurous ofinvestigators, the Heliopolis aerodrome wasavailable, but regularly scheduled flights do notbegin until 1927. A dirigible flight from Londonto Cairo will take approximately 48 hours andinclude stopovers in Frankfurt, Germany andBudapest, Hungary and will be the front pagestory of every newspaper in the region. Once onthe ground in Heliopolis it is only a brief trip onthe Express Railway to Cairo at the cost of 20 P.T.The airship tickets, however, are expensive at£120 and the flights infrequent.

When the investigators first arrive in Egypt,they are typically going to make landfall in PortSaid, which is on the east edge of the Nile Deltaat the entrance to the Suez Canal. The first thingnoticed is the heat, followed closely by thethrongs of people crowding any new arrivals.The port is full of people trying to get theirbaggage, trying to hire guides, trying to be hiredas a guide, or just trying to pick pockets. Duringthe summer months of June to August theharbors also reek of dead and rotting fish asfishermen work to offload their cargoes.

Customs inspections in Port Said (as well asin Alexandria, if they arrive there) are rigorousand a passport is required of all entrants. Theywill also need to acquire a visa and register asaliens, ostensibly so that their consulate canprovide assistance if needed. Investigators willbe pleased to learn that not only firearms, butalso explosives, are legal for import, if theinvestigator has the appropriate permit.Lacking the proper permits for weapons canresult in time spent in a small, hot prison celland copious physical punishment if theinvestigators press the issue.

Port Said itself is very different from Cairo.Built in 1859 to support the administration ofthe Suez Canal, it is laid out on a grid and lacksany ruins that archaeologically mindedinvestigators would enjoy. There are, however,British and American consulates, should theinvestigators run into any issues with the law.

It is worth noting that passengers do notdisembark from their ship straight onto the pierat Port Said. The shallow harbor renders itnecessary to have small boats ferry passengersfrom liners to the shore. This costs 4 P.T. perperson and 1 P.T. per trunk to take advantage ofthis necessity.

The journey from Port Said or Alexandriato Cairo is usually made by steam powered train.The British created an extensive network of raillines when Egypt was part of the Empire, andthe Egyptians maintain them. It takes 4 hours 15minutes on the express from Port Said to Cairo;about 5 hours for the standard train. It is 135 P.T.for first class or 73 P.T. for second class to takethe Express to Cairo. The standard train is 30 P.T.cheaper for both first and second class.

The tracks from Port Said follow the route ofthe Suez Canal, with its first major stop atQantara. If any investigators decide to take theOrient Express instead, they enter the countryat Qantara, not Port Said. At the 48-mile marker,the train turns inland and southwest to Ismailia,the home of a British garrison. After Ismailiathe train continues through lush irrigatedfarmland before passing into arid desert. Itagain passes through fertile farmland when itjoins with the train line from Alexandria andthen terminates at the Cairo Central RailwayStation.

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Getting AroundDragomenOnce in Cairo, getting around can be difficult,especially if the investigators do not know thelanguage. Many of the points of interest thescenario are in the Old City, a twisting maze ofalleys and self-styled streets that can changewhen a vendor decides to put up a stall, blockingan alley, or a house burns down, opening a newstreet. The easiest method, as suggested inMasks of Nyarlathotep, is to hire a dragoman, orguide. These guides generally know English (orwhatever European language the investigatorsprefer) and will work for negotiated rates,although most require 20 P.T. a day in Cairo.Although there is an official rate of 8 P.T./houror 20 P.T./day mandated, many foreigners do notknow this and the dragomen are not inclined tomention that in their negotiations.

The campaign includes two dragomen forthe Keeper to choose from: the criminal Hakimor the boy Ma’muhd. Two additional guides arepresented below to allow a Keeper to tailor hisadventure further; one of the pre-generatedcharacters, Asim, can also serve this role (seepage XX.)

Siddiq, age 23, Brotherhood AssassinSTR 14 CON 14 SIZ 12 INT 15 POW 10DEX 13 APP 12 EDU 10 SAN 5 HP 13Damage Bonus: +1D4Weapons: Club 55%, damage 1D8+db.Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 3%, English 45%,

Hide 75%, Listen 45%, Occult 45%,Sleight of Hand 65%, Sneak 70%

Siddiq (or Seddick as he writes in English)should only be used if the Brotherhood of theBlack Pharaoh knows that the investigators area threat and the Keeper wants to show theinvestigators how dangerous the Brotherhoodcan be. This unassuming young man bears a fewfacial scars from years of fighting and self-flagellation. Originally a Coptic Christian, heaccepted teachings of the Brotherhood afterwitnessing one of their rituals in Saqqara. He isvery knowledgeable about both the old and newcities, and initially, will lead the investigators towherever they want to go. After a day or so ofleading the investigators around (and carefullyreporting their movements), he will lead theminto a trap set by the Brotherhood. If theysurvive and his duplicity is not recognized, hewill keep up his pretense until either he isdetected or the investigators are dead.

Reginald Fortworthy III, age 62, continually lost in his mental museumSTR 10 CON 9 SIZ 11 INT 16 POW 15DEX 12 APP 12 EDU 19 SAN 75 HP 10Damage Bonus: +0Weapons: Sword cane 65%, damage 1D6.Skills: Archaeology 45%, Anthropology 55%,

Cairo Streets: 15% (imagined to be75%), Credit Rating 65%, Drone OnEndlessly 95%, Other Language(Arabic) 65%, Other Language(Hieroglyphs) 20% (imagines it to be50%).

Reginald Fortworthy III, Reggie to hisinnumerable friends, is a British ex-patriot whofell in love with Egypt and her past. The man isnot as knowledgeable about Cairo as he sellshimself to be, but he speaks much betterEnglish than any of the other guides and canusually find the common tourist attractions andhotels. Almost any trip lead by Reggie will

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Clearing The StreetsOne aspect of life in Cairo that can throw Western investigators for aloop is Islam. If possible, five times a day, at regular times, Muslimsjourney to a mosque to pray. The prayer is called by muezzins from theminarets of the mosques. The call to prayer goes as thus:

“Allahu akbar (four times); ashhadu anna la ilaha illa’llah; ashaduanna Muhammadan rasulullah (twice); heiya ala s-salah (twice); heiya alal-falah (twice); Allahu akbar (twice);la ilaha illa’llah”

The hours of prayer are:Maghrib – a little after sunsetIsha – nightfallSubh – daybreakDuhr – middayAsr – about three hours after midday.Shops and many other businesses are closed from11AM to 3 PM

on Friday to accommodate an additional sermon that follows Duhr.Investigators will find the streets clear, but not be able to conduct mostfacets of investigation because many of Cairo’s residents will be inmosques praying.

involve the phrase “I was sure it was this way…”followed almost immediately by “No, no. It’s thisway, I’m sure of it!”

His real usefulness however, is in what heknows about ancient Egypt and who he knowsin Egyptian society. If the investigators need tomeet with a consul, he can get them in to seethem. If the investigators need to get into a digsite, he can get them in. If the investigatorsneed to find a shop in the Old City… well… theyare probably out of luck.

Reggie is not meant to be a replacement forDr. Kafour. Despite all of his knowledge, Reggieis oblivious with regards to the Mythos and itsinfluence upon human history.

He is very jovial, unless scorned. If theinvestigators anger him in some way, possibly byrudely turning down his offers to guide them,then they have made an enemy for life. Theirnames and reputations will be besmirched inthe British community in Cairo.

Reggie is never seen in anything other thanthe correct attire and no matter where he is, healways begins his day in a crisp, freshlylaundered suit. In addition, he never goesanywhere without his sword cane.

Without a GuideBrave investigators might wish to tour Cairowithout a guide, especially if they know thelanguage. They can acquire the 1904 Baedeker’sGuide to Cairo for a P.T. or less at many secondhand shops. Unfortunately, the population ofCairo has doubled since 1904, reaching almost850,000 residents. With that much growthcomes a great deal of urban change. Streetsshown on the 1904 Baedeker’s map might begone, and the street an investigator is standingon is absent from the map.

Asking for directions proves almost asuseless as the dated Baedeker’s Guide.Residents, especially in the Old City, will providedirections relative to what they know. Aninvestigator asking for directions to “The Streetof the Jackals” will receive directions that tellhim to proceed “that way until you reach Ali’shouse, then turn right. Go past several alleysuntil you see the old fish monger. Ask him formore directions.”

While it is not impossible for determinedinvestigators to find their way around Cairo ontheir own, it really is in their best interest to hirea dragoman.

VehicularTravelCairo hasnumerousmodernconveniencesforinvestigatorswho do notwant to pushtheir waythroughcrowds full of pick pockets, diseased beggars,and pushy vendors. On foot it can take 15minutes to travel a kilometer on an open streetand up to 45 minutes to move a kilometer in acrowded bazaar.

An open air horse drawn cab, the mostcommon means of transportation in Cairo, canreduce the time spent on an open street to 8minutes per kilometer. Unfortunately, manyalleys are impassable to something as large as ahorse and carriage, and crowds can force acarriage to a standstill. Closed cabs, calledlandaus, are available but must be booked inadvance via a hotel or other reputable broker. Inthe mid-1920s, motor cabs are very rare and cantravel down fewer streets than a horse drawncab, simply because of the winding, twistingnature of many streets. The typical fare isnegotiated before the travel begins and will costan investigator 3 P.T. for the first kilometer witha 1 P.T. charge for each additional 400 meters.Tips are only given for long journeys. It is worthmentioning that most cabbies are illiterate andrely on the passengers for instructions to thedestination. If investigators are new to Cairoand trying to get somewhere fast, a cab ride canbe an adventure unto itself.

Cairo is also home to a modern tramway.Construction began in the mid-1800s and wascompleted by 1917. There are 17 tramlines thatrun along the main streets and connectinvestigators with most of the tourist

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Trams in the Ezbekiya district

destinations, including the pyramids. Pricesaverage 12 mil. for first class and 6 mil. forsecond. The trams have separate compartmentsfor men and women, and female investigatorsinsisting that they be allowed to ride in the maincompartment will be the subject of ridicule, orworse, at the hands of the traditionalist men.Typically, both the men’s and women’scompartments are crowded, noisy affairs,especially second class.

The final mode of transportation commonin Egypt is river travel. Given the timeconstraints that the investigators are under, it isunlikely they will set aside nearly a month for atour of the Nile, but investigators can besurprising and a Keeper should be prepared.

Two companies, Thomas Cook & Son andThe Anglo-American Nile & Tourist Company,both operate steamers that travel up the Nilefrom Cairo to Aswan and back. Both companies’itineraries are the same, and the completejourney takes approximately 20 days, accounting

for stops at all the tourist spots. Steamers leaveweekly, typically around 10AM.

Thomas Cook & Son operates sevensteamers on the Nile and charges £70 for a singleberth cabin and bath or £120 for a double berthwith balcony. The price is inclusive of day tripsto the sites, guides, and meals. Drinks are extra.Its steamers depart from the Kasr el-Nil bridge.

The Anglo-American Nile & Tourist Companyoperates five steamers at a rate of £70 for singleberth and £200 for a deluxe stateroom. Like theThomas Cook & Son tours, the prices areinclusive of everything except drinks. TheAnglo-American Nile & Tourist Companyhowever, offers the added benefit of a doctorand pharmacy on each steamer.

The slow and steady pace of a touriststeamer makes it ideal for Brotherhoodassassins to target the investigators. An assassincould easily murder a guide or crew memberand slip aboard at any of the scheduled stops.The investigators will then find themselves in aconfined location with a crazy, blood-thirsty

Cairo214Tram RoutesThe trams connect many regions of the city, running at intervalsof 6 or 12 minutes depending on the route. Each tram isnumbered and color coded to make finding the proper route aseasy as possible for the literate and illiterate alike. Most hotelsalso have a tram guide available for free.

No. 1 (White Disk): Past the Egyptian Museum andsouth along the Nile’s east bank.

No. 2 (Green): To the Ghezirah sporting club.No. 3 (Red): Ezbekiyah to Abbassiya via Central

Station.No. 4 (White & Red): Circles the central city past the

Arab Museum.No. 5 (Orange): Slaughterhouse to Shamra Palace.No. 6 (Green & Orange): Embaba via Gezirah to Citadel.No. 7: (There is no number 7 tram.

Investigators should be wary ofmen who tell them to take the no.7.)

No. 8 (Blue): West city route.No. 9 (White & Blue): Shubra to Ezbekiya.No. 10 (Red & White): North Cairo via El-Zaher Mosque.

No. 11 (White & Green): Central Station to Citadel.No. 12 (White & Orange): Central Station, Egyptian Museum,

Kasr en Nil, Sayeda ZenebMosque.

No. 13 (Green &White): Citadel, Ezbekiya to the TechnicalSchool in North Cairo.

No. 14 (Green & Red): The Pyramids line. Ezbekiya,Gezireh, Giza, Zoological Gardens,to Mena House Hotel andpyramids. This route takes 1 hourto travel the distance, with carsrunning every half hour between6A.M and 10 P.M. On Sundays andholidays, cars run every quarterhour; extra cars are added fornights with a full moon.

No. 15 (Green & Orange): Nile circle, east and west banks,Museum, Gezireh, ZoologicalGardens.

No. 16 (White & Green): Ezbekiya to Technical School. Thisruns the same route as the No. 13,except it does not go to theCitadel.

No. 17 (Yellow & Red): Central Station, Museum, AbdinPalace, American University.

murderer bent on their destruction. (See“Ambush!” on page XX for more ideas of thissort.)

In addition to the steamers operating by thetwo companies, investigators have the option ofhiring a native felucca. These shallow, lateenrigged boats can carry up to ten passengers andare operated by a crew of three. A felucca canbe hired from almost anywhere along the Nile,and the operators gladly accept 10 P.T. perpassenger for intercity travel. To travel all theway to Aswan would cost £1. A felucca is theonly way to travel through Cairo itself on theNile without booking a tour through a company.Many captains will also provide native food anddrink to travelers. Since they put ashore everynight on lengthy journeys, they provide anothereasy avenue of attack for determinedBrotherhood cultists.

About CairoCairo might be the very first non-western citythe investigators visit, and it can and should bedisorienting to them. The hustle and bustle ofthe natives and foreigners, the unmarkedstreets, the muski stocked with bizarre andtantalizing goods; they all combine to create acity that the investigators can get lost in, bothmetaphorically and physically. What follows is abrief guide that the Keeper can use to flesh outthe investigators’ stay in the city.

European life in Cairo is centered on theEzbekiya, or New Quarter. The nicest hotels,theatres, and nightclubs are found in thisquarter. Although the Ezbekiya hosts many fine

restaurants, most dining occurs in hotelrestaurants, where quality of service is directlyproportional to the quality of the hotel. Loneinvestigators, or those in small groups, mightfind themselves seated with another party.

The Ezbekiya is crowded with bars andEuropean cafes where investigators can enjoyfine wines and other spirits, expensive cigarsand cigarettes, and gentlemanly conversation.Women are not allowed in the bars andEuropean cafes.

East from the Ezbekiya down Sharia Muskiis medieval Cairo. This section of the city wasoriginally built in the Middle Ages and sharesmany common features with medieval Europeancities. The streets are narrow and winding, oftenovershadowed by jutting second floortenements. Most are too narrow for cars orcarriages.

The typical building in Medieval Cairo has ashop on the ground level and a crowdedapartment on the upper levels. In some of thetruly poor sections, such as the one that backsup against Shepheard’s (c.f.), waste is stillthrown from windows into the street below,creating a hazard for anyone walking down thestreet. A generous Keeper will permit a Luck orDodge roll for the investigator to avoid beingcovered in filth.

Mosques stand on almost every corner.Beggars and vendors compete with the cries ofthe muezzin for listeners’ attention. Storytellersregale passersby with tales of djinn andlegendary heroes. Qahwa (coffee shops) arefound on almost every street. They serve as ameeting place for Cairene men to conduct

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The Brotherhood’s QahwaSince every organization tends to have a like-minded coffee shop, it is possible that the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaohmaintains one. This can be useful for a Keeper who wants to bring the Brotherhood more into play, either by giving them a centrallocation to gather aside from Shakti’s estate, or providing a more cohesive social network for the group. If the investigators areable to covertly follow a known member of the Brotherhood, they might be able to tail him to the cult’s favorite qahwa, a smallshop near the Carpet Bazaar. Only the bravest (or frankly, least-sane) investigators would attempt to visit the shop. Such afoolhardy confrontation would most likely result in the deaths of the participating investigators; a wiser course of action wouldbe to determine who visits the shop, such as the Brotherhood assassin Siddiq or one of Shakti’s agents.

If the Brotherhood does have a qahwa it will provide their agents in Cairo a peculiar advantage; due to the social nature ofthe establishment, missing Brothers will be immediately noticed and any insult or injury to one will be almost immediatelyshared by all. While the investigators may be convinced the Brotherhood is communicating their likenesses to wave afterwaves of killers by magic, it will be, instead, this social institution.

business and play games ranging frombackgammon to cock-fighting. Althoughbetting is not allowed per Sharia, it does notstop most qahwa goers from placing wagers.Most qahwa have dedicated clientele with asimilar background or interest. There will becoffee shops for intellectuals, market sellers,thieves, fascists, etc. The communities areusually close-knit, and an absence will be noted.Women are not allowed.

Medieval Cairo is also the location of theBazaar of Khan el-Kahlili, a massive marketplacemade up of numerous smaller bazaars thatencompasses a maze of unmarked streets andalleys. Most shops are tiny on the inside and sellmost of their wares on the streets, furthercrowding the already narrow passages. Theshops closest to Ezbekiya sell tourist baublesand trinkets such as imitation scrolls and modelpyramids. Further in, brave investigators willfind bazaars dedicated to shoemakers, carpets,coppersmiths, goldsmiths, spices, silks, driedproduce, tobacco, guns, tentmakers, a bazaarspecifically set up for Christian merchants, andone for booksellers. It is very easy to get turnedaround and lost in the bazaars and thieves preyon lost-looking travelers.

South of the New Quarter is Old Cairo, builton the remnants of the Roman fortress ofBabylon. The Cairo docks are here, extendinginto the Nile, crowded with ships from dawnuntil dusk. Warehouses for everything fromdried fish to opiates line the narrow streets. Ifinvestigators loiter near a warehouse used forthe recently criminalized drug trade, they mightattract the attention of their owners resulting indangerous, perhaps even fatal, complications.

Old Cairo is also home to numerous Copticchurches, all located within the ruined walls ofBabylon, across the railway lines from thewarehouses and docks. Further away from therail lines, beyond the Coptic Churches, is thecitadel of Fustat el-Kahira, built in the 7thcentury A.D. This region is still being activelyexcavated and curious onlookers can pay 5 P.T.to watch the digging.

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The Bazaar of the BizarreThe bazaars are truly unique experiences. The booksellers’ bazaar for instance, operates solely on negotiated prices. The booksare piled haphazardly in stacks several feet high in an order that only the bookseller can discern. Inventories are kept on yard-long scrolls that the bookseller will gladly peruse for extended periods of time while trying to ascertain exactly which stack agiven book is in. Most locally printed books are sold unbound and it is up to the investigator to have the book bound. If abookseller deems a book particularly valuable, he will keep it in a special case in the shop.

The gunsmith bazaar is another destination that the investigators will likely want to visit. It is located in the deepest recessesof the Bazaar of Khan el-Khalili, next to the wall of Saladin. Guns are often sold as-is, having been repaired several times. Hand-packed ammunition is common, as is heavy weaponry left over from the Great War. Weapons available might include those usedby the British Army (Webley Mk VI and Colt New Service revolvers; Lee-Enfield, Lee-Metford, and Martini-Enfield rifles; andVickers, Lewis Gun, and Hotchkiss Mark I machine guns) or the Ottoman Empire, which was supplied in part by Germany (FNModel 1903 and Mauser C96 pistols, Gewehr 88 and Mauser 98 rifles, and Maxim Gun and Maschinengewehr 08 machine guns),or any weapon that someone might have brought into the country and been forced to sell. Buying a machine gun is likely to bemore involved – and more expensive – than a simple small arm which will be easier to carry and hide. Test fires are encouraged,so the sound of gun-fire is usually ignored. A permit is required to purchase a firearm only when the police are nearby.

At the Keeper’s discretion, investigators might also stumble upon tiny bazaars that sell items of occult significance. However,if you do put an occult bazaar in the medieval Cairo, have it appear just once. When the investigators return to what they swearis the exact same spot, they find a carpet merchant whose family has allegedly run the same business in the same spot for tengenerations. The nature of the shop and its ware is left to the Keeper.

217editCairo and environs

HotelsWith a thriving tourist industry, hotels arecommon-place in the city. This list details onlysome of the more famous.

Shepheard’s Hotel is probably the most famous,not the least because the protagonists of“Trapped With the Pharaohs” stayed therebefore leaving the city.

Located at 8 Sharia Kamil, five minutes fromthe railway station, Shepheard’s, a 350 roomhotel, is the place to stay in Cairo and also theplace to meet anyone of influence. Rooms cost160 P.T. per night while suites run from £1 to £2per night. It is also only open from November1st to May 15th each year, closing during thesummer months for redecoration andrenovation. Investigators will find a restaurant,a grill, a bar, and post and telegraph offices inthe hotel, all open twenty-four hours a day. AChubb safe behind the front desk, rumored tobe impenetrable, is at the disposal of all guests.

Physically, Shepheard’s is impressive. It isfour stories high, has a colonnaded foyer andportico at its entrance, and cupola towers ateach corner. Most of Cairo is visible from theupper floors. Unfortunately, the hotel backs upagainst one of the poorest districts of Cairo;investigators staying in the back rooms will beaffronted by views of goats tethered to rooftopsand the odors of daily life. Investigators whohave rooms on the west side of the hotel willhave a view of Cairo’s thriving red light district.

Staying at the hotel can be a treat. There arenightly concerts on the hotel’s terrace, a largegarden with a raised dance floor, and a bulletinboard in the lobby that announces social eventsall over the city. Investigators will find noticesfor rental boats, flats available for the season,upcoming social clubs, and even expeditionslooking for workers or guests. The lobby is filledwith foreigners in pith helmets setting out on allsorts of expeditions or at least talking about theexpeditions they are financing. The terrace isalso home to important announcements;Howard Carter announced his discovery ofTutankhamen’s tomb on Shepheard’s balcony in1922.

Many of the tourist spots such as the CairoOpera, most of the theatres, and night clubs areall within walking distance. Private meetingrooms, such as the lavish Isis Room, decoratedin an Egyptian motif, are available for rent at £1per event.

The Semiramis Hotel is not as famous asShepheard’s, but is just as luxurious, owned bythe same company, and costs 190 P.T. per roomper night. There are suites on the sixth flooravailable for £5 per night. This snow white, 200room hotel, Cairo’s first Nile-side hotel, is justsouth of the Kasr el-Nil bridge on the east bankof the Nile. Much like Shepheard’s it offers a bar,a post office, a garden, a safe, and a roof terracegrill. In addition, the Semiramis offers centralheating and a season running from December1st to April 15th.

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Thief!Shepheard’s staff has a reputation for honesty andthe investigators should feel free entrusting anyvaluables to its employees. There was not onesingle reported theft by an employee of a guest’svaluables during the 1920s. However, a smallband of French jewel thieves worked the hotelfor a brief period in1926. The Keeper should feelfree to move the time of the jewelry thefts tocoincide with the investigators’ stay and increasethe feeling of paranoia. Maybe the stolen gemsare just a cover or opportunistic theft for robberslooking for something much more eldritch.

What Lies BelowThe hotel was built between 1849 and 1852 over a razed palace. Priorto Shepheard’s, the site had been home to a palace and temple, the firstiteration of which was built in 900 A.D. In the 1750s, Alfi Bey raised theoriginal temple and palace and built a larger one. Bey’s palace laterserved as Napoleon’s headquarters and then Muhammed Ali’s Schoolof Languages. As a result, Shepheard’s sits on a network of cellars andtunnels created by the ruins of the original temple, Bey’s Palace,Napoleon’s Headquarters, and even the school.

Exactly what happens in these tunnels is up to the Keeper. TheBrotherhood could use them to launch a surprise attack on theinvestigators. The investigators could use the tunnels to smuggleantiquities out of the city. The possibilities are endless.

219editShepheard’s Hotel8 Sharia Kamil, Cairo

It is located very near theAmerican University and theEgyptian Museum, but a cab isrequired to reach many of thecity’s amenities such as thenight clubs, theatres, andOpera house from its steps.Most guests however, preferthis hotel over Shepheard’sbecause of the purportedlybetter food and the relaxingview of the Nile, visible from allof the west facing rooms in thehotel.

The Continental-Savoy hotel isnot quite on par with eitherShepheard’s or the Semiramis,but is still a very nice hotelfrequently used by Europeantourists and British

businessmen. It is open all year round, withrooms costing 140 P.T. December 1st to April30th. Between May 1st and November 30th,rooms are 100 P.T. Suites are available for £1.This five-story, architecturally uninspiring hotelhas 400 rooms available as well as a restaurant,

a bar, a post office, and asafe.

It is located at 2 ShariaKamel in the Opera Square,providing easy walking tothe Opera House, theatres,and night clubs thatcomprise Cairo’s nightlife.It was originally christened

the “New Hotel” in the 1860 when KhediveIsmail converted one of his palaces into a hotel.It later was renamed the Continental-Savoy andbecame a rival to Shepheard’s.

Investigators steeped in Egyptology willhandily remember one of the Continental-Savoy’s most famous residents. Lord Carnarvon,financier for Howard Carter’s expedition diedhere in April 1923 of complications frommosquito bites. If the investigators believe inKing Tut’s Curse, the Continental-Savoy mightbe a hotel to avoid.

The Victoria & New Khedival at 2 Sharia NubarPasha has 120 rooms available for 100 P.T. perroom per night. This hotel is open all yearround at the same rate. The majority of TheVictoria & New Khedival hotel’s clientele arewealthy African and Asian travelers who enjoythe restaurant’s local cuisine. In addition totourists, this hotel frequently plays host to thoseinvolved in excavating for the AntiquitiesDepartment. Privately funded excavators stay atthe nicer Shepheard’s.

Cairo also contains many smallerestablishments that provide a bed andsometimes breakfast for investigators trying toconserve money. Most also offer dinner, atnegotiated prices. The quality of room, food,and often company cannot compare to the finerhotels previously mentioned, but they stillprovide respectable service.

The Moderne is located on Sharia Imad el-Din on the corner with Sharia el-Malika Nazli,about a quarter of a mile from the railwaystation. It offers 55 rooms at 30 P.T. The staffcharges an extra 10 P.T. for breakfast.

The Hotel du Nord is also on Sharia Imad el-Din, immediately across the street from therailway station. Large, loud men stand outsidethe hotel proclaiming the hotel’s low rates andexcellent service. While the rates, at 20 P.T. forone of the hotel’s 76 rooms are low, the serviceis debatable.

Cairo220

Semiramis Hotel

Continental-Savoy Hotel

Sorry, sir. We Have No SuitesA persistent rumor of the 1920s was that the surviving members of theRussian Royal Family were staying in the suites atop the Semiramis,protected by armed guards who denied strangers access to the floor.

If the Keeper decides to include this legend, there are several waysit could play out. Investigators sympathetic to the Tsarist regime, or atleast outwardly hostile to Bolshevism, could find allies among theRussians, provided that they speak the language. Count Kurosov, if hesurvived “The Mauretania” (see page XX) might also reappear here.Alternatively, heavily armed foreign guards could attract the interest ofoverly suspicious investigators resulting in a dangerous altercation thatcould attract the wrong sort of attention…

Not far from the Continental-Savoy is theHotel Du Paris, located at 10 Sharia el-Maghrabi.Investigators will not find the hotel on thestreet, however. They have to proceed downGroppi alley to reach the entrance. The hotel’s30 rooms are available for between 34 and 54 P.T.per night with breakfast available for anadditional 8 P.T. This hotel’s biggest advantage isthat it is near Groppi’s (see box).

Truly cheap lodgings can be had for 10 P.T.per night at the YMCA and YWCA, both inEzbekiya. As the names imply, the YMCA is formen only and the YWCA is for women only.Guests stay in open dormitories and are on theirown for food.

The Catholic Sisters of St. CharlesBorromeo at 8 Sharia el-Quasid offer rooms for6 P.T. per night. They will offer assistance towounded travelers without asking too many

probing questions. Investigators discussing theoccult while in the Sisters’ care run the risk ofdrawing the nun’s ire.

A final option for investigators looking forlonger-term residences can stay at guest houses.These establishments are typically family homeswho rent extra rooms or sometimes even suitesto travelers. Bathrooms and toilets arecommunal affairs and meals can usually benegotiated with the proprietor. The longer aninvestigator stays, the more a member of thefamily he becomes and therefore, the lessprivacy he can expect. However, the families dotend to take care of their guests should troublearise. Guest houses range from 60-100 P.T. anight, or 12-15£ per month.

221editA Treat for Investigators (and Cultists)Groppi’s, built in 1909, is the premiere tea garden in Cairo. With one location at 11Sharia Manakh and a second on Suliman Pasha Square, Groppi’s is famous for itsconfections, its chocolates, and its pastries. Giacomo Groppi, a Swiss expatriate, isalso famous for the deli he operates out of the same building. During the evening,guests are treated to the finest in French Cuisine, as well as British food. A stringquartet plays nightly at the Sharia Manakh location

Groppi’s became immensely popular with the British Army of Occupationduring WWI and many British soldiers still frequent both restaurants. In 1922,Groppi added an ice and cold storage service to his business. At its height, itproduced 2,400 blocks of ice per day. Investigators looking for soldierly assistanceor ice to keep a body fresh can find them both at Groppi’s.

‘City of the Sun’Heliopolis, ten miles north of Cairo, is a recent creation designed to be a place of rest and relaxation. Construction, under theBelgian industrialist Baron Empain, began in 1905 and was completed in 1907. As a city designed for luxury and leisure, it has allthe amenities a foreigner in Egypt could hope to expect. There is electricity, running water, drainage, and wide colonnaded avenues.Hotels include the Palace Hotel and the Heliopolis House, both of which offer rates and amenities comparable to Shepheard’s(c.f.). Heliopolis is also home to Cairo Aerodrome (c.f.).

Unlike other Cairene suburbs, the majority of the full-time residents are wealthy Egyptians. Europeans take the ExpressRailway or private transit to enjoy Heliopolis’ racetrack, golf course, or even visit a Hindu palace styled after Angkor Wat (thoughmade entirely of concrete). One of Heliopolis’ claims to fame (though it has been shuttered for nearly a decade by 1925) is Africa’sfirst amusement park, Luna Park, a member of the same chains of amusement parks that includes Coney Island. The parkoperated from 1911 to 1915. After the start of Gallipoli campaign, the grounds of the park were converted into an AustralianField Hospital. The park never reopened. The closed buildings would make an interesting spot for a clandestine meeting orambush.

Suliman Pasha Square - Groppi’s is second right

MuseumsThe Coptic Museum, located in the Church ofel-Muallaga in Old Cairo contains a collection ofreligious items from the various CopticChurches in Cairo. Its library contains twothousand scrolls in Coptic and Aramaic coveringnumerous religious topics. Admission is 5 P.T.;the museum is closed on Fridays and Sundays.

Just north of the Kasr el-Nil Bridge on thebanks of the Nile is the massive two-storyEgyptian Museum. Beyond a doubt, it containsthe largest collection of Egyptian antiquities inthe world. The hours and admission vary by

season. A roomon the secondfloor functionsas a smalllibrary. Anoriginal copy ofThe Book of theDead as well asnumerous otherfunerary textsand spells are

available for public viewing.Photographing, sketching, and copying of

any artifact except those from the recentTutankhamen excavations is allowed.Permission to set up a tripod or easel is required.

The Arab Museum (Dar el-Alhar el Arabiya)is located near Cairo’s Citadel, off the Square of

Bab el-Khalq. Itwas establishedin 1915 by FranzPasha. It housesArabic literaturefrom the 7thCentury forwardas well asanything ofrelevance

excavated at Fustat. It has twenty three roomsfilled with papyri, scrolls, weapons, carpets, andwooden window screens. The interior walls ofthe museum are covered in tiles displayingKoranic passages. The current director is G.Weit, a French expert on Arabic culture.

HospitalsThere are numerous hospitals in Cairo, each withits own level of care and cleanliness. In mostcases, it is preferable to have a doctor make ahouse call to a hotel than spend any length oftime in the hospital itself.

The primary hospital, Kasr el-Aini, is southof the Garden City and serves as the majorteaching hospital. While it is one of the betterhospitals, it is Egyptian run and staffed and notrecommended for foreigners.

The other moderately good hospital is theAnglo-American Hospital on the island ofGezira in the Nile. It is English run and staffed.It only has 22 beds, divided among special,private, and general wards costing 100, 30, and15 P.T. per day respectively. Two beds areavailable free of charge to those in need.

Abbas Hospital on Suliman Square isanother Egyptian run and staffed hospital notrecommended for foreigners.

Deaconess’ Hospital on Sharia Deir el-Banatis a Protestant hospital staffed and run byGermans.

St. Vincent de Paul on Abbassiya is staffedand run by French nationals affiliated with theCatholic Church.

Kitchener Memorial Hospital in Shubraspecialized in women and children.

A military hospital, open only to British andEgyptian soldiers is in the Citadel.

Pharmaceuticals can be purchased withouta prescription from any pharmacy. Mostpharmacies in Cairo set up shop near a hotel.Sinclair’s English Pharmacy is across the streetfrom Shepheard’s Hotel and Anglo-AmericanPharmacy is conveniently found on OperaSquare. More daring investigators can purchasedrugs and herbal remedies from merchants inthe bazaar. The efficacy of these remedies is upthe Keeper. The price is determined bynegotiation.

AsylumsThe Mosque of Ibn Tulun, which figuresprominently in Masks of Nyarlathotep actuallyserved another purpose in historical Egypt, onewhich can be combined with the fictionalized

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Hours of OperationMay to October, Tuesday to Thursday: 8:30am to1pm. Friday: 8:30am to 11:15am. Admission 1 P.T.

November to April, Tuesday and Wednesday,Saturday and Sunday: 9am to 4:30pm. Friday: 9amto 11:15am and 11:40am to 4pm.

Admission 10 P.T.

Hours of OperationNovember to April, Daily: 9am to 4:30pm

May to October, Tuesday and Wednesday,Saturday and Sunday: 9am to 2pm. Thursday: 9amto 11am. Friday: 1pm to 4:30pm.

Admission 10 P.T.

Mosque to create a truly memorable experiencefor investigators. When the investigators arriveas part of the campaign, the Mosque of IbnTulun is technically an insane asylum. This cancreate numerous opportunities for role-playingand make its inevitable destruction morepoignant.

It is the second oldest mosque in Cairo,occupying a square off the Sharia Khodieri.Between 1850 and 1927, the mosque was in astate of disrepair. Very little maintenance wasperformed and the building was not used as amosque during those years. Instead, between1920 and 1925, it served as an asylum for agedmen. Their screams and cries echoed off thewalls, filling the surrounding streets with thescreams of the mentally ill.

The stucco brick walls decorated withintricate wood carvings surround thecolonnaded sahn el-gami, situated in which is adome dating from the 13th century. Thesurrounding columns are all inscribed withverses from the Koran. The pyramids of Gizaand Dashur are visible to anyone willing to climbthe 131’ tall minaret.

Located at the east end of Sharia Abbas, theHospital for the Insane is Cairo’s primaryasylum. The cramped, primitive structurehouses an average of five thousand inmates atany one time. Investigators who enter heremight not return, at least not in the samecondition they entered; assume a Survival Rateof 60% and a 0% Cure Rate. It does not pretendto be a reformative hospital; instead, it serves tokeep the insane off the street.

UniversitiesAl-Ashar University is a couple hundred yardsdown Sharia al-Azhar from the silk merchant’sbazaar. It is the oldest university in Cairo,founded by Caliph el-Aziz in 988 A.D. Womenare not permitted to enter and non-Muslim menare only allowed in under escort. It has almost250 teachers and 5,000 students. Fewer than1,000 of those students are from outside Egypt.Students stay in riwaqs (a kind of partiallyenclosed arcade) within the school’s impressivewalls. Visitors are not allowed in a student’sriwaq.

At the north end of the sahn el-gami, whichoccupies the center of the university, is theschool’s library, Madrasa el-Aqbughawiya with52,000 volumes. The library is closed toeveryone but students. Even a student musthave the permission of a teacher before avolume will be made available to him. In a small,closed-off room are numerous papyri fromPharonic Egypt. This includes The Book of theDead and numerous magical scrolls. Theuniversity vehemently denies that Saladin’s copyof the Al-Azif is present; students asking after ittend to disappear.

The American University in Cairo openedits doors in 1920 in the former palace of KhediveIsmail Pasha. Located on the Kasr al-Aini, itcurrently has less than 400 students. A fullwestern education is offered for the princelysum of 16£ per year plus 13.5£ for compulsorynoon day meals. The AUC offers education toboth male and female students, mainly children

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The South Pacific Comes to CairoDuring the 1920s, an average of 400-500 Muslim students fromIndonesia and Malay study at the University of Al-Azhar. At the Keeper’sdiscretion a few of these students could receive sendings from Cthulhu,or even be outright Cthulhu Cultists. While this has little bearing onMasks of Nyarlathotep, it can set the stage for a follow up campaignagainst Cthulhu himself.

Mosque of Ibn Tulun

of wealthy European and American officialsstationed in Egypt.

An ornatewrought-iron fencesurrounds the three-story palace built inthe French style. Itstrives to have thebest laboratoryequipment, but as anascent university itis still growing andadding to its

resources. If an investigator needs to use basicscientific equipment, he will find it at theAmerican University in Cairo, particularly inexchange for the promise of a donation later…The A.U.C. library is large, growing with newvolumes arriving every day. Coverage of anygiven topic is currently spotty at best though.

The official state university is The EgyptianUniversity, on the grounds of the former palaceof Ez Zafaran at Abassiya. This universitymaintains three faculties. The medical facultyworks at the Kasr el-Aini hospital at Abassiya.The arts and sciences faculty is at the Ez Zafaranpalace. The law faculty is on the west bank ofthe Nile. It has approximately 2,000 students,mostly Egyptian, and both Egyptian andWestern faculty. The university is closely tied toEgyptian nationalist aspirations and has little ofuse to investigators.

Government and Law enforcementIt is unlikely the investigators will get involved inEgyptian politics, but they might seek aid fromeither the American or British consulates.

Egypt in the mid-1920s is struggling to enjoyits newfound freedom. Lord Allenby, BritishHigh Commissioner had declared Egypt’ssovereignty in 1922, and continued to serve asBritish High Commissioner until 1925. Electionsin 1923, 1925, and again in 1926 confirmed SaadZaghlul Pasha as Prime Minister.

The average policeman is an Egyptiantrained by the British. Led by Police Chief RussellPasha, there are approximately 300 policemento patrol the city. In addition, Pasha maintainsa group of secret police that infiltrate any

organization deemed antithetical to the state,“to keep an eye on it.” The police do have theluxury of calling on the British garrison ifneeded, especially in the case of riots. Anycomplaints against the police should beaddressed either to Pasha, or the complainants’consul. However, complaints to Pasha are likelyto fall on deaf ears.

Riots and marches occur every other month.Many are peaceful marches, often initiated bystudents. Police on horseback, armed withsabers and Webley service revolvers try to herdand contain peaceful marches. In the event of ariot, the police, usually with the help of Britishtroops, try to quell the riot as quickly aspossible. In the event of a riot, foreign visitorsare encouraged to stay in their hotels. If theymust venture forth, the better hotels will assignarmed guards for their protection.

Murder is another frequent occurrence,especially in Old Cairo. There is no estimate ofhow many Egyptians are killed in a month, butat least one foreigner winds up dead everymonth. Murder, especially of foreigners and thewealthy is taken seriously. The police investigatethese crimes dutifully, and a suspect is usuallyarrested, even if the suspect is just a poorEgyptian who cannot protest loudly enough. Ifinvestigators need to dump a body, it would bebest to do so in the Old City.

Another crime that attracts full policeattention is drug smuggling. Hashish, opium,and other addictive drugs were legal for sale anduse until 1925, at which point it was madeillegal. This created a massive user base ofaddicts, especially considering that someemployers used to pay their employees in hash.With the sudden cessation of the drug flow,Cairo saw an explosion of drug related crime.The price of heroin jumped from £100/kg to£300/kg practically overnight. Police reactedharshly. Anyone caught importing illegal drugsis executed. Anyone convicted of selling illegaldrugs faces five years imprisonment and a £1000fine. The enforcement of these laws is, however,imperfect.

Antiquities theft is a very serious crime,punishable by deportation, imprisonment, andfor some, death. This is something investigatorsshould be cognizant of when they try to leave

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American University

the country, especially if they have the Girdle ofNitocris, the Black Rites, or perhaps even themummy of Nitocris depending on how eventstranspire. At points of egress from the country,customs officials carefully search travelers andbaggage for antiquities.

There are ways to move antiquities, though.An export license from the Egyptian Museum isthe legal method. More dubious methodsinvolve the thriving black market. Investigatorswith the right connections and plenty ofcurrency can move antiquities out of thecountry through these back channels.

Cairo’s police are busy and make numerousarrests. People detained by the police findthemselves in the Cairo Prison, at the south endof Saladin Square near the Citadel. It is animposing fortified structure, the walls topped

with metal spikes and coated in broken glass.Guards armed with Lee-Enfield rifles patrol thewalls, making sure no one tries to escape fromtheir tiny, cramped cells.

Investigators being who they are, a note onguns is necessary. Provided a foreigner has theproper permits, he can carry his weapon openlyon the streets. Natives, however, are not so luckyand an Egyptian caught with a firearm facesconfiscation of the weapon and imprisonment.

NPC NAMESMost native Egyptians are named using theArabic tradition, which differs in key ways fromthe western which can often lead to confusionor unintentional insult on the part ofinvestigators. Since the 19th century theEgyptian government has, unlike other Arabstates, required all citizens go by at least apersonal name (ism) and a family name (nasab)or other distinguishing name based on place ofbirth or occupation (nisba). Nasab are almostalways masculine names (see the list below)nisba can be places or Arabic words for commonprofessions.

Example: Men- Ali Musa Muhammad, FaudNasr. Women- Nafisa Sulayman, Zaynab AliMuhammad

Sometimes informally individuals might bereferred to by more traditional titles- the kunya,an honorific, usually identifying children, andthe laqab, a description of a personal quality,

225edit

Calling the PoliceCairo police have all but given up persecuting thepetty thieves that haunt the markets, and aredisinclined to respond to a cry for help againstgiant walking sphinx, regardless of the CreditRating of the person making the request. Ifinvestigators want to get police on the scenequickly they should make accusations ofantiquities theft. That crime will usually havepolice respond faster than most others; this canbe thought of by a Cairo native or long-termvisitor with an Idea roll.

RUSSELL WASHBOURNE, age 42, American antiquities smugglerSTR 14 CON 14 SIZ 12 INT 13 POW 10DEX 13 APP 12 EDU 10 SAN 49 HP 13Damage Bonus: +1D4Weapons: Ruby Pistol 55%, damage1D8Skills: Archaeology 65%, Bargain 45%, Fast Talk 45%, Hide 75%, History 55%, Listen 45%, Navigate 55%, Sneak 70%Washbourne runs a small antiquities trading business on the Street of the Jackals. A man of adventure who previously served inthe French Foreign Legion during World War I, he took up antiquities after the war and quickly established himself as a man whocould get anything out of the country, for a price. He usually deals in early dynastic funerary items, or whatever the Bedouinsbring in for sale. He is at his shop daily, and most nights find him spending large amounts of cash at the bar at Shepheard’s Hotel.

Born to a middle class family in New York City, Washbourne loves the money and notoriety that he found in smuggling. Fora nominal fee of £500, he will ensure that any antiquity smaller than a canopic jar will find its way safely out of the country. Pricesincrease exponentially from there. If the end result of the smuggling is a sale, Washbourne will accept payment later, but at least10% of the sale price.

often of a religious nature. Depending on onesrelationship to the person and thecircumstances, some or all of these elementsmight be used; etiquette generally has socialequals or inferiors referring to someone by theirnasab or nisba (if used) while those very familiarwith someone might use their ism (typicallyclose friends or parents).

Example: Nyiti el-Wasta, Hassan al-HajjTo further complicate matters for non-

Arabic speakers, commonly used elements innames are often mistaken for the actual namesthemselves; the most famous of these being“Abdul” (literally abd al) which means “theservant of” rather than a personal name (seebelow). Other elements mistaken as namesinclude abu (father of), umm (mother of), ibn(son of), bin (son of), bint (daughter of), and al(the).

Example: Nyiti above might be called UmmUnba by villagers in El Wasta, which woulddistinguish her from other Nyitis in that place.

Men’s NamesAhmad, Ali, Asim, Bakr, Da’ud, Fadl, Faisal,Hamid, Hassan, Hisham, Ibrahim, Imran, Jabir,Kamil, Khalid, Mahmud, Malik, Marwan,Muhammad, Musa, Nasr, Rashid, Razin, Sa’id,Saleem, Saleh, Sayf, Shahin, Sulayman, Talib,Tamman, Ubayd, Umar, Umayyah, Wada, Yahya,Yusuf, Ziyad

Women’s NamesAbashah, Aisha, Banah, Duqaq, Durra, Fatimah,Fawz, Ghadir, Hafsa, Hawwa, Ijiliah, Jamila,Khayra, Lubaba, Marajil, Maryam, Maysun,Nafisa, Naila, Qabul, Rabia, Rahil, Raziya, Safia,Sahla, Sanaa, Sawda, Suad, Umayma, Wallada,Zaynab

Finally, the addition of ‘abd’ (or ‘amat’ forwomen) to any of the 99 names of Allah, can beused as a name. This list can easily be obtainedonline, and includes constructions such asAbdullah.

A MURDER OF CULTISTSOmar Shakti will happily send waves of Brothersto attack the investigators. Here are a dozenmore, for use as needed. They may also stand infor rioting fellahin, Cairene thieves, or stalwartBedouins.

Cultists/fellahin/theives/bedouins/etcSTR CON SIZ INT POWDEX APP HP db

1. 10 12 09 11 10 14 10 11 +02. 12 14 15 09 13 11 13 15 +1d43. 11 09 11 10 07 11 10 12 +04. 12 13 10 12 10 12 09 12 +05. 13 11 13 13 12 13 10 12 +1d46. 17 13 16 07 09 10 09 15 +1d67. 14 15 11 14 10 11 10 13 +1d48. 09 10 08 12 11 12 12 09 +09. 15 15 13 10 07 13 10 14 +1d410. 11 12 12 13 10 15 12 12 +011. 12 11 15 11 11 13 10 13 +1d412. 10 14 13 11 13 16 15 14 +0Weapons: Fist/Punch 50%, 1D3+db

*Cult Club 55%, damage 1d8+db(‘impale’ results mean the victimhas been pierced by the club’sspike as well for an additional 1d2points of damage).

Kick 25%, 1D4+db*Garrotte 20%, 1d3 points of choking

per round, STR vs. STR tobreak free

Small Kilij (curved sword) 35%,1d6+1+db

Skills: Arabic 55%, *†Archaeology 5%,Astronomy 5%, Conceal 15%,*Cthulhu Mythos 8%, Dodge DEX x 4,*Drive Automobile 10%, †English 5%,Fast Talk 35%, Hide 75%, Listen 55%,Occult 20%, Ride (Camel) 35%, Ride (Horse) 30%, Sneak 60%, Spot Hidden 45%

*Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh only.†Perhaps for 1 in 3 cultists, varying for othergroups. More likely among Brotherhood cultistsworking on the Clive Expedition.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY/RESOURCESThe obvious go-to book for running this chapteris The Cairo Guidebook as it is the last word forCairo when it comes to Call of Cthulhu gaming.The guidebook mentions the Brotherhood ofthe Black Pharaoh, but does little to incorporatethe events of Masks of Nyarlathotep into itsnarrative. The Cairo Guidebook, coupled withthe 1904 Baedeker’s Guide to Cairo and periodnewspaper articles, served as a foundation forthis article, although most sections were greatlyexpanded and modified to fit the needs of thisCompanion. As the guidebook also drew uponthe public domain Baedeker’s guide, similaritiesand some duplication are bound to occur.

As far as fiction is concerned, Lovecraft’sown “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs” is a goodchoice for seeing how Lovecraft imagined Egypt,or at least time spent under a pyramid. Another,non-Mythos source of inspiration is ElizabethPeters’ Amelia Peabody stories. The Peabodyadventures range from the mid-1880s to the eveof World War II and can provide numerousbackground details for a Keeper to integrate intohis game.

Finally, if you have not considered re-watching Raiders of the Lost Ark (or at least the1999 version of The Mummy), you should. Thelater is more era appropriate, but the former nodoubt has left an indelible mark on Call ofCthulhu gaming… Monterrey Jack, we arelooking at you.

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERSAs with other chapters in the campaign, Cairoprovides numerous opportunities to raise thebody-count from among the investigators’numbers. Several NPCs have already beenmentioned as possible replacementinvestigators, including the various dragomen orDr. Vanheuvelen. In addition to those listed anddiscussed elsewhere in this chapter, two pre-generated characters have been provided assources of information or replacements asneeded.

Asim “Sandow the Ox” – This skilled diggerand driver has contacts with both thearchaeological community in Egypt and the

British garrison (being an ex-serviceman) andmight know or be known to almost any of theNPCs to be found in the campaign (at theKeeper’s discretion of course). At a pinch, he isavailable to hire on as a dragoman, or if theinvestigators hire a car or a truck, he might bethe driver for that vehicle. Similarly, if theinvestigators get into trouble or difficulty on thestreets of Cairo, he might come to their aid.Asim is ambitious and knows that making agood impression on visiting Europeans increaseshis chances of becoming a gang leader. With hisprodigious strength, Asim is an imposing figureand a bigger than life figure, and if his playerdecides to play him a manner not dissimilar to ayoung Sallah Mohammed Faisel el-Kahir orSallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark, his Keepershould not discourage him..

Husam al Din Ahmed bin Saleh Al-Fulani –This young man presents the chance to play aneducated Egyptian, a young scholar being taughtby Achmed Zehavi and Nessim Efti at theMosque of Ibn Tulun to become a ulama. Inaddition to his knowledge of Islamic law,astronomy, archaeology, and mathematics,Husam has been taught a little of the truthabout the true nature of the universe and isaware of the Brotherhood’s machinations. He istrained to be a warrior, though he has neverbeen in a fight. Besides this, this young man isa devout Muslim and loyal to teachers at themosque. If the Brotherhood manages to stealthe Girdle of Nitocris and kill Achmed Zehaviand Nessim Efti in the process, then Husam willswear vengeance.

PLUG-IN SCENARIOSSometimes an additional scenario is needed.These scenarios are those that we feel are themost easily adapted to a Masks of Nyarlathotepcampaign (or if a less-perfect fit, contain somevery appealing elements worthy of inclusion)and worth considering in the event that yourinvestigators need to tarry in New York just alittle longer. Note: Books listed as OOP are Outof Print and only available from used booksellers or at auction; PDF indicates that a version

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is available from download at sites likerpgnow.com or drivethrurpg.com.

Title: Thoth’s Dagger and the City With NoName

Type: Parallel Adventure (Boston/New York toCairo to Irem)

Source:Curse of the Chthonians (OOP, PDF),Cthulhu Casebook (OOP)

Notes: In some ways, Thoth’s Dagger is almost aversion of The Complete Masks ofNyarlathotep in miniature, involving theinvestigators in the efforts of a cultdevoted to the Outer God to obtain animportant artefact. Possession of thisartefact will drive the investigators totravel to Egypt through a series ofincreasingly de-habilitating visionsinflicted upon one of their number.Once there they can encounter what isanother of Nyarlathotep’s aspectsbeneath the sands of Egypt and possiblydispel him, at least temporarily.

Although this scenario exposes theinvestigators to another cult devoted tothe Crawling Chaos, the necessary hasterequired to get to Egypt requires theinvestigators to bypass London, or atleast postpone a visit until a later date.One solution would be to run Thoth’sDagger before attempting Masks ofNyarlathotep, almost as a dress rehearsalfor the campaign enabling the Keeper tohint at the threat to come.Another solution would be torelocate the beginning of thescenario, perhaps evencombining it with the eventsof the scenario “The Auction”

in a European city.

This would ameliorate the effects of thevisions and if the investigators succeedthey will have gained temporary victory,though not one that affects thecampaign. The Keeper should providesome information about CopticChristianity, as members of this faithform important allies in this scenarioand its sequel, “The City Without AName.”

Title: Horror on the Orient ExpressType: Parallel AdventureSource:Horror on the Orient Express (OOP)Notes: At first glance, combining these two epic

campaigns seems odd. However, if theinvestigators are traveling from Londonto Cairo, taking the Orient Express is anoption. After finishing in Constantinople,the International Sleeping Car Companywill transport paying customers viamotor car to Haifa. Once there, they canboard another train for Qantara, Egyptand terminate in Cairo.

This combination of adventureswould make for a memorableexperience. There will undoubtedly be ahigh death toll and a constant feeling of“why does this always happen to us?”Perhaps a single chapter, suchas “Love and Death inVenice” might be

extracted and usedon its owninstead.

Cairo228

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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A series of eleven brittle parchment scrolls andscroll fragments, in a careful Arabic text; thehand can be dated to the 9th century by anexpert. The scrolls average about nine inchesacross and are stored in fired ceramic cylinders;the cylinders are covered in faded Arabic withsingle repeating phrase; an Arabic roll identifiesit as the testament of Muslim faith known as theshahadah – “There is no God but Allah andMuhammad is his prophet.” They can be datedto the 11th century, possibly earlier. Theparchment, despite its fragility and age, has aslightly oily or clammy feel, but this will only benoticed by truly incautious examiners and suchpoor handling of historical artifacts will incurthe wrath of Dr. Kafour.

SKIMMING: These scrolls purport to be the writings of oneAbd al-Azrad (probably a pseudonym as it means“the worshipper of the great devourer”),collecting this self-described poet-magician’sknowledge of what he describes as the greatestof truths. The work begins with a tribute by theunnamed copyist to the author, described hereas “the prophet of the Great Devourer” or“disciple of the Forsaker (‘al-khadulu’).” It thenturns to al-Azrad’s grisly text, which covers adizzying array of unholy subjects; the Gods whoonce were, the rites of these beings, the variousalien races who once (and in some cases still)dwell upon our world, various sorcerous andnecromantic incantations, descriptions of pre-human cities and ruins wherein fell beingsdwell, astronomical secrets, apocalyptic

prophecies foretelling the destruction ofmankind… there is almost too much tosummarize, let alone for a sane mind toconsider.

While there are several lacunae in the textwhere the original scroll has broken, it seems tobe (for the most part) a complete version.Annotations to the text (in Arabic, though adialectical later form) appear in an erratic handin a few places, mostly identifying certaindiagrams’ connection to the text. The workseems to have originally been spread betweenfour separate scrolls; now the first two scrollsare in two parts, the third in four pieces, and thelast in three.

RESEARCH: Dr. Kafour is the best source of informationabout this particular edition of theNecronomicon; everything he reports can beconfirmed in the records of the EgyptianMuseum, but this would take a week of carefulsearching (not to mention several Arabic andLibrary Use rolls) as well as unfettered access tothe collection. If he wishes to do so, Dr. Kafourcan relate that the scrolls were obtained by themuseum in 1894 as part of a lot of textsdiscovered in the Sinai port city of el-Ar!sh. Thetexts, most of which were astrological in nature,dated from the 8th-11th century and had beenconcealed behind a false wall in an abandonedbuilding’s cellar at some point in the early 13thcentury – Dr. Kafour suggests it was during the5th Crusade. A fellow scholar at the museumasked Dr. Kafour for his assistance with thescrolls as the language they used was quitedifficult. He soon recognized them for what

Al Kitab al-Azif(!"#$%& '&()) or (!"#$ #%&'())

Bret Kramer

they were and managed to conceal them fromthe rest of the staff. He then began a carefulstudy of the work, arranging the fragments inorder.

If asked about the el-Ar!sh ruins in whichthey were recovered, Kafour is somewhat cagey,as the excavations discovered some collapsedtunnels leading out of the sealed chamber aswell as what were thought to be humanfootprints in the dust. He suspects the presenceof ghuls, but cannot confirm his suspicions. Thesite was destroyed by British bombing in 1917.

Two Library Use rolls (alternately an Occultroll and a Library Use roll or simply a successfulCthulhu Mythos roll) and a full day of research ina moderate or better library will confirm thatthis work is the fabled Necronomicon. Thereferences do not give anything more than themost general discussion of contents (usuallysomething along the lines of how wretched andblasphemous they are), but do name the work’sauthor and Arabic title.

As for the Necronomicon itself, there is muchthat is rumored about the work, but very littlehard information is known. Generally the bookis thought to have been written by an authorusually identified as Abd al-Azrad (sometimesincorrectly as Abdul Al-Hazred), a Yemeni Arabliving in Damascus around 730 A.D. He isthought to have died (or perhaps beenmurdered) a few years after; sometimes thecause of his death is said to have been by somesort of spell or magical being. The work wastranslated into Greek in the 10th century, Latinin the 13th century, and a host of modernlanguages in the centuries thereafter (includingEnglish, French, Russian, and Italian, amongothers).

The contents are almost a catalog of everyconceivable occult topic, including the details ofnumerous supposed elder beings who once helddominion over the Earth and who in some wayslinger here still. The work has been bannedmultiple times, most famously by the CatholicChurch’s Index, and many subsequent editionshave been suppressed and even destroyed. It isuniversally regarded as a terrible and awfulwork.

Further research into modern editions of thework is certainly possible, though outside the

scope of this article. See Daniel Harms excellentCthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia whose chapter onthe Necronomicon provides a compact yetcomprehensive discussion. The Keeper’sCompanion, Volume. 1 also gives the work a fulltreatment, as does the article on the book in theCall of Cthulhu rulebook (“The Necronomicon”).

THOROUGH READING: This is as vile a catalog of blasphemy andmadness as has ever been recorded and it isdifficult to adequately summarize its contentssuccinctly. While much of the text isstraightforward, many passages are veiled incryptic references and obscure allusion, givingadditional bizarre layers of meaning to otherpassages in the work. The true history of theuniverse and of the Earth is outlined in a claritythat invites madness.

A few more practical topics covered includethe named Rites of Ma’u, the Sign of al-Fouri, thechants of ‘Ouidin and Fakfiraji, the Zhoan ritual,Ibn-Ghazi’s formula to discern the unseen, andthe formidable “Elder Sign;” unnamed formulaeenabling the caster to possess the body ofanother, an exorcism rite that invokes thenames of one-hundred spirits, summoningchants for ghuls and “walkers of the wastes,”and myriad of curses; enchantments callingforth (or banishing) beings like Hiat-satah (“TheAll and Nothing”), al-Nah’iaqta (“The Vile OneWho Waits Below”), Izzu Tahuiti (“The DemonSultan”), al-‘Astura (“The Bringer of Madnessand Lord of Pale Countenance”), Umm al-Shahabal-Alf (“The Mother of Endless AccursedThings”), Niarlat Hotep (“He Who Waits at theGate,” “The Laughing Oblivion”), al-Kathaqa(“The Burning One”), and al-Khadulu (“the GreatDevourer” or “the Sleeper Who Yet Hungers”) aswell as their servants; and spells drawing onthese same beings for power or knowledge.

Presumably of the greatest interest topotential readers investigating the fate of theCarlyle Expedition, much is said of the Nephren-Ka, the Black Pharaoh, and Nyarlathotep.Nephren-Ka was a powerful sorcerer who ruledEgypt at the end of the 3rd Dynasty. He wasrumored to have come from Irem (the same citythat al-Azrad claims to have studied in) and

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brought with him the worship of the BlackPharaoh (sometimes called Nyarlathotep); hewas associated so much with this god thatsometimes he was referred to as the BlackPharaoh himself. He was eventually defeated bySûris (better known as Sneferu) and his allies.With Nephren-Ka slain, his body was to be keptin a pyramid built to contain his still-malignantcorpse; after the first attempt collapsed, asecond was built (the so-called “Bent Pyramid”)along with a neighboring pyramid (the “RedPyramid”) that neutralized Nephren-Ka’s evil.

Sneferu ordered that all signs of the BlackPharaoh be removed from Egypt, and aside froman attempt to revive his worship under the reignof Nitocris, this program wassuccessful. Al-Azrad hints thata small cult that paid theBlack Pharaoh homage didsurvive and continued into hisown day. They believe that,though various magical rites,that Nephren-Ka can berestored. Some of thesefollowers were driven southinto what is now the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan (and beyond)where they worshiped theBlack Pharaoh openly in a

different incarnations – that of a three-leggedmonster with a red horn in place of a head.Other rumors persist that some of his offspringwere able to flee from Sneferu’s troops and hidin a great ruin far to the south or southwest ofEgypt.

Al-Azrad also states that, while he ruledEgypt, Nephren-Ka was openly worshiped byinhuman or semi-human creatures, includingghuls and other monstrosities. His very wordsare said to have filled the sky with a noxiousblack cloud that could strike his enemies dead.Nephren-Ka is said have been served by a greatleonine monster that was granted to him by hismaster and upon which the Sphinx was

modeled.Nitocris, inherattempt torevive theBlackPharaoh’sworship,

usedchambersbeneath theSphinx forthese rites.

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Sneferu and his followers invokespirits in their struggle againstNephren-Ka

QUOTES:

That thing/one is not dead which has the ability to continue to exist eternally;and if abnormal times come, then such death may cease.

- - - - -

The Elder Beings will be known by their corruption. They will be within thelimits of your homestead but they will be unknown to you, even as they are uponyour threshold. ‘Iat-satah is the entryway and the guardian and where the bridgebetween places lies. Princes and Sultans govern now where once They held sole rule;They again will rule in these places when Men have been swept away. The masteryof these places will change just as the seasons turn and cannot be resisted. These Onesare ever waiting and watching, for as the eras progress, so they will returnwithout fail.

- - - - -

Such is the tongue of those men who dwelt in that kingdom, the signs of whichare called al-Nahacala, is said to have been made from signs and imagines in theforms of the things known to men, in the style of the Egyptians but in signs unliketheirs. Those who dwell in the Pillared City tell me that some still know the signsand symbols of al-Nahacala and they dwell in cloudy kingdoms north of GanghaRiver. Certain survivors of this kingdom are said to dwell on some islands beyondthe Tang Kingdom and in lands further beyond that. One piece of that tongue wastaught to me as a means to ward against the Million-Eyed one, sometimes called Baq-Shashari. I have copied the symbols here and give each the sound it gives forth.

[This is followed by a series of curious pictograms and a passage in gibberish Arabic.]

Cairo232

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KEEPER’S NOTES: The Black Rites may be obtained in the sidescenario “The Black Cat” during the Cairochapter. For a group with no knowledge ofHieroglyphs, the best options would likely be toask Vanheuvelen or perhaps Dr. Kafour forassistance. Asking a member of the CliveExpedition is another possibility, but theinvestigator might be taking their life into theirhands in doing so. As for Vanheuvelen’stranslation, mastery of Dutch is not absolutelynecessary; a halved German roll mightsubstitute for it at the Keeper’s option. TheKeeper might also consider incorporating thistome into the scenario “The Mystery of the Cat’sCradle,” as given in this book, with the BlackRites having been stolen by Delaflote along withthe Bast idol.

Note that the Cthulhu Mythos percentagegained given in the rulebook is +11% instead of+9% as stated in Masks of Nyarlathotep. Also,the reading time of 41 weeks the rulebookprovides will likely take the reading processbeyond the scope of campaign, so the Keepermight consider reducing this.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Ten papyrus scrolls, ragged along the edges. AnEgyptian Hieroglyphs roll will date the

hieroglyphs to the Thirteenth Dynasty, circa1782-1700 B.C. A subsequent Archaeology rollwill suggest that the state of preservation isremarkable, perhaps even miraculousconsidering the ravages typically inflicted suchtexts by both time and human abuse. (In truth,the magic of Bast has maintained the scroll overthousands of years, in hope that it will serve asthe basis for a new cult someday.)

Vanheuvelen’s typed copy is more mundane;just over two-hundred sheets of low-qualitytypewriter paper, typed on both sides, withfrequent strike-outs and black ink corrections ina sloppy hand (also in Dutch) and hastilypenciled numbering.

SKIMMINGThis is a set of rituals dedicated to the goddessBast, including a complete selection of templerituals and hymns lauding the goddess’ role as achampion of Ra. Other sections deal with theworship of other Egyptian gods, with emphasisplaced on Isis, Sobek, and Set, as well as lesserknown beings like the carrion-feasters of Anubis,the “Black Pharaoh,” and something called theFaceless Master of the Sands.

Readers of the Dutch translation will, withan Idea roll, recognize an unfortunately largenumber of errors or contradictions inVanheuvelen’s text. Comparison to the original

MEDJAT NETIRYUT KEMUT

(The Black Rites)Matthew Pook

Cairo234version confirms that there are pervasivetranslation errors throughout the Dutch text.

RESEARCH: A Library Use roll can uncover some informationabout Bast. Budge’s Gods of the Egyptians statesthat Bast was a cat-headed god of Egypt. Shewas often connected with the heat of the sunand flame, with her primary worship being atthe city of Bubastis. Lewis Spence’s Myths andLegends: Ancient Egypt maintains that Bast is acat-totem, a view that Budge rejects.

A successful Archaeology roll will recall thatEdouard Naville excavated the temple ofBubastis (present-day Zagazig) from 1887-1889,publishing the results of his excavations in 1891.Aside from establishing the antiquity of thetemple itself, nothing exists here thatilluminates the Black Rites. A two and a halfhour trip from Cairo to Zagazig finds nothing ofnote remaining, the temple having been razedlong ago.

Little information exists on the Black Ritesthemselves. A flawed 1832 translation byHelmut Ablehnung-Schädigtmann – SchwarzenZeremonien du Bubastis (In German; CthulhuMythos +5%, Sanity loss -1D3/1D6, 10 weeks tostudy; Spells: Contact Bast), taken from anotherwise unknown Greek edition – might befound in large collections such as the BritishMuseum, the Egyptian Museum, and ColumbiaUniversity. It has only been mentioned in a fewdismissive footnotes in archaeological journals,though a few occultists have independentlyidentified its links to the Cthulhu Mythos.Investigators with an Occult skill over 25% andany points in Cthulhu Mythos may recognizethis connection. A successful Archaeology roll(or halved Occult roll) can uncover a passingreference to the work, but locating a copypresents obvious difficulties.

THOROUGH READING: The earlier scrolls deal with the inner rites of thecult of Bast, recorded by the high priest Rwbh-Karpf (misstated as “Luveh-Kerapht” byAblehnung-Schädigtmann). These contain bothtemple rituals and techniques to be used forpractical, everyday ends. An Archaeology roll (ora History roll, if the character specializes inEgyptology) establishes that Egyptian religionwas intertwined with magic, with priests servingpart-time in the temple and pursuing morepragmatic ends during their off months.Intensive rituals for contacting the goddess byperforming a ritual on her statue called “TheOpening of the Mouth” and summoning cats asher messengers are also provided.

The book also contains a number ofanecdotes on the darker rites of Egypt. Onesection deals with the Golden Crocodile, astatuette of Sobek kept in the inner temple ofthe god at Memphis, to which virgins weresacrificed. It also touches upon the FacelessMaster of the Sands, a faceless sphinx-like beingwearing the double crown that dwells in thedepths of the desert1. Another tale relates howa portal near the Sphinx opens on the full moonnearest to the spring equinox, leading to thetunnels beneath. (This gate is well-buried, butthe Keeper can use this to spur furtherexploration.) The Carrion-Feasters of the Desert,horrid monsters connected with Anubis whodevour the bodies of the sinful, are discussed,and rites to avert their wrath are provided.

The section on the Black Pharaoh mirrorsthe information known to Dr. Kafour, thoughthe name of Nyarlathotep is not mentioned.

1. The Keeper should note the similarities between this tale and that told by Warren Besart.

235editQUOTES:

Stop!Do not move!Do not move, O perilous one!Do not attack me, do not devour my flesh!May I have to tell your name to the Raging One who sent you:Devourer is that name.My countenance is toward the East. The heavens hold thesun, and your mouth encloses the power of magic. Your mouthis filled with knives, your scales are as stone.O thou who would work against this magic with your mouth,do not stop it. O crocodile, who lives on the flesh of theunrighteous.

ODD EFFECTS:Reading the Black Rites may cause unusualmagical effects upon some individuals. TheKeeper should consider inflicting these uponinvestigators who particularly draw Bast’sattentions, either positively or negatively, and toadd some degree of menace to the work.Investigators who particularly offend thegoddess might suffer the same sort of curseafflicting the unfortunate Mr. Vanheuvelen ifdesired. These curious events might fade oncethe investigator departs Egypt; any Sanity lossthey cause should be very minor.

At night, the reader hears the sound of asnarling, roaring big cat in the next room or justoutside as she tries to sleep. Investigation revealsnothing, and any others present hear nothing.

The reader hears frantic scratching at the dooras if something wants to get in. If heinvestigates, the door will be scored withscratches from a small animal, possibly adomestic cat. No-one else will hear thescratching or see the scratches on the door andthey will disappear when the investigator looksagain.

The body of a freshly killed mouse or small ratwill be found in the investigator’s gear. Whilethe creature is still warm, there is no blood orsigns of a struggle.

In a darkened room the investigatormomentarily catches sight of the light reflectingoff the eyes of a large cat. No cat can be found.Throughout the day, whenever a cat (domesticor otherwise) is encountered, the creature seemsto be staring at the investigator. Only the subjectof this observation notices this curious behavior.

APPEARANCE:The Scimitar (Saif in Arabic) is about 4 feet longwith a moderate curve. It is forged of wootz orwatered “Damascus” steel, with a bronze hiltand ebony-covered grip. Unusually, spikes fromthe tang of the blade pierce through the grip, insuch a way that it is impossible to grasp thesword firmly without cutting one’s own hand(unless thick gloves or some similar method isused). When not wielded, the scimitar rests in

an ebony-wood sheath which is lined with blacksilk. While the scabbard is a fine and well-preserved 16th century Ottoman work, the bladeitself differs from normal Arabic (or Persian,Ottoman, etc.) styles and traditions enough tobe impossible to identify the place or even eraof manufacture. Judging from the wear uponthe hilt however, it is undoubtedly manycenturies old.

Cairo236THE SWORD OF

AKMALLAH(Saif ul-Quwah al-Hakim

Abd’Allah)James Haughton

For one of the most powerful and useful artifacts in the game (assuming it is not swallowed bya Chthonian) this weapon has little attention paid to it in Masks. We present this short articleto rectify this omission.

The saif ’s place ofmanufacture is unclearand difficult to date -although it is clearlyancient

ETYMOLOGY:‘Akmallah’ is not an Arabic word and is likely acorruption of Hakim (or Hebrew Akim) meaning“Wise” or “Judge” + Allah, “God”, therefore beingeither “The Sword of Allah al-Hakim”, “Thesword of God the Wise” (or God the Judge,depending on the spelling of Hakim). Thissuggests that the sword brings the judgmentand wisdom of God to bear upon unnaturalbeings.

Readers of The Book of Eibon (or itsderivatives) will note the mention a “Sword ofBarzai”, which was of great use against extra-dimensional beings and bears someresemblance to this blade. Readers making anIdea roll recall that the mighty sorcerer wastraditionally called “Barzai the Wise” furtherstrengthening this connection. An additionalArabic roll suggests that “Barzai” is a possiblecorruption of Bar-Azai, “The Son of Strength” or“The Man of Strength”, in Hebrew or Aramaic.This is Arabicised as ibn-Quwah, while Al-Hakim“the Wise” is a traditional honorific, andAbd’allah or Abdullah means “Servant of God”.

HISTORY:A successful Arabic or Theology (Islamic) roll (orby asking the Nazir of Ibn Tulun or similarperson) recalls that, according to Islamictradition, the Sword is one of those captured bythe forces of the Prophet during the Raid of Sa’dibn Zaid al-Ashhali which destroyed the pagantemple of Manat and killed its “naked blackpriestess”. It was blessed and awarded by theProphet to a Jewish convert and former Rabbi,Abdullah ibn Quwah Al Hakim (formerly Al-Husayn Ben Azai), to whom the Prophetrevealed the face of God, who then went on tobecome one of the Companions and a mightywarrior and teacher, earning the sobriquet “AlHakim” (the Wise).

A Library Use roll can discover somereferences to the Sword having apparentlypassed into the hands of the Ottoman Empiresome time during the reign of Bayezid II (1481-1512) possibly during the Empire’s many warswith the Persians in this period. Pietro Minotto,a Venetian mercenary taken captive by the

Ottomans in 1522, described a swordsman heencountered in Istanbul who wielded a similarblade. He was told the man was “bound byblood” to use the sword (called “The Blade ofWisdom”) whenever “spirits and monstersthreatened the Sultan”.

Readers of Justin Geoffrey’s People of theMonolith will recognize it as the weapon used toslay the great Toad-Demon of Xuthltan inHungary:

“ ‘twas slain with flame and ancientsteel

blessed in old times by the Prophet ofWar

to Rhymes that were old when Arabiawas young

bloodied, bronze clasping, the slayercries ‘On!’ ”

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A hero from the Mosque of IbnTulun disembowels a ghoul withthe sword of Akmallah

CHARACTERISTICS:The Sword of Akmallah does normal damageagainst supernatural beings, including thosenormally immune to such damage.

When wielded by a consecrated wielder (seebelow) who allows the sword’s hilt-spikes todraw blood, this damage is doubled againstextra-dimensional beings – e.g. DimensionalShamblers, Servitors of the Outer Gods, andmanifestations of the Outer Gods (includingAzathoth, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth andDaoloth). A consecrated wielder also doubles hisPOW for the purpose of casting spells ofsummoning, binding and dismissal over extra-dimensional entities, and pays 1 less POW whendrawing an Elder Sign, Eye of Light andDarkness, or other such binding and dispellingsigils. As long as the sword is wielded, thewielder is immune to magics which attack themind (such as Mindblast). These extra benefitsare not gained if the wielder does not allow thehilt to draw blood.

The hilt’s damage to the wielding handcauses a 20% penalty to delicate work with thehand until it heals. Combat using the bare swordhilt results in 1HP of blood loss to the wielder.

The sword does 1 point less damage for everywhole day in which it is neither sheathed inblack silk, nor draws its wielder’s blood. Thispenalty is recovered at the same rate of 1 pointper day sheathed.

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Consecration: The method by which the Sword can become a consecrated wielder is recorded in several Mythos tomes including The Book ofEibon as well as a footnote in the Dee Necronomicon. The hand which is to wield the weapon must be cut with the blade toproduce 5 drops of blood. These must be caught in a silver bowl containing pure water blessed or taken from a sacred spring,which is then heated until steaming over a fire burning Laurel wood and “the incense of Zkauba”. The bowl must then be cooledin dew, then poured over the head of the wielder-to-be by another consecrated wielder, who recites a blessing. At this time theWielder sacrifices two POW points.

Whether any or all of the steps of this rite are in fact necessary is left to the Keeper. The Nazir and several others at theMosque of Ibn Tulun know and can perform this rite. They have never done so for anyone other than a Muslim man of good faith;investigators wishing to become wielders will probably have to convert (or steal the Sword and hope the rite is unnecessary).

An Alternate Origin:A successful Cthulhu Mythos or Dream Lore roll(or a reading of the Book of Eibon) gives analternate history. The Scimitar was forged byBarzai the Wise in Ulthar, to aid him to defeat anyspectral guardians which might stand betweenhim and his mad quest to confront the Gods onthe peak of Hatheg-Kla. It was then retrieved byhis disciple Atal and carried to the city of Sarnath,where it was lost in the doom that overtook thatcity. What became of it after this is unknown.

Below Left and Right:Scenes from the lives of theprevious wielders of the saif; andtheir valorous efforts against theforces of darkness

KenyaKenyaHorror born in Horror born in

the Heart of Africa the Heart of Africa

Keeper’s notes: KenyaBret Kramer, with David Conyers and Matthew Pook

240 Kenya

CHAPTER OVERVIEWKenya is the first chapter in which theinvestigators have a real opportunity to foil theplot to open the Great Gate. Unfortunately to doso they must trek into the African interior, facedown a mountain full of foes, including thesorceress M’Weru and possibly Nyarlathotep’sspawn itself. As a consequence, the potential forinvestigator fatalities is very high, especiallytowards the chapter’s climax.

Kenya is most likely to be visited afterLondon and Cairo though some investigatorsmay be drawn immediately to the colony by thenature of the Bloody Tongue Cult murderers ofJackson Elias. A few may even visit the CrownColony after a Pacific crossing to Shanghai. Inany case, the Kenya chapter of the campaign is acomplex and important one no matter how faralong the investigators might be in their questto thwart the Crawling Chaos.

KEEPER’S TIPSLanguage can be as much of an issue as isdesired. Language is a great way of emphasizingthe foreignness of the setting, assuming that theinvestigators are not natives, and is a constantreminder that they are far from home. Ifsimplicity is paramount, the investigators areable to get by with their own (presumed)English with the help of a singular loyal andtotally unobtrusive native translator who speaksany needed language. As there are over ahundred languages spoken in the Crown Colony,it is suggested that even if a Keeper wants hisgame to be more realistic, he or she should stillmake the situation easier for his players ratherthan adhere to absolute historicism. Anappropriate happy middle ground is describedin Secrets of Kenya, which arranges the nativelanguages into three major groups: Bantu –

which includes Swahili and Gikuyu, Hamitic(now called Cushitic) -Somali, and Nilotic-Masai.Due to linguistic overlap an individual with askill in one of these language groups can speakthe other languages within that group at ! ofhis skill value. Similarly, anyone with Arabic canspeak Swahili at ! their skill in Arabic. Swahiliserved as a sort of lingua franca throughoutKenya and in almost all circumstances someonewith a passable skill in that tongue can belocated; even in the most remote part of thebush, assume investigators can encountersomeone passable in Swahili with a Luck roll.

Investigators with only English (or otherwiselacking one of the various native languages, thisbeing one of those rare occasions where Latin orancient Greek is not helpful in Call of Cthulhu)can get by in the major European centers (andon the trains connecting them), but in the bushthey will require at least one translator,preferably one who is proficient in severalcommon local languages. As always, this helpfulnative can be an agent of the Bloody Tongue, aboundlessly loyal innocent, a venal mercenary,or a host of other possibilities. If theinvestigators have already been ill-used by theirguide in Cairo, do not be quick to do the samehere. Hopefully the investigators will rely on atrustworthy local (Johnstone Kenyatta forexample) instead of hiring the first chap whooffers his services… so what if he is wearing aweird headband and keeps sharpening thatpranga-shaped thing, eh?

While it is almost certainly the first port ofcall for investigators arriving in the colony, thecampaign assumes that investigators will spendlittle or no time investigating Mombasa and itsunseemly importer Ahja Singh. Additionalinformation on the port city itself follows in thisarticle; the Keeper should use it to expand onthe events therein. If the investigators havebeen in recent legal trouble – particularly if in

edit 241London or Cairo – there may be difficulties atcustoms. Bags may be searched, passportsscrutinized, and there may be prolongedquestioning by customs officers. These sorts ofminor inconveniences can help to remindinvestigators to avoid drawing attention tothemselves from the authorities. Fortunately forinvestigators, no one will be too concerned if theinvestigators are carrying large caliber rifles…

While Ahja Singh may not be around, theKeeper should be ready if the investigatorsdecide to examine his operation in Mombasa.Breaking into his warehouse can be a refreshingbreak after the terrors of Cairo or shipboardintrigues. Draw up a sketch-map before hand ifyou think your investigators require one and jotdown a list of Singh’s business contacts for themto find. His ledger, like the others before it, is agood way to direct the attention of theinvestigators. In this way, Mombasa shouldpoint the way to future adventures.

One common erroneous assumption on thepart of players is to assume that Ahja Singh ispart of the Cult of the Bloody Tongue or part ofthe Cult of the Small Crawler. If a side-trip toIndia is desired, feel free to make him into SmallCrawler cultist and include a number ofsuspicious Indian suppliers in his ledger. Formore information on this group see “About theCult of the Small Crawler” on page XX.

Turning to his brother, Tandoor Singh, thereare several issues to consider regarding this foe.First of all, it should be decided how Singh has

been alerted to the investigators’ arrival inMombasa. This will depend greatly on what hastranspired before and how discreet theinvestigators have been. If nothing else, Singhcould simply chance to be in Mombasa when theinvestigators arrive and learn of their interest inAhja Singh, the Carlyle Expedition, or some suchlead. More likely is some form of warning toM’Weru coming from Gavigan or Mukunga; onebit of luck for investigators who crossed OmarShakti is that he is unlikely to pass alongwarnings to M’Weru and the Bloody Tonguecultists. Presumably any warning came viatelegram; while Singh almost certainlydestroyed the original, cagey investigators mightbe able to learn more from the Nairobi telegraphoffice. Even knowing who sent the messagemight demonstrate to players that incautiousactions earlier have only complicated theirefforts.

The next point to consider is whether or notthe investigators take note that they are beingfollowed. Investigators may be imperfect, butthey hopefully could not help but notice asinister looking Indian fellow, in full beard anddastar, skulking after them in the streets ofMombasa. Perhaps a better way of handling it isto simply allow an investigator an Idea roll whileboarding the train to notice Tandoor Singh assomeone they have seen a few times previouslywhile in Mombasa. (And speaking of hisappearance, from the headdress he is shownwearing in his illustration, Singh looks more

Bloody Tongue or Small Crawler?The text of the campaign provides some contradictory statements about which Mythos entity that Tandoor Singh worships. Heis described as “an important agent for the Bloody Tongue,” one trusted by M’Weru with the cover-up of the Carlyle “massacre”and as being in frequent communication with her. At the same time, in his secret room he makes sacrifices to the Small Crawlerand has absolutely none of the usual regalia of the Bloody Tongue – he cannot even wield a pranga.

One solution is that Singh is member of the Cult of the Small Crawler (see page XX), and is engaged in that group’s effortsto make contact with various other Nyarlathotep Cults around the world. Singh has been assigned by his master to assist theCult of the Bloody Tongue and sees his close alliance with M’Weru as a means to promote himself onto his own Cult’s rulingcouncil, hence his diligence and zealous work on behalf of the Bloody Tongue. For her part, M’Weru sees Singh as a useful cut-out and potential fall-guy if the Nairobi branch of the Cult is ever detected by the authorities.

In light of his involvement in the Cult of the Small Crawler, the Keeper should consider giving Singh some leverage over localofficials – perhaps he has been acting as a supplier of illegal narcotics or other types of contraband. This makes him a moredangerous opponent and can be used to thwart attempts to deal with him using Colonial authorities.

242 Kenyalikely to be passing himself off as a Sikh ratherthan a Hindu as stated in the text. This would fitwith his name and is a reasonable adjustment tomake to this villain. It also gives him goodreason to carry his dagger about publicly, as thisis required of male Sikh faithful.)

And another thing… as pointed out in “TheMagical Mishaps of Masks,” strict adherence tothe magic rules in Call of Cthulhu, greatlyimpairs Mr. Singh’s spell-casting abilities. Sincethe spell Strike Blind requires twenty magicpoints and poor Tandoor has but nineteen, theKeeper should either reduce the cost of the spellor grant him, as suggested in that article, someMP granting artifact along the lines ofMukunga’s Scepter of Nyambe. The followingtrinket is offered as a likely candidate:

The Amulet of Atyanta RahasyaThis irregular pentagonal stone, about 1 inchacross, is made up of an unusual smoky quartzwith several prominent veins of a copper-colored metal. It is set on a modern silver chain.When examined under very bright lightsoccasional flashes resembling sparks can beenseen within. When worn this amulet grants 10MP to the wearer, once per day. It also increasesthe chance of summoning and binding firevampires by +25%

As for the attack on the train, it is a greatmeans to remind investigators of the seriousstakes that they are playing for and the threatposed by their enemies. If events since Cairohave been be relatively placid, the sharp andsudden violence of the two fire vampires’ attackcan serve as a powerful shock to the players.

Have the investigators interacting with a fewNPCs on the train – this can be a good time tointroduce either information about Kenya, sideadventures, or even potential new allies – andsuddenly interrupt the conversation with acasual mention that the wall of thecompartment is suddenly on fire. Alternately aSpot Hidden roll will allow investigatorsengrossed in conversation to notice the weirdlights outside their window. Let the attack besudden and furious; the average damage of thethings is 7 points per round each, probablycalling for a CON x 5 roll versus shock.Remember that the purpose of the battle shouldnot be to end the campaign – if more than aninvestigator or two are incapacitated, staff fromthe train should rally and drive off the creatureswith several well-thrown buckets of sand.Another consideration in the investigators favoris that the fire vampires have been dispatchedto kill someone matching the description of theinvestigators (as per Singh’s binding) and mightmistake some unfortunate soul for their quarry.The investigators should arrive in Nairobichastened, wary, and a bit singed, not acollection of ashes with heavily stampedpassports.

The aftermath of Singh’s attack should alsobe considered. A badly injured (or evenmaimed) investigator might require severalweeks of hospitalization to recover – rememberthat injuries heal at a rate of 2d3 points perweek in hospital, with a successful Medicine roll.If time is of the essence to your investigators youmight need to have some replacement

Tandoor Singh vs. Tandoori ChickenDuring the author’s run of Masks of Nyarlathotep, my players were veryamused by Mr. Singh’s first name as it is the same as a type of Indianoven. As it can be hard to take a fellow seriously if you expect to crackhim open and take out some roasted chicken or garlic naan, and manyjokes were had at his expense. If the Keeper feels that Tandoor Singh’sname distracts from play there are two easy options. One is to simplyrename him – Thakur is a reasonable replacement. Alternately, considerTandoor to be a nickname… he does like to roast things after all.

The Uganda Railway from Mombasa

1. The only three individuals with points in Hindi in the campaign are Edward Gavigan, Omar Shakti, and Tandoor Singh. None are likelyto be helpful to investigators.

edit 243characters at the ready; as always, see the pre-generated investigators for ideas. On theup-side, witnesses to the train attack make forpotential new investigator recruits. Burnpatients will need to be kept in a sterileenvironment and limit their movement,something impossible en route to the Mountainof the Black Wind. Remember also that therewill almost certainly be problems in answeringquestion asked by the authorities regarding theattack, especially if one or more investigators (orpotentially other passengers) end up at theNairobi State Hospital (or worse, the morgue)Nairobi’s CID can be used to complicate thesituation, as desired.

While in Nairobi, the investigators will mostlikely be dogged by Tandoor Singh, including theprospect of future fire vampire attacks. Whilethe campaign offers one possibility (one mademore difficult if the Keeper utilities a morehistorically accurate Nairobi), the Keeper shouldprobably tailor Singh’s actions to their owncampaign. If the investigators show no interestin visiting the Nairobi Star, there is no goodreason to have Singh burn it to the ground. Abetter option would be for Singh to stalk theinvestigators for a few days, perhaps with the aidof a few Bloody Tongue cultists (on loan fromM’Weru), and then strike. His efforts will bestymied by the racial barriers of Kenya society(he can’t very well wander about the variouswhites-only hotels). Likewise though,investigator attempts to pursue tailing cultistswill be for naught if they cannot distinguishthem from a sea of African faces…

A singular difficulty arises from TandoorSingh’s Hindi-language Cthaat Aquadingen. It ishighly unlikely that the investigators have thatparticular language at their disposal. Assumingthat the investigators do not simply burn thething, it will take some effort to have ittranslated. Hindi readers in Nairobi are few andfar between (even Mr. Singh has but a 35% in thelanguage)1. The best bet in Nairobi would someassociate of the Natural History Museum, aspresumably the investigators lack any entrée tothe Asian community in Nairobi (or Mombasa)and it would be imprudent to simply solicit the

first fluent merchant encountered. Assume thata willing translator can be found with a skill of40% and a Sanity of 50. As discussed in thediscussion of the contents of that tome, Singh’sinterest is concentrated at certain points of thework; if the Keeper so wishes, the first portiontranslated will be the section containing theprophecy as given in campaign handout #35.

Researching the Carlyle Expedition inNairobi, despite the suggestion in the text thatit requires using the archives of a newspaper,should be a relatively easy thing. Theexpedition, particularly in light of the tragedythat befell it, was big news in this comparativelysmall town. The text on page 114 of thecampaign provides a good summary. Astuteinvestigators will realize that Hypatia Masterswas visibly pregnant (suggesting she was at leastfive or six months with child) while in Nairobi,something she was most definitely not just twomonths previous. While this could beattributed to natural means, investigators awareof her supposed infertility should becomegravely worried. (If an investigator is playingHypatia’s former lover Raoul Piñera, thisshocking discovery might cost him as much as1/1d2 points of Sanity.)

Oddball barrister Neville Jermyn and hisquest for the City of the White Ape can be toostrong a lure to uncertain or unfocusedinvestigators. While he is a very useful NPC,especially helping to organize the investigators’expedition to the Mountain of the Black Wind,the Keeper should decide the value to their owncampaign of the potential distraction ofJermyn’s personal quest. If the campaigncannot sustain such a side-trek, considerreplacing Mr. Jermyn with an identically skilledand stated individual with a different name andno interest in anything Congolese. (See also the“Plug-in scenarios” on page XX for options indealing with a side-trip to the Belgian Colony tothe west.)

Regarding Sam Mariga, there arecontradictions in the campaign’s discussion ofhis knowledge of the Carlyle expedition; he“knows nothing of the Carlyle Expedition,” buthe is clearly more than some clueless bystander.

244 KenyaIt seems likely that his discovery of the massacresite was no accident – he is connected to OldBundari and has a Cthulhu Mythos skill of 10%.Presumably he was assigned by that wise andaged shaman the task of investigating thestrange occurrences near the Aberdare Forest.Mariga will almost certainly hold back on whathe knows, even with investigators that he feelsare trustworthy. Let him tersely recount thebasic facts of the story as it is publicly knownbut offer little else.

After any interview with him, assume thatOld Bundari is aware of the investigators’interest in the Carlyle Expedition; Mariga oranother ally should then surreptitiously keep aneye on them to determine their motives.Presumably Bundari himself communes withthe universe and discovers that he is meant toaid the investigators, leading to their interviewwith him and his giving them assistance. IfMariga joins the investigators on theirexpedition to the Mountain of the Black Wind,remember that he is a grandfather with manyobligations to his family and he will err on theside of caution, only exposing himself to dangerwhen the need is great and his ability to assist isindispensable. Due to his limitations, he wouldnot make a good replacement player characterin most circumstances.

If the Keeper chooses to use the sideadventure, The Game Lodge, be aware thatthere is a good chance that the investigatorscould suffer a casualty or two; even if noinvestigators are killed expect them to suffer afew injuries that may delay their trip to theMountain of the Black Wind. Further, theinvestigators may also assume that the ghouls(small or otherwise) have some relation to theBloody Tongue Cult and could waste some timein looking for it. If the investigators aresuccessful, consider having Col. Endicott,assuming he survives, accompany theinvestigators into the bush, especially if theirnumbers or skills are lacking.

Hopefully the investigators will gain the aidof Old Bundari. The campaign, as written,assumes that the investigators will garner hisassistance to some degree. Since his aid ispredicated more on giving guidance frombeyond than in providing anything of particular

material worth to the investigators, assume thatany sort of behavior short of murder andmayhem will be overlooked by this worthy; whois he to question the will of the gods? He ismore interesting when he is kept as an enigma.Emphasize the mysteriousness of his request tomeet with the investigators. If they arrivefeeling apprehensive, it will add some tension towhat is for the most part of bit of Keeperexposition and gift distribution. The shamanshould appear wise and otherworldly with just ahint of supernatural power to him. Avoid anycomic temptation during the role-playing of thismeeting; the investigators are being sized up byone of the more powerful non-cultist magiciansin Africa, not talking to a Call of Cthulhu Yodasurrogate. Remember that Bundari has an INTof 11, but a POW of 25… greater than nearly everother human encountered in the campaign,including most of the villains. One suggestionthat will have him awe the investigators is tohave him “speak” his introduction throughOkomu through what appears to be telepathy(in reality he told his aide in advance how theyinvestigators are to be greeted). When he finallyspeaks, it should be a surprise.

Regarding his gifts, Old Bundari’spresentation of them is a great role-playingmoment. Have him present each item in turnand explaining how they work succinctly, ifsomewhat cryptically. Avoid any discussion ofgame mechanics and leave needed clarificationto Okomu. It seems reasonable that Bundariwould mention both properties of the fly whiskto investigators rather than just the ability tolocate hidden evil. The whisk might also berecognized as a sign of Bundari’s favor andnatives friendly to the old man who see it willmore inclined to aid the investigators. Who-Is-Not-What-She-Seems has more obvious uses,especially if the Keeper elects to have the BloodyTongue ambush the investigators en route to theMountain. Even if they forget to release her,have her cage break during an attack, preferablyat a moment when the investigators are faringpoorly, and unleash ‘Who’. Another option is tohave Old Bundari give each of the investigatorssome small token or fetish that he simply sayswill help protect them on their way to theMountain. If the investigators are credulous andrespectful to the ancient shaman, the token

The slopes of Black WindMountain

edit 245might grant them a small bonus to Luck (+5% isreasonable) or let the Keeper adjust a single rollin the investigators’ favor, otherwise the tokenproves of no use. A cruel Keeper might haveBundari hand out all sorts of totally mundanejunk that he thinks might be of some mysticalaid.

In most cases the investigators should sufferan ambush on their way to the Mountain. Theform and strength of the ambush greatlydepends on the route selected (see “To theMountain of the Black Wind” later in this articlefor more detail). A party traveling overland onfoot directly to the Mountain should be attackedat least once, most likely by a group of cultists(roughly 2 per investigator). The attack shouldoccur at night just at the party is settling in,allowing for the group to be divided, with someforaging for fuel and perhaps water while therest as distracted with tents and other mundanenecessities. The cultists have been trailing themfor some time (perhaps Spot Hidden rolls tonotice in advance) and their goal is to capture orkill as many investigators as possible. Thecultists may approach under some sort of ruse,claiming to be harmless villagers on their way tosome nearby locale or they may simply comescreaming out of the twilight, headbands on andprangas (or other weapons) at the ready. Ifmore than half of their number are killed orincapacitated, the rest will flee. Capturedcultists will offer nothing but angry threats,offers of retribution, and praise for the God ofthe Bloody Tongue.

If the investigators travel by automobile, orif the Keeper wishes to stage a second ambush,he should have a similar size bunch of cultistslaying in wait at a ford crossing one of theregion’s periodic streams. The cultists may set abrushfire to obscure their movements and willmore likely be armed with ranged weapons likespears and crossbows than the earlier group.They may also attempt to ignite any fuel storesthe investigators are carrying to damage ordisable their vehicles.

Investigators taking the longer and lessdirect route through the Aberdare Forest shouldencounter a much smaller group of cultists,possibly a patrol dispatched by M’Weru to guardthe Mountain’s approaches. If the investigators

are not expected, the patrol (1d6 cultists, or oneper investigator, whatever is smaller) will simplytrail them – again Spot Hidden rolls to notice –and not attack until they reach the first slopes ofthe Mountain, otherwise they attack as above.In any case, surviving ambushers will makehaste back towards the Mountain to warnM’Weru (and most likely suffer and die for theirfailure to waylay the investigators).

One last option is for M’Weru to deploy hervast array of spells in an effort to attack theparty. Her power to bind a leopard might causea leap (1d4+1) of the creatures to attack (Secretsof Kenya, page 102 for their stats or usemountain lions from the main rulebook); aBiology or Natural History roll will recognizetheir collective hunting, particularly of men, asmost unusual. A merciful Keeper might allowthe leopards to break off their attack after oneor more of them is killed. Similarly, M’Werumight give her minions a bound and basketedgreen mamba or two to slip secretly into theinvestigators’ camp during the night or theirambush.

Most dangerously, M’Weru might summonforth one of several types of Mythos beasts.Most likely she would summon a single HuntingHorror, as per the rule book, to attack theinvestigators’ camp at night. Depending on herinterest, M’Weru may instruct the thing toattack and bring one of the investigators back

Ndovu village

246 Kenyaalive, to smash their vehicles and depart, or tokill as many of them as possible. With its 9points of armor and 1d6+12 INT, a HuntingHorror makes for a formidable foe for nearly anyparty. Another option would be to make use ofa Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath. Looking morethan a little like a boab tree, the Dark Young isalmost entirely immune to bullets (among otherthings) and might make mincemeat out of mostparties – though Who-Is-Not-What-She-Seemswould be particularly effective against them, shewill find the Dark Young very unpleasanttasting. M’Weru can also summon Byakhees,but they are less powerful than either earlieroption; perhaps she employs them to conductaerial reconnaissance over the Mountain.Finally, don’t forget the Chakota. While itcannot move with any great speed, one could beused as a part of an ambush – see the section onNdovu village bellow for one possibility.

Particularly well prepared or heavily armedparties might encounter some combination ofall the above. The goal here should be tofrighten the party (possibly suggesting theymove with more caution) and to inject someaction into events, not to end the campaign witha slaughter before they reach the Mountain.

Ndovu village is an ideal staging point forthe investigators before their actual visit to the

Mountain of the Black Wind. The village is closeenough to the center of Cult power that there isno need for Bloody Tongue members tomasquerade as normal villagers, Cult membersmove abroad brazenly here and feel no need toblend into any human society, black or white.Indeed, there are no cultists in Ndovu itself, butthere are more than enough villagers terrified orawed by the power of the Cult who will warn theBloody Tongue of meddling westerners of theirown volition. It is left up to the Keeper todetermine how quickly M’Weru learns of theinvestigators’ approach, if at all; if she is on thelookout for their party and the investigators areopen about their intentions, the news shouldreach her in less than a day. If the Cult is awareof them, but the investigators are cautious andhave a plausible cover story (missionaries, a lostsafari) it might be three or four days. If the Cultis oblivious (or misdirected) and theinvestigators are wary, their visit to Ndovu mightgo unnoticed until they are long gone.

One particularly nasty option would be forM’Weru to use the village as a trap for theapproaching investigators. It would a relativelysimple matter for the Bloody Tongue to takeover the village, putting loyal cultists in chargeof things (a talented guide or good skill inAnthropology might notice the small culturaldifferences, otherwise use Spot Hidden rolls tosuggest something is amiss). The head man willinvite the investigators to a feast in their honorand to celebrate the new well just recently dug.Unfortunately the feast is a ruse and the newwell holds a freshly made chakota (see page 40of the campaign). A dangerous and close-foughtbattle should ensue… Of course, this is anothergood chance to make use of Who-Is-Not-What-She-Seems.

In any case, the village itself should haveavailable any reasonable amount of provisionsthat the investigators require, but some goodslike ammunition and those of Westernmanufacture will be at best very dear or evenunavailable. Reward advanced planning, but donot totally prevent the investigators fromcorrecting some critical oversight. Having thevillagers mention a traveling minister orroaming physician is a good way to explain awaythe sudden appearance of such an individual ifthe party returns to the village in dire need of

edit 247aid. Likewise, if the investigators are sorelylacking in manpower, the pre-generatedcharacters James MacTavish or Father Hendriksmight be encountered in the village and elect tojoin the party. Alternately a brave local boy, hisfamily long abused by the Cult or killed duringtheir possible take-over, may throw his lot inwith the investigators heedless of the dangersahead (use the Tribal Hunter template or therules for making an African investigator on page48 of Secrets of Kenya.)

If the investigators decide to examine theCorrupt Ground, they will not gain any usefulinformation, beyond confirming thedescriptions that they already have of the site,but just because a location does not have newclues or evidence, does not mean that it iswithout merit for the Keeper. The examinationof the site should be an occasion for buildingmenace and tension into the upcomingencounter; stress the alien quality of the area,the foreboding, the unmistakable sign thatsomething terrible and unspeakable happenedhere. If any of the investigators had a dreamvision of the site, as per the article “Whispersfrom the Crawling Chaos,” they might suffer aSanity loss of 0/1 point, but if the proper moodcan be established without some arbitrary lossof Sanity, all the better.

The final challenge of this chapter is theMountain of the Black Wind itself and itsnumerous residents, human and otherwise. Aswritten, the Cult of the Bloody Tongue seemslackadaisical in securing its mountain redoubt.Almost any cautious group of investigators willprobably be able to sneak in, especially if theyarrive during the Great Ceremony, though what

they can safely do once inside is limited. Muchof what transpires is dependent on the calendarand the Keeper’s wishes; if a climatic battle issought, arrange to have the investigators arrivein time for a major Cult ceremony. Be warythough of overplaying this option – if theinvestigators always arrive in the nick of time tosee the ritual summoning of a host of inhumanmonsters and the sacrifice of hundreds of pitifulvictims, they may grow blasé to the whole thing.(In a game of a more “pulp” bent, a major ritualin every location may be a player expectation; asalways, know your audience.) Nothing aboutthe Mountain of the Black Wind should be “ho-hum.”

Since the Cult of the Bloody Tongue wasorganized by exiled Egyptian devotees of theBlack Pharaoh, it seems sensible that certainhints of that be found at the Cult’s centralheadquarters. While artistic motifs and stylingsmight not be high on most investigators’ list ofinterests as they explore the accursed volcano,having some clear linkage between the twoNyarlathotep Cults goes a long way to answeringplayer questions about the back story to thecampaign and reinforces the universality ofNyarlathotep at the same time. Throw in a fewEgyptian inspired carvings, faded hieroglyphicinscriptions, or even a crypt full of themummified remains of the Cult’s ancient prieststo make the connection obvious.

M’Weru’s cavern is the more finished andhuman of the two in the Mountain. The Keepermight include a few touches to show that shestill enjoys creature comforts after her time inManhattan. If any of the investigators werecaptured by the Cult or if anyone is playing a

Ooops!If M’Weru is killed or incapacitated while manipulating the energies of the altar stone, there may be a powerful localized eruptionof its stored magic points. M’Weru would suddenly become an uncontrolled conduit, the magical energies of the stone surgingthrough her in a nearly blinding display of lights. The stone too would rapidly move from a perceptible glow to a brilliant radiance.Give the investigators (and surviving cultists) a few rounds to flee. As for the explosion, perhaps inflict 20d6 points of damagefor anything touching the stone, 10d6 for anyone still in the chamber itself, and 5d6 for anyone foolishly remaining in the nearesthallways. Anyone who flees immediately should suffer 2d6 from the released energies and the shockwave, half that if they canmake a Luck or Dodge roll, half again if they state they throw themselves to the floor or seek out some other secure spot (a nicheor other alcove, under another investigator, etc.) The point here should be to demonstrate the force of the blast with someincidental damage, not kill investigators. The survival of the Spawn is left to the Keeper; presumably poor Hypatia is utterlyannihilated.

M’Weru’s cavern

248 Kenyacharacter that recently lost loved ones to its vileclutches, they may be found in the cage in thischamber. If Sam Mariga is still with the party, akindly Keeper might have him offer to leadthese pathetic souls to safety. One last item ofnote is the marine chronometer; presumablyM’Weru is better attuned to the cosmic forces

than Penhew, damaging or adjusting thesettings of this device might not impede her asmuch as doing likewise to the device on GreyDragon Island. It is left up to the Keeper todecide how useful such tampering will be.

The Great Temple of Nyarlathotep shouldbe presented as very different from the macabre,but ultimately human creation that is M’Weru’scavern. It is an unnatural and accursed cystinside the Mountain, the very reason that theCult selected this location for their worship –perhaps the grotesque altar stone is a meteorite,once embedded within the rock that the earthitself shrank back from, forming the chamber.There is a palpable wrongness in the air herethat no amount of rationalization or bravadocan fully overcome. Hypatia Masters’ grisly fateshould underscore the fundamental awfulnessof the scene and demonstrate the cosmic horrorthat Nyarlathotep embodies. A cruel Keepermight quietly recite her awful litany whiledithering investigators examine the room anddecide what to do next. If one of theinvestigators is play Raoul Piñera, this is amoment full of role-playing potential – do notincapacitate him immediately with a high Sanity

loss – impose it on him after he decides to killher or not. Hypatia might have a moment oflucidity and beg him to release her; let themoment play out before M’Weru or her minionsarrive. Remember also that the Spawn is nottotally defenseless before birth and in dire straitsit may act to preserve itself – the cruel Keepermight allow it to seize control of Hypatia andbargain with or taunt the investigators, or evencall for help with her mouth.

There are any number of ways that yourinvestigators might suffer the dreaded “TotalParty Kill” on the Mountain; for the sake ofeveryone’s enjoyment is best to avoid a TPK, atleast outside of a grand confrontation withM’Weru or the Spawn. One way to ensure sucha scene is to allow the investigators to reach theGreat Temple of Nyarlathotep withoutsignificant opposition. Allow them a fewminutes to decide how to deal with poorHypatia Masters, and then have them bediscovered. The battle will soon be joined byM’Weru – so be ready to make use of hereffectively and remorselessly.

Turning to M’Weru, it is best, as with anyspell-caster, to first review the article “TheMagical Mishaps of Masks” on page XX. She is apowerful and supremely confident sorceress andshe should be unhesitating in her displays ofpower, both magical and mundane. She has nocompunction against sacrificing the lives ofothers, even of her most loyal devotees, if itfurthers her plans. At the same time she isextremely overconfident in her abilities – let thispotentially be her undoing. Remember that herPOW is only 19: if a spell, such as the DreadCurse of Azathoth, calls for a resistance rollversus POW, some particularly willfulinvestigators have a nearly even chance ofbesting her. She may even fall prey to the pulpvillain vice of blithely chatting with yourenemies before you destroy them. Rememberthough, that M’Weru, for all her confidence, isnot stupid. If she is encountered away from thealtar stone or otherwise in danger, she willretreat to the temple of Nyarlathotep; she has nointerest in fighting to the death unless theSpawn is gravely threatened – she correctlyassumes that a failure on this point wouldgreatly anger Nyarlathotep.

“There are no roads where we’regoing....”

edit 249QUICK REFERENCE

Kenya-General InformationThe governmentThe Crown Colony of Kenya is subject to theUnited Kingdom and is governed in day to daymatters by an appointed governor – Sir RobertCoryndon holds this office until his death inFebruary of 1925; Edwin W. M. Grigg replaceshim in October of the same year, serving until1930. The governor is advised by a councildrawn from the British (white) population ofthe colony, but this advisory body lacks any realauthority. The governor in turn reports to theColonial Office; as a protectorate, foreignrelations and security matters are likewisecontrolled by the government back in London.

Security (outside of the cities) and allmilitary concerns fall to the King’s African Rifles,the colony’s de facto army. This force is acolonial army – white officers commandingmostly African troops; these soldiers are usuallycalled askaris. Kikuyu and Somali tribesmen arethe most common in the KAR, but most ofKenya’s tribes have some number of theirmembers in the force, as does Kenya’s Indianpopulation; frequently the British governmentdeploys troops from rival tribes to guarantee theloyalty of the force. The KAR is overseen by theSecretary of State and War back in London.

NPC namesNames for European colonists can be derivedfrom their country of origin. Likewise, namesfor Somalis and the Muslim peoples of the coastare similar to the list provided on page XX of theCairo chapter. Native Africans tended to go by asingle name, adding a mention of theirparticular tribe in formal introductions.Europeans often simply ignored these namesand assigned a nickname to the Africans theyknew in day to day life, such as servants oremployees – “Old Sally” in the market (to acolonist) might call herself “Nanta of the Kikuyutribe” at home.

Here is an abbreviated version of the list thatappears in Secrets of Kenya (page 48). Malenames: Awaru, Chata, Dakari, Gamba, Jayvyn,

Juma, Kamante, Kanyagga, Karanja, Mablevi,Malimu, Musei, Njoka, Omollo, Razi, Saidi,Semoi, Uba, Wamai, Zaid. Female names: Aissa,Catava, Esa, Fola, Hidi, Isoke, Kambo, Kapera,Jendayi, Mandisa, Mburu, Nanta, Nasha, Nyiva,Raziya, Salihah, Sibongile, Tineka, Waweru,Zina. For more information on Kenya’s tribes,see To the Mountain of the Black Wind (pageXX) in this chapter.

TravelUnlike every other chapter, save Australia, theaction in Kenya takes place over a much widerrange of locations. Travel in Kenya combines themodern and the primitive for a curious andsometime surprising time for travelers. TheUganda Railroad offers rapid transportationfrom the coast to Nairobi (and points beyond),though its reliance upon wood for fuel mightsurprise investigators used to more modernEuropean or American services. Theaccommodations are also not up to thosestandards, but compared to the 3rd Class Car (letalone the open flatcars) this is opulent. In theinterior, depending upon terrain, automobilesare increasingly popular, especially for safaris.

Investigators with available cash should beable to hire a truck and a few cars in short order(and drivers if needed), though the Keepershould beprepared toinflict the usualsorts ofinconveniencessuch as flat tires,bent axles, andthe like, especiallyif the partyattempt to moveat any speed.Roads aregenerallynonexistent andof little use. Dueto the prevalenceof tsetse flies,animal mountsare generallyimpossible, butinvestigators who

The complete safari package fromTarlton, Whetham & Burman

250 Kenyawant to watch their horses die may bring themto Kenya.

Air travel is another increasingly popularmethod of traversing the colony. While thereare no formal airfields, very well fundedinvestigators may easily fly from Mombasa toNairobi, though this will attract a great deal ofattention, not all of it welcome. (In the eventTandoor Singh cannot attack on the train, hewill most likely strike at the investigators’ hotel.He may also use his fire vampires to destroy theinvestigators’ aircraft, particularly if it seemsthey wish to use them to scout out the Mountainof the Black Wind.) Fuel and maintenance willbe a constant concern for investigator aircraftand shipping either to Nairobi might take aconsiderable amount of time.

Most Kenyans get about on foot, thoughlong-distance travel (aside by nomadic tribes) isuncommon. The Uganda Railway has spurredthe rapid growth of some places (such asNairobi) but most Kenyans spend most of theirlives close to home. As needed, porters can behired to carry equipment and the necessities oflong-distance treks into the interior, but theinvestigators should face great difficulty infinding anyone willing to approach theMountain of the Black Wind, particularlywithout the aid of some local figure (here iswhere Johnstone Kenyatta or Old Bundari areparticularly helpful). Outfitting such anexpedition should take a week at least, perhapsa few days less if a skilled aide is hired, perhapstwice that if the investigators are fumblingabout on their own. As always there is a goodchance the Cult of the Bloody Tongue will

attempt toinsert agentsinto the ranksof theinvestigators’porters, at bestmonitoringtheir progressand at worstplotting to killthem in theirsleep.

LOCATIONS-MombasaOverviewMombasa is the chief port city of the Kenyacolony and in the mid 1920s vies with Nairobi forthe status of the largest city in the whole of thecolony. The city, lying primarily on MombasaIsland, dates to at least the 12th century and is amix of African and Arabic Culture, overlaid withPortuguese and British colonial trappings.British rule has brought the city increasedwealth as the sea terminal of the UgandanRailway and as the headquarters of the colony(until 1905). The city retains much of thephysical appearance of an Arab city, withwinding streets, ubiquitous markets, andnumerous mosques, though the local trappingsand materials reveal an undeniable Africaninfluence.

Getting aroundMombasa is undeniably a port city and itsorientation is towards the ocean. Numerousdhows ply the city’s harbors and serve to ferrylocals to the villages on surrounding shores. Acauseway connects the island itself to theUganda rail line. Cars are rarer here than in theinterior, due to the winding and narrow streetsof the old city. In Mombasa itself most transportis done on foot – a motor car might takeinvestigators to their hotel but their baggagewill be hauled by porters. Investigators whowire ahead to their hotel can be met at theCustoms House by a team of reliable porters.Others will have to fend for themselves and riskfinding help on their own.

Local government and policeFormerly the capital of the colony, Mombasaretains the infrastructure of that time, includinglarge edifices like the Lever Customs House (stillused for all arrivals) and the ColonialHeadquarters, from which the localadministrators govern the city. Local police aremostly native patrolmen (like soldiers in theKAR, they are often called “askaris”) and whiteofficers, including a small Criminal

The back streets of Mombasa

edit 251Investigations Department (CID). Most of thecity’s police-work is geared towards keeping thepeace between sailors, merchants and locals. Inthe event of serious trouble, the KAR will becalled in to restore order. Just off TreasurySquare, the Portuguese-built Fort Jesus is nowused as the Kenya colony’s main prison.Conditions there are poor, but not as desperateas investigators might fear.

HotelsMombasa has several larger hotels that cater toEuropean visitors. The Castle Hotel is the mostluxurious and is a popular gathering spot forcolonial parties, especially in the well-appointedrestaurant. It does have an unfortunatereputation for female visitors however, as themanager Mr. Schwetafsky (nicknamed“Champagne Charlie,” from the musical hallsong about a flirtatious dandy) is known to takea quick shine to attractive visiting ladies(unattached or otherwise) and abuses hisposition in a clumsy rush of what he thinks ofas seduction. Less assuming is the MetropoleHotel; with similar amenities, but is furtherfrom the town center. The Manor Hotel is alsoreputable, clean, and affordable as well as newerand girded by well-kept gardens. Investigatorsof lesser means might avail themselves of thesailors’ hotels common by the docksides, butsuch places are not known for their comfort or,in some cases, their security.

LibrariesMombasa is a working city and, at least in 1925,does not have a public library or any privatelibraries of note. Back issues of newspapersmight be kept on hand by individuals and someof the hotels might have a small lendingcollection, but anything beyond items from theoccasional news story cannot be uncovered(unless the Keeper so desires).

Hospitals and AsylumsMombasa’s primary hospital is the EuropeanHospital, formerly the English Hospital, nearTreasury Square. Administered by thegovernment, this small facility (about a dozenbeds and as many full-time staff), tends to theneeds of the European community in the city.While the facility has electricity and anoperating room (from 1925 on), piped hot wateris not available until 1935. Patients with moreserious illnesses are transferred back to Europe,if possible. Aside from this facility, investigatorsmust rely on charity hospices or the smallnumber of private physicians.

NewspapersMombasa hasno indigenousnewspaper,though theNairobi-basedEast AfricanStandard hasa small officein the city andpublishes anedition inMombasa.(See theNairobi entryfor moreinformationon the EastAfricanStandard.)European andArabicnewspapersare a common

Mombasa

sight in the port city, though they are generallyseveral days or weeks old depending on theircountry of origin.

NairobiOverviewNairobi is a conscious attempt to create a Britishcity in an African setting. The settlement is notyet three decades old in 1925 (though thepopulation is closer to 50,000 rather than the8000 listed in the campaign). Perhaps 10% of

the population is European(mainly British) with almost twicethat being from India (this groupis usually called “Asian” by thewhites), and the remainder beingnatives.

Getting aroundInvestigators hoping to useaircraft may avail themselves ofthe flat land in the vicinity; in 1931regular flights begin to the city viaImperial Airways, landing at theaerodrome to the northeast ofNairobi. The Keeper shouldremember that a large group offoreigners arriving by airplane (oreven more noticeably, a zeppelin)will almost certainly be the talk of

the town and the subject of one or more storiesin both the Standard and the Star. Wiseinvestigators will wire ahead for supplies ofaviation fuel to be on hand and to bring theirown mechanics, as both will almost certainly be

in short supply. Otherwise, the best way toreach the city is by the Uganda Rail line.

Local government and policeLike Mombasa, Nairobi itself is regularly policedby a large corps of African patrolmen overseenby a group of white officers. Patrols are frequentin white area and at least regular in other partsof the city; the level and quality of the policing(and any evidence of racism) are left up to theKeeper to determine. Investigators who runafoul of the law will be taken at the CentralPolice Station, where they will be held for trial.Foreigners may be deported back to theircountry of origin instead of serving jail time iftheir home nation seeks it. The status of theprisoner will determine whether or not he iskept in segregated cells. Serious crimes areinvestigated by theNairobi CriminalInvestigations Depart-ment (CID), arelatively professionalgroup utilizingmodern investigativetechniques. Also note– any human remainswill be taken to themorgue in the samefacility.

HotelsUnlike New York or London (or even Cairo), theselection of hotels is unsurprisingly morelimited in Nairobi. The finest establishment isthe Norfolk Hotel, which sits on the edge oftown and commands an impressive view of thelocal countryside. The hotel’s fine bar is a socialhub for Nairobi’s white community and is agood place to make helpful friends. Themembers of the Carlyle Expedition, as well asErica Carlyle later, stayed at the Norfolk. TheNew Stanley Hotel, sitting in the center of town,is also well regarded though it lacks the societycachet of the Norfolk. Investigators of humblermeans might stay at the Hampton House, asmall but homey establishment. The expandedversion of Elias’ Nairobi notes indicates that hestayed at this hotel and the Keeper should

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Nairobi vs. “Nairobi”As noted in the campaign, certain liberties were taken with the city asit was depicted compared to how the city actually was in 1925, not theleast of which is the very layout of the town. The Keeper reading boththe campaign and Secrets of Kenya will no doubt realize that the mapsprovided in each differ in many important ways. The fictive and historicNairobi may be freely interchanged, as needed, though a Keeper runninga more Lovecraftian game, rather than Pulp, will want to err on theside of history.

Nairobi from a distance; therailway line can be seen curvingtowards it

The Norfolk Hotel

253editNairobi and environs

Government House

Government Road, Nairobi

254 Kenyaconsider what theproprietor ReggieBaines, a friendlysocial drinker,might be able torelate to anyinvestigatorsstaying there. Ifyou need to placea clue that theplayers havemissed or providean extra lead, then

this would be a good place to do it, perhaps assomething that Elias accidentally left behind.Alternately, Tandoor Singh may have been seenasking after the intrepid journalist, providing afurther lead to his spice shop.

Alternately, investigators might be put up atthe home of a local notable, if they areparticularly famous or have some personalconnection.

Libraries and MuseumsHistorically there are no public libraries inNairobi until the establishment of theMcMillian Library in 1931. To allow theinvestigators to be able to conduct some simpleresearch, the Keeper may (as is suggested inSecrets of Kenya) revise this timeline slightly sothat the facility is opened several years earlierthan actually happened. The focus of theMcMillian Library is sub-Saharan Africa(particularly East Africa), primarily catering toan English colonial audience; the facility was forwhites only – upstanding, well-behaved ones atthat (Credit Rating rolls may be called for).

Titles available inthe collectioninclude a fullrange of Africannewspapers(including nearlycomplete runs ofthe Nairobi Starand the EastAfrican Standard)as well as selectBritish titles –remember that a

“current” issue of The Times might be as muchas a month old, depending on circumstances.The library has a large collection of photographsof Africa as well as portions of private collectionsincluding diaries and journals, any of which mayprovide a clue pointing towards a host of sideadventures or point towards the Mountain ofthe Black Wind. Additionally, if the Keeperthinks it helpful, the library may have a copy ofa useful Mythos tome (such as Africa’s DarkCults) on its shelves, though such works wouldalmost certainly not be in general circulation.

Alternately, sticklers for historical accuracymay force investigators to resort to privatecollections or those held by institutions such asGovernment House, the morgue of the NairobiStar, or the book room of one of the city’shotels.

The Natural History Museum (at theintersection of Government and Kirk Roads) isanother potential stop for investi-gators. Likeother public institutions the collection is closedto blacks, but is open to whites and Indians. Thesmall museum holds a wide variety of tribalartifacts, plant samples, and animal specimens,including several artifacts depicting Mythosbeings and deities, foremost among them aNandi effigy of the God of the Bloody Tongue.There is also a small library dedicated to topics ofinterest to members and visiting scholars; amember must vouch for guests. In 1930 thisinstitution will be renamed for the late SirRobert Coryndon, a former member and governorof the colony until his death in February of 1925.

Hospitals and AsylumsThe primary hospital in Nairobi is the NairobiState Hospital. This relatively modern and well-equipped facility has wards for both white andblack patients (though treatment of whites isunashamedly better than that of blacks andIndians). Treatment here will be on-par withthat of smaller European hospitals; surgery andtreatments (such as they were in the period) areavailable for most ailments, but they are severalyears behind the latest innovations. Notablephysicians, particularly British ones, might beextended an invitation to lecture the faculty.

Several smaller charity hospitals also werein service in Nairobi in the period. These were

edit 255

usually org-anized by

religious org-anizations, such

as the AnglicanChurch, and were

intended as an outreach to thecolonial peoples, though whites may

be treated as well; as elsewhere, racialsegregation is the norm. Investigators who haverun afoul of the local authorities may be able toseek treatment at one of these establishmentson the sly.

As is perhaps to be expected, there are nodedicated insane asylums in Nairobi. Treatmentwould be limited to sedation and confinementat a hospital (if wealthy), convalescence at home,or jail. The best hope for investigators who gomad in Kenya is a return to Europe. Individuallocal doctors may have some training in thenascent art of psychiatry, but such practiceswould be informal at best.

NewspapersNairobi is home to two newspapers – The EastAfrican Standard and the (fictional) Nairobi

Star. The former was founded inMombasa in 1902, but relocated itsoffices to Nairobi in 1910. Publisheddaily, it is the larger of the city’s twopapers and will reprint stories fromEuropean news agencies along withlocal pieces. The Nairobi Star and its

publisher Natalie Smythe-Forbes arediscussed in some detail in thecampaign; it is also a daily publication,though consisting only of a single page.Both newspapers focus on the interest ofcolonial whites, though the Standard isboth less parochial in focus and point ofview. Local stories predominate in both;the fire on the Mombasa train will be

front-page news in both. Of the twopublications, the Standard is demonstrably

larger (having a professional staff) and muchmore widely read, though the Star has a loyalreadership particularly in Nairobi. If TandoorSingh is successful in his magical destruction ofthe Star, the generous editor of the Standardwill allow his rival use of his newspaper’s pressesfor a weekly edition until such a time as newprinting equipment can be obtained.

TO THE MOUNTAIN OF THEBLACK WIND

The culmination of this chapter lies not in thegrowing cities of the colony, but within the so-called Mountain of the Black Wind (or in SwahiliEusi Upepo wa Mlima). To reach it investigatorsmust undertake an overland trip lasting severaldays. The degree of planning and preparationrequired is left up to the Keeper to decide.Assume that a skilled aide like Sam Mariga orNeville Jermyn can successfully organize themanpower and equipment needed for the trip,obviously barring any interference from the Cultof the Bloody Tongue or its agents. For theactions of the Cult, see the discussion on severalambush options earlier in this chapter. Makesure to emphasize the lush and vibrant plantsand animals along the way, all the better toreinforce the lifeless horror that is the CorruptGround. Hints can also be given to the reach of

The slopes of Black Wind Mountain cannot beapproached by vehicle

the Bloody Tongue; protective charms andsymbols may decorate an increasing number ofvillages the closer investigators grow to theMountain; Spot Hidden roll to notice,Anthropology to understand unless a native. Anabandoned farm might be uncovered, perhapsbelonging to James McTavish (see the pre-generated investigators below) the symbol ofthe Bloody Tongue painted (is it paint?) on aninside wall. Use these small signs to buildmenace.

There are two general routesto the Mountain, a direct one anda more circuitous one. The directroute across the plains begins byrail to Thika and then along theRift Valley to the northeastturning northwest into the passbetween Mount Kenya and theAberdare range. The land isgenerally open, dottedoccasionally with white-ownedplantations and native villages.The closer that the investigatorsget to the Mountain, the greaterthe chance that they will comeunder the watch of the Cult of theBloody Tongue and that locals willbe either members of the Cult orobedient to it out of simple fear.Without delays for weather or

other impediments assuming that they move at

a normal pace, investigators can reach the slopesof the Mountain in three and one half days ofhiking. If automobiles are used, the time can bereduced to a mere two days, but require oneMechanical Repair and two Drive rolls per dayto keep the vehicles moving at full speed.

The less direct route follows the slopes of theAberdare range, first north towards Kiambu andthen north-northeast towards the Mountain.Automobiles are of no use due to the roughterrain; on foot it will take at least five days toreach the mountain, perhaps more if the area’smany small streams are flooding. Villages arefewer and farther between and whiteplantations almost non-existent after the firstday’s travel. The investigators are much lesslikely to be observed by agents of the Culthowever.

Throughout the trip, and especially once theinvestigators reach Ndovu village, turn the focusof events into an increasingly ominousforeshadowing about the Mountain. Their firstview of it should send a shudder down theirspine – it simply looks wrong. If theinvestigators saw Miles Shipley’s painting of it,remind them of it now. The Corrupt Ground, ifvisited, should be an unambiguous sign of thepower and evil of the area. Likewise, the curiousplant growth on the Mountain should hint atthe dark contents within. Animal life shouldgrow less frequent; even the buzzing of insectsmay vanish. Alternately, have those animals thatremain act strangely – a leopard might openlytrail the investigators party or insects mightgroup in unnatural spiraling formation. Theremains of an elephant or other large animalmay be found, torn to shreds by some unknown,but clearly monstrous predator; a CthulhuMythos roll might identify which of M’Weru’sservitors did the deed. Throughout these eventsthe Mountain of the Black Wind should loomever closer until it fills the horizon as well as theinvestigator’s thoughts. With the properpreparation, it will be a place of dread, longbefore the investigators foray into its nightmarepassages.

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Remains of an elephant victim of amonstrous predator

To the Mountain by Air?In an especially “pulp” run of the campaign, the investigators might havetheir own aircraft and seek to use it to reach the Mountain. Thispresents several problems. First of all, there are no even semi-plausiblelanding sites within less than a day’s travel of the Mountain. Unless theinvestigators are very forward thinking aviators, parachuting in is animpossibility; therefore some hiking will be required.

More dangerously, any aircraft will be immediately observed by theCult and M’Weru will almost certainly dispatch either a HuntingHorror (at night) or Byakhee to investigate and most likely down theoffending vehicle. There is little that the investigators can do at thatpoint beyond strap themselves in for an, at best, controlled crash. Thedamage from such a catastrophe will most likely end most campaigns;allow investigators multiple Idea rolls to realize the folly of a flight tothe Mountain in advance.

A HORDE OF CULTISTSConsidering the potential for confrontation atthe Mountain of the Black Wind, another scoreof cultists cannot hurt. Ambushing cultists willattack with ranged weapons (bows, spears, orthrowing knives) first and then close for hand-to-hand combat. These stats may be also usedfor non-cultist tribal warriors; they are rathertough for everyday villagers.

STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX APP* HP db1 17 15 14 6 11 11 2 15 +1d42 12 14 15 8 13 14 6 15 +1d43 16 16 17 8 13 9 5 17 +1d64 10 13 14 7 8 12 7 14 -5 10 14 9 9 8 17 6 12 -6 12 14 17 10 12 12 7 16 +1d47 9 17 14 9 11 15 6 16 -8 13 14 12 6 14 17 6 13 +1d49 12 15 17 12 15 11 3 16 +1d410 14 10 12 8 9 13 3 11 +1d411 16 18 18 11 12 12 4 18 +1d612 14 14 15 7 17 16 6 15 +1d413 13 17 14 10 12 15 5 16 +1d414 13 14 13 7 15 14 4 14 +1d415 15 15 13 8 12 11 7 14 +1d416 13 13 11 7 13 13 4 12 -17 9 17 17 6 12 12 3 17 +1d418 11 16 15 8 13 12 2 16 +1d419 10 15 14 5 9 16 3 15 -20 15 13 13 7 13 14 4 13 +1d4*Presumably when not in full cult regalia assume a +6 to APP.

Attacks: Pranga 50%, 1d6+2+db; parry 30%; Fist 60%, 1d3+db Short Spear 50%, 1d8+1+db; Range STR x 2; ROF 1Club 45%, 1d6+dbTiger Claws 35%, 1d4+db (These should be very uncommon.)Throwing Knife 50%, 1d4+2+db; Range STR x 1.5; ROF 1Wooden Crossbow 40%, 1d6; Range 50; ROF 1/3; Malf. 00Hide Shield 35%, 1d4+db

(see also Tools of the Bloody Tongue on page XXfor a discussion of these weapons)

Skills: Art (Sing) 25%, †Bantu Languages 40%,Cthulhu Mythos 2d6+3%, †Hamitic-Somali Languages 40%, Hide 75%, Jump65%, Listen 60%, †Nilotic-MasaiLanguages 40%, Sing 25%, Sneak 45%,Spot Hidden 60%, †Swahili 30%, Track86%

† Note on languages: We have simplified the languages greatly,breaking them into the three major groupings. 75% of all BloodyTongue cultists speak a Bantu language, 20% speak a Nilotic-Masailanguage, and 5% speak a Hamitic-Somali language. Some cultistsmight speak a language outside their grouping at half the skill oftheir native tongue. Swahili is used by the cultists as their linguafranca for the convenience of the Keeper.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/RESOURCESThe best Call of Cthulhu source for informationon Kenya in this period is David Conyersexcellent Secrets of Kenya. Much of this chapterhas been written with that kind author’s help(though any errors are native to this work andnot those of Mr. Conyers himself).

Kenya has been the setting for numerousfilms, a few of which are particular interest. Outof Africa, based on the writings of Karen Blixen,is set in Nairobi during the 1920s and 30s; theOscar-winning movie focuses more on herromances than does the book, but it is a goodstarting place. The Ghost and the Darkness, a

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Kikuyu warriors

romanticized take on the book The Man-Eatersof Tsavo, gives some idea of what life outside ofthe cities is like and features the construction ofthe Uganda Rail Line; be aware that the settingis the late 1890s and that, though set in Kenya,the movie was filmed in South Africa, so someof terrain and wildlife is inaccurate. Actuallyfilmed (mostly) in Africa, The African Queen(another Oscar winner) may also be of interest,though it is set a decade previous and in GermanEast Africa (now Tanzania and portion ofBurundi and Rwanda). Finally, for a sense of thelocal flora and fauna, the BBC documentary WildAfrica is worthwhile.

If you wish to expand the campaign toinclude a side-visit to the City of the White Apes,aside from the aforementioned Secrets of Kenya,readers may also wish to review both Lovecraft’soriginal short story “Facts Concerning the LateArthur Jermyn and His Family” as well asportions of Dennis Detwiller’s Denied to theEnemy, which includes that esteemed author’stake on the fabled locale in question. A different,though instructive take on an curious ruin in theCongo can be found in the monograph Secretsof the Congo (cf. “Plug-in” scenarios below).

David Conyers scenario “The Spiraling”(from The Black Seal #3; OOP) may be of similarinterest to a Keeper wanting to make use of thatCongolese Cult; the setting is the modern eraand certain critical elements prevent thescenario from being simply reset to thetwenties, but the background information onthe Cult is of use in any era.

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERSAt this point in the campaign hopefully only afew replacement characters will be needed.Each man has their reasons for wanting to jointhe investigators; as ever, adjust the charactersand their backgrounds as needed.

Johannes Henricus Gerardus Hendriks – Thispious fellow might not seem a likely companion,but he is brave and stalwart and his medicalskills may be of particular assistance. Oneoption is to introduce him as a passenger on theNairobi train and have him come to the aid ofthe party when the fire vampires attack.Alternately he might be a friendly acquaintanceof Sam Mariga who attempts to tag along withthe investigators as they head into the interior,again coming to their aid when ambushed bythe Bloody Cult. Make certain that any playertaking on Father Hendriks will be willing to playthe role of a devout Catholic priest.

James McTavish – A farmer turned hunter,McTavish lingers in Nairobi, looking for anychance to revisit the Aberdare, perhaps to findanswers to his own troubles. His contactswithin both the hunting community and theKAR make him a likely recommendation if theinvestigators turn to the white communitylooking for a guide.

PLUG-IN SCENARIOS

Title: The RescueType: Sidetrek Adventure (Kenya/Australia)Source: Cthulhu Companion (OOP, PDF)Notes: The Rescue is an unusual scenario, being

an action orientated adventure that pitsthe investigators against a non-Mythosthreat – a trio of werewolves. If theKeeper has already run The DerbyshireMonster from the campaign’s Londonchapter, the investigators may beprepared to encounter such creaturesagain so it might be imprudent to havetwo werewolf scenarios in a single

Kenya258

Useful NPCs from Secrets of KenyaWhile it is no certain thing that readers of these notes own a copy ofSecrets of Kenya, for those that do, there two might serve asreplacement investigators in a pinch.

Peter Roxby - This big-game hunter and guide is unfamiliar withthe Mountain of the Black Wind but has seen some evidence of theCult of the Bloody Tongue and could accompany a party into theinterior.

Louise Talbot - This reporter for the East African Standard mightmake investigators’ lives difficult if she suspects they would make agood story… and the Carlyle Expedition is a very good story.

campaign. It can easily be relocated tothe edge of Australia’s Outback orKenya’s wilderness, and neither Mythostome found in the scenario has anybearing upon the campaign; the Keepercould easily slip a useful spell into oneof the books or remove them alltogether if desired.

Title: Valley of the Four ShrinesType: Sidetrek Adventure (Kenya)Source: The Cthulhu Companion (OOP, PDF)Notes: This scenario from the early days of the

game is quite deadly and unfortunatelyunder defined at several points, but itcan serve as inspiration for any Keeperlooking for a substantial detour in thecampaign. The adventure commencesas written, with the investigatorsdiscovering the German map andjournal fragment inside the endpaper ofUnausprechlichen Kulten, or anotherMythos tome in their possession –Africa’s Dark Sects or The G’harneFragments are plausible alternatives.The investigators would then trek fromKenya across Uganda (no mean feat andtaking at least a month plus planningtime) to the Mountains of the Moon andtheir final destination. (“Boomerang”Bob Jones from “Valley of the FourShrines” could be met and recruited inUganda rather than in the Congo.) Thisterritory is home to Spiraling Wormcultists and they, as well as ForcePublique troops (see page XX for thatorganization), should be added to thescenario’s Encounter Table.Investigators will probably be thankfulthat Swahili is a common tradelanguage in the Eastern Congo;otherwise communications will be nextto impossible here as unlike in Kenyaalmost no one here speaks English.Once the investigators reach the ItiriVillage, play the rest of the scenario aswritten.

Title: Mister CorbittType: Sidetrek Adventure (Kenya)Source: Mansions of MadnessNotes: The first scenario in the collection

Mansions of Madness is designed so thatit is not specific to any city, and thus iseasily adapted to Nairobi or Mombasa.His business – Corbitt Importers ofAmerica – can now be an import/exportoperation, exporting tea, coffee andspices from both Kenya and India to theUnited States. India is easy to reach fromNairobi, less than a week by ocean liner,so Corbitt could take this trip regularlyto conduct business in that country.Presumably Corbitt may ally himselfwith either of the Singh brothers,though it is unlikely that he would bewelcomed by the Bloody Tonguecultists.

Title: Secrets of the CongoType: Sidetrek Adventure (Kenya)Source: Secrets of the Congo (monograph)Notes: This monograph details an airborne

expedition up the Congo river, seekingthe lost city of Devapura. The campaigncould be used whole as a prolonged side-trip (though this might be problematicas the ceremony to open the Great Gatedraws close) as is. Otherwise individualportions (“In the Clutches of MimiWata” for example) might be used asencounters as part of a voyage in searchof the City of the White ape; Devapuraitself might stand in for that location(though see this article’s bibliographyfor more options). As is discussed in “InTransit”, the monograph also includeshelpful information about seaplanes,the Curtis 5-FL in particular.

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THE FRENCH FOREIGN LEGION

The infamous French Foreign Legion (RégimentsÉtrangers) is probably the best known militaryoutfit operating in Africa. Formed in 1831, itrecruited foreign sympathizers into its rankspredominately to help conquer and controlAlgeria. The Legion’s early days were troubled

by repeated wars against Arabs, butalso by ill-discipline and internal strife.To deal with this crisis, the Frenchgovernment sent the Legion to Spainto “honour” a promise of aid, knowingit was inevitable that only five hundredof the five thousand sent into battlewould survive.

A new Legion was formed in 1835that went on to fight in North Africa,Crimea, Italy, Mexico, and the Franco-Prussian War, as well as in numerouscolonial campaigns. The Legion wasalso heavily involved in the Great War(1914-1918) losing many men, butadding greatly to its reputation.

In 1884 the Legion was dividedinto four battalions, with a fifth addedin 1891. It is not possible to transferfrom the Foreign Legion into theFrench Army, and no Frenchman couldserve in its ranks without forfeiting his

nationality. Recruits sign on for five years, withthe option of renewal for up to a maximum oftwenty years service. Most soldiers wereGerman or Russian, with Belgians, Swiss,Austrians and French men making up thenumbers – Frenchmen entering the service

typically signed up under the pretense ofanother identity and nationality.

Recruitment was undertaken only in France.A minimum age of 16 was required for entry, andcriminal convictions do not bar membership.After many weeks of grueling training, thetroops were shipped to the Legionnaire town ofBel-Abbès 60 miles (95km) south of Oran inAlgeria.

Life was hard in the Foreign Legion. Whenthey were not fighting bloody battles againstArabs (who had a reputation for torturing andmurdering captured Legionnaires) the recruitsundertook back-breaking tasks such asmanufacturing mud bricks. This task wascommonly assigned as a form of punishment.Other disciplinary measures included denial offood, the lashing of soldiers for hours so theirbodies developed painful cramps, and servingofficers all day while carrying a sack of rocks ontheir back. Desertion was common, but manywho escaped were killed by Arabs. Othersbecame lost in the desert and died there, or theywere re-captured, court-marshaled and finallyexecuted by their superiors.

Players might wish to play French ForeignLegion soldiers, although most investigatorswith this background will be deserters or formerrecruits who have completed one or more tours

Two New Character Templates for Africa

David Conyers

These two templates were created by David Conyersfor Secrets of Kenya, but were removed due to spacelimitations. We have included them in this chapterfor the use of players in need of a replacementcharacter during the Kenya section of the campaign.These two listing have previously appeared on-line.

The “classic” image of theLegionnaire

260 Kenya

Legionnaires and officers;Morocco 1920s

edit 261of duty. See the excellent series “Save the LastBullet for Yourself!” by Adam Crossingham inThe Whisperer, (issues 3 and 5) for furtherbackground on the French Foreign Legion.

French Foreign Legionary

Earnings: Lower to Lower Middle Class Contacts: Mercenary networks, illegal arms

dealers, North African governments. Skills (Legionnaire):

Bayonet, Natural History, Navigate,Other Language (French), Ride, Rifle,Desert Survival, plus one other skillrepresentative of a former civiliantrade.

Skills (Officer): Credit Rating, History, Law, Navigate,Handgun, Psychology, Ride, Rifle.

Special: -2 to EDU. Add 50 bonus points toany combat or firearm skill. ALegionnaire is immune to the effectsof some Sanity losses, but willprobably suffer from a secret phobiagained during his rough experiencesin the Legion.

Typical Weapons Bayonet

(Base Chance 25%, damage 1d8+1+db,Range Touch, Hit Points 15)Functions as a Fighting Knife (damage1d4+2+db) when not attached to a rifle

Saber (Base Chance 15%, damage 1d8+1+db,Range Touch, Hit Points 20)

Lebel 8mm Mle 1892 Revolver(Base Chance 20%, damage 1d8, Range15, Shots per Round 3, Ammo 6, HitPoints 10, Malfunction 00%)

Lebel 8mm Mle 1892 Carbine(Base Chance 25%, damage 2d6+3, Range100, Shots per Round 1/2, Ammo 3 or 5,Hit Points 11, Malfunction 99-00%)

LE FORCE PUBLIQUE

The Belgian Congo’s Force Publique (CongoPublic Force or Colonial Army) is Congo’sequivalent to the Kenya Crown Colony’s King’sAfrican Rifles. The Force Publique wasestablished in the 1880s by King Leopold II as anarmy to protect his fiefdom from the Arab-African slavers threatening the eastern Congo,and later to enforce Leopold’s own differentcruel enslavement of the region.

Initially most of the recruiters were formerprotective escorts of European explorers such asthe natives of Zanzibar or South Africa, but weresoon replaced by locals. Most of these new footsoldiers recruits were cannibals or fiercewarriors who were relocated hundreds or if notthousands of miles from their tribal lands andthen trained as soldiers. Cannibal soldiers werepredominately Bangala tribesmen who struck aunique brand of fear across the country, killingand then eating those who resisted KingLeopold II’s rule. Hands were cut off victims(many while still alive) to account for theexpenditure of bullets; later they were smokedto preserve them for later demonstration oftheir “success.”

When the administration of the Congo FreeState returned to the Belgian government andthe colony became the Belgian Congo in 1908,

the Force Publique was part of that package. Bythis point officers were exclusively Belgianswhile the infantry were Congolese, many ofwhom went on to fight in Africa and Europeduring the Great War.

Following the end of the Great War, theCongolese people started a campaign of dissent,but their rebellion was misunderstood by thecolonists as isolated incidents, not as the generalmovement against their oppressor that it reallywas. Local violence brought little change in theadministration of the country. The Belgiumcolonists continued to play one tribe off againstanother and used the Force Publique when thistactic did not work.

Most Belgians in the Force Publique did notlike serving their country in the oppressive anddangerous Congo. They rightly considered thetropics an unhealthy land for white people andthe jungle’s many hazards often proved fatal,since it was not only rebellious natives thatcould kill a man in this country, for disease,starvation, wild animals and accidents were thecause behind plenty of deaths. In the 1920s and1930s, the Force Publique consists ofapproximately 15,000 Congolese and 750Belgians officers. Many cannibals still remainwithin the ranks, but their numbers are not asgreat as they once were.

Investigators are likely to encounter ForcePublique soldiers if they enter the Congo.

Unfortunately they are just as likely to killinvestigators for their weapons, money, and foodas they are to assist them. Alternatively aninvestigator might want to play a Force Publiquesoldier who has deserted and fled to East Africa.

Force Publique Soldier

Earnings: Lower to Lower Middle ClassContacts: Mercenary networks, illegal arms

dealers, rubber traders. Skills (Foot Soldier):

Hide, Jungle Survival, Listen, OtherLanguage (French), Other Language(Africa languages only), Rifle, Sneak,Spot Hidden.

Skills (Officer): Accounting, Bargain, Handgun,Interrogation, Jungle Survival,Navigate, Other Language (choosefrom Kikongo, Lingala, Pygmy,Swahili, Tshiluba or a local dialect),Psychology.

Special: -2 to EDU. Add 50 bonus points toany combat or firearm skill. ForcePublique soldier is immune to theeffects of some Sanity losses, but willprobably suffer from a secret phobiagained during his rough experiencesin the Force Publique.

Typical Weapons Bayonet

(Base Chance 25%, damage 1d8+1+db,Range Touch, Hit Points 15)Functions as a Fighting Knife (damage 1d4+2+db) whennot attached to a rifle

FN-Browning Mle 1903 pistol(Base Chance 20%, damage 1d10, Range15, Shots per Round 2, Ammo 7, HitPoints 10, Malfunction 98-00%)

Albini-Braendlin .69 Rifle(Base Chance 25%, damage 1d10+1d6,Range 50, Shots per Round 1/2, Ammo1, Hit Points 10, Malfunction 96-00%)

Kenya262

Force Publique askaris in thepost-WW1 khaki uniformpracticing with their Mauser 1889rifles that were issued in additionto the Albini rifles

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INTRODUCTIONThis discussion of the Cult of the Small Crawleris intended to provide the Keeper with analternate group of opponents for theinvestigators to face, either during the campaignitself or in some future scenario. This group hasbeen designed to run counter to certain generalexpectations about such groups that playersmay develop during the course of play – notevery dangerous cultist charges headlong at you,screaming at the top of his lungs.

HISTORYAccording to the Cult’s own beliefs, worship ofthe Small Crawler (Chhote Rengane Wala inHindi) existed at the very dawn of India’shistory, being one of many divinities honored inthe nascent Vedic religion, though there is noreference to the cult in any of the surviving textsof the period. Whether this omission representssome purposeful obfuscation of the cult in thepast or if it is simply a falsehood fostered by theCult’s earliest leaders to lend them legitimacy isunknown.

The earliest verifiable record of the Cultcomes from late 16th century Mughal Empire inIndia. During the reign of Akbar the Great, anunnamed scholar working in the library of theimperial court uncovered a series of pothipurporting to contain the teachings of a lost

religion devoted to the worship of strange figure– the Small Crawler. The entity, described as adeformed four-armed dwarf with legs like asnake (or possibly an octopus) was said to be“He Who Awaits Before the Portal” and whowould, at some distant date, herald the returnof the ‘True Gods’ after their long exile. In thisrole he also was a guardian of the knowledge ofmagic – the very secrets of the gods themselves– and a patron of sorcerers. In this role he tookon many forms, each with its own powers andsecrets, “as a jewel bears many facets to shapethe light.” The price demanded for hisknowledge was great, but the rewards promisedseemed far greater.

Gathering a group of like-minded scholars,courtiers, and officials together, they formed asamaj or “Brotherhood.” The unknown founderof the Cult – always referred to by the cult as thePratham (!"#, meaning “the First”) – began toexplore the secrets of the Small Crawler. Evenin the religiously permissive environment ofAkbar’s reign, the Pratham and his followerssoon ran afoul of the Emperor and his court.The samaj was broken up and most of themembers were executed for crimes against thestate1. The Cult was broken but not destroyedand its surviving members quietly continuedtheir vile practices. From the fragments of thefirst samaj arose numerous small cult groupsusually directed by a single charismatic leader.Numerous copies of the so-called Sutra of theSmall Crawler were circulated privately among

About the Cult of the Small Crawler

Bret Kramer

1. Surviving imperial records note that a group of minor nobles and courtiers were executed for unspecified reasons and their propertiesseized. Modern historians mistakenly believe them to have been caught up in the various plottings of Akbar’s son, Jahangir, and theirdeaths are little noted.

264 Kenyathe membership of each local cult (possibly evenpreserved from memory by survivors as theoriginal version was lost), so creating multiple –sometimes contradictory – versions of the text.

The decline of the Mughal Empire (and theweakness of other native states) combined withthe rise of the British Empire in India fueled thegrowth of the Cults’ various factions. To the EastIndia Company, one “heathen” religion was nobetter than any other and a number of Cultcenters flourished within the cities controlled by“John Company”. TheCults’ membershipwas drawn fromamong the educatedelites who becamefunctionaries of theCompany, bringing

significant prosperity to the Cult. Unfortunatelyfor the Cult, these various centers were incompetition with each other, as they practiceddivergent rites and rituals, all claiming to be the“true” teachings. Feuds between the manybranches of the Cult kept it in a weakened state,but by the early years of the 19th century somesmall part had even spread out into the greaterBritish Empire.

The Rebellion of 1857 inadvertently gave riseto the modern incarnation of the Cult. Thewidespread destruction of the cities where theCult was centered and the Cult’s members’identification with the British resulted innumerous casualties among the Cult’s ranks atthe outset of the conflict, while the Britishrepressions after the Rebellion was brokenfurther decimated its membership. As eachindividual Cult of the Small Crawler was brokenup, the few survivors turned to their formerrivals in an attempt to survive. In 1863 a

conclave was held in Calcutta (Kolkata) atwhich time the scattered remnants of the Cultput aside their long-standing doctrinal

differences andreformed the

Cult ofthe

Small

A cult idol of the Small Crawler

edit 265Crawler anew in a unified whole.

The reformed Cult had three fundamentalgoals: security of the Cult’s membership,expansion of Cult, and the creation of anauthoritative version of the Sutra of the SmallCrawler. The structure of the old Cult tended tofavor groupings of cultists lead by a single leader,exacerbating the existing division betweenvarious sects. The new Cult was organized as astructured oligarchy, with the Cult directedcollectively by a council of seven leadingmembers. All major decisions were to be settledby a majority vote, save for expansion of thecouncil, which required unanimity. Nominallythe Cult was to be headquartered in Calcutta, asa number of the leading members wereemployed by the recently established Universitythere, though out of concern over a repeat of thedamage suffered by the cult in the 1857Rebellion, the nascent council kept theorganization of the Cult decentralized. Cultmembers were enjoined to gain mundaneinfluence over local leaders, ingratiatingthemselves to the British colonial leadership aswell as local native leaders, but not to act in anymanner that would expose the cult to eithergroup. When not engaged in Council meetings,the leadership of the Cult was free to pursuetheir own goals, so long as they did not counterto the greater interests of the whole.

It was at the University of Calcutta that theproject of recreating the original text of theSutra of the Small Crawler was undertaken, asthe various versions preserved by the formerlydiverse sects (as well as any other copies thatcould be located) were compared and analyzedin a scholarly manner. After nearly a decade ofpainstaking research, the Cult’s scholars wereable to recreate, as best they were able, the Sutraas it was in when discovered by the Pratham. In1872, a new edition was printed covertly anddistributed to the council members; the newtext was a decided improvement on any of theindividual members’ versions and the projectwas considered to be a great success as thecouncil members and their followers were ableto greatly expand their magical knowledge

As the Cult’s knowledge of the Mythos grew,so did its power and influence; the membershipof the council rose to nine by 1890 as various

disciples of the original members grew inknowledge and power. New Council memberswere promoted from the ranks of the Cult ifthey were able to provide the Council with somegreat service, or more often, some previouslyunknown rite or text. Members were pledgedto particular Councilors who in turn had theresponsibility to enforce the rules of the Cultamong their followers. The power of individualCouncilors over members of the Cult wasabsolute and punishment for transgressions wassevere. In this way strict discipline was enforced.In turn, the behavior of the Council memberswas policed by other members of the Council.Councilors who violated the Cult’s rules weredealt with in an equally severe manner as theypunished faithless subordinates. In the quest forpower there was neither forgiveness norleniency, only strict obedience.

In the early 1880s the Council initiated a newprogram; an organized attempt to investigatethe mystical literature of other peoples and erasin an attempt to locate additional informationon the Small Crawler and his many ‘facets’. TheCult’s disciples were dispatched to libraries andcenters of learning throughout Asia, the MiddleEast, and Europe and a host of books, tomes,scrolls, and other sources were examined for thebenefit of the Council (and in the hope of usingthese discoveries to buy admission onto theever-expanding council). From the informationgleaned by this initiative, the Cult’s membershipcame to realize the true nature of their god andto know some of Nyarlathotep’s many forms.Some Councilors were driven mad at thisdiscovery; those that who retained their mindsprospered.

In light of this discovery, the cult madediscrete overtures to several other cults devotedto Nyarlathotep, hoping for some favorableexchange. More often than not, such emissarieswere killed or simply vanished (the Brotherhoodof the Black Pharaoh, for example, flayed theSmall Crawler Cult’s contact alive at OmarShakti’s behest), but in a few casescommunication developed. Based on theseexperiences, the Cult tends to focus its“diplomatic” efforts on the less organized orweaker groups of Nyarlathotep worshipers, asthe more organized and powerful groups view

266 Kenyathe Cult of the Small Crawler as either a threator a possible target for exploitation.

THE CULT TODAYBy the 1920s the cult has a attained a globalreach, although its current goals are to continueits research and collection programs rather thanmake any attempt at acquiring internationalpower. The ruling Council has grown to elevenmembers, the Cult’s leadership methods andoutlook essentially unchanged; individualsorcerers devoted to the expansion of their ownknowledge and power joined together out ofwhat can only be described as enlightened selfinterest. This continuing self interest though, isthe source of increasing conflict within the Cultover its future direction and the group’s long-term goals. While Calcutta remains the de factocenter of the Cult, the decentralized nature ofthe Cult has only grown as the membership ofthe Council has expanded. The membershipremains overwhelmingly Indian though thismight change because of the Cult’s growingconnections to other Nyarlathotep cults andcontinued expansion outside of thesubcontinent.

The Cult’s leadership remains dedicated to apassive and careful approach to the outsideworld, reflecting those qualities in the SmallCrawler itself. Decisions are made only aftercareful deliberation and much debate and it isunlikely that will change in the foreseeablefuture. Additionally, most of the Councilors haveindirect but powerful ties to the British Colonialgovernment as well as various native groups,and are usually well-regarded members of theirrespective communities (though a few havewithdrawn from the greater society as theirinterests turn towards the ever more esoteric).Each Council member leads and directs his ownsegment of the cult according to his own desiresand interests. Interaction between the variousgroupings is usually limited. Most Councilorsare based in a single city and the number oftheir followers range from as few as less than adozen to as many as forty or fifty cultists. TheCult probably has fewer than five-hundredmembers world-wide.

The cult has also established itself in variousparts of the British Empire, especially East Africaand in the United Kingdom itself. While racialprejudice has limited access to some Britishuniversities and their libraries, the Cult has hadsome success in establishing its members asdomestic staff with those institutions, as well asinfiltrating the British colonial administrationin several colonies. The Cult’s project foracquiring materials referencing the SmallCrawler and its myriad forms continues andcontact has been made with several Cultsdevoted to Nyarlathotep, including the BloodyTongue (Kenya), Aku-Shin Kage (Japan), andBlack Tusk Tong (Singapore).

TEXTS, RITES, AND SPELLSThe membership of the Cult has access to avariety of texts with useful Mythos content,gathered together for their collective gain. Onlythe leadership of the Cult has access to all ofthese tomes, but individual members of theCouncil might grant one or two of these tomesas a boon to a devoted acolyte. Hinditranslations are available for all of thesedocuments; whether or not these version are insome way less useful is left up to the Keeper.Some spells available to the group are flawed, asindicated with italics.

Sutra of the Small Crawler, 1872 ed.As discussed above, this is a recreation of theoriginal texts of the cult, as discovered by thePratham. This document tells the story of theSmall Crawler and his role in the establishmentof a new order in this world, as well as detailingthe magical secrets he grants to his humanfollowers to further his cosmic plan.

Language: Hindi; +9 Cthulhu Mythos; 2d4/3d6points of Sanity; 36 weeks to study.

Spells: Substance of Greatest Potency[Baneful Dust of HermesTrismegistus], Imbue Tulwar [BlessBlade (Tulwar)], Draught of Astira[Brew Space Mead], Rite of ChhoteRengane Wala [Call/Dismiss the

edit 267Small Crawler], Make Free [CloudMemory], Prayer to the DwellersBelow [Contact Chthonian], Song ofthe Carcass [Contact Ghoul], Drawfor the Wisdom of Chhote RenganeWala [Contact Deity: SmallCrawler], Mark of the OceanBrother [Curse of the Stone],Invocation of The Power [DreadCurse of Azathoth], Mark of theChhote Rengane Wala [Elder Sign],Imbue Scroll of Blood [EnchantBook], Imbue Tulwar of the Walker[Enchant Tulwar], The StrongJoining [Keenness of Two Alike],The Song of the True Gods [Pipes ofMadness], Unstoppable Blow [SeekHeart], Soul Knife [Spectral Razor],Final Curse [Stop Heart], Veil ofDarkness [Strike Blind], Call theDrinker [Summon/Bind StarVampire], Prayer of Uv"r [VoorishSign]

The “Small Sutras”These texts were the fragments possessed by thefragments of the original cult. As such, they areincomplete and quite difficult to use. Thesemight survive in some foreign collection or begranted to minor associates of the cult, but arenot generally in use.

Language: Hindi; +1 to +4 Cthulhu Mythos; 1d2to 1d6/ 1d4 to 2d5 points of Sanity(depending of version); 6 to 8 weeksper Cthulhu Mythos point to study.

Spells: at Keeper’s discretion, drawn fromabove, though with somesignificant chance of corruption orerror.

Cthaat AquadingenA translation made of the 14th century MiddleEnglish copy of this tome held by OxfordUniversity by an agent of the cult (now amember of the leadership council). Consideringthe nature of the spells contained within, thiswork has proven fatal to several over-eagermembers.

Language: Hindi; +5 Cthulhu Mythos; 1d4/2d4points of Sanity; 24 weeks to study.

Spells: Awaken Tireless Bukshash [CallBugg-Shash], Quicken Yeb Tisal[Call/Dismiss Yibb-Tstl], Walk in theShadow of Kthulhu [ContactCthulhu], Prayer to Yeb Tisal[Contact Yibb-Tstl], Prayer of theGreat Servant [Contact Dagon],Rise Up Child of the Sleeper[Contact Star Spawn of Cthulhu],Prayer to the Great Servant[Contact Hydra], Appease the SeaSpirit [Contact Deep Ones], VileWard of the Outer Ones [ElderSign]

Fragments of the Tsan ScrollsRecovered during the Third Anglo-Burmese War,this series of badly damaged silk scrolls containportions of the sixth and seventh CrypticalBooks of Hsan, supposedly copied directly froman original version held in Ulthar. Thesefragments discuss many of the secrets of theDreamlands and outline a prophecy of howthese realms will one day be destroyed byNyarlathotep (here described as the Thing In theYellow Mask). The scrolls were recovered froma ruined site, overrun with a primitive tribalpeople called the Chautcha, by British troopswho did not realize their value.

Language: Archaic Burmese; +2 CthulhuMythos; 1d3/1d6 points of Sanity; 16weeks to study.

Spells: Unweave the World [Gate ofOneirology], Chant of the VacantMonastery [Contact Nyarlathotep(The Thing in the Yellow Mask)],the Writhing Circle [ConcentricRings of the Worm*], Slay Foe[Eviscerator*], The Sleep of Fei-Han[Lassitude of Phein*], Undo theMind [The Ravening Madness*],Cyclone of Tsutu [Spirals of Suth*],Gale of the Hwi ri dien [The ViridianWind*], Sap Vital Spirit [WitherLimb*]

*Dreamlands spells

The Thiruvattar InscriptionsA series of strange obsidian pillars werediscovered buried in the Cardamom Hills, nearto the village of Thiruvattar. These inscriptionswere studied by the cult and transcribed.Apparently of Serpent Men origin, the survivingpillars described a rite to propitiate a mammothand powerful being so that it would spare theSerpent People from its wrath. While notnamed, the being in question in the TwinMonstrosity Zhar, and it is described at greatlength in the inscription. The original pillarshave been removed from the site by one of themembers of the Council.

Language: Aklo; +1 Cthulhu Mythos; 1d2/1d5points of Sanity; 4 weeks to study.

Spell: Rites of the Dual Monstrosity[Contact Zhar]

The Analects of Abd al-AzradThis curious 14th century text is aninterpretation of portions of the Al-Azif, morecommonly known as the Necronomicon, holdingthat al-Azrad was a divinely inspired teacher.This Sufic interpretation of al-Azrad is, needlessto say, considered rather blasphemous. Becauseof the expansive discussion of Nyarlathotep (inthe form of the Black Pharaoh, among others)the cult is currently seeking a more completeversion of the Al-Azif.

Language: Arabic; +3 Cthulhu Mythos; 1d3/2d4points of Sanity; 24 weeks to study

Spells: On calling forth the Ifrit[Summon/Bind Fire Vampire], Onthe Divinitory Powers of AnimalOrgans [Augury, requires liveanimal sacrifice], Prayer to the Lordof Misr [Contact Nyarlathotep(Black Pharaoh)], Prayer to theMighty Aswad Asad [Call/DismissNyarlathotep (the Black Lion)], Callthe Black Wind [Bring Haboob]

A NOTE ABOUT THELEADERSHIP OF THE CULTReaders will note that the membership of theCult of the Small Crawler lack any magics thatgrant immortality or otherwise extend life.Some members of the cult actively seekimmortality and would likely grant membershipto any sorcerer who would share such a secretwith them. For the Keeper, the council’s lack oflife-prolonging magics can be used as amotivating factor for action by the cult or forconflict within its ranks.

Kenya268

269edit

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: This work is amateurishly printed and bound;approximately a sixteenmo; 5 !” wide by 6 #”high; unnumbered, but at least several hundredpages. The cover is a black painted woodenboard and the paper is irregularly cut. The text(Know roll to identify as Hindi) is sometimesblurry and suggests the work was hastily printedand assembled. A title page informs readers thatthe work is called “Kthaat Akwidingen”1 ($%&'()$%*+,+-./0), a phrase that is clearly not Hindi.Also stamped in a brown ink onto the first pageis an odd symbol: a circle with three curved linesextending from the bottom and two pairedoutward facing right angles on the top. Thereare no other illustrations. Pencil annotations

(also in Hindi) are clustered at certain points inthe text.

SKIMMING: This works claims to be a compilation of secretsrevealed by a race of aquatic beings (the authordescribes them as spirits, but they seem to havematerial form) that have made their home in thedepths of the ocean since time immemorial.Aside from discussion of the nature and habitsof their race, the book relates all manner ofbizarre claims about other mystical beings,including a great octopoid lord of the sea-spirits,a hairy toad-god, a sentient black ooze(alternately described as being made of

$%&'( )$%*+,+-./0(Cthaat Aquadingen)

Bret Kramer

Hindi assistance provided by Benedict Chapman

Caveat: One of the problems presented by this particular book is that it is written in a languagethat it is unlikely that any of your investigators know. Hindi translators might also be at apremium in Nairobi; see the Keeper’s notes for that chapter on page XX as well as the discussionin Reading on the Road on page XX for more about the general difficulties faced by investigatorsattempting to translate a tome.

Additionally, though the campaign states that this version is identical to the Latin versionpresented in the rulebook, it seems more likely that it is in fact derived from the more commonMiddle English version. See the article “About the Cult of Small Crawler” for the statistics of thatversion. In any case the Keeper is cautioned to reduce the Cthulhu Mythos skill gain from thework, since it is a translation.

1. A note on “th”: in Hindi there is a slight aspiration (breath) between these two sounds, giving it a pronunciation more like the ‘th’ in“cathouse”, than in words like “this” or “those”.

shadows) bearing many eyes and mouths, amany-breasted divinity served by bats, andvarious incantations. One particular sectiondiscusses a divine being known as the “ChhoteRengane Wala,” or “Small Crawler” (12(/ 3/-.0/*'4') seems to have been of particular interestto the previous owner and is heavily annotated.

The contents of this work are awful andhorrifying in the extreme. Each entry is moreterrible than the last; this is a catalog of madnessand blasphemy. Even a brief glimpse leavesmost readers shaken.

Judging from the language and grammarused, this would appear to be a relatively recenttranslation and that the author had a goodgrasp of whatever tongue he was translatingfrom. The occasional untranslatable word isglossed and given a phonetic rendering intoHindi; these suggest, with an Idea roll, that thesource material was in Middle English (orMedieval Latin, if the Keeper wishes).

RESEARCH: (This assumes the researcher is working in alibrary with substantial holdings, Keeper’sdiscretion; otherwise no information can beuncovered.) The source material for thisunusual translation is an obscure Medievaloccult text called the Cthaat Aquadingen. Thefirst word is nonsensical (perhaps an archaictransliteration error) while the second is aconflation of the Latin aqua, “water,” and theGerman (d)ingen, meaning “people of,” that is“people of the water.” It belongs to a class ofgrimoires – generally dismissed as hoaxes –collectively referred to as “Dagon Books,” afterthe Biblical figure worshiped by the idolatrousPhilistines. These works seems to haveoriginated in Frisia or possibly coastal Holsteinand most likely come from a single Gothic text,now lost. The works claim to have been writtenunder the tutelage of certain oceanic spirits andcontain the secrets of their enchantments aswell as the rites of sunken human lands.

Kostermann reports (in his article “DerUrsprung des Mythos der ‘Dagon Sammlung’”2)the earliest surviving mention of a “DagonBook” comes from the fragmentary chroniclesof an 8th century Schottenkloster in Cuxhaven,which says in part “Meiden sie die belehrungender seedämonen und ihrer bücher.”3 The oldestknown “Dagon Book” held in public collectionsheld is the so-called Codex Spitalsk4, a Latin workthought to have been produced in the 11thcentury. It is held by the Uppsala UniversityLibrary in Sweden. The Aquadingen versions,also in Medieval Latin and of which three areknown by scholars, all reside in public or privatecollections in the United Kingdom. Englishtranslation, some as early at the 14th century, arerumored to be held private. There is no recordof the work being translated into Hindi.

THOROUGH READING: This is an unsettling and shocking work. Unlikeother medieval grimoires that claim to havebeen written at the instruction of some ancientmagician or angelic being, this one presents acohesive and detailed world-view bears almostno connection to European Christianity… or anyknown human culture for that matter. Theauthor claims that the sea demons who taughthim what he has recorded are older than manand arrived on the Earth with a great god whothey call Kthulhu ($%&54%67) and that they dwell ingreat cities beneath the world’s oceans awaitingan unspecified time when he will arise oncemore. The demons are described as toad-likebut are often said to interbreed with humans forreasons left unclear. A catalog of their cities isgiven, demonstrating almost prescientknowledge of geography on the author’s part.Kthulhu’s kingdom, for example, almost soundsas if it is located in the southern Pacific Ocean –a feat of knowledge impossible for a Dark AgesEuropean author.

Aside from discussions of the sea demonsand their rituals, a plethora of other monstrousalien entities are described. Many of these

2. Karl-Jacob Kostermann, “The Origins of the Myth of the Dagon Books,” in Deutsche mittelalterliche kirche studien, no. 3, vol. 14 (July-August, 1906).3. “Shun the teachings of the Sea Demons and their Books”; it was part of a sermon denouncing local pagan practices and tradition.4. Old Danish for ‘leprous’ or ‘leper’.

270 Kenya

beings were worshipped in Atlantis as well askingdoms even more ancient. These include thesleeping toad-god Satogwa and a destructivefertility goddess called only “Sadan Ki Mata”(890 $+ :';', “the Mother of Corruption”).Also discussed is a pair of entities that theauthor was taught to call upon to destroy hisfoes. They are called Yeb Tisal (</= (+84) andBukshash (=5$%>?); the first being a grotesquehumanoid with distended eyes and a host ofbreasts suckled at by bats, the other anamorphous entity made up of pure blacknesswith multiple mouths and eyes. Both beings canbe manifested to attack ones enemies by meansof incantations provided. The price the authorpaid to learn these magics is left unspecified butit is hinted to be terrible.

A host of ritual magics is discussed,including spells to contact the sea demons, aswell as their titanic leaders and even dreadKthulhu itself. There are rites designed to callupon the power of the various deities discussed,including what is said to be a fragment of aprayer to Yubo Satla (<5=2 8(4'), also called“Mahaprajanak” (:6'!%3@0$, “the GreatProgenitor”), as well as spells for calling for theessence of Ieb Tisal to slay one’s foes andsomething called the “Karmina Nihargus”

($3%:+0' 0+63%.58) which is supposed toneutralize necromancy. The penciled Hindiannotations are most common where particularmagical rituals are described; judging fromthese, the writer was attempting somehow toreplicate these enchantments but with verylimited success.

A final section, which is the most heavilyannotated, discusses an attempt by the authorto contact Yeb Tisal to have that being grant himknowledge, as instructed by the sea spirits. Therite apparently was successful, as the horridcreature granted the author a vision of the endof Man. This vision is truly awful, depicting agreat ritual performed by sorcerers in theservice of a power so great that even one suchas Yeb Tisal cannot behold it in its totality;instead seeing only one facet of the being, whichit identifies as the “Chhote Rengane Wala. (theSmall Crawler)” This incarnation is a humanoidbeing, with four arms and three tentacle-likelegs which is said to be known to the peoples ofIndia. The vision is interrupted when the“Chhote Rengane Wala” takes notice of theauthor and he is suddenly and forcibly awokenfrom his trance. The scene described isloathsome in the extreme.

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QUOTES:

Great is the power of Kthulhu for his Kingdom is older thanthe rock and the water and flows from his might and lightdoes the sun. His house where he sleeps shall know the sunagain, in times yet unmade, for it is his will and cannot bedenied. The Outer Ones know this to be true for he broughtthem low, just as he will bring low all who claim what isrightfully his. All praise his Glories, the Dreamer and Dreamin One!

- - - - -

In sounds such as these will you call this One. It is withoutmind and seeks only to destroy what it has been set against.No walls can hold back Bukshash nor can any sentry standagainst him. He is a school of sharks, feasting on those whooppose our aims. Prepare for his arrival with propitiousspilling of blood and the songs that have been taught to you,for he demands much but gives much in return. Whet hisappetite for blood and know that it will be sated on those youdirect it against. It is fury and terror and is a gift we give toyou, our children. Use it well and as we instruct and no harmwill fall upon you.

- - - - -

And then shall the gate be opened, as the sun is blottedout. Thus the Small Crawler will awaken those who dwellbeyond and bring them forth. The sea shall swallow them andspit them up and the leopard shall eat of flesh along the highGanges in the Spring.

- - - - -

[This is a longer footnote in Hindi referencing the description of Yeb Tisal.]

The Priestess says that this one is known by peoples notto far distant from her Temple. They call him Tayuma and callhim the Father of the Faceless Bat and say he dwells in agreat jungle in lands distant. I believe she is right and wishto learn more of this Tayuma. She promises me that thesecrets of these men can be found on certain scrolls-scrolls that she has promised me. With these, new powerswill open to me and all will know me as their master.

Kenya272

Austral iaAustral iaHorror Beyond Horror Beyond

Time in the OutbackTime in the Outback

CHAPTER OVERVIEWThe Australian chapter of Masks of Nyarlathotepwas omitted from earlier versions of thecampaign and when compared with thecataclysmic encounters at the Mountain of theBlack Wind or Gray Dragon Island, it can feelvery much like an incidental side show. Thisneed not be the case however. With somepreparation on your part and carefulconsideration of how this chapter can beintegrated into your campaign, the Australiachapter can become a memorable adventure…assuming that anyone survives its eons old ruins,hungry flying polyps, a ravening band of cultists,and their lunatic master.

The stark and remote setting of this chapterpresents, both above and below ground, a sharpcontrast to the very human cities that form thecenterpieces in each of the other chapters.There is a city here too, just one unlike any otherseen before by human eyes. Use this to youradvantage. As always, have a good idea of howthe investigators’ time in Australia will fit intoyour campaign as a whole. If this is as their firststop after New York, reduce the power andorganization of the opponents; Huston’s insaneGods of Reality should reveal the secrets of theCarlyle Expedition based largely on what theinvestigators already know. If Australia is thelast stop for your investigators, do not be afraidto throw Sand Bat Cultists, zombified miners,flying polyps, and anything else left in yourquiver at them… After all, they have earned it.

GETTING STARTED

Regardless of where your party is in thecampaign itself, you should read Lovecraft’s“The Shadow Out of Time.” The story not onlysets the tone for this chapter via Lovecraft’sadjective-rich prose, but as the originalinspiration for so much of this episode in thecampaign, reading it will help to give you somevery helpful background in the Yithian and theirCity.

Beyond the original story, the more you readabout Western Australia, the better. Thesetting is in stark contrast to the other stops inthe campaign, save perhaps Kenya in certainaspects. Even reading something simple as atourist website will begin to help make WesternAustralia a real and living place for both you andyour players.

KEEPER’S TIPS

The first question you should consider is howhard it will be for the investigators to reach theCity. The difficulties of reaching the City of theGreat Race can be greatly expanded if you want– outfitting an expedition into the interior is farfrom a casual affair – so long as you do not losesight of the main plot. Consider your playersand aim for a happy balance between incidentsand details that demonstrate the remoteness oftheir destination and their (and your own)enjoyment. Depending upon your group you

Australia274Keepers’ Notes:

AUSTRALIABret Kramer, with Dave Sokolowski

might want to jump immediately from Shanghaito the Great Sandy Desert or you might preferto play out every stop along the journey as thetramp steamer sails between Cairo and Perth.The better you know your players, the morelikely it is that you will find that balance.

Before reaching the city, the investigatorsmight wish to visit other locations in Australia.Know in advance where they plan to go (and donot be afraid to steer them towards one city oranother with the clues that you provide) and beready to move clues and NPCs, or make anyother needed adjustments so as to keep thingsmoving. The hints, resources, and facilities ofSydney, Perth, or Melbourne should beconsidered as being interchangeable for the sakeof the story. Darwin is the only location outsideof the Pilbara that will be of particular benefitto investigators; clues from Gavigan, Shakti, andAja Singh, point to it and the corrupt RandolphShipping Company. While the Cthulhu idolsolely lends a bit of color (and might be awfulenough to have a 0/1 point of Sanity cost toview), the same can not be said for the otherweird item to be found in the Randolphwarehouse…

The Device of Rods, Wheels, and Mirrorscan be used to either draw the investigatorstowards the City or derail play by knocking acharacter out of the game indefinitely. TheYithian mind drawn into the affectedinvestigator need not be either randomlyselected or indefinitely confused. Instead, themind-transferred Yithian might be aware in

advance of what is to occur (it is a member ofthe Great Race, after all) and thus be one whohas been previously acclimated to a similar eraand will be aware of the circumstances it isabout to discover1. Shorten the acclimation andinvestigation period to a day or two at most andconfer with the player of the strickeninvestigator. Inform him as to what hashappened and give him an idea of what theYithian knows and hopes to accomplish – useyour judgment of how much information isneeded versus what will spoil that player’senjoyment of the game. Some role-playing notesmight also be in order so as to help the playerportray a Yithian mind aping human behavior.Also, establish a fixed point or objective for theYithian; reward the player for reaching it withthe return of their investigator’s mind. Steeringthe party towards the pre-generated characterMrs. Hayes, an ex-Yithian agent, is one possiblegoal. Likewise, have some idea of what the lostinvestigator will have learned during his stay inthe past; while specific instructions to rescueKakakatak are déclassé, some rudimentarygrasp of the Yithian written language is a helpfulreward. In any case, encourage good role-playing and make the player feel that hisinvestigator being possessed was a treat, ratherthan a punishment.

Port Hedland and Cuncudgerie shouldprovide the investigators with their final pushinto the desert. Robert Mackenzie is an idealperson to help organize any trek to the City,especially if Doctors Dodge or Cowles are not

275editWhither Jackson Elias?Australia is unique among the other potential stops in the campaign as the only one not visited by Jackson Elias during his globalsearch for clues as to the fate of the Carlyle Expedition. This fact alone may be enough to keep the investigators away fromAustralia. The clues pointing to Australia, aside from the pamphlet for Dr. Cowles’ lecture, come elsewhere in the campaign andshould not be easily brushed aside by your players (unless that is your intent). There are two methods that can be used to piquethe investigators’ interest into what is happening in the Great Sandy Desert. The first is to emphasize questions that relate tothe fate of Dr. Huston. It was the “good” doctor who first encouraged Roger Carlyle’s dark fascination with his dreams ofNyarlathotep; surely he must play an important role in the mystery of the Carlyle Expedition. The other reason that theinvestigators should wish to seek out Dr. Huston is that he has been providing the curious technologies that are so important tothe rocket being built on Gray Dragon Island. Unless the source of these mysteries is dealt with, the remnants of the cult or othersmight be able to build another rocket and open another gate. To thwart Nyarlathotep, Huston must be eliminated.

1. Of course, the Yithian concept of similar era differs greatly from our own. There are some players who might relish the chance tosuddenly have a character speaking like a disco-era hustler, a Regency fop, or Cold-War era Soviet technocrat; consider picking a slightly“off” decade as a perk to that sort of player.

accompanying the party. Use him to fill in anygaps in the investigators’ knowledge (orrumors) about what they may find in theinterior. Mortimer Wycroft can be a problem forinvestigators, either by overlooking him orunderestimating the danger that he poses. If hehas the opportunity, he could followinvestigators into the desert, either to ambushthem or recover his precious book. His copy ofWondrous Intelligences is a valuable resource forinvestigators while they are in the City, despitethe mania of its author, and should prove usefulto any who obtain it, providing criticalinformation on the Great Race and theircivilization.

Just like the huge cities of London and NewYork have their own personalities, so doesWestern Australia. Perched upon a highplateau of dry rock, with few hills to break up itsskyline, the Great Sandy Desert is a remote,desolate area that can offer many challenges ofits own. Water is a necessity and it is not easy tofind outside of the stock routes. Poor planningwill prove to be just deadly to the investigatorsas any monster or cultist, and the investigatorsshould consider the risks posed by the

environment as seriously as they do Huston andhis minions. See the dehydration rules on thispage and the notes on sunburn and sunstrokeon page XX for one method to handle thisdanger.

Regardless of where the campaign has takenthe investigators to date, once they get ‘DownUnder’, the Keeper should use the WesternAustralian landscape to build a sense ofisolation, despair, and longing in the party.Not only are the investigators likely far fromtheir homes and human society, here in the dry,dusty wilderness, they will find little to exploreand investigate that will be familiar to them.There are no libraries in which to conductresearch, no museum curators for them topersuade or fast talk, no local police chiefs towrangle, and so on. Most of the party’s regularlyused skills will go unused as they findthemselves in vast stretches of emptiness, bothabove and beneath the ground.

Furthermore, the indigenous people inWestern Australia present an encounter far frommost investigators’ experience. Only a scholarwho engaged in remote field work or aprofessional anthropologist will have spent any

Australia276Getting to Houston’s Base without Complications?Using the side adventure, “Buckley’s Ghost,” can be an excellent method to stretch out the trek to Huston’s base. The Keeperthough, needs to evaluate this red herring’s value to the overall story. If the players need a non-Mythos encounter to ground them,then facing a burning ghost in the middle of the night will provide a perfect evening or single session’s worth of gaming. The Keeperneeds to foreshadow this encounter with Buckley, in particular while the investigators are still in Cuncudgerie, with rumors of aghost seen near Dingo Falls. Investigators might also be ambushed by Wycroft and his minions while camping at Dingo Falls, onlysee them be driven off by the burning specter. In any case, Vern Slattery and his sons should not be the end of your campaign;feel free to stack the odds against them if they come to blows with the investigators. If the players are many sessions into thecampaign and have expressed any sense of dread or dismay at the prospect of tackling yet another sidetrack before discoveringthe fate of the Carlyle Expedition, then get them to the Death Camp without meeting Buckley.

Dehydration rulesHumans require water to live. The investigator seeking, by necessity or choice, to test this fact of biology must make a CONx5roll for every 12 hours that he goes without adequate water (6 hours in hot climates, 3 in extremely hot conditions or withoutproper cover). If this roll is failed, the investigator suffers a temporary loss of 1 point of CON. Subsequent rolls are made every6 hours (halved or quartered depending on the climate); once the investigator’s CON is half its normal value or lower, an Idearoll is required to maintain concentration, and 1 point of INT is lost as well as CON with each additional failed roll. Auditory orvisual hallucinations are increasingly likely as the dehydration becomes more severe and can be created by the Keeper. If aninvestigator makes a successful Survival: Desert roll, then he can re-roll a failed CON roll, but the result of the second roll is final.Recovery takes half the duration of the dehydration; i.e. an investigator dehydrated for four days needs two days to fully recover.It is possible to suffer the effects of dehydration, sunburn, and sunstroke (cf.) simultaneously.

time with people so clearly untouched by themodern world and so understand how tointeract with them. And while the Aborigines2

are somewhat assimilated (albeit forcibly) withthe local white peoples, guests from eitherAmerica or Europe will find any encounter withthem a unique experience in many ways. Mostpeople in the 1920s will have stayed extremelyclose to home, and investigators withoutextensive globetrotting experience will bebaffled, fascinated, perhaps even frightened, bythe naked brown people and their society. Alittle reading on Australia’s original humaninhabitants will help you to present them in arealistic and interesting way.

The encounter with Jeremy Grogan and theDeath Camp will be an oddly peaceful momentfor the investigators before they enter the City.This does not mean that the encounter cannotbe suspenseful – Grogan and his dream-dingoespresent a real threat to life and limb if handledincautiously. Preparing in advance a few notesdetailing Grogan’s story will help to make role-playing this lunatic’s encounter with the playersmuch easier, the aim being to use the DeathCamp to highlight the dangers, human andotherwise, that the investigators soon will face.If the investigators manage to help returnGrogan to human society, they might be due asmall Sanity reward, though his well-being willin all likelihood be a low item on theirimmediate agenda.

Similarly, the Ambush outside the Cityneeds to be tailored to the investigators. If theyare disorganized or disheartened, reduce theferocity and success of the attack. A large party,decently organized with several trucks and anexcess of gear, should face a well-disciplined andprepared assault capable of cutting them downto size. Investigators low on food or water maybe more inclined to push deeper into the Citythan those with a crew of hired drivers waitingabove. Be sure to note what sort oftransportation remains for investigators whenthey leave the City. You should also be preparedfor your players to behave with shocking cruelty

toward any captured prisoners; most peoplecannot torture another person without somedamage to their psyche and most investigatorsshould suffer some Sanity loss for engaging intorture, no matter their motives.

At the entrance to the City, be ready for aserious battle. As always, scale the opposition toyour players’ current status and abilities. Ifsome of the ambushers escaped an investigatorled attack, Huston’s men should be fullyprepared for their arrival and ready to repel theintruders. Reckless investigators will sufferlosses. If the situation goes poorly forinvestigators, the Flying Polyps can always act asan alien cavalry, after a fashion. Sustainedgunfire can draw their attention, but if dynamiteis deployed, they will definitely investigate thescene of the fight. Allow an investigator notdirectly engaged in combat to make a Listen rollto notice their weird piping sounds as theyapproach. Once they arrive the first attack bythe Flying Polyps should be against the Sand BatCultists. In subsequent rounds they will attackanyone firing a rifle; an Idea roll might noticethis critical detail. Once the fight ends, theFlying Polyps will depart back to their cave (seebelow), hopefully leaving more investigatorsalive than cultists. Present their attack in adramatic fashion, inflicting Sanity losses onlyafter you have described the amorphous beings

277editScreaming (from the) Mimi?3

The Mimi tend to polarize both Keepers and players. For some, theyare an interesting inclusion drawn from Australian folklore, for othersthey are a confounding and out of place intrusion of silly-looking spiritsat odds with the grim horror of the Mythos. While their role in thescenario is greatly reduced from the original version (see “CitiesBeneath the Sand” on page XX for more information), the Keeperneeds to consider if they will add or detract from everyone’s enjoymentof this chapter. If these willowy spirits will elicit laughs from the players,eliminate them. Conversely, one wishes to expand or elaborate therole of the Mimi, the Australian author Patricia Wrightson’s Young Adultbook, The Ice is Coming, includes a Mimi as a character (among other el-ements of Australian legend) and makes a good starting point for suchplans.

2. The campaign uses the term ‘Koori’ as a catch-all term for Australia’s first peoples; unfortunately this name applies only to certainnatives of Victoria and New South Wales and not those of Western Australia or the Pilbara Coast. For purposes of this chapter, Aboriginewill be used instead.3. Yes, we know this bit of slang originates from World War Two. There just are not many Mimi jokes out there.

from nightmare and their deadly powers;consider how you will describe them in advanceas descriptions of semi-invisible formless beingsare rather tough to just make up on the spot.

So when the investigators finally – finally!Make the moment last! – get underground, it isimportant to continue to stress the contrast toland above to deliver a clear picture of how vastand endless the underground city truly is. Thisancient discovery is something out of a dream,and yet here the investigators characters stand –surrounded by a vast and alien space thatstretches in every direction. Highlight thestrange and unusual atmosphere as the partyspelunk through the darkness, carefully tryingto avoid the evil to be found in every shadow.Remember, each day spent exploring the Citycosts each investigator a point of Sanity – makethat loss believable!

Of course, even more strange and dangerouscreatures await the party once they getunderground. The zombified miners are justthe first danger – moving slowly and in limitedareas of the underworld, they are more of amystery than a real threat, but the investigatorsshould begin to understand what sort of powers

are at play here. Huston has created a little armyunder the sand and whatever he plans to dowith them cannot be good. Any investigatorscoming from Port Hedland or other parts of thePilbara, such as the pre-generated investigators,Mrs. Hayes or Bruce “Jack” Baugh mightrecognize one or more of these unfortunates, sospurring them into rescuing some or all of theminers.

Be familiar with the general contents of eachof the City’s “chambers.” A short list with thename and sentence summary should suffice,leaving you free to look up from the book longenough to weave descriptions of the limitlessblack spaces beneath the desert. Rearrange thevarious chambers as needed – the map providedin the book is just a sketch – especially to helpmove the investigators towards their encounterwith Huston. The chambers and encountersmay happen in any order that works best for theKeeper.

Wily investigators should be able to avoidHuston’s patrols as long as they are willing tocut their own trail through the darkness – oreven simply lay low when a patrol passes.Likewise, the Sand Bat cultists and thugsgathered here by Huston will be hard pressed tostop careful investigators from looting theirstocks of food and other supplies, at leastwithout taking a greater effort to secure thesegoods than they currently have. Remember,unless the investigators are known to haveentered the city, most of Huston’s henchmenwill be very lax in keeping an eye out forintruders other than Flying Polyps. After all,who could get by the bunkhouse…? Of course,

Australia278

Maybe they are just auditing?Another sore point for some readers of this chapter is Huston’sofficious memoranda instructing his minions to practice their spellcasting. The Keeper who shares a similar distaste should omit handout#37 or replace it with something more in fitting with his own ideas ofhow Huston and his minions are operating.

The Flying Polyps and YouThe combination of their resistance to mundane weapons, invisibility, and speed make even a single polyp a danger to all but themost hardened party of investigators. Do not use them as the main opposition for your players; rather, treat them like a forceof nature that keeps the investigators moving towards their goals and out of the unexplored depths of the City. One or twoencounters with the polyps should be more than enough to convince the players of their deadly potency and any hint of theirinsane piping should prove to be highly effective in steering the investigators in one direction or another. Although there is noneed to keep throwing waves after waves of them against the investigators, the Flying Polyps can be used en mass if theinvestigators have somehow managed to recover a sizeable stash of lightning guns and you want them to burn off a few charges.

If for some reason you do need to select a target for these amorphous monstrosities from among the investigators, considerkeeping track of which player made the most jokes about “another shrimp on the barbie,” “dingos ate my baby,” or the merits ofone knife versus another. Likewise, the investigator of any player who insists on adopting a bad Crocodile Dundee or Steve Irwinimpersonation makes an excellent meal.

once Huston or his aides discover that theinvestigators have entered into the City, it islikely he will dispatch ever larger parties tocapture them. If he grows truly desperate hemay take the lead himself.

The Purple Dome Temple can beparticularly dangerous to the investigators,especially those who cannot bear to leave wellenough alone. Make the weird nature of thestatues clear to any observer. They, like thestatue of Nyarlathotep, are not native to the Cityand have been brought here (though the precisemechanics of how this was done should give theinvestigators pause for thought). If a POW lossfor simply touching a statue seems extreme,consider making it solely a loss Magic Points, orat least give fair warning about the weirdelectric charge that seems to surround them.Similarly, the three guardians can easilyexterminate unprepared investigators, so it isprobably best to keep them drowsy and docile

or at least too lazy to leave the chamber inpursuit of prey. Likewise, avoid having theinvestigators devoured by the various horrors ofthe Nursery. That chamber should frighten, notkill. Further, the Titan Horror, despite its“throbbing veins and flaccid swellings,” shouldalmost certainly not cost viewers 1/1d20 pointsof Sanity… We assume that this is atypographical error and that a loss of 1/1d2 ismore sensible.

Huston’s Headquarters seems a likely placefor a confrontation with that madman. If theinvestigators come loaded for bear, increase thenumber of cultists at hand and allow Huston tomake use of his large stock of dynamite.Alternately all that gasoline and dynamite in awooden house would make a lovely explosion –at least until half a dozen annoyed Flying Polypsarrive. However bringing things too rapidly to aconclusion will deprive the players of Huston’sbook and a means to rescue the miners. Be

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Plan BWhat if the investigators have foiled Nyarlathotep’s minions in Kenya and China? Does this mean that Huston will fruitlesslycontinue his toil in the City until he is finally done in by the Flying Polyps, a mutinous Kakakatak, his own arrogance, or somecombination of the above? If Australia is to be the climax of your campaign, it may be useful to raise the stakes significantly byhaving Huston be in the possession of a second radium bomb.

The bomb itself is substantially larger than the warhead installed in the missile on Gray Dragon Island (perhaps the size of alarge automobile) and was a prototype for that weapon, built primarily to teach Huston the skills necessary for the later, morerefined, design. Huston has retained the bomb with the notion that if his allies fail – which they are likely to do as they lack hisgenius-level intelligence and are not the favored of Nyarlathotep like he is – he may still be able to use it to open the Great Gate.

Delivery is a problem that still needs be overcome, but Huston is working to beat that challenge as well. Kakakatak is beingcajoled into teaching Huston how to construct a portal (effectively a Gate spell utilizing Yithian technology rather than purehyper-geometry) allowing Huston to simply push the bomb into the space where the rocket (which Huston now dismisses ashaving been “cumbersome and primitive”) would otherwise deliver it. The bomb sits on a modified mine-car, a short line of railleading into Kakakatak’s unfinished apparatus.

Of course, Kakakatak has no interest in helping this annoying primate do anything of the sort. Instead it has been collectingtubes and wires hoping to make use of them itself to escape, if not in time at least in place. From there it would either seek outmembers of the human cult that aids the Great Race or make his own way to Darwin to seize the mind-transfer device there.The arrival of the investigators will provide it with the opportunity to active Huston’s gate to make his escape. If they are inpossession of the mind-transfer device, all the better.

In this variation, Kakakatak will teach the investigators how to detonate Huston’s bomb in order to cover its escape andeliminate the lunatic psychiatrist. Hopefully the investigators will be savvy enough to make sure that the bomb is on a timer andthat they can make their own escape before they and a non-trivial portion of the City are blasted out of existence. Where thegate takes them is left to the Keeper- remember that Huston’s larger gate is to be attuned to a point high above the IndianOcean. Anyone going through to that destination will plummet to their death in the waters below unless they have some meansof flight. Presumably Kakakatak can make the necessary adjustments to alter the gate’s exit point to somewhere safer.

ready to play Huston, when yourinvestigators finally track him down (or viceversa); the entry for Gods of Reality in thischapter provides a bit of the flavor of his lunaticgenius. Remember to play both facets of theman – his undeniable intellect (INT 18) matchedonly by his megalomania. Perhaps more so thanany other villain in the campaign, Huston is thesort who will reveal his plans to his enemiesbefore destroying them forever. Practice an evillaugh if you desire.

Finally, Kakakatak is almost as muchtrouble as he is a help, but rescuing this conicalien scientist is key to fully undoing all of whatHuston has done. Make sure that theinvestigators realize that the creature is beingheld by the force field and that, at least for amoment, they can bargain with the being. TheYithian is coldly rational, but also very bored (hehas only had Huston for company after all) andmay be ever so slightly more inclined to helpingthese apes than he would be under normal

circumstances. Still, with an INT of 26, he willconsider them little better than helpful animals.

When speaking for Kakakatak, feel free touse strange or awkward turns of phrase andspeak as bluntly and with as little regard forsocial nicety as possible. For example, have theYithian describe each investigator in anunflattering way and use that physicaldescription in place of a name. “Greetings obeseand unhealthy male. Have the infertile femaleand the hairless male with a deformed leggather wires…”

Australia280

Kakakatak in better Triassic days

QUICK REFERENCE

The population of Western Australia in 1925 wasaround 400,000, with most of that concentratedin the southwest of the state, in and around thecapital city of Perth, which itself has around150,000 inhabitants. European settlement of theregion is barely a century old, in large partbecause of the unusually poor soil that is ill-suited for large scale farming without modernfertilizers. Substantial mineral discoveries in thepast fifty years have greatly accelerated thegrowth of the region with many of theinhabitants outside of the Perth area beingeither miners or working in some affiliatedindustry. Few plan to make this arid region theirpermanent home.

ClimateAs with the other locations visited in thecampaign, the local climate can have asignificant impact on play. While theinvestigators may have previously encountereddeserts in Egypt and endured the rigors of a trekinto alien territory in Kenya, the wilds of theGreat Stony Desert and the Pilbara Coast present

unique challenges which the Keeper can elect touse.

An investigator wondering about theregion’s climate should consider the followingfact: The world record for the longest period ofdaily temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheitis held by Marble Bar, Western Australia, set over160 days during 1923 and 1924. In other words– it is HOT. The heat, especially in summermonths, should be omnipresent andinescapable. This provides yet another starkcontrast to the steady 57° (14° Celsius) chill ofthe City of the Great Race! Conversely, thedesert cools quickly after nightfall, making foran uncomfortable situation (at best) for anyinvestigator without proper clothing.

The constant sunlight and heat can inflictserious harm on the investigators. If they fail toprotect themselves appropriately by avoidingmovement during the hottest part of the dayand by wearing hats and appropriate clothing(sun screen is not developed until the late1930s), then they run the risk of sunburn andheatstroke.

In game terms, any investigator who spendsmore than an hour or two in bright sunlightruns the risk of sunburn; the investigatorshould make a Luck roll for every hour exposed

281editKeeper Option: Kakakatak, writ smallSometimes a little subtlety is in order, and a 20 foot-tall cone-shaped alien from the Triassic period is anything but… In which case,instead of having Huston yank the entirety of Kakakatak forward in time, have him yank solely that being’s consciousness, forcingit into the body of one (or possibly more, see below) individual. This human proxy occupied by the Yithian could be anyone – anelderly miner, a young tribesman – but the more incongruous the intellect would be in the body presumably the more shockingit will be to investigators. Be fair though; wherever Kakakatak is imprisoned, be sure to clearly indicate that he (or she) is a mostunusual prisoner. Perhaps the cell is covered from wall to ceiling in pencil sketches of bizarre machinery, or it has beenreengineering simple machines our of folded paper – anything to give the players some warning against freeing the being withoutstriking some sort of bargain. Make sure that Huston’s security precautions seem wildly out of proportion to the captive as well– three dozen locks of various types will hint at both his madness and perhaps the prisoner’s resourcefulness.

Considering the prodigious intellect of the prehistoric inhuman alien, it seems likely that a single human mind could notcontain it. Another option is for Kakakatak’s mind to have fragmented into several segments, each hosted by a separate human.Only in close proximity can the Yithian’s natural telepathic abilities overcome the fragmentation, allowing Huston greater leverageover the creature by threatening to increase the distance between his parts. The number of “bits” Kakakatak might be dividedinto is limitless, but the Keeper should consider the logistical problem created by more than three of four pieces. Finally, thereis nothing to say that all the parts need be human. A preternaturally smart dingo that helps guide the players to Kakakatak is oneuseful option.

(The pre-generated investigator Mrs. Hayes is potentially a long-distance piece of a fragmented Kakakatak. See page XX formore information of that worthy.)

(bonuses or penalties can be assigned based onthe character’s complexion) or suffer from mildburns. These will cause discomfort, but heal in2d3 days. Once a roll is failed, for each additionalhour there is a chance that the burns willbecome severe; roll versus the investigator’sCON x 5. A failed roll indicates a severe burn isreceived; successive rolls are at a cumulative +10penalty. Anyone suffering severe burns takes 1Hit Point of damage (assuming normal clothing)and must make a CON x 5 roll when attemptingphysical tasks or suffer a -30% penalty.

Heatstroke is another danger. Anyinvestigator who exerts himself – moving atmore than a walking pace, engaging in combat,and so on – under hot conditions must make acontested roll of CON versus the POT of the heat– a good guide is 1 point for every 5 degreesFahrenheit. If the investigator is dressed inappropriate gear, the POT of the heat should bereduced 5. For anyone who is dressedinappropriately, such as in heavy clothing orwhose face is already suffering from substantialburns, the POT of the heat should be increasedby 1 or 2 points.

Sand and dust storms are not unknown inthe region (particularly if the dreadful FlyingPolyps are active) and can serve to complicatetravel or even halt it altogether. Additionally, theregion is also prone to flash-flooding, especiallyduring the cyclone season (roughly Novemberthrough April). Locals will know to seek highground during a sudden downpour, as willanyone with a skill in Survival: Desert higherthan 20% or who makes a halved Idea roll.

Local government and law enforcementWestern Australia is part of the Commonwealthof Australia and subject to its government; theterritorial capital is Perth. There is universalsuffrage to those over the age of 21 saveAboriginal Australians who are prohibited fromvoting.

Western Australia is policed by the WesternAustralian Police, established in 1829 and taskedwith keeping the peace in a territory of just overone-million square miles. The officers of theWAP are generally well-trained and professionalfor the period. Away from the more settled areaaround Perth, police activity was focused oncrimes involving gold miners, stockmen, andkeeping the peace. There is even a “gold stealingdivision” set up to deal with the endemic illicittrade in metal. Riots were not uncommon, bethey racial or economic in origin. Significantdisturbances include those between Japaneseand Malay pearl divers in Broome in 1914 andagain in 1920, and in Fremantle (near Perth) in1925, where the WAP forcibly broke a strikebarricade in November of that year.

The WAP operates both foot and horsepatrols, and is also equipped with automobiles,though radios are not in use for cars until the1930s. In the interior, camel teams might beemployed as those animals are better suited forthe desert. Natives are often used as guides,especially away from the coast. While largercities like Perth have their own dedicated policeforces, smaller settlements like Port Hedland arelimited to a dedicated constable and perhapssome officers attached to the customs authority,while a mining settlement like Cuncudgeriemight only have periodic patrols passingthrough. Officers are usually armed inaccordance with the dangers they are expectedto confront while on duty.

Law-breakers will be detained by the policefor serious crimes until they can be transferredto the nearest gaol to await trial. In remoteplaces where there is police station, like MarbleBar, a private home or business (such as a hotel)might serve to temporarily hold prisoners. Themost likely destination for convicts in WesternAustralia is the Freemantle Prison in Perth.Execution (by hanging) is uncommon, but notunheard of in capital cases; otherwise terms of

Australia282The Stars are…wrong?One easy way to emphasize the alien nature of Australia (for thosecoming from America or Europe) is to remind the players about thevery foreign night sky above them. The truly cruel Keeper will requirea successful Idea roll in conjunction with any skill dependent on theheavens, such as Navigate or Astronomy. Otherwise the first sight of theSouthern Cross might be worth pointing out, though a Sanity roll isprobably a little too much. If there is a spell-casters among theinvestigators, then remember that certain stars might not be visible –and it is hard to summon a Byakhee without Aldebaran in the sky.

sentence can range from a few years to manydecades. Foreigners convicted of crimes inAustralia may be returned to their homecountry to be incarcerated if such a transfer isrequested by the home country, but suchrequests are rare. Less serious crimes will simplyresult in deportation.

CommunicationCommunication can be an issue in Australia,particularly in the isolated interior of the Pilbaracoast. Most major cities of the east areconnected by telephone and telegraph lines;Perth is not connected to the rest of Australia bytelephone until 1930. International calls are alsonot possible until 1930; for investigators thetelegram is the only option. The postal system iswell developed however, and even remote localeslike Port Hedland have weekly airmail delivery.

HotelsIn Port Hedland, the Esplanade Hotel onAnderson Street is the city’s largest and oldest.Its accommodations arereasonable enough, forthe town, but do notcompare favorably tothose of London or NewYork. Those looking forsomewhere moredangerous might try thePier Hotel, the bar of which is frequented byrowdy sailors and dock workers; brawls arecommon.

Further inland, the corrugated iron coveredIronclad Hotel in Marble Bar and its seven roomsare the best that can be hoped considering thearea. Investigators are advised not to cause toomuch damage there, as the owner representsthe region in the Western Australian parliament.

LibrariesThere are no libraries, public or private, of noteon the Pilbara coast or inland of Port Hedland,save of course for the antediluvian archives ofthe Great Race. Newspapers might be retainedfor use in the W.C. but beyond that, a researcher

is directed to the facilities in Perth and otherlocations further afield.

HospitalsModern hospitals are few and far between inWestern Australia, but several hospitals ofquality can be found in and around theterritorial capital of Perth, the largest of thesebeing Perth Hospital. There are also facilities ofvarious sizes in Kalgoorlie, Fremantle, Northam,and Wooroloo. Unfortunately even the closestof these is over 1100 miles from Port Hedland…

A small hospital, run by the stategovernment, can be found in Port Hedland. Thefacilities are somewhat limited, though simplesurgeries can be conducted in emergencies androutine care, such as setting broken limbs, isavailable. For the natives there is the veryunpopular “Lock hospital,” also located in PortHedland, and so called because the patients arelocked in over-night. The quality of care issubstantially less than the Whites-onlyinstitution.

There is also clinic operated by theAustralian Inland Mission (part of the AustralianPresbyterian Church) in Port Hedland. Whilethe clinic was primarily intended for women andchildren, they do not turn away the injured.Critical cases and those needing surgery,presuming they that might survive the trip, willbe moved to Perth or, if necessary, Sydney. Ingame terms, assume the staff has a high First Aidskill, but a substantially lower Medicine skill (say70% and 15%) and that patients cared for herewill only heal 1d3+1 hit points per week, ratherthan the usual 2d3 for hospitalization. (TheKeeper is encouraged to imagine how the piousstaff might take to lunatic ravings about ElderGods or monsters from the dawn of time andthe complications that might ensue.)

AsylumsThere are only psychiatric facilities in andaround Perth, the foremost of which is theClaremont Hospital for the Mentally Insane(94% survival, 4% cure), which opened in 1903.In total, there are only four asylums, public orprivate, for all of Western Australia. In the areaclosest to Port Hedland and the City of the Great

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Esplanade Hotel

Race, there is no specialized care for the insane,unless one considered the Great Sandy Desertitself. Ranting and raving individuals mighttemporarily be cared for at the hospital in PortHedland (cf.), but only to ascertain the physicalcondition of the patient and until suitablearrangement can be made to move themelsewhere.

NewspapersThere are no local newspapers being publishedon the Pilbara Coast in 1925, although thePilbarra Goldfield News was published in PortHedland until March of 1923, so it is possiblethat some item of import about the activities ofDr. Huston might be discovered in back issues.Otherwise, several newspapers are published inPerth, including The Daily News, The WesternAustralian, The Western Mail, and The SundayTimes (Sundays only). The only othernewspaper in the region is Kalgoorlie’sKalgoorlie Miner. All of these will deliveredanything up to a week late in Port Hedland viaweekly airmail delivery, and then a day or twoafter that in Cuncudgerie.

NPC namesAustralian personal names are generallyconsistent with those of Great Britain (see pageXX for a listing) though nicknames anddiminutives are more common, particularly inthe outback where monikers sometimesreplaced family names- ‘Two Camel’ Dave insteadof David Baldwin or Big Billy instead of WilliamHumphries Sr. Naming conventions varysignificantly from one native group to anotherso that any general guideline is beyond thescope of this article. European-descendedAustralians often call indigenous Australians byEuropean nicknames – Wycroft’s “boys” –“Lynn,” “Charlie,” and “Bill,” for example, ratherthan by the names they use themselves.

TRAVELAs discussed in the campaign book, Australiacan only be reached normally by sailing, butonce there, travel by plane, train, andautomobile are all available. Rail lines connectthe major cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane,and Adelaide) of the east; the Trans-Australiarailway connected the east of Australia to Perthin 1917. The lack of standard gauge remains afrustration for travelers who sometimes areforced to change trains when two lines ofdiffering gauge connect; those going fromSydney to Perth must make this change twice,for example. In the major cities trolley cars arecommon and a strong network of regional trainsconnect the major cities to their suburbs and toeach other.

The Pilbara Coast is usually reached via thesea, though this is not a location often visited byregular liners. Passage is most effectivelybooked on a need-to-travel basis with thecaptain of a freighter scheduled on take on aload of ore or other products from the mines ofthe region. Investigators coming fromSoutheast Asia (and to a lesser extent Africa orIndia) should be able to find an appropriatevessel with little difficulty, though it may takesome time to reach their final destination.Those seeking rapid travel would be best advisedto take a direct liner to Australia and hire a localboat once there.

For investigators in a hurry, note that hasAustralia rapidly and enthusiastically adoptedair travel. Regular flights between the cities ofthe east coast were up and running by 1925;flights to Perth could be charted, but regularservice will begin until 1929.

An informal field, most often used by theweekly mail service, exists in Port Hedland.While there are potential difficulties from theweather (a sandstorm greatly complicates oreven prevents landing), investigators with accessto a private plane – there is no regular service –or willing to charter a flight, can reach PortHedland with comparative ease. Likewise,seaplanes are an increasingly common sight atthe Port Hedland waterfront. (The Keepershould remember however that investigatorsarriving by air will definitely be noticed by

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Mortimer Wycroft or his allies as such a flightwill be the talk of the town for at least a littlewhile.)

Automobiles are also disproportionatelypopular as a means of transport in Australia andinvestigators on the Pilbara coast can easilymake use of automobile transport to get to theCity of the Great Race. While cars and truckswill make substantially better time than moretraditional means of transport, difficulties interrain will force frequent detours and causeperiodic stops to make repairs. Outside of thecity, the usual difficulties of road condition andrepair are compounded by the challenges posedby the climate, with damage done to tires andblown radiators being very common. In theOutback, where there are no roads, the chancesof a vehicle suffering a similar breakdown isgreatly increased, and a driver is advised to makeregular checks on his vehicle’s condition. Likeair travel, automobiles trekking off into theinterior are much more likely to be noticed byHuston’s agents and their allies.

Finally, for investigators seeking a lower techapproach, various animal mounts are available.While horses are generally less effective due tothe heat and their water requirements, they canbe use along the cattle routes where there arefrequent water wells. Mules and camelsrepresent the slowest option, but they are bettersuited to the more remote parts of the desertand are very reliable. They are also unlikely toattract much attention unless part of a largegroup. Travel by foot is possible, but highlydangerous, since individual travelers will havedifficulty carrying the requisite supply of waterwith them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY/RESOURCES

The primary source for Australia in Call ofCthulhu remains Terror Australis; currentlyavailable as a PDF. Unfortunately thatsourcebook is over two decades old, and whilethe scenarios inside are of good quality, asidefrom a discussion about Aboriginal society andmythology, it lacks detail about Australian

society and culture during the 1920s. Morerecently Beyond the Mountains of Madnessincludes a short interlude in Melbourne, thoughit is unlikely investigators heading to the PilbaraCoast will have as much use for pemmican asthose onboard the S.S. Gabrielle.

Beyond those sources listed above, a modernguidebook to the continent nation is a goodplace to start for more information.Additionally, the Nation Library of Australiahosts a large collection of period images athttp://www.nla.gov.au/apps/picturescatalogue.Altenately, Baz Luhrmann’s sprawling (nearly 3hour) film Australia, while being set in 1939 andbeyond and certainly not to everyone’s taste, iseasily rented for quick inspiration. The filmRabbit Proof Fence, (Dir. Philip Noyce), set in1931 provides great insight into white culture’streatment of Aboriginal, especially children.

PREGENERATED CHARACTERS

Bruce “Jack” Baugh – An American prospectorand Poet, Baugh has come to Western Australiafor the climate, his health, and gold. The ex-Dough Boy will be pleased to meet anyone fromthe USA or Europe, and will happily relate whatrumors he knows about the area. He can beencountered in Cuncudgerie or in even in the

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Transport on the streets of Port Hedland

Outback, and will sign on to any expedition fora decent wage.

Mrs. Hayes – Ostensibly a boarding houseowner in Cuncudgerie, her establishmentproviding a cleaner and more respectable placeto stay in the mining town, this Victorian widowis something of an enigma. Outwardly genteeland upstanding, she takes a quiet, but intenseinterest in local events, especially strange eventsthat take place in the Outback. This is forreasons that she herself does not understand,just as she does not understand why she wantsto accompany the investigators to the City of theGreat Race and will not take no for an answerwhen she offers to accompany them. Mrs. Hayesdoes not understand these reasons because sheis an amnesiac.

The reason why Mrs. Hayes is an amnesiac isbecause she is an ex-Yithian agent being drawnback to the City. The closer she gets to the City,the more her lost memories and the skills withthem will resurface, resulting in her being bothsurprising knowledgeable and capable. TheKeeper should inform Mrs. Hayes’ player ofthese skills as and when (they are representedon her second investigator sheet), keeping theskills secretly until then. When offering a playerthe role of Mrs. Hayes make sure that he iscapable and willing to play something a littledifferent.

PLUG-IN SCENARIOS

Title: The RescueType: Sidetrek AdventureSource: The Cthulhu Companion (PDF), 4th

Edition rulebook (OOP)Notes: See the notes on this scenario for the

Kenya Chapter on page XX.

Title: Old Fellow, That BunyipType: Sidetrek AdventureSource: Terror Australis (PDF)Notes: If the Keeper wishes to expand the

activity of the Cult of the Sand Bat, oneoption is to have them be responsiblefor awakening the Bunyip in thisscenario, adding a layer of difficulty forinvestigators to resolve. AlternatelyAustralian investigators might be drawninto the great actions of the Sand Batcult (and this campaign) by such aretooled scenario.

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Aboriginals

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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A battered octavo (5” x 7!”). This small bookwas originally bound in fine red leather but,presumably due to the poor conditions in whichit has been kept, the color has faded leaving it alight brown. Only a hint of the ornate spinebearing a traditional diamond shaped designalong on side is still visible. The top of the still-intact spine is flat, and bears the faded title ofthe book and its author, though both are faintand hard to read in poor light. The pagestowards the edges show signs of wear, whilesome newer damage to the exterior suggestsmore recent abuse. Multiple ink-stained fingerprints and brown mud-like stains appear in themargins. The print is blocky and the numerouswood-cut illustrations are of a low quality.While no publication date is given, the book’sstyle suggests the late 17th century.

SKIMMING: This book purports to be the testimony of oneJames Woodville, a Suffolk gentleman, collectinghis dream visions and prophecies. The bulk ofthe work is focused on Woodville’s torture at thehands of peculiar conic demons. Shown almostas frequently are crude woodcuts depicting abewildering array of sexual practices that theauthor prescribes as a divinely inspired methodof protecting oneself from demonic assault andmeant to restore man to the sinless state beforethe Fall. Many of the images are pornographicby modern standards, even moreso when thebook was written. The text concludes with alengthy prophecy outlining the divinedestruction of the conic devils in the time beforethe creation of Man by shapeless (ofteninvisible) and terrible angelic beings, as well as afuture apocalypse, in which a sinful humanity is

swept away. Woodville’s prose is frantic,obsessive, lewd, and clearly the product of aderanged mind.

RESEARCH: A Library Use roll in a large library can uncoverthe following information. This book is one ofthe very few known copies of James Woodville’s1675 work. Woodville (1631?–1683) was anotorious English lunatic and heretical preacherwho, after an apparent stroke in 1656, beganpreaching a radical utopian form of Christianitycombining a fiery apocalypticism with pan-sexual communalism. Woodville spent hisfamily fortune promoting his views, eventuallybeing imprisoned by the crown in 1678. He diedin a madhouse in 1683. The book itself isthought to have been published clandestinely inLondon by Woodville himself, apparentlypurchasing his own press and hiring printersfrom the continent who were unable to speakEnglish. He is believed to have illustrated thework himself. Approximately one hundredcopies were printed and distributed toWoodville’s followers and other interestedparties. There are no other known editions.

Woodville is infrequently remembered, evenby historians, who usually lump him with thereligious radicalism of the Civil War period.Several suggest his mental illness was broughton by syphilis. One Victorian author describeshim thusly:

“Licentiousness ran riot during theRestoration period, though even Charles’court had its limits. A case in point is thelunatic utopian James Woodville whopreached that not only should all goodsbe held commonly, but so should eventhe most tender affections. Claiming

Wondrous Intelligences Neil Shaw and Bret Kramer

that only in acts of congress could thesoul be shielded from demonic assault(his demons being plant-men withpitchforks for hands!), Woodville ranafoul of the Crown after exhausting hiscredit and subsequently languished firstin prison, then later a pox-house wherehe died, ranting to the last.”

Another Library Use roll, if made inAustralia, will show that until 1911 a copy of thework was held by the University of Melbourne,when it was stolen along with a few other lessvaluable titles. The description of the bookgiven matches this copy. It could be sold for asmuch as £500 to a collector.

THOROUGH READING: The author claims to have undergone a bizarrepossession by a demonic spirit while he was inhis early twenties. Unlike other instances ofpossession, Woodville’s spirit was taken toanother plane, possibly Hell or Earth before thecreation of man. His soul, now in the body of ademon, was interrogated about his life and hissins. At the same time back on the earthWoodville’s body was possessed by a diabolicbeing. It initially feigned to be Woodville, butlater became involved with occultists and othernefarious characters. It also traveled widely,visiting much of Europe as well as parts of Asiaand possibly the New World.

Woodville describes the demons and theirsociety at great length. Their physical form isstrange, bordering on the ridiculous – greatcones twice the height of a man, with two armsterminating in a crab’s claws and another pair

of arms, one bearing enormous eyes, the othertrumpet-shaped tubes. They communicateddirectly somehow, without speaking, andseemed intent that their victims (Woodville wasone among many) make full confessions of theirsins, recording all they said in great triangularmetal books. They lived in vast stone citiessurrounded by all sorts of strange flora andfauna and considered themselves the masters ofthe world. They ruled over this world usingmany magical items and talismans, includingfearsome weapons. Only one thing frightenedthem – the angels they had trapped in greatbasalt towers or under vast iron doors whenthey had been cast down to Hell many yearsbefore. These angels are variously described asinvisible or without shape and always singingunearthly music. The demons informed himthat before the time of Eden, the angels wouldawake from their imprisonment and sweepaside their devilish dominion.

Woodville could not recall any of theseevents when he returned to his senses severalyears after his “possession.” Finding himselfwithout memory, but very wealthy, he embarkedon an extended debauch across the continent(he awoke in Italy, where he was told he hadbeen speaking fluent Italian). During one ofthese orgiastic extravagances, he had a suddenflash of recollection, brought on by opium andsexual ecstasy. He then began a systematic“program” of erotic research to restore hisrecollection, followed by a return to Englandwhere he began to preach his gospel ofrepentance and pleasure. One of his chief claimswas that, when in the throes of ecstasy, thehuman soul could not be drawn from the bodyby demons or other evil spirits and his variousorgies were intended to shield humanity.

The book concludes with an ecstaticprophecy of the Apocalypse, when the Beastwould arise in the West in his kingdom of“Reliah” and, joined by a host of obscureallegorical demons and other beings, wouldbring about the downfall of a sinful andabominable humanity. Profuse, almost child-like, woodcut illustrations give form toWoodville’s many vague or contradictorydescriptions.

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This Seems Familiar…An investigator who reads this book and makes a successful Biology,Natural History, or Geology roll will recognize some of the plants andanimals of the demons’ kingdom as described by Woodville as actualterrestrial life from the early Triassic period (roughly 230 million yearsago), albeit in distorted form. Unless the reader can make an Idea rolland rationalize this realization away, he will lose another 1d4 points ofSanity up to the book’s maximum cost of 4 points for reading it.

Despite the quality of the writing andillustrations the book is an unsettling anddiscomforting read, not the least of which forthe graphic sexual content, but also for theunquestionable alien qualities of demons andtheir kingdom. It may be demented, rambling,and obscene, but it is also disturbingly cohesive.

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QUOTES:

I didst see that ye One before me, Born of ye Pitof Flame, had ye Forme of a Grate Cone, as high asa horse head, at ye Utmost Part were four limbes likeunto a snake. Two limbes had claws at their end, likea crabe whilst another had many trumpets, and yefinal head had giant eyes, Red like blud and withmany small fibres. I set out my Arm against ye Devilonly then to learn that what I saw before me was butmy Owne Reflection in a Vast Mirror, for you see

reader, that as the Demon’s Spirit had taken my Forme and Countenance,I had been affix’d with his.”

NNNNN

My devotion knew no limits and I gavemy self fully to ye task of freeing my giftof Prophecy from ye Tomb within myDreams. Taking much wine, I knew aruddy Catalan girl in the French Manner –most satisfactorily – thence an Italian,likewise an older servant of my Hostess. Itaught her Much to Warde her against yeDemonick Spirits, though I knew Not her Tongue, and she likewise sharedMuch Knowledge with me. As Lot’s seed was carried forth in a sulliedvessel yet remained Clean, so may Man, by laying like Beasts, drive forthye Demonic Inquisitors as Smoke drives off Bees.”

NNNNN

Know you well that when yeTime of Judgment is at hand, andLord God returns, there will bemany Signs. Ye Moon will be asBlud and bear ye mark of red-tongued Satan. The Beast willawaken in the West and his City shallrise up from ye waves. Reliah is thename of his Kingdom, and itscoming will be on the lips of everyman, be he heathen Musselman,Hindoo, or Pious Christian. Whenye Beast strides forth from his Citythe Moon shall be torn asunder bythe Whore of Babylon, Mother to

Blasphemy and Corruption, and Angels will appear in many places, tocarry forth ye Souls of the Righteous in silver chalices to ye Throne ofAlmighty God on high…”

NNNNN

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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A thick (over six-hundred pages) manuscript; itbears the title Gods of Reality on the first page.Dr. Robert Huston is named as the author. Thebulk of the work is on standard-sized “letterpaper” (8 !” by 11”) of good quality, in a fluid, ifcompact, hand; the quality of the paper declinesin the final third and appears to have come fromseveral different sources, mostly A4 sized, likelyfrom Australia. The pages are individuallynumbered and some of the early portions of thebook appear to be dated (starting in February of1920), though this ceases after the first hundredpages. Sometimes small, frequentlyunexplained, diagrams of unusual lookingdevices have been drawn into the margins.

SKIMMING:According to the cover, this book contains thephilosophical wisdom of Dr. Robert Huston. Heclaims that he has achieved wisdom greater thanhas ever been possessed in the history of manthrough the aid of a mystical being he refers toas the “Universal (or sometimes ‘Cosmic’ or‘Divine’) Syzygy”. Huston’s claims are hard tosubstantiate as the work is disorganized,convoluted, and needlessly cryptic. This mightbe caused by the fact that, as Huston suggests,readers who have not transcended primitivemodes of thought cannot begin to understand

the truth he claims to reveal; it might also bedue to the fact that the author is a raving,bombastic, megalomaniacal lunatic. Readersmaking a Psychoanalysis roll might gain explicitinsights into Huston’s way of thinking if theKeeper wishes, allowing some anticipation of hisfuture actions. In some of his digressions,Huston discusses something called “the MasterPlan” and his activities in “the Great and AncientCity” towards those somewhat murky ends.

THOROUGH READING: This work represents the collected “wisdom” ofDr. Robert Huston, late of New York. Hisostensible goal in writing this work is to explainto his readers the truth of reality; that all humanunderstanding is not just hopelessly wrong, butinevitably so, due to our fundamentally flawedhuman mindset. It is only through transcendingour primitive human way of thinking thatindividuals may, as Huston repeatedly claims hehas, begin to understand the fundamental anduniversal truths that underpin reality. In doingso, we perceive reality as the gods do and thusbecome like them.

Huston claims he came to his trans-humangenius through the guidance of a being he refersto as the Universal Syzygy, the embodiment ofthe self-aware facets of the universe, a limitlesslywise and powerful god whose greatness cannotbe understood by primitive thinkers.

291editGods of Reality

Bret Kramer and Sam Friedman

Dr. Huston’s monumental tribute to his lunatic arrogance is different from the other tomesthat the investigators might obtain during the course of the campaign; it is filled with thesecrets at the heart of the Carlyle Expedition mystery, but contains nothing to expand reader’sknowledge of the Cthulhu Mythos. We have adjusted the layout of this book’s write-up as aresponse to this – the quotes section has been greatly expanded to include all the major topicsthe book addresses, especially those of interest to investigators. If needed, Huston’s book mayprovide answers to outstanding questions about specific mysteries relating to the CarlyleExpedition.

Throughout human history this being has beenrecognized in a partial and incomplete fashionas a god in almost every human culture; hespecifically names the Black Pharaoh(alternately called Nephren-Ka, more rarely,Nyarlathotep), the “great horned god of theKenyan savages,” the “ravenous Mother/Lover ofthe Chinese,” even “the primitive Aboriginals’‘Father-of-all-Bats’.” Huston proclaims himselfto be the first human granted transcendence bythis being as well as the herald of a new orderingof the world, with Huston as its temporalmaster.

Unfortunately the text is nearlyincomprehensible in its arguments and buriesthe presented proof of Huston’s claims under anavalanche of self-aggrandizement, biographicaltrivia, weird scientific minutia, and nearlyendless digressions where Huston examinessome facet of human culture or history and,bringing to bear his “unique” genius, dissects it.While the relative merits of his thoughts mightbe debated, these countless asides do nothing tofurther his fundamental claims which it onlysupports indirectly.

Scattered throughout the text are asides andcomments musing on the great task thatHuston, in conjunction with a few rarelymentioned allies (all formerly part of the CarlyleExpedition, though Ho Fong is referenced a fewtimes and Omar Shakti once), is engaged in. Asfar as can be discerned, certain collective ritualactions combined with various astronomicalalignments, including a solar eclipse, will alterthe very fabric of the world at a particularlocation in the central Indian Ocean. Thischanged place, Huston calls it “the Great Gate,”will allow the Universal Syzygy to enter fully intothis world in a physical form and begin its ruleover all things. Huston’s primary assignments(despite his claims at sole importance, he isclearly working at the behest of his allies) aretwo-fold. The first is to procure technologicalinformation1 from a magically bound being, abeing supposedly from the ancient, apparentlypre-human, past. Huston clearly relishes hisdomination of the creature, whom he decries asbeing arrogant and willful. The second

assignment is to ritually prepare, via certainenchantments and numerous human sacrifices,certain statues before the opening of the “GreatGate.” The date for the ritual is given as January14th, 1926.

The text ends abruptly and the book is stillapparently being composed, though littlepurpose can be seen in that task.

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1. A character making a Physics roll will realize the information collected as being something to do with the construction of a giganticrocket.

The minor Mythos Tome variantSince so much of what Huston discusses revealssecrets of the Mythos, the Keeper may elect totreat Gods of Reality as a minor Mythos tome. Inthat case, the following statistics are presented:

Sanity Loss 1D3/1D8; Cthulhu Mythos +2%;average 2 weeks to study and comprehend. Spells:Contact Nyarlathotep, Dominate, Time Trap

None of the spells are specifically identifiedor named, though the ritual elements of each areobvious to readers.

QUOTES:

Madness is the mark of gods, the response to the whisper of ancientsecrets, and the unseen hand that turns the world in its disorderedcourse. With it, I have peered beyond mere dream and pattern , beyondchildhood impetuosity and adult grief, beyond the analysis of whichother men are capable. Accepting madness, I accept the gods and rulewell with their gifts thereby.

Human Perception, dreamsThe repose of the masses shall soon be disturbed. Their dream-filled

wakeful sleep will end. I shall open their eyes to the truth and thepower and rule by my great wisdom. Their cave is dark and they seenothing. They believe themselves safe, hidden from the light of a newdawn. But the truth reaches them still . They bury themselves deeperand still the water seeps down to them, carrying whispers of truth.

——-

In sleep the woman came to me speaking tongues I do not know.Yet I easily understood her as she led me deeper into dream. I crawledwith her under a vast flat rock to escape the heat of the sun . There sheopened a door emblazoned with gold-painted etchings andphosphorescent symbols in a myriad of colors. It was then that I knewher. As she opened the door any fear or trepidation vanished, for nowI was to know the truth, for my Master wished it to be so. Peeringbeyond the door, my mind reeled as a bird through the sky. All thelaws of physics had no use for me here. Direction was meaningless,as was form. And yet I descended to a series of platforms. Not becauseof any external force. No. It was because I willed it.

I awoke in a sweat with a servant standing over me. He held up acloth damp with blood and it was then that I felt its warm wetnessdripping from my ears.

——-

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It is by the sheer power of our collective consciousness that we formthe world to our understanding. The men of science do not work tounderstand, they work to force their feeble will on the universe, to makeit conform to their petty comprehension . How foolish they are! Theydo not see that the will of the Cosmic Syzygy is infinitely stronger andbeyond His will there are Truths yet stronger, though I dare not yet speakof them.

——-

… and yet is it not the case that the dreamer who, in waking, fullybelieves the world to be ordered and structured, finds his conceptions ofreality thrown into challenge? The sleeper, now faced with irrefutableproof that his notions of reality are flawed, lacking, fights and exertshimself until he sees that he can not win . It is then that he screamshimself awake. This they call nightmare. This I call vision . This I callwisdom.

Gray Dragon Island & Mountain of the Black Wind

Sweet bride Hypatia – our Master’s. Her honor is the highest – tobirth the Child of God! On her throne at the Mountain of the BlackWind she wails in Truth’s Light. Her pain is the Child’s sustenance andsurely he feeds well .

——-

Three points in the Mark. The Great City, the Mountain , and theIsland. All shall unite in singing His song at the appointed time. Hismusic, performed in rituals of blood and flesh, will be a fanfare ofenlightenment to herald in His reign, My dominion, and the End to allignorance.

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January 14, 1926The day of the eclipse shall arrive and together we bring out of

Darkness a new Light. Penhew insists that we use chronometers toensure proper timing, but we will know the time. His limitations markhis ignorance – he still insists on calling the fourteenth day of January,nineteen-hundred twenty-six. It is propitious though, this Gate formedin the month of Janus, God of Doorways… Only I see this connection,not that puffed-up lover of ancient stones, that drinker of the pollutedNile. Let him worry over his precious vessel . While the Wielders of theClub send the livestock screaming into madness, the Stone Gods shallrelease their energy to the Dome. The Gate will open . By MY will ,Truth will be born!

Purple Temple, StatuesLong before we unearthed it I had visited the place in dreams and

visions sent by The Cosmic One’s messengers. Now I have seen it and itspower. I would be a fool to let such a power store go to waste. Thestatues will be as reservoirs; the dome is beyond mortal comprehensionbut I know it well .

Mind DeviceIt is so simple, a crown of copper webbing surrounding the crystal

spheroid. Though energized by electricity it seems this is not the sourceof the machine’s greater power. Too perfect! Science defied by such asimple trick! I see the change behind their eyes when I awaken him.He bled from the ears. I stopped that with gauze but some defect of hisbrain soon killed him. There are others to test.

295edit

Lightning GunMore force was needed, but he showed me the device and its

function . None but I, prepared by the visions in my dreams, believedsuch a device could exist. I knew it to be a mighty weapon and Iwas right! The apparatus holds the most powerful force of nature.Thunder and lightning bow to my will and smite my opponents, likeZeus! I ventured to the great chamber to test its efficacy in dealingwith humans. They roasted quickly, and with a minimum ofstruggle, just as I saw in my vision .

——-

After some more work, the arrogant creature showed me theschematic and I shall build one myself. The design is complex, butthis is no obstacle. The others have brought all the materials and Ishall have the honor of assembling the device. Ha! Even the most“gifted” men of science could never imagine such a thing… glory! …tocontrol such elemental forces!

——-

He tells me the piping ones that he so fears flee from the device. Idispatched a party to seek one out and test it, teaching Sullivan how todraw them forth from the darkness. How they burn! The survivorsreport that multiple applications are needed but the devices are mostefficacious. I examined the remains and knew that once armed andequipped my army will suffer no opposition . I will conquer all , eventhose feared by the City’s Builders. I must make further tests.

The YithianI have made the fourth sacrifice to The Timeless and Universal

Syzygy and called upon him in his name of Nyarlathotep. Tonight mydreams shall be of the void and I will feel its pull again . In sleep Isee them and reach for them, pulling them ever nearer. He has told memy success is near. I shall pluck one from the dark of past eons andbend it to my will . I shall conquer time just as I will hold dominionover space. The Builder shall return to its City as my slave.

Australia296

ShanghaiShanghaiHorror is HumanityHorror is Humanity

Keeper’s Notes: ShanghaiAnthony Warren

(with Chinese translations by Susan Zhang)

1. We use this term with reservation; it is historically appropriate but, particularly in the modern era, has become inexorably bound intocolonial and racist stereotypes of native people.

298 Shanghai

CHAPTER OVERVIEWShanghai is frequently the conclusion to anarduous international adventure: old friends andbrothers-in-arms have fallen, and the weaker insanity or prowess have been culled. Villains havebeen defeated and cults stamped out. For many,this bustling slice of China should be an exoticand novel experience, all the more memorablefor its role as finale.

GETTING STARTEDThe first consideration for the Keeper is whereShanghai fits into his campaign and, at thesame time, how the city will be portrayed. Is ita painted backdrop; all opium-smoking triadbosses, gentle martial-artist ‘coolies’1, painteddragon-ladies, and sighing singsong girls? Or isit gritty film-noir horror; neon-lit casinos,cognac-sipping Old China Hands, foreignersrunning from their pasts, and seedy dim sumstreet-vendors who know all the wrong people?There is a fine line though, between caricatureand outright racism, so know your audience.This chapter assumes a “mythic-realistic”Shanghai; rouge-cheeked, a little preened, butstill recognisable to those who knew her, so tospeak. Seeking out a pre-1940s map ofShanghai and some photographs (bothavailable on line) will prove helpful. While theupdated map included with this article shouldhopefully remedy some of the errors of theoriginal Shanghai chapter of Masks ofNyarlathotep, a map with the old road names

would certainly help locate those streetsmentioned throughout this chapter.

Nevertheless, backdrop comes second tothe people that populate it and unless theKeeper or his players have knowledge of Chineseculture it might all seem a bit daunting.Hundreds of books on Chinese culture areavailable for livening up interaction between theinvestigators and the peoples of Shanghai, butdo not forget that certain darker aspects – thefoibles and stereotypes of the era – can also serveas a means of toying with investigators’preconceptions. If there is the need to glossanything over, the Keeper should feel free to doit with a shrug and a vague answer. Even mostChinese find it difficult to explain “face”(respect) or cultural nuances to foreigners, andinvestigators asking what is that strangeprocession that they are seeing, with its dancesand firecrackers and golden-statues, willprobably be met by the translator’s answer“respecting the gods” or “it’s very old; it’s justhow it is,” or the ever popular “you wouldn’tunderstand.” Similarly, most westerners hadlittle to no experience of Chinese life, and fewerbothered to take any heed of it; even seasonedChina Hands, many of whom had spent 30 ormore years “up-country,” still did not speak aword of Mandarin or Cantonese, had never metone aside from a servant, and yet assumed toknow everything about the “Chink” and“Chinaman” as they regarded them.

The Keeper needs to take care if he is toretain player focus on the “Big Picture.”Shanghai is complex, and tying together itsthreads is possibly the most overwhelming task

Shanghai and environs

edit 299

300 Shanghaiof all the locations in the campaign, especially ifthe players spin off on unplanned avenues andaway from dealing with the Mythos threats inthe city. As ever, it pays dividends to read theShanghai chapter with care. Hopefully theinvestigators will recognize that here the threatis two pronged: Ho Fong and Sir AubreyPenhew. While this does not mean dumpinginformation on the investigators as soon as theyhave set foot on the Bund, it does mean that theKeeper is free to hand out the abundant clueswith no little largesse. If investigators arrive inShanghai at the beginning of the campaign,however – coming direct from New York andbypassing other chapters – it will be necessary

to stop the story from unravelling too fast. Theproblem for the investigators is that they areunlikely to have enough knowledge to discernHo Fong’s involvement or enough savvy to fendoff his attacks. Leads redirecting them

elsewhere or a softening of Ho Fong’s assaults,can solve both problems.

Perhaps the biggest problem for the Keeperstems from the sheer number of organisationsand factions that the investigators can interactwith during this chapter. At a conservativeestimate these number five – the Order of theBloated Woman, Lin Tang-yu’s thugs, New China,the police, and the Japanese military – and thatis not including many of the minor “linking”NPCs. If a Keeper uses every character and everygroup from both Masks of Nyarlathotep and thisCompanion, he is liable to have a dozen semi-affiliated groups to keep tabs on alongside hisplayers! If that feels too broad a focus and tooarduous a task, the Keeper should insteadconcentrate on the Order of the Bloated Womanand New China, moving the others on and offstage as desired – after all, there is no reason toforce Lin Tang-yu or Taro Isoge into thecampaign if the Keeper does not feelcomfortable with them.

Nor should a Keeper worry if things makecinematic rather than logical sense: in mythicShanghai, a man coming through the door witha revolver is an occupational hazard, and no oneis shy about spying on or kidnapping anyoneelse. No matter how many informants “jump”from the suicide-spot atop the Great Worldbuilding or if the party manages to get arrestedfor a shoot-out in a triad -owned nightclub, it isbest to keep the events moving. The Keeper justneeds to smile and improvise. To horriblymisquote Chinatown: “forget it, Jake; it’sShanghai!”

KEEPER’S TIPSBefore we begin, it is probably best to say that areader will not find meaningful comments onChinese culture, the tenets of Buddhism, orcomplex descriptions of “face” here, since otherbooks do it far better (for quick and dirty rules,Chaosium’s Secrets of Japan, which althoughdevoted to Call of Cthulhu’s “modern” era, doesoverlap with the Shanghai of the 1920s,discussing Chinese-style uses of Credit Rating,the Cthulhu Mythos’ influence on Buddhism,and the various “alchemical” elements of Taoism– but your mileage may vary). Similarly, it is a

Making Friends and Influencing PeopleNews travelled fast in Shanghai, and unless the investigators smugglethemselves in under cover of darkness (and even then that is noguarantee!), interested parties will get in touch with them almostimmediately. Usually this involves finding a selection of invitations orpersonal-cards left at the hotel reception within a day or two of arrival(and after people have worked out what “type of people” theinvestigators are; after all, no one wants to get chummy with acriminal… unless they are our type of criminal). These invitations orpersonal-cards will probably cater to the nature of the arriving party:anyone with a high Credit Rating will be sent an invitation to the opulentShanghai Club; a well-to-do American to the American Club; aFrenchman to the French Club, and so on. Occultists, journalists, andlawmen will receive invitations to likeminded circles. It is consideredvery rude to turn down an invitation without good reason or to fail tosend a reply.

Both Chinese and expatriates survived on this sort of networking.Investigators quickly find that unless they are incredibly resourceful,membership in one of these circles can decide survival or failure. Failingto abide by the unwritten rules of Shanghai society will also bedetrimental to the investigators’ progress, in particular hanging aroundthe Chinese too much (or the westerners, if the investigators areChinese). Investigators needing favours or assistance should not beshy about making friends; in Shanghai, as they say, “we’re all in ittogether.”

Steamships arriving at the Bund

edit 301good idea to point out that in real-life, Shanghaiwas NOT the Wild West. It was a bustling,vibrant metropolis with a serious crime problemthat it various police forces tried very hard tokeep abreast of. Any investigator assuming thathe can do things here that are frowned uponelsewhere is in for a rude awakening, and in arealistic campaign Shanghai would likely becomparable to modern-day Los Angeles orChicago; yes, they have their gangs, drugs, andpolice – but the vast majority of Shanghai lives,white or Chinese, are barely touched by crimeany more than it does today. Of course, in apulp-noir Shanghai, everyone is crooked, double-dealing, and probably packing heat...

Travelling by sea into Shanghai usuallyfollows this course: upon arriving at the mouthof the Yangtze River ships were boarded bypilots who guided the craft the fourteen milesupriver to Shanghai. During this five hourjourney passengers filled out customs forms andwatched the scenery: the riverbanks – pockedwith farms, hamlets and fishing camps –blended into billboards and factories closer tothe city. Dirty brown and alive with ships andpatrols of every flag and size (at night theirprows glowed with lamps and they made asmuch noise as possible to warn other ships), theriver finally curved before reaching the cityproper; to the right was Hongkew, with itswharves and shanties, ahead was the eight milestretch of impressive western frontage, highpromenade and docksides known as the Bund.The first sight that the investigators are likely tohave of Shanghai, therefore, is not of the“Orient,” but of something like waterfronts of atropical Liverpool or Southampton. Beforelanding, small boats swarmed around thearriving ship, disgorging insurance-brokers,luggage touts, and hotel salespeople.Investigators are recommended to sign with aregistered luggage company, as vagrants pickedthrough luggage left untended on the dockside(of course, signing for a handler was noguarantee either – characters might have a bagor two stolen anyway). The foreign-run ExternalCustoms will search the baggage of the arrivingtravellers, seizing non-prescription drugs,opium, and salt (the latter due to heavytaxation), while a tax is due on tobacco if theamount carried is deemed to be more than

necessary for personal use. Firearms will beconfiscated (though returned on outboundtrips) unless a license can be presented ondisembarkation. Smugglers must take theirchances.

The date of the investigators’ arrival inShanghai is important as the sidebar explains,for the city is beset by numerous emergenciesand holidays. But whatever the case, Shanghaishould be a novel setting; a collision of East andWest. Few players ever complain about going-overboard when it comes to describing Shanghai– its sights (wondrous), smells (often pretty

302 Shanghaihorrific), sounds (loud, except at night when itis very loud), or its mix of color and people, all ofwhich enrapture the senses in one moment anddisgust them in the next. Describe the bustleand crush, the banners and bunting that seemsto adorn every shop-front and overhang everystreet, the street-vendors that sell everythingfrom tea to pornography. Rickshaws andpedestrians dart between cars without looking,while coolies carrying poles laden with goodssway and swing under the weight of it all. TheShanghai of the 1920s is neither truly Easternnor truly Western, and whether theinvestigators are foreign or native born, it ishard to tell exactly what is going on at any onetime.

Although the book’s NPCs assume that askill in Mandarin or Cantonese as being all thatis necessary to get by on the streets of Shanghai,the real China was a hodgepodge of languagesand dialects numbering in the hundreds andalmost entirely unintelligible with one another.Shanghai was no different, the three largestlanguage groups being Mandarin, language of

the courts, the intelligentsia, and central China;Cantonese, spoken in Hong Kong and the south,and sometimes a business dialect; and the localdialect (Wu or ‘Shanghainese’) which was thecity and surrounding area’s de facto language.The Keeper should assign some NPCs skill inOther Language: Shanghainese roughly equal totheir highest Chinese dialect. The writtenChinese language however, comprising aroundsome 8000 characters, is the same across alldialects, although literacy rates are low. Asidefrom English and Pidgin (see page XX), othermajor foreign languages spoken in the cityinclude Japanese, Russian and French along withPortuguese, Dutch, Spanish, and Latin (the latterparticularly spoken by educated Chinese RomanCatholics). Even the Chinese natives relied ontranslators in Shanghai.

Speaking of translators, while there is noreason why the investigators should be limitedto just Li Wen-cheng. While the campaign saysthat McChum recommends him, he could bemet anywhere: perhaps at the investigators’hotel, as an assistant to Mu Hsien, or even

Sun Yat-sen and the May 30th MovementSun Yat-sen – father of modern China – helped bring down the Qing Empire, founded the Nationalist

(Kuomintang, KMT) Party, and strove for a unified China. In February 1925 he was invited to Peking[Beijing] to negotiate an end to the civil war. Investigators might spot him on his brief stop in Shanghaiwhere he visited his wife’s family (the all-powerful Soong dynasty) and drummed up support. But onMarch 12th just outside Peking and before the meeting had started, he suddenly died of cancer. Thenational outpouring of grief thrust the KMT into an internecine struggle (won by future generalissimo

Chiang Kai-shek in mid-1926), and saw a surge in strikes and protests, particularly against foreigncompanies and concessions. Shanghai bore the heavy brunt of this anger.

On May 15th a protest at a Shanghai cotton-mill ended with a striker shot dead by its Japaneseforemen. Demonstrations escalated, and on the morning of May 30th students marched into theInternational Settlement to express their anger. Some of the ringleaders were swiftly arrested andheld at Louza Police Station, around which a sizeable crowd gathered to demand their release.

Being a race-day, only a skeleton-staff were on duty at the police station and the road was soon choked with thousands of Chinese.Sikh and Chinese SMP officers formed a picket on the station steps, but this only incited the crowd. When it began to chant, “Killthe foreigners!” and scuffles broke out, a police inspector responded by demanding that the crowd disperse. Seconds later, at3:37pm, the picket (only two of whom were white) opened fire – four Chinese died right there and four more died later of theirwounds. Other protests, meanwhile, were passing off relatively peacefully across the city.

Word of the shooting spread like wildfire, and that night the city’s Chinese council called for a city-wide strike and boycottof all foreign businesses. In response the foreign Settlements declared a State of Emergency (see the sidebar “Living with theClampdown” on page XX). Shops and department stores closed, coal became scarce, and the docks went on strike. Once againthe West, recently something to aspire to, was China’s villain – and the strikes spread to every foreign concession in China. ByAugust, with electricity cut off by the Settlement-owned electricity company, Shanghai’s businesses were forced back to work. InHong Kong the strikes continued well into 1926…

edit 303rescuing the party from an embarrassing publicfaux pas. A naïve Methodist is a far cry from theusual cut-throats that the investigators seem toaccumulate around themselves, Li Wen-Chengcan be a memorable character. His growingdifficulty adhering to both Christian piety andhis Chinese upbringing, all while aiding theinvestigators’ increasingly unruly and dangerousmission, can be played for laughs or pathos, asdesired. In a campaign leaning heavily towardsthe tropes of Chinese cinema Li must die, butnot before the investigators have looked him inthe eye and sworn vengeance upon his killers…

Turning from Shanghai’s Chinese majority,another important facet of metropolis is thecity’s foreign population. Tens of thousands ofémigrés from every country in the world hadbeen flooding into Shanghai for decades,becoming policemen, storekeepers, harbourpilots, accountants, foremen, barmen,undertakers, dancers, exiles, singers, soldiers,mercenaries, thieves, lawyers, dilettantes,prostitutes, bodyguards, civil servants,architects, diplomats, and everything in-between. Many of the period’s greatesteccentrics were drawn to the city like moths toflame and the Keeper should feel free to exerciseevery creative whim in designing NPCs topopulate one’s Shanghai, from Japanese jazz-singers and Italian arms-brokers to Indianprincesses and Russian physicists, or crippledmillionaire architects and Dutch drug-smugglers. As NPCs, most will need little moredefinition than a Credit Rating score and a fewkey occupational skills, but if a player shows aninterest in using one of them as replacementinvestigator, then the new character will needfleshing out. See “Replacing Characters” on pageXX for further advice on this process.

The Stumbling Tiger Bar is likely to be thefirst port of call for the investigators after theyarrive in Shanghai and find themselves a hotel.After all, one of the first clues to be found at thestart of the campaign is a match box for the bar,and it is an obvious lead. When the investigatorspay their first visit to the “puzzle-bar,” they arelikely to latch onto its owner, Fergus McChum.

McChum is actually a double-edged device,as to properly utilize the bar owner a Keeperneeds to master the art of knowing how not to

use him. Once they realise that he is hidingsomething, the investigators are likely to clingto him like a rash – whereupon he or they willwind up dead in the Whangpoo. In real-life the“puzzle-bars” pride themselves on always tellingthe truth, so the trick lies – as in reality – incryptic hints, sly asides, winks, nods, and tips ofthe hat, and should not be above pointing inmore circuitous route – maybe Hell’s Kitchennightclub (see p.XX) or a contact at theShanghai Courier. Still, the closer it is to theGate Opening, the more helpful (or at leasthonest) McChum should be, since sendingplayers to Nicaragua two days before theceremony begins is generally considered “badform.” A Keeper might also be interested toknow that Lantern Street is on the cusp of theJapanese quarter; great for throwing the oddgeisha and tea-house at players (“wait, I thoughtthis was Shanghai… where are we?!”)

The Keeper also needs to be aware of whatthe various police agencies in Shanghai knowor believe about the investigators and howeach reacts to the party’s shenanigans. Perhapsthe simplest picture of the French and theSettlement police is to suggest that they mixedthe best elements of the Western policing(modern techniques, tactics, and forensics) withthe worst of Kenyan or Egyptian policing(torture, racism, corruption). Besides thepossible danger and consequences of theircommitting a criminal act while in Shanghai, thenext greatest worry for investigators are theirpersonal politics. Left-wing tourists andcelebrities are sure to be tailed by an undercoverdetective or four, since both the SMP’sIntelligence Office and the French Police tried tostay on top of any disturbance or scandal.Investigators who have been mentioned in oneof Nigel Wassif’s memos are also liable to bewatched, though hopefully for better reasons.As such, the three separate police forces canserve as one or more complications for theinvestigators, or as potential assets – but itshould be remembered that the officers of oneagency cannot legally enter the jurisdiction ofanother, unless hot on the heels of a suspect.The wily investigator (or cultist) wanting toescape the long arm of the law should race forone of these borders as soon as possible andthen sneak back later.

2. For the record, the actual symbols should read – “Bloated Woman Order/Society” – rather than those provided in the campaign book.

3. Case in point: in 1932, a banquet held by Du Yuesheng killed four of the French Concession’s major-domos, and nearly killed its policechief, after a “mistake” involving poisonous mushrooms.

304 ShanghaiSo, what threat does Ho Fong and the Order

of the Bloated Woman pose to investigators?While not necessary for Nyarlathotep’s long-term goals (he is not key to the Gate Openingritual after all), Ho obviously has not beenignored by his deity. His assets include cadres oftattooed2 cultists, local expertise andconnections, relatively modern technology, andthe ability to pass as one of the faceless many inthe crowd. If the Keeper has Ho Fong marshalhis assets to best effect, the Order could proveto be a very tough customer for theinvestigators. If they have come to the Shanghaiat the end of the campaign, then the cultdefinitely should be ready – sickles and all. Onthe other hand, if Shanghai is the first stepping-stone on the investigators’ journey after NewYork, then the nature of the Order should be theopposite – old and entrenched, and slow to act.

The Order’s methods depend primarily onwhat is most pertinent to the campaign, butsuch methods should also be fun. If the eventsof previous chapters have tended towardssubtlety, the cultists in previously visited nationshaving worked from the shadows, then theemployed by the Order might be screaminglunatics, ambushing investigators from darkalleys, bundling them into the backs of waitingcars, or carrying out suicide missions with noregard for bystanders. Naturally, when fendedoff or arrested they disembowel themselves orbite off their own tongues. Conversely, if thecultists encountered in previous chapters werebloodthirsty maniacs, then those of the Order ofthe Bloated Woman will be more subtle. Theywill make kidnap attempts disguised as bellhopsor Buddhist monks, extend charminginvitations to poisoned dinners, or do the trite-but-fun “huge poisonous millipede in the bed”trick. While hotels, libraries, and foreign clubs –the sort of places that investigators seem tospend most of their time – are hardly bastions ofracial equality, this should not stop themransacking the investigators’ bedrooms if givenhalf-a-chance, or disguising themselves as

rickshaw-coolies, beggars, or waiters to catchinvestigators unawares. After all, suchinstitutions will probably employ locals as staffrather than foreigners. Stepping outside theforeign concession borders and into the Old Cityor further afield is another matter entirely –herethe cult can act with certain impunity. The cult’sties with pirates, the sea-trade, and Deep Onesshould also give knowledgeable investigators(and the dastardly Keeper) pause for thought.

As Ho Fong is unlikely to be forewarned ofthe party’s arrival, the investigators should haveample time while in Shanghai to deduce hisinvolvement, or at least to acquire one or twoclues that hint at his true nature before theymeet him – spotting the Ivory Wind offloadingcrates at his warehouse is a blunt, but effectivehint. Of course, those investigators who fail totread lightly should suffer accordingly. Certainlocations from the scenario “Bloody Botany”(page XX) might prove that the elusive MisterHo is not all that he appears. As a magician, hispowers are not exactly formidable – he has noteven bothered to learn the spells from his copiesof Libre d’Ivon and True Magick – so a Keepermight want to give him a few extra spells likeWither Limb, Deflect Harm, Create Gate, or (thisauthor’s favorite) Summon/Bind Star Vampireto round him out.

Similarly, his reliance on poisons is either awonderful reminder for investigators to bewareat all times or a nuisance against which no onecan defend – so the Keeper needs to take hisplayers’ feelings into account before lacing theircharacters’ food with drugs. Alongside the usualsuspects, like poison or knock-out potions –described under the Nefarious Henchmenstatistics on page 187 of the main sourcebook,others could induce memory loss (all the betterfor interrogating investigators and sendingthem back none-the-wiser) or psychoses (“Asyou can see, Inspector Dreyfus, the man is quitemad. First he accuses me of being the head of amurderous cult, and now he’s hallucinating thecarpet has become a dragon!”).3

4. Ho may be rich, but his floor-safe is a little overstocked. A better amount might be: 1D6x100 Chinese tael, 1D6x50 British five-poundnotes, two negotiable drafts for a total of 1500 yen, and 1d6x100 U.S. dollars.5. There are Japanese language books available, including a player’s guide to Japan of the 1920 and 1930s, but at the time of publication,they unfortunately remain untranslated.

Ho Fong’s warehouse

Ho Fong’s Mansion

edit 305The likelihood is that the investigators will

find that breaking into Ho’s warehouse a farfrom difficult task (if they do, it can be madeeasier by limiting the guards’ abilities or bymaking them ordinary warehouse guards ratherthan members of the cult), and even if Hodiscovers the break in, which he will if hismoney is stolen4 or his property is damaged, heis unlikely to inform either the police or theauthorities of the break-in. Nevertheless, such ashameful loss of face surely means death for theinterlopers. This will be especially the case if theburglars uncovered Ho’s secret storeroom or hisvarious maps and ledgers.

Even if investigators fumble the missionelsewhere, the loss of the rocket parts in HoFong’s special storeroom might be enough toimpede Penhew’s work. Consider the date oftheir loss in relation to the planned launch ofthe rocket to determine how much damage thesabotage, theft, or seizure of the parts will havein slowing or halting its construction. Theseparts also may prove instrumental in obtainingmilitary assistance with the cult base on GrayDragon Island (see “Send in the Marines!” onpage XX for more information). If yourinvestigators are as of yet unaware of therocket’s construction, be sure to describe theparts as ambiguously as possible so that thereveal of the rocket retains its shocking impact.

Ho’s yacht, The Luxuriant Goddess, can beused by the Keeper for a variety of tricks. Onceout of sight of the coast, it is an obvious location

for any captured investigator toundergo interrogation at thehands of the cult, as it is not onlyquiet, but it is also easy for theinterrogators to dispose of theinvestigator afterwards. Theobvious means of which is simplyto dump the body over the side,but the cultists could just as easilyhand the still alive, but bruisedand battered investigator to their Deep Oneallies. Ho Fong could also take it out (withsacrifices) for communing with his Deep Onebrethren or travel down to Hong Kong. That itsails under the British flag does not make itimpervious to foreign searches; merely less likelyto be subject to them, and while it usually is freeof any questionable cargo (Mythos-related ornot), the Keeper can decide otherwise.Alternatively, clever investigators, perhaps aidedby the New China movement, might be able tocommandeer it for a “Trojan Horse” raid on GreyDragon Island.

Whether guests by choice orby force, Ho Fong’s Mansion is animportant location in Shanghai.Masks of Nyarlathotep describes itas being “near the Old City” and“beyond the aegis of the ...Settlement police,” but the mapactually puts it right in the middleof Frenchtown (see p.XX) and therefore underFrench jurisdiction. Despite their traditionallylaissez-faire attitude towards crime, Ho Fong has

Heading off the Beaten PathReferences are made to both Japan and various South American countries in the Shanghai chapter, though most, if not all, are redherrings. Investigators with time on their hands might end up on a wild goose chase if the Keeper does not reel them back inquickly.

Dennis Detwiller’s scenario “Mysteria Matris Oblitae” (available at his website: http://web.me.com/drgonzo/Site/Wel-come.html) or the short campaign “Pits of Bendal-Dolum” from Terror from the Stars / Cthulhu Classics can easily be set in Nicaraguaor Guatemala, as both scenarios take place in American jungles. Similarly, Pagan Publishing’s Mysteries of Mesoamerica includes somebackground on Central America during the 1920s, although the archaeological bent of its scenarios make them less useful.Scenarios set in Japan – in English at least5 – are harder to find, as that nation’s social and political complexities make it difficultto convert adventures for. Perhaps some enterprising author might correct this deficiency? Hint hint.

306 Shanghai

more than enough pull with the Frenchauthorities to guarantee an actual investigationinto any troubles at his mansion. Skulkinginvestigators are more than likely to be roustedby French Police. Any investigator with any skillin Chinese or Architecture can make a Know rollto recall that many houses like Ho Fong’s havevents beneath them, into which ice could bepoured or hot air ventilated as a crude form ofcentral-heating. A wiry (say a SIZ 08 or skilledcontortionist) investigator might be able tobreak in through these ducts – if Ho Fong hasnot blocked them, let poisonous creatures loose

in them, or worse… Pity the poor street urchinhired to climb around down there “just to havea look”.

With just a couple of official bodyguards, Hoappears to possess little in the way of personalsecurity. Yet if the fact that even his lowlychambermaid is a fanatical member of theOrder of the Bloated Woman and will willinglyand capably wield the cult’s signature weapon –the sickle – in defence of her diabolical master,is taken into account, Ho Fong actually needsrelatively little in the way of personal security. If

“[O]nly with guns can the whole world be transformed.”7

Most everyone in a Call of Cthulhu game loves the Tommy Gun, but perhaps some benefit might be gained by including in Ho Fong’sarsenal (or elsewhere in lawless Shanghai) a little variety. Some under-utilized (but period appropriate and equally deadly) firearmsinclude the MP-18, the C-96, and the BAR.

Bergmann MP-18One of (if not the) earliest submachine guns, this weapon was designed specifically for the needs of trench warfare, where rateof fire trumped range and accuracy. They proved to be of great use in close combat, including urban fighting. Originally producedby Germany, they were widely copied during the inter-war period, including in China. While lacking the Thompson’s iconic profile,this sturdy and innovative weapon is no less a killing machine. The MP-18 is 52” long and weighs around 12 lbs unloaded.

Mauser C-96This widely copied semi-automatic pistol was nicknamed the ‘Broom handle’. With a long barrel (5 !”) and using 7.63x25mmammunition, the C-96 combined improved range as well as penetration compared to similar pistols (note the Base Range). Adetachable shoulder stock allowed it to be used as either a pistol or a carbine (see note on range). Without a stock, the pistolis about 12” long and weighs 2 ! lbs.

Browning Automatic RifleMade famous in the next decade by bank robber Clyde Barrow, the Browning Automatic Rifle (better known as the BAR) is arifle that frequently doubled as a light machine gun; built-in bipods become a standard modification in the 1920s. Their usefulnessin this role is somewhat hampered by their comparatively small magazine. Those in Ho Fong’s possession would most likelycome (illegally) from American forces stationed in China or (legally) from one of the several ‘export’ models sold abroad. Theseweapons are about four feet long and unloaded weigh 19 lbs.

Weapon Calibre Dmg. Rate Action Shots Range MalfBergmann MP18 9"19mm 1D10 15 Auto* 32/50** 40 98 Mauser C-96† 7.63"25mm 1D10 2 Semi 10 20†† 98 B.A.R. 1918A1 7.62"63mm 2D6+4 1 or 20 Selective 20 110 98

* This may pose a problem in the hands of an unskilled operator, at the Keeper’s discretion.** The standard drum during the Great War held 32 rounds; larger capacities were possible as is indicated. German models after the War were limited to 20 rounds as they were

restricted to “police” use.† Other versions abound- A 9mm version (the ‘Red 9’; damage of 1d10+1) was developed for the German army to make use of abundant 9mm Parabellum ammunition. After the

War, the C-96 M1920 (nicknamed ‘Bolo’) was produced for the Soviet Union; it had a shorter (4”) barrel (Base range 15), making it somewhat more easily concealable. Playersmay be disappointed to learn that a Chinese manufactured version chambering .45 ammunition (the Shansi Type 17; damage 1d10+2, Base Range 15) is not available until 1929.

†† Double, if using the shoulder stock; attack is made with the Rifle skill instead.

6. By car, naturally, seeing as he has garage enough for two. Assume both vehicles have Max speed: 5, Hit points: 45 (from the armorr-plating), and Handling: -5%, with capacity for a driver and four passengers.7. According to one fellow at the Shanghai Museum, at least… though historically Mr. Mao is not in Shanghai in 1925.

edit 307the investigators lack the skills to handle thissecurity as described, it can be made lesser –perhaps Ho goes out during the evening6 (hedoes have to keep up the legitimate side of hisbusiness after all) and takes his best bodyguardswith him?

Upon first sight Ho’s garden can appearexotic, but it can also be creepy given itsdiversity of flora that might include Barbadosnut, curare, hemlock, jimsonweed, oleander,foxglove, crab’s eyes, and azaleas. The aquaticfauna of the garden’s ponds is likely to be asequally exotic, and might include blue-ringedoctopi, sea anemones, and geography cones.Investigators making a Biology roll willrecognize these all as potentially quite toxic.Anyone foolishly examining the contents ofthese ponds should find out how dangerousthese creatures truly are, as should any cultistwho gets thrown into the pond.

The Secret Shrine behind the Buddhamight be overlooked, but is not difficult to getinto (the Crawling Ceiling defence is far moredevastating on paper than in actual game-play,in fact, for what self-respecting investigatorstares at an obviously magical ceiling?). Whilethe side-room labelled “poisons” is self-explanatory, it can only be assumed that the“guns” room contains illegal firearms for cultaction or home-defence; 1D6+1 rifles, pistols foreveryone, and maybe a Thompson Gun or twomight be found inside, reserved for the direst ofsituations. Of course, what use are guns whenyou have Carl Stanford?

Love him or loathe him, the Keeper mustdecide whether the presence of the infamoussorcerer, Carl Stanford, really fits within theShanghai chapter; and if he does how much heis prepared to assist Ho Fong. This authorassumes both men have something that theother needs (beyond that given in the Masks ofNyarlathotep campaign); a book, a spell, or aperson – and that they are currently going aboutthis transaction as rival businessmen are wontto do: with civility-laced distaste. There is nohonor among thieves or cultists, after all.Stanford’s skills and magic make him a truly

formidable foe; not least because he can get toplaces in Shanghai that the Order cannotnormally reach, enabling him to strike at theinvestigators when they least expect it with anyspell at his command. His description in Masksof Nyarlathotep states that he knows any spellfrom the Call of Cthulhu core rules, withShrivelling, Steal Life and Mindblast being hisold favorites. Unless the player characters have afighting chance or are given time to run, it isprobably good idea to provide fair warning orhave him pull his punches on their firstencounter with the formidable sorcerer. Interms of his character, Shadows of Yog-Sothothdescribes Stanford as being the sort ofcharismatic charmer who keeps a low profilewhile going about his nefarious schemes.

In the event that the investigators have metStanford before, perhaps due to their havinguncovered the true nature of the HermeticOrder of Silver Twilight as described in Shadowsof Yog-Shoggoth (which is nominally set in 1924and thus prior to the events of Masks ofNyarlathotep), then they will at least have someidea as to what he is capable of. If they have notyet met him, a Keeper might instead prefer toreplace him with another western sorcerer morebefitting the player characters’ abilities, orreplace him with his chauffeur-bodyguard, MaxReed. The point is that the presence of CarlStanford is a “thermonuclear ‘Easter Egg’”capable of derailing the campaign, and if this isto be avoided, the Keeper might prefer to omithim.

Returning to Ho’s abode, while the Shanghaichapter states that none of his Mythos tomes arekept in the library, it also states that there is a20% chance that he might leave a book on hisdesk there. Leaving a specific Mythos book outin the Library is handy if the Keeper wants toimpart some specific information to his playercharacters rather than leaving it to chance.

As written, Ho’s daughter Tzu-hsi is unlikelyto serve as little more than psychotic garnish,her purpose little more than as a creepyencounter further reinforcing the fundamentalawfulness of Ho Fong. Alternately the Keeper

308 Shanghaimight have her sound the alarm, attackinvestigators, or – if very, very cruel – make hersome sort of avatar which the Bloated Womancan see through or manifest from).

When and if Choi Mei-Ling is discoveredbeing held captive within the “Seven Gates toHeaven” in the Shrine to the Bloated Woman, itis up to the Keeper to decide the importance ofher role at this stage of the campaign. It can bemade as major or minor as necessary, dependingupon how much information the Keeper needsto impart to his players. For example, does sheknow Brady by his real name or solely by his“John Smith” alias? Is she a member of NewChina as well as the ex-marine’s lover, or anunwitting cat’s-paw? Simple questions likethese can change her from an innocent abroadto a tough cookie caught unawares, with theKeeper giving her the skills and statisticsbefitting the qualities he has chosen for her. Shemight even make a suitable, if slightly suicidal,replacement player character.

While the countdown to Choi’s death at HoFong’s hands officially begins two days beforethe party’s arrival in the city, it would do betterto have it occur whenever is dramaticallyappropriate – the sidebar “RearrangingShanghai” gives some means of handling this ifit proves to be vital. Alternatively, the Shanghaichapter could begin with her not being heldcaptive by the cult, but with her still hiding outin the city, waiting for Brady or New China toact. Unfortunately for Choi, being Brady’sgirlfriend makes her an obvious target forpractically everyone in Shanghai’s occultunderworld, so if the investigators are to findher in time, they would need to move fast. Ofcourse, there is no guarantee that she will trusther safety to them, let alone tell them anythingabout Brady. This would be a good set-upthough, with the investigators actuallywitnessing Choi being kidnapped by cultists andso giving them sufficient incentive to go to herrescue.

In any case, once Brady hears about herrescue (and Mei-ling tells him that theinvestigators are benevolent or opposed to theMythos), it would be a good time for him tomake his first appearance in the campaign.Considering the nature of what the investigators

will have encountered inside Ho’s house, theyprobably deserve such a big break in thecampaign.

That triumvirate of Jack Brady, Mu Hsienand New China are not so much vital to theongoing plot as helpful prompts for itscontinuance, and all is not lost if theinvestigators ignore them, upset them orotherwise lose their patronage. To gloriouslyconfuse the campaign further, even if one or twoof the three believe the players would makehelpful assets, Keepers might have the othersdisagree, creating further squabbling…

Further information on the aging historianMu Hsien is included in the section Notes on theOrder of the Bloated Woman (page XX), butonce he is found he should be a worthwhile fontof knowledge. In most campaigns, Mu duly slotsinto one of two roles: either as a backgroundcharacter, shuffling on-stage to dispense sagewisdom or scholarly assistance, or as theunfortunate victim of kidnap, robbery ormurder (often switching between both roles asnecessary). While his household only includeshim, his aging cook and a hidden Jack Brady,more staff or apprentices can be added asnecessary (such students might serve as guides,translators, or even as replacements if Muhimself is lost). If Mu is attacked, it is safe toassume that without assistance the scholar willlose the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan (andperhaps his life), which could serve as a suitableprompt for the investigators to get their handsdirty if they have otherwise been staying clear ofHo or Lin Tang-yu’s estates.

Unlike Mu Hsien, the appearance of JackBrady is more likely to come near the end aspart of the big reveal – the denouement beforethe final act, as it were – thereby bringing all ofthe pieces in the puzzle together. If hisappearance comes early on in the campaign, theKeeper has the choice of where exactly he crawlsout of the woodwork. He could well be hidinganywhere (perhaps he really is in Nicaragua!)and if upon their first encounter with him, theinvestigators do little more than simplydemonstrate their knowledge of Nyarlathotep,his reaction unlikely to be a positive one.Whether he is portrayed as a reforming penitentor a hard-eyed mercenary (he does spend his

8. Unseen Masters says Brady stole and sold other works from Lin Tang-yu’s collection, including a Latin copy of Ye Naked Truths. Thismight prove an interesting side-plot…

New China revolutionaires

edit 309free time training New China’s troop to kill afterall), Brady remains little more than a killer witha low grip on his sanity and a propensity forviolence. Woe betides the investigators whoreally annoy him – they might well find this outthe hard way.

As noted above, Brady does not need to goto ground in Mu Hsien’s house, instead he couldbe found lingering elsewhere with both cultistsand crooks hot on his heels. This letsinvestigators see (or get involved in) the attackon the Seaman’s Club or the fire on Ching-langRoad, and makes for a ‘livelier’ time forinvestigators while in Shanghai. Brady mighteven be captured by Lin Tang-yu, Ho Fong, thepolice or someone else, forcing the investigatorsto rescue him. Instead of finding Choi Mei-lingimprisoned in the “Seven Gates to Heaven” in HoFong’s shrine, they might find a tortured Brady!If Brady is kidnapped, it might be Choi askingthe investigators for help in rescuing him,instead of the other way around, following arecommendation from Mu Hsien or MacChum.

How Brady discovered the importance theSeven Cryptical Books of Hsan and stole it fromLin is a mystery. Perhaps a seemingly loyalmember of the Lin’s Monkey School triad isaffiliated with the New China organization?8

The investigators will probably lay their handson its spells once the scholar Mu Hsien has hadtime to translate it (completed 1D8+4 days afterthey meet Brady), as it is unlikely that any one oftheir number has the time, skill or inclinationto decipher it themselves. If however, Mu Hsienis unable to provide the promised translation,then the spells from Seven Cryptical Books ofHsan and “The Eye of Light and Darkness” inparticular, could be found from other sources.

The occultist Mr. Lung is one such potentialsource, as is Lin Tang-yu, although the latter is arather less likely source, and depends upon hisbeing used as a dangerous ally rather than a foe.Even Ho Fong might translate it fromcomplicated Old Chinese into “simple” ModernChinese (for some trusted disciple or his ownuse as he is far from a scholar) or English atNyarlathotep’s behest (for Penhew).

Nonetheless, even if the scroll’s spell is neverdiscovered, all is not lost – so long as the ritualon Gray Dragon Island is physically stopped, theinvestigators can at least put Nyarlathotep’splans off for this year.

As an aside, some players might decide totest the Eye of Light and Darkness in Shanghaior elsewhere. Though costly in terms of bothPOW and MP, its success might seem like acampaign-breaker: after all, it severely curtailsthe abilities of nearby cults (not to mention theabilities of investigators learned in the ways ofmagic) and foil Mythos creatures at a stroke.Whether it lethally affects human servants ofthe Mythos is up to the Keeper to decide, but itis unlikely to harm Ho Fong or his cultists(though people as tied to their gods as CarlStanford or Aubrey Penhewmight be drained to a husklike any other monster). Assuch, if the spell issuccessfully cast inShanghai, Ho Fong pulls outall the stops to find theparty and gain possession ofthe scroll and its counterspell, but not necessarilybefore serving the investigators’ arms to hisgoddess.

If this situation arises, help can come fromthe most unlikely quarter – New China. As theantithesis to the Order of the Bloated Woman,this private-army of xenophobic revolutionariessounds like perfect bedfellows for investigators– on first glace, at least. In some campaignsperhaps they are – but if the Keeper wishes tomuddy the waters (especially in a less ‘pulp’game), it is better to demonstrate just howmuch of a double-edged sword such ‘friends’ canbe. For this reason, New China is bestintroduced early in the Shanghai chapter, be itwith a vocal and barely constraineddemonstration or with an assassin putting abullet into the head of a “national traitor.” Theyshould appear as just one facet of the roiling seaof Chinese unrest (political and otherwise) untilsuch a time as they take center stage as Brady’sallies. If the proper groundwork is laid,

310 Shanghaiinvestigators might think twice about allyingthemselves with such a dangerous bunch- makethe decision to support New China be a weighty

one, and not solely as a ready supply ofdisposable ‘red-shirt’ toughs.

Two events are liable to bring theinvestigators to Chu Min and New China’sattention: first, after the player characters havemet Mu Hsien or have otherwise shown awillingness to take on the Order of the BloatedWoman. Second, the investigators decide toprobe the faction based on other leads or simplehearsay about a dangerous band of anarchistbomb-throwers. Although the investigatorscould try and initiate the contact, having NewChina introduce itself to them is an easier

method for the Keeper, as it allows him todetermine the time and place of the firstmeeting and to dole out information about theorganisation at his own pace.

Naturally, if Chu Min’s organisation findsinvestigators stumbling around in its plans,however, it will probably do what any right-thinking terrorist organisation is likely to do:kidnap, torture, and then kill the characters andanyone affiliated with them (which makes themoment when everyone realises they are all onthe same side all the more delicious). Becomingfriendly with New China should not simply be acase of their laying out the sad story of JacksonElias and getting an honorary membershipbadge in return; in a realistic campaign,investigators should have to undergo some formof initiation rite. This could be as simple asusing their foreign-status to move someone orsomething, or as convoluted and dangerous asbeing the getaway-driver in a kidnapping orassassination (or being the trigger-man in anassassination, if the investigators’ skills aresuitable).

Depending on the type of game being run,the investigators’ reliance on New China can beas beneficial or detrimental as needed. In a‘Pulp’ style game, where the faction is on theside of the “good guys,” New China shouldprobably be able to remain one step ahead of thepolice and be able to launch raids on the Order(and especially Gray Dragon Island) with somechance of success. In fact, in such a ‘Pulp’ game,there are few reasons why together theinvestigators and New China agents cannotlaunch a decisive strike against the cult and itshideouts including Ho’s mansion. Otherwise,the members of New China are well-trained, butpassionate and impetuous; having mostlyrational (and worse yet, foreign!) investigatorsamong them should put the cat among thepigeons, and there is no guarantee thateverything will go as planned. Any number ofspanners can be thrown into the works, whetherby one of Shanghai’s various police agencies, theJapanese, or the Order of the Bloated Woman.If the investigators do want a safe house or two,a weapons and gear, or information, New Chinamight be able to help, but always at a price. TheKeeper needs to consider what both he and hisplayer wants or expects from these dubious

Lin Tang-yu, his fortress, and the fairer sex...The Keeper should judge whether players of attractive femalecharacters are likely to be offended by being kidnapped and turned intothe mute plaything of a Sax Rohmer stereotype. In the chapter’sdefence, it presents the possibility of an escape plan, even if the subjectis not discussed. Lin’s palace is in Kweichow and his older brother(which considering that Lin Tang-yu himself is 83, the Keeper mightwant make Lin’s brother younger) is a Nationalist warlord in Kwangsi,and once at either location, there will be ample chance for a getawayattempt to be made. This can either be though the investigatrix’s ownefforts or at the intervention of rival warlords, bandits, pirates, orEuropean forces. The Keeper should also not forget that in ahistorically accurate game, Lin would likely have to ship his capturedvictim by boat or by overland means, rather than by plane as thecampaign suggests.

Kweichow Province itself is a rugged and rural place in the south-west of the country, coloured by dozens of minority ethnic groups andprominent western mountain ranges. Kwangsi Province – just to thesouth of Kweichow – is a coastal region, mostly mountains cut throughwith beautiful rivers and lakes, and home to some of China’s mosticonic scenery. The most famous fortress in Kwangsi is Jingjiang Princes’City, a walled “inner palace” once used by royalty – but which in 1925serves as the headquarters for the Kuomintang military. Many KMTwarlords are likely to be here, including Lin Tang-yu’s brother and whileboth Sun Yat-sen and his successor Chiang Kai-shek were conscious ofappearing “civilised,” their grip over their generals was tenuous.Investigators who masquerade as reporters or foreign-supportersshould be able to gain entry into Jingjiang Princes’ City, but neverthelessmight have their work cut out attempting to extricate a lost lady fromher fate...

9. The Kochisha (“Activist Society,” more commonly known as the Gyochisha or “The Society to Realise Heaven on Earth”) was a majorproponent of international anti-Westernism alongside ardent nationalism and Japanese superiority. Non-white investigators should findit a refreshing change that Isoge is more inclined to help Chinese, Black, and Indian characters over whites.

edit 311revolutionary ‘allies’ before introducing theminto the campaign.

Naturally, Lin Tang-yu wants his book back,while the investigators want answers, andneither is necessarily coy about telling people so,meaning that Lin might crop up at any point inthe chapter. If the party is under attack from allquarters and have no one that they can trust, Linmight just be their ace-in-the-hole. Althoughthe campaign generally assumes that he and HoFong might join forces there is no reason theycannot be diametrically opposed – after all, whywould a blatant hedonist like Lin want to see theend of the world? By downplaying his double-crossing nature investigators might find Lin aknowledgeable, if unsettlingly inhuman, neutralparty. Of course, getting him on your side wouldinvolve selling out Brady, but if you dance withthe devil… On the other hand, Lin might serveas a generous strawman: what he lacks in magic,he makes up with his small army of kung futhugs and his albino gorilla bodyguards, eitherof which he is prepared to hurl at the party untilone group or the other is dead. Investigatorswho have succeeded in earlier chapters and builtup a few magical skills often find him apushover, in which case he makes a bettersponsor than enemy.

The Keeper should try to gauge his players’reaction to Lin’s white ape “pets” before usingthem, as 400lb apes breaking into aninvestigator’s rooms at night might raisescreams of the wrong caliber. Of course, it isharder to laugh when said ape is beating you todeath... If the players are amused rather thanfrightened, the following should prove lesshilarious: once he has mellowed during ameeting, or wishing to show his power, Mr. Lincalls forth his pets. The brutes shamble forth inoversized Chinese ceremonial robes, proceedingto pour drinks and display feats of strength forthe guests in a parody of a chimp’s tea-party. Atnight, or if anyone breaks into Lin Tang-yu’shouse, the human guards lock themselves awaywhile the white-haired primates run loosewithin the grounds, killing anyone or anythingthat strays within their territory.

The final figure in this affair is Isoge Taro,and his role greatly depends on the style ofcampaign be played. The usefulness of anationalist pan-Asian spy9 is only certain at theend of the chapter, and even then he is hardlythe type to offer assistance out of hand. Even ifhe has discovered evidence of cults andmonsters during his time in Shanghai, he isunlikely to actually care, unless such evidencepointed towards finding that elusive rocket.Similarly, Isoge is very likely to show an interestif he realises – or if it is suggested to him – thatthese Mythos creatures and magics could becontrolled for the glory of the Empire...

In a proactive scenario, if Isoge hasdiscovered that the investigators have learnedabout the Communist “secret weapon” on GrayDragon Island or are at least affiliated withBrady, he is likely to have his agents shadowthem. Which given the various leads that theinvestigators have to follow up in Shanghai,might well mean that such agents are lead amerry chase in and out of the InternationalSettlement. In which case, if any group –including New China – were to find Isoge or hismen skulking about or digging into their affairs,the “imperialist dog” Isoge would surely turn updead – perhaps serving as an instructive lessonto incautious investigators.

In the end though, when the chips are downand everything seems to have gone to hell, ifIsoge had been held back in the shadows he canbe unveiled as the ultimate deus ex machina. Heshould arrive at the party’s hotel, tosscompromising photographs showing themmeeting known criminals onto the table, andthen offer them assistance and protection if theytell him everything that he wants to know…

Barely used in the campaign itself, theShanghai Courier or other suitable newspaperis a handy tool for investigators to keep abreastof Shanghai’s news – both mundane and theoccult – and tap into the chapter’s varioussubplots. If players do not think to check thenewspaper morgue or if the game has otherwiseslowed, having one of the newspaper’s eventsoccur while they are in the city usually serves to

312 Shanghaigalvanize the investigators into action. Areporter from the Courier could also serve as auseful replacement if casualties become heavy;See “Replacing Characters” on page XX forfurther advice and suggestions.

With its somewhat silly monster and dark-comedy style, the Demon Cabinet of Mr. Lungalso needs careful consideration by the Keeper,for if the setting so far has been “no gods, butthe Mythos,” the appearance of a Chinesedemon cat can prove confusing. A Keeperwanting to tie it into the greater mystery mightremove the cat entirely – it is all in Mr. Lung’shead! – or instead link it to Ho Fong or anotherindividual that Lung has displeased (OmarShakti has a devilish feline, for one). Assumingthat he survives, Lung would make for a handyresource; his knowledge of the occult andnumerous Chinese languages is good enoughthat he might play a versatile role in thecampaign. Certainly his skills are high enoughthat he could translate the Seven Cryptical Booksfor the investigators, or simply serve as a stand-in for Mu Hsien. He might even serve as aninteresting player character if his skills wereexpanded.

Last but not least, and perhaps not seen inShanghai proper, is Penhew and The DarkMistress. The earlier it is in the campaign whenthe player characters arrive in the city, the moreplausible it is that Penhew lands in Shanghai tomeet Ho Fong, collect equipment, and generallyenjoy himself. How willing he is to show his facewhere he might be recognised is up to theKeeper to decide – Brady did spot him on thedeck of the Dark Mistress after all. The Keeper

should also beware that some canny playersmight decide to take the initiative if they realisePenhew drops into Shanghai on a regular basisand pre-emptively decide to kill him – a difficult,but not impossible task. This is not a problemunless the Keeper has anticipated him beingneeded for the finale, so the Keeper needs tobeware of this danger. If he does die, the logicalmove would be to replace him with Ho Fong,who finally gets promoted; or Edward Gavigan,which will probably upset Ho greatly.

Ideally the end of Shanghai chapter shouldsee the investigators launching their assaultagainst Gray Dragon Island, but if that is not thecase – particularly if the Keeper feels that it istoo early in the campaign to go with such a bang– Shanghai’s ending is likely to come eitherwhen the investigators tire of it (because of alack of clues) or when the major enemiespresent in the city have been destroyed. If theOrder of the Bloated Woman is destroyed, thenit becomes all the harder for Penhew to finishhis rocket and necessitates a new link in thechain between the various other locations andShanghai. If Lin Tang-yu or any of the othergroups have been removed (including NewChina or Isoge Taro if they were a danger) theninvestigators can breathe a little easier, but muststill return to stop the Gate Opening…

GRAY DRAGON ISLANDThe finale to the chapter, and likely the entirecampaign, is this fearsome island- Hui-lung taoin Chinese. Naturally when and how theinvestigators arrive will depend on the climax;

“That’s no rocket, that’s a…?”Even after having discovering rocket parts, the word “rocket” is unlikely to have been uttered unless one of the investigators ortheir associates, is an expert on the subject. Upon the investigators’ entrance into the Chamber of the Bloated Woman at theheart of the volcano, it is therefore not a good idea for the Keeper to begin his description with: “There’s a hundred-foot rockethanging over some lava.” Only the most scholarly of investigators, or the investigator who has already professed a love of ScienceFiction, will have an inkling of what a rocket might look like – and even then, it does not take into account the combined influenceof Nyarlathotep, Sir Aubrey Penhew, Doctor Huston, and even Kakakatak in the device’s development. Since the rocket needsonly the most rudimentary of aerodynamics – and there is not even any surety of that, considering the baffling alien science ofthe Mythos – it could look very odd indeed. Also, with the volcano’s cap still on, numerous struts holding the machine up, and allof those cables snaking about it, the “device” should appear very permanent. Thus the Keeper should feel free to lead investigatorsto various conclusions regarding its possible use, particularly if the only thing they know about it, is that it is a “super-weapon”of some kind…

edit 313but it is a good idea to ascertain playerexpectations. If they have been slow andmethodical, it is probably safe to assume theywill not be launching a two-fisted blitzkrieg onthe place. Yet at the same time, the playersshould not be penalized for their curiosity; ifthey arrive on the island as part of a well-planned reconnaissance mission, fail some dierolls, get captured, and thereby miss out on thenaval assault they had been hoping for, thelikelihood is that they will blame the Keeper.Whatever happens, the investigators should begiven some fleeting chance to escape – thoughnot necessarily lightly, or with their health orsanity intact.

Finding a way to get to the island is the firststep towards foiling the Gate Opening. If theonly ships for such jaunts are fishing or cargojunks, Occidental yachts or trawlers, or – at apinch – light freighters like the Ivory Wind, thensuitable crews are few and far between, and atthe very least, any captain would surely questionthe sanity of any group that wanted to pay theisland a visit. Crews not predisposed to blamethe area’s hazards on the occult will certainlybelieve in pirates, storms, and uncharted coraloutcroppings, meaning only the most brave,insane, or unscrupulous would ever accept amission to Gray Dragon Island. Expertassistance – such as from New China or similar– would help, but the more people in the knowthe more chance that word of the proposed tripto the island is leaked to Ho Fong or any one ofthe other parties interested in the investigators.

If it feels lucky, a party could buy, borrow orsteal a ship of their own, in which case they aregoing to need a crew or sufficient skill inNavigate and Pilot: (Craft). Hot air balloons arenot impossible means of transport there(particularly if done from the mouth of theYangtze, Japanese Formosa or the city ofNagasaki), and if any one nation’s military iswilling to offer a ship or crew, then all the betterfor the investigators. Travel to the island byaeroplane might sound a good idea, butassuming there is space enough to land, pilotsmust worry about the lack of fuel, wet sand(good for crash-landings; liable to ruin anundercarriage otherwise), trees, and – even ifone has a floatplane – the obligatory angrycultists. With prevailing winds, sailboats could

make the atoll in three or four days, while dieselor coal-engines could do it in a day and a half ifthe crew pushes it. Trips from Formosa cut thetime by half, but would mean dealing with boththe native Formosans, whose vessels are notbuilt to go so far out to sea, and their colonialJapanese masters.

Storms and squalls are possible en-routeencounters, typhoons less so, but even thepurely mundane can be nerve-wracking if playedright. A sudden stillness of the sea for no reason,pernickety ship equipment, a crewman with“fishy” looks, or an investigator spotting flotsamor jetsam from a presumably lost ship; all aresimple terrors. Of course, if the cult has heard oftheir little adventure there is chance of anambush by pirates or Deep Ones, or even threatof a traitor in their midst. The Keeper shoulduse such events sparingly.

Those first glimpses of the profane atollshould be ominous. By day, plumes of ventinggases, visible at a few miles, should serve toguide – or ward away – ships, volcanic smokeseeming to coil into unnatural and ambiguouslysentient shapes. At night, the vents’ twinklingshould gutter obscenely. A cruel Keeper mightsurround the island with similarly smoky, butuninhabited, reefs – which unscrupulous orinexpert guides or poor map-reading couldmisinterpret. Such surroundings might alsogive investigators a bit of protection too; by“leap-frogging” their way from islet to islet theymight be able to advance on Gray Dragon Islandsurreptitiously, or of course, the islets couldsimply be used as a place to hide or conductreconnaissance from.

The article “Send in the Marines!” on pageXX should help with running any landing, butthe main thrust of Gray Dragon Island lieswithin its steaming, ash-sputtering peak. Whatthe party finds inside should be permanentlyetched into their memories – both for charactersand players! The Keeper needs to have a generalidea of what the “rooms” inside the volcanohold and how they might affect investigators,for while the rooms are not numerous, theiruses are. By expanding the interior into aconvoluted network of rooms and tunnels, aKeeper can provide a James Bond-like lairsufficient for any party (and their red-shirt

314 Shanghaiallies) to fight their way into the volcano’s rocketcentre-piece.

The Gate Opening Ceremony itself shouldbe reserved as one of the campaign’s great piècesde résistance. How many cultists are present isup to the Keeper to decide, but the more thereare, the easier it should be for the investigatorsto dress up and slide into the massed throng ofacolytes. In such an international campaign,there is no reason that Indians, Anglos, Chinese,Pacific Islanders, East Coast Americans,Australians, and even Russians and Japanese,cannot be found in the Chamber of the BloatedWoman preparing for the great awakening. Ifthat seems a bit too much, the ceremony shouldbe made into more of an elite affair.

QUICK REFERENCEChina – General InformationChina’s Balkanization into warlord-run fiefdomsbegan in 1915, but the official “Beiyanggovernment” in Peking was too well entrenchedto be removed though it had little authoritybeyond its city walls. To keep foreigners frommoving to its assistance, the warlords paid lip-service by sending the “Beiyang government”the taxes that it was owed and upholding thegovernment’s overseas treaties. By the timeinvestigators arrive in China the latest civil warhas just ended, crystallising the frontlines untillate-1926 when the Kuomintang marches northto unify the country.

Bureaucratic, conceited and often corrupt,the Qing Empire was beginning to introducemodern police and amenities when it collapsed.This often petty officialdom continued to existduring the new Republic; and all those civil-servants, records, regulations and apparatus ofstate still turned under the warlords – it was justfragmented and more open to abuse. Majorwarlords rarely had total control over theirterritory since they doled fiefdoms out to localcommanders in exchange for loyalty. Theseminor warlords ranged from iron-fistedbureaucrats to powerful bandit-chiefs and theiralliances were transitory and assassination wasrife. For Westerners the greatest marvel was athow amateurish the warlords’ battles were:flamboyant (often Russian) mercenaries andslovenly conscripts enacted set-piece clashesusing tactics from the manuals of theNapoleonic Wars. During lulls in combat,battlefields mushroomed with brightly-huedparasols, soldiers lazing beneath.

Outside of China’s towns and cities, themajority of the population lived in gated villagesof around a dozen families. By day the womenlived at home and the men worked the fields.Market-towns and large settlements kept thesesmall villages alive, serving as pivots ofcommunity, religion, and trade for miles around.True power lay in China’s cities, which weredensely populated and well-guarded by localpolice and warlord troops. Governance – for themost part – was rigid, often heavy-handed, butnot necessarily inhuman; effective taxation and

Living with the ClampdownShanghai’s biggest curfew ran from June 1st, 1925 to early-November, a response to the protests carried out by the May 30thMovement. Students and workers protested foreign imperialism in their thousands, while patriotic flags, banners, and signsadorned the city. In Shanghai alone, 150,000 workers downed tools, forcing shoddy replacements and dangerous shortages inessential services like waterworks, trams, electricity, telegraphs, mail, and docks. Every so often a riot broke out, with foreignersattacked, trams set ablaze, and the police fired upon. Outside of the Settlements, warlords used the chaos as an excuse to crushtheir enemies. Overall, some 30 people were killed inside Shanghai’s foreign Settlements, while countless thousands of Chinesedied outside the Settlements’ borders.

During the Emergency, the two Concessions united as one. Meetings and protests were banned, with warrants served oncriminals and “trouble-makers.” Sandbag and machinegun emplacements sprang up, while barbed-wire and gates blockedintersections and bridges along the borders of the Chinese districts. The militia – the Shanghai Volunteer Corps, which wasdivided into separate “foreign,” “Eurasian,” and “trusted Chinese led by foreigners” units – supported by troops and armouredcars brought in from all the major countries in Shanghai, patrolled the streets and guarded city-works. The issuing of firearmpermits and gun-sales skyrocketed. All police leave was cancelled, and from 10pm until 4am the streets were placed under curfew.

edit 315conscription was hard to enforce on the dead.Aside from the tax-collector or a unit of warlordtroops come to force sons and husbands into thearmy or demand supplies, the greatest fearstemmed from the scourge of bandits: tufei werebrigands who swooped on towns and trains toloot, rape and kidnap; chang-doh were farmerswho robbed neighbouring areas when timeswere hard. During war unscrupulous warlordsrolled them into their armies – during peacethey were hunted like dogs.

Only three cliques are liable to have majorimpact on the investigators’ journey, eitherbecause Shanghai spent time under theircontrol or they were party to their conspiracies.To the north and controlling all of Manchuriawas the Fengtian Clique under ex-bandit ChangTso-lin. Modern, imperialist, and powerful, theFengtian Clique’s economy and military wasstrong enough to give even the Japanese pause;they funded and supported Chang’s governance.To the south and west of Shanghai was theprofessional, republican-federalist Zhili Clique,led by Wu Pufei, gentleman-scholar, general, anddevotee of George Washington. In Canton andaround Hong Kong was the Kuomintang (KMT,Nationalists), which wanted a united socialistChina. The Kuomintang’s widespreadpopularity among Chinese was not shared byforeigners living in China, who viewed theKuomintang’s alliance with Russia’sCommunists as dangerous. The wild-cardCommunists (CCP) had been founded inShanghai in 1921 and joined the KMT soon

thereafter, but were split over the opinions of aminor protégé called Mao Zedong who arguedrural, rather than industrial, folk should formthe basis of revolution. Bolshevik Russianadvisors courted the KMT with arms and advicerather than help the unreliable CCP.

Shanghai – General InformationShanghai was the fifth largest city in the worldand East Asia’s busiest port, but it was splitbetween three separate governments: theInternational Settlement, the FrenchConcession, and the Chinese-controlled areas.Each eyed the others wearily, for borders wereporous and ill-defined, and crime andjurisdiction spilled over easily from one area toanother. In the western parts, for example, theInternational Settlement often overstepped itsboundaries, building new roads and homes andcausing no end of trouble with the Chinese overwho should police or tax these expanded areas.The refugee population undulated as wars ordisasters struck the countryside, and in theInternational Settlement and the FrenchConcession foreigners (known asShanghailanders) were outnumbered near 25to 1, yet ranked socially much higher than nativeChinese.

Shanghailanders – The PopulationShanghailander existence had much in commonwith Kipling’s colonial maxim: “There ain’t no

At night the city became a lurid, neon-swept ghost-town with only the tramp of soldiers’ boots and the clatter of armoured cars.Rumours from outside of the city spoke of murdered foreigners, riots, and sensational frenzy. For some however, it all meant wilderexcess; with customers being barred from leaving casinos and nightclubs during curfew hours, the owners of such establishmentssaw profits soar. Curfew-dodgers were marched to their beds, spent a night in a cell, or faced criminal charges, depending onreasons or social standing – beggars and homeless were forced out of the Settlements in mass clearances. Investigators andcultists will find it hard to move about during these dark hours, but by late-August the strikes and boycotts were over – and thecurfew ended soon after.

Other curfews were smaller and more sporadic. One ran from September 1924 to early-February 1925 in response to theadvancing, and rival, northern and southern armies that squashed Shanghai’s then Chinese ruler, Chi Shi-yan, between them. Afterpatchy fighting, Chi’s soldiers surrendered to the Concessions rather than die in a two-front battle – their leader had fled daysearlier. The Settlements interned the surrendered troops under guard in public parks until mid-March. A further sudden alertoccurred in mid-October 1925, when the city changed hands yet again, but this was over so quickly that there was no need forserious defence. Both of these emergencies saw minor riots, half-hearted violence, and often serious looting in the Chineseareas, along with difficulties in travel – warlord troops seized the railway stations and harassed or delayed travellers.

316 ShanghaiTen Commandments, and a man can raise athirst.“ A class structure existed among theforeign community: rich, lineal “China hands” atthe top, with “colonists” or “low-whites” whodealt with Chinese face-to-face strictly at thebottom. For the latter, “decadent Shanghai” wasusually their problem rather than theirentertainment, but morale was buoyed knowingothers were far worse off; mainly the Chineseand the “White” Russians. The latter, withoutmoney or country, were objects of bothsympathy and revulsion. Jobless Russian men –the largest body of foreigners, werepredominantly exiled nobles, students, ormilitary officers, and they depended on femalemembers of their family for support –unintentionally forcing many into prostitution.

Chinese existed in separate spheres; fromrichest Tai-pan to lowliest beggar. Some rarefew were considered “honorary whites,”particularly if Hong Kong-born and British- orAmerican-educated, but most westerners neversaw a Chinese aside from their servants orthrough the thick glass of car windows. Indiansand Africans were treated with varying levels ofsuspicion – the Chinese particularly dislikedSikhs, and Eurasians were almost universallydetested, no matter how far they managed toraise themselves. A semi-voluntary andtechnically unofficial apartheid kept Shanghai’scommunities apart, with hotels, parks, clubs,shops, and elevators often featuring signsreading “For Rate-Payer Use” or “ForeignersOnly.” Petty violence against Chinese wascommonplace; Sikh police officers beat cooliesfor the most minor infractions while a Chinesecould be slapped or kicked by a foreigner, butwould have little official recourse.

If the Keeper wants to show this disparitybetween race and power, he should considerhalving a character’s Credit Rating when he isdealing outside his own race. For example: HoFong’s Credit Rating of 95% is only 48% whendealing with non-Chinese. Similarly, aninvestigator with a Credit Rating of 40% findsthat it is only worth 20% when trying to get helpfrom the Chinese. Eurasians only get a third oftheir Credit Rating, except when dealing withother Eurasians. Of course, some tolerantpeople will ignore these rules; but suchenlightened souls are sadly few and far between.

ClimateShanghai’s hot, humid summers are broken byfreak thunderstorms and early-morning mists,while heatstroke is a danger to those deceivedby the region’s cool winds. Brisk winters dustthe streets with snow for a few days inNovember and December, but it rarely settledfor long. The typhoon season runs throughspring and summer, and while no complete dataexists for 1925, there were some 13 individualtyphoons recorded – reason enough for theKeeper to throw one at his players. While atyphoon normally inflicts minor physicaldamage, the flooding that came in its wake willspread deadly illnesses.

For that reason, Shanghai’s water shouldalways be boiled before use – even if from a tap.The city is also subject to annual swarms ofmosquitoes, and anyone who hangs about thecity’s waterways, swamplands (popular for theirgame birds), or shanty-towns is liable to catchcholera, dysentery, or tetanus, or even be bittenby leeches. It is common practice for the Chineseto spit as they believe that it removes bad energyfrom the body, and during the flu season –which occurs usually during the months of lateAutumn and early Winter – the streets arespattered with expectorate of all kinds.Although spittoons have been provided for thispurpose, they have never caught on, andconsequently, tuberculosis has ravaged millionsof the native population.

GETTING THEREShip: There were three main routes into Shanghai:from the south, normally via Hong Kong orFormosa; from the east via Nagasaki orYokohama; or from the north via Vladivostok orTsingtao (the former German colony famed forits beer). Regular daily ferry voyages departfrom the Bund and run up and down theChinese coast. A description of the journeyupriver to Shanghai, and what passengers are

expected to doin the interim,is included onpage XX.

Railways:The only directrail routes fromShanghai are toPeking andManchuria; the line to Hong Kong is yet to bebuilt. If a Soviet visa can be obtained, it is possibleto travel from Europe to the Chinese border viathe trans-Siberian railway, a relatively inexpensivejourney at approximately £60 for the trip fromMoscow to Manchuria. From there a traveller willhave to hop between trains until Nanking froma direct train can be taken to Shanghai, thecombined train journeys shaving weeks off asimilar sea-voyage. In reality visas are rather fewand far between, and any American will need toapply through a European embassy.

Perhaps with some irony, travel aboard theTrans-Siberian Express is a rather luxuriousaffair; trains are of pre-Revolutionary stock (allmahogany and lush red upholstery), and thefood, the drink, and the company will prove tobe copious, of high-quality, and cheap.Unfortunately, besides all of that luxury andcompanionship, not to say the cold and thespies, there is still that black mark against one’scharacter: “entry via Bolshevik Russianborder…”

During the 1920s, China’s railways are in asorely depleted state. Flattops and unroofedboxcars mingled with European carriages, whileexpensive trains – reserved just for the rich andforeigners, but barely better than second-class byEuropean standards – are protected by warlordtroops, a response to the derailment of the“Blue Express” in 1923 by some thousand bandits.With nearly 300 passengers kidnapped – around30 of them foreigners – and an American killed,the warlords feared similar incidents might endin foreign seizures of railways or even in theinvasion of China. As a consequence, nighttravel on the railways has since been restrictedsolely to military-only trains (not alwayssuccessfully), and the busiest tracks are patrolledat all hours by anti-bandit squads. While these

measures have served to alleviateforeign worries about derailment,robbery, and kidnapping, thethreat remains a reality,particularly on cheaper“unguarded” trains. Nevertheless,the investigators can expect tomeet all manner of passengers –foreign or Chinese, includingwarlord troops, during any railwaytrip.

Travel by land:In general, automobiles havemade little impact on China,although Shanghai has more gas-stations thanthe rest of the nation combined. Anyonetravelling by car has little reason to worry aboutviolent attacks against himself or his passengers;as with the railways, previous attacks onforeigners caused international outrage, andsuch incidents were something that thewarlords spent great time and effort stampingout. Nonetheless it still occurred: in 1923 Frenchbishops needed the French Police of Shanghai tonegotiate their rescue, and in 1924 Swissadventurer Elly Widler was kidnapped bybandits until his Consulate paid up.

Travel by packhorse – the native speciesbeing much smaller than European and Arabiantypes, or by yak or camel is better suited toChina’s varied environments, while the Jiao(palanquin) remained a sign of wealth andbearing. Visitors should note that China (and allForeign Concessions) officially drives on the left.

Travel by river:A complex network of locks and rivers connectmost of China and these have proved to be farmore popular, and much faster, than going byland. Boatmen are often only too happy to ferrypeople to the nearest town for a few cents, but iftravellers want to make a longer journey byriver, they can hire a sampan and six crewmen(which can include women as the crewmen willoften bring their wives as cooks) for SH$40 amonth. The price includes the Chinese food forthe trip. Alternatively, travellers can sail withone of the numerous Western ships which ply

The Shanghai Express

Chinese Train Guard

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The Bund of 1925/26The Customs House is being builtto the right of the HSBC building

(the domed building below)

318 ShanghaiChina’s river trade-routes, as the ships’ captainsare willing to take on passengers – unofficially,of course.

Air Travel:Most warlords accept that air travel should notbe limited by their squabbles, but the embargoon air freighted imports and general corruptionhave meant that those few attempts to createtrue air routes have folded before they evenbegan. Experiments in airmail have taken place– particularly in Fengtian Manchuria, andirregular private jaunts are possible if bookedahead (ten and a half hours with a refuellingstop halfway, Hong Kong to Shanghai), but arerare. Shanghai’s first aerodrome was built in thevillage of Lunghwa in 1907, but remained almostsolely for Chinese military use until the 1930s; in1922 it was known to field some eight warlord-owned aircraft. In June 1921 Shanghai’s firstcivilian airfield was opened to great fanfare.Located in the suburbs of Hongqiao about threemiles west of the International Settlement’sborder, lack of funds for its planned Shanghai-Nanking domestic service mean that it will sit allbut idle until 1929. The single-track dirt road

leading to it was licensed for all drivers, butthe land surrounding it is officiallyChinese, meaning that

anyonedriving off-

road is liable for arrest and a fine if lacking thenecessary Chinese-permit. It is therefore hardlysurprising that most people have ignored eitheraerodrome, often to spectacular results. Forexample, during the Paris-Tokyo race of 1924,when Frenchman Pelletier d’Oisy decided toattempt a landing in Shanghai, it was on thecity’s Kiangwan golf course and not at either ofits aerodromes. The French aviator failedthough, destroying his plane after flipping itinto a sand bunker. Fortunately for d’Oisy, theFrench government in Indochina shipped him anew one. Other race participants landedelsewhere across the city. The arrival of anyaircraft in Shanghai before 1927 will be nationalnews, and airborne guests will be mobbed withadulation and invitations. Although hot airballoons are not unknown in China, they aredangerously open to pot-shots by bored soldiersor bandits, while zeppelins will not be seen inthe skies over Asia until the 1930s.

Travel Notes: Ships and trains to Shanghai often had theirpassenger lists checked by the SMP, withundercover Chinese detectives ready to tailarrivals as necessary. Travel through Russia wasalways considered a sign of Communistsympathies and investigators displaying furthertendencies (including meeting with knowncriminals) will remain on the SMP’s “subversive”

catalogue for good.

Carts, cars, trams and rickshaws on Nanking Road Sampans on Soochow Creek

edit 319

LOCATIONSThe International SettlementNot just the financial core of Shanghai, but a cityunto itself, social Shanghai centres on theSettlement’s cinemas, clubs, hotels, and dance-halls, as well as its strictly regulated (but not sowell policed) brothels, gambling-joints, andopium-dens. Big business and banks areheadquartered in massive, elegant Europeanbuildings along the Bund, but the hard work isdone in Hongkew’s oppressive factories, wharfs,and mills or along the shopping districts ofBubbling Well and Nanking Roads, with theirplush department stores and popularrestaurants. Further west and south the lessdirty, seedy and crowded the Settlementbecame. The furthest western suburbs (onroads whose control was debatable) are home tothe rich, with country houses, swimming pools,and servants. Some 70% of the population –nearly all Chinese – lived in alleyway houses(called lilung fangtzu) off the Settlement’s mainroads. As homes to the Chinese natives, the onlyforeigners who will enter them are likely to bepolicemen, curious tourists, or those looking forsomething in particular.

Getting AroundStreet-cars and trams on the main roads linkmuch of the International Settlement and theFrench Concession, with typical journeys costingno more than a few cents. Chauffeured cars andtaxis are cheap; less than a couple of US dollarsa day rental, though a gratuity will be expectedby the driver, and it will be necessary for the

hirer to find out which territories the driver islicensed to travel within. Since the drivingability of these chauffeurs and taxi cab drivers,as well as those most Chinese drivers, are oftenabominable (the Keeper should consider givingthem a Drive (Automobile) skill under base),traffic accidents, even lethal ones, are the rulerather than the exception.

The ubiquitous rickshaw will appear to beworthwhile means of getting around Shanghai,but few drivers will speak English and nearly allof them are unlicensed outside of theSettlement. At a cent or two a minute, thedrivers make most of their money on kickbacksfrom dragging young men to brothels. And anote to the wise: some rickshaws are privatelyowned by doctors, police officers, or richcitizens, who naturally will not take kindly totourists jumping into them and shouting,“Follow that cultist!” Less common are the smallMongolian horses which pull pony-traps, whilethe larger Arabian horses are usually reservedfor the mounted Sikh police.

The Bund’s promenade and beautifulbuildings are not solely tourist sites. Ships areloaded and offloaded at all hours while gaily-painted Chinese sampans and motor-launchesferry passengers and cargo for a dozen cents orso. Even here there is a strict hierarchy, with thehigher-ranking sampans unloading passengersand cargo from ships while the less-prestigiousboats pick at the dregs. Larger junks also serveas fishing vessels and long-distance ferries, butany form of boat can be seen plying its trade onthe Whangpoo or up the Yangtze if one watcheslong enough.

A Junk on the Whangpoo River

Local Government and PoliceSee the article Shanghai Municipal Police (pageXX) for further information on the ShanghaiMunicipal Police (SMP) and other policeorganizations in Shanghai.

The ruling Municipal Council is comprised ofinternational community rate-payers (but noChinese) and is dominated by the British. Lawsare almost solely for the benefit of the moneyed,and even the police commissioner can beremoved on the say-so of any number of richforeigners. (In fact, he was after the May 30thcurfews were lifted.) The current Chairman isSterling Fessenden, a 50 year old New EnglandAnglophile suffering from failing eyesight.

HotelsThe International Settlement is the place wheremost westerners bed down. Alongside smallervenues and dives the city’s larger hotels are:• Astor House: on Whangpoo Road (near the

American Consulate). Favored by dignitariesand famed for its nauticaltheme, the hotel has a strictdress-code, though a revampthe year before means thatChinese are finally allowedfurther into the hotel than justthe foyer. The weekly “tea”dances are famous for their useof whiskey rather than tea, and

tales are told of famous guests gettingroaring drunk and falling into the dance-hall’s fountain.

• Palace Hotel: (No.19, The Bund) on the southcorner of Nanking Road and The Bund, the

Palace Hotel is a six-storey resort in theRenaissance style with125 guest rooms, andtwo elevators. Investi-gators hankering afterwestern cuisine are wellserved here, and thecognacs are exemplary.Rumors insist that thepenthouse suite hasgold-plated bathroomfaucets.

• Majestic Hotel: (Bubbling Well Road) setback from the road by a neat grass garden,the Majestic Hotel is a thirty-two bedroommansion in the Neo-classical style. In 1927 itwill be site of the marriage of GeneralissimoChiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang SoongMay-ling.

• Shanghai Pacific Hotel: (Nanking Road)built in 1920, this 183 room hotel isconsidered relatively respectable, though itslocation in the heart of Shanghai’s bustlingbusiness district mean that it is noisy andthat its windows often overlook Chineseapartments. This hotel is a respectablechoice for those whose Credit Rating isdecent, but not high...

• Pension de Montigny: (Brenan Road, nearJessfield Park) is a dilapidated fleabag of ahostel. Those wanting to hide from the lawor triads might try here. More informationon the hotel can be found in the scenario“Shanghai Bullets” from Stunning EldritchTales, where it first appears.

Foreigners in Shanghai also love theirhouseboats. About 15 feet long, thesehouseboats find a mooring on availablestretches of water, and have enough room to suita couple (or a trio, if a little snug). Since everymale living in Shanghai was expected to haveexperience or interest in boating (or at leastfeign it), houseboats are immensely popular asholiday homes and out of season, their owners

Astor House Hotel

320 ShanghaiFictional Shanghai vs. Real ShanghaiMany of the locations in Masks of Nyarlathotep’s map do not yet existin 1925. These include: the Canidrome, the Race Track, the CathayHotel, the Capitol Cinema, the Court House, the Heng ShanHotel, the Shanghai Courier and the Customs House. TheGeneral Hospital is sited on the map miles from its true location.Since a true Shanghai Museum does not exist in the 1920s, theKeeper might wish to provide information via the Royal AsiaticMuseum or the Private Fudan University Library, located innorth-east Hongkew. Private Fudan University is a very prestigiousAnglo-Chinese university with grounds reminiscent of the AncientBritish colleges. Meanwhile, a discerning Keeper should note that theSeamen’s Club actually replaced the famous Shanghai Club in 1956.If a Keeper still wants to retain the fictional Seamen’s Club in hiscampaign, it is suggested that it be located elsewhere along SoochowCreek or the Whangpoo...

will rent them out to tourists. Larger yachts arepopular among the rich for jaunts upriver oralong the coast.

Libraries & MuseumsThe largest and best library in the Settlement isthe Shanghai Public Library, run by theMunicipal Council, on the top floor of City Hall(22 Nanking Road). Membership means that youcan borrow from the library, but use of thereading room is free. Both the Shanghai Club(No.3, The Bund) and the Royal Asiatic Society(20 Museum Street)also maintainedlibraries with thou-sands of books each.Chinese texts areavailable at both, butnot catalogued –Library Use rollsshould be at leasthalved if aninvestigator wants to conduct any research.Both were open 7 days a week to respectablevisitors, but the Shanghai Club demands that non-members telephone ahead. Private collections(including a very fine library on the 6th floor ofthe China Weekly Review) also existed.Bookstores in the Settlement’s backstreetsoverflow with tomes from every quarter of theworld. Foochow Road off the Bund was infamousfor its bookstores and brothels; sometimescatering to both vices at once. The Settlement’sfew museums, including the Royal Asiatic Society’sMuseum (cf.) were little more than specialistlibraries and private collections run by Europeans.

Hospitals and AsylumsShanghai’s medical care is predominantlyprivate, charitable, or eastern holistic in nature,but western (and western-trained) doctors arecommon enough in the city. Some majorhospitals include:• General Hospital: (190 North Soochow

Road) set amongst gently wooded grounds;this is one of the oldest, largest, and besthospitals in Shanghai. Although open to all-comers, it is segregated. Many of its nursesare sisters from local churches.

• Shanghai Seaman’s Hospital:(north-central Hongkew)officially open only tomerchantmen and othersailors, this British-runhospital sometimes carries outemergency and non-life-threatening care if it does nottake up one of its precious beds. Alldonations are accepted.

• Shandong Road Hospital: (Shandong Road)also called the Renji Health Care House; it isa 100 bed, Western-style facility. Historicallyit caters solely to the Chinese, butwesterners are treated here also if they donot mind the “natives.”

• Municipal Isolation Hospital: (41 RangeRoad) the quarantine hospital for foreigners,it includes a small ward for holdingdangerous psychotic patients until they canbe moved to secure accommodation.

Japanese hospitals (like the Fumin and NeishanHospitals) in Hongkew serve their ownnationals. Foreigners are accepted inemergencies – usually for a steep fee.

A dearth of trained psychiatrists and onlyone true mental hospital (the “John G. KerrHospital for the Insane” in Canton) make Chinaa bad place to go mad. Larger hospitals (like theGeneral Hospital) and St. Joseph’s Hospice have“psychopathic wards,” but this often means littlemore than locking the afflicted away. Insaneforeigners are usually deported to Hong Kong orwherever “humane” treatment can be found.

NewspapersShanghai has a bewildering array of papers,journals, and amateur-press works. Themost powerful and oft-read English daily inChina is the British-owned North-ChinaDaily News (No.17, The Bund, one of thetallest buildings in Shanghai, Chinese mustuse the stairs). Copies are deliveredinternationally. Its main rivals, the ChinaWeekly Review and the China Press (cornerof Canton and Kiangse Roads) are Americanowned. In reality, the campaign’s preferrednewspaper, the Shanghai Courier went outof print about a decade before theinvestigators arrive, so the Keeper who

The North-China Daily Newsbuilding

The Royal Asiatic Society’s premises

The General Hospital

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prefers his campaign to be more realistic canshift its clippings to either of theaforementioned papers. Notably, none of theforeign newspapers have a permanent staff ofnative Chinese translators; instead most use theSMP’s daily reports. The result is a mishmash ofhalf-truths and expediency with little relation toreality.

The French Concession (“Frenchtown”)The French refused to roll their concession intothe International Settlement when it wascreated, instead preferring to retain control as aseparate colony. Its Parisian-style roads – wideavenues with tree-lined boulevards – andEuropean flavor soon made it the foreigncommunity’s “residential” quarter. If its charmmade it a popular home, its leniency gave it itsuncountable brothels, casinos, and opium-dens.Little Russia around Avenue Foch is like a crossbetween the student quarter of Paris and theheart of a Tsarist Jewish ghetto; EasternOrthodox churches, large Cyrillic signs, all-nightcafes, violinists, shabby clothes, andexistentialist patois. The American district –

with its famous American School – is also inFrenchtown, after its old patch in Hongkew wasinundated by Japanese immigrants.

Getting AroundCars, rickshaws, and trams are available, thoughwalking the leafy streets is a pastime morefavoured here than north of Avenue Edward VII.The Quai de France (the French section of theBund) is more raucous than further north, andcaters to sailors and industry rather thanbanking and travel. The streets just behind itare replete with bars, massage-parlours, Turkishbaths, brothels, warehouses, catfights, anddrunken sailors, catering to the city’s darkestelements – sometimes making evencosmopolitan Shanghai seem rustic bycomparison!

Local Government and PoliceAmbassador Jacques Meyrier, the Consul-General, runs Frenchtown. With the laws beingless strict than in the International Settlement,gambling and brothels are both legal andcommonplace. Corruption might as well belegal too; it runs rampant with mob-boss Du“Big Ears” Yuesheng pouring gold into PoliceChief Etienne Fiori’s pockets. Du heads theConcession’s chapter of the Green Gang (seeCrime on page XX) and to maintain a criminalfree-reign he makes sure that crime is kept on atight leash. Out of fear of losing control of theirprofitable colony, the French rely on criminalcompradors; crimes are only solved when theChinese criminals themselves assist the ‘police’.

Otherwise, the average policeman in theFrench Concession Police (FCP) – headquartered

Avenue Joffre, French Concession

322 ShanghaiAmbulances and Body CollectionHundreds die weekly on Shanghai’s streets; mostly the homeless or abandoned infants. Both the Municipal Council and theFrench Concession collect these bodies, assisted by charitable organisations and mass-produced coffins. In what is predominantlya Buddhist nation, weekly mass-funerals occur on the outskirts of the city, presided over by monks and collection-officials. If thebody appears to have died violently it is left as it is and will be reported to the police, but some murder victims do slip throughthe net. There is no formal system of death certificates, except among rate-payers who are expected to report deaths to theauthorities.

By 1925 most ambulances are motorized and run by hospitals, churches, or other religious groups. Both the InternationalSettlement’s fire-service and the Shanghai Municipal Police have ambulances to cater to the public, as does the French Concession’sestablishments. These services are often free; paid for through rates and donations.

in Lokwai District near the French prison (onrue Chevalier) – is only of fair quality. Footpatrols are split between French and Chinesedivisions, 250 men in the former and 1800 in thelatter, all titled Garde Municipale. The Frenchdetectives (Sûreté) were desegregated, with 50Chinese and native French altogether – but sincewhite detectives were rotated betweenmainland-France and Shanghai every two yearsthey rarely had much experience in China. Aspecial riot force (Police Spéciale Française) of250 tall and heavily-armed Chinese is availablefor emergencies. A thousand Annamite[Vietnamese] colonial troops are reserved fordefence, but the sturdiest of them are actuallyposted to the sailors’ paradise and city hellholeof Blood Alley – politely known as rue Chu Pao-san – just off the Quai de France, where they cancrack skulls with impunity.

HotelsThe Concession has more Western-styleresidences and flashy casinos than theSettlement, but surprisingly few good hotels.Aside from renting an apartment, visitors to theConcession can always stay in one of the variouscheap bed & breakfast establishments, or in oneof the many brothels or casino “bedrooms” (thelatter charging by the hour).• Cercle Sportif Français: Newly opened in

1925, this palatial mansion is the club-housefor the “French Club,” though its indoorswimming pool and tennis courts camesecond to its position as a social hub. Themost liberal club in Shanghai, and greatlydistrusted by class-conscious Britons, itallowed entry to both women (though only40 at a time) and Chinese. A number ofbedrooms are available for members andtheir guests.

edit 323Two Very Different Locales:The Shanghai ClubAlmost as if lifted from London and dropped into Shanghai, the club is the most exclusive in the city,the oldest social establishment on the Bund and hub of (principally British) Shanghailander life.Exclusively for whiter-than-white males, predominantly British, and narrow-mindedly arrogant andsedate, the inside features a Grand Hall measuring ninety by thirty-nine feet, billiards rooms, anewspaper morgue and library on the second floor, plus a grand dining hall. Forty guest bedroomsoccupy the second and third storeys. The Long Bar, the longest in the world at over one-hundred feetand shaped like an “L,” is internationally renowned. On busy evenings members line it sometimesthree-deep, and drinkers position themselves along it according to rank – seniors by the high windowsoverlooking the Whangpoo and “griffins” (new arrivals to Shanghai) in the gloomy interior. Its Chinesestaff – in dress-whites – serves the members ceaselessly and silently.

The Great WorldA grand two-storey western-style building on the border of the French and International Settlements,the Great World is a wonderland-carnival-market, replete with endless theatrical plays, diviners, stand-up comics, flirty sing-song girls, acrobat shows, conjurers, amusement rides and games-stalls, specialexhibitions, halls-of-mirrors and cheap food-snacks, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Astriking open-air circular stage is positioned inside the building, and can be viewed from the majorityof walkways, over-bridges, and stairways that make up the Great World labyrinth. The roof, with itsmarket-stalls and binocular-points, is even said to lack a railing on one side so that burnt-outspendthrifts can fling themselves from it. Still, in 1925 The Great World is mostly a family affair or along weekend out; in 1931 (by which time it had gained a wedding-cake like extra two floors) it fellunder the ownership of the Green Gang and was turned into a crazy Mardi Gras of freak-shows, vice,and sleazy sideshows. Around five thousand people visited the Great World daily in the 1920s, and whilewesterners are not unwelcome most ignored it as a Chinese activity. As such it would make a goodlocale for a meeting, a ritual, or a gunfight...

• Hotel des Colonies (rue Montauban) withan exterior like a cross between a French-Indochinese apartment-complex and awild-west saloon, prices are relatively cheapand the food is of a good standard (whichmeant “excellent standard” compared towhat non-French expect).

LibrariesThe French Consulate has a library open toapplicants, but unless fluent in French,investigators will do better north of Edward VIIAvenue. Private libraries will yield better results,but getting access to them is another matterentirely.

Hospitals and AsylumsThe Concession relies as much on charity as therest of Shanghai, though it jointly pays for (anduses) the General Hospital. Other largehospitals in the Concession include St. Mary’s –sometimes known as Ruijin Hospital – on Ruedu Père Robert. The Franco-Chinesetuberculosis sanatorium, complete withextensive laboratories, is on the southernoutskirts of the French Concession. Chinesecalled it Hungjao Hospital. Investigatorsneeding scientific facilities might get securelaboratory access there.

NewspapersThe most famous and most influential Frenchpaper is L’Echo de Chine, a broadsheet coveringChina and Indochina alongside local Shanghainews. Multilingual French are often found withcopies of the Shanghai Mercury or North ChinaDaily. Three popular Russian language papers(Russian Echo, Shanghai Dawn, and TheWord) are printed in Frenchtown and are allstaunchly anti-Bolshevik.

The Chinese Areas: The Old City, Pudong,Chapai, & NandaoThe four Chinese areas surrounding Shanghaiare rarely entered by westerners, beingconsidered to be either dens of vice or mediævalthrowbacks. Although their architecture varied,

much of these areas comprised of narrow roads,expansive markets, strange shops, too-largetemples, and the standard alley-way houses. TheChinese Bund is mainly made up of jetties andwood-slats in front of warehouses, far removedfrom the elegant, tramlined promenades of theSettlement and French Bunds. Across the riverfrom the Bund is Pudong, its banks lined withfactories, foundries, warehouses, and docksides.The only way to get there from the western bankof the Whangpoo is by boat.

Getting AroundServed by rickshaws, a few motorised-taxis and(in Chapei and Nandao) clattering old tramways,the Old City remains almost impassable tovehicles, even after having lost most of itshistoric defensive walls in 1912 to widen theroads. Even more of its walls are torn down in1925. Technically only cars licensed for theChinese areas are entitled to drive here butextraterritoriality mean that the Chinese police

Dongmen Street or East Gate, Old City

Pudong

324 Shanghai

often pull over unlicensed (and usually drunk)westerners who claimed ignorance. The sameproblem is found on the waterways, which areall under Chinese jurisdiction, even those whichflow through the foreign settlements (likeSoochow Creek). While having jurisdiction, theChinese rarely bother to collect bodies and leavethat duty to the foreign police. One furthermeans of transport westerners might spot is thejiao (cf.). Some of these are reserved forreligious leaders, others are used as hearses forChinese funerals, while many will be seenmoving about with their covers closed providingtravel in privacy for the conservative woman orbride-to-be, who are traditionally to be kepthidden from sight.

Local Government and PoliceThere is no central government for China duringthis period, and between early 1925 and mid-1927, Shanghai’s Chinese areas went through anumber of warlord led governments:• Mid-January 1925: Chang Tsung-chang (a

behemoth known as the “ShantungMonster” or “Dogmeat General”) of theFengtian Clique and Sun Chang-fang (aka“the Nanking Warlord”) of the Zhili Cliquepush Chi Shi-yan’s army out of Shanghai andbegin joint rule. Sun is left in de jure controlof the police and the amenities, but Chang isfriendly with the criminal Green Gang.

• Mid-October 1925: After brief fighting, SunChang-fang pushes Chang Tsung-chang’sforces out of Shanghai, taking control of thecity for himself. He courts the west withprogressive, liberal ideas and a western-educated mayor for the city. Besides that,however, his troops still rule the Chineseareas as a warlord fiefdom.

• 3 March 1927: Sun Chang-fang is overthrownby a local uprising as Chiang Kai-Shek takesover Shanghai and goes on to massacre thecity’s communists.

A City Council controls the Chinese districts, butits influence is kept in check by the warlords. Assuch the police are run by this Council andnumber some several thousand men, includingriot-police, river-police, a detective branch, andthe political “garrison police.” Both thewarlords and the Council tried to keep things as

neutral as possible, but warlord gendarmes (oras they might be termed now: “death-squads”)and soldiers did patrol the streets too. Chang’ssword-wielding private police performed streetexecutions at will, hanging severed heads fromlampposts or street signs. Sun’s men gavepretences of legitimacy; a kangaroo court on thestreet corner followed by a bullet to the head. Insome areas police are notorious for getting awaywith murder, rape, extortion, and torture, whilein provincial towns policing depends on thegoodwill of local watchmen or warlord troops.

Chinese arrested and tried in theConcessions are often, though not always,turned over to the police outsidethe settlements for imprisonmentor execution. Unrecognizedforeigners normally spend theirsentence in Ward Gaol. Ifsentenced to death, prisoners (tiedto flat wooden boards listing theircrimes) are paraded through thestreets on backs of trucks andthen driven outside the citygrounds for execution, usually toLonghwa, near the famed pagoda.Traditionally, kidnappers andarmed robbers are shot andmurderers garrotted, though thewarlords do not always followsuch formalities. Photographs ofexecutions are sold to tourists.

HotelsWith vacations unknown to all but the richestChinese, even fewer places cater to westerners.The Jin Jiang Guest House (Black Slipper Lane,near the Chinese Bund) is one of few indigenoushotels catering to both native and foreigntravellers – including the late Jackson Elias.Most Chinese will lodge with friends or family,but outside of cities they will use coaching inns,brothels, and temples. Classic garden- orcourtyard-style hotels are also common (use thelayout of Ho Fong’s house as a base).

LibrariesChinese writing before the 20th century wasmainly on scrolls or bamboo, books being a

Longhwa Pagoda, popular day tripdestination and execution spot

edit 325

relatively modern concept. Shanghai’s fewpublic libraries include the Hsu Chia-hui JesuitLibrary and the Shanghai East Library.Manuscripts are predominantly in Chinese, butsome collections came from as far afield as Indiaand Europe. Without a translator, the librariesin the Chinese districts are mostly void of usefultext for western investigators.

Hospitals and AsylumsDoctors trained in eastern and westernmedicine are available across China. A numberof dockside hospitals – subsidized by shippingcompanies – tend to injuries resulting fromwork, while charities and missionary hospitalsserve the rest of the Chinese community.Acupuncture, herbs, and Eastern holism areused for lethal and non-lethal complaints alikeand in pulpier games such esoteric cures andarts might be as good as (if not better than)western expertise. China’s mentally ill are oftenassumed to be possessed by evil spirits and areeither cared for by family or sent to prison;many simply died on the streets.

NewspapersChinese newspapers have good circulation for amarket that is predominantly illiterate. Theleading “classic-style” newspaper is the formalShenbao, admired by old and young alike.Merchants prefer the Xinwenbao, which focuseson business news. The Shihbao is a tabloid withsupplements, and has the greatest informationon local goings-on in any language (and oftenweeks before western papers picked it up).Alongside political news and warlordmovements, newspapers juggle superstition(tales of ghosts, hauntings, misfortune causedby the accidental killing of minor gods,malicious fox spirits committing arson on localshops, etc.) and “evolution” (the slogan forscientific rationality and the casting aside ofsuperstition). Many English-languagetranslators (and no few reporters) for Shanghai’sChinese papers are British West Indian colonialsubjects.

EMBASSIES AND CONSULATESThe following might be of use to investigators inShanghai (particularly as consulates are wheretrials are often held):• Brazilian Consulate: It is unlikely that the

investigators will have the need to visit theBrazilian Consulate, located at 359 RouteCohen in the French Concession, but they

Traders on the way to marketconfronted by warlords’ troops

326 Shanghai

might want to visit the German-bornConsul’s other business. He is the owner ofHugo Reiss & Co, an importer of variousitems of hardware, which includes includedguns and ammunition with the companyalso being the local agent for Webley &Scott.

• British Consulate: no.33 The Bund; acrossthe road from the Public Garden. The latterwas famously and erroneously said to featurea sign reading “No Dogs and Chineseallowed” at its entrances, though it did barChinese until 1927.

• French Consulate: at 2 Rue du Consulat, justoff the French Quai.

• French Municipality: located on rue duConsulat, sandwiched between rue de laPorte and Shantung Road. Large, chateau-like, and with a grand fountain in itsforecourt, this is where the day-to-dayrunning of Frenchtown is done.

• Italian Consulate: at 555 Bubbling WellRoad, next to the Shanghai Country Cluband about ten minutes walk from theEmbassy Theatre.

• Japanese Consulate: 25A Whangpoo Road,across the road from the AmericanConsulate, and overlooking the WhangpooRiver from Hongkew.

• Soviet Consulate: 1 Whangpoo Road, nearthe American Consulate. Baroque-toweredand heavily reinforced with firing slits, it isoften surrounded by barbed wire anddefensible positions. It is not uncommon forWhite Russian protestors to attack it withprojectiles.

• Swiss Consulate: on Bubbling Well Road,opposite the Public Recreation Ground.

• United States Consulate: opposite theJapanese Consulate at 248-250 Kiangse Road.

FIREARMS AND WEAPONSIn 1919 the international community introducedan arms embargo (including an embargo onrifles and aeroplanes) to thwart China’swarlords. Most countries circumvented orignored the embargo altogether, and whilevisitors’ firearms are seized on entry, guns inChina are common. Guidelines for InternationalSettlement firearm ownership are similar toother British colonies; rate-payers have torequest permission to purchase a license to ownshotguns or handguns. The license needed hasto be carried at all times, as police performrandom searches on public-transport and in thestreet. The French Concession has similar laws.Men in the Volunteer Corps (some 20,000), andforeign SMP detectives, are allowed to keepservice pistols at home. Uniformed policeofficers return their weapons to the armorywhen off-duty.

Chinese copies of the Mauser C96 automaticpistol (cf.) are the underworld’s weapon ofchoice, while unlicensed Thompson submachineguns (produced for anti-bandit duty) weremanufactured in a very choppy form from 1923.The only thing limiting the widespread use ofthese Tommy Guns is the lack of .45ACPammunition. Punch-daggers, hatchets, daoswords, and Chinese cleavers (repurposed fromkitchen duty) are often twinned with kung-fu orother martial arts. While the laws on carrying

edit 327The Shanghai SpecialThough the Shanghai Chapter of Masks of Nyarlathotep says that New China uses silenced .45 Colt automatics, there was in factno suppressor available for them at this time (unless they decide to hold pillows or similar muffling device over the muzzle, giving-5% penalty to Listen rolls). In truth, few assassinations in Shanghai were carried out with suppressed firearms anyway.

In the early 1920s however, the Soviet Union (and some ex-Tsarists needing cash) began selling crates of Nagant R-1895s tothe many Chinese factions, particularly their favored Nationalists. These seven-shot revolvers could quite adequately fit asuppressor with minor effort from a semi-competent gunsmith (an integrally suppressed version was developed 1931). Alongsidethe usual Colts, Smith & Wessons, Webleys, and numerous knock-offs, the Nagant is liable to seen in the holsters or pockets ofRussian émigrés, Bolshevik spies, and Chinese dissidents.

NAGANT 1895: Shots Per Round: 3/2(2); Damage: 1d8, HP: 10, Bullets: 7, Range: 15yds, Malf: 00

blades and coshes are pretty lenient, the policecatching people using them are not always soforgiving...

MASS MEDIA, NEWS ANDPOSTIn 1924 the American radio station “KRC” beganbroadcasting in Shanghai, playing western jazzand popular music, along with opera (bothChinese and western), advertisements, lectures,and evening news broadcasts. The stationfeatured the ability to receive telephone-callsfrom the public (though whether these wereplayed “on air” is unclear). An embargo onimported radio headphones limited listeners fora time until it became known that theSettlement had no authority to controlreceivership. The number of self-made andshop-bought wireless-sets soared thereafter.

Telegrams can only be sent via one ofShanghai’s three oligarchies: the Great NorthernTelegraph Co., Eastern Extension Australia, orChina Telegraphic Co. All are located in a singlebuilding on the corner of Szechuen Road andCanton Road, behind the Shell PetroleumCompany Building (at No.1, The Bund). Hotelswill relay messages to the telegraph office for afee. In 1922, the foreign postal services inShanghai closed their doors and turned controlover to the Chinese Republic and the ShanghaiMunicipal Post. Letters for within theconcessions are posted at mailboxes, but postgoing to foreign climes needs to be registered ata local post-office (the General Post Office is thelargest and located north of Soochow River’sGarden Road Bridge). Most foreign visitorsprefer to collect their mail from their consulate,

giving addedprotection againsttheft or loss. Thegangster DuYuesheng had amonopoly on thetelegram stations,meaning that hisagents kept tabs onmajor incoming andoutgoing messages.

There are no public telephones in Shanghai,but the majority of hotels, police stations,department stores, casinos, etc. had someavailable. Queues for connections are morecommon than in London but less common thanin New York, with long-distance calls eitherimpossible or massively expensive. Even by mid-1925 there are no direct telephone links betweenthe various police forces of the Concessions orthe Chinese districts and while the modern“telex” had been introduced to some police-stations and businesses, for mostcommunication runners were faster andcheaper.

CULTURE SHOCK: A KEEPERTOOL-KITHomeless people are illegal in both foreignSettlements and their police are expected tochase them into the Chinese-run districts. Thisis practically impossible, however, and most areprofessional vagrants: scabrous, leprous, andentertaining every trick and form of fake or self-inflicted deformity to elicit sympathy.Uncountable thousands live on the streets, butmost Chinese considered it a transitory periodbetween jobs. Such displays of poverty arecompletely at odds to the compradores, themiddle-men in Sino-Western relations. Oftensavvy, but low-class, these Chinese raised theirstatus by becoming “western,” and as acompradore served as both guide and conciergeto bridge social gaps and get you what you need.McChum would be a compradore for crime, forexample, while Wang Ting would be acompradore for high-society. Meanwhile,China’s culinary customs and habits caughtmany unawares. An Idea roll should let aninvestigator grasp his chopsticks and ignore thefact everyone spits on the floor, the table oranywhere else, but as for the food – perhaps aSanity check (0/1) might be in order for thesqueamish? It would be a lie to say that grubs,mealworms, snakes, and wriggling things areuncommon, but Chinese “chow” (pidgin for“food”) includes poultry, duck, and pig as muchas it does cat, dog, or rat. Shanghai is alsofamous for its breakfast dumplings, seafood, andsweet Russian cakes. For those who might

General Post Office

328 Shanghai

consider Chinese food unseemly, western food isavailable and in quality only matched byShanghai’s clothing, for fashion flaunted socialstanding. Both sexes of the lower-classes worethe same earth-hued baggy pants and top, butonly the truly poor failed to own at least onebrightly-coloured ceremonial dress. The body-hugging ladies’ cheongsam (in Shanghainese:zansae; in Mandarin: chi’pao), split to mid-thighand with diamond-cut décolleté, and maleChungshan suit (known today in the west as theMao suit) are recent trends. Gentlemen wearwestern suits or traditional Chinese robes of silkor cotton. Fashionable triads wear suits to hidetheir weapons, or robes with knuckles showing(most ungentlemanly!). Considering the city’sgeneral poverty, shopping is a surprisinglypopular pastime, and by 1925 the two biggestdepartment stores (both on Nanking Road) areChinese owned and run: Sincere (opened 1917)and Wing On (1918, with its roof garden). Dueto casual racism both stores hired separatewhite and Chinese staff, so customers will notbe served by a “wrong colored” salesperson.Most Chinese stick with their neighbourhoodstores; converted homes with the owners livingupstairs and customers purchasing goodsthrough the window next to the front door.

Investigators are liable to encounter at leastone major celebration during their time inShanghai. It is suggested that the Keeper shouldread up on the intricacies of these holidays forthemselves where possible. The following lunardates are for the year 1925:• Chinese New Year lasted nearly two weeks

but culminated on 24 January, complete withfire-crackers, dances, and much finery andmerriment.

• The Lantern Festival, where celebrants hunglit lanterns, is on 7 February.

• May 4th is a day of mass student andpolitical protest in memory of China’smistreatment in the Treaty of Versailles. Thepolice will be out in force for this festival.

• A Chinese version of Valentine’s Day calledQi Xi, with various ceremonies relating tofertility and marriage divination, occurs on25th August.

• The day when deceased relatives walk theearth and the living are expected to

remember them: Qingming is on 2ndSeptember.

• The final major holiday of the year is theMid-Autumn Festival of 2nd October; withdragon dances, sky-lanterns, incenseburning, and other reveries.

• The next Chinese New Year is on 13thJanuary, 1926.

PIDGIN: LANGUAGE OFCOMMERCEBy the mid-1920s this mixed Creole was dyingout (compradores limited the number ofChinese westerners spoke to anyway), but its useis still widespread among beggars, coolies,public servants, amahs, and shop staff. NativeEnglish speakers found pidgin hard to master;in a realistic campaign, it needs a week ofacclimatization to speak fluently. Nevertheless,words like “pidgin” (work), “joss house” (churchor temple), “chow” (food), “godown”(warehouse), “boy” (servant), “tiffin” (meal), and“amah” (nurse or chaperone) are still used by allclasses and cultures.

edit 329“Big Ears” Du: Shanghai’s Al CaponeWhip-thin, jug-eared, yellowed teeth andeyes half-closed in a dreamy gaze – in 1925,aged 37, with four wives (each relegated toa wing or floor of his sprawling FrenchConcession mansion), an addiction toillegal narcotics, and a penchant foroutrageous gestures, Du “Big Ears”Yuesheng could be found at any up-marketgambling den or nightclub in Shanghai, abevy of sing-song girls or tittering femaleadmirers draped on both arms – and over a dozen bodyguards (Russianand Chinese) one step behind. Westerners respected him; policelooked the other way; and rival gang-bosses feared him. Those whoupset him died horribly: at least one was buried alive.

Very superstitious, Du always had at least one dried monkey headresting in the small of his back. Told from an early age this would savehim from violent death and bring him luck, his inhuman providence waslong attributed to this unlikely magic and Big Ears continued to seeclairvoyants of various stripes throughout his life. Under Chiang Kai-Shek’s rule Du grew stronger, but war and the Communists cost himdearly. He fled to Hong Kong in 1949, dying penniless there in 1952.

CRIME & PUNISHMENTCrime is widespread.Opium is the drug ofchoice, but heroincomes a close second(and is often marketedas an “opium cure”)and prostitution issuch that at one countnearly a third ofwomen in the FrenchConcession wereinvolved in the sextrade. From the

lowest opium-dazed ‘flower smoke girl’ to thegeisha-like courtesans known as shuyu, theywere joined by exiled “White” Russians whotaught French or music by day and soldthemselves by night. Concubines, mistresses, andpolygamy are universal and expected.

Technically gambling is illegal in theSettlement (except in licensed areas, like theracetrack at the Recreation Grounds), but templesof sin were built in Frenchtown and the Chinesequarters as gaudy as today’s Las Vegas.Westerners and Japanese played cards or roulette,Chinese preferring mah-jong, fan-tan or dice.

At dusk mainroads, borders, andtourist areas becomecabarets of smokyneon and nightclubs,while along the riverrum is run, salt issmuggled, and armsare dealt. Kidnappingsare so common, bethey for money orideology, and thepolice so rarely

informed that cases run to eight or more a dayacross all three territories.

The Green Gang (Ch’ing pang) is the largesttriad-gang in Shanghai. National, but really aloose association under a common flag,Shanghai’s dozen or so Green Gang leadersincluded two of history’s most famous:“Pockmarked” Huang Jinrong and his“subordinate” Du “Big Ears” Yuesheng. Fat and

scarred by smallpox, Huang led a double life ashead of the French police’s Chinese DetectiveBureau until he retired in early-1925 (having lostrespect after a beating and also because hiscriminal activities had become too obvious).Subsequently he held court at his tea-house, the“Cornucopia,” or at his well-defended FrenchConcession mansion. His old student DuYuesheng stepped into his shoes. The worstfates for those crossing the triads were eitherbeing “trunked”’ (which involveddismemberment of the body, with the parts leftin a travel trunk somewhere public) or havingevery tendon cut with a fruit-knife and beingdumped at the side of the road. (See page XXfor more information.)

The China Seas are hotbeds of pirateactivity, from individual sloops and junks toflotillas in the hundreds. This was the decade ofLai Choi San, the mysterious “dragon lady,” whoacted like a Chinese Robin Hood. While piracy oflarger ships was unusual, it was not unknown;on Jan 13th 1925, the S.S. Hong Wa was boardedby pirates disguised as passengers and staff.They hijacked the boat, stole nearly HK$54,000,and escaped to a waiting junk. Britain’s RoyalNavy is one of the few fleets actively policing thePacific, and capturing pirates was one of itsspecialities.

Extraterritoriality meant criminals fromfourteen “favoured nations” (USA, Belgium,Brazil, British Empire, Denmark, France, Italy,Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain,Sweden, and Switzerland) were tried under theirown legal system. Chinese citizens and“unrecognised foreigners” (anyone not a citizenof the fourteen “Settlement Powers”) were triedunder Chinese law in a Chinese court (in theInternational Settlement this was the MunicipalPolice-run Mixed Court, which had a goodreputation for justice and normally refused toextradite any, but the most despicable criminalsto the Chinese districts). The largest prison inthe world was the joint Settlement-ChineseWard Road Prison at 147 Howard Road (withsegregated “Chinese” and “foreign” wings). Bothpeople awaiting trial and convicted prisonerswere held there. Outside the Settlements“unrecognised citizens” and Chinese were liableto vanish within the warlords’ legal systems,especially if suspected of Bolshevism. “Cruel”

An opium den

A game of fan-tan

330 Shanghai

edit 331punishments like dismemberment had beenofficially abolished since 1905; this was usuallyadhered to by warlords.

The British in Shanghai were tried at H.B.M.Supreme Court and Americans were handled bythe United States Court for China (ShanghaiDivision). Other “favoured nations” were triedin their own consulates. Americans sentencedto prison usually spent their time in Manila oron mainland USA; Britons in Ward Road Prisonor Hong Kong; and the French in theirConcession jail or in Indochina. Other nationalswent to their nearest colony.

CURRENCYSpecific information on Shanghai’s complexcurrency can be found on page XX. Alongsideuse of foreign currencies, large companiessometimes paid workers with “chits.” Thesewere signed and the store-owner redeemedthem for physical money.

Most goods in Shanghai were cheap enoughfor the saying: “no man starves in Shanghai” tobe oft-repeated (ignoring the fact thousands ofChinese did each year). Yet the number offoreigners reduced to begging the MunicipalCouncil for third-class tickets back home toEurope seemed to say otherwise. The problemlay in that as even appearing poorer than aChinese was anathema to racial superiority,foreigners lived far beyond their means. Sailorsand tourists, with no worry about saving face,found Shanghai one of the cheapest cities onearth. Those insisting on high-class departmentstores paid prices between 25% and 250% higherthan in New York or London!

NPC NAMESNaturally Chinese names were most prominentin Shanghai, but Russian, Japanese, Anglo-American, French, and Indian names were alsocommon.

With so few surnames in common usage(85% of people shared the 100 most commonsurnames), westerners joked that Chinese usednicknames for variety: businessmen andChristians took western names (“Harry Chung”,“Lucy Yuen”), while soldiers, gamblers and

crooks had nicknames symbolic of their skills orcharacter (“‘Lucky’ Tsou,” “‘No Fingers’ Chang,”“Yu ‘Ox-Blood’”). Prostitutes – and unmarriedyoung women – can be called by the translationof their name (for example “Eastern Laughter,”“Icy Heart,” “Lotus Blossom”), and womenusually kept their surname on marriage. AKeeper can also mix the individual syllables offirst names from the list below to create furthernames (“Hen-pang,” “Yu-kai,” etc.).

Male First Name: Cheng-chie, Chia-tso, Chi-chian, Chou-pang, Chou-tsu, Chung, En-lai,Fa-shi, Fa-wang, Feng, Hai-wang, Hen-yueh, He-tsi, Hsien, Hsien-tsi, Hsi-lu, Hsin, Hsin-chia,Huan, Hui, Hui-ying, Jen, Jen-shan, Je-tsou, Jin-shui, Kai-chie, Kan-ker, Ku-fanji, Kui-tsue, Kui-yu,Kung-po, Kuo-leng, Lian-ta, Lu-shan, Men, Ming-ma, Pai-lu, Pang, Pang-jen, Pang-tuo, Pan-pijiu,Pao, Paoi-cheng, Pao-tsue, Pi, Shan, Sha-pi, Shi-kai, Sung-men, Tao-tsi, Ta-tsui, Tien-fa, Tsi-lu,Tsu-tuo, Tung, Wang, Wang-feng, Wu-fengfu,Wu-tao, Yao-leng, Yueh-chang, Yu-ying

Female First Name: Ah-chou, Ai-chang, Ai-ling,Ai-te, Chang-hsin, Cheng-kung, Chian-chih,Chian-pai, Chie, Chou, Chou-hsiao, Chou-kan,Feng, Fengfu, Hei-hsiao, Hsiao-pao, Hung-hsin,Hung-yu, Keng-ku, Ker-huar, Lian, Ling-ling, Lu-erji, Mei-lian, Mei-wan, Ming-tsue, Nan-jin,Pao-pao, Pao-yu, Peipian-hsin, Shan-lian, Shu,Shu-shan, Ta-hsiao, Tifang, Ti-nan, Tsao-lian,Tsui-feng, Wan-huar, Wu-pan, Yetsu-ku, Ying, Yu-fengfu

Family Name/Surname: An, Au, Cao, Cha,Chang, Chao, Chin, Chai, Chu, Chung, Eng, Fan,Feng, Fok, Fung, Han, Ho, Hsaio, Hsu, Hui, Hung,Jang, Jao, Jen, Jia, Jue, Jung, Kai, Kan, Kao, Kao,Kim, Ko, Kung, Kuo, Lao, Li, Lian, Ling, Lung, Ma,Mak, Mao, Ming, Moy, Nan, Nei, Nu, Pai, Pan, Pao,Pei, Peng, Shang, Shen, Shih, Shu, So, Sung, Szu,Ta, Tai, Tang, Tao, Ting, Tsai, Tsang, Tzu, Wang,Wei, Wen, Wu, Yang, Yao, Yi, Yuen, Yun

A MURDER OF CULTISTSShanghai is a dangerous city, and with all ofthose gangs, cults, and unaffiliated thugsrunning about, a Keeper might need some pre-generated NPCs to give investigators a heartyShanghai greeting…

STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX APP HP#01 09 13 10 17 13 13 08 12#02 13 10 12 13 13 07 11 11#03 12 14 16 12 08 06 11 15#04 10 05 11 08 14 14 16 08#05 13 10 10 15 11 12 06 10#06 11 17 11 13 09 15 14 14#07 13 10 10 14 10 18 12 10#08 15 09 10 07 12 11 17 10#09 11 10 13 15 10 07 11 12#10 07 11 09 13 05 13 09 10#11 12 09 08 11 12 12 08 09#12 16 13 12 09 17 10 13 13Weapons: Fist/Punch 50%, 1D3+db

Cult Sickle 50%, damage 1D4+3+db*Kick 50%, 1D4+dbGrapple 40%, damage specialDagger 45%, 1D4+dbHatchet/Cleaver 40%, 1D6+1+dbMauser C-96 45%, 1d10

Skills: Bargain 25%, Cthulhu Mythos 08%*,Dodge 12-36%, Drive 15%,Pidgin/English 12%, Fast Talk 25%,Hide 35%, Listen 50%, Locksmith 10%, Chinese Dialect orTwo 45%, Martial Arts 25%, Occult 25%, Shiphandling 30%,Sneak 40%, Swim 45%

*Cultists of the Order of the Bloated Woman only

BIBLIOGRAPHY/RESOURCESThere are thousands of books available oninterwar Shanghai, but for the Keeper on abudget the best two are Stella Dong’s “Shanghai:The Rise and Fall of a Decadent City” and HarrietSergeant’s “Shanghai” – both informative socialhistories of the city and its people. If the Keeperthinks that his players are going to spend a lot oftime traipsing the countryside, wrong-footingwarlords, or getting caught up in Shanghai’shistorical events, then Adam William’s superbfictional novel “The Emperor’s Bones,” is worthreading. It is the epic of two young women – aBritish survivor of the Russian Revolution, and aChinese communist – in China during itsturbulent warlord-era.

Of the many films about Shanghai (goingright back to 1941’s excellent The ShanghaiGesture), most are better for the look of the citythan any accuracy about it. The most visuallyuseful include; comedy/martial-arts caper KungFu Hustle (2004); Chow Yun-Fat drama ShanghaiGrand (1996) which has everything in thischapter plus a man-eating snake!; and AlexiTan’s triad-flick Blood Brothers (2007), whichhas hideously inaccurate weapons, but doesshow French Annamese police – even if they dodie within a minute of meeting them. Thoughset in 1947 and far pulpier than the averageMasks of Nyarlathotep campaign, The Mummy:Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008) features anexplosive car-chase through Shanghai on NewYear’s Day, jack-booted warlord cultists, andwhat could be a Himalayan entrance to theDreamlands. Finally, for a story without guns oroccult shenanigans, The Painted Veil (2006), adrama about an English doctor and his wifetreating cholera in the village outside Shanghaiin 1925, is worthy viewing.

332 Shanghai

edit 333SELECTED SHANGHAIBIBLIOGRAPHYAldrich, Richard J., “Britain’s Secret Intelligence

Service in Asia during the Second WorldWar” Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 32, No. 1(Feb., 1998), pp. 179-217

Anon., All About Shanghai and Environs: AStandard Guide Book (Shanghai: TheUniversity Press) 1934

Billingsley, Phil, Bandits in Republican China(Stanford University Press) 1988

Bickers, Robert, “Shanghailanders: TheFormation and Identity of the British SettlerCommunity in Shanghai, 1843-1937” Pastand Present, No. 159 (May, 1998), pp. 161-211

Bickers, Robert, Empire Made Me: AnEnglishman Adrift in Shanghai (Penguin)2004

Bittner, Donald F. “Britannia’s Sheathed Sword:The Royal Marines and Amphibious Warfarein the Interwar Years—A Passive Response”The Journal of Military History, Vol. 55, No. 3(Jul., 1991), pp. 345-364

Booker, Edna Lee., War is my Job: ACorrespondent in War-Torn China (TheMacMillan Co.) 1940

Bradbury, Tom “The Master of Rain” (CorgiBooks) 2003

Brady, Anne-Marie, Friend of China: The Myth ofRewi Alley (Routledge) 2003

Brian Peace & Robert Peace [2006]. Foreign andDomestic River Gunboats in China: RiverGunboats operating in China between 1897and 1945 [Online]. Available:http://www.hmsfalcon.com/foreign/foreign.htm [Accessed: 28/05/09]

Chan, Anthony B., Arming the Chinese: TheWestern Armaments Trade in WarlordChina, 1920-1928 (University of BritishColumbia Press.) 1982

Chinese Ministry of Information, ChinaHandbook 1937-1945 (Macmillan) 1946

Deacon, Richard, A History of the JapaneseSecret Service (Frederick Muller) 1982

Dong, Stella, Shanghai: The Rise and Fall of aDecadent City 1842-1949 (Harper Perennial)2001

Drea, Edward J., “Reading Each Other’s Mail:Japanese Communications Intelligence,1920-1941” The Journal of Military History,Vol. 55, No. 2 (Apr., 1991), pp. 185-206

Esselstrom, Erik, Crossing Empire’s Edge:Foreign Ministry Police and Japan’sExpansionism in North East Asia (Universityof Hawai’i Press) 2008

Fenby, Jonathon, Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shekand the China he lost (Free Press) 2003

Goodman, B. The Transnational (and Subnational)Worlds of Shanghai Newspaper Culture.Unpublished symposium presentation,University of Oregon, Oregon, United States.

Hamilton, John M. Edgar Snow – A Biography(Indiana University Press) 1988

Jackson, Steve et al, GURPS China (Steve JacksonGames) 1995

Jones, Chris, Blowing Up Hong Kong (AtlasGames) 2004

Ku, Hung-ting, “Urban Mass Movement: TheMay Thirtieth Movement in Shanghai”Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 13, No. 2 (1979),pp. 197-216

Lu, Hanchao, “Away from Nanking Road: SmallStores and Neighborhood Life in ModernShanghai,” The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol.54, No. 1 (Feb., 1995), pp. 93-123

Lu, Hanchao, Beyond the Neon Lights: EverydayShanghai in the Early Twentieth Century(University of California Press) 2004

MacGowan, Rev. J., A Collection of Phrases in theShanghai Dialect (The London MissionarySociety) 1862

Martin, Brian G, “The Green Gang and theGuomindang State: Du Yuesheng and thePolitics of Shanghai, 1927-37” The Journal ofAsian Studies, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Feb., 1995), pp.64-92

Martin, Brian G, The Shanghai Green Gang:Politics and Organised Crime, 1919-1937(University of California Press) 1996

Maurer Maurer, “A Delicate Mission: AerialReconnaissance of Japanese Islands beforeWorld War II” Military Affairs, Vol. 26, No. 2(Summer, 1962), pp. 66-75

Maurice Springfield, Hunting opium and otherScents (Norfolk and Suffolk Publicity) 1966

Millett, A.R. & Murray, W.R. Military Innovationin the Interwar Period (CambridgeUniversity Press) 1998

O’Connor, Raymond G. “The U.S. Marines in the20 Century: Amphibious Warfare andDoctrinal Debates” Military Affairs, Vol. 38,No. 3 (Oct., 1974), pp. 97-103

Otness, H.M. “The One Bright Spot in Shanghai’:A History of the Library of the North ChinaBranch of the Royal Asiatic Society” (DateUnknown) pp. 185-197

Peters, E.W., Shanghai Policeman (Rich &Cowan) 1937

Shanghai Local Records Office, (2004).上海市地方志 公室: “ShanghaiConcessions” Hub [Online]. Available:http://www.shtong.gov.cn/node2/node2245/node63852/index.html [Accessed: 28/05/09]

Speakman, Harold, Beyond Shanghai (TheAbingdon Press) 1922

Unknown, “Paris-Tokio Flight” Flight GlobalMagazine (May 22, 1924) p.289

Unknown, “Paris-Tokio Flight” Flight GlobalMagazine (May 29, 1924) p.347

Vortisch, Hans-Christian, GURPS High-Tech: PulpGuns, Volume 1 (Steve Jackson Games) 2008

Vortisch, Hans-Christian, GURPS High-Tech: PulpGuns, Volume 2 (Steve Jackson Games) 2008

Vortisch, Hans-Christian, GURPS Martial Arts:Fairbairn Close Combat Systems (SteveJackson Games) 2008

Wakeman Jr., Frederick, Policing Shanghai, 1927-1937 (Berkeley) 1995

Wakeman Jr., Frederick, The Shanghai Badlands:Wartime Terrorism and Urban Crime 1937-1941 (Cambridge University Press) 1996

Wakeman Jr., Frederick. “Policing ModernShanghai”, China Quarterly No.114, pp. 408-440

Waldron, Arthur, From War to Nationalism:China’s Turning Point, 1924-1925(Cambridge University Press) 2003

Xu, Guangqiu, “American—British AircraftCompetition in South China, 1926-1936”Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Feb.,2001), pp. 157-193

Yokomitsu, Riichi (trans. Washburn, D.C.),Shanghai: A Novel (University of MichiganPress) 2001

PREGENERATED CHARACTERSAlongside such NPCs as Li Wen-cheng and ChoiMei-ling who can be used as replacementinvestigators, two pre-generated characters forthis chapter have been provided as sources ofinformation or replacements if the body-countrises...

Moussa “Jean-Paul” Coulibaly – Franco-Sudanese soldier-of-fortune and veteran of theGreat War, “Jean-Paul” is an acquaintance ofFergus McChum, and when not working as abodyguard or muscle for hire, can be found atthe Stumbling Tiger bar. If the investigatorswant to employ somebody to protect them,McChum will point the Black African out (thecolor of his skin will make him stand out and theinvestigators are bound to have spotted himshortly after their entering the bar) andrecommend him as a good man with a gun. Theinvestigators can hire him for their protection,meaning that he can be used as an NPC in theevent that one of their numbers is incapacitatedand he becomes a replacement playercharacter. In addition, Jean-Paul has been in thecity a few more months than the investigatorsand in a pinch, can act as a guide.

Horst von Schroeter – German-born ex-U-Boatcommander and League of Nations diplomat,Shroeter has been posted to Shanghai tomonitor the trafficking of both narcotics andslaves through the city. This involves him askingquestions throughout the city, and while hemight not get the answers that he wants, he hasmade plenty of contacts. Both these and hisdiplomatic credentials might provide theinvestigators with a foot in the door an certainplaces, and if he learns that he and theinvestigators share an interest in Gray DragonIsland, he might ask to join them. Once theinvestigators secure transport, thegood Fregattenkapitän can help navigate his waythere.

Shanghai334

PLUG-IN SCENARIOSThese scenarios are either designed for Shanghaior may be twisted into something resembling aShanghai scenario with some effort from theKeeper. By replacing NPC names with thoseprovided from the selection of Chinese onesabove, it is surprising how many scenarios canbe relocated to the ‘Whore of the Orient’…

Title: Shanghai BulletsType: Sidetrek Adventure (Shanghai)Source:Stunning Eldritch Tales (designed for

Trail of Cthulhu rules)Notes: Even if the Keeper has no plans to run

Shanghai Bullets, the scenario’s openingscenes are worth reading as they provideatmosphere and flavor aplenty that willbe of great help when it comes to theKeeper presenting to his players theirinvestigators’ arrival in Shanghai byboat. A missing priest leads every low-life, spy, and clique in Shanghai to playhot-potato with a very lethal bit ofMythos apparatus – and theinvestigators are caught in the middle. Ifthe Keeper wants to use this scenario hehas his work cut out for him; designedfor Trail of Cthulhu’s more streamlinedrules system and set in 1937, a lot ofrewriting is needed to fit it into Masks ofNyarlathotep. Nonetheless, having HoFong and Lin Tang-yu racing around after“Big Ears” Du and the Black DragonSociety can liven up any campaign.Involving the party is not tootroublesome: if Fr. de Briac is introducedto the party early on – perhaps as aguide, or it simply becomes commonknowledge that exsanguinated corpseshave been turning up in the Concessions,the investigators can step into this ready-made scenario with ease.

Title: TatterdemalionType: Sidetrek Adventure (Shanghai)Source:Fatal Experiments (OOP)Notes: Originally set in New York,

Tatterdemalion’s fancy-dress partyturned ritual opening to Carcossa and

the King in Yellow is easily relocated tothe trendy Settlement suburbs west ofShanghai or in the French Concession(all those elitist snobs and wannabes fitin perfectly). Any investigator who hasingratiated himself into Shanghai’s high-society is guaranteed an invitation. AKeeper not wanting Hastur toovershadow Nyarlythotep’s mission orthink that the sanity loss quotient is a bitheavy can remove the side-trip toCarcosa and simply try to have theinvestigators stop the play here on Earth.

Title: Dead Man StompType: Sidetrek Adventure (Shanghai)Source:Call of Cthulhu Main RulesbookNotes: Shanghai’s colour-code has much in

common with 1920s middle-America,and by replacing the African-Americanswith Chinese (and making Leroy Turnera Eurasian; Li-Chou Tuner perhaps?) thisscenario peeks at Shanghai’s racistunderbelly. The Louis Armstrong linkcan be kept (and is even moreincongruous when the investigatorsrealise that Mr. Armstrong never went toShanghai in the 1920s) and if thezombies do get raised, the police willprobably put it down to a riot byparticularly unsavoury and pox-riddenbeggars…

Title: One In DarknessType: Sidetrek Adventure (Shanghai)Source:The Great Old Ones (OOP)Notes: Another scenario set elsewhere but

tailor-made for Shanghai. By replacingthe NPC names with Chinese, the huntfor a Boston gangster becomes the SMP’sblood-soaked revenge on a minorChinese crime-lord. The introduction tothe scenario through Miskatonicnewspaper connections is betterreplaced by checking up on theShanghai Courier or getting involveddirectly. Shanghai’s sewers beingnonexistent, the Keeper should considerputting the Demon’s hiding place in thesemi-flooded rookeries and shanty-

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towns of one of the three territories. If the Black Demon’s stats are too high make themmore befitting the player character’s abilities; certainly consider making it not an avatar ofNyarlathotep… it just doesn’t compare to those seen previously.

Shanghai336

NankingRoad, looking towards the Bund

337edit

CHAPTER OVERVIEWDespite being referenced a number of times inthe body of the campaign, almost no details aregiven about the British enclave of Hong Kong.These Keeper’s Notes provide the option toexpand the Hong Kong section of the campaignshould the investigators elect to visit theFragrant Harbor. Unless the investigators havespoken with Brady, it is a fact that they havevirtually no way of knowing that this is wherethe ex-marine has hidden Roger Carlyle.However, if the investigators do make it to HongKong, it would make a wholly unsatisfactoryconclusion to Roger’s sorry story if – as thecampaign suggests – they learn nothing fromCarlyle.

This section seeks to add some drama to anotherwise anticlimactic moment by providing anumber of clues for the investigators to discoverin Hong Kong, including further details aboutthe Dark Mistress and Elias’ activities in China,so that their visit is not entirely wasted. Ifnothing else, a stopover in Hong Kong is anexcellent opportunity for the investigators torest and perhaps lay low if they have stirred uptoo much trouble elsewhere.

GETTING STARTEDWhile Hong Kong is, at most, a sideline to themain campaign, several clues might lead theinvestigators to the streets of the Colonial freeport.

Brady spotted in Hong Kong in 1923Jack Brady, fleeing with the increasingly madRoger Carlyle arrived in Hong Kong inSeptember of 1919. Unable to continue anyfurther with his employer, Brady was forced tohide Roger in the Tung Wah Hospital under thealias of “Randolph Carter.”1 Since leaving him inHong Kong, presumably Brady has visited hisfriend and former employer and in 1923 hadCarlyle moved to the new Yeung Wo NursingHome, a purpose built Sanitarium. It wasduring one of these trips that Bradyencountered “Nails” Nelson in the Yellow LilyBar, on Wan Shing Street, near Causeway bay.

Elias wired Jonah Kensington for money fromHong Kong, September 1924Jackson Elias, having learned of this encounterfrom Nelson while in Kenya, arrived in HongKong on the 17th September, 1924. After a futilefew days, Elias telegraphed Jonah Kensington forfurther funds so that he could continue hissearch elsewhere. When he received the advancefrom Kensington, Elias followed the trail ontoShanghai where he finally caught up with theelusive Jack Brady.

Keeper’s Notes – Hong Kong

Hal Eccles with Jean-Philipe Chapleau

1. It is left up to the Keeper to decide if Brady selected this name at random (perhaps to match Roger Carlyle’s initials) or if he hadpreviously made the acquaintance of the Arkham area explorer of the outré.

KEEPER’S TIPSHong Kong is, at best, a sideshow to the maincampaign. While any investigators who desire tosee poor Roger Carlyle themselves will have thesatisfaction of finding him here, for the mostpart there is nothing critical that needs to bedone or learned in Hong Kong in order for theinvestigators to stop the terrible plotting ofCarlyle’s former companions. The Keepershould not force his investigators to visit thecity. Instead he should leave it as an interesting,but wholly optional, addition to the campaign.

Elias in Hong KongJackson Elias’ hunt for Brady in Hong Kong leadhim to briskly explore Hong Kong Island andKowloon, making the Peak Hotel his base duringhis time in the colony. Jonah Kensington wiredhim money at this hotel and can relay thisinformation to investigators. It is possible thatstaff at this past-its-prime hotel might recognizea photograph of Elias or otherwise rememberhim. He was noticeably anxious and complaintswere made by other residents of the hotel aboutElias’ shabby appearance and his nightly pacingof the hotel corridors disrupting their sleep.Small bribes combined with a successful FastTalk or Persuade roll will convince a member of

the staff to let the investigators look at the roomwhere Elias stayed. Like the rest of the hotel, theroom is careworn and reflects the genteeldecline of the establishment. A search revealsnothing; the room has been rented and cleanedmany times since Elias was there. If the Keeperwishes, the hotel manager will stop anydeparting investigators and hand them twoitems that belong to Elias and which could notbe passed on since the author failed to leave aforwarding address. The first item is a letter forElias that arrived a few days after his departure,while the second is a scrap of paper that he lefton his desk – Elias never checked out – after hedeparted and was kept in case of his return.Either or both of these leads may be omitted atthe Keeper’s discretion; they are intended toprovide aid to lost investigators or additionalleads to those who have come straight awayfrom New York.

The Yellow Lily BarLike Jackson Elias, many investigators will begintheir exploration of Hong Kong here.Unfortunately the staff of this seedy docksidebar sees an enormous amount of passing tradethanks to the crews from the various shipsmoored around Hong Kong Island.Consequently they will be of little help in

Shanghai338The Cult of the Bloated Woman in Hong KongThe Order of the Bloated Woman only maintains a small presence in Hong Kong; the British authorities monitor the city tooclosely for the Cult to operate freely here. Apart from minor illicit activities, such as burglary, street crime, and the sale of potionsand narcotics, the Cult has, to date, managed to conceal its true nature and purpose from the local police. The British would bemost displeased to learn that this vile group is operating in the city. The primary focus of the Order’s local membership is themanipulation of Hong Kong’s disgruntled populace, sowing dissent, and subtly instigating attacks on the colonial authorities; thelocal branch has more in common with the pro-Boxer faction of a generation past than Ho Fong’s vision for the Order (see pageXX). For an example of Cult spawned violence, see the scene “A Riot on Yen Chow Street” on page XX.

The Order has also managed to blackmail a small number of Hong Kong’s colonial officials and British nationals, includingseveral members of the police force and the Scientific Officer at the Royal Observatory (see page XX for his sad story). Thesepawns are generally used to facilitate smuggling performed by the Order and to conceal the existence of the Order fromauthorities.

Unless the investigators have previously stirred up trouble with the Order of the Bloated Woman or are known to be enroute to Hong Kong, the local branch of the Order will not be watching for them. If they become aware that enemies of Ho Fonghave entered their territory, the local leadership will view this as an opportunity to gain their leader’s good graces and willtirelessly devote its resources to inflicting harm upon the investigators. These resources are limited though, and if the leadershipof the local Order thinks that there is a good chance that it can kill or capture the investigators, Jack Brady, the Seven CrypticalBooks of Hsan, etc., the leadership might request that extra muscle be brought in from Shanghai to support its efforts.

tracking either Elias’s or Brady’s movements inHong Kong. Even with a successful Luck roll andthe purchase of a few drinks, the most that canbe learned here is that both men have been seen

here, Brady not for some time, Elias morerecently.

Letter to Jackson Elias from Charles Godfrey 339edit

Roger Carlyle, at lastAs previously noted, the campaign deals withthe possibility of Carlyle’s discovery only in thebriefest manner. If the Keeper wants to expandupon this encounter – particularly if EricaCarlyle or Bradley Grey have been serving as theinvestigators’ patron – the following sectionelaborates on such a meeting.

For the most part Roger shuffles around thegrounds of the Yeung Wo Nursing Home in anamiable medicated stupor. When theinvestigators arrive on any given day Roger’smental state will in one of three conditions:passive, aggressive, or lucid. The investigatorscan find out any of the information below fromCarlyle’s doctors providing that they can supplya credible reason for wanting to know; Fast Talkor Persuade rolls as appropriate – investigatorswith a medical background will probably be at asignificant advantage. Brady has been carefulabout what information he has passed onto thedoctors and he has ensured through substantialpayments that Carlyle’s records – as RandolphCarter – are kept firmly under lock and key. Fortheir part, those members of the staff that speakEnglish collectively assume that Mr. Carter’sclaims to be the product of a deranged mind.Despite Brady’s precautions, the investigatorsshould be able to gain limited access to Rogerwith a successful Persuade roll and a reasonablejustification; if they upset the patient or create ascene these privileges will be immediatelyrevoked.

Most days Roger Carlyle is in a passive state,heavily medicated and wandering the hospitalgrounds, corridors, and dayrooms underconstant supervision by orderlies. Anyone thatknew him before he left New York in 1919, willsuffer a Sanity loss of 1/1d2 points upon seeinghis current state. On a bad day, the medical staffwill have constrained him in a straitjacket, thisin addition to his usual medication. While he isquite clean because of regular baths, Carlyle’shair is wild and unkempt though kept trimmedto a reasonable length, and because he is onlyshaved on a weekly basis, he will probably havea few days worth of stubble. He is alwaysdressed in hospital issued clothing.

Whenever someone attempts to pass Carlylein the corridor he will bar the way and demandthe password from them; after a moment he willhiss a password (“Hotep” or “Anastasia” areoptions) if one is not given in response. His eyesconstantly shift to the corners of the rooms orgarden seeking something that is not there. Hewill have flecks of spittle around his mouth andoccasionally his mouth will sag and drool,depending on how severely he has beenmedicated this day.

Shanghai340The Hong Kong Notes of Jackson EliasThe second handout is a scrap of paper that Elias left on his desk – henever checked out – after he departed and was kept in case of his return.

Either or both of these leads may be omitted at the Keeper’s discretion;they are intended to provide aid to lost investigators or additional leadsto those who have come straight away from New York.

Even his passive moments are punctuated byaggressive and shocking outbursts, rangingfrom hysterical laughter to violent cursing andsobbing. These episodes are triggered byseemingly innocuous things; there is no patternto these or any sense that can be made of them.Roger will openly recoil from people of NorthAfrican or Arabic descent or any Egyptiansymbols or hieroglyphics. He is also terrified ofthe dark, especially the night sky. If Roger iscornered he might attempt to physically attacksources of discomfort. Any form of physicalcontact with other people will distress himseverely and even brushing past Carlyle mighttrigger an outburst. If he does react in thismanner, orderlies will be quickly on hand tocontrol and restrain Carlyle with a straitjacketand additional medication, ending anyinterview.

The occasions when Carlyle is lucid enoughto notice things going on around him and evenpossibly answer questions are rare. It is left upto the Keeper to determine when and for howlong such an occasion lasts. Some optionsinclude a Luck roll by the investigator with thelowest POW, a successful Psychology roll, a setnumber of visits, clever role-playing, orreferencing certain information – Erica Carlyle’sname, for example. Even while lucid, Carlyle’smind is very fragile and unless the investigatorshandle him gently he is liable to lapse back intohis passive state, or if stressed he may evenbecome aggressive. He will often mention hisreal name, his background and family, and willrepeatedly ask why he is being held.Occasionally he will talk of his time in Egypt, butwill mingle his mundane modern visit with hisparanormal voyage to the Dynastic era. He willask after Anastasia (as he knew M’Weru), Brady,and his other companions and seems genuinelyunaware of what has happened in the yearssince he left New York. Very rarely will hediscuss his dreams – never of anything otherthan Nyarlathotep – but these will rapidlyinspire an aggressive outburst.

Through gentle interviews with Roger theinvestigators are able to tease out some loosefacts from Carlyle (see below for suggestions).Use Roger to confirm what the investigatorsalready know rather than to reveal the secrets ofthe campaign; Brady serves that role better. If

any investigator is suffering from nightmaresinspired by Nyarlathotep, Roger might confidein a conspiratorial whisper his own nightmaresto someone he recognizes as a kindred sufferer;a small Sanity cost may be imposed on thosewho see this broken man as their future.

If the investigators manage to break in tothe Nursing Home and steal Roger Carlyle’srecords they may be able to learn some of thesefacts. Additionally, his records show details ofsubstantial cash payments made to the hospitalby an unnamed patron (Brady) for the care of“Mr. Carter.”

However much information theinvestigators are able to wrest from him, itshould be made clear to them that for Rogerthere is no recovery and he will be spending therest of his days in a sanitarium, either here or inNew York if the investigators let Erica Carlyleknow the whereabouts of her brother. It may bethe case that once Brady learns that theinvestigators have found Roger, he will movehim again for his safety. There is also the slight

341edit

The Testimony of Roger CarlyleIn his lucid moments, Carlyle can be conversed with… Consider theseas a model for possible comments of your own creation.

Egypt yes, how could I forget? It is burned into my very soul and haunts mydreams, it is too much for one man to bear… I removed the eye, what wasI thinking? It was too much, too much for any man…

- - - - -

We were there; I am sure no matter what these doctors here say! We werein the Egypt of the pharaohs. Patty, Penhew, Robert, all of us – we walkedamongst the ancients. They were building the pyramids for God’s sake…thepyramids. He showed us so much, seduced us with promises and power…I see his burning eye…

- - - - -

Now he talks to me, my Master. He is still my Master. He whispers inthrough my dreams, that man of Blackness. He is not done with me just yet,I think I am still his chosen and I don’t have a choice in the matter. I see nowwhat we have done. Oh god, the door. We have unlocked the door. Heapproaches!

chance that in finding Carlyle, his location willbe revealed to the various Cults that seek tocomplete their plans. If the investigators informErica Carlyle or manage to spirit Roger awayfrom the Sanitarium and back to her in NewYork, they will have gained her eternal gratitude(as well as a substantial reward; survivors mightsee a Credit Rating increase of 1d5+5 at the veryleast). If they return him to his sister withoutBrady’s consent this may greatly upset someonewho would otherwise have a potential ally.

Scene: A Riot on Yen Chow StreetThis short encounter can be added to HongKong to provide a contrast with theinvestigator’s slow and potentially fruitlesssearch of the city. While the investigators arecrossing Kowloon, they find the road blocked bya large group of rowdy men. The group seems tocomprise of low paid Chinese workers of allages. Standing on an overturned crate in thecentre of the crowd, a young man is agitatingthe crowd into frenzy. Any investigators who canSpeak Cantonese (alternately ! skill in anotherChinese dialect) will hear the man ranting aboutthe poor working conditions, low wages, andlack of respect that the British tyrants show thepeople of Hong Kong. If the investigators decideto hang around they find that the mob is quicklygalvanized into action by the man on the crateas he lights and then throws a cheap kerosenelantern against the wall of a nearby Britishowned warehouse. He then jumps down fromthe crate and begins to lead the mob to thepolice station on Yen Chow Street.

The riot has been orchestrated by the Orderof the Bloated Woman in order to retrieveevidence against a member and an idol of thegoddess. The young militant is Hui Ai-Lan, a 24year old, low ranking cultist who has beentasked with retrieving the idol because of hisintelligence and good public speaking skills. Hewill direct the mob to storm the police station,a small building that at most only containsaround 15 officers. Hui uses the riot as adiversion (knowing it will take at least fifteenminutes for reinforcements to arrive) to allowhim to slip into the station and retrieve theevidence. The mob is angry enough to commitmurder, especially with Hui inciting them, but

as long as the officers are distracted then theconsequences of the riot matters little to him, itis simply a tool to be used.

The mob catches the officers in the stationby surprise and unless the investigatorsintervene at least two Chinese police officers willbe killed before the mob can be beaten back. Inthe confusion Hui Ai-Lan will burn the evidence(the nature of which is left to the Keeper), thenmake good his escape through the back streetsand alleys of Kowloon having gained possessionof the idol.

The Keeper can also use Hui to organizeadditional riots to frustrate the investigators oreven attempt to do them harm. If captured, thislow-level member of the Order will provide littleinformation beyond his name and his passion todie in the service of the Bloated Woman, whomhe repeatedly and graphically exclaims hisdevotions to.

“That Dratted Department!” If the investigators decide to follow up on theletter left for Elias at the Peak Hotel by CharlesGodfrey (Esq.) (see page XX) they will findthemselves at the door of Department ofAntiquities and Classics of the University ofHong Kong. Godfrey is the head of theDepartment through family influence andwealth rather than academic prowess and theKeeper should take this opportunity to have abit of fun with this venerable and dodderingacademic. It is unlikely that the investigatorswill be prepared to devote the amount of timenecessary to learn anything useful from thedepartment, but a generous Keeper mightdecide that its modest collection of Chineseoccult tomes (no Mythos content) might servepersistent investigators some purpose. Moreimportantly however, and despite the blusteringfaçade, Godfrey has stumbled onto some of thehistory of the Order of the Bloated Woman.

The Department is on the first floor of thewell-appointed main building of the Universityof Hong Kong. With the Colonial influenceevident in the style of its wood paneled halls andEuropean fixtures and fittings, the Universitydoes not feel like a place of hallowed learning inthe same way that Oxford, Harvard or evenMiskatonic do. As a newly established center of

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learning, many its faculty members are not on apar with their peers in Europe or America;finding academics willing to relocate to HongKong has produced a body of sometimes second-rate scholars.

Charles Godfrey is one such academicmediocrity, but nevertheless he is the head ofthe his Department. The investigators will needto make an appointment with one of his juniorsor with the over-worked departmental secretaryto see Godfrey and when they do finally meethim, it likely that their initial reaction will bedisappointment. Godfrey is approaching 80years old, painfully thin, and very frail. Having aconversation with the man is very hard going;he clearly likes the sound of his own voice andoften talks over people showing off hisknowledge of ancient Chinese history. Hepersonifies the most negative stereotypes of theself-satisfied academic and is a frightful bore.

If the investigators can put up with the fauxairs and graces that the Squire Godfrey affects

then there is a chance that they can turn theconversation to the Order of the BloatedWoman with enough flattery. No Persuade orFast Talk rolls are necessary, just an exorbitantamount of patience. It is up to the Keeper todecide just how much that Godfrey knows aboutthe Order; he is utterly convinced that it hasbeen extinct since the 18th century however.Base his knowledge on the history of the cult, asgiven on page XX. He will readily be able toidentify the Order’s distinctive tattoo and ritualtools. He will also, thought at great length, beable to describe the important texts of theOrder, though he will misidentify their titles andhas never seen a copy of any of these tomes. LikeCarlyle earlier, use Dr. Godfrey to confirm whatthe investigators already know or to fill in smallgaps in their knowledge, rather than to lay outthe secrets of this section of the campaign.

If presented with definitive proof that theOrder has survived into modern times or if he isasked to translate any Mythos tomes, the

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Sampans in Hong Kong harbour

likelihood is that this puffed-up academic willeither suffer a significant loss of Sanity ordismiss this information as a hoax. Consideringhis failing health, only the most callous (ordesperate) of investigators will attempt to makeextensive use of this aged academic. As ever, itis up to the Keeper’s judgment to determinewhether or not Godfrey should prove to be ofassistance to the investigators, or perishimmediately of a heart attack.

The Dark Mistress in Hong KongIf the investigators make enquiries around thedocks of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, it willquickly become apparent that the Dark Mistresshas been active in and around Victoria Bay forsome time. The ship primarily ties up at thedilapidated Northern wharves of the bay atKowloon. The harbormaster office has the shipon file as a British registered ninety-foot yacht.The Dark Mistress makes semi-regular visits tothe port to collect items for Penhew, usually sentby Huston but sometimes coming from foreignparts suppliers. It is not difficult forinvestigators to track down dockhands or otherwaterfront workers who can identify the shipand its usual return destination of Shanghai.Boarding the ship will be another matter. AsPenhew is a British subject, he is unlikely to beaboard the vessel, let alone be seen on the topdeck.

Alternately Ho Fong’s ship the LuxuriantGoddess may make a rare visit to Hong Kong,most likely transporting some important cargo,be it an artifact or a leader of the Order. It willsoon return to Shanghai, most likely loaded withvaluable illegal goods or bound and druggedslaves; unfortunate investigators might end upas part of that cargo.

QUICK REFERENCEHong Kong – General informationHong Kong is a Chinese city with anunmistakable British imprint. As mix of bothcultures there are elements present that leavethe European and Chinese visitor alike feelingsomewhat out of place. There are manysimilarities between Shanghai and Hong Kong,but with a bit of preparation upon the part ofthe Keeper, the differences between the two canbe highlighted in a way that will lead to manymemorable gaming sessions.

The greatest factor contributing to HongKong’s cultural divide from the rest of China isthe strong link that the city historically had withthe West, in particular with the British Empire.Western influence began in China in the late15th and early 16th centuries, with merchantsusing Hong Kong’s natural harbors to establishtrade routes into the East. The British andPortuguese (based in Macau) investedsignificant resources in the region and althoughImperial China enacted laws restricting theiractivity, these laws neglected to control theopium trade. Throughout the 17th and 18thcenturies British traders smuggled opium intomainland China via Hong Kong. This proved tobe an extremely profitable venture, but duringthe mid-19th century would be cause of two warsafter trade embargos were placed on Britishgoods. Defeated in both wars, China cededHong Kong to Queen Victoria and recognizedGreat Britain as a “favored trading partner.”

With British involvement and investment,Hong Kong prospered and many British citizensmoved to colonize the new territory. Thegovernor in 1925 (until November 1st at least) isSir Reginald Stubbs. During his tenure workers’strikes and other unrest is common. InNovember of 1925, Sir Reginald’s successor, SirCecil Clementi, takes over as governor, but thesituation does not significantly improve.

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Hong Kong – Districts• Hong Kong Island: The southern island of

Hong Kong is heavily populated on itsnorthern shores. The main deep water bayin Hong Kong, Victoria Bay lies to the northof Hong Kong Island. The north of theisland forms the core urban area of HongKong along with Kowloon and has severalfamous sights such as “The Peak” and OceanPark. The island is often referred to locallyas “Hong Kong side” or “Island side.”

• Kowloon: Kowloon is located north of HongKong Island and south of the mainland partof the New Territories. Like Hong KongIsland it is fairly urbanized, especially in thesouth overlooking Victoria Harbor. Kai TakAirport is located in Kowloon, but in the mid1920s amounts to little more than a grassstrip used by the RAF and various flyingclubs. In the south of the districtsurrounded by the King’s Park is the RoyalObservatory, Hong Kong.

• Kowloon Walled City: Not included in theterritory ceded to the British, the walled citywas a tiny Chinese enclave that was locatedin the middle of British Hong Kong fordecades. More a tourist attraction than anactual city, it will be finally demolished in1993, though its wall is razed by the Japaneseduring the Second World War.

• New Territories: The New Territoriescomprise of rural areas in the north of HongKong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula.They were leased by the British in 1898 andcomprise much of the territory nowconsidered part of Hong Kong.

Getting there: Since the rail lines connecting the interior ofChina to Hong Kong were only completed in1933, the investigators are left with only have tooptions if they want to travel to Hong Kong. Thefirst is by ship, a hop of 650 nautical miles(around two day’s journey) from Shanghai,arriving in Victoria Bay. By far, this is the mostcommon means of reaching the city.

Travel by air and landing at the grass airstripin Kowloon operated by Great Britain’s Royal AirForce is the second option for getting to HongKong. No large-scale airline – such as they arein 1925 – services the city, but a number of small-time operators are willing to bring in theinvestigators from “popular” destinations likeIndia, Burma, Shanghai or Singapore… for aprice, of course. If the investigators decide thatit will easier to reach the city by going overland,the Keeper should remind his players that theyonly have a few months to save the world and,

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Hong Kong harbour

unless they want to spend that time fightingbandits, warlords, and muddy roads, they shouldconsider other options.

Geography and climateWhile a map of Hong Kong is by no meansnecessary, it will be worthwhile for the Keeperto familiarize himself with the general layout ofthe various districts and islands that make upthe Port. The official population in 1925 is about750,000, but this does not tell the whole story asthere is also a large visiting population made upof Chinese workers coming into the city fromthe New Territories supplemented by theinternational crews of the vast fleet of shipsvisiting the port to trade. The streets of HongKong, especially in Kowloon and the docklandareas around Victoria bay, bustle with activity byday and night as street traders hawk theirvarious wares. Meanwhile bars and less savoryestablishments attract sailors and merchantslooking to relax after long stints at sea. Despitethe majority Chinese population and locale,there is a certain British feel to Hong Kong,particularly in the grand Victorian architectureof the government buildings on Hong KongIsland.

The climate of Hong Kong and its locationon the coast is another factor that a Keeper canuse to mark the differences between the city andother major locations in the campaign. There isa stark contrast between the pleasant breezesand comfortable sunshine between Decemberand March – considered the best months inHong Kong – and the heat and the humiditybetween May and November, whentemperatures regularly exceed 90º F and theregion is subject to frequent tropical storms andtyphoon strength winds. These tropical stormsare one way in which a Keeper can highlight thedifferences between Hong Kong and the stillhumid but more placid Shanghai. Heavy rainfallwill last for days in between the tropical cyclonesand any subsequent landslides or flooding willcause considerably more damage than thewinds.

Getting aroundDuring this period, there are no taxi cabsavailable in Hong Kong, limiting the options fortravelling around the city. The most obvious onefor small groups of investigators is to travel byrickshaw, hand drawn carts that can carry oneor two passengers. Very popular in 1920s HongKong, their numbers peaked at over 3000 in thisperiod. Obviously this method of transport willnot be practical for larger groups ofinvestigators, but it is a method that has acertain charm and lends atmosphere to thelocation. Plus for investigators wishing to curbtheir expenses, it is an excellent form of budgettravel. Rickshaws may be hired by trip, but areoften hired out on a day to day basis.

A similar method of transport for just theone person is the sedan chair or jiao. Carried bytwo men, in 1920, there were 1,215 registeredsedan chairs on the streets of Hong Kong. Likerickshaws, sedan chairs can be found at allhotels, wharves, and major crossroads. Pricesare posted on the side of the chairs, but even thelongest of journeys will rarely cost more than ahandful of cents. That these vehicles might beoperated by the triads, or worse, by a cult suchas the Order of the Bloated Woman, could givethe more imaginative – or the more paranoid –investigator pause for thought.

Apart from rickshaws and sedan chairs,buses and bicycles are an obvious means ofgetting around Hong Kong, and are availablepretty much everywhere. Trams have beenrunning in the city since 1903, the system beingcurrently operated by Hong Kong TramwayLimited (HKT), which provides a reliable andfairly cheap service. Another option forinvestigators headed to the top of Victoria Peak(and the Peak Hotel) is to use its funicularrailway, which provides a great view of the city.The Kowloon-Canton Railway (KCR) operates arail service into China, but this does do notextend much farther north than the city ofCanton (Guangzhou), less than 100 miles away.

Local government and law enforcementBy the time the investigators arrive, the HongKong of the mid-1920s has consigned its “WildWest” image firmly to the past. The Victorian

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morals that its nineteenth century Britishmasters imposed led to a strict anduncompromising authority that took a dim viewon the lawlessness of the original colony. By the1920s, British policing methods are employedthroughout Hong Kong and any investigatorwho constantly strays into criminality will findhimself dealt with in a similar fashion tolawbreakers back in Great Britain. Despite itsoutward stability, the 1920s and the 1930s sawHong Kong’s general peace punctuated by boutsof civil unrest. Labor disputes are the maincause of friction between workers and thegovernment. The Order of the Bloated Woman,as previously noted, has been striving to stir upfurther trouble in the British colony. Forseafarers, piracy along the coast is a majorproblem during this period and will remain sountil the 1960s.

HotelsFor the investigator who wants to stay longerthan a day in Hong Kong, there are a number ofdifferent options available. These range from theopulent luxury in the style of Europe’s five starhotels to rooms above bars or the YMCA:• Hong Kong Hotel (Waterfront, Victoria Bay,

Hong Kong Island) Modeled after thesumptuous hotels of London, the HongKong Hotel occupies an entire block, withentrances on Pedder Street, Queen’s Road,and Praya Central. Like the London hotels itemulates, the Hong Kong Hotel is luxurious

and offers the finest amenities that moneycan buy.

• Peninsula Hotel (Salisbury Road, Kowloon)The Five Star Peninsula Hong Kong Hotelwas and still is the heart of Kowloon, in TsimSha Tsui overlooking Victoria Harbor andjust off Nathan Road, one of Hong Kong’sbusiest shopping streets.

• Peak Hotel (Victoria Gap, Hong Kong Island)Owned by the Hong Kong Hotel, the PeakHotel has four stories and a three-storyannex, though its poor construction saw itgradually deteriorating through the 1920s.The hotel commands a magnificent view ofthe city and the harbor in one direction, andof Pok Fu Lam facing Lamma Island in theother.

• Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong (BridgesStreet, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong Island) Anoption for the investigators if they are on abudget, this hostel was established in 1913.Five years later, in 1918, the first YMCACentre was built on Bridges Street, oppositethe hostel. The building contains agymnasium, an indoor swimming pool, anda restaurant for hostel guests.

Libraries and MuseumsThere are no public libraries or museums withinthe city but certainly several large privatelibraries exist. Founded in 1911, the University ofHong Kong will probably be the easiest for theinvestigators to gain access to. The universitybuildings during the 1920s are comprised of twocourtyards in the post-renaissance style builtwith red brick and granite. The main building,embellished by four turrets with a central clocktower, is a point of pride to students and staff.Of most use to the investigators the Antiquitiesand Classics Department is on the first floor ofthe main building and has a small library ofoccult tomes, mainly concerned with Chineseantiquity and mythology. More informationabout the staff of the department can be foundon page XX.

Also of note is the Royal Observatory HongKong in King’s Park, Kowloon. Standing on abanyan-covered hill above Tsim Sha Tsui district,this white stone building is a handsome two-

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The Peak Hotel

story structure with arched windows and longverandas. Its main function is to monitor theweather patterns in and around Hong Kong. Acasual visitor will find the staff, a mix ofEuropean scholars with a bias towards theBritish, pleasant and helpful. They operate at aleisurely pace and are always available to chat,especially to an investigator with a scientificbackground, though most are overly excitedabout the recent results of a study of the localfog patterns. The Observatory has a smalllibrary, but this is primarily devoted to academicworks on meteorology and astronomy.

Although the Observatory appears innocentenough; the residing Scientific Officer is in thrallof the Order of the Bloated Woman. A seniormember of staff, Reginald Herring has been theScientific Officer for three years after beingforced out of Greenwich due to rumors of ahomosexual affair. This scandal was neatlyswept under the carpet due to the influence ofhis family, but only on the condition that he leftLondon and agreed to take the Hong Kongposition. Herring’s sexual orientation drew himinto a relationship with a prostitute under thecontrol of the Order and he was promptlyblackmailed. While not a believer in theteachings of the Order, in the years that he hasbeen under the Order’s influence, Herring hasseen some horrific things and he has taken upopium smoking to ease his mind. Herring isdependent on the Order to supply more opium,keep his secrets, and to keep safe his lover Jin-shui Nu.

For several years Herring has been chartingthe movements of the heavens and sending theinformation relating to eclipses and otherstrange astronomical phenomena onto hissuperiors in Shanghai. It is likely that he willimmediately pass on the fact that theinvestigators are snooping around should theyask about anything obviously related to theMythos or the activities of the Order.

Herring may come to the attention ofinvestigators in several ways. He may be forcedto spy on them by the Order as his ethnicity andclass permit him entry into any establishmenton the island. Sadly he is a poor spy and willmost likely be noticed in short order.Alternately, his astronomical reports to Ho Fong

might be uncovered either on the LuxuriantGoddess or Ho’s mansion in Shanghai. Finally, ifinvestigators tamper with Penhew’schronometer on Gray Dragon Island and timepermits, it is possible thatit will be sent to Herring toguarantee that it has beenproperly reset.

Herring will reveal all heknows about the Order inHong Kong under twoconditions: the investigatorscan guarantee his safety aswell as the safety of Jin-shuiand that they will not revealhis sexuality or hisaddiction. Getting bothmen our Hong Kong may bean adventure of its own andthere is no guarantee thatHerring’s lover will notbetray him to the Order oris not actually a memberhimself.

Reginald Herring- Blackmailed astronomerSTR 13* INT 16 CON 11* DEX 11 APP 12SIZ 10 POW 13 EDU 22 SAN 39** HP 12Attacks: Fist 50%, 1d3Skills: Astronomy 67%, (Cantonese)

Chinese 34%, Credit Rating 61%,Cthulhu Mythos 2%, Dodge 22%,Electrical Repair 33%, English 99%,Fast Talk 22%, Hide 31%, Listen 45%,Mechanical Repair 47%, Persuade 35%, Physics 51%,Sneak 13%, Spot Hidden 25%

* His opium habit has left him weakened.** If he suffers any loss of Sanity, Herring will seek to smoke opiumat the earliest possible opportunity.

Hospitals & AsylumsAs is to be expected of a modern and welldeveloped British colony the health careavailable in Hong Kong is of good quality. Keymedical facilities include:

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• Tung Wah Hospital is the main hospital inHong Kong and is located on Sheung Wan inthe North of Hong Kong Island. Establishedin the 1870s, it was the first hospital inColonial Hong Kong to serve the generalpublic.

• Yeung Wo Nursing Home is a privatehospital established in 1922 in Happy Valleywhich is a mostly residential suburb of HongKong, located in the north of Hong KongIsland. From 1926 it is reorganized underthe new name of the “Hong KongSanatorium and Hospital.” (In 1926, alandslide forces the closure of the hospitalfor six months, an incident that a Keeper canconnect with Carlyle’s stay at this facility.)

• Tsan Yuk Hospital is a specialist maternityhospital that was set up in 1922 by theLondon Missionary Society. Hopefully theinvestigators will have no need of itsservices.

News & Mass MediaAll of the major British newspapers have officesin Hong Kong, each with to worldwidenewswires that can provide the most up to datenews. Locally, Wah Kiu Yat Pao is a leadingChinese newspaper created and printed withinHong Kong that takes many of its leading storiesfrom the main newswires but also reports localevents in more detail.

FirearmsGone are the days of firearms restrictions beingvirtually non-existent in Hong Kong.Investigators will find Customs officials asefficient in the colony as they are in Britain andthe laws governing firearms are almost identicalto those presented in the Keeper’s Notes forLondon.

CurrencyDuring the 1920s there is no unified currency inHong Kong and foreign currencies circulatealongside various local currencies, the majorityof which were sub-standard. As a replacementfor the local dollar coins, silver trade dollarsfrom the USA, Japan, and Britain were used until1937. Investigators should have no particulardifficulties in using either US or British currencywithin Hong Kong or with having othercurrencies exchanged into either nation’smoney.

NPC namesRegional differences aside, the NPC names in theShanghai Keeper’s notes may be considered tobe interchangeable with the Chinese populationof Hong Kong. Similarly the London Keeper’snotes will provide details of British names forgovernment officials and other colonials. Seepages XX and XX respectively.

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Vicoria Peak

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SHANGHAI MUNICIPAL POLICE

The Shanghai Municipal Police (SMP) was thelaw enforcement agency responsible for policingthe mainly British-run International Settlement.Founded in 1854, it enforced the law in that partof the city until 1943. Throughout that time, itsstrength rose to a peak of almost 6,000 activeofficers during the 1930s, many of themWesterners with either a bent for adventure orproblems at home – Americans, Irishmen,Central European Jews, and “White” Russianswere prominent among the expatriates in thecity. The SMP was headquartered at the CentralPolice Station at 239 Hankow Road, butmaintained smaller posts throughout theInternational Settlement and also dispatchedpatrols on foot and on motorcycle.

In no way was the SMP’s compositionrepresentative of the Settlement’s citizens, butit was a very international force; among its rankswere Chinese, Englishmen, Irishmen, Japanese,Russians, Scotsmen, Sikhs, and a sprinkling ofAmericans, Australians, Austrians, Germans,Swedes, and others. However, the majority ofthe upper ranks were British, and most of thefoot constables were Chinese.

In an interesting twist, there was no single“law” for the SMP to uphold; treatyagreements between China and the 14“favored nations” assured a judicialsystem known as “extra-territoriality.” That is, an accused

citizen of a favored nation (Belgium, Brazil,Great Britain, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, theNetherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden,Switzerland, and the U.S.) had to be broughtbefore a consular judge of his ownnation. Chinese as well as allforeigners without extra-territorial rights (Russians,Germans, etc.) were broughtbefore a Chinese court.

Due to the uniquecomposition and locale ofShanghai, the city wasthriving with criminals ofall sorts anddescriptions (also seeThe Green Gang, seebelow and pageXX). Some ofthese criminalswere petty,manyof

Law in Shanghai and TheShanghai Municipal Police

Hans-Christian Vortisch

Note: A version of this article originally appeared in 2004 in Steve Jackson Games’ online magazine Pyramid. It has been revised by the author.

“Omnia Juncta In Uno (All joined in one)”– Motto of the SMP

352 Shanghaithem dangerous – kidnapping, murder, and

espionage covert operations werecommonplace. Violent clashesbetween police and criminals werefrequent; in 1933, the SMP

suffered one dead and eightwounded officers, whilekilling 11 criminals and

wounding 13. That was a“quiet” year…

Inspector William FairbairnWilliam Ewart Fairbairn was born on

February 28, 1885 in Rickmansworth, England.He joined the Royal Marines at age 15, and afterserving six years with them, partly in Korea,joined the SMP in 1907. During one of his footpatrols, the young constable was severely beatenup and left for dead by a Chinese gang. This ledto his decision to whole-heartedly study closecombat techniques.

Fairbairn had already been an infamousbarroom brawler and bayonet fighter in theMarines, where he developed several newbayonet techniques. From 1908, he trainedextensively in various Eastern martial arts,including Pakua Chuan under Tsai Ching Tung, aformer instructor at the Chinese court, andJujutsu under Professor Okado. In 1926, hereceived a 1st-degree black belt from theKodokan Judo University in Tokyo. From hisexperiences he developed Defendu, a combatstyle optimized for police use. During his over30 years in the SMP, he was personally involvedin more than six hundred violent encounters!

Fairbairn soon became the SMP’s ChiefInstructor in close combat techniques andfirearms training. An excellent shot, he wrote

manuals on instinctive shooting and properpistol technique. In 1920, he demonstrated his“instinctive shooting” for the New York PoliceDepartment and the British Army Small ArmsSchool. He also formed and commanded theReserve Unit, in November 1925 (see below).From the 1930s, his proficiency with the bladewas legendary, and his experiments would leadto the famous Fairbairn-Sykes Fighting Knife.Fairbairn retired from the SMP in 1940, to takeup the instruction of the British Commandos in1940.

Although strong and tough, at first sightFairbairn gave the somewhat misleadingimpression of being a schoolmaster, especiallywhen in civilian dress. He was short-sighted andwore horn-rimmed glasses. Fairbairn was agood but hard trainer, expecting no less thanperfection from the students of his combatcourses. However, he was a moderate manhimself, always eager to admit that he didn’tknow enough and ready to learn somethingnew. He was also streetwise enough to knowwhen to run…

Although he would eventually rise to therank of Assistant Commissioner, in 1925Fairbairn was an Inspector, in charge of the SMPArmory and Training Depot as well as theReserve Unit. He would be the man to have atyour side if going after a secret cult bent onbringing back the Mythos gods – or moremundanely, a simple robbery or a medium-sizedattack by Japanese naval infantry . . .

Note that Fairbairn wasn’t in Shanghai formuch of the year 1925, being on his mandatoryLong Leave between March 7th, 1925, andNovember 5th 1925.

Defendu“This system is not to be confounded with Jiu-jitsu or any other known method of defence, and although some of the holds, trips, etc., area combination of several methods, the majority are entirely original.”Fairbairn, William. Defendu – The Official Text Book for the Shanghai Municipal Police, Hong Kong Police and Singapore Police (1926)

Defendu was developed in the mid-1920s by Fairbairn on basis of his extensive martial arts training, incorporating elements ofJiu-jitsu, Judo, Gatka (the Sikh stick-fighting art), Pakua Chuan, and time-tested street brawling. Defendu was mainly intended forarrest, restraint, and self-defense. All SMP officers were trained in Defendu, and thus should be proficient in the Martial Arts andSmall Club skills. Indian Sikh officers would have Large Club instead, for use with their lathi sticks.

Patrol Officers and DetectivesIn 1925, most of the almost 4,000 SMPmembers were uniformed officers,walking the beat in the InternationalSettlement. About 10% were Foreigners(that is, white men), 3% Japanese, 20%Indian Sikhs, and the rest Chinese.The Chinese dominated both theuniform and detective branches,while the Sikhs were mainly usedin the traffic and gaoldepartments. Foreigners wereinvariably in charge of “Asiatics,”even if only low-rankingconstables themselves.

They differed slightly in theirequipment: Foreign patrol officerswere issued a Colt .45 Governmentpistol (adopted in 1919) with onespare magazine, both blocked totake only six rounds. From 1925, theChinese and Japanese constables wereissued a Colt .380 Pocket pistol withtwo magazines, blocked to take sixrounds; previously, the Chinese hadnormally not been trusted with ahandgun. All were issued a baton.

In the Traffic Department, mostofficers were Indian Sikhs, who receiveda .455 Webley Mk IV revolver with 12loose rounds and usually also carried atraditional lathi fighting stick. They werealso trained to use the Lee-Enfield Mk Ibolt-action carbine.

The detectives of the CriminalInvestigation Department (CID) were plain-clothes officers and the only policemen allowedto carry their service pistol (a Colt .380 Pocketmodel) at all times.

The Reserve UnitFairbairn formed the Reserve Unit (also knownas the Riot Squad) in November 1925, effectivelythe world’s first SWAT unit. Held in reserve, itwas intended to quell riots and uprisings, butwas also on call to attend special problems,including kidnappings, armed robberies, andbarricaded criminals. In addition, its officersguarded high risk cargoes, VIPs, and

courthouses when the situationdemanded it.

In the 1920s, the RU had between 48and 78 members, 20% of these from theForeign Branch, 15% from the Sikh Branch,and the rest from the Chinese Branch.

The unit trained in “MysteryHouse,” the original forerunner oftoday’s CQB (Close Quarter Battle)houses. This was modeled after aChinese apartment and came withpop-up targets (depicting bothfriend and foe), audio distractions,etc., intended to train the officersin instinctive and realistic close-combat shooting.

All received thoroughunarmed combat training. Mosthad been trained in Defendu, but

quite a few were masters in one ormore other martial arts styles as

well. For example, in the 1930s, one ofthe most proficient was an IrishDetective Sergeant named DermotO’Neill, who was an expert in Hsing Yi,Pakua, and T’ai Chi Chuan, and held a5th-degree black belt in Jujutsu . . . helater trained the American 1st SpecialService Force in World War II.

In 1925, the men in Reserve Unitwere armed with Colt .45 Governmentpistols, Auto-Ordnance Model 1921Thompson submachine guns (a total ofeight acquired in 1924, used only withbox magazines, never with drums), and

.303 Lee-Enfield Mk I bolt-actioncarbines. For riot control the Thompsons weresometimes loaded with a birdshotround that, although stilldangerous at close range,generated only superficialwounds at longerdistances. It could only beused in a special 18-roundmagazine.

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Right: “Bloody Mary”

ThanksThanks to Mike Hornbostel, Chiaki Hosomi-Ruf,and the Hellions for various checks andsuggestions, as well as Achmed Helal, Juri Ruf,and Heiko Wenthin for braving Nyarlathotepback in the days.

354 Shanghai

OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENTAGENCIES IN SHANGHAIThe SMP was only responsible for theInternational Settlement; there were not onlyseveral other agencies responsible for otherparts of Shanghai, but the extra-territoriality ofthe International Settlement meant that lawenforcement agencies of the “favored nations”could also exercise certain police functions, ifonly over their own nationals. However, therewas little to no co-operation between theagencies; for much of the 1920s, there was noteven a single telephone line between the SMPand the French Concession Police!

Garde Municipale de la Concession Française(French Concession Police)The French Concession had its own police force,consisting of 250 French officers, several dozenFrench and Chinese detectives, 1,800 Chinesepolicemen, 1,200 Vietnamese guardsmen, and aheavily armed auxiliary unit composed of 500Russian mercenaries. Patrol officers anddetectives were armed with a .380 FN-BrowningMle 1910/22 pistol.

Their Brigade Spéciale (Special Brigade) wasthe anti-riot unit and consisted of 250 tallNorthern Chinese armed with riot staffs,9"20mm SR FN-Browning Mle 1903 pistols, .45Auto-Ordnance Mle 1921 submachine guns, and7.92"57mm Mauser Mle 1898 rifles. They also

had armored buses similar to the SMP’s “RedMaria.”

Nihon Ryoji Keisatsu (Japanese Consular Police)The Japanese consulate had a large police force(250 men, all expert martial artists) to protectJapan’s interests. While they did not interferewith the SMP in general, they did on occasionarrest their own nationals on warrants issued bythe Japanese authorities, without consultingwith the SMP. Japanese officers like Isoge Tarowere armed with the Ky# Gunt$, a saber-stylesword (not a katana) and an 8"21mm NambuTaish$ 4 Shiki Kenj# pistol.

U.S. MarshalA U.S. Marshal (and several deputies) wasattached to the U.S. Court for China. He servedwarrants to arrest American citizens, withoutneeding to consult with the SMP.

SMP VehiclesThe vehicle park of the SMP included Indian Big Chief motorcycles with sidecars and pintle-mounted Auto-Ordnance Model1921 Thompson submachine guns, troop vans, and armored cars. The vans bringing the police to emergencies were painted red,hence their being called “Red Marias.” The one used by the Reserve Unit from 1927, also called the “Bloody Mary,” was lightlyarmored against stray shots and pistol bullets (Armor 10). It was converted from a commercial Guy truck and had doors in theleft side and rear, as well as a hatch in the roof with a pintle mount for an Auto-Ordnance Model 1921 Thompson submachinegun. A bell (instead of a siren) and additional headlights (some of them moveable by hand) were also provided.

If the Keeper uses the optional Automobile Chase rules in his game, the following stats apply:

Max Hit Driver + Accel/Vehicle Speed Points Handling Passengers DecelIndian Big Chief 9 10 +5% 1+2 4"Red Maria 5 90 -20% 1+47 1"

SELECTED GEARThe following weapons were in use with police forces in Shanghai.

Name Base % Dam RoF Type Shots BR MalfHandgunsColt .45 Government 20% 1D10+2 1 Semi 6* 15 99Colt .380 Pocket 20% 1D8+1 2 Semi 6* 10 98.455 Webley Mk IV 20% 1D10+2 1 Rev 6 15 99.380 FN-Browning Mle 1910/22 20% 1D8+1 2 Semi 8 10 989"20mmSR FN-Browning Mle 1903 20% 1D10 2 Semi 7 15 988"21mm Nambu Taish$ 4 Shiki Kenj# 20% 1D8+1 2 Semi 8 15 98* This weapon was modified to reduce ammunition capacity.

Rifles.303 Lee-Enfield Mk I Carbine 25% 2D6+3 1 Bolt 6 70 997.92"57mm Mauser Mle 1898 25% 2D6+4 ! Bolt 5 110 99

Submachine GunsAuto-Ordnance Model 1921 Thompson 15% 1D10+2 1 or 20 Selective 20 40 98with birdshot ammo 25% 1D5/1D2/1D2 1 or 18 Selective 18 10/20/40 98

Melee WeaponsBaton 25% 1D6+dbLahti 25% 1D8+db Ky# Gunt$ 25% 1D8+1+db

Lee-Enfield Mk ICarbine

Mauser Mle 1898

Model 1921Thompson

Kyu Gunto

edit 355

Colt .45Government

Colt .380 Pocket

.455 Webley Mk IV

FN-Browning Mle 1910/22

FN-Browning Mle 1903

Nambu Taisho 4Shiki Kenju

356 Shanghai

SELECTED REFERENCESBickers, Robert. Empire Made Me. An

Englishman Adrift in Shanghai (Columbia,2003). The academically researchedbiography of Inspector Richard Tinkler, whoserved with the SMP in 1919-1930.

Fairbairn, William. Defendu (Paladin, 2007).Reprint of Fairbairn’s 1926 manual onDefendu, written specifically for training ofSMP constables.

Fairbairn, William and Sykes, Eric. Shooting toLive with the One-Hand Gun (Paladin, 1987).Reprint of the pistol-shooting manualwritten in 1939 (and published in 1942),drawing from both men’s experience in theSMP.

Peters, Ernest. Shanghai Policeman (Rich andCowen, 1937). Sergeant Peters was with theSMP in 1929-1935. For a time, he was driverof the “Red Maria.” This is an embellishedaccount of his time in Shanghai after hisscandalous dismissal.

Robbins, Peter with Tyler, Nicolas and Child, Paul(ed.). Gentleman & Warrior. The Legend ofW.E. Fairbairn – The Shanghai Years (CQBPublications, 2005). Biography of AssistantCommissioner Fairbairn, concentrating onhis teachings in shooting and self-defense, aswell as details of the Reserve Unit.

Schønning, Haakon. Razziaer i Shanghai(Aschehoug, 1929). Sub-InspectorSchønning of the Oslo police, Norway, sat inon with the SMP in 1928 for six months.“Raids in Shanghai” features excellent detailon service with the SMP, but is only availablein Norwegian.

Springfield, Maurice. Hunting Opium and otherScents (Norfolk and Suffolk Publicity, 1966).The often meandering memoirs of AssistantCommissioner Springfield, with the SMP in1905-1933.

University Press. All About Shanghai andEnvirons (The University Press, 1934). Avintage guidebook, re-published on the web.Excellent day-to-day information, includingon courts and legal system, money andbanks, and night life.

Vortisch, Hans-Christian. GURPS Martial Arts:Fairbairn Close Combat Systems (SteveJackson Games, 2008). While primarilyintended as game support for GURPS, thise23 book contains numerous details onFairbairn, the SMP, Defendu, etc.

Wakeman, Frederic. Policing Shanghai 1927-1937(University of California Press, 1995). Thisbook is not concerned with the SMP, butrather with the Chinese police in theChinese-controlled parts of Shanghai. Itnevertheless offers many insights.

Shanghai in Images. A website featuringhundreds of vintage photographs, includingpolice stations, individual officers, etc. Atreasure trove of campaign ideas!

Shanghai Municipal Police Directory. An(incomplete) online directory of British,Russian, and some Chinese and Japanesemembers of the SMP.

The Green GangThe Ch’ing Pang (Green Gang) secret society was a huge criminalorganization comparable in many respects to the Sicilian mafia. It wasthe true power in Shanghai, its various factions controlling practicallyall aspects of criminal life, including the vast profits of the illegal opiumtrade, the gambling rackets, prostitution, weapon smuggling, extortion,kidnapping, murder, etc. The Pai Hsiang Jen (gangster-playboys) leadingthe numerous factions were wealthy, powerful individuals at the timeoften compared to the gangster bosses in Chicago. They sawthemselves in the tradition of Chinese legendary warrior heroes, witha rigid code of honor and elaborate society structure and rules.

For much of the first half of the 20th century, they held Shanghaitotally in their grip, only occasionally bothered by local police. ManyChinese police officers in all three parts of the city were members, andthe French Concession actually had a secret deal with the gangs, whichoffered protection against the warlords outside of Shanghai in exchangefor non-prosecution. For example, the chief of the SMP’s Chinesedetective squad was also the leader of the Ta Pa Ku Tang (Big Eight Mob),a powerful organization within the Green Gang, until removed in 1923.There was even a secret society made up solely of Chinese detectivesworking both in the French Concession and the InternationalSettlement, the Chi Pai Ling Pa Chiang (108 Warriors). This, too, waspart of the Green Gang. In short, corruption among the police corpswas widespread and rampant.

KEEPER INFORMATION:Jackson Elias was far from circumspect duringhis time in Shanghai. Hunting leads and clueshe drew the attention of all manner of unsavorytypes – not least the Order of the BloatedWoman. Discovering Elias was searching for theelusive Jack Brady, Ho Fong began having theauthor followed. Unfortunately, Elias led themstraight to Brady. With the Order hot on hisheels and Brady none-too-pleased, Elias bookedtravel to Cairo and caught the next boat out. Inhis haste, however, he may have left a few cluesat his hotel…

THE HOOK:If the investigators probe Elias’ activities inShanghai, they will discover that he stayed at theJin Jiang Guest House in the Chinese quarter.The American Consulate and Shanghai customsoffice both have record of him staying there (heasked about Jack Brady at the former, and theforms he signed upon entry to the city name hisplace of stay). Various foreigners rememberElias, his questions, and his lodging at the GuestHouse; the curiosity of a westerner staying in aChinese hotel is enough to burn the fact intomemory.

The Hotel:The Guest House is a cheap six-room hostelconverted from an apartment building locatedon Black Slipper Lane, one of many alleys in theNantao (South Market) district south of theChinese Bund. The neighborhood throngs withmarket squares, shipping offices, and beautifultemples, bunched together into an area far toosmall for them all. Westerners are few but notunwelcome. Black Slipper Lane itself is only afew feet wide, cool, quiet, and well shaded by thebrick apartment buildings on either side. Thehotel entrance is a heavy wooden door set into astone arch and all windows are tall, thin (barelya few inches wide) and barred. A small plaqueset next to the door advertises the hotel in bothEnglish and Chinese (all signs within arebilingual). The door is unlocked.

There is no desk, bell, or staff in the hall onthe other side, but the proprietress lives in oneof the two ground floor apartments (a smallChinese kitchen is located at the rear). A signon its door reads “Manager.” Inside is WangTing, widow and owner. In her mid-thirties,chain-smoking with one hand and coolingherself with a colorful fan in the other, sheexhibits an attractive aloofness. Investigatorswill note her delicate steps and teetering walk;she has bound feet, which limits her mobility.News of Elias’ passing saddens her; he was agood customer and a gentleman. He even paid

Scene: The Jin Jiang Guest House

Anthony Warren

Keeper’s Note:This brief scene is intended as a bridge between Elias and the Order of the Bloated Woman or asa source of clues if the investigators travelled directly from New York. It is a colorful andpotentially useful location; it can be expanded, condensed, or omitted as necessary.

edit 357

358 Shanghaiup front for a month, though he only stayed fora fortnight. Ting is quite willing to letinvestigators see his room as while it has beencleaned by the maid after Elias left, no one elsehas stayed there since. “Wrong time of year,”she admits enigmatically.

Elias’ room is one of thepair on the top floor (andtherefore unable to bereached by Ting withoutgreat effort) and isquintessentially Chinese;hard four-poster bed, ornatelacquered screen, and verylow writing desk completewith stool to kneel or situpon. The electric light isshaded with a frosted glassframe. There are noablutions; instead achamber pot rests in thecorner alongside a spittoon.Baths are performed in abarrel under an awning inthe courtyard to the rear ofthe building. Hot water ispiped to taps in thecorridors. Ting’s staff lives

off-site and consists of a maid and a short-ordercook, the latter only working mornings unlessspecifically asked to cook evening meals.

THE CLUESWhat the investigators discover in Elias’lodgings depends heavily on what the Keeperwants them to find out or where he thinks thatthey should go. If they have not already foiledNyarlathotep’s plans elsewhere and thereby haveclues leading to Ho Fong, or have reached animpasse, then the Keeper should provide hisplayers with one or two of the clues listed below.

CLUE #1: A scribbled note on the Order of the BloatedWoman (Handout #1). Elias had heard vaguerumors of the Order before arriving in Shanghaiand noted down what he knew for futurereference. There are two places where this notecan be found, it being up to the Keeper to decide

where. The first is crumpled up amongst thesoggy dregs of the room’s spittoon (Eliasassumed that the ornate and wide-brimmedcask was a trashcan). The other is finding itscratched into the soft wooden top of the desk.Designed for delicate brush strokes, Elias’spencil etched his writing into the counter –examining the desk plus a Spot Hidden rollnotices this. Careful paper rubbing creates arough facsimile. If the investigators check withJonah Kensington, the editor has no knowledgeof Elias collecting notes for a new book otherthan his work on the Carlyle Expedition, thoughit will not surprise him.

CLUE #2: If the investigators are well-mannered or includean attractive (APP 14 or higher) male, Wang Tinginvites them inside her plush, and overlyflamboyant, apartment to drink and talk aboutElias. An old-school social-climber with moremoney and friends than she first appears, herhusband’s death by emphysema a few years agocombined with the movement restrictionscaused by her bound-feet has led her (ratherironically) to feel isolated and lonely. But ifFergus McChum is a wealth of information oncrime and politics, then Ting is a living libraryon social matters: she knows the finest clubs,the nicest bars and all the best people – andfrequents high-society events two or three timesa week. Wang can act as a compradore ortranslator if the investigators offer either moneyor companionship. Some of what she knows istied to the investigators’ mission; she herself isunlikely realize this fact:• Elias frequented the Stumbling Tiger Bar

and Hell’s Kitchen (see page XX) once ortwice, though she recommended betterestablishments.

• He was looking for someone named “Blade”who he thought was in Shanghai (this isWang’s Chinese interpretation of the name“Brady”).

• She recognizes the Dark Mistress as afrequent visitor to the city’s harbor, butknows nothing else about it (“no one famousown it, lah!”). She can identify it by namefrom Elias’ photograph.

Wang Ting

edit 359• She considers Ho Fong a very good and pious

man, whose wife – Wei Ching-lai – turnedout to be a cheat and a whore. (See “BloodyBotany” on page XX for more informationon Wei and leads Wang may provide ininvestigating her.)

• She changes the subject if the Order of theBloated Woman is raised, but if pressed willadmit she told Elias that they were bad news.She knows nothing of their composition,location, or actions, but if the investigatorsthink that it is important she points themtowards Hell’s Kitchen. Someone there willprobably talk.

It is possible that Ho Fong’s men are stillobserving Wang Ting’s hotel, but Jack Brady ishis paramount concern. If Ho Fong thinks theWang Ting knows something of use to him, or isunder the mistaken impression Jack Brady stillhides at her hotel, he will not hesitate to attack.

STATISTICS

Wang Ting, age 34 – hotelier and social climberSTR 06 INT 12 CON 09 DEX 07 APP 16SIZ 07 POW 11 EDU 09 HP 08 SAN 55Attacks: Terrified shriek: 95%Skills: Accounting 45%, Bargain 41%,

Cantonese Chinese 44%, Credit Rating 68%, Dodge 10%, English 35%, Fast Talk 58%, Listen 45%, Occult 10%, Mandarin Chinese 60%, Persuade 55%, Psychology 20%,Russian 14%, Shanghainese 73%, Spot Hidden 25%

*Due to her bound feet, Wang Ting’s Move is reduced to 1.

Handout #1:Elias’s Notes on a Chinese Cult

These notes are typical Elias work, cryptic, buttantalizing. They seem to be a rough outline of a shortbook or long article. If the investigators have alreadydiscovered the notes he left in Hong Kong, this shoulddoubly prove his interest in the cult.

These notes hazard bare-bones information on along-dead Chinese cult, historically from theYangtze basin, called the Order of the BloatedWoman. Alongside the usual blood-rites, blackmagic, and Triad activities, the Order are reputedto have worshiped a “beautiful woman with a fan,”seemingly at odds to the “bloated” epithet. (A fewscribbled lines remind Elias to investigate whetherthis is a mistranslation between Chinese dialects.)Notably absent from western study, the cult isthought to have died out during the mid-to-lateQing Dynasty. Much of the outline is incomplete;it is obvious that Elias was toying with a few scrapsof info he had overheard or read in passing.

INTRODUCTION:Hell’s Kitchen is a (fictional) French Concessionnightclub, providing a place to interact with less-than-honest NPCs other than the StumblingTiger Bar. The Keeper can easily replace it witha club of his own choosing or creation (the BlackLotus club featured in the scenario “ShanghaiBullets” from Stunning Eldritch Tales for Trail ofCthulhu is one option).

CLUB HELL’S KITCHEN:Located on the edge of the French Concession,Steven Chin bought Hell’s Kitchen from Yao Shijiabout six years ago when the club was thenknown as The Eight Coin Club. Yao had run itinto the ground, and his son’s fingers were beinglined up for removal by some very angry debtors.After renovations, Hell’s Kitchen was a great hit.Chin, an unabashed fan of all things American,created Shanghai’s only shrine to Prohibition-eraU.S.A. That he only knows about the U.S. fromLife magazine articles and newsreels only addsto its charm, though investigators coming fromthe U.S. will be more than a little disturbed bythis fun-house mirror reflection of their home.Hell’s Kitchen is smoky, loud, and carefree – staffare predominantly white, the clientele mixed,and even the gangs enjoy it enough not tomuscle in or cause trouble. The nightly cabaret,usually comprised of local Chinese performerswith the token white house-band, is consideredone of the best in the city.

THE HOOK:Hell’s Kitchen is where anyone who is anyone inShanghai spends a few hours shooting dice ortaking in a show. For the investigators thisprovides them with a convenient public place tomake contact with potential sources, depending

on what they are looking for. Contacts inShanghai (such as Fergus McChum; Li WenCheng knows of the place, but thoroughlydisapproves) will direct investigators to Hell’sKitchen to meet with one or more of theindividuals listed below or an informant of theKeeper’s own creation. Alternatively, Jack Bradymight arrange one of his New China allies tointerview the investigators there while hewatches discreetly from a distance. (Forinvestigators who have played through thescenario “God of Mitnal,” arms smuggler PatrickDevlin can be replaced by Walter Kimble, as everusing an assumed name.)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:The following characters are designed to beslotted in as clue-dispensers. No stats have beenprovided, although an enterprising Keeper cansurely draw some up.

“Fast Eddy” Lao: Handsome and seemingly poured into his HongKong tailored two-piece suit, Fast Eddy is one ofthe Green Gang’s most enterprising lieutenants;a low-level thug playing for the big-time. Hehandles “Big Ears” Du’s opium imports throughthe Japanese rat-lines (i.e. smuggled in fromFormosa) and has so far managed to gainsurprising clout inside the Green Gang’s ranks.When Eddy speaks, Du listens. Investigators inneed of help from organized crime, perhaps ininvestigating the Order of the Bloated Womanor Gray Dragon Island, or have something thatthe Green Gang might want, should see FastEddy. He is a dangerous man, however, andthose who make a fool of him by not showingproper respect or who displease his boss willface an impeccably well-dressed foe capable ofdealing out any number of harsh punishments.

HELL’S KITCHENAnthony Warren

360 Shanghai

Jang Jin-shui: A quiet, cherub-faced waiter, Jang is one of ChuMin’s many spies. His links to Firm Action are anopen secret as he is often found handing outpropaganda leaflets or hurling slogans at NewChina protests. But his links with theunderworld, especially in the slave andprostitution trade, have made him invaluable tomany of Shanghai’s seedier organizations.Whatever his dealings, his heart and soul laywith Firm Action; he would never betray ChuMin or the cause. Nevertheless, Chu Min wiselycompartmentalizes information from “public”members of Firm Action, so the spy knowsnothing of Jack Brady. Nevertheless, hisextensive underworld contacts have led Jang tobelieve that Ho Fong acts as a broker orcomprador between the Order of the BloatedWoman and their Green Gang rivals. He readilyshares this belief with investigators for a healthydonation to the Firm Action cause. Thoseneeding to contact Chu Min or New China mightbe able to use Jang as a proxy.

Patrick Devlin: Sparkling-eyed, elfin, yet foul-mouthed, youngPat Devlin served with Britain’s Royal FlyingCorps during the Great War then sold arms tothe IRA during the Irish War of Independence.Devlin has traded arms and info to anyone andeveryone ever since. He is a scrupulous sort ofdealer; he tries not to betray his customers, buthe is far from infallible, especially if his life isthreatened. Currently he shares a luxuryapartment in the International Settlement witha live-in bevy of prostitutes; he is also arminghalf-a-dozen often competing Chinese factionsusing weapons frequently appropriated fromthe Western militaries in the region. From a pairof warehouses on the Whangpoo used to storehis illegal arms, he is quite willing to sell smallarms and explosives to whoever needs them andhas the cold hard cash. Devlin is also able tomove things other than arms in or out of China.He knows nothing of the Mythos, but dealsirregularly with the Green Gang and has soldguns to the Firm Action faction through anumber of cut-outs.

Dr. Hong Gildong: “Hong Gildong” is a generic Korean name, likeJohn Doe or John Smith in English. A lined andweathered figure, Hong is a Korean occultist,hand acupuncture specialist, and sleazyhuckster. The title of doctor is as bogus as hisname, while his past is superfluous, shifting, andnever told the same way twice. By night thegood doctor gambles and cheats at Japaneseflower cards (hanafuda); between 10am and5pm he runs a small bric-a-brac store andacupuncture clinic on North Sichuan Road. Hequite happily sells investigators all manner ofoccult-related knickknacks and Taoist/Buddhist“secret knowledge,” from “authentic” Ch$senshaman totems to “genuine” Old Manchu scrollsloaded with alchemical gobbledygook. He buyssome of his material wholesale from an agent ofHo Fong (the Order needs to unload hisworthless items somewhere, after all) and willrecommend Ho as another cultivated expert onoccult matters. A Luck roll might turn up amostly worthless Mythos trinket buried amongthe store’s overcrowded cabinets. Hong knowsnothing about the Mythos (or much about theoccult, frankly), but he is a passableacupuncturist.

edit 361

Hell’s Kitchen Dancefloor

When examining the Order of the BloatedWoman, as it relates to Chinese history, there aretwo important facts to remember: first, it is thehistory of secret societies and those who drawat their strings. Secondly, it is a history mostlylost to modern scholarship, as when one dynastyreplaced another, each was happy to follow thepolicy set by the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang:“burn the books and bury the scholars.”

The history of the Order of the BloatedWoman provided here is not much more than aselection of facts woven into a patchwork ofbest-guesses and half-truths. The only peoplethat fully know the history of the Order wouldbe the Order itself. Maybe even they do notknow the truth. Either way, they are nottelling...

HISTORYThough his poem Goddess of the Black Fanestablishes the creation of and defines the Orderof the Bloated Woman, many of her worshippersardently believe that Liu Chan-fang was merelythe most recent prophet in a long history of thegoddess’ manifestations. The semi-mythologicalDaji, the beautiful and cruel concubine to king TiHsin of Shang (c. 1040BC), who lured the royalcourt into the most grotesque of vices andbrought about the revolution that plungedChina into feudalism, is lovingly equated withthe Black Fan Goddess. So are other semi-historical women, including the creationgoddess Molichitian, the blood-drenched

Empress Wu Zetian, and warriors such asPrincess Pingyang and Shen Yunying. Theirnames are used synonymously for the Black FanGoddess herself, particularly when uttering hertrue name would draw attention.

Whatever its primal origins, the cult’s mod-ern form seems to have found root as a responseto the increasing dominance of the ImperialCourt’s eunuchs and it should come as no surprisethat the worship of a powerful, sexual and – mostimportantly – female figure would appeal to thosescholar-officials who detested the castrati clique’sgrip on the throne. Unlike the circle of eunuchsthat acted as advisors for the imperial household

however, thedoctrines of theBlack Fan God-dess mademockery of theMandate ofHeaven. In1542 thewicked andcapricious Em-peror Chia-Ching (in oneof his few boldm o v e s )brought abouta purge of theG o d d e s s ’cultists – nom-inally at the eu-nuchs’ instiga-

Behind the Fan:Notes on the Order of

the Bloated WomanAnthony Warren

362 Shanghai

Ti Hsin and Daji

edit 363

tion. This would be known as The First Great Dis-aster.

While the purge did not destroy the cultentirely, its highest ranks were wiped out at astroke. Survivors were put to flight, hiding inthe backwater regions of the empire. Thefaithful diffused along the Yangtze and YellowRivers, arching down the eastern coastline as farsouth as the modern Fujian province. Fromhere, alongside ranks of local governmentofficials, the cult recruited merchants, landlords,and philosophers. By hiding in the relativelawlessness of these coastal regions it couldgrow and hold its rituals safely and fearlessly. Insome ways this retreat from civilization workedtoo well. Alliances and trade with the Sino-Japanese pirates (wokou) that set up piratefiefdoms deep inland from the coast did helpspread the Black Fan Goddess to Japan andbeyond, but also served to promote personalwealth over cult good. By the 1550s these pirate“nations” had become the only form ofgovernment in some areas and the cult sidedwith them openly. It was during this periodthat the worshippers of the Black Fan Goddessseem to have begun forming alliances withwokuo who worshipped the ‘Great SleepingOne’, an aquatic deity, whose watery consortsaided devotees. Over time the Chinesegovernment advanced into these lawlessterritories, uncovering tales of horror anddebauchery as they went. Those members of thecult who had faltered and turned to reapingpersonal riches were caught unawares and manywere executed. It is during this period the Taleof the Priest Kwan is believed to have surfaced,a response to the destruction wrought as thegovernment reasserted its control. The Black

Fan Goddess cult again went to ground. Thiswas the Second Great Disaster.

Having bought time by leaving both thefaithful and innocent alike to the mercilesshands of government, the survivors licked theirwounds and renamed and reinventedthemselves as the Order of the Bloated Woman.Unlike previous incarnations, founded onacademic pursuits and scholarly intelligence, thenew Order marketed itself as a triad and secretsociety, recruiting from the peasant folk whoresented the imperial bureaucracy. In the 17thcentury those secret societies that had helpedfound the ruling Ming dynasty suddenly turnedon it. The Order picked at the fringes. With thedecline of the Ming came the northern Manchupeoples who swept south to seized the throne.The new Manchu elite separated itself from thenative Chinese through a system of apartheidand repression, and resentment among thelower classes grew. The Order tapped into thisracial and cultural xenophobia to gain newmembers and foment paranoia.

Over time, however, the Manchu overlordsassimilated themselves to the native Chineseculture as much as they forced them toassimilate their own. The Order and other anti-Manchu societies continued to stir up pettydissent, but by the turn of the 19th century hadagain lapsed into a search for personal riches.Then the ‘white ghosts’ arrived from the west,and began demanding exclusive trading rightsand power. This presented a welcomeopportunity for the Order. Drawing strengthfrom piracy and intolerance, they funded agentsin all quarters – from brigands to bureaucrats –harassing both government and foreigners atevery turn. A particular favourite of theirs was

Synonyms of the Bloated Woman - Left: Wu ZetianMiddle: Shen Yunying

Architect of the First Great Disaster - Right: Emperor Chia-Ching

364 Shanghaithe insatiable pirate-lord Ts’aiCh’ien. With a fleet of more thana thousand ships and twenty-fivethousand men, Ts’ai Ch’ienpurchased European weaponseven as he robbed from them,killed Chinese officials even as heswore they were his kinsmen –and the Order was there to makesure he did the right thing at theright time. Caring little for eitherthe Manchu empire or theEuropean barbarians the Orderreveled in the opium and slave-trade, while its use of modern

firearms gave them financial and military clout.It was a clout that they would lose all too soon.Many branches became embroiled in supportingthe failed Taiping Rebellion of 1851. This was theThird Great Disaster, and it destroyed anyserious Order activity south of the Yangtze forthe next half century. The Taiping Rebelsadvocated a pseudo-socialist Utopian blend ofDaoism and Christianity; the Order viewed themas a means to a future dominated by theirgoddess’ malignant power. European-supportedManchu troops finally seized Nanking from therebels and destroyed them once and for all in1854.

The cost of their misguided support for theRebellion was the gutting of the Order. Onceagain it retreated, leaving outlying pocketswithout guidance or protection. This time itquartered itself in European-dominatedShanghai, where the hated barbarians rarelylooked as far as their own noses and easilymistook Order activity for any other type of“foreign deviltry.” Wars with Japan and France

at the end of the century,burdened with earlier anti-Western hatred, soon split theOrder into two camps: one thatbelieved it necessary to reformChina under a nationalist banner– a nation where the BloatedWoman held sway – while theother held that any dilution of thecore message would destroy thebonds that tied the Order to itsgoddess.

By the turn of the 20th century, the dividedcult was a pale shadow of its former self.Government repression and internecine battleshad weakened the Order in all parts of thecountry, particularly in the south, andmembership had fallen to a historical low. In adesperate effort for power, the nationalistelements of the Order backed the BoxerRebellion. It would be their last great mistake.Supported by the Manchu’s Empress-Dowager,the Society of Righteous Fists (known as“Boxers” in western circles) was a league ofmystics and reactionaries whose main goalswere killing foreigners and loving the Empire.For a time it seemed as though the Boxers mighteven force the Europeans from China; in an orgyof violence Europeans, Chinese Christians, andany who refused to join were murdered,tortured, and slaughtered. Those Europeanswho could escape these rampaging mobsbarricaded themselves in their legations, undersiege from a militia that engaged in some of themost brutal and shocking acts of depravity thatrecent history had recorded. The WesternWorld quickly united in an invasion thatliberated the besieged foreign holdings, but inturn resigned itself to ransacking China’s palacesand cultural storehouses, and lording over thecrushing and humiliating defeat it had enactedupon the Boxers and their Manchu backers.

As firecrackers ushered in the Chinese NewYear of 1902 and the last of the Boxers wereexecuted at foreign behest, the survivors of theOrder of the Bloated Woman – many of whomhad watched in disgust and amazement thattheir flock could forget their divine purpose forpetty jingoism – met in Shanghai to talk of theirfuture. With pockets of Order disciplesscattered, the Order was divided between the“old hands,” intent on turning back the clock toa time before the recent catastrophe, and ablustering clique of radical young-bloods, manyof whom were little more than sickle-wieldinghooligans and untested idealists.Outnumbering and outfighting the oldleadership, the murderous clique of youngradicals came to power, setting in motion therise of a new leader.

Wokou pirate

Destruction of the Kanyang Idolduring the Taiping Rebellion; theOrder suffered similar lossesoutside of Shanghai

edit 365The Rise of Ho FongIn 1904, already aged thirty-six, Ho Fong had notbeen groomed for the position of High Priest ofthe Order of the Bloated Woman. He had kepthimself away from the Boxer Rebellion andremained ambivalent to the growingRepublicanism that threatened the Qingdynasty’s crumbling regime. By day he workedodd-jobs at Western hotels; at night he was anenforcer and expert on poisons. Growing uppenniless and alone on the waterfront slums, hewas quick witted, but ill-educated, what littleschooling he had acquired having been gainedfrom French missionaries. Unable to gain acollege education and (by his own admission)with no future except with the Order, life for Holooked bleak. Yet in late 1904, his slavishdevotion to doctrine and pious zeal brought himto the Crawling Chaos’ attention. In Ho,Nyarlathotep saw the burning desire to servemingled with a lust for power that so oftencreates the perfect acolyte. But Nyarlathotepalso knew that even the darkest of hearts canhave human loves; alongside his dutiful worship,Ho pined for the affections of one of Shanghai’smost public artistes. She was Wei Ching-lai, anattractive, Western-educated and politically-minded actress, a poster-child for the comingrevolution. She often used her fame tochampion opposition to the corrupt QingDynasty. Nyarlathotep offered Ho both Wei’saffection and leadership of the Order inexchange for total and unswerving loyalty. AllHo had to do was to obey without question.

With Nyarlathotep’s blessing and his ownacumen Ho founded a trading business andrapidly rose in Shanghai’s elite circles. Ablooming romance saw Ho and Wei marry in1911 (just months before the collapse of the QingDynasty), with their daughter Tzu-hsi followinga year later. Ho’s new-found money swelled theOrder’s coffers, and with it the cult grewdramatically. Ho soon became a popularattendee at Shanghai’s swank high societyfunctions along with his lovely wife. Wei hadknown nothing of her husband’s true religionbefore marriage and had assumed him a devoutChristian. Now, with the Qing Dynasty collapsedand the republic more interested in cementingits future than hunting down death cults, the

Order could breathe easier. Ho’s facade beganto crack. When Wei began to learn the truth –why he vanished for days on end, the reasons hishand-picked staff were so dutiful, and how heseemed so different from the man she married,and finally of his membership in the Order, shewas devastated. She came to despise him for itand sought escape.

Her slip into drug abuse and publictantrums began well before discovering Ho’ssecrets, but by 1919 it had reached a point whereit could no longer be blamed on her being aforeign-taught, theatrical diva. For Ho, who hadassumed together he and his wife would rule theOrder, this ‘betrayal’ of his trust drove him todespair. Increasingly distanced from each other,and fearing Wei might speak openly of theOrder, Ho leaked false rumors of his wife havingextramarital affairs. In China’s conservativeculture the effect was electric – within a fewmonths she was a social pariah. Offers of workdried up, and Wei’s old circles closed their doors.Soon even those few friends Ho allowed her tosee abandoned her. By 1920 Wei had became adrug-addict and virtual recluse, rarely leavingher home except for long retreats to Ho’ssummer houses in the countryside, and eventhen always under the Order’s watchful eye.Ho’s hopes that she would join in his worship ofhis dark goddess came to naught.

During this period of self-exile Wei came tofall in love with her personal driver, a non-cultistcalled Pao Wu-kung. Their affair was furtive butreciprocal, and slowly he convinced her toabandon her husband and flee China. On the

Execution of boxers after therebellion

366 Shanghaimorning of December 31st 1923, while Paowaited on the Bund with two tickets for Japan,Wei Ching-lai packed money and clothes and lefther husband’s estate to meet her lover. She didnot make it far.

That night,before an as-sembly ofcultists in HoFong’s dininghall, Wei wasused in some ofthe most ob-scene and inhu-man ritualsavailable to theOrder. As shelay dying, Hosummoned the

Bloated Woman herself to take his wife as a gift.Tzu-hsi, Ho’s daughter, unwittingly stumbledupon this final blasphemy; locked in her room forher own protection, she had snuck out to view herfather’s ‘party’ for herself. The sight was too muchand she lapsed into total madness. Ho removedhis daughter from school, blaming her conditionon “the unpleasantness” of her mother’s death.

Today the high priest of the Order takespride in his surety of faith, recognizing that hecan only trust in the worship and clammyembrace of his goddess. Ho does not realize thatNyarlathotep had planned this from thebeginning. For nothing else proves absoluteobedience like destroying the things you love…

MEMBERSHIPA shrewd businessman, what Ho Fong lacks informal schooling he makes up in animal cunningand long-term planning. He has ushered theOrder into the 20th century, reopeningcommunication between the various branchesleft isolated after the Taiping Rebellion andrebuilding the group’s ranks throughout China(and even to some degree in neighboring lands).He has made sure the Order no longer recruitsits lieutenants from the poor and thedegenerate: instead a new wave of bright butdisillusioned youth (including women) is theOrder’s future. Currently all Order leaders are

Chinese, though there are a handful of non-Chinese among the uninitiated hangers-on; allare Korean, Burmese, Filipino, Thai, or similarlyEast Asian.

As of 1925, the cult numbers somewherebetween eight and ten thousand nationally, ofwhich about two-thirds are found in Shanghai.Most are non-initiates who assist the Order asmessengers, spies, drivers, and similar. Thesepeople – those who have actually been told thecult’s true name – are under the impression it isa secret society, a reactionary political order, ora religious fraternity. Sometimes the Orderrecruits from the ranks of these disposable fools,but few make it very far up its ranks. Others endup as sacrificial lambs, either literally or to thepolice. The next step up the ladder are the dyed-in-the-wool, blind-to-anything-but-the-Goddessand perfectly-willing-to-kill-or-die-in-her-namecultists who do the real work of the Order andcomprise about four to five thousand peopleoverall. The initiation ritual involves all thebombast and symbolism of a normal triadentrance, with blood-drinking and oaths ofundying love for the Black Fan Goddess. Theinitiate is then tattooed as a true and trustedmember, and presented with the ritual sickle, apotent symbol of servitude to both cult and theBloated Woman. These sickles are part of therites and methodologies needed to tie cultist tothe Goddess, and leaving a non-initiated to spillthe blood of an enemy (or a full-cultist failing tocomplete such blood-letting after vowing it)would be an unforgivable sin; one only resolvedby ritual self-disembowelment.

The Order’s hierarchy remains based on theanti-Manchu triad model: a stratified, eight-layerpyramid with Ho at the top. By only going up,never sideways, each cultist answers solely tothose above him. Though association orentrance into other societies or groups is notagainst the cult’s rules, it is rarelyrecommended. Ho firmly believes historyrepeats itself and considers outsideentanglements reason for the Third GreatDisaster. However, by recruiting from studentbodies and the politically motivated, the Orderhas left itself open to a mingling of communistsand nationalists, realists, and romantics. So farthis has not affected morale, but Ho and hislieutenants remain watchful for signs of dissent

Addicted: Wei Ching-lai

edit 367or factionalism. Any threat of a split within theOrder will be rectified completely withoutmercy.

Ho and the Order mirror each other: bothare large, unwieldy, cunning, and practicemethods honed by years of experience andinnate skill. The Order seeks succor from Ho’ssuccess just as he does from it and if he were todie, the Order of the Bloated Woman would beseverely weakened. While he is the hub aroundwhich the entire cult turns, Ho has not botheredto create contingencies or delegateresponsibilities for what to do in the event of hisdeath. At the least, it is likely the Order wouldfragment into a number of petty, squabblingfactions. A strong disciple or lieutenant with anarrow range of magic – Contact BloatedWoman and maybe Grasp of Cthulhu – might beable to cling to power; maybe enough even tokeep the core cadre of membership, but suchdisaster would take many years to endure andovercome; something that the Order’s enemieswill not allow willingly.

OPERATIONSHo keeps tight leash over cult activity outsideShanghai, but as the stars become right andPenhew prepares to launch his rocket, thepriest’s mind lingers on other things. Becauseof this, the Order has become somewhat sloppy:low-level lieutenants make pre-emptive strikeswithout consent, cultists have not been tidyingup after themselves (hence the preponderanceof dismembered bodies), and Ho has taken tosecond-guessing both himself and his enemies.

Ho Fong’s Shipping Business: While the company dabbles with various shadydealings, Ho prefers to maintain the veneer ofrespectability. Thus it tries to keep the legal andillegal sides of the Order separate but Penhewand his need for materiel to open the Gate hasleft no choice but to use the shipping business.

Theft, Purchase and Sale of Esoteric Trinkets andDrugs: As seen in his home, Ho has something of themagpie about him. Aside from legitimateimport/export, he also deals in esotericgewgaws and Mythos artifacts internationally.Items with no inherent Mythos bent are sold tocollectors; occasionally a minor Mythos item isoverlooked and sold as well. Theft fromarchaeological sites, shrines, and privatelibraries are rare unless they will expand theOrder’s occult knowledge. The Order also tradesin and manufactures drugs and potions. Mostof these are legal if unsavory to westerners,

The Bloated Woman and the Land of the Rising SunThe Order of the Bloated Woman has a small, but growing presence inJapan. First introduced in the 16th century, the Order has remainedlimited to a few individual families. Japan’s isolation from the world inthe intervening centuries served to greatly diminish any potential forit growth as foreign religions were suppressed by the state. Those fewfollowers of the Bloated Woman that remained were extremely wary.

With the forced opening of Japan in the 19th century, some at-tempt was made to reintegrate the Japanese branches of the cult, suchas they were, back into the main body of the faith. Due to the frag-mentation and disruption of the cult in China itself, such efforts metwith limited success until the rise of Ho Fong. Using the newly invig-orated Order and under the cover of his growing business empire, HoFong asserted his control over the Japanese members followers of theBloated Woman, by force when necessary.

Today the Japanese branch of the Order has perhaps one hundredadherents divided between several of the larger port cities. The Orderin Japan is directed by Chou Hao, a young and overly ambitious (in HoFong’s opinion) lieutenant. His assignment to Japan has served to slowhis rise in the Order, something that Chou greatly resents. Operatingout of the Kanda district in Tokyo, the Order’s criminal activities are se-verely curtailed in Japan, though arrangements have been made withthe local criminal elements for some highly profitable smuggling andhuman trafficking. The leadership of the Order in Japan remains whollyChinese, and little is done in the way of recruiting Japanese members.

Outside of the main body of the Order, a few individual familieshave escaped the notice of Ho Fong and continue to practice their faithas they have for centuries. Their understanding of the Bloated Womandiffers in certain important doctrinal concept, such as equating theBloated Woman with the goddess Izanami. It is possible this indige-nous version of the Order might grow in coming years, but at the timeof the campaign, it is at best a footnote.

368 Shanghaiincluding the usual ground rhino’s horns andtigers’ heart pills so valued by ailing Chinese.Others are far less legal, and alongside lethalpoisons the cult also makes drugs from humanbodies, fetuses, bizarre plants, and aliencreatures.

International Expansion: Traditionally the Order’s membership hasdivided between adoration of the Black FanGoddess and hating foreigners. Ho’s leadershiphas moved away from this by allying withNyarlathotep’s wider body of followers. Whilenot always popular among the older cultists, Hohas demonstrated that only through joint workcan the Order show its true use to their goddess.While not all meetings have gone well, recentcommunications with the sorcerer Carl Stanfordhave borne fruit. If this continues, the Ordermight begin recruiting non-Chinese; a dauntingif intriguing prospect. Ho has also begun torestore the Order’s connection to several groupsworshiping Cthulhu and his Deep One minions,including, but not limited to, the group assistingwith the work on Gray Dragon Island.

Infiltration: Ho has reaffirmed this as a major aim, and insome ways it has worked rather well.Universities have been prime recruitmentground, along with street gangs, indecisivepolitical cliques, and certain governing bureaus.

On the other hand, the Green Gang’stight-leash on the police, nationalist

factions, waterworks, and thepost office, amongst others,

has meant any inroads thereare either miniscule or

short-lived. Ho isundecided as to what

to do on this front.

Protection Money: What the Order laughably called “protection”has been rolled back as part of the Order/GreenGang Agreement, though this has not stoppedthe Order putting the squeeze on certain selectbusinesses. Most of these shake-downs are donevia uninitiated thugs kept a cut-out or two awayfrom their Bloated Woman masters. Some ofthose people who do not pay end up as sacrificialvictims.

Kidnapping: One of the most lucrative schemes in Shanghai,abductions carried out by the Bloated Woman’scultists are often done in broad daylight andsometimes as regularly as once a fortnight. Themethods are nearly always the same: five or sixarmed men appear, drag a Chinese or foreignerinto a waiting car or down an alley, and vanish toa nearby safe-house. Unlike most kidnappings,the majority of victims rarely come out of theordeal alive unless the payment is substantial.Order snatch-squads are well practiced, andgreatly enjoy whisking away people for torture,interrogation, and ritual sacrifice. A small sidebusiness in selling women into sexual slaveryhas grown increasingly profitable.

Piracy and War-Profiteering: The cult has been financing and sharing in thebenefits of piracy since the Fukien Pirates of the16th century and today is no different. Usingtheir knowledge of the shipping trade, theBloated Woman’s faithful regularly tracks andinfiltrates larger ships – sometimes stealingcargo from under the very noses of the crew. Inaddition whole ships have vanished forever, theircargoes appearing in Ho’s various warehouses.Ho works to seize part of the city’s lucrativearms market, selling arms to all sides in therapidly escalating arms race between China’svarious political factions. While the Order is farfrom a major player in this trade, it has beenaggressively eliminating smaller rivals.

Chinese Sickle:Only initiated cultists are allowed to carry or use the ceremonial sickle of the Order.

edit 369RESEARCHAcademicThe campaign recommends the (fictional)Shanghai Museum as the best source ofinformation on the Order of the BloatedWoman. Of the six scholars who will be of use,the following are provided for use by the Keeper:• Dr Wu Kuan-an, a publicly lecturing

emeritus professor of the University of HongKong; expert in early to modern Chinesefolklore.

• Chen Lao, a Buddhist monk (or bonze to usethe 1920s term) currently serving a sixmonth vow of silence (he communicatesonly with paper and ink), alms-collectionand meditation in the courtyard of Jing’anTemple’s Hall of Heavenly Kings.

• Takashima Shosuke, a freelance Japanesetranslator and expert on the Fukien pirates,with some knowledge of the vagaries of thehistory of the Bloated Woman’s cult.

• Roland Birken, a young British lawyer anddisciple of Aleister Crowley working for theHong Kong and Shanghai Banking Companywhile researching magical sects of theOrient.

• Anna Yin Li-hua, a Catholic convert andreligious sister at the Church of St. Ceciliain the French Concession, Anna knows of thehistory of the Bloated Woman from atheological and very Christian outlook.

• Mu Hsien, a scholar and expert ontraditional lore and more.

Investigators quizzing the first five will findthem helpful, even though their knowledge hasbeen tinted by the lenses through which theysee the world. All deny that the Order stillexists. Whether any of the other scholars thatthe investigators might meet have beencompromised by the Order of the BloatedWoman is up to the Keeper to decide.

What Other Groups KnowUnsurprisingly, the Order has kept itself

secret from China’s fractured law enforcementfor a long time. The Western-dominated policeforces in Canton, Shanghai, and Hong Kong

generally ignore the Order as just more evidenceof triad cruelty. Even when presented withevidence, they are unlikely to change their tune;secret societies and cults are a dime a dozen (ortwo a penny, depending on who is asked) inChina.

The Green Gang versus the Black Fan Goddess’FaithfulThe greatest threat to the Order of the Bloated Woman (beside the in-vestigators) is the Green Gang – Shanghai’s preeminent criminal fra-ternity. Their rivalry is long-lived and convoluted, but can be boileddown to three basic points: nationalism, territory, and profits. Bothgroups were formed in their modern guise at the turn of the century;both fed off the same nationalist sentiment; and both recruited from thesame circles. It was only a matter of time before things would cometo a head. The fact that the Order had historically allied itself withJapanese pirates did not help.

In 1919, as Ho expanded the Order, this simmering distrust andviolence spilled into open conflict. Under the cover of the May Fourthriots and the subsequent protests sweeping China, each group movedagainst the other. Hatchet and gun met sickle and spell. Gangsters andcultists died or disappeared, safe houses were burned, and businessground to a halt. Unfortunately for Ho Fong, a war of attrition favoredthe Green Gang. The Order had the magical muscle, but for every triadgangster killed another two took his place. Ho Fong, not yet known tothe Green Gang as head of the Order, quickly stepped forward to actas “broker” between the two societies. A compromise was reached: theOrder would roll back its expansion into the drug trade and acceptGreen Gang superiority. In exchange, the Green Gang would let theOrder continue with its own sordid activities.

As of 1925 the truce continues to hold – mostly. The Green Gang’sbosses know that Ho knows more than he is letting on, but remain un-involved as long as he keeps his end of the bargain. Every so oftensome low-level gangster or cultist, hoping for either power or pres-tige, will break the truce. Rarely is he seen again, and never whole.

Nevertheless, the Green Gang remains dead-set on removing theOrder of the Bloated Woman once and for all from Shanghai – and viceversa. Ho is increasingly irritated that his magical attacks against BigEars Du fail – perhaps proof that the “magical” monkey-heads the gang-ster wears at all times are genuine. If Du were to be given proof of Ho’sduplicity he would happily aid anyone striking out against the Order,preferably by bankrolling them with money and intelligence, though hemight offer men at a pinch. If Ho were eliminated, the Green Gangwould make the Order pay for its previous offenses.

370 ShanghaiThe Shanghai Municipal Police andFrench Concession Police: Neither of Shanghai’s foreign constabulariesknows much, if anything, about the Order of theBloated Woman. That is not to say neither haveheard of them; they are simply inclined to thinkof it as just another faction.

The SMP is aware of dozens of murders overthe last few years in which the victims have hadtheir arms severed in a seemingly ritualisticmanner. Most victims have been homeless orunknown, with a smattering of small-timecrooks and law-abiding citizens thrown in.Friends and families of those so killed havesubsequently been unwilling to talk to police.The SMP has brushed the killings aside as theunfortunate reality of Shanghai’s ganglandculture. The poverty of most victims and a lackof clues put the cases on the “low priority” slushpile. In the French Concession, the authoritieshave recovered similarly mutilated bodies (fewerthough, and none from anywhere near HoFong’s Concession-based estate). Neither agencyhas communicated on the subject. The French –with their contacts inside the Green Gang – havecome to the conclusion that a turf war betweena previously unknown group or secret societyand Shanghai’s “legitimate” gang is to blame.This is all officially off-the-record, if the policeeven bother to talk to investigators in the firstplace. It is a Green Gang matter, after all.

A few among the SMP and FCP Chinesepatrolmen have an inkling that an old cult, theOrder of the Bloated Woman, might be behindsome of these beastly murders. As each knowsonly too well that people who delve deep intoShanghai’s underbelly rarely resurface, theChinese of Shanghai’s Finest are quite happy tokeep quiet on the matter.

The Chinese Police: Compared with the various Western policeforces in Shanghai, the Chinese know far morethan their western counterparts. Unfortunately,they are even less inclined to do anything aboutit; some among their ranks are on Ho’s payroll,or worse, inked initiates in the Order itself.Some believe that the Order is a criminal gangwith brutal rituals and beliefs, while others

think it is an ancient secret society. None arewilling or able to oppose it.

Criminals: Much like the Chinese police, Shanghai’sunderworld tries to keep itself clear of anythinglinked to the Order of the Bloated Woman.Investigators asking around are likely to be metwith silence – or violence – rather than facts.Those that do talk know little more of the Orderthan it being a particularly repellent society orfraternity, and that it takes a particularly viciouspleasure in its killings. One “commonly” knownfact is that only the lowest and most stupidmuscle work for the Order.

League of Nations: Oddly enough, the League of Nations is one ofthe few groups to have uncovered the existenceof the Order of the Bloated Woman. Due to thecult’s support of piracy, the League and theInternational Criminal Police Commission (ICPC,a forerunner to Interpol) have pooled theirinformation on this hitherto unknown criminalorganization. Some pirates and white slaverscaptured in the China seas have been found withOrder tattoos, and a few have been willing toadmit under interrogation that the group isboth a criminal and a religious fraternity.Unfortunately for investigators, the sheerbureaucracy and red-tape of the League andICPC means that this information is buried to all,but the most zealous librarians with the Leagueof Nations or suitably diplomatic credentials.The pre-generated character FregattenkapitänHorst von Schroeter is an agent of thisorganization conducting an investigation ofrumors about opium smuggling and GrayDragon Island and may come into contact withinvestigators in this way.

CULTIST NPCS

Uninitiated Muscle or Initiated Cultist STR 08-13CON 09-13 SIZ 9-13 INT 09-13POW 09-13DEX 11-15APP 06-12EDU 2-6 SAN 0** HP 09-14Weapons: Fist 60%, 1d3+db

Fighting Knife 25%, 1d4+2Cult Sickle* 45%, 1d6+2+db Grapple 30%, special

Languages: Mandarin 15%, Shanghainese 45%;! know a Concession language at2d5%

Skills: Climb 40%, Cthulhu Mythos 2d4%(cultist only), Drive Auto 20%, Hide45%, Listen 50%, Locksmith 25%,Martial Arts 35%, Occult 20%, Pilot:Boat 25%, Sneak 60%, Spot Hidden40%, Swim 45%

* Only initiated cultists are allowed to carry or use the ceremonialsickle.** Non-cult muscle has a Sanity of between 20 and 40; lower if theyare trying to join properly

Bloated Woman Enforcer (Lieutenant)STR 10-16CON 10-14 SIZ 10-15 INT 11-15POW 12-15DEX 10-16 APP 09-15EDU 11-15SAN 0 HP10-15Weapons: Fist 60%, 1d3+db

Cult Sickle 45%, 1d6+2+db Kick 35%, special.38 pistol 30%, 1d10*Mauser C96 45%, 2D6

Languages: Cantonese or Mandarin 3d10%,Shanghainese 55%, English or French15%

Skills: Climb 40%, Conceal 35%, CthulhuMythos 3d4%, Drive Auto 35%, Hide45%, Listen 50%, Locksmith 30%,Martial Arts 35%, Pilot: Boat 25%,Sneak 50%, Spot Hidden 45%, Swim45%

* Though the cult disfavours firearms, individual lieutenants aresometimes so armed.

371edit

THE CONCESSION POWERS INSHANGHAI

While Shanghai is effectively controlled byforeign powers, it is important to rememberthat even with an approximate population ofover 50,000 Westerners and Japanese, theChinese outnumber aliens at least 45 to 1(probably more if outlying villages, civilianrefugees, and the many thousands thatdisappeared into the city’s slums and nevercame out are included). The greatest populationof non-Chinese is probably comprised of exiledor émigré White Russians, who have norecognized government and are often forced toresort to begging, prostitution, or theft if theyare to survive; unfortunately records for thesepeople are few and far between and officialcensus data usually puts these Russian exilesofficially as the third largest group of non-Chinese in the city. The largest group offoreigners in the city listed on the census are theJapanese, having surpassed the previous largestgroup in 1925 – those holding British imperial,dominion or colonial passports or citizenship.Trailing the Russians in decreasing order are theAmericans, the Portuguese, the Germans, theFrench, and so-on.

The Japanese are obviously a special case; inMasks of Nyarlathotep it is assumed that theywill be the most likely government to assist theinvestigators via their agent Isoge Taro. Thereality of the matter is somewhat different,however.

Japan in 1925 is undergoing a phase offoreign and internal instability: progressiveJapanese politicians attempt to emulate theBritish, progressive young Japanese men andwomen attempt to emulate the United States,and Japanese nationalists attempt to bring backthe Samurai ethic and morality of a centurybefore. For the first time in its history, Japan hasa vast and far-reaching empire, encompassingmillions of Koreans, Formosans, PacificIslanders, and Russo-Asiatics. A fear of theUSSR, and a Soviet-controlled China, alongsidethe new prosperity from modern industry,drives Japan’s lust to invest in and dominatenorthern China. (And if it says anything aboutJapan during this era; 1926, the year theJapanese government introduced the expressionand offence of “thought-crime,” was the sameyear that the average Japanese woman wasintroduced to the idea and purchase of Westernunderwear.)

The military of the interwar period was alsobeset by cliquishness and factionalism; IsogeTaro’s prejudices reflect this. Nevertheless,much of the Imperial Japanese Navy remembers

Send in the Marines!Some notes on securing military help inShanghai and Any potential attack on

Gray Dragon IslandAnthony Warren, with Bret Kramer

372 Shanghai

edit 373the British as an old ally while still consideringthe Americans as an old enemy. While thesection on Gray Dragon Island in Masks ofNyarlathotep offers the solution to theinvestigators’ problems as an amphibiousassault or naval bombardment, it is unlikely tocome from the Japanese without particular skillon the investigators’ part...

GETTING THEM ON YOURSIDEWhile Isoge might be inclined to aid theinvestigators for the greater glory of theEmperor (and perhaps the greater benefit ofhumanity) some investigators might prefer totake their evidence to someone who is not aright-wing nationalist or a skilled killer andprofessional liar, or perhaps someone who hasthese skills but shares their nationality.Investigators assuming that the other nationsrunning Shanghai will be inclined to help themdeal with the threat on Gray Dragon Island willbe in for a shock. While they may believe thatthere is something hideously eldritch andinhuman (or at least highly criminal) takingplace on the island, convincing whicheverauthorities they contact of both these facts andthat the best solution is military in nature is nosmall task.

There is no real right or wrong for theinvestigators to go about this. Most Call ofCthulhu scenarios directly recommend havingthe heroes ignored or laughed out of the officeof anyone in authority that they bring theirevidence to; in Masks of Nyarlathotep it is all butassumed that the investigators will need someform of assistance. As with other situationsduring the campaign, the Keeper’s task will beto play this contradiction by ear. The campaignitself does not provide guidelines in this task, soit is up to the Keeper to listen to the case madeby the players. Consider this task more a role-playing and less a series of boxes to check;evaluate it based on the circumstance, not a dieroll.

The following notes outline some of themore common bits of evidence that can bepresented to the various intelligence andmilitary agencies that police Shanghai. Oddly

sanity-draining statues, photographs of weirdfauna, and written extracts from blasphemoustomes or diaries are not included for the simplefact that they do not actually prove anything;any rational person will easily debunk them aseither forgeries, modern art, the ravings ofmadmen, or similar. Offering the bodies (ortattoos) of deceased or arrested Bloated Womanacolytes has not been included either becausemembership in strange secret societies orrunning around trying to kill people is a policematter, and rather pro-forma in Shanghai.Further, Ho Fong has had years of experience inkeeping the Order out of the newspapers andprobably has yet more tricks up his voluminoussleeves to keep it that way...

Jack Brady: More than any sane man alive, Jack Brady knowssomething approaching the truth of the dangerfacing humanity. As an eye-witness to themachinations of Nyarlathotep’s cults he issecond to none, but his low sanity and history ofviolence and criminality will limit his usefulness.Unless corroborating evidence is presentedalongside his testimony, Brady might well beheld (or even charged) over the CarlyleExpedition’s disappearance or the crimes he hascommitted since then.

Sir Aubrey Penhew: Proving that Sir Aubrey Penhew and Sir AlfredPenhurst are one and the same will lend greatcredence to the investigator’s case. Providingthis evidence should not be too hard – anyinvestigator comparing Penhurst to Penhew’sphotograph should be able to note theresemblance, and checking up in Debrett’s orBurke’s catalogue of peerages (any Britishlibrary will definitely have a copy) will providequick proof of the existence – or not – of ‘LordPenhurst’. Convincing the authorities toundertake an assault on a remote island basedsolely on this fact is unlikely, but it might domuch to prove that the official reportsdescribing the fate of the Carlyle Expedition arewrong. (Unfortunately this truth may beparticularly embarrassing to British authoritiesand may inspire a further cover-up…)

374 ShanghaiCredit Rating: Naturally a higher Credit Rating is going to getinvestigators further into the good graces ofShanghai’s governments than a low one, but thisdoes not necessarily indicate a willingness totake what they are saying at face value.

Nationality: Isoge’s help is likely to be more forthcoming fora Japanese investigator than an American, whilea Briton will gain more assistance from theRoyal Navy than an Italian national. Considerthe table of the cooperativeness between navieson page XX as a guideline.

Government Background: A solid military or diplomatic background (orsome other connection to officialdom) will lendfar greater credence to any warnings givenabout the Order of the Bloated Woman.Certainly such a background will guarantee amore respectful reception than would begranted to some dilettante who walks in off thestreet, babbling about dark Egyptian propheciesand unholy sacrificial rites.

Scientific Wonders: Technological wonders decades (or more) inadvance of the science of the time appearthroughout the campaign, and if theinvestigators can present evidence of suchwonders when putting forth their case, theirclaims of despicable doings on Gray DragonIsland (or elsewhere) might prove to be highlypersuasive. In fact, presenting evidence of anyone of these devices will probably be the bestmeans of getting help that the investigators canfind.

Foremost amongst the many and varieditems of advanced technology are componentsof Penhew’s rocket. Rocketry is a rarefiedscientific field in the 1920s – Robert Goddardwill not make his first launch until March of1926 – but evidence of “secret weapons” will atleast be accepted as a plausible, if unlikely,threat. If the Dark Mistress, with itssupernatural drive system intact, were somehow

to be turned over to a governmental agency, theagency and its master would almost certainlytake a great interest. Likewise, the curious itemsof electrical equipment, the vacuum tubes,pieces of alien metal, and other devices notobviously intended for the rocket, but of custombuild and advanced (at a minimum) designmight generate similar interest if presented insignificant quantity. The weird technology ofthe Yithians might serve the same purpose,though its thoroughly alien nature may make itwork against the investigators, any piece ofYithian equipment is likely to be so far beyondhuman understanding as to provoke disbelief.Worse, the device or rods and wheels might alsoaccidentally be activated, possibly putting a veryunhappy Yithian on the trail of the personunlucky enough to have activated it.

Of course, even with physical evidence ofsome sort, the investigators should not justassume that they will be given a flotilla ofdestroyers and a by-your-leave; nor should theypresume that these technological wonders willever be returned to them. Just ask poor Dr.Jones…

Piracy & Slavery: Piracy and the slave trade are both big businessin the Far East, and are particularly frownedupon by the Dutch and the British. Both ofthese nations actively conduct campaignsagainst criminal activity on the high seas (theRoyal Navy carried out a number of very publicraids, both on land and at sea, between 1924 and1928). Talk of villainous pirates, threats to free-market economies, or the ubiquitous “WhiteSlave Trade,” is sure to pique some interest.

Occult Demonstration: If serious proof of the Mythos could be verified(without anybody going indefinitely ortemporarily insane) there might be a case formilitary involvement. Unfortunately, anyattempt to present demonstrable proof of theMythos is likely to end with the investigators ortheir contact in a padded cell. The Keepershould very carefully gauge how such ademonstration will be regarded by witnesses –if the investigators’ report is dismissed as

edit 375insanity, it would likely do no good. Similarly, ifin proving one alien horror is afoot theinvestigators unleash another (say, summoningCthugha in central Tokyo), they will face fargreater dangers than just the cultists againstthem now.

Guarantors: If the investigators lack credentials or creditrating, they might be able to find a guarantor.Taro Isoge is the obvious candidate, thoughothers (Detective Barrington’s superiors, NigelWassif’s intelligence communiqués, or EricaCarlyle’s formidable Credit Rating and socialconnections) might lend their support,depending on the circumstances of thecampaign.

THE SILENT SERVICES OFSHANGHAIMost of the fourteen “favored nations” maintaina naval presence in Shanghai’s port; theAmericans, the British, and the Japanese inparticular run numerous patrol along theYangtze River to both protect their vestedinterests and to provide a show of force. Duringthe “State of Emergency” and the curfews thatrun between the May and November of 1925,there were some twenty-two internationalmilitary ships sitting on the Whangpoo River,and newspapers reported ceaselessly (andthreateningly) of the exact locations of dozensmore, alongside special units sent from as farafield as India and Hawaii to keep the peace.Assuming that the investigators can getassistance from any one nation’s maritimeforces, for the sake of simplicity the types ofvessel available have divided into two categories,“heavy” and “reconnaissance.” This is not anexact science; a complete listing of every ship inChina in 1925 and 1926 would be at least a bookin length, but an attempt has been made toname the major (known) vessels showing theflag during this period. The Keeper should feelfree to make up his own Imperial Japanesecruiser or Royal Navy ships as necessary. Wherepossible, historical figures have been presentedas potential intelligence liaisons from whom the

investigators can hope to gain assistance; wherethis has not been possible, fictional NPCs havebeen provided.

At a pinch, a “heavy” ship can reach GrayDragon Island in approximately 3 days(including minimal preparation time) andcarries anywhere from between 300 and 2000crew. Any vessel marked with an asterisk (*) iscapable of bombarding the volcano as describedin the Shanghai chapter. “Reconnaissance”vessels are smaller, in the range of 650 tons, witha crew of about 50 – all of whom can beexpected to fight if boarded or when landing onhostile shores. A “Reconnaissance” vessel cantravel to Gray Dragon Island and return in 3days, but its crew will only have time to makethe most cursory examination once there,roughly about an hour of poking around thevillage or talking with the natives. The JapaneseNavy can also launch ships from Formosa, whichcuts a ship’s travel time by half.

Only ships that could make it to GrayDragon Island by their own power have beenincluded in the following list:

BRITAIN: Thousands of members of Britain’s militaryarms rub shoulders in the Paris of the East.Members of the army and navy are commonlyseen on the streets of Shanghai, but while theRAF stations its aircraft elsewhere, it can rapidlymove to the city to bolster the British garrison.Of course, with its famed nightlife, Shanghai is apopular posting for all members of the Britishmilitary. After 1927 – and perhaps earlier – thecombined forces stationed in Shanghai areknown as SHAFORCE, and includes smalldetachments of MI5 and SIS agents who keeptabs on the subversives and the communiststhat might threaten the greater extent of theKing’s empire. The Shanghai Municipal Police’sIntelligence Office (later renamed SpecialBranch), is primarily used as a political tool tospy upon and sniff out enemies of the state, bothforeign and domestic.

Investigators hoping to gain the assistanceof His Majesty’s Royal Navy will probably workthrough the Naval Intelligence Division (NID)serving under China Station’s commandingofficer, Admiral-Superintendent Sir Edwin

Sinclair Alexander-Sinclair, a stern-faced andtaciturn Scot of particular aptitude, but lessthan spectacular social-skills. Alexander-Sinclair’s flagship is HMS Hawkins; it can befound in waters anywhere between Hong Kongand Weihaiwei (also known as Port Edward).Technically NID is the highest and lowest of theintelligence services; understaffed andunderfunded, it is grossly overworked; yet noRoyal Navy action can be taken without its say-so.

Also operating in Shanghai are agents of theGovernment Code & Cypher School (GC&CS),which works with both the navy and the army tocrack foreign military messages. Before July1925 there is no dedicated cryptographicintercept of Japanese messages, but from July1925 until the following year, two of the empire’sbest Japanese linguists are put on the task.

After June 1925, any investigator who hasconnections with, or who brings evidence of

interest to the attention of either the Admiraltyor the Settlement’s British paymasters, willprobably be invited to meet (the factual)Lieutenant Eric Nave, a 26 year old Australianand the smarter half of the British Empire’sJapanese interception unit in Shanghai. Navehimself is a mostly self-taught, but neverthelessfluent Japanese linguist with experience ofcryptography. One of his duties is to send anyintercepted transmissions back to London via adiplomatic pouch. This is necessary once everyfew days. He is likely to be aware of Isoge Taro,if not his actual mission in Shanghai. The headof the British Secret Intelligence Service inShanghai is Harry Steptoe, a colourful figure(considered a “mental case” by many of his co-workers) always dressed in the most foppishclothing, and known across the entirety of the

Orient as Britain’s “man in China” – a fact henever denied.

Heavy Ships: HMS Hawkins (Crew: 700)*HMS Cairo (Crew: 350)HMS Concord (Crew: 380)

Reconnaissance Ships:(crew: 50, with lightarms and mounted cannon): Aphis, Bee, Cicala,Cockchafer, Cricket, Gnat, Ladybird, Mantis,Moth, Scarab, TarantulaAircraft: While the RAF (and its ship-borne FleetAir Arm) has some aircraft stationed in Southand South-East Asia (primarily in Singapore andHong Kong) this is unlikely to be much helpwhen it comes to fighting Nyarlathotep’s cults.Only in the ‘pulpiest’ of games should the RAFbe able to bring planes into the fray via theAdmiralty’s aircraft carriers, HMS Hermes andHMS Eagle, (both launching Fairey Flycatcherand Blackburn Dart torpedo bombers).

FRANCE: With the French running their Concession inShanghai as an extension of their colonies inIndochina, their military (particularly colonialtroops) can be found in all parts of the ForeignQuarter. Annamese and African soldiers areused as shock-troops and riot-police, patrollingthe maze of seedy streets that wind behind themain quay; white troops are more likely to beheld back as a last line of defence. Much like theBritish, the French pay careful attention to theYangtze River, and regularly run small gunboatsdeep inland; unlike those of the Royal Navy,French gunboats are rarely capable of travel onopen seas or far from a coastline. Few Frenchwarships will be able to conduct reconnaissancemission to Gray Dragon Island.

376 Shanghai

Left: HMS HawkinsRight: HMS Aphis

As a rule, the French intelligence services aremore interested in counter-espionage thanspecifically targeting foreign powers. TheSecond Bureau – Deuxième Bureau – as it iscommonly known is really made up of a seriesof interconnected agencies that serve to protectthe French Third Republic. Until the 1930s, it isfar more interested in keeping tabs onnationalist elements than the actions of its owncitizens, though it does sometimes dabble inparticularly malicious slander campaigns.

Chubby, but well-groomed and charming,Jean-Frederic Dubois of “Section deRenseignements” – Intelligence Section, SR – isthe liaison between the Gendarmerie and thepolitical intelligence department in the FrenchConsulate. His rakish and sensually languidpersona belies a servile personality, kowtowingto the whims of his superiors. Oddly, thisdeference might play to an investigator’s favour,for the French Consular government oftensubmits to the whims of the Green Gang, whichhas no love for the Order of the Bloated Woman.If the Green Gang’s triad bosses believe thatattacking Gray Dragon Island will relieve themof the burden the Order imposed on them, theywould quite definitely urge military assistance.

Heavy Ships: Naval forces in French-Indochinafeature half-a-dozen super-destroyers (nimblelight cruiser sized ships with fewer, but morepowerful, arms than those of their foes). Tosimplify the rules somewhat, all French “heavy”ships have the ability to bombard Gray DragonIsland with ease.Reconnaissance Ships:Vigilante (The Frenchnavy does not use ship prefixes)

ITALY: Of the nations benefiting from the “Open-DoorPolicy” in China, Fascist Italy has the smallest instake, but one of the largest of militarypresences. The Royal Italian Navy and Italianarmy have the third largest permanent presencein Shanghai, behind the British and theAmericans. In March 1925, the frigates RN SanGeorgia and RN Ermanno Carlotto arrived witha three hundred man contingent of the eliteBattaglione Italiano in Cina. Italian ships andtroops are scattered around China, with a majorpresence in the international city of Tsientsin; allcan be recalled to Shanghai in short order.

The Italian intelligence agency at thebeginning of 1925 is the Servizio I dello StatoMaggiore Generale – SIDSMG or Service of theGeneral Staff. However in October, it is replacedby the Servizio Informazioni Militare – SIM orMilitary Information Service, which answersdirectly to the highest echelons of Italiangovernment (and Mussolini) rather than to theGeneral Staff. Neither agency can be consideredworld-class even by the low standards of the1920s, but the Italian intelligence services havebeen known to score a few coups back in themotherland, particularly black-bag jobs thatinvolve telephone-wiretaps or breaking intopeople’s safes while the owners are asleep.

A sophisticated gentleman, the MarquisGillo Frizzini of the Servizio I dello StatoMaggiore Generale barely manages to hide hisgreying hair and rapidly fraying sense of calm.As a staunch Royalist the changeover to the SIMin early 1926 will see him replaced by one ofMussolini’s fascist lackeys and a painfulrelocation from beautiful Shanghai to the Italian

edit 377

Left: French cruiser Victor HugoRight: Vigilante

Somaliland; he rightly views his future withdread. His lame-duck status has left him wearyof sticking his neck out too far. Unless theinvestigators can guarantee that, in renderingthem the services of the Italian military, he willnot only keep his job but also be worthy of apromotion, Frizzini will regretfully explain thatthe Royal Italian Navy is unable to help them inthis matter.

Italian Navy: Frigate RN San GeorgioCapital ship RN Ermanno Carlotto*

(as a rule, Italian ships were light, but speedy;unfortunately the fastest are held back in theMediterranean.)

JAPANESE: The Japanese were one of the latest entrants intothe Fourteen Favored Nations, having won theirplace after the war against China in 1895. Theirappearance in Shanghai is an unwelcome one;since 1900 much of the area around north-eastHongkew and around North Sichuan Road ispractically a ‘Little Japan’, replete with stores,tea-houses, schools, geisha-houses, and marketsthat cater almost solely to Japanese tastes. A fairpercentage of the printing and paper works andfactories along both banks of the river areowned and run by Japanese companies.

The Imperial Japanese Navy is possibly themost oft seen navy on the Whangpoo, using itsproximity to Formosa and Port Arthur to “showthe flag.” Unlike most European or Americannations, however, Japan rarely uses Shanghai asmuch more than a refuelling stop. Nevertheless,ships come and go with an astonishingregularity; dropping and weighing anchor in a

matter of days with most such stops occurringin the docks in Hangkew or along thenorthernmost parts of the Settlement. TheJapanese Army, with whom the navy shares arivalry, rarely lands troops in Shanghai as thisdoes little more than inflame the tempers oflocal populace.

The Japanese Empire’s intelligence servicesinclude separate Army and Naval Intelligencegroups, with the IJN’s closest intelligenceheadquarters being located in Taihoku on theisland of Formosa (now Taipei and Taiwanrespectively). Haraguchi Sanada of NavalIntelligence is Isoge Taro’s direct superior. Adistinguished officer, he has spent so many yearsin the West that he practically breathesEuropean manners; he even sports a well-earnedOxford University tie. Unlike Isoge, Haraguchiviews the various secret societies that pervadeJapanese politics as blight upon democracy, butis loathe to admit this to anyone.

Heavy Ships: Practically any ship from theCombined Fleet or stationed in Formosa or PortArthur would be available. An entire listingwould be impossible, but any pre-1926 shipcould logically be involved in a militaryoperation against the island if ordered by theJapanese high-command.

378 Shanghai

Right: Frigate RN San Georgio

Far Right Top: HIJMS HieiFarRight Bottom: HIJMS Uji

Reconnaissance Ships:HIJMS UjiHIJMS Atakaand any number of ships stationed in Formosa

Aircraft: Mitsubishi 2MR (sometimesknown as CM1); 2 crew/0 passengers, 3! hourendurance, 127mph speed, armed with 2 MGsand 3 30kg bombs. They served onboard Japan’sfour serving aircraft carriers. Sopwith Camelsand other foreign-designed aircraft made onlicense could be launched from Formosa. Seethe section “Raiding Gray Dragon Island” onpage XX for more information on an aerialassault.

UNITED STATES: With most of the European nations havingcarved the south and east of China into spheresof influence, the United States places a greateremphasis on the inland areas than anyone else.For the most part it ignores Shanghai, leaving itthe British to administer the city. Instead theUSA treats Shanghai as the gate through whichits citizens must pass to reach the jewels ofNanking, Peking, and Tientsin.

US ground troops are limited by a numberof treaties that are adhered to as necessary; theirnumbers fluctuate wildly during the period. Thegreatest increases will not be seen until marinesfrom the 4th Marine Regiment – known as theChina Marines – are sent to Shanghai in 1927 asa response to the Kuomintang’s aggressivenorthward advances. Instead, in 1925-1926, thelargest concentrations of Americans can befound around Peking in support of the Beiyanggovernment, as the USA places a great emphasison both monitoring and protecting China’s“national” government. The reasons behindthese efforts are complex, but boil down to ageneral distrust of the Soviet-supported KMTand the various regional warlords that threatenUS investments in the region.

Having managed to nip most of Europe’sexpansionist naval policies in the bud atWashington Naval Treaty of 1921, the USA hasentered a period of increasing and debilitatingisolationism. In line with this policy, the USNavy has little interest in demonstrating itsnautical might as often as the Japanese or

Italians; small American gunboats of similarstyles to those used by the French patrol theinland tributaries of the Yangtze River, whilelarger ships dock in Shanghai regularly, but lesscommonly than everyone else. The USS Stewart,a Clemson-class destroyer, can be foundregularly docked at Shanghai between 1924 and1928, bringing marines to Shanghai in January,1925 in response to anti-foreign disturbances.Unfortunately for the investigators, the USA’sisolationist stance means that only the mostpressing or exacting reasons for action will belistened to. Even then, aid is rather unlikelywithout the approval of some higher authority.

Young Delawarean Marcus Bexter (Office ofNaval Intelligence) is a recent and somewhatnaïve inductee into the ONI having joined as partof the Naval Intelligence Volunteer Service.Though fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Bexter feelsunpleasantly out of his depth among the spiesand squalor of Shanghai, and has taken tokicking even the most asinine request or queryup to his superiors rather than seize theinitiative. This has led to increasingly long waitsfor replies, a clear sign of annoyance on the partof his superiors that he has so far failed torecognize. In his heart, he knows beingremoved from the post is more or less what heis hoping for, and whether this desire to do somakes him more disposed to listen to (and passon) the player characters’ wilder theories is leftopen for the Keeper to decide. The recent andmysterious death of ONI agent Major Earl Ellisin the Japanese-Mandated Islands (as well as thecurious nervous break-down of the officer sentto recover his remains) lingers fresh in Bexter’smind, and in the minds of his superior, and assuch neither are particularly inclined or willingto assist in any joint venture with the Japanese.

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Left: USS New Mexico

Heavy Ships: USS New Mexico*USS StewartUSS Paul Jones

Reconnaissance Ships:USS MonocacyUSS PalosUSS OahuUSS Panay

The following table attempts to rationalizewhich of the five main nations in Shanghai agreewith one another or would agree with eachother as part of a joint-operation to stop Penhewand his allies in the Order. Only those countrieswith navies able to reach Gray Dragon Islandhave been included while the Dutch, Portugueseand similar smaller nations have also beenomitted on the grounds that they are relativelyincapable of engaging the cult. Nor have theChinese governments been included, and theinvestigators will have to enlist the help of eitherthe New China Faction or some other group,none of whom will be readily accepted by the“legitimate” nations of the InternationalSettlement…

XXX = POSSIBLE AGREEANCE/ALLIANCE/// = UNLIKELY TO AGREE+++ = REFUSES ENTIRELY

LAUNCHING AN ASSAULTEven if the investigators can get a navy to assistthem it does not mean that they will be invitedaboard a frigate, weigh anchor, and be offwrestling in Penhew’s James Bond-esque villain’slair within a few hours. It takes time, effort,preparation, and planning to even begin to thinkabout launching a military operation,particularly one as clandestine or as costly asthat offered in the Gray Dragon Island battle. Inthe end the investigators might find the eventmore trouble than it is worth!

Preparation:There is almost no chance that an attack on GrayDragon Island can be arranged and carried outin the space of a day or two. Even with the mostpressing information (and this would be hard toprovide unless something exceptionallyconvincing can be shown to the assembled navalstaff) it would take at least a few hours to fill inthe forms and paperwork. Further, sailors onshore leave need to be recalled back to theirship, making it rare for a ship to leave port atnight, because, after all, it will be a hassle to getall of those drunken sailors out of the city’sinnumerable bars or brothels. The likelihood isthat it will take a week’s wait before any seriousoperation can be mounted, unless it is VITALLYimportant or a rescue is in order, perhapsfollowing the mysterious loss of areconnaissance ship off a little known island...

Reconnaissance:Before any operation is carried out, the militarywill want to find out as much as it can about thegoings-on at Gray Dragon Island – particularly ifsaid military is still unsure of the veracity of theinvestigators’ story. The military’s most likelycourse of action at this point will be to either aska civilian ship travelling nearby to make a shortpass and report back, or to send a smallseaworthy gunboat to investigate.

Civilian Pass: The Japanese and US Navy will be more inclinedto ask a civilian ship to make a cursory

Shanghai380

JAPANESE BRITISH ITALY/FRANCE AMERICAN

JAPANESE - XXX /// +++

BRITISH XXX - /// XXX

ITALY/FRANCE /// /// - ///

AMERICAN +++ XXX /// -

Right: USS Monocacy

381edit

examination than waste time sending out awarship. The Order is probably more likely tosink or capture a civilian craft than a militaryship, which may demonstrate to thegovernment back in Shanghai that something isamiss. Of course, if the Order and their alliestake the crew of the ship prisoner, it will quicklylearn why the ship was instructed to approachthe island. With the knowledge that it is nowunder some form of investigation, the Order willquickly prepare a response should anyone elsecome calling, either laying some form of trap orconcealing its actions.

Military Pass: If a military vessel approaches Gray DragonIsland, the Order is less likely to attack the shipand dispose of its crew, unless the countdown tothe rocket launch is drawing near. There is noreason for a military ship to send a landing partyashore and poke around the island. If a landingparty does come ashore, Sir Aubrey couldmasquerade as the owner of the island(somewhat unlikely), as an anthropologist, ormissionary living among the natives. Of course,if someone notices that he is actually that famedmissing British Egyptologist it may force theOrder to carry out drastic – and violent –measures. If the investigators haveaccompanied the military of their choice andgone ashore, their presence is more likely to tip

Penhew’s hand. A landing party will usually becomprised of a dozen or so men under thecommand of the first-mate, going ashore in along boat, although some navies will send oneof the recently introduced motorboats instead.Depending on how the campaign’s style of play,the Hybrids and Order members might beevidently weird and “cultish” or seem almostnormal, hiding their cult daggers and clothing,and putting on a hearty welcome for theirguests. They will surely not, however, allowanyone to go near the volcano and its damningsecrets...

Aerial Reconnaissance: The delicacy of aerial reconnaissance during the1920s had much to do with the lack of technicalquality. The Japanese, British, French, andAmericans can all launch reconnaissance flightsfrom airbases in nearby colonies – but this willonly leave any such aircraft with just enoughfuel time to overfly the site for five minutes orso, and any photographs will be taken by the co-pilot using a hand-camera. Whether anythingof interest will be noted is debatable anyway.(Those familiar with Walker in the Wastes mayconsider including Kenji Takahashi as an NPCJapanese Naval pilot). Remember also thatcombat parachuting will not be feasible for atleast another decade and Gray Dragon Island isa poor target for any number of reasons.

Shanghai382

US marines land from ‘Beetle’-stylelighters during exercises in 1924.The lighters were inspired byBritish examples used at Gallipoliin 1915.

Landing:In a serious game there is no guarantee that theinvestigators will be allowed to join anattempted landing/invasion of Gray DragonIsland. Although the players might find thisdisappointing, it might serve to extend thecampaign if the assault occurs earlier thanexpected, giving time for the Keeper to set upanother ‘grande finale’. If the investigators areleft kicking their heels in Shanghai while themilitary makes its assault, they should eitherhear of it having been carried out, or simply bethanked for their assistance in the matter. Ofcourse, rumors or the sight of all those woundedand shell-shock cases being shipped back toHong Kong/Manila/Saigon, etc. babbling abouttentacles and fish-men should give pause themfor thought – (if not some form of Sanity loss-1/1d2 at a minimum, higher for similar nationalsor veterans). In such a case, the rocket might betaken apart and shipped elsewhere – perhapsthe parts are recovered months or years later bya new group of cultists bent on completing whatPenhew et al failed to do… Art Deco rockets arealways fun, no matter what the era.

BRITISH: The Royal Marines had developed the basicprinciples of the amphibious landing in 1923,but were under the impression that it couldNEVER be done against an enemy-held location.These trained landing units were attached toparticular ships – as all Royal Navy warshipscarried a contingent of Royal Marines fordefence and against mutiny – and were called“X-Units.” Flat-bottomed, landing craft withbow-ramps that can be easily raised and loweredwere available from 1920, and are not only usedin regular annual exercises, but are also capablecarrying and deploying medium sized tanks.Two of these craft were stationed in Hong Kongduring 1925 and could, possibly, be transferredto Shanghai if necessary – though this is highlyunlikely. Landing against a prepared enemyposition was considered highly unorthodox, andthe Royal Marines were pretty poorly trainedwhen it came to land-based combat (though in asurgical strike against ‘pirates’ they might farebetter). Royal Marines were also still armedwith sabres, which suited the close-quarters of

shipboard combat, their last use in anger will beduring the Second World War. The RoyalMarines were tenacious, aggressive fighters withsmall arms and some light artillery, but were ill-trained and unprepared for a rapid deploymentby light craft.

AMERICAN: The US Marine Corps Expeditionary Force hadbeen conducting joint operations with the USNavy for several years before 1925, and were con-sidered better prepared in theory than the Britishand perhaps better experienced. The USMC hadtroops in both China and the Philippines, thoughthe ability for them to launch an actual landingoperation is perhaps a little overambitious; par-ticularly so close to both Chinese and Japanese wa-ters (and without maps). Even though Jack Bradyis a former Marine and might be able to get someassistance from an old service buddy, even thefriendliest of quartermasters is unlikely to let himtake a few landing craft out for a spin.

JAPANESE: During the 1920s the Japanese did not have atrue “marine” force, or a specifically-trainedlanding unit. Instead, all sailors aboard Japaneseships were given basic combat training andarmed with an assortment of weaponry, rangingfrom swords to clubs to pistols to rifles. Thesetemporary Naval Landing Forces – KaigunRikusentai – were not necessarily expendable,but were used to bolster land-forces in the area.In the event that the Japanese know they needto land an actual invasion force on Gray DragonIsland, most of the troops will be made up ofJapanese soldiers mixed with these temporarynaval units.

Flat-Bottomed Landing Craft: The three countries listed above all had LCs orlanding craft of some form or another, thoughof varying quality and in differing numbers.British and American designs were of metalconstruction, while the Japanese were of woodwith armor plate. Considering the short noticeof a week or so, the Japanese could probably getany number of landing craft to launch an attack,if they so wanted; the British just two; and the

383edit

Americans maybe half a dozen. British andAmerican LCs are capable of carrying fifteen orso fully equipped men, while the Japanesedesign can only carry ten. If the number oftroops carried is dropped to just five, the Britishversion is also capable of carrying an armoredcar or a medium sized tank if no troops arecarried. How useful an armoured-car or a tankwould prove on Gray Dragon Island is highlydebatable, but for the Keeper running a Pulpstyle game, statistics for the Armored Car, Rolls-Royce Type A can be found in the Keeper’s Notesof the London chapter.

FRANCE: Although France has some landing-craft in theregion, it is likely that they will need to bebrought to Shanghai from Indochina, causingsignificant delays. While some French troopshave been trained to conduct amphibiousattacks, most of them will be still be engaged inthe Rif War in Morocco and unavailable toattack Gray Dragon Island.

OTHERS: Every other country with a presence in Shanghaihas some naval or land-based troops at itsdisposal, but they make do with soldiers packedinto longboats or life rafts: an unhealthycombination, especially with Deep Ones lurkingabout. British and Dominion veterans,especially those who were at Gallipoli, will nodoubt argue against such an attack.

CHINA NEW FACTION: The resources and plans of this militant groupare discussed more fully on page XX.

THE OPPOSITIONThe level of resistance and the effectiveness ofGray Dragon Island’s defenders dependprimarily on two factors. First, how advancedare the preparations for the launch of the rocketand second, to what degree does the Orderanticipate trouble.

A good rule of thumb is that the closer thedate is to the rocket’s launch, the greater thenumber of cultists and their allies on the island.While these numbers will ebb and flowdepending on the various rituals beingconducted on the island – as well as the comingsand goings of the Dark Mistress, the Ivory Wind,and the Luxuriant Goddess – the need foradditional help will greatly increase in the weeksand months running up to the gate openingceremony. Beyond simple security concerns,presumably the Order’s need for new sacrificeswill guarantee that more of its thugs will be inand around Gray Dragon Island at that time.Most of these reinforcements will come in theform of Order of the Bloated Woman thugs andpirates, though it is possible more Deep Onehybrids (or even another shoggoth) may arrivein the days immediately preceding the launch.

Depending on the actions of theinvestigators and their allies, the precautionsand actions taken by the cultists on Gray DragonIsland will vary significantly. The degree towhich they anticipate interlopers or an attack ofsome kind can be roughly broken into threedifferent states: Surprised, Wary, and Alert.

Surprised:Very cautious investigators might reach theisland without alerting the Order, presumablyeither by making use of one of the ships thatusually call there (either by stowing away orafter seizing them) or by approachingsurreptitiously (probably at night or in poorweather). The lookouts in the watchtower willspot most ships several miles out to sea (a SpotHidden roll for each guard perhaps, halved orworse in bad weather) unless these precautionsare taken. Remember that most vessels of theera produce distinctive smoke plumes and aflotilla of Japanese ships looks rather differentto a lone tramp freighter. Alternately, if a largervessel stops while still far out to sea and lowersone or more small boats, these can be used toreach the island with little chance of beingspotted. So long as the investigators are carefulwhen making their final approach – only animpaled Spot Hidden roll will notice it – they willprobably reach the shore without beingdetected.

Shanghai384

If the investigators make it ashore with theOrder and their allies unaware of their presence,then no preparation will have been made for abattle. There will be no patrols, weapons willnot have been distributed effectively, and theguards in the watchtower will be inattentive.Until an alert of some sort is sounded, hybridsand cultists may be encountered about theisland, all in small groups with few of themarmed. Any hybrid capable of casting SummonDeep One will not have its tablet at the ready,nor will anyone have organised any groups tofacilitate the casting of Wave of Oblivion. Anyship docked in the harbor (or in the bay, if morethan one is nearby) will post a cursory watch atbest – only sailors aboard the Luxuriant Goddesscan be considered as anything approachingprofessional competence, while Torvald andSavoyard and their crews are barely fit to man avessel. Similarly, no ships docked at or anchoredoff Gray Dragon Island will have her boiler up tosteam, that is, the ships are not going anywherefor at least an hour. The exception is the DarkMistress, which with her supernatural engineonly needs five or so minutes to weigh anchorand get under way.

Within the volcano, Penhew and his allieswill be hard at work, spending nearly all hoursof the day assembling, modifying, and adjustingthe rocket. When not at work Penhew will befound resting in his sarcophagus, leading aceremony, jotting bon mot into his journal, ortorturing prisoners. Both Penhew and his allieswill remain completely unaware of any problemsunless alerted to them by their compatriotsoutside (or alternately by a helpful Deep One,

cf.). No one will have any weapons to hand,unless you count the mapulo…

Wary:This is the most likely condition that the cultistsand their allies will be encountered in. In mostcases the alert will come from the guards in thewatchtower after spotting a ship, or its smokeplume, on the horizon. It is even more likelythat something like a short reconnaissancemission conducted by one of the SettlementPowers will be enough to put the cultists onedge. A successful party Luck roll will negatethis if the passing ship attempted no landing,with a +25% bonus if the ship was not a militaryvessel. If an aeroplane passes over the island ora landing attempt has been made before, thecultists will remain wary at a bare minimum forseveral weeks to come.

If the inhabitants of Gray Dragon Island areat a wary state, they will post irregular patrolsof cultists or hybrids that will look for signs ofintruders. The number of guards on thewatchtower will be increased and they will be onthe look-out for any unexpected ships – eventhose merely passing nearby might beintercepted by a cult vessel if Penhew so ordersit. Arms will be distributed to everyone on theisland and general defensive orders will be given.Any ships in the harbor, while not at full steam,will be at least partially prepared to weighanchor at a moment’s notice – 15 minutes – savefor the Dark Mistress. She of course, will be ableto get under way immediately. Runners at boththe watchtower and in the village will be at the

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What About the Deep Ones?One significant and variable factor in the fight for Gray Dragon Island is the degree to which the Deep Ones are willing to assistPenhew and his Order of the Bloated Woman allies. This Companion works under the assumption that the various fragments ofthe Mythos have no natural inclination to ally with each other and that the aid of the Deep Ones has been purchased by Ho Fongin exchange for his immaculate version of the R’lyeh Text Commentary. The Deep One colony off-shore is but temporary and nota full city like Y’ha-nthlei or Ahu-Y’hloa. The number of Deep Ones at the Order’s disposal is therefore limited. Depending uponthe relationship between Penhew and his ichthyic allies, the Deep Ones and the hybrids may simply attempt to flee from an attackon the island, those that can take to the sea doing so. The Keeper desiring a bloody climax to the campaign may elect to havethe Deep Ones fully committed to the goals of Nyarlathotep’s cultists and have them directly attack the ships of any raiding partyen masse, aided by a shoggoth or two, or perhaps a very large Deep One, perhaps half the size of Father Dagon or Mother Hydra– enough to capsize a launch, but not so large as to dwarf a ship. Most campaigns will probably fall somewhere in between, withonly limited Deep One aid; this is not their fight after all…

ready to notify Penhew of an attack. If timeallows, the Deep One colony off shore will bealerted and additional aid requested.

In the event of a small landing, the islanderswill have been instructed to feign innocence andclaim to be a leper colony. If this is not enoughto convince the interlopers to return to theirboats, their instructions are to draw them intothe trees where a mass ambush will have beenprepared. A larger group will be met by almostimmediate hostility, especially if it is seen to bearmed.

A store of armsmight be readied atthe entrance to thevolcano and severalcultists will bespecifically assignedto guard that pointwith their very lives.Anyone inside thevolcano complex willhave weapons tohand, while Penhewwill react by securing

the more valuable items in his workshop ratherthan leaving them lying about.

Alert:This status will be only reserved forcircumstance where an attack is thought to beimminent – a mass of ships spotted on thehorizon, for example – or in the hours

immediately preceding the launch of the rocket.All cultists and hybrids will be armed and onwatch, with specific groups assigned toparticular tasks, such as attacking landingparties, summoning Deep Ones, or assisting inthe casing of Wave of Oblivion. Caches ofweaponry will be placed at various points on theisland to be used as needed. A sniper – a BloatedWoman cultist with a rifle skill of 65% andMauser Kar98b (Damage 2d6+4; RoF !; Range110’ Malf. 99) – will be assigned to thewatchtower to harass any landing party;fortunately most of his shots will still be atextreme range (1/4 skill). Any ship anchored offshore will be up to steam and will departimmediately unless there is some reason theycannot flee. If the situation looks desperate, oneor more captains are under orders to ram anyvessel conducting a shore bombardment of theisland. It is more likely that a ship will be underorders to flee with important cult leaders andthe critical elements of the rocket aboard – inthe case of the Dark Mistress, or in the case ofthe Ivory Wind, to take station off the islandwhere she can be used as a floating platformfrom which to cast Wave of Oblivion.

Cultists working within the volcano complexwill probably aid Penhew in transportingsensitive gear and notes to the waiting DarkMistress in preparation to rebuild the rocketelsewhere (especially early in the campaign).Otherwise they will join in the defence of thecavern. Do not forget the wicked effectivenessof their welding torches as short-range weapons.

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An Example of an AttackThe investigators, backed by New China forces (traveling aboard the stolen Ivory Wind) and a small contingent of French ships,are dispatched to the island, the French navy concerned after the capture of a French-flagged freighter in the area several weeksbefore. Since it is several months until the rocket launch and only limited (and undetected) surveillance of the island wasundertaken, the forces on the island are mostly unprepared. The party is divided between four groups – those on the Ivory Wind,those coming ashore with the New China troops (landing at the village), one player leading a small French raiding part ashore onthe eastern tip of the island, and several players in a sea-plane that plans to land at the village once it is secure.

Each group is comprised of one investigator and several NPCs that the other players can use to stay part of the action. Thefirst group, the New China landing party, goes first. It lands without opposition and is greeted by the village headman, who tellsthem that a council awaits them just outside the village… Meanwhile, thanks to a lurking shoggoth, the French landing craft issuddenly flipped over several hundred yards off-shore. Several Swim rolls and a mass panic ensue. Back aboard the Ivory Wind,the crew is surprised and nearly overwhelmed by a Deep One boarding party. In the meantime, the sea-plane successfully landsat the dock, only to find the New China troops frantically fighting sudden swarms of vengeful cultists and hybrids, leaving the Frenchships frantically trying to reach their capsized boat…

Sand Pebbles: US Navy landingparty in summer dress

387editThe Deep Ones (cf.) will either flee into thebubbling pool with their shoggoth in tow, orjoin in the defence as well. If a second shoggothhas been called forth it will probably be used toattack the landing craft or the ships attackingthe island instead.

If the rocket launch in imminent, the cultistsashore will fight to the death in order to preventthe attackers from reaching the volcano – thecruel Keeper might have a raving cultist chargeheadlong into the invaders while carryingdynamite sticks in both hands – anything toguarantee the launch of the rocket. In a pinchthe shoggoth could pull down the roof at theentrance of the cave and seal the chamberswithin indefinitely. The Keeper should alwaysremember that until the cone of the volcano isblown off – either by the investigators or by thecultists – there is no way for the rocket to launchwithout striking the interior of the volcano,causing a massive explosion.

Tactics of the CultOne advantage that any attackers will have overthe cultists is in terms of long ranged weaponry.The defenders lack ranged weapons beyondscattered pistols and perhaps a rifle or two. Thegreatest danger to landing craft are lurkingDeep Ones or a second shoggoth, while only thelatter poses much of a threat to a fast-movingmetal-hulled vessel. On the island the cultistswill make use of cover as best they are able withsmall bands rushing out of huts or from behindtrees to engage with the invaders at close range.Communication between the defenders isprimitive but efficient – runners and signaldrums, probably coordinated from thewatchtower with regular updates to Penhew inthe volcano. If they are fully committed to thedefence of the island, sorties of Deep Ones canbe sent to board larger vessels offshore, but theywill be more effectively used against poorlyguarded landing boats.

If outnumbered, the cultists will make use ofhit and run tactics in an attempt to delay anddisrupt their attackers. If they are forced toretreat into the volcano complex, the fleeingcultists’ numbers will probably be augmentedwith Deep Ones coming from the bubbling pool,

welding-torch wielding cultists, or even theshoggoth, if necessary.

Other ConsiderationsThe final factor that the Keeper needs toconsider is the needs of his campaign. IfShanghai is the first stop, by all means allow thedastardly Penhew to flee to some new base toplot the launch of his rocket – anywhere withina few thousand miles of the central IndianOcean is acceptable. If this is the end-point ofyour campaign, pull out all the stops and havePenhew reinforced by not just Ho Fong, butwhatever villains have survived up to this point,backed by waves of cultists and Deep Ones.Tailor the size and skill of the opposition tomatch player expectations – a couple of sicklewielding lunatics will be no match for a divisionof Royal Marines. Similarly, the Keeper’sexpectations should match those of his players –if a Keeper is hoping for a careful cat and mousegame ashore and down into the volcano whilehis players want to re-enact the end of You OnlyLive Twice, disappointment is likely.

RUNNING THE ATTACKThe attack on Gray Dragon Island can be as vastin scope as desired. Some Keepers may decide topresent it purely in narrative terms, describingthe actions of the attackers, the responsive ofthe defenders, and periodically seeking inputfrom the players as to the actions of theirplayers. Other Keepers may view it as a chanceto live out their dreams of plotting out a WWII-style island assault (albeit an anachronistic onecomplete with fish-men and giant amoeba-things) and show the position of each landingboat or raider.

As ever, the Keeper needs to know what bothhe or she and their players want. Do they wantto be a small cog in a giant battle, larger thanlife heroes in the thick of combat, or cunningacademics winding their way into the volcanoleaving their foes none the wiser? If the Keeperjust wants to describe the course of events, orrole-play out a limited raid consisting of theparty and a few New China allies, the task isrelatively simple. Determine what opposition

that the investigators might face and how theymight face it, making allowances for bad luck oneither side. Back-ups should be prepared foreither side, enabling the Keeper to shape eventsin one direction or another.

The best model with which to compare thiselaborate set-piece battle is the epic conclusionof Escape from Innsmouth. In that book, the

players control not only their investigators asnormal, but are also assigned the roles ofnumerous “red shirt” NPCs, freeing each playersto play a part in the raid even if his agedprofessor has no idea how to hold a rifle, letalone fire one. To follow that model the Keepershould divide the assaulting forces into easilymanaged groups and assign the player

Shanghai388Dropping the BombIt is possible that Penhew’s radium bomb detonates while still inside the volcano. In the event that this comes to pass, the Keepershould refrain from simply saying, “A huge explosion destroys the island and everyone is dead.” This moment should instead bemade as memorable as possible – it is not every day that classic era Call of Cthulhu investigators get to see an atomic blast, afterall. Sanity rolls are of course in order – 1d3/2d5 is reasonable for a blast of the size generated by Penhew’s radium bomb.

First of all, the Keeper needs to determine how big a “boom” the device will create – the campaign simply says it will “[blow]up the island and [leave] the area radioactive until the 1970s.” This allows a certain leeway with the magnitude of the weapon.At a minimum it should vaporize everything within the volcano and trigger a series of cataclysmic eruptions. Outside of thevolcano a powerful jolt will be felt across the island, followed by a significant trembling of the earth as the volcano roars to life.Even after the detonation, investigators outside of the volcano complex might be able to escape from the island in time, providedthat they have a fast enough transport – The Dark Mistress might do in a pinch, but an airplane of some kind would be preferable.As the volcano collapses, huge plumes of lava will rapidly engulf the island, destroying everything in their path. The cinematicallyinclined Keeper might have red-hot lava bombs landing periodically in the area around the island – obviously these should not landon the investigators! Otherwise, hot cinders will ignite the scrub jungle and the village, followed by any ships moored to the dock.Eventually great clouds of ash and waves of lava will cauterize the whole of the island, killing anyone foolish enough to remain.

If a larger explosion is desired, the bomb’s detonation will immediately vaporize most of the volcano itself (again triggeringan eruption). A Luck roll will ensure the investigator was not looking directly at the volcano when the bomb detonated and willonly be blinded for a few rounds; otherwise, depending on his distance from the explosion, the investigator will be blindedindefinitely, possibly for life. Portions of the volcano itself will fragment and hurtle outwards as a terrifying mushroom cloud,crackling with green and purple tendrils of light, will roll skyward… Perhaps for a fleeting moment a weird rift in the very fabricof space – what is that lurking within? – can be seen before it is engulfed and vanishes. Anyone within a one-mile radius of theisland is killed automatically, including most of the inhabitants of the Deep One colony. The explosion will also set off an tsunamiwhich washes out from the island and towards the surrounding atoll, which serves to slightly dampen the effect of the wave. Anyship within the atoll will capsize unless the pilot impales his Pilot: Boat roll. Otherwise, anyone in a small boat will suffer 1d6 hitpoints of damage as he is thrown into the water (2d6 hit points of damage if the Pilot: Boat roll was failed). Anyone aboard largervessels will take 1d3/1d6 as their ship is tossed by the mighty wave and will still need to abandon ship promptly. Aircraft in thesame area can remain aloft with a successful Pilot: Aircraft roll, though passengers take 1d2 points of damage from buffeting. Failureindicates the plane has been forced down; another Pilot: Aircraft roll can allow for a controlled crash (2d6 points of damage),otherwise those onboard suffer 4d6 points of damage and are still at risk of drowning when the aircraft ditches in the sea.

Fortunately for the Settlement Powers, the nature of the atoll prevents vessels as large as capital ships from entering the lagoonitself (assume any ship capable of bombarding the volcano has too deep a draft to enter the lagoon, a smaller ships can approachcloser if it moves cautiously). Even then they will be rocked by the explosion – those observing the bomb’s detonation will beblinded 2d10 rounds – followed by significant waves that cause the vessel to list away from the point of detonation. Barring thetotal detonation of the island in a Krakatoa-style explosion, larger ships will sustain minimal damage, though crewmen may be ina panic from what they have just witnessed. Their respective captains will bring the ships around to move away from the islandto what they judge to be a safe distance, especially if lava bombs are falling or the ash cloud produced causes a threat to navigation.Neither the ship’s crew nor the marines aboard a ship will take any precautions against the radioactive fallout from the bomb’sdetonation unless the investigators suggest it; even then a Persuade roll will be needed to convince naval personnel that there issomething potentially toxic in the air.

characters to wherever they may best serve, evenif it is back in Shanghai. Each group needs to befilled out with a variety of appropriate NPCs thatcan be used as proxies by the players. Whenrunning the assault the Keeper should alternatebetween these groups as is dramaticallyappropriate, making sure to give each groupsomething to do to keep them in the thick of theaction. Play out to the climax and ensure that itis a memorable event.

AFTERMATHIf the assault is successful and the island issecured, there is little doubt that the survivingofficers of any Settlement Force will contacttheir superiors to inform them of the eventsthat have transpired. The battle for Gray DragonIsland will have exceeded any reasonableexpectation and if nothing else, the number ofcasualties needs to be reported. The likelihoodis that the Settlement Force will be shouting forhelp between pitiful screams about monsters –aquatic and otherwise. If the rocket has beencaptured intact, any Settlement power will wantto secure it while waiting for furtherinstructions. Brady, assuming that he lives, willwant to destroy it to prevent it from being used;this situation could prove to be very dangerous.He will also begin preparation for the casting ofthe Eye of Light and Darkness somewhere atopthe volcanic cone, though finding an innocent inthese circumstances might be difficult. Anysurviving cultist will want to fight to the death,while any remaining Deep One or hybrid willattempt to flee in the face of the overwhelmingassault force. Nevertheless, not every cultist willdie and some will be captured, which someplayers (and even some officers in the assaultforce) might see as an opportunity tointerrogate the enemy. Unless the cultist underinterrogation is a leading figure in the cult, thequestioning investigators or officers are unlikelyto learn very much, and even then, it should beremembered that any answers forthcoming arethe utterances of a mad man!

The investigators, especially if they havemisled their allies, will still be in some danger.Their knowledge of the things on the island will

be considered of particular interest to theirerstwhile allies, especially if some portion of therocket is recovered or a supernatural entity isobserved. Given all that can be found on theisland prior to the assault, this is very likely. Arapid flight from the island might be needed insome circumstances, unless the players wish fortheir characters to spend the rest of the decadeheld in a secure but anonymous prisonsomewhere.

Even if the island has been captured, neitherthe investigators nor the soldiery will be quitesafe. Depending on the nature of the alliancebetween the cult and the Deep Ones, thebatrachians horrors might be prepared toassault the island from below in an attempt toretake the base, particularly if a quick strikemight bring immediate aid and a strengtheningof the Deep One role in the alliance.

If events on the island take a turn for theworse, even the most dogged Settlement navywill withdraw and return in larger numbers. Itis unlikely that theinvestigators will be invitedfor such a second try. Ifsomehow the warhead isdetonated, it should beassumed that anything onthe island is vaporized andanything with the circle ofthe atoll will be badlysmashed by high winds oroverturned by massivewaves. This will definitelyarouse the ire and pique theinterest of whatever nationwas involved, but it isunlikely that investigatorsin the area will be in aposition to care anymore.

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Japanese Kaigun Rikusentai, orNaval Landing Force

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INTRODUCTIONThose meddling in the affairs of the Order of theBloated Woman rarely live long. Somedisappear quickly while others… linger andthose that come to Ho Fong’s ‘Body Orchard’linger the longest and with the greatest ofsuffering. The investigators might uncover thisnightmarish plantation while investigating HoFong or his late wife Wei Ching-lai. If theinvestigators are unfortunate enough to fall foulof the cultists, they might discover it in theworst way possible – as prisoners of the Order.

KEEPER’S INFORMATIONAfter sacrificing his wife to his Goddess of theBlack Fan (see below), Ho Fong also fully

dedicated his wife’sformer retreat to theworship of theGoddess. Themansion now hosts agruesome garden ofnoxious andotherworldly plantswhich, tended byzealous devotees ofthe Order, havegrown fat on theremains of theOrder’s enemies andthose damned soulswho fall into itsclutches.

Careful investigators probing at the cracksin Ho Fong’s carefully constructed façade,especially those taking notice of the tragic finaldays of his wife Wei Ching-lai, may find of hintsof this estate, one used very differently byhusband and (late) wife. For the Keeper, in theevent of some great calamity, the estate can alsoserve as Ho Fong’s retreat while he plots hisrevenge. Exposing the secrets of the BodyOrchard will in all likelihood do much to weakenthe Order, but bringing the true horror of theputrid plantation to the attention of theauthorities will be no easy task.

HO FONG AND THE DEATH OFWEI CHING-LAINo matter what his wealth, his Credit Rating,fluency in English, or the fact that he can hire aprivate stall for the horse-races at Jessfield Park,Ho Fong will only ever be Chinese, from a poorfamily at that. The facts of his birth barred himfrom Shanghai’s high society. This means thathe is known only to other Chinese and those fewWesterners who deal with him or his business.Even then, most only know him as a shrewd butsometimes guileless tai-pan; impeccably honest,scrupulous, and well-meaning – by Shanghaistandards at least. Everyone bribes, double-deals, and undercuts, after all, but Ho was nevervindictive. Through his marriage to Wei Ching-lai he secured his admission into Shanghai’selite. Her infidelity and subsequent drop to therank of social pariah damaged his “face.” To thisday, even after her death, this damage persists.

Bloody BotanyAnthony Warren

“And the universe appears to me like an immense, inexorable torture-garden. Blood everywhere and, where there is most life, horrible tormentors who dig your flesh,

saw your bones, and retract your skin with sinister, joyful faces.”~ The Torture Garden; Octave Mirbeau

Wei Ching-lai’s gardens in better days

Wei herself died last year under unfortunatecircumstances (a Library Use roll uncovershandout #1, found in any major newspaper) andtheir daughter disappeared from sight soonthereafter. Any investigators sniffing around forgossip find rich men like Ho Fong raises strongemotions in China; good and bad – and few areprepared to talk of it with outsiders. Persuade,Credit Rating, or Luck rolls elicit discussion, buttalk nearly always strays to a single topic: WeiChing-lai’s death. Rumoured affairs andaddictions compounded a faltering career,which together left her persona non grata inShanghai society. After her death Ho launched alibel suit against Chinese Whispers, a localscandal rag that aired many of the most sordidstories about her fall. The paper closed beforethe case reached trial, and anyone wanting toknow about Wei and Ho Fong’s marriage will bepointed toward its morgue.

Rumours, scurrilous and otherwiseChinese Whispers was an attempt at a gossipmagazine that catered for foreigners and nativesalike. Owned and edited by American HaleTalbot, it was raucous and utterlyuncompromising, filled with all the news unfitfor print elsewhere, and proved wildly popularfor its perceptive social journalism. NaturallyTalbot made many enemies. A Library Use roll

and a half day’s work will uncover a few articlesin the later issues about the Ho family’s troubles.One interesting clipping (Handout #2) standsout; the “fan wielding beauty” mentioned is theBloated Woman herself, though investigatorsmay not yet realize it. The paper’s offices,located in a dilapidated courtyard off NankingRoad, are now empty. Supposedly Talbotreputedly fled to America to escape the trial, butno proof can be found; most likely he becamefodder for the Body Orchard.

(Alternately, Wang Ting, proprietess of theJin Jiang Guest House might pass on theserumours -or back issues of Whispers - to favoredinvestigators. See “The Jin Jiang Guest House”,page XX)

Tzu-hsi went to the (fictional) St. Amaro’sGirls College; an elegant establishment on theFrench Concession’s fashionable RueMadagascar, where it is protected by the FrenchConcession Police. Its 500 students are thedaughters of wealthy Catholic Chinese, all ofwhom are carefully watched by their families,and will be unable to meet investigators.Walking into the school and demandinginformation will prove to be an unwise course ofaction, with anyone doing so being forciblyevicted (and Ho Fong informed if his family wasmentioned). A more subtle approach, such asfeigning interest in enrolling a child, will gain aninvestigator an appointment and a guided tour

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Wei Ching-Lai (1886-1923/24)Investigators can uncover the following, synopsised or otherwise, via casual research:

Born in Canton, but raised in San Francisco, Wei returned to China in 1901. An outspoken democratic revolutionary, she usedher beauty and flair for theatre (officially banned to female actors) and song to bring her message to the people. She was a mem-ber of Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary General League and served as a poster-child of the movement for activist women and smittenyoung men. Twice arrested for sedition, she moved to liberal Shanghai where she met Ho Fong, a rising star in the export busi-ness. In 1911, just before the Manchu were swept from power, the pair married. Their daughter, Tzu-hsi, was born in late-1912.

The marriage apparently soured around 1917 and Wei’s reputation was stained with rumours of addiction and love affairs.By 1920 her estrangement from Ho Fong was an open secret and she had retired to live at her family’s summer home outsideShanghai, only appearing in the city for the occasional quiet revue. By 1922 she was not even acting anymore. Her death wasmourned only by revolutionaries, feminists, and actors who thought it better to remember her gift to art, than her muddled pri-vate life.

By the time that the investigators arrive in Shanghai, Wei’s name has become a warning given by mothers to wayward daugh-ters and a rallying cry for students and liberal social-reformists. Phonograph recordings of her songs echo across Shanghai’srooftops on protest nights (particularly popular are 1912 Draft and her personally penned Await our Unified Strength) and her faceadorns numerous revolutionary posters. When asked, most westerners remember her only as an upstart “coolie-hero,” an ac-tress and whore who spoke perfect English.

by theology/biology teacher Sister MargaretDefavrais, a young Catholic nun.

By luck or fate, Tzu-hsi was one of Margaret’spupils and it was she who found the girl in theschool-gardens, cramming songbirds into hermouth. Both the school and Ho Fongstonewalled Sister Margaret’s questions aboutthe girl’s madness. If the investigators gain hertrust (French nationals, practicing Catholics,etc.) the nun will usher them into an emptyclassroom where she will share with them whatshe has managed to learn. She firmly believesHo Fong to be tied into Shanghai’s criminalunderbelly and suspects that Tzu-hsi’s insanityis rooted in the murder of her mother, mostlikely at the hands of a rival gang. She can beconvinced, for Tzu-hsi’s sake, to supply her filesto the investigators.

Less honest investigators might simply tryto steal these same files. A pair of Russianwatchmen patrols the school nightly, while halfa dozen vagrants are allowed to sleep in theporches in exchange for chasing away thieves.Locating the school records is not difficult, butLocksmith is needed to break into the filingcabinet. From these records, the family’s homeaddress, the location of the summer house atRed Fox Village, Ho Fong’s business card, and thename of Tzu-hsi’s regular driver – Pao Wu-kung,can be learned.

Talking to Wei’s old friends andacquaintances is a dead end. The investigatorswill quickly find that doors will be shut in thefaces and telephones hung up on them. Keepingthis up loses them face and Credit Rating amongShanghai’s Chinese society.

Discreet investigators can learn the names ofWei’s old private staff: hair-stylist (Mao Shu-chuan, 34), handmaid (An Li, 17),message-runner and oddjobber (Chan Yu-fang,23), and chauffeur (Pao Wu-kung, 28). Only PaoWu-kung cannot be reached, but the otherscontinue to serve some of Shanghai’s mostprestigious families. If found, all say that theywere not at the house when Wei died, havingbeen given the night off, and were onlyinformed of her passing the following day. Largeseverance packets and Ho Fong’s aid in findingtheir current employment stays their tongues,save for a few hints:

• Ho and Wei had their own servants and Horefused access to certain rooms. Once, ChanYu-fang stopped to pray at the large statueof Buddha which Ho kept in his home andHo Fong was unusually angry about this,claiming that the statue was a family relic.

• Wei spent time at the family’s holiday homeat Red Fox Village, a small town up river.The servants will dismiss claims that she wasavoiding Ho as being an idle rumor.

• Wei was very close to her driver, Pao. No oneis sure what happened to him, though hewas given the same money and references aseveryone else. All the former staff indicatehe knew her best.

• (Only with a critical Persuade or Fast Talkroll) Neither Wei nor Ho seemed to get alongand what there was of a relationship was icy.Whatever troubled her, Wei never spoke ofit, instead finding solace in a bottle or a pipe,but it was obvious that Pao’s influencecheered her immeasurably.

As the wife of a French Concession rate-payer,Wei’s death certificate was signed by Dr. HubertMassenet, a Québécois physician. Hubert runs asmall, modern, and expensive clinic off RueJoffre. If the investigators have the rightconnections, they will also learn that his sidebusiness is in discreet abortions andprescription narcotics. With a plausible bribe,he will explain that the woman he believes wasWei died after choking on her own vomitfollowing a night of heavy drinking; he wascalled out, checked the body, signed thecertificate, and left. No actual autopsy occurred.With nothing more to add, and since his“autopsy” fulfilled the letter of the law, he asksthat investigators leave. Copies of Wei’s deathcertificate can be purchased from the FrenchMunicipality, if desired, but reveal nothing more.

Pao Wu-kung, Wei’s driver and moreDespite his being certain that Ho murdered Wei,Pao could not go to the police, for Wei had toldhim that her husband was linked to the evilOrder of the Bloated Woman. When he let themajority of her staff go following her death, HoFong gloatingly extended his wife’s lover thesame gratitude and thanks as the rest of her

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staff. Pao took the hint and fled, but his attemptto get as far as possible from Shanghai was to noavail.

Without underworld or police contacts, theinvestigators will find very little about Pao’scurrent whereabouts. Either source will relatethat about a month after Wei’s death, adispirited shell of a man matching Pao’sdescription was arrested near the Bubbling WellRoad Police Station for vagrancy. Wailing andscreaming that the “Black Woman” was thecause of his downfall, and that this “BlackWoman” was following him, he created such ascene that both the SMP Chinese constables andthose criminals in the cells demanded that he beevicted from the Settlement immediately (thisis the only reason that it is remembered by theforeign police, who are not used to suchemotional outbursts). Turned over to the Chapeipolice, Pao vanished into the Chinese prisonsystem and has not been seen since.

THE BODY ORCHARDAfter Wei’s death, Ho turned her retreat into agarden of poisons and esoteric drugs as a shrineto his truest love the Goddess. Ho transferredownership to a proxy (see below) in order toshield himself if the activities there were everdiscovered. To further protect his secrets, hemade the village a layover for his shippingbusiness, co-opting it into the legitimate side ofhis company and buying the loyalty of the localvillagers.

The Current Owners: Eightfold Truths Benevolent SocietyOwnership of the house passed through half adozen front companies. Each may be tracedwith some dedication, but visits to the addresseslisted for any of these reveals them to be false: apublic bathhouse in the Chinese Quarter, astorefront in Pudong, a demolished building inHongkew, and so on.

Eightfold Paths Benevolent Society, thecurrent owner of the house, can only be reachedvia an intermediary law firm (Croker, Croker, &Somerset in the International Settlement) whichacts for its public affairs. Publicly the Society is

a sect believing that Empress Wu Zetian (A.D.625 – 705; she was a rather unpopular leaderwith a reputation for persecuting her enemies)was a Buddha incarnate. It is in fact one of manyfronts for the Order of the Bloated Woman. Itowns a handful of temples (all Orderstrongholds) scattered across China and Japan.The law firm knows nothing of the truth aboutthe Society.

An Accounting or ! Idea roll will discoverthat all of the businesses involved save EightfoldPaths have the same co-signatory: Tang“Takahara” Leng-fa. From a seedy office above aJapanese noodle-bar in the “Little Tokyo” districtof Hongkew, Tang runs a network of front-companies. His receptionist, a surly youngJapanese woman, punches away on a massiveNippon typewriter (with its 2,400 character-gridand sliding punch) and pretends that Tang is notin – though the shadows on the door’s shadedglass partition hint otherwise. A slick fellow,Tang claims Japanese citizenship (true, since heis from Formosa) and makes his money settingup fictitious companies for money-launderingand illegal ventures. The investigators candiscover that Ho Fong’s continued ownership ofthe summer house through him or his (Japaneselanguage) files, though Tang is unlikely to offereither unless threatened with arrest or violence.Taro Isoge has managed to connect Tang and anumber of his front companies to Ho Fong. Ifhe betrays the Order, Tang will most likely be thenext armless body floating in the Whangpoo.

On To Red Fox VillageRed Fox Village (Tan hu-li ts’un) lies west ofShanghai on the banks of one of the YangtzeRiver’s many tributaries. Through flatcountryside dotted with trees, rice-paddies,fading farms, ornate temples, and run-downhamlets, travel by car takes eight hours; a motorlaunch takes five. Since there are fewautomobile mechanics available this far outsideof Shanghai (there are no ‘gas stations’) travelby boat is the safer option. This is Fengtianterritory and the off-white-uniforms of itssoldiers can be spotted, though less often thisfar from Shanghai. They mostly ignoreforeigners. After a few hours travel, the

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investigators might as well have gone fourcenturies back in time.

Cut with small canals and stone bridges, thevillage is backed by bamboo forests and risinghills. In summer the air is thick with heat andbugs; in fall it is refreshing and sunny withregular cold snaps. Ho’s high-walled Russian-styled dacha sits just a half-mile from the villageand is visible from the approaching road.Originally belonging to a Tsarist tea baron, itsowner sold it to Ho Fong when he returned tofight in the Great War. Since foreigners do notnormally visit the village, investigators canexpect to be sources of interest for children andrural-folk alike. Only Wu or Mandarin is spokenin the town, though a few Christians mightknow Dutch or English. There are no telephonesin Red Fox, but there is a telegraph-machinelinked to Peking and Shanghai at the post-office,which was built in 1917 and is the most modernbuilding in town.

Ho’s shipping business has swelled Red FoxVillage into a bustling market-town; junks andsampans regularly load and offload cargo. Formost though, life has changed little andconditions are uniformly primitive. Mostbuildings are simple timber with red-tiled roofsflanking open-guttered dirt roads. The onlyedifice taller than two storeys is the Buddhistpagoda on the far side of town. Folk aresuperstitious, shying from anything resemblingweaponry – including cameras – but the moreeducated, including its Western-trained doctor,can recommend a trustworthy hotelier andsomewhere to leave a car without it being takenapart for souvenirs. Petrol or parts can beordered from Shanghai, with delivery taking aday or two. The Order does not exercise day-to-day control of the village, leaving the people toworry over their own affairs.

If the investigators ask about the house, theywill find people a little reticent. Bribes orPersuade rolls get a potted history of howrevolutionary martyr Wei Ching-lai once livedthere and when she died it was sold on to somemonks who use it as a private garden. SinceWei’s death the dacha has been shunned. Peoplecutting through the nearby forest have vanished,and a boy playing nearby said that he was chasedby a wheezing creature with a fly’s head (actually

a gas mask-wearing gardener). As the monks donot seem to have any problems with the place,they must be either incredibly lucky orincredibly pious. Since locals do not knowwhether the disappearances are due to ghosts orbandits, they are not inclined to find out.

Order (though not law) is maintained by sixuniformed Fengtian gendarmes and somecivilian watchmen. They have no interest in thedacha or its ghosts (which they believe in, butofficially blame on bandits or wild animals).Criminals (including anyone “being a nuisance”)are held in a squalid jail for a day or two thenshipped to Shanghai’s courts. Anyone notprotected by Extraterritoriality will mostcertainly be treated roughly; even nationals fromone of the Concession Powers are not immunefrom some degree of intimidation.

The House and GardenAnyone arriving in town immediately spots thehouse peeking out over its intimidating(thirteen foot high) brick wall. Encasing thegrounds on three sides, the rear of the housebacks onto expansive bamboo forested hills.The investigators can negotiate the forest forsurreptitious entry into the house, but doing soquickly or while chased needs multiple Climband Jump rolls not to sustain any injury. Theestate’s front gate is large and strong, held shutby an ornate Chinese lock shaped like a snarlingtiger. A smaller door is set into it, with asimilarly provisioned lock (this one shaped likea howling dog) and a spy-hole. A small gongnext to the gate can be rung for assistance, butthe gardeners never allow entry to outsiders.

The Front Grounds: Beyond the main gate, agravel driveway flanked by neat grass andregimented flowerbeds leads the thirty yards tothe house. Off to one side is a stables-cum-garage. Now a fully fitted workroom, it containsparts and tools, a steam-driven truck, healthysupplies of wood and coal (for the truck), and ahalf-dozen unlabelled drums containinggasoline for the generator. From the outside, thehouse appears well kept.

Ground Floor: The downstairs rooms aregrubby and dark, its once elegant furnituredefaced. Electrical wires web the floor, runningbetween rooms and through holes hacked into

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the wainscoting. Much of the wiring is faultyand everything smells of damp and musk.Rubbish and trash are everywhere. A doorunder the stairs leads to the basement, though itis locked with two heavy padlocks. Five gasmasks hang from pegs next to it. Inside thehouse the steady, quiet throb of an electricgenerator can be heard.

Everything in the lounge has been shoved tothe edges of the room; carpets pulled up toreveal the floorboards. Most of the space istaken by a dozen large tea-chests. Whetherthere are any victims currently inside thesechests is up to the Keeper. For moreinformation on these chests, see the sidebar“The Wrong Way to Visit the Torture Garden.”

The gardeners spend most of their free timein the now filthy dining room. A back doorhere leads to the dacha’s greenhouse, whichruns the length of the building’s rear. Hot andsticky, its glass is misted with condensation.Flowerbeds line the floor, great fronds andshrubs blossoming in the heat. Biology orNatural History rolls note these as examples ofexotic tropical species, most quite poisonous(POT 4 and up). Vines and creepers, some asthick as wrists, crisscross the floor and clutch atglass panes. Standing against the dacha’s wallare cages containing assorted arachnids andinsects; Zoology or Natural History rolls identifythem as particularly venomous (POT 6 and up).Both flora and fauna are fed a regular diet ofground humans; the soil is ripe with

recognisable bone fragments and teeth (0/1point Sanity loss).

The kitchen is an unhygienic shambles, theexpensive Western amenities left to rust. Thelargest storeroom, with its heavy door, has beenturned over to the generator; its thrumming re-verberates through the house as its cables and ex-haust vents snake out through holes cut into theceiling and walls. The meat-pantry is locateddown some steps and in a mezzanine. Marble-lined and chilly, blood and hair cake the flooralongside meat cleavers, saws, and scissors. A gris-ly clothes-mangle sits at the far end of the room.Here the gardeners dissect and grind up food forthe plants; examining this area costs up to1/1D3+1 points of Sanity if fully laden with viscera.A door at the rear ofthe kitchen leads tothe Back Garden.

Second Floor:Since the gardenersactually sleep down-stairs, these rooms aremore untidy thandirty. They are litteredwith cult parapherna-lia, incense, statuettesand personal belong-ings, and the once finewallpaper is ready topeel away from thedamp walls in chunks.The largest bedroom,once Wei Ching-lai’s,

395editThe Wrong Way to Visit the Torture GardenOrder kidnappings are typically conducted using a stolen automobile, a surprise assault, and overwhelming force. Bodyguards orcompanions are often shot without regards. Rarely is a target grabbed from his home. Once at an Order safe-house the victimis tortured, trussed up, gagged and heavily sedated. Bundled into a heavy tea-chest, they are packed with other crates and takenupriver on an Order sampan. Regular bribes to Inland Customs protect these trips from the scrutiny of the authorities.

Red Fox Village’s position as a waypoint along the Whangpoo means Order cargos go unnoticed in the everyday bustle. Onlanding, a crewmember informs the Body Orchard’s staff, with normal crates disgorged at the dock while the special tea-chestsare set aside ready for collection by the gardeners. Since the amount of Order activity has increased in preparation for the gateopening, the deliveries of “fertilizer” has recently doubled to three or four a month. If a bulk delivery is made the tea-chests aredropped further upriver and the gardeners collect them with the coal-powered truck. Symbols scratched into the chests pad-locks foretell the fate awaiting those inside, with processing usually within an hour of arrival. The chests are large enough to holdabout 24 hours worth of oxygen, but sometimes guests do die before they removed from the chests...

Even when not ferrying prisoners, Order vessels regularly stop at Red Fox Village to collect the unusual drugs and poisonsthat the Garden produces. Such goods are packed into the same tea-chests use to deliver victims.

The greenhouse

has been ransacked, her clothes and makeupstrewn about. The gardeners sometimes playdress up with them while drunk or boisterous.Other knick-knacks, photographs of her and herfamily, and private possessions scatter the floor.

The Basement: The door under the stairsleads to the basement and is locked at all times,gardeners always wearing gasmasks when goingdown there. The keys are rotated daily betweendesignated doormen. Suspended behind thedoor is an oilcloth tarpaulin, which is needed tostop spores and fungi from getting upstairs(especially important as the door is left openwhen gardeners go down). A single bulb lightsthe stairs, casting deep shadows into room thebelow.

Once a wine-cel-lar, electric lightingand rudimentary hy-droponics now over-hang troughs andraised flowerbeds. In-side are human vic-tims, their skin flayedand their flesh decay-ing and liquefying,melding into vilemulch. Alien-lookingmushrooms andmolds blossom fromtheir rotting flesh.The sight is worth1d2/1d4+1 points San-ity loss. Examination

reveals many of the “bodies” as being not yet dead;their eyes follow the investigators around the un-derground room and some still gurgle pasttongues thick with green-grey fur (this raises theroom’s total cost to 1d2+1/2d4 of Sanity). The gar-deners can keep these poor souls alive indefinitely,feeding and watering them and their parasitic flo-ra two or three times a day. Each week, the mostimpressive plant specimens are picked, dried,packaged and transported into town for dispatchto Ho Fong in Shanghai.

Anyone entering the basement without a gasmask is open to POT 18 infection from fungalspores, though covering the face with a dryhandkerchief or something similar halves this toPOT 09. Allow an Idea roll to remind

investigators of the curious presence of the gasmasks if they do not consider the situationdangerous. If the spores take hold in aninvestigator’s lungs, the first indication he hasthat something is wrong is a feeling of light-headed nausea. Over the following 1d3-1 days (1minimum), the fungus spreads inside thevictim’s lungs and mucous membranes. Heloses 1HP each day, his body soon overwhelmedwith fungi just like those poor victims currentlymulching in the basement. Anyone in closecontact with the victim must also beware ofinhaling the fungal spores. A successfulMedicine roll can arrest the spread of theinfestation, but recovery is agonizing and slow(1 HP per week at most) and requireshospitalization. Otherwise, death is painful andgraphic.

The Back Garden: The gardeners spendmost of their time here; nurturing, pruning, andfeeding the numerous plants with water, blood,and fertilizer. Lush trees, swollen flowers, anddecorative stone statues of minor deities and theBuddha form intricate mazes intercut withpaved paths. Ornamental ponds, gaily paintedwooden bridges arching over them, are awashwith lilies. Peonies, crucianella, roses, saxatiles,prickwoods, foxgloves, posies and orchidsbloom. Golden pheasants and peacocks strutnoiselessly (they have been muted), and at nightstone lanterns illuminate the walkways indelicate hues.

Intermixed with these glorious displays arehorrific displays of the Order’s limitless sadism.The unluckier Order victims are used to createthis “artwork.” These include (with Sanity loss):• A pair of large, beautiful florets blooms to

reveal swollen gray-red interiors. Closerexamination reveals them to be the heads ofmen buried up to their necks – their scalpspeeled back to form heavy petals. (0/1)

• A flayed body strapped to a gibbet, withcreepers and vines intertwining the strips offlesh and muscle to create a beautifultableau. (1/1d3)

• Human flowerpots. The victims are boundin a kneeling position, faces upturned.Throats packed with mud, flowers bloomfrom their mouths. (1/1d3)

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The horrors of the Back Garden

• At the centre of the garden is a squat raisedpagoda. Within it is an effigy of the BloatedWoman sitting lotus-style; a young woman’srotting face – shorn from her body – hasbeen affixed to the statue’s own. (1d2)

Hidden behind a copse of flowering bushes is HoFong’s secret hideaway; the investigators willmost likely stumble across it accidentally thanfind it normally – though the dacha’s upstairsrear windows overlook it. This was a smallshelter where Wei Ching-lai took evening teaand stole occasional moments with Pao Wu-kung. Now it is partitioned into two bedroomsand a study. If desired, one or more of Ho’sMythos tomes may be found here or some otherclue or artefact overlooked by investigators.While Ho Fong’s visits to the estate are rare, ifthe cult was seriously threatened (and escape toHong Kong or Gray Dragon Island provedimpractical) this would be his haven. In a direenough situation, Ho and a handpicked group ofloyal bodyguards would make the journey toRed Fox Village and plan for the Order’s nextresurrection.

The Grey GardenersThe Order has about a dozen shaven-headed“gardeners” at the dacha; all experts in martialarts, torture, and botany – they serve as theOrder’s assassins and bodyguards. Each is an

orphan raised by, and indoctrinated into, theOrder solely to kill and are augmented byvarious rare (and addictive) drugs such thatcollectively the ‘Grey Gardeners’ have formed analmost psychic bond with each other. This givesthem two qualities: firstly they immediatelyknow if one of their number suffers an injury.Secondly, though sado-masochists, they do notfeel pain in the same way sane men do; they arerelentless and seemingly inexhaustible. In gameterms, a Grey Gardner does not need to makeresistance rolls if he loses over half his Hit Pointsfrom damage, cannot be knocked unconscious,and can act normally until reduced to 0 HitPoints. It costs 1/1d3 Sanity the first time thatanyone sees these skills being demonstrated.And additional Sanity loss is possible due tofurther displays of their inhumanly high pain-thresholds.

Five gardeners are rotated between the BodyOrchard and Shanghai every few months. In thecity, they serve as interrogators and chefs; andin the latter capacity one can usually be foundin Ho Fong’s kitchen. In Red Fox Village, theylive in near total isolation, though there is a 10%chance when the investigators first arrive(increasing by 10% cumulative each daythereafter) that a gardener will be in townbuying supplies. Feigning innocence, theirvoluminous black Buddhist robes and conicalhats hide any hint of Bloated Woman worship,

397editSaving the Village by Burning It: A Deus Ex MachinaWhile its distance from the town and its surrounding woodland makes the dacha relatively secluded, an extended or heavy fire-fight, a massive conflagration, or earth-shaking explosion will not go unnoticed. If such an event occurs, 2d6+3 of the Fengtiangendarmes and some of the braver townsfolk come up to the dacha, armed and ready to investigate after no less than an hourof preparation and steeling of nerves.

The gardeners will attempt to forestall any entry into the dacha, and try to downplay whatever aroused their interest, per-haps claiming it was the result of a bandit attack. If they fail, and the gruesome contents of garden or basement are uncoveredby the townspeople, chaos will reign. Within twenty-four hours a detachment of Fengtian soldiers will march into the village andplace it under martial law. Any remaining investigators will be arrested, held for several days, and interrogated harshly about theirreasons for coming to the dacha, before being released with the proviso that they must never return to Red Fox Village. Mean-while, the dacha will be levelled, its grounds burnt and salted, and the entire area buried. If the investigators do return to thevillage, they will find a ghost town; its buildings emptied, families executed, and its stores looted. If the investigators manage tofind any survivors, they will only be able to relate how they were driven from the village by Fengtian soldiers. Within a fewmonths, the village dries up and blows away like leaves on the wind.

A few tales of a bandit-raid or anti-bandit operation near a little village upriver do filter back to Shanghai, though no one no-tices or cares. The Order of the Bloated Woman, enraged, swears revenge but must bide its time until its power rivals that ofthe local warlords. Unless badly damaged by the investigators, that day might be soon at hand…

and harassing them only brings the ire of thelocal populace. In the event that they determinethat the investigators are a threat, the GreyGardeners will seek to attack by night and killthem as surreptitiously as possible. By day theymeditate, work the garden, or practise martialarts. At night they enjoy themselves withgambling, drunken debauchery, and sadisticgames (a favourite game includes dressing up afresh victim in Wei Ching-lai’s clothes andmakeup, and then hunting him or her aroundthe grounds).

Their ability to know if one of them isinjured means that once one of them has beenattacked they all will suddenly be ready forbattle, prepared to defend the garden. Knowingthat their speed, durability, and willingness tosuffer physical injury is likely to be intimidating,the Grey Gardeners prefer to get up close anddisarm their enemies before finishing them atleisure. If this is impossible, they do not mindsuffering relatively minor (but visually nasty)injuries in order to get close – leaping throughwindows or blocking bladed weaponry withtheir fists, for example.

HANDOUTSHandout #1:Noted Actress, Socialite Wei Ching-lai CrematedDated: 03 JAN 1924

Wei Ching-lai, former actress, socialite, andactivist, was laid to rest yesterday. Discovereddead at her home three days ago, doctorsannounced only that she had been sufferingfrom a long illness. A public ceremony in theBuddhist manner was held early in the day,though husband, the shipping magnate Ho Fong,retired with the coffin and priest to a privateChristian cremation later. The couple’s daughter,Miss Tzu-hsi, was not present, Mr Ho saying onlythat she was recovering from the “terribleshock” afforded the family. Rumours that shewas removed from the prestigious St Amaro’sGirls College due to nervous strain remainunproven.

Public and revolutionary figures paidrespects to this once luminary star.Controversially forced out of the theatrical lifeshe gave so much to, Wei Ching-lai’s death stillbrought together many who had previouslydenounced her in the wake of controversial, andunproven, rumours into her private life.

Handout #2:Marital Bliss, Chinese Style(Chinese Whispers, 1922)

Shanghai awoke to more angry buzzing thisweek. No; not from the surfeit of Whangpoomosquitoes, but more stories of insensitivity vis-à-vis Wei Ching-lai. Of course we can only reportit exactly as what it currently is – hearsay. Andyou hear us say it first!

Recent rumor put Mrs. Wei, second-fiddle torising actress Siao Ai-chang in Pu-hsing Er(“Unfortunate Child”) at the Republic Theatre, as“liaising” with star Huan Ming-men and directorJui Tsai. Mrs Wei, who serves as her own agent,refused to comment, preferring instead to drinkthe night away (alone, we add) at localnightclubs. This plucky reporter caught her foran interview and was chased off the premises bysecurity and the fire-breathing actress herself.Fire-breathing? Really? Maybe it was just thedozen double-whiskeys we saw her down!

Husband and import/export Taipan Ho Fonghas been keeping low throughout; and notwithout reason in China’s vitriolic social scene.Mr Ho was even missing from his usual cardtable, preferring to camp at one of the lessjournalist-friendly restaurants in theConcessions. Chinese Whispers was thereforeunable to get an interview, but we do ask; justwho was that charming and silent young womanwaiting for him in his private car? We can’t say –but peering over that fan of hers we can only saywith any certainty that she had the best pair ofpeepers this side of Peiping!

398 Shanghai

STATISTICS

Sister Margaret Defavrais, Teacher and Nun,age 24STR 10 CON 10 SIZ 11 INT 15 POW 13DEX 12 APP 12 EDU 16 SAN 65 HP 11Weapons: Wrestle, slap, and gouge, 1D3Skills: Accounting 33%, Anthropology 12%,

Assume the worst 63%, Biology 72%, Botany 38%, CatholicDoctrine 67%, Credit Rating 45%,Drive 20%, English 49%, First Aid 45%, French 83%, Hide 46%, Latin 58%, Library Use 54%, Listen 61%, Mandarin 23%,Medicine 32%, Pidgin 17%, ReadChinese 00%, Russian 11%,Shanghainese 21%, Sneak 45%, SpotHidden 42%

Notes: due to her vows, if Defavrais killssomeone (or allow someone killed)she loses 1D10/1D100 Sanity. This

includes her acting in self-defenceand against cultists, but not thekilling of Mythos creatures.

Cultist Gardeners, Botanist Torturers for theBloated WomanSTR CON SIZ INT POWDEX APP db HP0114 14 13 14 14 14 12 1D4 1402 14 15 15 16 13 15 11 1D41503 17 12 13 14 14 13 13 1D41304 16 15 14 14 13 16 09 1D41505 17 14 16 15 16 15 12 1D615Weapons: Fist/Punch 70%, 1D3+db

Cult Sickle 45%, damage 1D8+1+db*Kick 60%, 1D4+dbGrapple 55%, damage specialImpromptu Gardening Implement45%, 1D4+db

Skills: Bargain 30%, Botany 60%, BuddhistTheology 5%, Climb 56%, Conceal 42%, Chinese Dialect orTwo 55%, Cthulhu Mythos 24%,Disguise 53%, Dodge 45%,Drive 20%, Fast Talk 40%, Hide 53%, Jump 65%, Listen 60%, Locksmith 20%, Martial Arts 55%,Occult 45%, Pidgin English 14%,Pilot: Boat 42%, Poison 60%, Sneak 60%, Swim 46%, Torture 55%

Sanity Loss:Their gasmasks can be shocking ifunexpected; jumpy investigators (orthose seeing them in the dark) mayincur 0/1 or 0/1d2 Sanity loss.Seeing gardeners survive injuriesthat should drop a normal mancosts 1/1d3 Sanity.

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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: More a concertina-like scroll than a book, thebeginning and the end of this long stretch ofpaper are attached to two thin black-lacqueredwooden panels using thread tied through a pairof holes in each block (4” by 10 !”). Unfurled,the paper runs to approximately 50 pages oftext. Folded, accordion-like, it is held shut witha ribbon of coarse black material (a Medicine rollrecognizes it as finely woven human hair mixedwith silk). Several Chinese characters(“黑扇神女”, heishan shen nü which literallyreads as Black Fan Goddess in English) have beeninlaid on the opening wooden panel in gold leaf.The contents are in Classical Chinese. NativeChinese readers will note that the charactersused for “Goddess” (shen nü) are also aeuphemism for “prostitute,” giving the title aparticularly curious dual-meaning for thoseunversed in its contents.

Anyone with some familiarity with Asianbook binding techniques (or who can make anINTx1 roll) will recognize this binding methodas pleated-leaf binding (an Indian techniqueused for religious sutras, later adopted by theChinese who call it Fan chia chuang), a fashionusually associated with Buddhist religiouswritings. This style was popular after the 1stcentury AD, though an expert can determinewith little effort that the work was producedsometime in the mid-16th century due to thematerials used. Experts in Chinese history willconsider the fact it was written in the middle ofthe Ming dynasty, but used Classical text andHan-era binding techniques as being oddlyanachronistic, if not deliberately archaic.

SKIMMING: The book is a long poem dedicated to a beingreferred to as the “Goddess of the Black Fan,”and describes the author’s murderous devotionto her. Over the course of many gruesome andterrible verses the author tells how he engagedin acts of kidnapping, murder, cannibalism, andwhat can only be described as bestiality, if notsomething far worse, all in the name of devotionto this Goddess. The poetic styling marks theauthor as a person of good education and, if thesubject matter was not abhorrent to theextreme, a reader might go so far as to call itbeautiful. Even a fleeting skim gives rise tofeelings of disgust and self-loathing that willleave the average reader feeling physically ill.

RESEARCH: As mentioned before, there is little informationavailable in Western sources about this tome(see below for the singular exception). Ifconsulted, only the most learned of Chineseexperts (and the Keeper should consider if thesesources have been compromised by, or arevulnerable to the Order of the Bloated Woman)will be able to inform the investigators that thisbook is the holy text for a cult of degeneratemurderers called the Order of the BloatedWoman. Less learned experts will only be ableto relate the general background information(publicly known rumors only) about the cult asprovided in the campaign book.

As to The Goddess of the Black Fan itself,there is scant information available on the book,and what is available, is fragmentary in nature.

黑扇神女(The Goddess of the Black Fan)

Bret Kramer and Scott Slemmons, with Chinese translations andaddenda by Anthony Warren and Susan Zhang

It is thought to have been written in the 16thcentury by Liu Chan-fang, of whom little moreis known other than the fact that he was aretired minor official of the Imperial Court. Theoriginal copy was supposed to have been writtenin the author’s own blood at the end of a lengthyseries of kidnapping and murders. Somehowthe poem became central to an illegal cult ofcourt officials who practiced human sacrifice tothe titular goddess, leading to repeatedattempts by the central authorities to ban thebook and its affiliated cult, none of which weresuccessful. During the reign of the K’anghsiEmperor, for example, the book was particularlyrepressed, and after the Revolt of the ThreeFeudatories (the fourth of many such bans)simple possession of the scripture waspunishable by death not only for the individualin question but his entire family and theirservants. Technically this edict was neveroverturned, but since the end of the Qingdynasty and the rise of republicanism, it has notbeen enforced and has probably generally beenforgotten.

Any copies seized by the authorities weresupposed to have been destroyed, but the work’ssurvival – despite the best efforts of the Imperialauthorities – suggests that this was not alwaysthe case. It is rumored to have been translatedinto Japanese (a flawed facsimile known as theKuroi Sensu no Hon or “Book of the Black Fan”was published during the late-Tokugawa era)and Korean, while persistent rumors suggestthat some attempt was made to smuggle thework into the growing Russian empire. Mostpeople only know of it by legend, while popularbelief – such as it is – suggests the book iscursed.

One specific reference that does emergefrom Western sources is in regard to the notedBritish scholar and Sinologist, RoderickRutherford Blain, Professor of OrientalLiterature at Oxford (1836-1879). A footnote inthe (admittedly rather rare) biography of Blainwritten a few years after his death mentions hetold colleagues he was working on a translationof an otherwise unknown Buddhist text, titledthe “Black Fan Goddess sutra” before his tragicdeath. Further research or a halved Know rollreminds investigators that Blain was killed in amysterious house fire that was ruled accidental,

though not before a dispute arose at his inquestwhen the coroner suggested both arms hadbeen severed before the body was burned.

THOROUGH READING:Written in skillful poetry (which an expert canidentify as the style of the mid-16th century), thework recounts the growing madness of itsauthor and his ever increasing devotion to amysterious woman, a clearly supernatural being(and, it is hinted, perhaps a god), who concealsher face behind a black fan. The author, a formergovernment official grown despondent after thedeath of his wife and only child, retreats first toa Buddhist monastery but finds no relief, insteadturning to drink. In a drunken stupor hestumbles upon a ruined temple, wherein he findsa strange woman clad in black and yellow silk towhom he is instantly smitten. To demonstratehis devotion, he fulfills her request for a child;when a peasant child is kidnapped and broughtto her he quickly learns that she wants the childin order to eat its brain. The author hesitatesonly briefly before he again swoons at thewoman’s flirtations; soon he is kidnapping otherchildren (including the children of his brother)to sacrifice to the woman.

Eventually his many offerings are rewardedby the being, now openly called a goddess. Theauthor, who is finally named as one Liu Chan-fang, and the woman couple, in a prolongedscene that is all the more gruesome for theauthor’s nonchalant reaction during theirlovemaking to his realization the goddess is asix-limbed, many-mouthed monstrosity overseven feet tall and not a lithe beauty as she hadpreviously appeared. Afterwards, in a momentof clarity, the author flees from the ruinedtemple to the burned wreck of his old home,where he pens, in his own blood, this poem, apanegyric to the woman and her greater glory.

The entire piece is a catalog of degradation,sadism, sexual deviancy, and madness whichleaves truly disturbing imagery in the mind ofthe reader long after he has finished. Mostdemeaning are the erotic aspects of the work;even for those otherwise unaffected mentally,feelings of being polluted or corrupted lingeruncomfortably.

401edit

QUOTES:

She stands alone in her templeAlone atop a bejeweled daisHer beauty would blast the heavensHer eyes are dark green pools

A silken tunic she wearsYellow and black in color, like a waspAnd in her belt she has tucked her stingSix sickles, sharp as a dragon‘s tooth

Her face she hides behind a fanBlack metal, as black as darknessMy lady, remove your fanI would feast upon your beauty

The fan flutters but does not fallShe simpers behind the fan and says“You would make such requests of Me?”Her voice is like iron shredding velvet

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Why should Hsien have children when Ihave lost mine?

He has never been an honorable manIf there were justice, he would have lost

his children

But thanks to the Goddess, there can bejustice again

Hsien’s house was quiet, and even theservants and dogs slept

None heard me enter, none heard me leaveA dozing child in my arms, a baby in

my sackAll glory and praise to the Goddess of the

Black Fan!

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Her eyes remained the same, so greenand deep

So rich and lovely, still could they put mein a trance

Her eyes remained the same, yet whenthe black fan fell

Everything else about her changed

I have focused on her fan and her eyes,but now I finally see her

Before my eyes, she expands, now abloated slug, immense and howling

Her sweet mouth sprouts into five fang-filled maws

Her arms become venomous snakes,thirsty for blood

Shanghai402

403editThe dragon-toothed feaster towering

above me, her own temple too smallHer mouths open and five voices giggle

girlishly, licking the air“Tell your Goddess that you love her, Liu

Chan-fang” she tauntsI love her, I love her, I love her, I love

her, I love her

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thus have I taken the sickle of theGoddess and opened my belly

My quill is dipped into my ownreservoir and my own red ink

As my heart has bled for the glory of myGoddess

Now let my heart bleed to commemorateher horrors

With these words, my poem is completedWith these words, I dieAll praise and worship to my GoddessMy Goddess of the Black Fan

NOTES FOR THE KEEPER:The dark reputation of The Goddess of the BlackFan can be something more than justsuperstition. If the Keeper wishes, anyonereading this work must match their POW versusthe POW of the piece on the resistance table –

POW 10 for a skim, 15 for a close reading. Failureresults in a series of ever-growing nightmaresabout the Goddess of the Black Fan and her cult.Each night the reader must make a new POWroll versus 15, with unsuccessful rolls resultingin a terrifying dream that saps 0/1d2 points ofSanity. Oppressive and murky, the nightmaresshow fleeting glimpses of ruined pagodas andstrange, semi-Oriental landscapes; half-seenrituals, and inky black shapes that swell andslither. Sometimes they are lucid; at other timesthe sufferer is forced to act them out, knowingfull well that he or she cannot stop. Near the endof each hallucination the afflicted blindly followsthe girlish tittering laugh of the Goddess untilthey finds Her. Half-cowled in shadow, hiddenbehind her black fan, she coaxes him into herembrace in silent and alluring flirtation; and justas he is absolutely ready to seize her – the fanslips, and the dreamer awakens, screaming anddrenched in sweat, unable to remember exactlywhat they saw, but knowing innately that it wasnot merely a phantasm of thought. Femaleinvestigators otherwise not otherwise inclinedtowards lesbianism might find such visions allthe more disturbing. These dreams persist untilthe reader succeeds in a POW contest at whichpoint the reader is assumed to have escaped thebook’s grasp. Drugs and alcohol may repressthis dreaming of the Goddess, but the dreamsresume once the stupefying agent isdiscontinued. A fumbled roll means that thereader has a full-fledged encounter with a dreamvision of the Goddess of the Black Fan. Thisshould be role-played out by the Keeper andcould take the form of a waking nightmare.Nyarlathotep might take this occasion to conveysome threat or promise to the investigator orotherwise act to sow chaos and destruction. Thedream vision of the goddess costs 1/1d10 pointsof Sanity. Phobias and indefinite insanitiescaused by the book should reflect their origins -cannibalistic urges, destructive sexual desires,gynophobia, misogyny or the urge self-mutilateare all possibilities. Anyone driven topermanent insanity by the work will eitherbecome a cultist worshiping the Bloated Womanor will seek to take their own life.

Shanghai404

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A red-leather bound royal octavo (10” high x 6%”wide). The cover is stamped with the title (LeLivre d’Ivon) in faded gold leaf. The title pagebears the title and author (Ivon le Grande,Sorcier de Hyperborée) and translator (Gasparddu Nord). “M. Villebonais et Frère” is given aspublisher with a publication date of 1594. Thetext, printed on good quality paper, is in French(a French roll recognizes it as coming from the16th century); the cover appears to be moremodern, perhaps the 18th century; a Luck roll(or any amount of study) will note a short Italianmotto1 in badly faded ink in the book’s rear;antiquarians will, after much research, identify itas belonging to Alessandro Castaigne, a wealthyearly 19th century Italian occultist. The text isintact and contains a small selection ofillustration plates depicting a wide array of veryunusual subjects. The book itself is in goodcondition, save for a set of long parallel scratchesor gouges running from middle left to bottomright of the cover. Microscopic examinationshows the damage is quite recent. Curiously, thescratches faintly bear the odor of ammonia.

SKIMMING: This book claims to be a grimoire penned by thesorcerer Ivon of Hyperborea. The main part ofthe work details his training (under “Xilac duMuthulain”), his travels with his companionTsalguise, and his pact with the mightySathojuè, a great squat being (alternatelydescribed as toad-like or furry and mammalian)with god-like powers and given to strangeemotional outbursts. His alliance with thisbeing cements Ivon’s reputation as a greatwizard and grants him access to a vast arsenal

of incantation and enchantments, many ofwhich are discussed in the text.

There are chapters that seem unrelated tothe main biographical narrative of the book; awhole chapter is devoted to the destructiveattacks of a vast white serpent (“RelimSha’coeur”) that laid waste to vast portions ofancient Hyperborea. Another chapter presentsa weird discussion mixing mundane astrologywith shocking details about the other worlds inour solar system (and beyond).

The illustrations in the work, aside fromsome graphic capitals, often represent thevarious entities discussed, including theaforementioned Relim Sha’coeur, Sathojuè itself,and his amoeboid servants, to name a few. Theyare done in a somewhat irregular style,suggesting the artist was self-taught at best.

The work concludes with a chapter allegedlywritten by Syron of Varand, a disciple of Ivon,who claims to have compiled the work fromdocuments granted to him by his former masterafter he departed Earth to escape persecution bythe priests of the elk-goddess Yhoundé.

While presented in a matter of fact tone, thesorts of topics discussed and the unsettlingsuggestions made within leave readersdisturbed.

RESEARCH: Investigators seeking information on thisparticular edition of the Book of Eibon will findlittle of use. No other copies have ever surfacedin public collections or at auction; a MaximilienVillebonais is mentioned by several Frenchhistories for being one of the few peopleexecuted (in 1598) for heresy in the yearsfollowing the liberalizing Edict of Nantes, in hiscase for “the continual and repeated printing of

Livre d’IvonBret Kramer

1. “…io fei gibetto a me de le mie case…” [Of my own house I made myself a gibbet].

405editworks antithetical to Christian thought andteachings” and for his public false repentancethe previous year..

Alessandro Castaigne (1773-1871) passed hisestate and collection on to his numerousreclusive heirs. While the family maintains theirancestral castle and (if rumors are to bebelieved) continue to expand theirfather/grandfather’s collection, none of themodern Castaignes will reply to either letters ortelegrams. Occultists and other investigatorswith connections to those circles can confirmthese rumors with a little effort; they will alsohear several additional rumors of some of thefamily’s rather unsavory private habits and thatat least one of Castaigne’s grandchildren(Michél) was forcibly institutionalized after hisviolent attacks (as well as at least one murder)on several scholars in Rome during 1911 and1912.

General information about the Book of Eibonis presented in the article “Researching the Bookof Eibon” on page XX.

THOROUGH READING: This book is a compilation of the works of Ivon,a sorcerer in a vastly prehistoric kingdomreferred to as Hyperborea. After a prolongedperiod of study under the wizard Xilac in hisblack tower in the realm of Muthulaine, Xilacwas killed in some mysterious accident. Ivon(sometimes called Ibon or Eibon in the text)then traveled widely in search of new learningin occult topics. Sometime accompanied by oneTsalguise, he spent many years wandering theEarth and worlds beyond – including the curiousworld of Shagai and the weird Vallée du Pnathe.At one point he enters into a pact with thestrange god Sathojuè, a weird hirsute (yet toad-like) being of vast knowledge and vasterappetites. For his service to the being, Ivon wastaught many powerful enchantments bySathojuè.

Returning to his former master’s tower, Ivonestablished his reputation as the greatest wizardof his age. One passage relates his attempt toavert a distant catastrophe in which the Earth

itself will be destroyed by some vast cosmic body(or being) through the use of an epic andawesome enchantment. A lengthy digressionrelates this destruction wrought uponHyperborea by Relim Sha’coeur, a great whiteserpent, and its allies; instructions on how theworm was brought forth and how it might bedriven away are given. The work concludes witha section purportedly by Syron of Varand, a pupilof Ivon, who claims to have compiled this workfrom notes by his master after Ivon was drivenfrom Hyperborea by the religious persecution ofthe priests of the goddess Yhoundé. Syrondcryptically hints that Ivon, having made hisescape via a weird metal portal, might still liveon some distant world.

Much of the text is taken up with variousformulae and instructions by Ivon for castingspells, some of which he learned from Xilac,many others from Sathojuè, and even a few hecreated himself. The first type include spells tofly, ward against spirits, raise up a fog, rituallyprepare a magical blade, maim (or lame) anenemy, to contact one known as “The Terribleand Mighty Priest of Dreams” (Ivon describesthis spell as particularly dangerous), and contactsomething known as “The All and Nothing” or“The Lord of the Silver Key,” being of greatmagical power. Enchantments learned fromSathojuè include a prayer to that being, a ritethat will call forth his shapeless minions, atechnique to enchant a flame to see distantplaces, a spell to kill a foe via rotting,2 a formulato turn an opponent to stone, a way of guardingagainst mundane attacks as well as a morepotent protection, and finally a method to callforth “the Fire That Rules All” (again, Ivon warnsof the dangers of this enchantment). Ivonhimself – though he suggests he was inspired byhis furry master – developed the means totransport himself via a magical portal to distantplaces, even other worlds. He also provides amethod to shield oneself (and perhaps a fewcompanions) from the servants of “The Many-Faced Voice of the Mad Ones” (a dangerousbeing also referred to as “The Masked King ofDarkness” or “He Who Keeps Vigil at the Gate”).

2. A marginal note, in Italian, here (one of the very few in the work) asks “This may be of some use against those ‘kissed’ by Glaqui.”

QUOTES:

The blade, thus purified, need be then washed in waters over whichthe Rite of Mnomatis has been spoken. It is now a tool a great use, forit can cut those who dwell outside as well as those who come on wingsand dance atop the hills. Such blades are best used by allies, for suchbeings, though they now may be slain, still bear terrible weapons. Thesubtle wizard will keep such tools to give as gifts ever knowing that hehimself may still ward their attack by means of the enchantmentdiscussed previously.

- - - - -

Know this of Apauth, the Eternal Father of Corruption and Foulness.It bears great wisdom but will serve no man. Sacquieus teaches thatApauth is a child of the one who dwells in Yqua and that those whobargain with in speak to a servant of the Master of Ancient Tablets.Xilac taught that She Who Couples in Many Ways, She Who Seeks to beJoined and Yet Hungers, was born of the same Father; his wisdom wasclouded by his many flaws. Fear one such as these, even if as well taughtas I.

- - - - -

I record here the final fate of my master, the learned Eibon, so thatmen of future times might know his greatness and strength. In such atime as had past one-hundred and thirty years, he fell out of favor withthe priests of the false god called Yhoundé, She of the Elk’s Head. Manyconflicts passed between my Master and these worthless ones, maySathojuè feast upon their bones ever more, and in each he proved theirbetters. My Master was ever wise and knew that the growth of theirmadness could not be checked by his own wisdom or might and wouldonly fail in ages hence, when his name was known to the cunning whiletheir goddess would be as dust, and so he constructed a means to flyfrom their troublesome lands to a world far distant – far Cyranotte.

406 Shanghai

407edit

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A collection of bamboo strips (each about 11”long) laid out and bound together with threadto form a continuous sheet that can be foldedlike a modern-day pamphlet. The primarylanguage written upon the piece can beidentified as a particularly sinuous and stylizedform of Chinese with a Know roll; a Chinese rollrecognizes it as Classical Chinese (G!wén), mostlikely from the Zhou dynasty (c. 1100 B.C. to c.200 B.C.), though this does not explain its oddlyserpentine characteristics. Intermixed with theChinese character are symbols from anotherlanguage; these are R’lyeh glyphs, as a successfulCthulhu Mythos roll can attest. The fibrousbinding is curious, strong yet pliable despite itsapparent age, and appears to be from a plant ofsome kind (Biology or Botany rolls areinconclusive; it may be some sort of seaweed)and the bamboo is fragile. Some pieces havebroken over time and a few strips appear to havebeen replaced, giving it a patchwork appearanceat a distance.

The entire piece is held inside a finely-madehinged jade box (12” x 8” x 5”), affixed withgaudy pearl and gold inlay. The style is curiousand its exterior artwork features a stylizedaquatic theme of frogs and octopi, including acentral ghastly humanoid figure with acephalopod head (0/1 points Sanity loss ifstudied closely). Initially the art appears to beChinese in origins (an expert can place it as

being from sometime during the Spring andAutumn period, 722-481 B.C.), but there arecertain inconsistencies that suggest theinfluence of an unknown culture or artistic bent.The gold itself is also unusual; though it appearsto be white gold, it is far more durable than thatalloy is typically. Understandably, the box itself isquite heavy.

SKIMMING: This is a collection of instructions for theworship of a being called k’e t’u lu (恪峹甪), atitanic dragon or god dwelling in a greatsubmarine city in the Pacific (called la lai yeh or拉萊耶) as well as the history of its arrival on ourworld from distant stars. Parts of the originalwork equate the being with Shang Ti, the AboveEmperor, and Heaven worship as being part ofits veneration. As such, the organism isapparently resting until certain propitiousastrological events occur; until then it reachesout to individuals via dream-visions and its manyoffspring or servants (the work is unclear),including a race of amphibious humanoids andcolossal squid-like beings made in its own image.The rites detailed for both worship and contactare cruel, gruesome things, and make frequentuse of human sacrifice.

The main text is frequently appended withcomments, seemingly from the scribe copyingthe original work. These comments have beeninserted into the text quite subtly, offering

拉萊耶記(La Lai Yeh Chi; Records of R’lyeh)

Bret Kramer

(With translations and addenda by Anthony Warren & Susan Zhang)

clarification on obscure and oblique passages aswell as sometimes translating some portions ofthe text in the non-Chinese script, which itrefers to as the “Chou hsian tongue,” (侜穸暗)being the place of k’e t’u lu’s origin.

Anyone skimming the work who makes asuccessful Psychology roll will suspect that theauthors of both works were at best sociopathsand at worst inhuman; the secondary authorseems at pains to emphasize the might andbenevolence of the dweller of la lai yeh despitethe text’s emphasis of humankind’sinsignificance. The descriptions are ageless,cynical, and oppressively nihilistic; the readercannot help but feel revolted and withdrawn.

RESEARCH: The scroll appears to be a particularly ancientcopy of what is more commonly known amongesoteric scholars in the West as the R’lyeh Text,as far as can be determined by a day’s use of amajor library accompanied by successful LibraryUse and Occult rolls. Translations are said tohave been made of the original text into Latin,English, and German; research into eachrequires its own Library Use roll.

Legend says that the Latin version is derivedfrom a work of stone or clay tablets seized fromthe Greeks during the Pyrrhic War (280-75 B.C.);a fragment attributed to Quintus Fabius Pictorreferences that “certain scrolls taken from theEpiriot camp were brought back to Rome,including… the Book of Urrilia, a writing sacredto the cult of Poseidon of Kythnos and dedicatedto his son Cythulus...” The work must havesurvived until the time of at least Valentinian I(364-375) when an imperial edict banned the“rites and scrolls of Rulean (also called UrrileanOracles)” and imposed a punishment ofbeheading upon anyone holding these texts. Nomodern copies in either Greek or Latin areknown to exist.

An English version of the work, said to havebeen translated from a now-lost Latin version, isrumored to have been produced by or, morelikely, at the behest of John Wilmot, thenotorious second Earl of Rochester (1657-1680).Never published, a number of holographiccopies in the Earl’s hand are said to have

circulated at the court of Charles II under thetitle “The Book of Rileah.” This led to an ill-explained scandal in 1676 involving the Earl anda number of courtiers, described by onebiographer as:

“… a riotous party on the beach atthe Isle of Sheppey (near the mouth ofthe Thames), in which the Earl is said tohave donned an elaborate headdress andchanted in an unknown tongue, perhapsaping the rites of Hindus. When nothingcame of his mystical performance heengaged in yet another round of heavydrinking and rutting, eventually startinga substantial bonfire that rapidly grewout of control and attracted theattention of the night watch. His publicexcesses resulted in another petition ofcomplaint to the king, this time onbehalf of three local parishes. Two dayslater he began an affray in Epsom withthe city watch, which resulted in thedeath of his friend Downes. Little reasonis given for this uncharacteristicviolence, though his flight was short-lived. He returned to court from hidingbarely a month later.”

The Earl of Rochester died of syphilis or asimilar disease in 1680, his legitimate sonCharles following him to the grave the followingyear. No copies of his ‘original’ English versionare known to be held in any public collection,but a hoax edition was auctioned by Sotheby’sin London in 1911, to some minor bibliophilicinterest, until an examination revealed it amodern fabrication. Copies of this forgery stilloccasionally circulate as the genuine article.

While none of Wilmot’s original copies areavailable for public study, it is likely thatreproductions of varying quality exist. Seriousresearchers will uncover evidence of at least onecopy having been transported to the Americas,where it formed the basis for Doctor LabanShrewsbury’s An Investigation Into the Myth-Patterns of Latter-Day Primitives, with EspecialReference to the R’lyeh Text. Published byMiskatonic University Press in 1913, this workdid great damage to the reputation of Dr.

Shanghai408

409editShrewsbury. It is rumored his disappearance,likely a suicide, in 1915 was driven in part bycriticism over this work. Another scholar whohas cited the R’lyeh Text, Harold HadleyCopeland, late of the Sandbourne Institute ofPacific Antiquities, also suffered professionalcensure. Apparently driven mad by a disastrousTibetan expedition in 1913, Copeland iscurrently confined in a California asylum.

The only other version known to haveexisted in Europe is a German edition believedto have been published around 1735 in Munichor Hameln (Hamlin) under the bizarre title DieLiyuhh. Coming from a very limited print run,several hundred at most, the anonymoustranslator’s output is said to be a recension of aLatin version together with a previouslyunknown Chinese edition. Some occultists havelinked the print to Hektor Osterloh, a Hamelnprinter known to turn out illegal esoteric tractsalongside his lawful trade in Bibles.Unfortunately much of what is known aboutthis very obscure German copy comes(secondhand) from Gottfried Mülder, confidanteand publisher of the thoroughly disreputableoccultist Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt. In severalletters (dated between 1842 and 1846 andpublished in the journal Der geheimnisvolleSpiegel), Mülder defends himself against chargesof immorality and public corruption (for whichhe was later driven from Leipzig by theauthorities) while describing Die Liyuhh in somedetail (connecting it to something called TheDhol Chants). He even goes so far as to cite it asan example of the sort of work that he wouldnever publish due to it being too vile.

As for this Chinese version, an expertexamining the bamboo strips can definitivelyplace the book’s creation as being towards theend of the Zhou dynasty, most likely during theWarring States Period (c. 223 B.C.) and almostcertainly in the city of Luoyi (now Luoyang), theZhou capital of the time. The origins of the caseaccompanying the book are harder to interpret,though the style suggests a coastal site, perhaps

from the Chiang-su province during the sameperiod.

It is left up to the Keeper to provideinformation on such items as R’lyeh andCthulhu, as the abundance of available usefulsources would make any discussion of them hererelatively superfluous. William Hamblin’s article“In Rerum Supernatura” (pages 108-113 of theCall of Cthulhu rulebook) and Daniel Harms’excellent Encyclopedia of the Cthulhu Mythosare both very helpful places to begin.

THOROUGH READING: This work contains the rituals and rites of thefollowers of k’e t’u lu, a humanoid yet octopoidalalien of tremendous power being now trappedin the sunken realm of la lai yeh. While China isone of the few cultures to have no “creationmyth” of the history of the universe, the originalscholar and later copier-commentator of thistext provide a complex history of thisextraterrestrial creator. Both describe it assleeping or dreaming, yet at other times as beingdead or in a state of dying. Various rites andinvocation are detailed, including numeroususes of animal and human sacrifice. Thecosmology of k’e t’u lu is related to acontemporarily unknown Taoist scripture calledT’ai I Shengshui (Great One Birthing Water)1: hecomes to Earth from a distant star called Chouhsian with his many spawn (smaller versions ofitself) as well as created servitors (a sort ofhumanoid amphibian led by giant versions ofthat species, and able to interbreed with, orperhaps even originally formed from theprecursors of, men); the many wars between theChou hsian race and several other weird beings(based in the southern hemisphere, mainly); anda menagerie of k’e t’u lu’s offspring, mostlytentacular horrors similarly trapped at variousill-defined locations around the globe. Much ofthis is written with the trappings of a debasedConfucian mind; for example, k’e t’u lu isequated as having the literal Mandate ofHeaven, a father figure to look up to and be

1. The T’ai I Shengshui was not uncovered until 1993, but was written circa. 4th Century BC. It includes such choice phrases as, “Thereforethe Great One [T’ai I] is stored in water and travels through the seasons. Circulating again [missing characters] the mother of all countlessthings. At times diminishing, sometimes flourishing, it takes itself as designer of those countless things it sends forth.” The text alsoconsiders the cults of various gods and spirits (shen ming) aligned with the T’ai I who received earthly human worship during the period.

Shanghai410obedient to at all times, while the amphibiousraces are described as living in perfect societies,with pure loyalty and artistic cultivation.

While the main author speaksauthoritatively about specific rites and practices,much of the text is peppered with commentarymeant to clarify what is being discussed,presumably to an audience wider than theoriginal author intended. Some of what is saidby the main author is undermined by thesecondary one, usually in a manner thatsuggests that the secondary author eithermisunderstands the nature of k’e t’u lu and itsminions, is willfully misrepresenting them, orperhaps the capricious nature of this “god” haschanged over the millennia. The clearestdiscrepancy is the status of human adherentsfollowing the rise of la lai yeh: this event isclearly apocalyptic (in both the Greek andEnglish language sense) featuring the Earth“swept free of all lesser beings” in a wave ofimmeasurable horror and destruction; yet thesecondary author actively promotes the notionthat devotion to the Chou hsian race grantsworldly understanding and greatness, allowingone to survive the coming conflagration.Another point of contention is in the supposedrising of la lai yeh. In the text, a detaileddescription is given of la lai yeh in the hopesthat human followers might land there andawaken its inhabitants, yet the work also

explicitly states that k’e t’u lu cannot rise untilan uncertain future date and that no force orpower can undo his slumber.

Specific rituals are given that allow the“devout” to call upon the power of k’e t’u lu. Oneenchantment is said to crush foes in his invisiblegrasp (something the commentary writer takesgreat pains to describe in lurid detail), whileanother allows a caster to draw upon the GreatOne’s influence and swamp enemies in waves “astall and powerful as their hymns.” Prayers forintercession by k’e t’u lu, his spawn, and some ofhis “offspring” (known as yang kuei tzu, orocean devils2) are provided, along with thenecessary secondary rituals (such as crafting astone tablet to summon his amphibious allies).The commentary adds a veneer of ritual andfilial piety to the ceremonies that are not in theoriginal work.

It almost goes without saying that the entirework is upsetting in the extreme. The casualdiscussion of the destruction of humanity, thepervasive praise of inhuman and abjectly cruelbeings, the total lack of grounding in even themost basic human values, and the persistentviewpoint – no matter how glossed over by thecommentary author – of the worthlessness,weakness, and utter futility of all humanity sapsthe psyche of even the most resolute reader.

2. The term yang kuei tzu was historically used by the Ming dynasty as a term for European foreigners; the name itself seems to predatethe 1510s, perhaps comparing the stereotype of the looting, piratical, uncaring attitude of Westerners to the characteristics of this aquaticrace.

QUOTES:

Sophistry and cleverness are but an aid to ignorance of the truth; only through rites andmusic can the symptoms of rapacity and licentiousness be sworn against; kindness and bene -volence are but the foster-mother of transgressions; employment and promotion of that whichis just are mere opportunities of thought against the edicts of the Sleeping Master. For eventhough drowned and dead, the Lord That Sings in Sleep sends forth his dreams and premonitions,and neither man nor false god can entrust such proof of their existence as the call of k’e t’ulu…

411edit…Our Master Who Waits is a righteous father, alone in understanding, but he is not alone;

other dreams are dreamed and other songs are sung. Others still dwell; behold beneath what wasonce Great Mu! For in that lofty peak remains the terrible child, watchful and dreadful tobehold; as to look upon its face is to meet the death that cannot come but is greatly desired. Manyare the priests of Mu who in their folly turned against him to suffer yet for their impudence,forever screaming. And so goes the eighth lesson of the Tao of la lai yeh …

- - - - -

When called upon by the brothers who slip from water to land, you must offer up on ontothem that which they desire, be it your cattle or your wives or your children. From theirwisdom and age you are subject to them, and are made fortunate by their guidance. A tale istold of a young man with a wife who was beautiful; and though she had not consented, he wasmost faithful and allowed and helped the yang kuei tzu to mount her each night until a childwas born. In exchange for his faith he was bequeathed with many women, snatched from theshores and rivers of the coast, which he used as he willed; for to surrender one small cherishedthing is to gain much. That is the Tenth Lesson of the Tao of la lai yeh…

- - - - -

… having marked and cast the stones into the ocean, the spawn of Chou hsian, prophets andpriests of K’e t’u lu, shall appear. Their visage is terrible and powerful; for their faces areas the Sleeping Master in his glory. Many non-believers have been brought to his worshipby casting eyes upon the sea-dragon. And many believers have cast themselves headlong intoits tentacle-filled mouth. As sturdy and tall as a house, it wades from the depths, if it socondescends itself to the mere mewling of manfolk. Oh K’e t’u lu! I have seen you! And I fallat your feet to grovel in the waves before you, before your child, before all you deign to sendus! Iä! Iä! Fei’nakeilui ma’keilu wei’nafa K’et’ulu La-lai-yeh weika’nukalu hsi’tukun! …”

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A yellowing silk-paper scroll (11 &” inches highand many yards in length) bearing a denseassortment of Chinese characters, symbols andastrological diagrams. Chinese rolls recognizethe text as not only especially ancient OldChinese but also inclusive of early glyphs andsymbols, while an Idea roll suggests its oddlycarved ivory rollers, which wind the scroll, mightbe human ribs, though their flexibility, strengthand the difficulty in marring or scratching them,quickly discounts this hypothesis. Biology rollsconfirm the rollers as some sort of animal bone,but this knowledge costs a point of Sanity as thesource animal is clearly preternatural (anyonewith knowledge of Chinese folklore mightbelieve them to be ribs from a dragon, often saidto have such qualities). Their age cannot beconclusively deduced. A Cthulhu Mythos rolldetermines these bones belong to a nightgaunt.When rolled, the scroll is kept inside a redlacquered wooden tube (12”"2.5”). Once ornate,

the paint and varnish have blotched and crackedbadly (in poor light the surface looks like scales).A tarnished tree-branch design (Cthulhu Mythosidentifies it as one representation of the ElderSign) is inlaid with silver paint into the tube’sstopper and bottom. The tube is much morerecent in construction than the scroll; aspecialist places it around the turn of thecentury, though it looks older than its twodecades.

If touched, the scroll feels slightly coolerthan ambient temperature. The scroll isobviously very old and finely made; an expertcould date it to at least 200 B.C. The appearanceof certain extremely ancient and obscuresymbols, unknown to all but a handful oflinguists, suggest it was copied directly from aneven older source. These include (via a halvedChinese or Anthropology roll, or a halved Knowroll by a expert in East Asian history/linguistics)oracle bone script, Ta-chuan, Moso, and OldTibetan with phonetic annotations forpronunciation written in sub-Indian Br"hm# (an

鉉子七奧書(土七賾書)

The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan(The Seven Cryptical Books

of the Earth) Anthony Warren and Scott Slemmons, with Chinese

by Susan Zhang

412 Shanghai

edit 413unusual but not unknown addition for OldChinese texts when complex or foreignpronunciation is necessary). At no point is thetitle of the scroll actually given. There are noillustrations, aside from a great assortment ofspidery astrological wheels and charts.

SKIMMING: Keeper’s Note: Only someone with at least 25%skill in Chinese can skim the text.

Anyone able to skim this easily who makes ahalved Know roll recognizes it as the SevenCryptical Books of Hsan (Hsüan tzu ch’i ao shu),a much referenced but never seen book ofChinese occult lore. Any initial impressionreveals this to be a work of esoteric lore, withsome parallels to traditional Chinese lore dealingwith alchemy and astrology but with significantdifferences.

Unfortunately for readers despite somesuperficial similarities with traditional esotericworks, this is no mere catalog of star charts andmystic formulae. There is no apparent theme orstructure. The densely packed symbols give noclue where to begin. Often multiple – evenconflicting – meanings are possible dependingon the direction the text is read. With time andstudy, however, it becomes apparent this is moreof a puzzle than a text. By ignoring or adjustingrules of structure, and by picking apart twists oflanguage and symbol, endless variations can beuncovered. Some are as simple as endlesslybranching sentences, creating crossword-likeeffects. Further intercuts unveil ever more links,spinning further and further from the originaltheme and into more and more convolutedtangents. Others are more subtle, using long-dead homophones and polysemes, cleverallusions and subtle mesostics. Even the chartsand astrological diagrams often serve multiplepurposes, showing different things dependingon the context of what is currently being read.

By all regards, this is less a piece of literatureas it is a piece of art – and it is mind-bending inits complexity. Any educated reader quicklyconcludes the text must surely be infinite, or ifnot infinite at least so close as to be effectivelysuch. Repeated reading will only unveilcontinuing drifts and tangents, retell tales in

new and unique ways or expose furtherknowledge in ever tessellating patterns. Norecital could ever be the same twice; and anyonerealizing this is struck by the most terrible andgnawing existential angst. (The Sanity loss forSkimming reflects this realization.)

At its most basic, the text could be comparedto the dread Necronomicon, though it also dealswith extraordinarily diverse subjects unrelatedto the usual Mythos tomes; including a historyof a place called Leng and its surroundings,myriad curious pantheons of Gods, varioussorceries and rituals, methods of divination,precognition and resurrection, elaborations onmagic, descriptions of strange beasts, tantric,sexual and meditative positions (many of themhumanly impossible), the sexagenary cycle (anda further hexagenary cycle), alchemical studies,koans, astrological phenomena and abewildering array of metaphysical theory.

RESEARCH:Successful Occult, Library Use or Chinese rollsacquaint researchers with the Seven CrypticalBooks of Hsan (sometimes known as the SevenBooks Written in Darkness); a semi-mythicalChinese text often found in truncated andexpurgated form. Supposedly translated around220 A.D. by the philosopher-priest Hsan theGreater, about which little is known, a numberof classical texts are variously and probablyinaccurately ascribed to him – mainly in thefields of alchemy, morals and poetry.

A Library Use or Occult roll uncovers thefollowing English-language account of his life,from the works of ‘Mohammed abd-Shaytan’(nee Martin ‘Piper’ Frank), Jamaican theosophistand self-described convert to Yazidism, in his1922 monograph Occultus Orientalis [sic]:

“… and one of the proudest figuresof Oriental cross-pollination with the FarEast is Hsan the Greater. Though his lifeis now lost in modern China, it isavailable in certain articles of the Copticdemotic,1 where he is described as ‘darkof skin’ and ‘charmless in Courtlytradition’ but ‘displaying great aptitudefor language and philosophy’. His retinue

numbered some dozens, though only hisfavourite is described: of indeterminatesex, face hidden behind a yellow silkmask, this mute served as Hsan’spersonal scribe. The philosopher-poetspent his days as translator for suchworks as The Romance of the SaffronKing and the Trigrams of Cho Fo-Yue,alongside writing the Seven CrypticalBooks. Truly it is obvious that ‘Hsan theGreater’ is a corruption of Hanan theGreat, a Semitic Kabbalist of Byzantiumwho fled before its disastrous fall to theRoman sword.2”

Those interested in abd-Shaytan discover hewas last seen in London in late 1923, attemptingto raise funds for an expedition in search of thelost city of Irem; he will turn up in February of1926, apparently having drunk this way throughthe funds raised for his abandoned search.

The earliest English translation- the CrypticBooks of Hsang- dates to 1729. Anonymouslypublished, it contains a feeble rendition ofpseudo-Oriental mysticism and garbledtranslation of the I-Ching; it shares nothingmore than the title with the original. A moreaccurate, if out-of-print and hard-to-come by,English translation published in the late-19th andearly 20th centuries remains the best available.3It was – in the words of its publishers –‘smuggled’ out of China, something numerousfictional accounts have embellished. However,Neville Gallimore, grandson of the translatorrecounted in The Oxford University Journal ofSino-British Relations (Vol. IV, No.2; April 1906):

“… Not a year goes by when I do notreceive some letter enquiring about the‘smuggling matter’ and giving rise tonumerous and wildly inflated accountsof how ‘certain death was escaped’ &c. Intruth, the offending articles (a C.17th

collection of Hsan’s works) were tokensfor services rendered. Some havecontended that my grandfather’stranslation is butchery to the original;but one should note Hsan’s Chinese‘original’ is as much butchery as the onenow in English. In old Cathay it is readilyacknowledged that Hsan the Great [sic]stole, plagiarised, edited, transliteratedand rewrote great portions of what isnow named the Seven Cryptical Books ofHsan from a far older and far morepotent source…”

A French-Russian (on facing pages) editionwas published in 1919. Though claiming to beprinted in London, it has the same presswork asan anonymous run of monarchist and anti-Semitic pamphlets traced to Shanghai’s WhiteRussian quarter. None appear to have been soldoutside northern China. Investigators inShanghai might be able to find a copy in one ofthe many bookshops or markets in the FrenchConcession’s ‘Little Russia’ district.4 It appearsto be a fragmentary translation of a single bookat most.

That is all that can be discovered inEuropean sources. Consulting an expert orsifting through dozens of books in Chinese(requiring both Library Use and Chinese rolls)additional information on Hsan the Greater andThe Seven Cryptical Books’ precursor can befound.

The earliest records of Hsan (or Hsüan inChinese) come from about 218 A.D. and describehim as a polyglot, sorcerer, and visitor from afar-off empire (some scholars believe it to havebeen the Pyao city-states of central and northernBurma, explaining his non-Chinese name andknowledge of Tibeto-Burman languages). Thereare numerous apocryphal stories andbiographies of his travels, but the best iscollected in Tan Kuo-tsung’s thirteen-book

1. A further Library Use roll uncovers the source of these allegations as a 13th century treatise on alchemy, written in Coptic, and stitchedinto the back of a copy of the Beatus Methodivo at the University of Athens. Its authenticity is generally disputed. None of Piper’s quotescan be found verbatim, and appear to be instead taken from the description of Ali al-‘Asyn, an alchemist in the Abbasid court.2. This claim is spurious at best; a Know roll or grounding in Asian history finds substantial flaws in this theory. No reference to “Hananthe Great” can be found.3. The Seven Secret Books of Earth, two Volumes (1897, 1901); Trans. N. Gallimore. In English. 28 weeks to read and comprehend; +3Occult, +1 Cthulhu Mythos (at the Keeper’s Option), 0/1d2 points of Sanity.4. The Sept Livres de Hsan/!"#$%&" '()* !+), In French and Russian; 8 weeks to read and comprehend. +1 to Occult.

414 Shanghai

Chinese-language series: Translation in the Eraof Emperor Wu of Wei (Hong Kong, 1913). Thisinclude all the usual tales of communion withspirits and demons, control of the weather,enticement of dragons from the oceans,alchemical research into the elixir of life andever more sordid and fanciful events. Within afew years, Hsan was invited by Emperor TsaoTsao of the Kingdom of Wei to translate from his‘forbidden archive.’ Hsan translated and editedhalf the emperor’s library before the ruler’sdeath a year later and the usurping heir Tsao P’iforced Hsan from the palace. Hsan is rumoredto have traveled China for another few yearsbefore disappearing, allegedly to the vassal cityof Sung-p’ing (modern-day Hanoi).

It is in Tsao Tsao’s library that Hsanreputedly found what academics call the SevenCryptical Books of the Earth (T’u ch’i tse shu),and which he used as a basis for his own text.The history of this precursor is piecemeal.Known to have been translated into Chineseextraordinarily early (perhaps 4000 B.C.), itsoriginal language was almost certainly anobscure foreign dialect. Most scholars believe itwas transmitted via Tibet or Burma, particularlywith its repeated references to a nation or landknown as ‘Leng;’ a Chinese word meaning ‘cold’and perhaps related to the mythological Tibetan‘Kingdom of Ling’. Reputedly the history andtravelogue of a strange and fantasticalborderland, with tales from the legendaryPlateau of Tsung, the scrolls were said to includemagical treatises and predictions of future-events. Some have argued they might be anexample of an original Chinese ‘creation story;’one not borrowed from other Indian or SouthAsian religions.

In 213 B.C., however, the first emperor, ShihHuang-ti, banned the Confucian religion andordered all scholars and books which did notdefer to his new empire be burnt or buried. Thisincluded the Seven Cryptical Books of the Earth,and all such early copies were presumed lost.

Around 200 B.C. attempts were made torecollect the knowledge lost to the bonfires.Fragments of books were reintroduced fromabroad, while scholars exiled during the purgeswere enticed back to replace – from memory –swathes of lost text. In the end, however, the

task was too great; no authentic pre-213 B.C. textcould be found nor could any copies of the SevenCryptical Books of the Earth. Today, all Chinesetexts of the Seven Cryptical Books of the Earthare facsimiles resurrected from singed scrapsand the memories of old sages. The SevenCryptical Books of the Earth fell out of favor, andby 100 A.D. it was no longer listed in imperiallibraries. All but extinct when Hsan began hisreinterpretation into modern Chinese, the oldversion was believed lost.

The Seven Cryptical Books of the Earth isconsidered a lost text, on par with thehypothetical Biblical ‘Q Document’ orEratosthenes’ On the Measurement of the Earth.Some complete copies are said to exist in Tibet,but as the monasteries refuse to confirm this orallow entry to see them, the point is moot. Afew fragments have appeared at auction(Bonhams of London sold one to a privatecollector in 1921, and another was purchased atthe request of Prof. H. H. Copeland by theManuscripts Collection of the SanbourneInstitute, California, in 1924), though they arepresumed to be forgeries; and since they rarelymatch each other in style or content, debaterages as to their veracity.

An intact, legible (and apparently limitless)version such as this one is priceless andapparently unique.

THOROUGH READING:Keeper’s Note: With this work’s fractal nature, itis safe to say that those with the skill andknowledge to decipher this progressively alientext could possibly discover all manner ofesoteric knowledge. Thankfully, it is unlikelyinvestigators will read this tome themselves –and therefore only a summary of what Mu Hsienor a translator uncovers is likely needed tosuffice. Further study by others may uncover aneffectively limitless fount of terrible knowledge.

One reader might start at Leng, delving intoits past, present, and future, before spendingparticular length on the race called Yueh-chih,5who lived (or live?) in Leh-Lah-leng, a city at thebase of the plateau. Further stories tell of howthey came from the darkest Abyss beneath thedoomed city of Tsakoumah and regressed into

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degeneracy through vile practices, includingcannibalism, ritual sacrifice and the worship tothe Twin Obscenities that ‘spiral beyond andbelow.’ Another reader, however, might start atLeng and sidestep into magical theorem; of howto resurrect the dead with the Blossoms ofLamentation, or follow the story of Bhan-Du theDreamer, who wished to bring wealth to hisvillage and family but merely plunged them allinto madness and death. Even repeated readingsees subtle shifts and further digressions;constantly causing the reader to reinterpretwhat they thought they’d already thought astruths. The effect is deeply unsettling, not leastbecause two readers will never be able to agreeon what it is they have read...

The scroll opens with tribute to the scholarLao Ch’ihao Yuan for returning from Tibet toassist the scroll’s writers (he was supposedlythree hundred years old at the time). Thissection was obviously not part of the originalCryptical Books and is written in plain OldChinese.

The opening volume (Chronicles of theKingdom of Leng) encompasses the first twobooks, with the first containing Leng’s historyand geography, much knowledge of the yueh-chih people including how to create “The Feastof Feasts” – a rite allowing one to prepare aninfant’s body that it may adequately feed avillage. The second book is predominantlyrelated to instructions on safe travel through theregion surrounding Leng, though itunfortunately assumes previous familiarity withLeng making it mostly worthless; a secondenchantment is included: “To Dream ofDragons” – a ritual allowing one to inflict imagesof terrible creatures upon another’s dreams.

The second volume (Lamentation Blossoms)comprises the middle three books of the scroll,and revolves heavily around magical rituals andmetaphysics. (It is these spells and descriptionsthat are heavily quoted in Hsan’s rendition, andof all the text this is perhaps the least elaborateand most esoteric in nature.) It is also the firstto mention recognizable known locations,including China, Tibet (heavy commentary is

made about the mi-kou, creatures that ‘dig downeven as they ascend’ and are apparently‘guardians’ or ‘owners’ of an entrance to Leng inthe highest peaks of the Himalayas), a place thatis presumably Japan or Formosa, and the waterycitadel of the Sleeping One, Dread Hsiehshen.The Sign of Signs, which allows limited power oflife and death and is a ward against othermagics, is described (looking remarkably likethe symbol inscribed on the scroll’s case), alongwith the two more rituals. These are: “The Eaterof Eyes” – which inflicts blindness on an enemy,“the Blood of the Dead” – which allows thepreparation of a body for magical resurrectionby converting in to base elements.

It is within the fifth book that the ritesought by Jack Brady (as well as theinvestigators, hopefully) can be located. Thechapter is shorter and comparatively (at firstglance) straightforward when compared withthe others on the scroll. It describes somethingit terms the Restless Gate – a being known bycountless other names – that serves asmessenger for the chaotic Tao at the center ofthe universe. Careful examination, however,recognizes it as a massive and complex cipher,whereby reading diagonally or backwards or byshuffling the characters into newconfigurations, one can uncover hundreds, if notthousands, of lines of hidden text. With enoughtime every mask of the Crawling Chaos could bediscovered and presumably long before then thereader’s sanity would be broken. Eachdescription is cryptic, yet evocative; Br"hm#annotations give relatively accuratepronunciation of their ‘true’ names. Two spellsare included – the first being the Eye of Lightand Darkness, which is described as a salveagainst the Restless Gate and those that serve itswill, while the other is entitled the Black FoxDances. No description of its effects is given, butif cast it summons Nyarlathotep in a guise mostbefitting the circumstances.

A third volume (On Things That Have Beenand Are Yet to Be) contains two sections (bookssix and seven) that discuss various methods ofprophecy and divination. The first section

5. Library Use or Anthropology rolls recognises a culture known by this name existed in modern-day Burma for thousands of years beforebeing scattered by migration and war. A successful roll in a Chinese translates yueh-chih as an old way of saying ‘people of the meat.’Cthulhu Mythos rolls remember another name for the Yueh-chih: the dreaded tcho-tcho.

416 Shanghai

edit 417details communication with the dead as a meansto gain knowledge, including the spirits said tohaunt charnel places- these spirits possesscorporeal bodies and consume the dead to gaintheir knowledge. They are said to teach the so-called “Whispering of Rags”, which allows oneto view the past using the clothing of thedeceased. The second portion recounts variousmagical and alchemical techniques for viewingother places and other times, including the useof the Ebon Blossom, divinations with tossedbones and ritually marked sticks, and the ritualapplication of the “Jaded Glass” – anenchantment that grants the caster visions offuture times; these visions are considered highlydangerous. Interspersed with these methods ofdivination are actual prophecies of (then) futureevents as well as curious notations on the past,including civilizations – even species – unknownto modern science.

Optional Rules: Unlocking the Path to MadnessConsidering the otherworldly nature of this textand the effectively limitless knowledge itcontains, it should come as no surprise that thetemptations it presents have the power todestroy most men. While for the sake of thecampaign it is assumed that Mu Hsien isunbroken (if not unscarred) by his study of theSeven Cryptical Books of Hsan, the same can notbe said for all who may study it.

When a student of the work “completes”their reading (when the last point of CthulhuMythos skill is gained) they must roll aresistance roll of their POW versus their INT. Ifthe roll is failed, the temptation to gain moreknowledge is too great and they continue tostudy the work (secretly if need be), beginningthe process over anew, with new Sanity rolls asif they had not studied the work before (seebelow). At this point the work is considered tohave taken a hold of their mind; they cannotcease studying it without making a secondresistance roll of the POW versus their INT plus! of the Cthulhu Mythos knowledge gained intheir study of the work (cumulative). Those whofail their roll with a result of 96-100 will studythe book feverishly (see page XX) until dead.

(A Keeper in need of some method to save aparty from the machinations of Ho Fong or

some other cultist enemy in the campaign mayhave the villain obtain the Seven Cryptical Booksof Hsan and suffer from this side effect. Ho Fongmay have 0 Sanity, but that doesn’t mean he isimmune from this sort of mania.)

CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER:UNLOCKING THE SEVENCRYPTICAL BOOKS OF HSANAs a feature of the otherworldly nature of thistome, anyone studying the Seven CrypticalBooks of Hsan may do so an unlimited numberof times, allowing the tome’s skill checks,including Cthulhu Mythos, to be gainedrepeatedly. The same is true of the work’s Sanitycosts. Clearly a few repeat readings of this workwill destroy even the heartiest and sanest ofscholars.

This tome can be used as a reference, as perthe Call of Cthulhu rules, by someone who haspreviously studied the tome. Unlike those rules,in which the tome’s Cthulhu Mythos bonus isadded to the reader’s own Cthulhu Mythos skill,those using the Seven Cryptical Books as aresource must make an Idea roll for each hourspent studying; success indicating that somesort of answer is discovered (how useful theanswer is being left to the Keeper). The scholarmust also make a POW"5 roll to stop studyingthe book (if that is their wish), otherwise theycontinue. Further attempts to stop may bemade each hour at POW"4 (for the secondhour), POW"3 (for the third) and so on until aPOW"1 roll is failed. The scholar is thenassumed to be engrossed and must make a POWversus INT roll as above, with the same resultsas discussed there.

Additionally, it is also said that there is a lostbook (and ‘Eighth Cryptical Book’) containedwithin the tome. This is said either to be acomplex algorithm counting down to the end ofthe world or a spell to summon the BlindAtomic God, Azathoth. If the Keeper desires,those studying this work (particularly thoseobsessed with it) may unlock this final secret ofthe text, unleashing, unknowingly or willfully,the full power of the ‘Tao’ upon the world.

418 ShanghaiQUOTES:

Benders of chi have voices forinstruction, but no corporeal form. Amidstcloud and winds, atop the celestialMountain of Ka-Tai Guo Xua, Old Godshold sway, hidden from man: their namesare many, and this tale was told long ago,before the Age of the Ten and SevenKingdoms…

- - - - -

Nei-lu-huan-ta [untranslatable], the DevouringGate:

Of many forms, it Lives,For every ten, each ten a hundred, Each hundred, a thousand, And each thousand, ten thousand,The Lion that sees though eyeless,The Black One who sings with no mouth,The Lord of the Flooded Plain,The Hungry Bleeding Dancer,But fifteen years plus one day from the fall of

the final Emperor,The Sky Darkens, the Celestial Signs Align,The four and one dream to piece the Veil.The Unbidden Lord moves through the Swollen

One,Her demon eyes shine as stars,Her mouth to kiss, to feed, to weep for,Her body transformed at will,His voice, as clear as bells,

Sweet-faced, thin-lipped, her fan hides all,Behind it, her disciples to become Sages

Equaling HeavenAnd be no more.

- - - - -

Even such might may be held fast, forsuch is the will of the Tao, and a void ofhis might may grow as a hollow in arock. The might of the Tao may be drawnby the Eye of Light and Darkness. Onceopened, the Eye holds the will of theRestless Gate at bay until such a timewhen the Eye is closed. Such an act is ofthe greatest nature and cannot be donewithout much effort. The Celestial Omensto open the eye are such that it must bebefore the fullness of the Moon. When theMoon is born, the blood of an innocentmust fill the pupil of the Eye until allreturns to Darkness. Words of Powerawaken the Eye. They are Sa Ma Sa MaTeio Sa Ma. When again is born theMoon, the Eye will arise with it, and theWill of That Which is One and Many willbe set aisde. The song requires manysingers, and many voices or it shall fail.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A neat black-lacquered wooden case (6 !”"5&”"1 !”) enveloped in green silk holds thiswrap-backed bound work,1 each page printed onheavy linen paper. The cover to which the pagesare adhered is made of the same thick linen andleft untitled. A Know roll for those otherwiseunversed in Asian languages identifies it as beingChinese; an expert (with a Chinese roll) canrecognize the style of writing as “cursive,” acomplex form which is here written in hurried,sloppy strokes and joins that is oftenincomprehensible even to readers of ‘standard’Chinese. Linguists can tell that it was written inthe period between 1610 and 1630, the twilightyears of the Ming dynasty. Quality of print andgeneral manufacture are both surprisingly highfor a book of its age and includes multiple colorsof ink; the clarity and blemish-free nature of thework suggests a small print run. Its title(關教士記, kuan chiao shi ji, translating intoEnglish as the Tale /Record of Priest Kwan) hasbeen brushed onto a yellow silk ribbon and tiedaround the book. A Spot Hidden roll notices avery subtle pattern of what appear to be sicklesworked into the green covering cloth.

SKIMMING: A casual glance tells that the book is some sortof religious instructional associated with anobscure and secretive Chinese society.

Dedicating itself to the worship of an entityknown as the Goddess of the Black Fan (here hertitle is written as 黑扇女神 throughout; thosewho have seen the Goddess of the Black Fan –see page XX – will note it lacks the dual-meaningwith “prostitute”), the book recounts the acts ofan early hero of the cult, a former Buddhistmonk who took it upon himself to defendmembers from the persecution carried out by apowerful noble who aimed to root out the sect.The book is divided into several sections. In thefirst, the author decries the weakness anddisloyalty of the cult’s membership before theirpersecution. The next section records thecoming of the monk, who is praised for his ‘holy’virtues, and his initial confrontations with thenoble. The penultimate chapter reports themonk’s triumph over the noble and, at last, thenoble’s grisly acknowledgment and self-sacrificeto the Goddess of the Black Fan. A concludingsection provides a series of homilies onfurthering the worship of the Goddess,including descriptions of many rites and rituals.

Such a dry summary cannot convey thegleefully murderous tenor of the piece. Theentire work is a heartfelt catalogue of violence,malice, cruelty, perversion, and abject horrormasked behind the most beautiful of LiteraryChinese verse, and its anonymous author isundoubtedly a sadist, but one of education anderudition. Even a cursory examinationhighlights the book’s poetic horror which only

關教士記(Tale of Priest Kwan)

Sam Friedman and Anthony Warren, with addenda and translationsby Anthony Warren and Susan Zhang

1. Wrapped back binding is a modified form of butterfly binding, in which the pages are folded in such a way that that blank side of eachsheet is concealed by folding. In traditional butterfly binding the pages are sew together at the crease; in wrapped back, the creased partforms the edge of each “page” while the edge of the original sheet are sewn.

edit 419

the most fevered of imaginations, or a terriblereality, could produce.

RESEARCH: Owing to the fact that Tale of Priest Kwan hasbeen the subject of repeated prohibitionattempts by both Chinese and other authoritiesover the last few hundred years, few referencesto the book’s existence are available outside ofthe Order of the Bloated Woman’s ownmembership.

Western sources on Tale of Priest Kwanrarely amount to more than brief footnotes,with only the most scholarly of works evenmentioning it as anything other than a ‘lostsutra.’ The only explicit mention appears in theFrench-language Journal de la société des étudesorientales (Vol.3 No.7, Spring, 1913, pp.78-91) inan article discussing the Buddhist theologicalholdings of the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.Amongst a collection of texts obtained frommonasteries in Tonkin (Northern FrenchIndochina) after the Franco-Siamese War of1893, several heretical works are mentioned ashaving been recovered, including “the vile‘Reminiscences of the Monk Quan (Laréminiscence du prêtre Quan)’ in a complete andmodern Annamese2 translation, alongsidefragments of the Chinese original, all probablydating from the late-18th century by virtue oftheir literary style and binding.” Unfortunatelyboth the Annamese copy and Chinese fragmentswere lost some time after the journal’s articlewas written; a fact that the library staff canattest. No further description of the work isgiven, but anyone corresponding with thelibrary (or visiting it) will be put in touch withDoctor Claude D’Havernas, a retired scholar whowrote the article in question and worked withsome of the items in the collection.

Doctor D’Havernas, a diplomatics3 specialist,briefly examined all of the works collected fromthe Tonkin-area, including the referencedvolume. He can personally relate a few scantdetails; that the Chinese original was well made,but had only survived in poorly preserved and

partially burned fragments, while the locallyproduced translation was shoddy and hastilycomposed. He verifies the ages of each, with theChinese fragments dating from the late-17th

century and the Vietnamese translation middle-18th century.

As a final note, he briefly recalls a colleaguethat studied the contents of both documentsmore extensively: one Professor AnatoleMauriac, a specialist in the study of Buddhismand other Asian religions. Though he has notthought about him in many years, DoctorD’Havernas recommends that investigators getin touch with this old acquaintance. Furtherresearch uncovers, however, that theunfortunate Professor Mauriac took his own lifein 1915 while traveling in East Asia, pushing apair of ornate silver-plated Korean chopsticksthrough his eyes and into his brain. He had beencomplaining of severe insomnia and someemotional disturbance in the months preceding.Anyone with a knowledge of Korean culture, orwho succeeds at a halved Library Use roll afterconsidering why the scholar might do such athing, will discover that Koreans historicallyused silver chopsticks, considering silver a“pure” metal that tarnished if it came intocontact with poison. Some also believed thatsilver served to draw poison from the afflictedsubstance.

A Chinese scholar such as Mu Hsien canrelate some details about the cult describedwithin as given in his description in thecampaign book; most importantly he canexplicitly connect the Goddess of the Black Fanwith the Bloated Woman.

THOROUGH READING: The entire book is a religious screed devoted tothe Goddess of the Black Fan, a malevolententity that appears as a beautiful Chinesewoman who conceals her face (and almostundoubtedly other terrible things as well)behind an ornate and beautiful black fan. Themajority of the book recounts the persecution

2. Known in modern times as Vietnamese. 3. The study of written works to ascertain their provenance.

420 Shanghai

of a group of the Goddess’ followers and theirliberation by the titular Monk Kwan.

The initial chapter outlines the earlyvictories of the unnamed nobleman, who arrivesin Fukien at the emperor’s behest and begins adrive against the devotees of the Goddess of theBlack Fan. Many of the cult’s membership inFukien province are captured, and under theduress of torture, a few of the cultists reveal thesecrets of the group, enabling the authorities tolocate the sect’s worship centers and secretrefuges. Scarce few of the faithful survive theresulting round of executions, which the Tale ofPriest Kwan reports in grisly detail. Thesedescriptions end with a diatribe that extols thevirtues of secrecy and pronounces a curse onthose who have or might betray the Order andoffers a clear and gruesome outline of theireventual fate.

In the second chapter, Kwan arrives todefend the cultists from the nobleman and hisimperial troops. Kwan is a mystic whofrequently communes with the spirit world,most often the Goddess of the Black Fan, butalso with something called The Great FacelessLion4, a gigantic being with the body of aChinese lion and the head of a featureless man.The entity reminds Kwan that the glory of theGoddess is vast, and that she could put on manyguises, renewing his zeal to defend his fellowbelievers. With the help of several powerfulenchantments, Kwan orchestrates a plan todestroy the nobleman, keeping one step aheadof both him and his entourage.

The third, and longest, section is a lengthyand hideous description of Kwan and hisfollowers’ victory over the nobleman with anaccount of some of the rituals performed by thecultists to enable their triumph. Fourenchantments are told fully. The first, “Bindingof the Great Sleeper” holds its victims fast,pinning them like a butterfly on a needle so thatcultists may use their implements of worship tobleed the apostate free of his heresy. Anotherenchantment, “Kiss of the Goddess,” affects theafflicted as if he was being broiled, steam andvapor rising from this blackening flesh as hebegs for mercy. A more powerful spell,

“Embrace of the Goddess” actually saps the verylife from its victim, stripping him of his essencecompletely and reducing him to hideous flaky,desiccated husks while imbuing the caster withthe stolen vitality; a curse used to great effect onthe nobleman’s loyal lieutenant. A finalenchantment, “the Mantra of Vital Endowment,”allows willing cultists of the Goddess to imbueKwan with their own chi or magical essences,and similarly allow him to tear the chi from anunwitting victim, so that he can better use hissorcery. The work’s concluding round ofsacrifices, including the nobleman himself, isunspeakably vile and during it Kwan and manyof his cohorts (by now including some of thenobleman’s own family, which Kwan hasrecruited into the Goddess’ service) makeextensive use of these dark magics.

The last chapter is an addendum; a collectionof rituals and devotional rites for the worship ofthe Goddess of the Black Fan. Equally as awful asthe earlier parts of the work, the discussions areas rich in graphic detail as the previous entrieswith some of the most gut-wrenchingdescriptions of rape, torture, and mutilationever to grace a page. Amongst these putrescentnarratives are woven times of day or lunarperiods propitious to perform the rites andrituals described earlier in the Tale of PriestKwan, including complex astrological charts.One such chart plots numerous dates of specificimportance to the Goddess. Though the logicbehind it cannot be ascertained (it remains asfractal and alien of thought as when written), aChinese astrologer can determine that the nextdate of importance is January 14th, 1926.

4. A Know roll will allow investigators to recall that lions are generally associated with protection in Chinese culture. Statues of them areused outside of temples, for example.

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QUOTES:

In days long past there came a period of great strife, when the Chosen members of our Order were troubledunjustly by the will of men. Not from the power of the men themselves, for they are as dust upon the wind, butfrom the will of the Goddess who wished to test the true faith of the devoted, much as from suffering blossomsenlightenment… and so she smashed the Chosen asunder with the unchained dogs of a worm that postured as agod, and at the helm of this fiendish cause stood the nobleman, a warrior-scholar quick of mind and low of ideas,a craven servant who bent his knee to man rather than true power overwhelming. Yet, for his ignorance, thenobleman had been fashioned in flesh that could be twisted and molded to understand and recant, by the lips andembrace and truths of our Mistress…

- - - - -

…the chin-ts’an drug lapsed the priest, the monk, the apostle Kwan’s body and mind into reverence, and beforehim appeared a vision he had not seen before, the mighty messenger, the Great Faceless Lion, and it wore uponitself the body of a lion nine zháng high [approx. 90 feet] with the countenance of a man wearing foreigncrowns, but there was not nose nor eyes nor lips nor any feature as one might expect upon the face of a man,and instead upon that smoothness was a void, from which the faces of all men can be known and their liesdiscerned. In a great voice the Mighty One commanded Kwan to know the great truth of the Goddess of the BlackFan – that she is the will of the true gods and that her night-black fan conceals many faces and that in her bosomhe would grow mighty and select, with his enemies falling before him as grain falls before the reaping sickle.And so Kwan, reminded of this glory, marked himself in her praise and her blessings and anointed and wettedhis body with the blood of a child…

- - - - -

…and crying out in agony the nobleman begged Kwan for his life, even as he saw the wrinkles grow uponhis flesh and his blood leak from the army of cuts upon his flesh, white bone glinting upon red sickles. And Kwanpaused for a moment in his work, and then asked “would you serve the Goddess?” Without hesitation the noblemanresponded, “O yes!” And Kwan smiled at the nobleman and asked another question, “And would you kill for her?”Again the nobleman cried out that he would, he would. “And would you defile unbelievers for her?” The noblemanagain agreed, his eyes stinging and bloody from his weeping and wailing through now lidless eyes. ThenKwan called over one of the nobleman’s children, a clear-faced girl named Hsiuhsiu who had Chosen the Path ofthe Goddess when offered it and who had watched the display in pious reverence, and he offered her to thenobleman to rape and despoil and sacrifice to the glory and insurmountable beauty of the Goddess. And when thenobleman hesitated, Kwan took the child and slit her throat before turning her over to the waiting Chosen, whodid as had been asked of the nobleman without hesitation, even as the girl’s ebbing lifeblood spilled upon the cold,hard ground. And so Kwan took up his sickle and continued on with his holy toil, paying not one whit to thefeeble mewling, for he took the nobleman’s tongue in the grip of one virtuous hand and wrenched and cut its lyingroot free…

422 Shanghai

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: A handsomely bound narrow royal quarto (13”by 9 !”) with the title imprinted on the cover incracked black ink and gold-leaf; about 250 pageslong. The book is bound in white leather and isin nearly pristine condition. The author is givenas “Ye Learneds Philo'opher Theophilus Wenn,”but no publisher is listed. An expert canestablish that the book was printed some timebetween 1590 and 1610 in the Dutch Republic,probably in Rotterdam. The text is in English (aKnow roll will identify it as coming from the late16th or early 17th century); there are a handful ofannotations on loose sheets of rice paper withnotes and diagrams, in Chinese, inserted intovarious parts of the book. The book is notillustrated but does include a scattering ofdiagrams, obscure symbols, and some sort ofrunes.

SKIMMING: This work claims to be a series of magicalinstructions by the “famed philosopherTheophilus Wenn,” a purported sorcerer andexpert on occult matters. The central focus ofthe text is a series of seven enchantments usedin the summoning and the control of varioussupernatural entities, but the discussion oftenveers off into a range of other topics, includinglycanthropes, vampirism, anthropophagy, theefficacy of select minor charms, notablesorcerers in history, sacrificial rites, and lists ofdemonic beings. The author assumes a highdegree of occult erudition on the part of thereader and often makes ambiguous or crypticallusions. The scattered Chinese notes insertedin the book appear to be explanations of someof the more abstruse passages.

The author’s matter-of-fact description ofhuman sacrifice, self mutilation, torture, and

other dark rites shocks the conscience and willmake it clear that Wenn viewed his fellowhumans at most as useful tools in his quest forpower. The work is unpleasant at best; at worst,and more often, horrifying.

RESEARCH: Despite the book’s claims that its author was“famed,” very little information can be gatheredon the history of this book or its author. A fullday of searching (and two Library Use rolls) canfind only scattered references to it, dating as farback as the late 17th century. These are dividedbetween the occasional mention of solely thetitle and those mentioning the book inconjunction with the author. One exception isfound, after the second Library Use roll, inWitchcraft in Cornwall, Wales, and theCottswolds (1884). The following description ofthe book is given in a passage about thenotorious (and probably insane) disciple ofMatthew Hopkins, Bezelel Thompkins:

“Thompkins then produced a satchelof books he claimed to have taken fromthe Reverend’s private library. Inaddition to acceptable authors like Foxethere was a Bible in the vulgate and abook of Jesuit teachings. Worse yet wereseveral books of alchemy, like Paracelcus’Opus Chiurgicum, and TheophilusWenn’s True Magick. Thompkins readseveral passages from the Wenn volumealoud; the casual discussion of witchcraftand enchantment shocked thosegathered. Many took particular affrightat a spell to call the Devil himself, calledby Wenn “the Great Black Dweller inCaves Deep”. This was enough to put thesuperstitious crowd into a frenzy and theunfortunate clergyman was hanged until

True MagickBret Kramer

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424 Shanghaidead by the mob. Soon after ReverendCampbell’s cottage was burned by athrong led by Thompkins himself.”

Professional occultists andparapsychologists (as well as investigatorsmaking an Occult roll) will recall reading of aminor controversy from perhaps half a centuryback involving a book entitled True Magic.Research into various occultist publications canfind references to the 1872 publication of a bookwith that title by Oakley Press, an otherwiseunknown publisher from Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. The book was roundlycondemned in the Spiritualist publications ofthe day. A representative critique in themagazine The Boston Spirit-Clarion (1873) reads:

“Some readers have contacted theeditor regarding a newly published anmuch rumored work entitled TrueMagic, alleged to be an account of spiritmediumship from the Medieval Age,taken from the work of Dr. TheophiliusWynn. It is without hesitation that theSpirit-Clarion denounces this work as adangerous fraud; true mediums andspirit guides have no truck with uncleanspirits and daemonic beings as are oftmentioned in Dr. Wynn’s work. We urgeour readers to reject works such as thesethat damage the reputation of ourmovement and endanger the souls of theunwary.”

Unfortunately no copies of this edition of thebook can be located in either public or privatecollections.

Investigators who can read Spanish can,with a Library Use roll discover a reference to asurviving copy of the original tome at theUniversity of Salamanca; the book is mentionedin passing as part of the holdings of the formertheology faculty there. The article, from 1886,includes it in a list of texts demonstrating thesuperstition and backwardness of the school. Ifcontacted, the library can confirm that it has thebook, but that it is currently undergoingpreservation due to its age and poor condition.The description the staff can provide of their

copy does not match the one held by Ho Fong,the university’s copy being an undatedmanuscript dating from the mid-17th century.

THOROUGH READING: True Magick is a grimoire, along the lines ofclassical works by Agrippa or Paracelsus, butunlike those authors, Wenn (a name hinted tobe a pseudonym in some passages) proclaimsthat he has gained access to real and practicalmagics that do not require any prolongedhermetic study. Despite Wenn’s insistence onthe clarity of his writing, his book isexceptionally densely written and will prove tobe a challenge for most readers. It does not helpthat the author is given to frequent, thoughoften insightful, digressions into various occulttopics – lycanthropy, vampirism, cannibalism, etcetera. The author’s quest for magicalknowledge is an obvious overriding mania andhe has clearly abandoned any pretense to pietyas is common in books of this type. Instead, thebook is a dispassionate catalog of those thingsnecessary to obtain power, no mater how cruel,vile, or immoral. In all aspects this is adisturbing work to study.

The book’s core is a set of seven magicrituals for summoning or contacting variousentities. The first pair of rituals are used tosummon and command a being called “theUnseen One” or “the Laughing Drinker.” Theserequire the creation of a ritual tome or scrollbearing certain ritual phrases and can only becalled “in the nights black shadowe.” The readeris carefully enjoined not to be without a sacrifice“in blud” for the thing. The second pair ofenchantments are of a similar nature, this timecalling on a being called “the Childe of al-Debaran,” some sort of winged demon. Againthe being can only be summoned at night,though only when certain stars (Aldebaranamong them) are in alignment and visible.Instructions for the crafting of a bone whistleused in the spell are included; where and bywhat means the summoner procures a freshhuman femur needed is not described.

These beings are apparently much lesspowerful than the final two discussed. The fifthritual is said to open the mind of the caster to a

being called, among other titles “the DwellerBelowe” and “the Blackness Unbound.” Afterprolonged chanting, meditation, and theimbibing of a potion, the caster can communewith the being, said to be a subterranean lake ofutter darkness. Bargains can be struck with thebeing, such as for magical knowledge or earthlypower, but the unspecified price is hinted to bevery steep.

The final two rituals involve a creature called“The Greate Daemon” an inhuman being of vastpower who can be summoned at supreme risk.A flute must be constructed according to veryspecific instruction and ritualistically preparedover a prolonged period. The being may then be

summoned at any place or time, though specificdates (Walpurgis Night, All Hallow’s Eve, andGule August to name but a few) are consideredmore propitious. A substantial animal sacrificeis suggested, but not required, “if the summoneris Strong of Will and willing to risk all,” but thebinding ritual is critical. The being is not clearlydescribed but its coming will be harbingered bypiping music and an electric sensation, “as onland afore a mighty storm.” A scrap of ricepaper in this section compares this being tosomething called “Lyh-huh, the Speaker ofDoom” (盧赫禍預告, lu he huo yü k’ao) thoughno further description is given

QUOTES:

And fail not the reader to heed the weight of my wordes; Those who woulddelve into secrets notte meant for Man must be prepared to paye the toll.

- - - - -

Of these black prayers and incantations there be Seven, three for ordinariecharmes and aides, and the like number for the unholie and compleat destructionof alle enemies. But of the seventh the curious in alle these partes are warned. Letnot the last incantation be recited, lest ye desire the sight of moste aweful daemon.Although it be said the daemon shews not unlesse the wordes be spake by thebloodie altar of the Olde Ones, yet it were well to beware.

- - - - -

Then a Grate Black Shade rose up before Alle, and Alle present were struckDumb, save one, who sayd, ‘Who is this before Us, in this Night Cloak?’ But theShade did not deign to Reply, and was indifferent to all Entreatys.

Then another spake, and commanded the Shade to do what she bade, and madethe Sign of Voor, all with the greatest impertinunce. But the Shade would brookno Mortals, and forward It came, and Pityfull were the manie Screams that rentthe Air for it was the Dweller Belowe. Only one escapt, and this Feat wasaccomplished only by Recitation of the Incantation of VACH-VIRASH in amanner most timelie.

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TransitTransitGetting from Horror Getting from Horror

to Hellto Hell

In a campaign as globe-spanning as Masks ofNyarlathotep, with six chapters set across fivecontinents, even the distances between thevarious important locales combine to become achapter of their own. It is for this reason thatwe present this article about the details of travelin 1925, by means both mundane and fantastic.Of course, there is nothing to stop the Keeperfrom hand-waving away the time spenttravelling between the campaign’s cities andlocalities, but it is our opinion that more is lostin ignoring these moments than is gained byhaving the players and their investigatorsplunging straight back into the main storywithout a break. As ever, it is up to the Keeperto determine what best fits the needs of theirindividual campaigns and adjust as required.

METHODS OF TRAVELShipIt is highly unlikely that the investigators in thiscampaign will be able to avoid a long sea voyage.Some discussion of oceanic travel is provided onpage 11 of The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep;likewise options for shipboard activity areprovided on page 208. The Keeper should beprepared for the likely questions that his playerswill have about their voyage, including thelength of the trip, the name of the vessel, theevents on board, and the opportunities for studyor rest. Whole sessions of play can be given overto a long sea trip or the voyage can be handledby a few descriptive comments and dice rolls, asdesired. This chapter contains the scenario“Case of the Cat’s Cradle” as one potentiallymemorable voyage (nominally transporting theinvestigators from Port Said to Mombassa, but

Transit428On the road again:Travel in Masks of

NyarlathotepBret Kramer, with Anthony Warren and Matthew Pook

Ocean Liner or Tramp Steamer?Speed, budget or discretion?

this can be adjusted), while “The Mauretania”from The Asylum & Other Tales is one of severalpublished scenarios that can be run while theinvestigators are travelling by ship. See theScenario Suggestions at the end of the chapterfor a fuller discussion of these scenarios as wellas several others.

Passenger Ships:Passenger shipping routes run between themajor ports of the world while small locationsare reached via local lines. First Class passengerswill travel in luxury equal to the finest hotels,while those traveling in the lower classes willreceive commensurately less refined treatment,though only on the meanest of vessels willpaying passengers be treated roughly. Largeships provide a host of potential encounterswith colorful passengers, dangerous opponents,and potential new investigators (two pre-generated characters are provided for thatpurpose). While the conspiracies behind theCarlyle Expedition lack the reach of the dreadedCult of Cthulhu, investigators killed anddropped overboard mid-ocean are far less likelyto trouble Aubrey Penhew or Omar Shakti everagain. The schedules of the larger passengerliners are more likely to be adhered to thanthose of lesser carriers, but delays of all sorts arepossible, even for the greatest vessels.

Commercial Ships:Investigators seeking less-visited places, such asPort Hedland, or those hoping to avoid detectionmight book passage on a freighter, as discussedin the campaign. As ever, the myriadcomplications possible here should be carefullyweighed by the Keeper. Certainly not everyunscrupulous captain should be in the employof the Order of the Bloated Woman, but thereshould always be a chance of danger whensailing with lawless sailors. Travel times will inall likelihood be greatly increased, as many oldercoal-fired ships were in poor repair or forreasons of economy took longer routes. If theinvestigators manage to gain possession of theIvory Wind or the Dark Mistress, considerationmust be given to what sort of problems they willface, legal or otherwise, but the Keeper should

not feel obliged to strip them of their prize.After all, investigators with their own shipgreatly simplify a Keeper’s future planning forthe investigators’ arrival in other locations ofthe campaign. Just be sure to, at a minimum,consider how the vessel is being crewed.

Other ships:Investigators might take after Jack Brady andmake use of less traditional forms of shipping,employing an obsolete sailing ship, hijacking ajunk, or commandeering a coastal packet boat.The Keeper should reward ingenuity here, butshe should not let her players bully her intoaccepting anything that they want. Theinvestigators must have the appropriate skills –usually Pilot (Boat) – to direct these vessels ontheir own or at least have a crew who can do so.Otherwise improvisation will usually cover mosteventualities. The Keeper must also considerthe possible risks a vessel might be prone to aswell as the advantages she offers; a fishing junkbought on the cheap in Shanghai will probablyserve the investigators well if they use it toreconnoiter Grey Dragon Island, but equallyprove to be unsuitable forvoyaging on the high seas orversus a squad of angry deepones, for example.

As enticing a proposition asit sounds for the players, theinvestigators should have noreasonable chance to obtain asubmarine. There is just noreason sufficient enough for asubmersible to be in thecampaign, let alone for theinvestigators to gain control ofit.

RailTrains are of great use in moving betweencertain locations in the campaign. As these arefixed, the major rail routes taken byinvestigators (for example, between Mombasaand Nairobi) are discussed in some detail. Thereare no direct rail connections between thecampaign’s major cities, though in somecircumstances the investigators can combine rail

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Tickets Please!

and ship travel to greatly expedite their journey.Rail travel will be the norm in places like theUnited States or Great Britain and relativelysimple in their colonies, though the routesavailable are fewer in number and limited intheir scope. The Keeper needs to consider thelogistics of any train taken by the investigators –are they traveling first class? Will a sleeping carbe required and, if so, who is sharing whichcabin? How much luggage is needed?

(If the Keeper has access to Horror on theOrient Express or Fearful Passages, a goodamount of details about the particulars of railtravel can be located within these works,including some very nice rail-car plans in theformer.)

AircraftCommercial Carriers and Private Aircraft:Air travel was only in its infancy in the mid-1920s. Only a select few locations have regularroutes connecting them but, fortunately for theinvestigators, these might be useful when theywant to get to one of these locations in a hurry.The Keeper’s Notes for each chapter detail theavailability of air transport; as a rule, trips ofunder a few hundred miles are comparativelycommon for the era, but longer flights are rarer,and are usually specifically chartered. Trans-oceanic flights during this era are practicallyimpossible, save for by sea-planes (cf.).

As for specific aircraft, consider that 1926saw the introduction of the famed FordTrimotor, known as the “Tin Goose,” a verymodern craft for the era. It had a capacity forabout ten passengers, a range of just over five-

hundred miles, and a top speed of 150 miles perhour. Most passenger planes of the time havebeen converted from designs built for otherpurposes, often as bombers. Passenger comfortis a luxury of the future and cabins are neitherpressurized nor heated. Here is the advice givento travelers flying from London to Paris in 1924(from Baedeker’s Paris, p. 427):

No more precautions are neededthan go to an ordinary sea trip, includinggloves and a warm light coat, in caseextra heights are necessary to avoidclouds. Cotton-wool is distributed tolessen the roar of the engines andpropeller, and there are other provisionsfor the passenger’s comfort. Delicatepersons will have to grow used to theslight dip or oscillations, and thoseordinarily subject to sea-sickness maypossibly find themselves troubled by air-sickness. Luncheon baskets may beobtained at the aerodrome restaurant,but for an initial trip it is wiser to dependupon a few dry biscuits and a little fruit.

That being said, there is no reason that thesavvy investigators need confine themselves tothe rail and sea. For example, an investigator,after recuperating from some injury in London,might reasonably catch-up to his associates inCairo via a series of chartered flights in only afew days – flying via Paris, Marseilles, Rome, andTunis. Travel times over long distances will beonly marginally better than by sea in manycases, as travel can only safely occur duringdaylight hours and in good weather. In somelocations – Australia in particular – air travel wasadopted much more readily than in placeswhere large railroad lines or well-developed sealanes existed.

If investigators are wealthy enough (or havean especially generous patron) it is notinconceivable that they might own their ownaircraft. The Keeper should do some basicresearch into historical aircraft of the period andselect an appropriate vehicle and note the crafts’top speed, maximum range, and passengercapacity and use that as a yardstick to gaugetravel time. Most libraries have a range of books

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More civilised than Ryan Air:Air Travel in the 1920s

on the topic, and internet sources abound.When in doubt, be generous and use thestatistics given for the Ford Trimotor above.

On additional complication for aninvestigator owned craft is the necessity ofhaving at least a pilot and a mechanic. TheKeeper should assume a competent professionalwill have at least 60% in the relevant skill – Pilot(Aircraft) and Mechanic Repair respectively –but levels in these skills will vary wildly (andmay provide some good role-playingopportunities for the Keeper). Most aircraftprofessionals will have received their trainingwhile serving in one of the national air forcesduring the Great War, so most will be veterans.Additional details about these professionals areleft up to the Keeper to decide; just remember totreat these individuals as such, they are just aslikely to suffer from the risks of the campaign asplayers – it is not just the passengers who willneed to make a Sanity roll after their Sikorksy S-29 is attacked by a Flying Polyp, after all- and thepilot is more likely to see the attacking monsterthan the passengers. Conversely, theseindividuals may also serve as a possible sourceof replacement investigators should the needarise.

Lighter-than-air:In particularly “pulpy” versions of the campaign,investigators might desire to make use of anairship of some sort, be it a semi-rigid (andrelatively smaller) ship like the Italia orsomething more mammoth and rigid like theUSS Los Angeles. While having a zeppelin atyour command might intrigue investigators,there are some inherent difficulties that makethem at best unwieldy in any game with someelement of realism.

While the range of these aircraft issignificantly higher than anything else duringthe period, the cost, even when compared tolarge commercial aircraft make themprohibitive, even to someone with the financialwherewithal of someone like Erica Carlyle.Generally only nations (and only the wealthiest)could afford to operate a zeppelin; this sort ofwealth should be beyond anything held by anygroup of investigators.

Additionally, issues of crewing andmaintaining these craft must be addressed.Usually only specially trained crews had the skillto moor a craft once it reached its destinationand usually they were stored in titanic hangarsspecially built for that purpose. Such facilitieswould only exist in New York and London in thisperiod (and are under the control of thesenations’ respective militaries) so even ifinvestigators fly to Port Hedland or Nairobi,

431editSeaplanes and Flying BoatsWhile they are of limited use in the interiors of Kenya or (especially) Australia, most of the locations visited during this campaignare accessible by the sea. Seaplanes and flying boats (the former using floats for buoyancy while the later uses its fuselage) wereincreasingly popular during the period and bar a passenger ship, will be the most likely mode of transport used in long distancevoyages. It is therefore not unreasonable for the investigators to want to use them during the campaign, though most of the samecaveats regarding aircraft above apply; research regarding details of specific craft again pays dividends. Be ready for clever playersto deploy them in unexpected ways, be it scouting Grey Dragon Island or as a quick get-away from Misr House. It worked forIndiana Jones, after all…

The monograph Mysteries of the Congo contains more information on seaplanes, particularly the Curtiss/Felixtowe F5L.

The Shenandoah in 1924

there were be no one who can help land orprovide maintenance for their craft.

Even while airborne, the disadvantages ofairships for investigators are severe. Considerthe amount of damage a single Hunting Horroror Byakhee could inflict on a zeppelin, let alonemore potent beings. Ordinary bad weatherwrecked the Shenandoah (a sister ship to theLos Angeles) in September of 1925; investigatorshoping to thwart the machinations ofNyarlathotep do not have the luxury of waitingfor sunny skies. Remember also, that a five-hundred foot silver cigar floating through theair is also the antithesis of stealth. Even blindidiot gods might notice one coming, eliminatingany chance of surprise.

This does not mean that no lighter-than-aircraft can ever have a place in this campaign.While the investigators are unlikely to gainpassage on the Los Angeles during itsobservation of the January 1925 eclipse in NewYork, the majestic passage of the craft overManhattan can play into the narrative. Ofcourse, if it fits your pulp-inspired game to haveyour investigators grappling with Gavigan in thecabin of an airship high over the Indian Ocean,so be it…

AutomobileAutomobiles and other motorized wheeledvehicles are only of limited use during thecampaign. Roads of the era are poor, even in themore developed nations. In most cases, placesthat need to be reached on land can be moreeffectively reached by rail. Long journeys willrequire having good weather, a mechanic on

hand, and a bit of luck. Nevertheless, travel intothe interior of Kenya and Australia byautomobile is a good option, and is discussed inthe Keeper’s Notes for each of those chapters.

Of course, in the major cities of thecampaign, save perhaps Cairo, automobiles areboth ubiquitous and of great utility. The Keepershould make use of the inherent drama of thecar chase – one of my favorite memories of thiscampaign is the investigators’ late-night escapefrom a Hunting Horror in a Packard StraightEight. Likewise, the Keeper must not assumethat only the investigators have access to carsand trucks. Truckloads of cultists can beunloaded to attack investigators or a waiting carcan spirit a kidnapped comrade into theclutches of their enemies. If an investigatorelects to have a high Drive Auto skill, he or she isjust begging to get involved in a good car chase.

AnimalOn Foot:Most likely, investigators will only travel on foot(outside of civilized areas) out of necessity.When this happens, a few factors should beconsidered. The first of these are the risks posedby any hostile terrain or environment. In thiscampaign, the most likely danger will be posedby heat or thirst, a discussion of exposure anddehydration is given in the Keeper’s Notes forAustralia. These can be used for the Egyptiandesert or in a modified form for the wilds ofKenya. The second factor is risk posed by boththe local population and the local wildlife.While it would be pointless to lose an

Transit432Automobile travel:

Easy to useEasy to go wrong

investigator to snakebite or a hungry lion,unprepared amateurs will be at great risk in thewilderness. The final factor is that ofequipment. While Call of Cthulhu is not the sortof game to concern itself with the minutia ofencumbrance, the Keeper needs to ensure thatwhat the investigators decide to carry is at leastvaguely plausible.

Pack animals or human porters can be hiredto carry the investigators’ excess encumbrance,but should not be forgotten when theinvestigators encounter a dangerous situation.Crossing a flooded river calls for more than justa Swim roll from investigators – the mules andthe porters need to get across too, and withtheir burdens intact.

Mounted:There are few instances in the campaign wheremounted travel is required, but there do existsituations where it is possible. The greatestchances for this arise in Egypt and Australia but,it is only in Kenya, owing to its peculiarities ofbiology and geography (cf.), that investigatorshave no chance to end up on horseback orastride a camel.

A rider will need a minimal skill if he is tokeep control of his mount, otherwise aninexperienced rider will probably suffer fromaccident or injury. For each day spent astride amount, a rider should be allowed an Idea roll togain the bare minimum skill necessary; perhapshalf the rider’s DEX. Even an experienced riderwill be tested to keep his mount under controlwhen confronted by danger. Any attack on amount should call for the appropriate Ride skillto be checked if the rider is to keep it under

control. If the danger comes from a Mythosentity, then the check against the Ride skillshould be at significant penalties, as whileanimals do not have Sanity scores per se, eventhe best rider will be hard-pressed to keep hishorse from bucking whenattacked by a formless beingwhose very shadow is madness.Mounts, like any vehicle, requirefuel and water and someminimal degree of daily care.Anyone with more than 20% inthe appropriate Ride skillshould be assumed to be able toprovide this basic care. Incertain cases, such as injury orillness, a specialist (like aveterinarian or trainer) isrequired.

CUSTOMS, IMMIGRATION,AND THE LAWEach of the locations visited in the campaign(setting aside those places en route) has its ownlaws governing the importation of goods andpeople. These laws can be used as acomplication for investigators or ignored for thesake of the story, as desired. For anyone seekinga level of historical accuracy, the Keeper shouldbear in mind the following notes; however,considering the apparent ease that various cultsthroughout the campaign have had in violatingthese laws, do not allow this bit of historicalcolor to seriously impede prudent investigators.

United StatesThe primary agencies responsible for controllingimmigration and the entry of goods into theUnited States are the Division of Customs andthe Bureau of Immigration. Agents for both(some undercover in the case of Customs)sought to regulate and control the flow ofpeople and goods, to varying degrees of success.Alcohol, thanks to Prohibition, is restricted andthe interdiction of liquor occupies much of theDivision’s resources, but narcotics, firearms, andhuman trafficking are all regulated. Generally

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Above: Camel riders in Egypt

Far Left: Have Porters, LuggageWill Travel

investigators carrying legitimate drugs or guns(hunting weapons or professionallymanufactured medication) will have no problemimporting them, but anyone importing items ofan obvious criminal nature (sawed-off shotguns,concealed blocks of opium) will be in trouble.The appropriate credentials, combined withCredit Rating and Law (or in the case of drugsand alcohol Medicine) rolls will persuade acustoms agent to let all but the most obviouslyillicit goods into the country. The investigatorseeking to import certain banned books(printed ones only – customs inspectors areunlikely to be able to read manuscript Latin afterall), such as The King in Yellow, may find themconfiscated as well.

Foreigners are required to obtain a visabefore entering the USA. Investigators fromWestern Europe, especially those with areasonable grasp of English, should have notrouble gaining a visa, but anyone coming fromanywhere else will find the process relativelysimple. A Credit Rating check might be enoughfor anyone travelling from Eastern Europe orSouth America, while entry into the USA fornon-Europeans from Africa or Asia is severelyrestricted. These restrictions are tied to anumber of laws, including the Immigration Actof 1924, which sought to staunch the flow ofimmigrants from “undesirable” nations,particularly Eastern Europe, and the ChineseExclusion Acts of 1882, which prohibited Asianimmigration. Investigators from the Far East orEastern Europe, even those with a valid visa,

might be extensively questioned as to the objectof their stay in the U.S. by agents suspicious thatthey intend to stay. No matter what his stripe,an investigator who has been convicted of aserious crime or who has outstanding warrantsin another country might be barred at theborder or even detained and deported.

United KingdomWhile the U.K. lacks Prohibition, firearms aremore tightly regulated there, including theirimport. The importation of firearms requires aspecific visa and unlicensed weapons will beconfiscated upon entry. The bringing ofhandguns into the U.K. is generally prohibited,though they may be legally shipped through toanother destination. Narcotics, cocaine andopium derivatives in particular, are illegal andwell-known thanks to recent national anti-drugcrazes. Physicians, however, have wide latitudein possessing and prescribing all manner ofdrugs, including morphine.

Egypt and the Kenya ColonyBoth these territories operate under BritishCustoms control. Immigration limitations andlaws are only rarely observed, though individualswith outstanding warrants in any part of theEmpire (or on watch-lists for subversives) arelikely to be arrested. In Egypt, alcohol isprohibited by law and social custom, but it israre for either to be effectively enforced,particularly among the foreign and expatriatecommunities. Firearms, though technicallyunder similar restrictions as in Britain, will onlyarouse suspicion if they are of sufficiently largecaliber or are imported in large number. It doesnot do to arm the natives after all. Anyone notcarrying large rifles into Kenya might beconsidered more suspicious by local customsagents, unless they are journalists or clergymen.

ChinaOutside of the areas directly controlled by theTreaty Powers, China is effectively lawless. Whilethe Chinese government has laws restrictingimmigration and certain goods, those seeking tocircumvent these laws need only avail

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A Landing Stage Baggage Hall

themselves of the tool of bribery to have theirdesired items overlooked. Bargain rolls are theonly ones that apply; investigators who for theirown reasons attempt to adhere to the laws aswritten face substantial delays, the loss of legalgoods, and most likely will be forced to pay afine equal or greater to the bribes their lessscrupulous friends paid to begin with. Legalrestrictions are observed within the variousConcessions, but these laws are usually observedin their breach (i.e. charging wrong-doers)rather than as a basis for interdiction. No doubtthis lawlessness will come to aid of playersseeking crates of dynamite and tripod mountedmachine guns in preparation for a raid on GrayDragon Island…

AustraliaLike the rest of the British Empire, theCommonwealth of Australia imposes limits onfirearms, narcotics, and people seeking to enterthe country. The usual roster of illegal drugs isalso banned here, and as with the UnitedKingdom handgun ownership significantlyrestricted. Any investigator who claims that.450 Nitro Express rifle (or other large bore rifle)is necessary to hunt kangaroo will receive shortshrift from the non-nonsense customs officials.Under the “White Australia” policy, Australiaalso significantly limits the migration of non-Whites into the Commonwealth andnon-European immigrants are banned outright.Visitors should be able to gain entry presumingtheir paperwork is in order, but will almostcertainly be heavily scrutinized.

MONEY AND BANKS

Whether the investigators are independentlywealthy or backed by interested parties, moneyand getting it to the places where it is neededwill play a significant role in any Masks ofNyarlathotep campaign. To sum up thefollowing, investigators wanting to get the mostout of their money should use British banks asmuch as possible and sink their money into ahealthy mix of US dollars and pounds sterling...

New York: The nationalcurrency of theUnited States isthe dollar ($),which is dividedinto 100 cents (¢).

With the 1913 creation of the Federal Reserve, itbecame easier for banks to trade amongst oneanother, protect their customers’ interests, andinsure against fraud and other monetary loss.Nevertheless, anyone limited to withdrawingmoney from a bank in the United States will findthemselves with some financial difficulties.With small, local banks preferable to the largecity banks used for commercial enterprises,transfer fees can be exorbitant; a request for$500 to be wired to England might only resultin $250 being available in London. The bank willcharge wiring fees, state taxes, as well as holdingand routing fees for a large trans-Atlantic bankto actually send it, and then a receiving fee fromthe London bank itself! As a rule, investigatorsmight find between a quarter (!) and a half (")shaved off the original requested amount.

London: The nationalcurrency ofBritain is poundssterling (£), whichis divided into 20shillings (s), or240 pennies (d),with 12 pennies

making 1 shilling. Britain’s banks havehistorically been large, their numbers reined inby the government and their own informalnetwork of moneyed men. With the advent ofthe Great War, banking flourished, leading to aseries of acquisitions and mergers that createdthe so-called “Big Five.” Most large banks alsohave branches in the Dominions and thecolonies, allowing the low- or zero-chargetransfer of money between the United Kingdomand her Empire; for example, wiring money toKenya or Australia is unlikely to cost betweenmore than a few shillings and a couple ofpounds, depending on the amount being sent –

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even wires to Shanghai should proveinexpensive. Building societies and small creditunions are more popular outside of the maincities in towns and villages, though theinvestigators are unlikely to see much need forthem during the course of their visit.

Egypt: The currency ofEgypt is theEgyptian pound(LE), furtherdivided into 100piastre (p) or 1000millieme (m).

Banking and Islam, though possessing a longhistory, generally do not go together in themodern sense as the rules laid down in theKoran are not often compatible with 20thcentury economics. For that reason, banking isthe purview of the richest and mostinternational elements of Egypt during the1920s. Foreign, particularly British banks can befound in Cairo and Alexandria. Banque Misr,created in 1920, is the first serious foray intocreating a non-national bank in Egypt, butremains limited to supporting the more affluentnationals, albeit with a nod towards Sharia law.Most Muslims prefer to use a process calledhawala, whereby money is transferred by anetwork of brokers. Money does not changehands between the brokers, merely orders ofdisposition. In this way, sums of money can betransferred, ignoring exchange rates andwithout any record of who sent the money orwho received it. This system can be very usefulfor cults and investigators alike – if they can geta broker to agree to help them.

Kenya: The currency ofthe colony ofKenya is the EastAfrican shilling(EAS), divided into100 cents (¢).Pegged at 1 EastAfrican shilling to

1 UK shilling, the idea was to limit transfers andreplace the now devalued rupee. Internationaltravelers will find that most whites are quitewilling to accept British sterling, whereas blacksprefer the EAS or the US dollar. Americancurrency is a secondary currency across sub-Saharan Africa, freely changing hands betweenBritish East Africa, Italian Somaliland andFrench West Africa. Most banks are colonialbranches of British ones, but a few local banksserve the populations of out-of-the-way towns orcater specifically to the black inhabitants.Muslim Kenyans prefer hawala (see thepreceding entry for Egypt), though the chancesthat an investigator will use this system will beslim.

Australia: The nationalcurrency ofAustralia is theAustralian pound(£) consisting of20 shillings (s), or

240 (d), with 12 pennies to the shilling. Bankingin Australia is tightly controlled, even more sothan in Britain, and so credit unions andbuilding societies are far, far more common. In

Transit436A rough guide to exchangeThe following shows basic exchange rates1925/1926, using £ sterling:

£1: $5 US£1: £1 Egyptian or Australian£1: 20 East African Shillings£1: 10 yuan

Useful terms:Credit Union: Offers checking and savingsaccount in addition to loans, usually at a lowerrate than banks. Membership is usually restrictedto people in a certain locality or profession.Savings and Loan (U.S.)/Building Society(U.K.): Similar to a credit union with membershiplimitations, but with a particular focus on savingsaccounts and mortgages.

the Outback, banks are all-but unknown andtheir services are provided by post offices(though they will only have a finite amount offoreign currency to exchange, if any). Systemsof bartering are not unknown, especially whenamongst the Aboriginal peoples who have littleneed for hard currency. Both Australian andBritish currency is noticeably different in looks;and though roughly equal in spending power,neither country accepts the other’s as legaltender.

Shanghai: China’s ongoingcivil war meansthat the financialsystem is ascomplex as itspolitics. Theofficial currency isthe yuan (C¥),divided into 10jiao, or 100 fen,with notes below 1yuan beinguncommon. Asvarious local and

national mints and presses print money, thereare both “national” and “local” currencies – the

former supposedlyusable anywhere,the latter limitedto specific areas.Both aretechnicallyredeemable forother currenciesat the correctforeign exchangerate. Using theChinese banks ofthis era is not agood idea for the

traveling Westerner, being open to all mannerof fraud and transfer problems. Most are littlemore than a printing press for the warlord thatcontrols them. Instead, British and Americancontrolled banks both allied against the threatof Chinese or Japanese take-over, and can befound in Treaty Ports the length and breadth of

the country. Costs to wire money are low,mainly due to their dominance over theeconomies of the Far East, though Americanwires can still find anything up to a ! lost offthe top before collection from the counter.While the yuan is the preferred local currency,others are popular. Both British sterling and USdollars remain acceptable, and Japanese yen dowell in the Japanese area of Hongkew or amongBritish ex-pats, as the yen is pegged to thepound.

MAJOR BANKS:These banks are the largest or most reputableduring the 1920s. Readers will note that thenumber of American banks is limited; this isbecause before the 1970s, large, trans-nationalbanks were spectacularly rare. Local town andcity banks, supplemented by credit unions andsavings and loans, made up the majority ofAmerica’s money-lenders.

USA: Mellon Bank, Bank of New YorkUK: Lloyds Bank, Barclays Bank, Standard

CharteredShanghai: The Hong Kong and Shanghai

Banking Corporation Limited(HSBC), Bank of China

Egypt: Bank Misr, National Bank of Egypt,Hawali

Australia: English, Scottish & Australian Bank(ES&A), Commonwealth Bank ofAustralia, National Bank ofAustralasia, Bank of New SouthWales

PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERSThese individuals might be encounteredanywhere that investigators go during thecampaign.

R. Donald Brewer – An engineer and chemist bytrade, Brewer is seeking his fortune in thecolonies after the failure of the family business.He can therefore be found aboard any vessel

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travelling from London to Egypt, Kenya, orAustralia. His wartime experiences andknowledge of explosives will ensure him a placein any party of investigators. Of course,obtaining the actual explosives is a problem allin itself.

Kumaran Azhikode – The crews of many of theBritish Empire’s ships were comprised ofLascars- a generic term describing any Asianseaman. Where a Lascar worked aboard the shipdepended upon his origins. Lascars from Goajoin the Purser’s Department, those fromPakistan and the North-West work the engineroom, while Indians worked the deck. Kumaranis a senior deckhand, and one of the manypeople whom Jackson Elias made friends withover the course of his travels. Besides being amechanic, Kumaran is one of the fewinvestigators to possess a martial arts skill thatis not boxing. If the Keeper allows his martialarts skill to apply to his weaponry, thenKumaran could prove to be very useful andinteresting in a fight. At the very least, his playershould keep Kumaran’s Kalaripayattu skills andhis use of the Urimi a secret until needed. Heshould then take great delight in his fellowplayer’s looks of amazement when he literallypulls his belt off and strikes with deadly effect.

SCENARIO SUGGESTIONS

Title: The MauretaniaType: Travel Adventure (New York to London)Source: The Asylum & other tales (OOP)Notes: When extra scenarios are considered

for Masks of Nyarlathotep, TheMauretania is always mentioned. Itenables the investigators to make thefirst leg of the campaign’s long journeyin style, aboard a transatlantic liner.Several passengers aboard the shippossess Mythos knowledge (thoughperhaps too much so) and could proveuseful to the investigators. Theencounter with Professor Patersonprovides the Keeper the opportunity tohint at the immensity of the task before

them, and if a replacement investigatoris required in London, then MauricePaterson, the Professor’s next of kin, isa worthy addition. Maurice has beenwritten up in the London section foruse as either a non-player or a playercharacter.

The Keeper should considerremoving one or more of the side plots,as desired, and reuse them on othertrips or omit them altogether, tosimplify things for themselves and theirplayers.

Title: The Viceroy of IndiaType: Travel AdventureSource: Tatters of the KingNotes: While some work is necessary to

extricate this segment from itswonderful source campaign and adjustcertain details of place, the Keeper willbe rewarded by a well-described seavoyage complete with interesting NPCsand a good summary of the experienceof sea travel in the period. As a bonus,the difficulties met here are free ofMythos elements, making it a welcomerespite for weary investigators.

Title: The Shadow on the SeaType: Travel Adventure (New York to London)Source: Different Worlds #47 (OOP)Notes: Nominally set aboard the Mauretania,

this scenario can be set aboard anyvessel. It casts the ship, its crew andpassengers as sacrifices in a cultist’ssummoning of Father Dagon. Run aswritten the investigators are set adriftin a lifeboat in the middle of theAtlantic, an event which could end thecampaign. The scenario suggests that itbe run as a dream sequence whilstaboard, perhaps suggesting that a dateof great import is approaching and theforces of the Mythos, not just thosedevoted to Nyarlathotep, are aware ofits importance, and are moving towardsit.

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Title: The Secret of MarseillesType: Sidetrek Adventure

(Any Port/Marseilles)Source: The King of ChicagoNotes: A short encounter in any port will be

enough to pique the investigators’interest, the strange statuette that fallsinto their hands at the Keeper’sdiscretion being reminiscent of theirencounters with the batrachian fishmen in Mouthbreathers and The Beastin the Abbey. To find out more, theinvestigators will have to immersethemselves in a gang war in the backstreets of the Mediterranean port ofMarseilles.

The initial encounter can take placeat any time during the New York andLondon chapters, with the bulk of thescenario best run between the Londonand Egypt chapters, Marseillesbecoming one more extended stopalong the way. Although violent, thescenario should also provide a readysupply of replacement investigators,either the missing chanteuse Papillion,or one of the port’s many gangsters.

Title: Checked BaggageType: Travel EncounterSource: Yog-sothoth.comNotes: Luggage is an oft-overlooked problem

for travelers (and by personalexperience sometimes overlooked bythose providing travel as well). Thisscenario injects a minor Mythos artifactinto an investigator’s possession, givingrise to a host of dangerouscomplications. Both the thief who didthis and his cultist pursuers might bereplaced by the villains of the campaignif desired. A Keeper who makes use ofthe side scenario “The Burning Within”from the London chapter will noteimmediate parallels between theMythos item here and the accursedobelisk from that piece; they may beconnected if the Keeper so wishes.Both pieces and this chapter were, in

part, written by this author, so hisopinion on each may reflect some bias.

Title: Fear of FlyingType: Travel Adventure (Europe)Source: Fearful Passages (OOP),

White Dwarf #72Notes: Fear of Flying is an ideal quick

adventure that gets the investigatorsfrom one major capital to anotheracross Europe, perhaps even to attendthe auction described in the scenario,“The Auction.” If the investigators areflying from London, and have earlierencountered the Serpent personSsathasaa in the red-herring “A Serpentin Soho,” it would be fitting to replacethe Serpent person Ssilith in Fear ofFlying with Ssathasaa and have himwreak his revenge upon theinvestigators. The Private Investigatorassigned to shadow the investigatorscan either be dropped as acomplication or have been hired byErica Carlyle (see the character FinleyPaterson if the detective is a playercharacter as this is a good method ofintroducing him), Edward Gavigan, orTewfik al-Sayed. Finally, if the actressDawn Peachtree survives, she will makea useful contact for the Australiachapter, and even a replacementinvestigator.

Title: Fear of FallingType: Travel Encounter (Europe)Source: Yog-sothoth.comNotes: Fear of Falling is an ideal quick

adventure designed to do nothing morethan scare a single investigator andremove a few points of Sanity. Itspecifically targets the one investigatorwith an encounter with a Star Vampireaboard a passenger aeroplane to deadlyeffect. Although the encounter turnsout to have been nothing more than avery nasty dream, the otherinvestigators should be played asnormal for maximum effect, one of thesurviving investigators within the

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dream actually being the one to wakeup and discover that he had beenasleep. Ideally it should be run after“Fear of Flying,” the investigatorshopefully having been lulled intothinking that the Keeper would neverrun the same kind of adventure again.Run this way though, and this simpleencounter with a Star Vampire aboardanother passenger aeroplane shouldenforce the investigators’ fear of flight(alternatively given as Aviophobia,Aviatophobia, or Pteromerhanophobia).

Title: The ScuttlingType: Travel AdventureSource: Sacraments of Evil (OOP/PDF)Notes: The Scuttling offers a change of pace –

a haunted house/monster hunt style ofscenario a la the classic ScienceFiction/Horror film, Alien. The scenariorequires modification to make itsuitable for both the campaign and the20th century, but in doing so a Keepercan adjust the sea voyage at its heart toget the investigators across the Atlanticto Europe, from Egypt or Kenya acrossthe Indian Ocean to Australia orShanghai. It can even be made to fit ajourney across the Pacific if theinvestigators decide to travel West fromNew York to San Francisco and fromthere to the Orient rather than followthe campaign’s natural Eastward drive.The first thing that the Keeper must dois drop or fold the events of the initialleg across the Atlantic into the returntrip. The second is to drop the plotabout the statue of Lady Jane Grey,although if the Keeper sets the journeyafter the events of the Egypt and Kenyachapters, the statue could be replacedwith something more ominous,perhaps a statue of the gods Set orSobek, or even of Nyarlathotep himself.The Keeper must decide if theChristabel should remain a sailingvessel or be modernised with a steamor coal driven engine, and if the crewremains totally occidental. If the

Christabel sails from Egypt or Kenya,the greater the likelihood of her beingcrewed by Oriental sailors, or Lascars.As with other scenarios, The Scuttlingis a ready source of allies andreplacement investigators, such as twofellows discussed in this article, aresuitable for this purpose.

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The Journey:The Start orThe End?

One of the difficulties facing investigatorspursuing the mystery of the Carlyle Expedition isthe fact that while they may uncover over a dozen“Mythos” tomes, the ever approaching deadlineof the Great Ceremony leaves little time forthem to study this growing library. The averagestudy time for a number of the tomes availablefor discovery during the course of the campaignstretches out into many months, the result beingthat some will not be finished until well after theGreat Gate has been opened! Unlike campaignswith a more compressed time frame or thepossibility for periods of prolonged study between

a d v e n t u r e s ,investigators in Masksof Nyarlathotep areengaged in a globe-spanning expeditionwith a definitedeadline. The chal-lenges posed by thisdeadline are furthercompounded by issuesof language, thelegibility and sturdi-ness of the studiedtome, and the condi-tions under whichtheir study isundertaken. It seemsreasonable that some

special consideration be taken regarding tomesin the campaign.

PARTIAL READING BENEFITSAs presented in the rulebook, each tome takes aperiod of time (usually given in weeks) to read.A tome may be skimmed at a rate of two hoursper week of study required. In Skimming, areduced amount of Sanity is lost and no CthulhuMythos skill is gained, but the general contentsof the book can be determined. Once a tomehas been studied for the full time required (andafter the appropriate language skill check ismade), the reader suffers an additional loss ofSanity and but then gains a fixed number ofpoints in his Cthulhu Mythos skill.

In a lengthy campaign, this all-or-nothingapproach is impractical. Why should aninvestigator have learned nothing from a tomeafter several months of study, only to suddenlygain the benefits and penalties after a certaindate? In circumstances such as those of Masksof Nyarlathotep, it seems reasonable thatperiodic progress can be made. A reasonableapproach is to grant single points of CthulhuMythos skill at a rate determined by the overallreading time for a work, as shown on the chartto the right.

Transit442Reading on the Road:

Handling tomes in Masks ofNyarlathotep

Bret Kramer

Too many books.Too little time.

Fractions of days may rounded up or down,as desired, though to the nearest whole numberis equitable.

For each segment read the investigatorneeds to make a check against the appropriatelanguage skill. A success means that the portionof the book has been successfully read and asingle point of Cthulhu Mythos is gained.(Effectively, each fraction of a tome worth asingle point of Cthulhu Mythos skill is treated asan individual ‘tome’.)

If the option of allowing additional skillchecks to be granted for reading a tome (aspresented in the Keeper’s Companion Volume 1),it is up to the Keeper when and how such checksshould be granted. Most likely these will only begiven after finishing the whole of the book.Additionally, any points of Cthulhu Mythos skillthat were not gained while reading a portion ofa tome due to a failed language skill check mightbe granted once the tome is completely read.Alternately, the investigator might be granted are-roll for each portion failed that he failed toread as an added benefit for finishing a work.

There are several options for inflicting Sanityloss (less the points lost via skimming) if anincremental reading is allowed. The simplestmethod is to impose the whole Sanity cost orreading the book immediately after the firstpoint of Cthulhu Mythos skill is gained, thoughfor some tomes this is a rather severe option.Another option is to roll the total Sanity loss forreading a tome and to divide it into portionsacross the book, inflicting these losses upon theinvestigator over the course of his reading thework. If the rules for progressive Sanity loss areused (see above), the Keeper should keep trackof lost Sanity points as they accrue and imposethe total if and when the character should sufferthe loss of a Sanity segment.

Ex: J.C. Beaushaw, P.I., reads Life as a Goden route to, and while in, London. Hemakes a Read English roll every 4 days(the Keeper elects to round up). Witheach success he gains 1 point to hisCthulhu Mythos skill. As his Sanity lossfrom the tome is but 2 points, his Keeperdecides that he loses the first point along

443editTome name Spell Mult. Read Time CM bonus Days per pointAfrica’s Dark Sects x2 1 week +6 1.2 The Black Rites x3 41 weeks +9 31.9The Book of Dzyan x1 14 weeks +9 10.9Cthaat Aquadingen x3 46/29 weeks* +13/+5* 4.8/40.6*G’harne Fragments x2 12 weeks +10 8.4Goddess of the Black Fan x5 12 weeks +5 16.8Gods of Reality** x1 2 weeks +2 7Kitab Al Azif x5 68 weeks +18 26.4Liber Ivonis x2 36 weeks +13 19.4Life as a God n/a 2 weeks +4 3.5Livre d’Ivon x2 36 weeks +12 21People of the Monolith n/a 1 week +3 2.3The Pnakotic Manuscripts x2 45 weeks +10 31.5R’lyeh text commentary x4 54 weeks +15 25.2Selections from the Livre d’Ivon x2 36 weeks +6 42Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan x4 52 weeks +11 33.1Tale of Priest Kwan x3 12 weeks +5 16.8True Magick x2 24 weeks +6 28Wondrous Intelligences n/a 15 weeks +3 35* Middle English version

** If the alternate version given on page XX is used.

Other Reading Rules

Over the years, several optional rules regarding the reading and study of Mythos tomes have been presented.We offer a summary of them here for the convenience of the Keeper:

Research Modifier (Call of Cthulhu, p. 141)Talented and better equipped readers may study tomes are faster rates than less able scholars. Total thefollowing for the researcher:

! One point for each point of INT above 14! One point for each point of EDU above 14! Total of skill in Tome’s language, minus 20, then divided by ten. If skill is under 20, divide difference from

20 by 10. If simply working with a dictionary (i.e. skill of 0%), -100.! Cthulhu Mythos divided by 5 or Occult divided by 20, whichever is higher.! The ‘library rating’. Large or well-staffed institutions (such as the British Museum) would have a rating

20, smaller institutions lower, individual collections a 1 or 2.

The total value of all these factors is subtracted from 100; the resulting number is the percentage of thenormal reading time this particular investigator’s study of a tome will take.

Example: Rev. Mathias Poëk (Int 15, EDU 18, English 51%, Occult 82%) reads the Wondrous Intelligencesat his small Dutch University, for a value of 1 + 4 + 3 + 4 + 13 = 25. 100 – 25 = 74, so it will take himonly about eleven weeks to thoroughly read the tome rather than the usual fifteen.

Note that investigators on board ship or at many of the more remote locations in the campaign will have noaccess to a library beyond what books they carry with them. Some passenger liners might have a small library(value of 1 at most), but tramp steamers and the like most certainly will not.

Feverish Study (Keeper’s Companion Vol. 1, p. 37)Investigator studies a tome for sixteen hours per day devoting their every moment to their work; nothing mayinterrupt them. In turn, reading time is reduced to ! normal. From the second day and on, a POW x 3 rollis needed. Success indicates no negative effect. Failure results in a daily Sanity check, with a cost of 1/1d3 pointsof Sanity. Once 5 or more points of Sanity are lost, character becomes obsessive and the investigator mustroll under their CON x 3 or lose 1d3-1 HP due to exhaustion and neglect. Obsessed investigators must bephysically restrained from study or they will continue until the tome is completed or they are dead. Sanityloss might be capped at the tome’s normal cost as or might be allowed to accumulate to reflect a serious maniaon the investigator’s part. Those suffering a significant loss in this way might be stricken with an appropriatephobia after the tome is completed as well.

Example: Dr. Andre Meunier (POW 13, Con 8) pours through a copy of the Livre d’Ivon. Each dayafter the first he must roll 39 or under (his POW x 3) or begin to suffer a Sanity loss. He fails thisroll on the third day and becomes obsessed. Each day thereafter he must make a Sanity roll and loses1 or 1d3 points of Sanity. Over three days he loses five points of Sanity (1 point, 3 point, 2 point).Thereafter he must roll 24 or lower or lose 1d3-1 Hit Points. While it may only take the good doctornine weeks (instead of the usual 36, though this might be modified as above) to read the Livre, it isunlikely he’ll survive the process.

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Progressive Sanity Loss (Keeper’s Companion Vol. 1, p. 204)Each Mythos tome is assigned a base Sanity cost equal to the Cthulhu Mythos skill bonus divided by 10 (roundedto the nearest whole number). Readers lose this value immediately upon reading (presumably while skimming).The Keeper makes any Sanity loss rolls for reading a tome and keeps track of the total. After subtracting thebase score from this total, the remaining Sanity loss is divided by 5, rounding down. This number is the valueof the ‘Sanity Segment’ cost for the book. Additional Sanity Segments are lost whenever one of the followingoccurs:

! The investigator’s Cthulhu Mythos score is raised above the Cthulhu Mythos skill gain of the tome.! The investigator makes a successful Know roll; this roll is made immediately after finishing the book

and then only when EDU is raised. Only one segment can be lost in this manner.! If the investigator makes a successful roll against one of the skills granted a bonus from reading the

tome or an appropriate skill at the Keeper’s discretion. This check should be made immediately uponfinishing the tome and then whenever the skill increases to the next multiple of 10 (i.e. current skillgoes from 29% to 32%).

! If the character encounters clear evidence validating topics or entities described by the tome (i.e.reading the R’lyeh Text then later encountering a Star Spawn of Cthulhu), they will automatically andimmediately lose all remaining points for the tome in addition to the Sanity cost for the offendinginformation or being.

! Once the total Sanity point cost of a tome is reached, no further rolls for Sanity Segments are made. ! It is also suggested that certain “toxic texts” should always have an immediate Sanity loss as per the

original rules. In Masks of Nyarlathotep, the vile Goddess of the Black Fan may be a text of this sort.

Ex: Harold Church, an Anthropologist, reads the G’harne Fragments. Initially he loses one point ofSanity (due to the work’s Cthulhu Mythos bonus of +10); he makes his Sanity roll for the work but theKeeper rolls his total Sanity loss to be 5 points. Since he has already lost 1 point of Sanity due to theinherent damage caused by the work, there remain up to four more points of Sanity than can be lost.He would roll against both his Know and Anthropology skills immediately upon completing the tome (andagain should he increase either his EDU or Anthropology skill), with a success indicating a 1 point lossfor each. Additionally, should his Cthulhu Mythos skill increase he will automatically lose a point. Finallyshould view photographs of G’harne, samples of Elder Thing script, see a Chthonian, etc., he willimmediately lose the remainder of his 4 points.

The Keeper is also reminded that these rules are also presented together on pages 233-8 of MiskatonicUniversity.

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A long voyage can be good forthe mind... as long as you don’toverdo the reading

after the first success and the other aftercompleting the book. If the progressiveSanity loss rules are used, he mightinstead lose the second point of Sanityafter seeing a Brotherhood cultistcharging him wielding the cult’s spikedclub, as he recognizes the weapon fromthe book.

A simpler optionIf this system is perhaps too complex, anotheroption is to allow the investigator ‘complete’their reading of a tome after the period listed inthe above chart for a single point of CthulhuMythos skill. At this time, the investigator canbe said to have ‘read’ the work and will gain aknowledge of the book’s contents as per thedescriptions of the tomes given in thisCompanion. They may continue to study thework in order to gain additional points to theirCthulhu Mythos skill up to the book’s listedvalue or to learn a spell, the mechanics of thelater being left to the Keeper’s discretion. In thisway tome may be studied quickly but thematerial benefits of reading them remainunavailable without long-term study.

Reading times can be adjusted depending oneither the ability and resources of the reader (asabove) or the pace at which he attempts to studythe tome. Normal attempts are assumed tooccupy at least 8 hours per day. While an

investigator undertaking “feverish study” hasalready been covered, it is probable that aninvestigator might wish to only plumb themysteries of the Mythos whilst engaged in otheractivities, either working or actually conductingmore material inquiries. Such a reading regime,which we will refer to as “casual” allows aninvestigator to be engaged in more of theadventure while continuing to study a desiredwork. The effect on the time taken to read awork depends on what portion of the day aninvestigator dedicates to his researches, andranges anywhere from x2 to x4 (roughlybetween four and 1 hours per day); any time lessthan an hour per day spent studying a bookprecludes any benefit being gained from it. Inconjunction with the Research Modifier rules,this option allows a particularly skilled academicto read as effectively in his spare time as anamateur would in hours of devoted study.

Some Mythos tomes cannot be studied insuch a lackadaisical manner, however. Any tomethat will cost the reader five of more points ofSanity during its study (roll when the attempt isbegun) is simply too unspeakably awful andrequires a concentrated effort to complete. Itmust therefore be read at either a normal orfeverish pace. If the loss from skimming a tomemeets this threshold, no attempt can be madeto read at a slow pace, even if the eventual loss isnow less than five, due to the awful firstimpression on the reader.

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Denial: Not just a river in EgyptAn optional approach to the progressive Sanity loss rules can be used for the investigator who actively denies the truth of theMythos tomes he reads. In these cases test the Cthulhu Mythos bonus granted by the book against the investigator’s POW. Thetotal POW should be modified by the difference between the investigator’s POW and INT, so that an investigator with an INThigher than his POW is penalized. Additional bonus to POW may be granted if the investigator possesses professional skills over60 (perhaps 1 point per 10 over 60), reflecting the effect of their self-esteem; a member of the clergy or an investigator who closelyadheres to a religious or philosophical system may also receive a bonus at the Keeper’s discretion. The investigator’s currentCthulhu Mythos skill is also subtracted from his POW. If the investigator wins, his ability to hold on tight to his placid island ofignorance trumps (for now) the horrible truth of what he has read. The Cthulhu Mythos skill points gained from reading theMythos tome are still gained and the Sanity cost of skimming is still imposed, but no additional Sanity is lost. A failed roll resultsin a normal Sanity loss, as per the rules.

An investigator who succeeds in denying the truth of what he has read is at risk in the future of suffering a more severe mentalshock. Whenever the investigator gains any points in Cthulhu Mythos, he must re-roll against the denied book; failure results in animmediate reduction of Sanity equal to the loss originally determined for the work. Multiple successful denials of books willresult in additional future tests and possible Sanity losses.

Ex: Agatha Dumbarton, dilettanteadventuress, wants to occasionallyreview Azathoth and Others during hervoyage to Shanghai. She decides tospend roughly two hours per day in thereading, which results in an increasedreading time from 1 week to 3 weeks. Italso means that she will only be abouthalf way through the book when shearrives at the mouth of the Whangpoo.

Later, Miss Dumbarton attempts to read thelate Professor Vanderkrogt’s translations of theParchment’s of Pnom while tending to theconvalescing scholar, giving her roughly 4 hoursper day for her work. Unfortunately, Agatha’sSanity loss from reading this work will be 8points – after spending a few days intermittentlyreading the Parchment, she must decidedbetween continuing to read the tome full-time(and ignoring the poor professor) or giving upon the work until she can devote herself to itfully.

The Keeper does not need to reveal theeventual Sanity cost for a Mythos tome at theoutset and may require an investigator to spenda day or two starting a work before they areinformed that the work is simply too difficult ortraumatizing to read casually.

LEARNING SPELLSSpells are one of the most sought pieces ofinformation contained in any tome. If theKeeper permits it, spells can be learned from atome that has notbeen fully studied. Ata minimum, the tomemust be skimmed bythe reader, thoughlonger periods ofstudy might berequired if a tome isparticularly esoteric,disorganized, orpoorly written (asmost Mythos textsare). The ratio ofCthulhu Mythospoints per days readon page XX can beused as a rough guideto the text’s clarity.The time to learn aspell is left up to theKeeper to determine.It should also depend upon the circumstancesunder which the investigator is trying to learnthe spell- are they in a safe place, do they haveany needed materials, are they in good health,et cetera- though at least a few hours should berequired unless otherwise required by the

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If the partial reading rules discussed in this article are used, a separate roll for each portion of a completed book can be made,with a failure being the point in reading when the investigator’s ability to deny the truth of the Mythos finally collapses. Theinvestigator would then suffer the full Sanity cost of reading that section of the work.

Of course, it is up to the Keeper to determine if a Mythos tome is of such potent inhumanity and dread veracity that noamount of fortitude or delusion can deny its awful truths. One commonly feared tome of this sort is The King in Yellow and anyattempt to deny its potency, or that of a similarly fulsome work, will result in an automatic failure.

Example: Doctor Theodore Goodwin, devout Anglican anthropologist, reads the Liber Ivonis. His POW is 15, his INT is 16,and his Anthropology skill is 78. His effective POW is 16 (-1 due to INT, +1 from his professional skill, +1 from his faith) versusthe tome’s bonus to Cthulhu Mythos, resulting in a 65% chance for the academic to dismiss what he has read as the work of adiseased mind. He still loses 1d4 points of Sanity from skimming the book however and his Cthulhu Mythos skill is increased to13.

Later, Doctor Goodwin is forced by necessity to study Feery’s Notes on the Necronomicon. The Doctor’s effective POW is nowonly 3, due to what he has learned previously (his modified POW of 16 – the tome’s effective POW of 13). Having nowencountered more evidence of the Mythos his will is shaken and he must again roll against the Liber Ivonis, this time at an effectivePOW of 3 as well. Since this is an automatic failure it costs him 2d4 points of Sanity.

Spell tomes can be found inesoteric locations

narrative. The time taken to skim the tome is agood benchmark for an investigator not in anurgent need to dismiss some transdimensionalbeast.

In earlier editions of the Call of Cthulhu rulesMythos tomes were assigned “spell multipliers.”These allowed the Keeper to determine thelikelihood of an investigator to learn the spellscontained within a tome’s pages, the percentilebeing the investigator’s INT multiplied by thespell multiplier. This system is still an option inthe current edition and the values provided area good guideline to how clearly spells arepresented in a particular tome. If somethingmore complex is desired, increase theinvestigator’s INT by his Occult skill divided by10 or his Cthulhu Mythos skill.

The campaign does not provide spellmultipliers for either Gavigan’s scrolls or Tale ofPriest Kwan. The Keeper can assign values forthe scrolls, between x2 and x4, as desired. Wehave given Tale of Priest Kwan a value of x3,equal to Goddess of the Black Fan.

As is ever the case, the magic of the Mythospresents inherent dangers to any human caster,no matter how intellectually gifted or resolute.There is a great deal of role-play potential in theexperience of learning of, and the making use ofspells, and such sorceries should not simply bethought of in mechanical terms – of Sanitypoints lost or Magic Points used. The moredrama and tension that envelops a spell – whenlearned or cast – the more impact it will have onthe players.

Remember also that the spells contained incertain tomes are not presented directly as such– Call Azathoth from Massa di requiem perShuggay, for example – and cannot be learnedsimply through study. Be careful to note howspells are presented in particular tomes and donot allow an investigator to learn these spellswithout a through study of the text.

TRANSLATIONThe final obstacle for the investigators in theirstudy of Mythos tomes are the differences inlanguage. The tomes found over the course ofinvestigating The Masks of Nyarlathotep comein seven languages (eight if you include theDutch partial translation of The Black Rites), andit is unlikely that any one group of investigatorswill know all these. In cases where a tome is inan unknown tongue, the investigators can eitherhire a translator or attempt to translate itthemselves through the use of a dictionary.

Do it yourselfUsing a dictionary is highly problematic to saythe least. Unless the investigator is familiar witha similar language, time to read (includingskimming) a tome should be increased at leastby a factor of 10. If the investigator is not evenfamiliar with the writing system used, the factorof time increase should be even greater. A littleconsideration of the relationship betweenvarious languages will be instructive; theinvestigator who knows Spanish will be morecapable of handling a translation of Italian usinga dictionary than an investigator who only

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Practice makes perfectFor the Keeper desiring a further complication for the investigatorseeking to make use of Mythos magic, each spell may be considered asa special type of ‘skill’ in its own right. The base skill level of the spellis the investigator’s INT + POW + Cthulhu Mythos skill. Each time thespell is successfully cast, the investigator gains 1d10 points in that spell’sskill, until a skill level of 100 is reached. Failed castings are stillinstructive, and with an Idea roll the investigator gains 1d3 points inthe spell. A critical success grants exceptional insight, represented bya 2d10 point gain in the spell’s skill, while a critical fumble (00) eithermeans that the investigator has learned a flawed version of the spell orthat no further increase in the spell’s skill can be made until theinvestigator increases his fundamental understanding of the universeand his place in it (i.e. increased their Cthulhu Mythos skill. The specificsof miscast spells or flawed versions are left up to the Keeper todetermine.

If the version of a spell given in a text is somehow flawed, aninvestigator can still attempt to learn it. Assuming that he survives,once the investigator’s skill in the flawed spell’s skill reaches 100, hecan be confident that the problem is not with his casting of the spell,but with the spell itself. In certain circumstances, perhaps the castermight attempt to remedy the flawed version using their own skills…

knows English and who has to translate archaicChinese equipped only with a dictionary.

One final option is for the investigator toembark on a study of the language itself prior toor during a translation attempt. The Keepermust adjudicate how long such an attempt takesand how rapidly the new language is learned. Asalways, similarities in already known languageswill facilitate this process. At a minimum, thefactor of time increase should diminish as theinvestigator becomes more familiar with thebasics of the new language until an attempt canbe made to translate at a normal rate and usingthe investigator’s newly acquired skill. TheKeeper needs to determine a translator’s skilllevel and his Sanity before a translation attemptis begun.

Hiring a translatorThis is an inherently dangerous project, for boththe investigator and his translator. Two factorsshould be considered about any translator –their skill in the needed language and theirSanity. A translator with a high skill in thedesired language can translate at a reasonablepace (at best, 1/5 the pace of normal reading)and will retain much of the informationcontained explicitly and implicitly in the text.The Sanity of a translator is therefore animportant factor. A Mythos text is inherentlyunsettling, or worse, psychologically damaging,to its reader, including any translator. The moreunprepared that the translator is for such ashock, the more likely that they will refuse tocontinue. Even if warned in advance of thenature of the material that they will be workingon, a translator may still be forced to give uptheir task depending on the severity of theSanity loss.

As a rule of thumb, a translator will sufferthe Sanity loss penalty given with skimming thetext as they begin to translate the work. If thisis greater than 0, it is likely that the translatorwill seek to leave the project without some formof incentive to stay and continue their work.Once such an incentive is in place and thetranslator decides to continue, they will sufferthe Sanity loss associated with close study. Ifany Sanity points are lost at this point, thetranslator will again seek to abandon the work

and will only be persuaded to continue withsome effort upon the part of investigators. Thedegree and nature of this persuasion should bedirectly proportional to the Sanity loss sufferedby the translator. In some cases, the translatormight become obsessed with the tome that theyare working on and will abscond with it orcommit some other heinous act. If thetranslator loses 5 or more points of Sanity, theywill suffer some form of serious psychologicaldamage and might do something detrimental tothemselves, the text they are studying, or theinvestigators. The Keeper needs to track andtake note of the Sanity lost by the translator, asthe altered state of the translator’s mind maynegatively impact the quality of the translation.Some translators may also be inclined tocontract the local authorities if the work theyare given to translate is obscene or illegal intheir nation.

Investigators hiring a translator are also atrisk of employing someone in league with theirenemies, particularly in locations where thelocal cult is particularly powerful or influential.Even if the translator hired is not actually anagent of a cult (or worse, a member), they maystill confer with other experts in the tome’slanguage seeking advice on translating aparticularly difficult term or concept, and soincrease the possibility that the investigatorswill come to the notice of the local cult via acompromised agent or expert. Investigators willbe at the greatest risk of this in London, Cairo,and especially Shanghai; the number oftranslators there familiar with the variousarchaic Chinese dialects of interest to theinvestigators is vanishingly small. Hopefully thiscomplication will occur to players before theyhire someone; not every expert should be in thethrall of their enemies, but careless or obliviousinvestigators should pay for such a mistake.

Lastly, by their very nature certain tomes inthe campaign are inherently dangerous, such asGoddess of the Black Fan. While a preparedtranslator might overcome such accursed works,an unaware and unprepared translator willalmost certainly succumb to them. Investigatorswho inflict a Mythos text on an unawaretranslator, particularly one that poses animmediate danger to the reader, should suffer

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some sort of Sanity loss themselves, dependingon the fate of the victim.

During the course of Masks of Nyarlathotepthe following languages will be of use intranslating the tomes found throughout its play.Depending on the nature of each language, asnoted, those finding and hiring translators willencounter issues related to that tongue.

Arabic: Speakers of Arabic are more commonthan readers. Scholars familiar with the morearchaic forms of Arabic used in the tomes andscrolls discovered by investigators can be foundat major scholarly institutions (such as CairoUniversity). Unfortunately there is a goodchance that these scholars will either be in theemploy of or unwillingly influenced by theBrotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. Even if theyare free from such malign connections, the moredevout among them will almost certain refuseto translate the vile secrets of the Mythos. Dr.Kafour will probably be able to find someonewho can do this work, if he thinks it worthy.

Chinese: The Chinese texts that investigatorsmay recover are generally in a more formal formof the written language, one usually only knownto scholars. While a few westerners might

number among theseworthies, most ofthose able to read andcomprehend thesetexts are Chinesenationals. Mu Hsienwill be of greatassistance with theSeven Cryptical Booksof Hsan, but there isalmost no chancethat he will be willingto translate any other

Mythos works, particularly the vile Goddess ofthe Black Fan. Even more so than in Cairo,translators who might be helpful with thesebooks will most likely be connected in some wayto the Order of the Bloated Woman, to thevillainous Lin Tang-yu, or be willing to sell theinvestigators out to one or both parties.

Dutch: In the unlikely event that Vanheuvelen’swritings falls into the investigators’ handswithout their encountering the unfortunateDutchman himself, the Keeper can allow anyinvestigator who speaks German a chance at "his skill in that tongue to make a translation.Otherwise Dutch speakers are few and farbetween in Cairo. A Luck roll will turn one up in1d3+1 days. The chances should be higher inplaces like London.

English: In the extremely unlikely event thatnone of the investigators can read English, thereshould be no problem in finding someone whodoes. The archaic English used in tomes like ThePnakotic Manuscripts may give the investigatorspause, but with some effort and perhaps theguidance of an expert, they should be able towork their way through it, much like Chaucer.

French: French translators will be easy to find innearly every locale, save perhaps the remoteparts of Kenya or Australia, though scholarsfamiliar with the French used in the worksencountered here are significantly rarer.

Hieroglyphics: As with Arabic, experts in thewritings of ancient Egypt to found in Cairo andLondon are very likely to be either connected tothe investigators’ enemies or within theirenemy’s sphere of influence. While finding atrustworthy scholar will present a challenge,careful investigators should be able to managethe task, although aside from the above cities(or perhaps New York) knowledge of theHieroglyphic skill is exceedingly rare. The pre-generated character Helen Alexander has a skillof 45% and might be encountered byinvestigators in need of a translator. The Keepermight also consider using the hapless pre-generated character Paul Maclean as a possibletranslator; unfortunately his skill is only 15%and he needs to be rescued from the dungeon ofMisr House.

Hindi: The most uncommon of all the languagesused in tomes, Hindi speakers are uncommonoutside of the subcontinent, though some canbe discovered scattered throughout the BritishEmpire. London will be the most likely place to

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Few Westerners know Chinesein any form, ancient or modern

find a scholar who can read Devanagari (thescript used in Hindi), but in any British colonyinvestigators making a party Luck roll will findsomeone who may be of help after 1d5 days.Veterans of the British army may be able tospeak the language, but are substantially lesslikely to be able to read it. Remember also thatthe Cult of the Small Crawler has agentsscattered throughout the globe, and thetranslator might be one of its members.

Latin: Common in any place where people havestudied at American or European universities,Latin will be the easiest language to find atranslator for after English. It is also commonlya selected language for investigators, thoughfinding someone willing to devote the time totranslating a large text will be substantiallyharder than finding someone who studied thelanguage for a few years at university.

The simplest approach to the problem of thenumerous languages found in the campaignmight be to suggest to the players the utility ofcertain languages during character generation.Alternatively, instead of creating their own, theplayers can choose to play the pre-generatedinvestigators included with this volume, manyof whom have been created with this problemin mind. It should be noted that all together,they do not know every language needed duringthe course of the campaign. Of course, there isalways the chance that the Egyptianarchaeologist does not survive long enough forhis skills to be of use when the otherinvestigators reach Cairo – when new charactersare created, there is always the chance to rectifya gap in your players’ linguistic repertoire.

CONSIDERATIONS FOR THEKEEPEROne oft-expressed frustration with thecampaign arises from presentation and utility ofseveral of the tomes that investigators canobtain. The usual assumption upon the part ofplayers is that if someone like Gavigan or HoFong has a book in their possession, then it

must be connected to the main plot rather thansimply being a particularly potent, butotherwise unrelated, Mythos artifact.Considering the hours required to read most ofthese works, in games where investigators whoare studying Mythos tomes must do so at theexclusion of any other activity, this can result inthe generally fruitless loss of an otherwisehealthy investigator for many sessions, if notremainder of the campaign. Similarly,investigators might devote precious time to therecovery of a known Mythos tome, when all thatis gained by obtaining said work are points inthe little-used Cthulhu Mythos skill manymonths in the future. The rule suggestionspresented in this article are an attempt toaddress some of these problems.

Primarily, the reason for formatting theMythos tome write-ups in this Companion in theway that we have is to resolve previous issueswith utility and presentation. The summary ofthe content of each book, as given under‘Thorough Reading’ should be enough to aid theKeeper. Investigators, as a whole, are curiouspeople (as are their players), and will no doubtwonder what in the world The G’harneFragments or Life as a God are all about.Hopefully the descriptions of the works formand contents will sate such interests. For theKeeper though, there still remain questionsabout what use such tomes are to the greatercampaign.

Some works are directly germane to themysteries of campaign; Life as a God is aninvaluable resource about the Brotherhood ofthe Black Pharaoh, Wondrous Intelligencesdescribes the Great Race of Yith and theircivilization, et cetera. We have endeavored toadd new details to these and similar tomes toclarify and expand their utility to players,though the Keeper should take care to dole outthese clues to the investigators in bits and piecesas they progress through these works, as neededand as appropriate.

Alternatively, a few tomes, while not beingimmediately connected to the CarlyleExpedition or its underlying secrets, do containspecific information that will further expand theinvestigators’ understanding of the problemsbefore them; The G’harne Fragments connects

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the God of the Bloody Tongue and Nyarlathotep,for example. Specific clues like this should bepresented early in the study of these works, asthey will do little good after January 14, 1926.

Lastly, many of the tomes that can bediscovered during the campaign have either noexplicit connection to its underlying mysteries(Liber Ivonis) or are so expansive as toincidentally hold material that might be of use,but is buried under a wealth of Mythos secrets(Kitab Al Azif). It is up to the individual Keeperto decide if he wants to encourage his players topursue these works during the course of Masksof Nyarlathotep. At a bare minimum, theinvestigators should know the fundamentaltopics addressed after skimming such a tome,allowing your players to decide if the effort of afuller reading is worth their time.

In all three cases, it is up to the Keeper toconsider how they want each tome to relate tothe campaign itself. Use them to convey criticalsecrets, instruct in helpful (or damning) spells,build suspense and terror, foreshadow coming

events, or even simply as an excuse to drivecultist assaults on the investigators. Never allowthem to simply be a pile of dead paper.

As has been said before, the most importantconsideration is whether or not the game isenjoyable for your and your players. If theyenjoy building a “library of the damned” whilepouring over every Mythos tome that theyencounter, then feel free to add minor Mythostomes, duplicate versions of already held works,or tome fragments to the ones already provided.Conversely, if the investigators tend to be easilydistracted and need firm guidance, omit theincidental works, replace them with moresignificant ones, and simplify the issuesaddressed above as desired. Do not be afraid tocondense reading times, replace unhelpfultomes, or to add clues or spells as needed – thisis your campaign and you know best what suitsyour own needs and those of the players. Makethe tomes and their contents work for you, yourgame, and your players and you will berewarded.

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INTRODUCTION

This adventure is intended to be run as a one-shot side adventure during The Masks ofNyarlathotep campaign. It takes the form of aclassic 1920s/30s murder mystery in the style ofAgatha Christie. The scenario may be presentedas entirely Mythos free to be directly tied in tothe events of the campaign itself, as the Keeperwishes; as written the Mythos element inincidental. Violence is at a minimum, for theinvestigators at least, allowing this scenario canserve as a break between the greater horrorsfaced by your players.

During the voyage the unscrupulousarchaeologist René Delaflote will meet his endat the hands of his long-suffering daughter,Sophia. Ideally this should lead to a prolongedinvestigation in the classic Christie mode,complete with numerous suspects includingboth the victim’s partner, and Sophia’s suitor. Inan adventure based on misdirection andmistaken identity, the investigators shouldinitially believe that they are being pursued byagents of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh,and further, believe that the murder aboard theOsterley is directly related to the Mythos. Bothbeliefs are erroneous; the murder is an act ofpassion and nothing more.

The best time to run this adventure as partof a Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign isfollowing the Cairo chapter after theinvestigators have left Egypt for their nextdestination. For the purposes of this scenario itis assumed that the party will be travelling fromAlexandria, Egypt to Mombasa on the Kenyancoast, but the Keeper should have no difficultychanging the Osterley’s destination to fit theneeds of the campaign.

A longer journey, either to China or Australiarather than Nairobi, will increase the amount of

time that the investigators have to solve themystery with the Keeper needing to adjustevents accordingly. Greater adjustments will berequired if the investigators are sailing from SanFrancisco to Australia or Shanghai, in particularcritical details such as Delaflote’s quest forSolomon’s mines and the presence of Bast cultistAkbar Hudhayfah will by necessity needreworking.

SETTING

As previously noted, the setting for the murderis aboard the SS Osterley and some familiaritywith this ship will aid play. She is an ocean linerrun by the Orient Line, better known as one halfof the later P&O-Orient Line. The ship departsfrom Alexandria, Egypt and stops at Mombasa,Kenya on its way to Sydney, Australia viaBombay, India as part of an AustralianGovernment mail contract shared with P&O.The mail run occurs every two weeks betweenGreat Britain and Australia.

In total the journey between the two portswill take just over a week, with the shipdeparting Alexandria at 2 o’clock in theafternoon and docking in Mombasa eight dayslater at roughly 8 o’clock in the morning.

453editThe Case of the Cat’s Cradle

Mathew Gregory

The Orient Line’s SS Osterley;12,129 tons, 14,000HP, twin screws,18 knots. Built 1909 by London &Glasgow Eng & Iron ShipbuildingCo.

The Osterley is one of a quintet of 12,000 tonships that the Orient Line companycommissioned in 1909. Her sister ships, allbearing names starting with the letter “O,” werethe Otway, the Orsova, the Otranto, and theOrvieto. With a cruising speed of 18 knots, theOsterley is 553 feet in length and has adisplacement of 12129 tons. She has passengerspace for 270 in First Class, 120 in Second Class,and 700 in Third Class. Her Captain is EdgarLucas, late of the Royal Navy. Like her sisterships, the Osterley saw active duty during theGreat War, surviving intact to return topassenger service in 1919. The Otway and theOtranto were not so fortunate, both having beensunk during the war.

LAYOUT AND FACILITIES

The Osterley, like other cruise liners of hergeneration, carries passengers in three classes,First, Second, and Third, divided between a totalof five passenger decks.

The difference between the three classes oftravel is marked. First Class passengers travel inalmost palatial luxury, on the top three decksabove the bowline. Second Class passengers arelocated on the deck below in modestaccommodation, with the remaining passengerlevel, often referred to as Steerage, being takenup by Third Class. The term is a holdover fromwhen the cheapest tickets guaranteed a poorpassenger just basic bed and board, limitedtoilet facilities, nothing in the way of privacy,and of course, passage to the ship’s destination.Fortunately the Third Class passengers aboardthe Osterley will find their quarters cramped,but serviceable. Beneath the Third Classcompartments are the engine and machinerooms.

This gives the Osterley three passengersections, each almost a world unto its own.Although Second and Third Class passengersshare dining facilities, their meals are taken atdifferent times. Of course, the crew of theOsterley ensure that the First Class passengersare kept separated away from the rest of thepassengers during the voyage.

Since the adventure place takes placeentirely within the First Class, only thosesections of the ship are detailed. The Second orThird Class sections are left to the imaginationof the Keeper, as are the engine compartmentsand navigation rooms. In the event of theirgaining access to either section of the ship, theidea of the investigators in control of a steamship is a terrifying prospect under mostcircumstances.

FacilitiesFirst Class CabinsEach First Class cabin consists of one bedroomcontaining a large four-poster bed. The facilitiesinclude a writing bureau, a dressing table alsoknown as a vanity, and a table and chairs forwhen entertaining privately. The room connectsto a large dressing room containing severalwardrobes and a private wash room. The mainroom is decorated in mahogany panelling; thewash room is tiled in black and white.

First Class Dining SalonThe Dining Salon is a large room that can seatup to 150 passengers. It is decorated in whitewith a deep red carpeted floor and twochandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Each ofits thirty circular tables seats five diners. Food isfreshly prepared for each of the day’s threemeals: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Keepercan institute assigned seating if he wants to usemeal times as a means to introduce the variousNPCs (important to the scenario or not) to theinvestigators.

First Class Smoking RoomDecorated in the style of a Victorian Gentlemen’sClub with dark wood-panelled walls and heavyarm chairs, the Smoking Room is also outfittedwith several card tables and writing desks, plusa well-stocked library containing popularliterature and reference works only. Drinks canbe purchased in the Lounge and broughtthrough, but for a small gratuity the stewardswill take drinks orders to the Lounge and returnthem to the Smoking Room. Any woman wholingers in the Smoking Room will be regarded

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as unusual, but no attempt will be made to forceher to leave.

First Class Music RoomThe Music Room is the women’s equivalent tothe Smoking Room. Unlike the Smoking Room,it is decorated in Edwardian fashion, with lightpastel coloured walls and furniture with a floralmotif. The room serves as a quiet retreat wherewomen may read, play cards, or either listen toor play music using a variety of availableinstruments. Smoking is permitted, if stillsomewhat scandalous to certain parties. Menare permitted in the Music Room, perhaps foran impromptu recital by some of the other FirstClass passengers, but social convention meansthat such forays remain brief.

First Class LoungeUnlike many newer steamers of the day, theOsterley‘s First Class Lounge retains a homelystyle that harks back to the early Edwardianperiod with large sofas and comfortable chairsgiving the room a worn and slightly outmodedfeel. The bar is well stocked with a selection ofbeers and spirits, its staff as capable ofrecreating the popular cocktails of the day asthey are of suggesting a good malt whisky.

THE PLOTOverviewThe action begins in the bustling port ofAlexandria. The party has just disembarkedfrom the Cairo Express train and are preparingto board the SS Osterley, ready to continue theirvoyage on to the port of Mombasa. Whilstwaiting to board the ship they catch sight of the

day’s edition of the Cairo Bulletin (Handout #1).The topmost headline screams- “THIEVESSTRIKE AT GIZA”. If an investigator purchases acopy of the newspaper, the full story is revealedas a sensationalist piece lacking any firm fact ordetail. It is clear though that the authorities areoutraged, the Department of Antiquities simplystating that the villains responsible will bebrought to justice. A Know roll will confirm thatthe authorities’ refusal to reveal any specifics isin line with their policy of not commenting onongoing investigations. With an Idea roll aninvestigator will realize that this lack of leaksindicates that the authorities are very seriousabout this case.

After reading the article, the party willprobably want to board the Osterley as quicklyas possible. It is assumed that the investigatorswill be berthed in First Class. If their financesmake this unlikely, then perhaps somebenefactor (as per the article “‘Tent-pole’ NPCs”on page XX) will cover the costs. Also boarding

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Nota BeneIf your party did not cause any damage to the secret catacombs under the Pyramids or commit some other crime against someEgyptian antiquity, you will need to adjust this handout so that it should appear as if the party is being blamed for some crimethat occurred during their stay in Cairo. They should feel like they are in trouble for a crime they did not commit (or possiblydid commit, knowing Call of Cthulhu investigators). If nothing else, perhaps the investigators overhear several customs inspectorsdiscussing an alert they received to be on the look out for a group suspected of smuggling and then subject the investigators toa prolonged interview implying that they match the description of that group; be sure to put the investigators on edge.

Handout #1

the Osterley that morning is another group ofinvestigators: René Delaflote and his party, agroup of treasure hunters who, for a substantialfee, recover artifacts on behalf of privatecollectors. This party is responsible for thecrimes described in the article splashed acrossthe cover of the Cairo Bulletin. The most recentitem they have recovered is a small, whitemarble statue of Bast . Delaflote and his groupare travelling to the Kenya Crown Colonyfollowing his latest “lead” on the trail of KingSolomon’s mines.

Also aboard is Akbar Hudhayfah, a stewardwho works in First Class. A minor agent in theCult of Bast, he usually serves as a courier

between branches of the Cult, but has now beenassigned the task of trying to recover the statue.Unfortunately he has a very poor description ofthe thieves; the investigators also fit the hurriedand vague one he was given. During theboarding the party may notice that he seems tobe paying a lot of attention to them. Duringboarding and each day during the voyage theparty may make Spot Hidden rolls to noticeHudhayfah closely watching them.

The first two days of the voyage should bespent introducing all of the suspects andsupporting characters. On the afternoon of thethird day, Room Service discovers the body ofRené Delaflote slumped over his bureau with alarge wound to his forehead. A single blow froma heavy blunt object has caved in his skull.Mysteriously (or so it would seem) the door tohis room is locked and the room’s key is still onhis person.

The key to running this adventure ismisdirection; first the party should think thatthey are possibly in trouble for some damagedone in Egypt. Second it should becomeapparent that they are being tailed by a shadowyArab, making them worry about pursuit byagents of The Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh.Third, if they search Delaflote’s cabin, they willfind his notes which mention both the Carlyleexpedition and The Cult of the Bloody Tongue(though in reference to King Solomon’s Mines);these are summarized in Handout #2. Togetherthese three factors ought to be enough toconvince the investigators that they are dealingwith a Mythos-related killing and that they arepossibly in danger (or at least more danger thanusual). Despite these elements of misdirection,Delaflote’s death was instead a crime of passionand the real motive for the killing is simplyhuman emotion. The Keeper should allow hisplayers to traipse down the false path, lookingfor a Cult agent aboard ship before they startcompiling a list of more mundane suspects.

Transit456The Marble Idol of BastStanding about 9 inches high, this white marble figure is anexquisite piece of Egyptian craftsmanship dating from the MiddleKingdom period (roughly 2000 B.C. to 1600 B.C.). Aside frombeing a valuable example of Egyptian art, the statue itself allowsthe user to contact the goddess Bast. This works as the spellContact Bast with minor adjustments. Most importantly for theuser, there is no POW cost. Each night that the statue stayswithin 5 feet of the user while he sleeps there is a 10% chancethat Bast will hear the user’s call and appear before him in herdreams. Since this statue is sacred to Bast and was intendedfor use only by members of her cult, it ispossible that she might take great offence at anon-believer making use of her idol. TheKeeper should refer to the “The Black Cat”scenario detailed in the Cairo chapter of TheComplete Masks of Nyarlathotep for furtherinformation on Bast and her attitudestowards non-worshippers. The statue isinitially activated by reading the inscription– a prayer to Bast requesting wisdom –across the statue’s base.

This being Masks of Nyarlathotep, onemight expect investigators to seek Bast’s aidin their campaign against the CrawlingChaos and his minions. The Keeper shoulddetermine her response based upon theinvestigators’ actions in Cairo, especially ifthey have played through “The Black Cat.”Alternatively this can simply be amundane statuette, albeit one stillsacred to the Cult of Bast.

DRAMATIS PERSONAEThe Victim

Dr René Delaflote, 58René Delaflote is a Belgian archaeologist whoturned treasure hunter after finding it to be amore lucrative career. It also allowed him morefreedom to pursue his obsession: finding thelegendary diamond mines of King Solomon.After leaving academia, he formed a workingpartnership with an acquaintance of his, BrettJohnson, a gifted dig manager and wrangler.Delaflote brought to the partnership hisarchaeological skills, an air of respectability, anda host of professional contacts and clients, whileas the junior partner, Johnson provided themuscle, the local contacts, and an ability toacquire whatever was needed (for a price)everywhere they went.

Delaflote’s new career took him around theworld and away from his wife and young

daughter for long periods oftime. It was during one ofthese prolonged expeditionsthat his wife developedinfluenza. Tragically sheresisted all calls for her toinform her husband ofher condition; she did notwish to distract herhusband from his belovedwork just so that he couldstand over her sick bed andworry. Perhaps she washappier without him.It was only whenher conditionworsened andbecame terminal that anurgent telegram was sent toDelaflote. He immediately setabout returning to his adoptedhome of England (having fledBelgium at the outset of the Great War).

He arrived in Southampton the samemorning his beloved wife died. Upon reaching

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Victim: Dr René Delaflote

home he found his daughter, already distant dueto his long absences, had retreated further awayfrom him. Even though it had been hermother’s wish that her father not be troubled byher illness, Sophia felt that he had simplythought that his work was more important thanher mother’s health.

Left emotionally broken by her death, Renévowed that he would never neglect his daughteras he had his wife, and that Sophia would neveragain be without him by her side. SubsequentlySophia accompanied her father on all of hisexpeditions, much to her annoyance. René hasbecome obsessed with keeping his beloveddaughter always safe and close, as she is his lastremaining link to his wife. Unfortunately Renénow finds himself in the situation in which hisdaughter detests him, having been draggedaround the world against her wishes by the veryman whom she blames for the loss of hermother. The archaeologist clings to his love forhis daughter, the hope that one day they willreconcile, and his quest for King Solomon’sMines. He is blind to everything but his dotinglove for Sophia and his futile hunt for the Mines.Suspects

Sophia Delaflote, 19Sophia is the only child of René Delaflote. She

has followed her father on his expeditionsand adventures around the world in

the years since her mother’s death in1919. During her mother’s illness,Sophia acted as her nursemaid.Due to her age at the time, she isstill unaware that it was at hermother’s request that her fathernot be informed of her illness,and thus still harbors greatresentment against him for this

perceived failing. While time hasslightly dimmed the flames of her

hate, the wound still festers.Since her mother’s death Sophiahas been hauled from oneexpedition to another, to nearlyevery corner of the globe. Sheonce asked her father to allow

her to live with one of her relations

back in England, but René forbade her to evenspeak of such things. She now knows he willnever allow her to leave his side.

She now acts as a de facto secretary to herfather, their relationship more like employer andemployee, and anyone unaware of their actualrelationship would little suspect that they arerelated, let alone to be father and daughter. It isonly their similar appearance and a shared lastname that reveals the truth.

Sophia has fallen in love with her father’syoung assistant Henry Crawford. The two have,unbeknownst to René, become sweethearts overthe last year. Love suits Sophia and her dispositionhas improved greatly over the past months,much to her father’s pleasure. Henry has awokenwithin her a new passion for life, and she hassomeone who loves her and whom she loves inturn. Most importantly, she has a way of perhapsfinally escaping her father.

Henry Crawford, 24Henry Crawford is René Delaflote’s researchassistant. He is a graduate of MiskatonicUniversity, having majored in Archaeology andminored in Medieval European history. Hespeaks and reads Latin as well as modern Arabic.They met when René cameto MiskatonicUniversity to usethe Orne Libraryfor research.Y o u n gCrawford wasstarting his post-graduate studieshoping to gain adoctorate, butwas seduced by theperceived glamourof doing practicalarchae-ology in thefield, unearthing un-discovered treasures, andmaking his name. Sincejoining Delaflote’s partyeighteen months agoas René’s researchassistant; hehas found that

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Henry Crawford

the reality does not live up to the fantasy.Delaflote uses him to perform much of hisresearch leg-work, sifting though libraries andcollections to find material that Delaflote cancollate and claim as his own work. Henry is paida pittance for his tireless work, and feels exploitedand unappreciated by Delaflote and scorned byJohnson.

Yet he remains with Delaflote. Upon beingintroduced to Sophia Delaflote, he wasimmediately smitten with her. Being of similarage and temperament, the two of them hit it offalmost instantly and over the past year theirfriendship has grown closer and blossomed intolove. Unbeknownst to Sophia, he intends topropose to her under the stars during thevoyage to Mombasa.

Brett Johnson, 44Brett Johnson is an American. Originally fromKansas, he ran away from his parents’ farmwhen he was 15, looking for adventure and toescape the back-breaking life of a farmer. Aftera few years of wandering, he found himself inSan Francisco, home to one of the world’sbusiest ports. He worked as a longshoreman,loading and unloading cargo for ships from thefour corners of the world. The whole cityseemed steeped in adventure and far-off lands…unfortunately all Brett did was heave cargo.After working at the port for four months, fateconspired to give him the adventure he craved.

One night Johnson was caught up in aparticularly vicious bar brawl. During the fightBrett’s opponent pulled a knife and in theresulting struggle fell on the blade. Suddenlyfacing the threat of life of imprisonment andpossible execution, Brett fled to the harbor,hoping to find a ship in need of replacementhands. He found one bound for Shanghai, andjoining the crew, he sailed with them around thePacific for two years, before signing on with avessel bound for Europe.

Reaching French Morocco, Johnson jumpedship and in a change of career, signed up withthe French Foreign legion. Although harsh, hefound that he enjoyed military life, and so servedtwo five year terms, managing to rise to the rankof sergeant. Deciding to seek his fortuneelsewhere, Brett then became a mercenary and

general gun for hire, drifting acrossAfrica to eventually find himself inEgypt, which is where he wasfirst employed by RenéDelaflote, who was at thetime still under tenurewith the University ofGhent. If theinvestigators haveplayed through “TheGod of Mitnal” Johnsonmay be an acquaintanceof the smuggler WalterKimble and might havesome information onthat rogue (or feedinformation about theinvestigators to him if heis seeking revenge.) He isalso likely acquainted withthe Cairo smuggler RussellWashbourne (see page XX).

Johnson clearly made animpression, for a year laterDelaflote contactedhim with a “business”proposition. Theywould form a treasure hunting partnership. Asthe Belgian was bringing the knowledge andinitial funds to the partnership, it was agreedthat Johnson would be the junior partner,providing the brawn, handle day to day details,and deal with the shadier elements of thetreasure hunter’s trade. After fifteen years,however, Brett feels that being a junior partnerhas given him the adventure he craved, but notthe wealth that he feels he is owed.

It has left him with a number of scars, notall of them physical. Two years ago, whilst onthe trail of a hidden and long-forgotten Mayanruin in Guatemala, Johnson and his party ofhired locals were the victims of disaster fromwhich only he survived to return to civilization.To this day he does not know what happened –all he knows is that most nights he relives theevents in his dreams but as he wakes thememories drift away as insubstantial as mist.He has found that drinking heavily before hesleeps allows him to get through the nightwithout the nightmares. (Whether or not

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Brett Johnson

Johnson’s attackers were tied to the Mythos isup to the Keeper.)

Johnson has long believed that his role in thepartnership is to take all of the risks whilstDelaflote takes the credit and the lion’s share ofthe profits. Without Delaflote though, hischances of employment are greatly reduced as itis Delaflote’s knowledge and reputation that theoperation depends on. He resents his partner,but feels that he cannot leave him, fearing thatif the split is a bad one Delaflote could blackballhim with potential clients. This leaves Johnson,already disturbed by the events in Guatemala,increasingly depressed. To cope, he has becomea functional alcoholic, but as with hisdepression, Johnson is on a downward slide.

Akbar Hudhayfah, 31Akbar is a minor member of Egypt’s small Cultof Bast. He normally uses his position on theOsterley to serve as a courier for the cult,perhaps consulting with Jamal Alhazred inLamu in the Kenya Crown Colony (see Secrets of

Kenya, page 80). Following the theft ofthe Bast idol, he has been on the

lookout for Delaflote’s group, butunfortunately the descriptiongiven to him of the thieves is veryvague. The only thing he is sureof is that they are European

and that they might havepurchased tickets for travelaboard the Osterley. He

suspects that anyone withthe resources to steal the idol

will have money enough totravel First Class, so both theinvestigators and the Delaflote

party will be considered aspotential suspects. Thus

Hudhayfah has three extremelydifficult tasks: keeping an eye

on both the investigatorand the Delafloteparties, searching all oftheir compartments,and recovering the idol.

Originally a child ofCairo’s back alleys, Akbar

has worked hard to raise

himself up the social ladder and so attain theposition of a steward in First Class. He carrieshimself with a dignified air and speaks Englishwell, albeit with an accent. Akbar is proud of hiswork on behalf of the Cult and takes hisresponsibilities and faith seriously.

Supporting CharactersWhile not directly involved with Delaflote or hismurder, several other passengers aboard theOsterley are detailed here. The Keeper shouldintroduce them to the investigators soon afterthey board the ship so as to add colour andmuddy the waters a bit. These individuals maybe supplemented with those of the Keeper’screation (or from other works) or be reduced innumber to simplify affairs, though it isimportant that any clues or events they mightbe witness to be transferred to others, so as toensure the investigators have enoughinformation to, hopefully, determine Delaflote’skiller.

This is also an opportunity for a player toreplace an investigator who has been lost duringthe party’s exploits in Egypt with someonetravelling aboard the Osterley. The replacementcan be one of the player’s own devising, but hemust have a reason for both being aboard andtravelling to Mombasa or further onto India orAustralia. If the player is in a hurry several ofthe pre-generated investigators can easily beadded to the passenger complement. Theseinclude Kumaran Azhikode, the Lascar Steward;R. Donald Brewer, who would be travelling inFirst Class on his way to Australia; and Father“Jan” Johannes Henricus Gerardus Hendriks,who will be travelling Second Class, but as aCatholic priest will be called upon to render thelast rites to the late Delaflote, who was also aCatholic.

Harriet “Hattie” Smith, 22Hattie is a polite and likeable, if a bit plain, youngwoman from England, travelling on the Osterleywith her husband Jake Smith. They are on theship celebrating their honeymoon and have beenrecently holidaying in Cairo (Hattie was quitefascinated by the discovery of King Tut’s tomb)and currently are on their way to Australia

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Akbar Hudhayfah

before returning to England. Hattiehas married “above her station”

(she is the daughter of thefamily housekeeper);investigators who arecitizens of the UnitedKingdom will recognisetheir difference in classstanding with an Idea roll.

On initial impressions,Hattie appears to be a quiet

young woman and verydeferential to her large,

bombastic husband.Appearances aredeceptive though; asuccessful Psychology rollwill reveal that behindthat demure exterior is a

very capable woman, atrue case of “it’s always

the quiet ones.” Jake would do anything for hiswife and it is she who, as it were, wears thetrousers in the relationship. This becomes clearafter a short amount of time interacting with thecouple.

Jacob “Jake” Smith, 36Jake is the grandson of a successful Grimsbymerchant who first made his money as a

fisherman growing his fleet from asingle trawler into a fleet of

ships and several canneries,before moving into localpolitics. The familybusiness trades under thename of Smith & SonFisheries. Britishinvestigators will

recognise the companyname with a Know roll.

Jake’s grandfather is proudof his humble origins, and

did not oppose his marriageto a quiet and demure

“commoner,” despite a fairamount of gossip and the

disquiet of othermembers of the nowwell-to-do family.

Jake is a tall sturdily built man, with a squarejaw and broad shoulders, but with twinklingfriendly eyes. Although large and quite loud, heis a friendly giant, totally besotted with hisyoung wife. He served as a First Lieutenant inthe Royal Navy during the Great War and sawaction in the Dardanelles campaign, but he willnot bring this up under most normalcircumstances. Both Jake and Hattie can pass onuseful information about Australia to interestedinvestigators.

Mrs. Horace Marshpool, 57Mrs. Horace Marshpool (Jane to herfriend) is a plump, short, and elderlywoman, giving her a pear shapedappearance. No matter that theoccasion she always has some sort ofhat on, usually wide brimmed and shealways insists upon wearing floralpattern dresses and carrying a wornrattan cane. Mrs. Marshpool is highlyopinionated and seems to be able to talkconstantly, appearing to forego the need tobreathe when she’s expounding herinstructive lectures to anyone in range,usually to her ward, Victoria Hammond.The young lady is her great-niece,and Mrs. Marshpool genuinely caresfor her.

Victoria Hammond, 19Victoria is the ward of her great-aunt, Mrs.Horace Marshpool. She was left anorphan after the death of her motherin the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1919;her father, a captain in the BritishExpeditionary Force, having beenkilled three years previously on theSomme. Victoria is a petite, prettyyoung woman with enchanting eyesand a kindly face. She is very quietand retiring, appearing in many waysto be the exact opposite to her great-aunt, who despite her oftendomineering manner, Victoria lovesvery much. Discreet young femaleinvestigators may be made privy to Victoria’ssecret smoking habit as well as her unease about

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HarrietSmith

JacobSmith

VictoriaHammond

Jame Marshpool

their trip to Australia as part of her great-aunt’sefforts to find her a prospective groom. Ifintroduced, she and Sophia Delaflote mightstrike up a casual friendship.

Brigadier Lord Archibald James Dillingham-Stewart, 61The Brigadier is tall, thin man with a strongmilitary bearing. He prefers to use his militarytitle although he holds the title of Baron and a

family seat and lands in East Anglia. His silver-grey hair is slicked down and parted on theleft and he has a pencil thin moustache. Heloves cards and can usually be found in the

Smoking Room puffing on his pipe, a glassof single malt beside him, challenging an

opponent to another game of cribbage. Heis the perfect English gentleman in both

mannerisms and manners. Despite his severeexterior, he is ever the convivial companion,

ready to share a drink and a joke,particularly with other veterans.

After Eton and Sandhurst, theBrigadier joined the British Army in

1887 as a young subaltern, followingin the footsteps of both his father and

grandfather. During his 35 year career heserved in numerous postings across the

British Empire and by the outbreak of the GreatWar had risen to the rank of Brigadier.Although long separated from the trenches, thehorrors of the war’s mechanistic way of fightingmade him retire early in 1922 at the age of 57,saying that he never wished to sign that manydeath warrants again.

Doctor James O’Reilly 46The ship’s doctor, James O’Reilly is an oldacquaintance of one of the investigators.Originally a doctor in the British Army, O’Reillyserved in India where he also ran a private clinicin his spare time tending to the locals. During theGreat War he served in Mesopotamia. He is a kindand friendly man without a bad word to say ofanyone, and amongst the officers, crew, andpassengers of the Osterley, he has the reputationof being a fine doctor with an excellent bedsidemanner and a good sense of humour.

Doctor O’Reilly is an unremarkable lookingman, short and portly. He is always clean-

shaven and well-presented, his short neatly oiledblack hair well groomed, his suits or uniformneatly pressed, his collar freshly starched, and hisshoes polished to a brilliant shine. DoctorO’Reilly makes up for mundane looks with jovialwit and charm. He is always ready with a joke ora laugh, although when found alone and caughtunaware he is quite melancholic. He quicklyreturns to his usual sociable self though.

The Keeper should decide which investigatoris the most likely to have known Doctor O’Reilly.Two options are provided that canintroduce the investigator tohis friendship with thedoctor, although theKeeper should feelfree to create onethat fits thebackground of one hisinvestigators. Whicheverbackground he chooses touse, the Keeper mustensure that the meetingbetween the doctor and theinvestigator occur duringthe first few days of thevoyage. This will givea chance for the twoto reminisce aboutold times togetherbefore the murdertakes place.

Option 1You went to university with the James O’Reillywhere you were in the same fraternity. Togetherwith some other fraternity friends, you and hewere involved in a particularly successful prankreleasing three pigs into the main collegebuilding, the pigs being numbered 1, 2, and 4.The faculty spent most of the next day chasingthe three pigs and then fruitlessly searching forthe “missing” third pig. You stayed in contactfor a while following university, but you lostcontact with each other during the Great War.

This is the first meeting with James inseveral years. The first thing that strikes you ishis demeanour, the vivacious and exuberantyoung man you knew seems to have gone, beingmuch more reserved. Although there is still

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Dr. JamesO’Reilly

Brigadier Lord ArchibaldDillingham-Stewart

twinkle in his eye, showing that the old rascal isin there somewhere.

Option 2During the Great War you served with DoctorO’Reilly in the Middle East. As part of theMesopotamian campaign, the doctor was forcedto work under difficult circumstances, hismedical centre understaffed and poorly suppliedand overwhelmed by casualties from the battlesto lift the siege of Kut. In the spring of 1916,James was transferred to Europe and theWestern Front. After his transferral yourexchange of letters grew increasingly sporadicuntil the two of you lost contact with each other.You remember James from happier times inBasra at the beginning of the Mesopotamiancampaign. There his favourite joke to play onnew recruits was to tell them that he had runout of front lines and that they were to go to thequartermaster for some more.

MURDER!

On the third night after departing fromAlexandria, Sophia and Henry meet alone on theprow of the promenade deck. With the clear,starry sky of early evening and a bright moonilluminating the scene, Henry drops down onone knee and produces a ring case. He opens itto show Sophia an engagement ring andproposes to her. Bursting into tears of joy sheimmediately agrees. Henry rises, Sophia rushesinto his arms and the pair passionately embrace.As they kiss they are spotted by Mrs. Marshpool,who often comes up onto the promenade deckto get some air (sea air helps her to sleep, shecan explain). A polite cough on her partdisturbs the young lovers.

Meanwhile in the lounge a bitter argumenthas broken out between Delaflote and Johnson,Johnson’s grievances having finally come to thesurface with the assistance of the bottle ofbourbon that the American has drained sincedinner. The Chief Steward asks both men toleave the Lounge and that he will have to informthe Purser about their behaviour in themorning. Both men are escorted back to their

rooms. René retires to find solace lookingthrough his notes and studying the Bast statue,while Brett goes to bed accompanied by asecond bottle of bourbon.

Henry, not having found his employer in theLounge, goes to Delaflote’s quarters where heinforms him that he wishes to marry hisdaughter Sophia. Delaflote, his emotionsalready high, explodes into a furious rage and hetells Henry that he is not good enough for hisdaughter and that he would never let her marrysomeone as lowly as Henry. Delaflote tells Henrythat he feels betrayed by him and that they willpart company in Mombasa as he will have nofurther need of his services. Henry, silentthroughout this tirade, leaves Delaflote’squarters and goes to Sophia’s room. As he doesso, he is passed by the Brigadier in the hallway.The Brigadier is returning to the Smoking Roomwith a new cigar, but will take note of Crawford’sdistressed state.

Inside Sophia’s quarters, Henry informs herof her father’s reaction to the news. Flying intoa rage that mirrors her father’s, Sophia pacesher cabin, spurning Henry’s attempts to calmher fury. Distraught, Henry leaves, eventuallyfinding himself alone on the Promenade Deckwith just his thoughts. Victoria Hammond, onher way back to her cabin having been up on thepromenade deck to smoke a cigarette, catchessight of him standing at the railings, his faceburied in his hands.

Filled with an unquenchable rage, tearsrolling down her face and her eyes stained withmascara, Sophia storms out of her cabin.Arriving at her father’s cabin door, she wipes hereyes with her hand in an attempt to composeherself, so that when she grabs the door handle,she leaves a black smudge. Caught up in hiswork, Delaflote is surprised at his daughter’ssudden bursting into his cabin, but seeing herdistraught state, he attempts to comfort her.Sophia is unable utter a single grievance beforeher father has her in his arms, and cradling hisdaughter’s head in his hands, wipes the tearsaway from her eyes. This leaves a trace ofmascara on his thumbs. Delaflote tells Sophianot to worry, that he was protecting her, thatHenry was not good enough for her.

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Sophia breaks the embrace and turningaway from her father, in a calm, yet contemptfilled tone, says, “I loathe you. You swannedaround the world searching for your precioustrinkets while mother lay dying and you ruinedmy life dragging me around after you lookingfor your ancient artefacts of long dead people. Isometimes think you care more for the deadthan the living. Then one glimmer of joyappears, Henry; and you deny me even that.”

René simply ignores his daughter’scomplaints and continues explaining himself,telling her that she has simply been smitten byan unsuitable man; that he will find hersomeone more deserving of her; that she is asilly young girl who has had her head turned forthe first time; and that she knows nothing of theworld. He suggests that she should go back toher room and that she will feel better after agood night’s sleep. Kissing his daughter on theforehead, Delaflote steers her towards the doorand thinking the job done, goes to turn back tohis notes.

Frustrated that her complaints have beenignored, Sophia’s anger is reignited and,grabbing the statuette of Bast, swings it with allher might at her father. The blow hits Renésquarely on his right temple, killing himinstantly. Her rage abated, Sophia drops thestatuette beside the body of her dead father, andstricken with a sudden guilt, runs from thecabin in a panic. The murderess is able to calmherself halfway there, so that by the time shereaches her own cabin, her manner is such thatno-one will suspect that anything untoward willhave happened to her. This includes Jake Smith,who passes her in the hallway just before sheenters her cabin.

Meanwhile up on the Promenade Deck,Henry considers the engagement ring he wouldhave given Sophia before his late employer’srejection one last time before throwing it intothe sea. If possible a member of the partyshould witness this act. If they ask Henry whathe threw away, he will reply, “Oh, nothing. Justa dream.”

Note: If the players do not witness this eventVictoria Hammond will speak to Henry afterfinishing her cigarette.

About thirty minutes later, Akbar, havingmissed all of the commotion, goes to see if hecan search René Delaflote’s cabin for thestatuette. He has already searched one or moreof the investigators’ cabins yesterday (as per thetimeline, see below). Entering the Belgian’scabin, the steward discovers first René’s bodyand then the statuette on the floor beside him,and taking the opportunity to recover the sacredidol for his goddess, grabs it and wraps it in atowel. The Steward then leaves, locking thedoor behind him.

Understandably, René is not seen atbreakfast. At around 11 o’clock, the maid, PollyAtkinson, knocks on the door to his cabin andupon hearing no reply, unlocks the door and lets

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Involving the InvestigatorsThe scenario provides Dr. O’Reilly as ajustification for involving the players in themurder of Professor Delaflote and attempts todrive them into action with the threat of aprolonged delay in Mombasa if the murderer isnot caught. There is always the possibility thatthese factors may not be enough to draw yourplayers in and persuade them to play a role in theinvestigation. If you suspect this may be the case,you have several options at your disposal.Consider your players and their characters andadjust the scenario accordingly. If they are whollyinvolved in the mystery of the Carlyle Expedition,have Delaflote promise to reveal someinformation he uncovered in his research, only tohave him cut down before he might share hissecrets. If a character is known for his loyalty,have the old friend be Brett Johnston rather thanthe ship’s doctor, and have him be falsely accusedof the crime by a conspiring Sophia and Henry. Ifone character solely spends his time on theOsterley pouring over her ill-gotten copy of TheG’harne Fragments (for example) allow her to playas one of the secondary characters for theduration of the voyage. Know your players andbe flexible in your methods of enticement. If allelse fails, let the murder play out, bring the ship toshore, and consider this an unfortunate lesson inthe difficulty of crafting scenario hooks for Call ofCthulhu.

herself in. Anyone in a nearby cabin or in thehallway will hear her scream, followed by athump as she falls to the floor in a dead faintunder a stack of clean towels. The news ofDelaflote’s murder spreads like wildfirethroughout the crew and passengers of theOsterley. By lunch the players should know andbe able to step up to the challenge of solving thecrime. They have three days before the shipdocks in Mombasa when the local police willtake up the case. A Law or halved Know roll willsuggest that the CID in Mombasa could detainall First Class passengers for up to two weekswhile they proceed with their investigations.

TIMELINEThis section is provided as a Keeper aid to helpkeep track of both NPC movement and, wherenecessary, the witnesses to this movement. Onlythe key events are given for each day. In additionto these specific events, Henry Crawford andSophia Delaflote will keep trying to find a fewmoments alone together. Their efforts will bespotted by various passengers and crew, whowill doubtless remember them if asked.

All the while, Akbar Hudhayfah is watchingboth the player investigators and Delaflote’sgroup; remember, this surveillance can bespotted by a successful Spot Hidden check, onceper day, per investigator.

Day 1Up to 1:00pm The party arrives at Alexandria,

and prepares to board the Osterley.It is here that they spot the frontpage of the Cairo Bulletin. Duringboarding the party is surreptitiouslywatched by Akbar Hudhayfah, hisunusual interest being noticed if asuccessful Spot Hidden check ismade.

2:00pm The SS Osterley departs Alexandriaharbor.

6:00pm — 9:00pm Dinner is served in theDining Salon.

7:00 pm The Osterley enters the Suez Canal.

8:20pm In the Smoking Room, RenéDelaflote is seen rebuking HenryCrawford for his poor performanceduring their visit to Cairo. This iswitnessed by Brigadier LordArchibald James Dillingham-Stewart.

Day 27:00am — 10:00 am Breakfast is served in the

Dining Salon.8:00am The Osterley enters the Red Sea.12:00pm — 3:00pm Lunch is served in the

Dining Salon.1:00pm — 1:30 pm Akbar Hudhayfah

searches an investigator’s quartersfor the Bast statuette. The victimshould be determined randomlyunless there is a particularinvestigator who habitually avoidstheir room. When the player nextreturns to his cabin, they finds all oftheir belongings in disarray.

2:10pm During lunch, the polite ambiance ofa good meal shared is interrupted bya heated conversation between Renéand Sophia Delaflote. He scolds hisdaughter for being behind in hertyping and filing of the group’s notesand accounts. He tells her that this isnot a pleasure cruise and that sheshould use her time moreconstructively. As an example, hehimself is using the trip to re-readhis notes, rather than spending theday in sight-seeing from the deck.Sophia responds in a raised voice, “Ifmy work is not to your standard,then dismiss me and let me live mylife!”

This outburst is heard byeveryone in the Dining Salon, whowill witness the young womansweeping out of the room. René willreturn to his dessert and if anyoneasks, will put his daughter’s behaviordown to the petulance of the young.Sophia will later be seen on thePromenade Deck and will simplycomplain that her father iscontrolling her life.

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If the investigators are sat at atable adjacent to the Delaflotes, theKeeper can allow a Listen roll forthem to overhear this increasinglyheated conversation.

6:00pm — 9:00pm Dinner is served in theDining Salon.

10:20pm In the Smoking Room, BrigadierLord Archibald James Dillingham-Stewart is seen stalking away fromhis table after losing a game ofcribbage to René Delaflote. This iswitnessed by the steward on duty,Akbar Hudhayfah, and several othermembers of the crew.

Day 37:00am — 10:00am Breakfast is served in the

Dining Salon.12:00pm — 3:00pm Lunch is served in the

Dining Salon.6:00pm — 9:00pm Dinner is served in the

Dining Salon.7:50 pm — 8:15pm Henry Crawford proposes

to Sophia Delaflote at the prow ofthe boat. Jane Marshpool watches asSophia passionately embraces Henryafterwards but interrupts them soonafter.

7:50pm — 8:00pm René Delaflote and BrettJohnson, who have been bickering,burst into a furious argument in thelounge. The argument is witnessedby Brigadier Lord Archibald JamesDillingham-Stewart and Jake andHattie Smith. Two stewards escortthe two men to their cabins and thengo to inform the Captain.

8:25pm — 8:35pm Henry Crawford goes toRené Delaflote’s quarters to tell himof his intent to marry his daughter.René refuses and sacks Henry.

8:40pm — 8:45pm Henry Crawford returnsto Sophia’s quarters and informs herof her father reaction of the news.After he leaves he is seen by HattieSmith.

9:00pm — 9:05pm Sophia Delaflote argueswith her father about his refusal to

allow her to marry Henry Crawford;the argument ends with her killingher father.

Later that evening AkbarHudhayfah enters René Delaflote’scabin, takes the idol, and locks thedoor upon leaving. He runs awayfrom the room and is seen runningthrough the corridor, at a distance,by Victoria Hammond.

Day 412:00pm One of the chamber maids, Polly

Atkinson, going about her dutiesknocks on René Delaflote’s door.Getting no response, she unlocks thedoor and screams and faints whenshe spots his body.

12:10pm Upon being informed of thesituation the captain asks the ship’sdoctor to perform a medicalinvestigation and to collect evidenceto be presented to the Colonialauthorities in Mombasa. The doctor,an old acquaintance of one of theinvestigators, asks permission fromthe captain to allow the investigatorto aid him in his work. The captainagrees, though with reluctance anddemanding the utmost tact ofeveryone involved. The investigatorsare sent for by one of the stewards.Working under the doctor’sauspices, the Orient SteamNavigation Company authorizes theinvestigators’ investigations into themurder until the ship reaches port.

Day 88:30am The SS Osterley makes port in

Mombasa.10:30am Passengers begin departing the

Osterley. The investigators will bedetained by the local Kenyan lawenforcement upon departing theOsterley along with the rest of thesuspects, all of their passports andtravel documents will be taken fromthem. If the investigators have

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successfully solved the case theKenyan authorities will detain theparty for the remainder of the day,after confirming their conclusionsthey are released, their passports arereturned, and they are thanked fortheir assistance. If the party wasunable to solve the case they will bedetained in Mombasa for as long astwo weeks. During this time theywill be instructed not to leave thecity. Make sure that the partyunderstands that ignoring thisrequest and continuing onto Nairobiwill be breaking the law, and thatthey will have no way of leaving thecountry or entering another, otherthan stowing away on a trampstreamer, as they have no traveldocuments.

CLUES AND RED HERRINGSThis section is a reference aid for Keeper thatlists all of all clues and red herrings that theplayer characters might encounter during theirinvestigations. For each individual suspect orwitness it lists what each knows or saw duringthe voyage so far.

René Delaflote’s RoomThe clues contained in the room are as follows:• René Delaflote was found lying face down on

the floor with a single blunt trauma woundto his forehead. There are no obvious signsof a struggle.

• His notes, if searched, contain a copy ofNyarlathotep papers #5 (“Carlyle DepartsEgypt”). His notes also contain copiousreferences to King Solomon’s Mines fromvarious sources with clues indicating that itslikely location is in Kenya. These notes alsoreference the Cult of the Bloody Tongue. Hisnotes are reproduced on page XX.

• The door to the room was locked when themaid arrived. If an investigator searchesDelaflote’s body, the key to the room isfound in the breast pocket of René’s suit

jacket. If an investigator does not search theBelgian’s body, it will be found when DoctorO’Reilly performs his autopsy.

• A Spot Hidden roll will reveal faint blacksmudges on both of René’s thumbs.

• A Spot Hidden roll will reveal faint blacksmudges on both the door and the doorhandle.

• A halved Know roll by a male investigator ora normal Know roll by a female investigatorwill reveal that the smudges are mascara.

There now follows the list of the main NPCs andwhat they know, if they are questioned.

Brett JohnsonWhat he knows:

• Knows the history of René and SophiaDelaflote, and what created the riftbetween them.

• Knows that Henry Crawford and RenéDelaflote had not been getting alongrecently.

• He also knows about the idol of Bastthat was stolen from Giza. He will onlyreveal this only if necessary as itincriminates him as a tomb robber.

Alibi: He was drunk and asleep alone in hiscabin.

Sophia DelafloteWhat she knows:

• Knows about the troubles betweenRené Delaflote and Brett Johnson, andthat René had been cheating him out ofhis share of the profits.

• Claims that there were no bad feelingsbetween René Delaflote and HenryCrawford. They merely had a veryformal working relationship, as herfather was a very formal man.

• If Sophia is given enough time she willconfide in Henry, together they willattempt to concoct a story that givesSophia an alibi. This alibi is left to theKeeper as it will depend upon thecircumstances of your game as the alibiwill need to fit the situation. Johnson is

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an obvious target for them on to whichshift suspicion.

Alibi: She was reading alone in her cabin.

Henry CrawfordWhat he knows:

• Knows that Johnson and René Delaflotehad been falling out over the last fewyears and their business relationshiphad been deteriorating rapidly of late.This last month it had nearly beenunbearable.

• Will say that Sophia and her father hada distant relationship, but that herfather did love her.

• Noticed that one of the stewards hadbeen paying a lot of attention toDelaflote’s party, he describes him as aswarthy looking gentleman of Arabdecent. He gives a description thatroughly fits Akbar Hudhayfah.

• If Sophia has confided in Henry, thereis a chance that he will falter if askedabout her whereabouts; a Psychologyroll will suggest he is lying. He may alsoclaim responsibility for Sophia’s crimesif she is identified as the murderer; hislie in this case is equally obvious to aPsychology roll.

Alibi: When the murder happened he waswalking around the promenade deckspent some time watching the oceanand then went to bed. He did all of thisalone.

Akbar HudhayfahWhat he knows:

• Witnessed the argument betweenDillingham-Stewart and Delaflote in theSmoking Room, on the second day ofthe voyage.

• Noticed that the members of Delaflote’sparty were all very distant towards theBelgian gentleman.

• Denies having spied on eitherDelaflote’s or the investigators’ party.

• If his room is searched and the idolfound (successful Spot Hidden roll, as

he has hidden it carefully), he willreveal that he found the idol after themurder had occurred, and that it washe who locked the door after he left.

• Hudhayfah’s cabin also contains anumber of items suggesting heworships the cat-headed goddess. Ifdirectly questioned about this, he mayconfide the truth to sympatheticinvestigators, particularly those whodemonstrate knowledge of Bast andher worship. He will plead with themfor the return of the idol.

Alibi: He was performing his duties about theship.

Hattie SmithWhat she knows:

• Saw Crawford coming from thedirection of René Delaflote’s cabin andentering Sophia Delaflote’s cabin on thenight of the murder.

• Noticed Henry and Sophia spendingtime together when they thought theywere alone and rapidly departing inseparate directions when they noticedobservers.

• Saw the row between Delaflote andJohnson on the night of the murder.Her husband had tried to step in, butshe protested and stopped him.

Alibi: She spent the evening with herhusband first in the Dining Salon andthen in the Music Room, before retiringfor the night in their cabin.

Jake SmithWhat he knows:

• Saw the row between Delaflote andJohnson, on the night of the murder.He was going to try and defuse thesituation, but the stewards had alreadyinterceded.

• Saw Sophia Delaflote just before sheentered her cabin on the night of themurder though some time after sheclaims to have returned there. It lookedlike she had been crying.

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Alibi: He spent the evening with his wife firstin the Dining Salon and then in theMusic Room, before retiring for thenight in their cabin.

Jane MarshpoolWhat she knows:

• Witnessed Sophia and HenryCrawford’s passionate embrace on theship’s prow. She wholly disapproves ofunmarried couples engaging in suchlicense.

• Overheard the heated conversationbetween Sophie and her father in theDining Salon at lunch on the secondday of the voyage.

• Has seen Sophia and Henry together ona number of occasions, holding handsand, one other time aside from theshocking scene on the prow, kissing.She disapproves of this as well. She hasnoticed that when ever they spottedher they quickly either walked away inseparate directions or away togethertrying to look like nothing was goingon.

Alibi: She was taking a stroll on thePromenade, when she chanced uponSophia and Henry. Afterwards sheretired to her cabin.

Victoria HammondWhat she knows:

• Saw Akbar Hudhayfah running throughthe corridor, though only at a distance.If asked what direction he was comingfrom she will say away from RenéDelaflote’s quarters.

• Saw Henry up on the Promenade Deckstanding at the railings, looking quitedistraught.

• If she has befriended Sophia, she will beaware of her relationship with HenryCrawford. She will not be aware of hisproposal.

• If the players did not see it, then she alsospoke to Henry on the promenade deck

and saw him throw something into thesea.

Alibi: She was in her cabin reading a book, ifasked what book she will say Murderon the Links, by Agatha Christie.

Brigadier Lord Archibald James Dillingham-StewartWhat he knows:

• Witnessed René Delaflote beratingCrawford in the most beastly fashion inthe Smoking Room on the first night ofthe voyage.

• He also witnessed the argumentbetween Delaflote and Johnson in thedining salon on the night of themurder.

• Suspects that the Belgian is a cheat atcards, though cannot prove it.

Alibi: He was playing cards in the SmokingRoom against some other passengersand then retired for the night. Thewaiters can confirm this.

ADVICE TO KEEPERS RUNNINGTHIS ADVENTURE

This scenario is intended to be a suspenseful,but danger-free, interlude between two stopsduring the campaign. The players have thechance to solve a murder mystery and havesome respite, however brief, from the occultdangers that confront them on all sides. For theKeeper, it is a chance to play a host of characterswhile letting the players drive the story forward.There are several recommended methods formaximizing your (and your players’) enjoymentof the scenario.

Get the secondary characters involved, forcolor and for practical reasons. Have them droppieces of information to the investigators, whenneeded. Introduce them early in the scenarioand make each one distinctive. If you find thereare too many for you to handle, remove ordownplay some of them. The Smiths can betreated a single entity (they are honeymooning),for example, or Mrs. Marshpool may simply

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spend her days napping. Use the timeline asprovided and add your own minor events,keeping in mind the probable actions of yourplayers. If they are inveterate gamblers, expandLord Dillingham-Stuart’s poker circle. If aninvestigator has a high APP, consider MissHammond and a romantic subplot.

Do not be afraid to adjust details to betterfit in your own campaign; if there is no wayDelaflote’s party could be mistaken for theinvestigators, have the Belgian be the spittingimage of one of the investigators, thus causingthe confusion. Likewise, if having a Bast cultiststalking the party is not appropriate for yourgroup, remove him, or replace him with anassassin from the Brotherhood and have thestatue stolen by a drunken Johnson. Use thisscenario as a template; add or remove thingsthat you feel will fit best with your style of play.

The most important consideration iswhether or not this sort of diversion will beenjoyable for you and your players. If theycannot bear the thought of even a moment’srest in their campaign against Nyarlathotep,then you should reconsider using this scenario.If they are the types that relish role-playing andthe minutia of adventuring, than build this upinto a several evenings of game play. Above allthings- have fun!

ConclusionPresumably the investigators will get to thebottom of the mystery. Investigators playing anactive role in the case should gain 1d3 points ofSanity for finding Professor Delaflote’s killer (thebitter-sweet truth keeps that gain relativelyminor). For each suspect falsely accused, deductone point from this possible gain. Theinvestigators will also gain 1d4 points of CreditRating and the appreciation of the Orient Line,as well as Captain Lucas and Dr. O’Reilly. Theauthorities in Mombasa will also take note of theservice they have provided which may help theinvestigators in the Colony.

As for Sophia, she will most likely be shippedback to England to stand trial in her father’smurder. Henry Crawford will follow her there,his love undiminished. She will most likely beconvicted, though if testimony demonstratingher father’s cruelty and criminal activities ispresented, she may escape a life sentence.Idealistic or romantic Keepers may imagineyoung Crawford awaiting her release, even adecade or more hence. Even in death, RenéDelaflote causes his daughter to suffer.

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STATISTICS

The skills listed are those that are potentially important to the scenario or give some illuminatinginsight into that individual; the Keeper should adjust or augment them as necessary.

RENÉ DELAFLOTE, unscrupulous archaeologist and poor fatherSTR 11 CON 9 SIZ 13 INT 15 POW 9DEX 12 APP 13 EDU 22 SAN 41 HP 11Skills: Library use 86%, Archaeology 81%, Arabic 75%, French 99%,

English 55%, Latin 80%, Greek 60%

SOPHIA DELAFLOTE, unhappy child and hopeless romanticSTR 9 CON 9 SIZ 10 INT 15 POW 15DEX 14 APP 15 EDU 14 SAN 62 HP 10Skills: Short Hand 61%, Type 64%, Library Use 33%, French 16%, English 70%, Latin 28%

HENRY CRAWFORD, the elder Delaflote’s aide and the younger’s swainSTR 10 CON 11 SIZ 12 INT 16 POW 10DEX 11 APP 14 EDU 17 SAN 50 HP 12Skills: Library Use 64%, Archaeology 58%, Latin 70%, French 39%, Astronomy 37%

BRETT JOHNSON, Delaflote’s partner and worsening drunkSTR 16 CON 15 SIZ 15 INT 10 POW 13DEX 14 APP 16 EDU 10 SAN 38 HP 15Attacks: Colt M1911 45%, 1d10+2;

Winchester ’94 in .30-30 55%, 2d6+1; Punch 60%, 1d3+1d4Skills: Fast Talk 46%, Bargain 63%, French 41%, Arabic 43%, Spanish 37%, Archaeology 19%,

Spot Hidden 55%

AKBAR HUDHAYFAH, First Class Steward and Servant of BastSTR 10 CON 9 SIZ 10 INT 15 POW 11DEX 15 APP 12 EDU 10 SAN 49 HP 10Attacks: Fist 68%, 1d3Skills: Conceal 42%, Cthulhu Mythos 2%, Hide 63%, Sneak 54%, Arabic 82%, Coptic 11%,

English 66%, Ship-board Etiquette 89%

HATTIE SMITH, retiring yet strong-willed newlywedSTR 8 CON 10 SIZ 8 INT 15 POW 17DEX 12 APP 12 EDU 11 SAN 85 HP 9Skills: Accounting 22%, Art (Piano) 20%, Bargain 35%, Craft (Sewing) 25% Credit Rating 20%,

Feign Meekness 74%, French 13%, Psychology 20%, Ride 15%, Discuss Honeymoon itinerary 88%

JAKE SMITH, doting newly-wedSTR 17 CON 16 SIZ 18 INT 12 POW 11DEX 11 APP 13 EDU 14 SAN 53 HP 17Weapons: Fist/Punch 50%,

Heavy Weapons 41%Skills: Accounting 30%, Business 20%, Climb 40%, Credit Rating 25%, Dote on Hattie 95%,

Electrical Repair 25%, History (Maritime) 52%, History (Grimsby) 65%, Loving Glance (Hattie) 95%, Mathematics 20%, Mechanical Repair 30%, Meteorology 20%, Navigate 35%, Physics 10%, Pilot Boat 45%, Swim 55%

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VICTORIA HAMMOND, lovely ward of Mrs. MarshpoolSTR 9 CON 10 SIZ 9 INT 13 POW 14DEX 14 APP 15 EDU 14 SAN 70 HP 10Skills: Art (Sing) 35%, Bargain 15%, Bat Eyelashes 65%, Conceal 34%, Fast

Talk 33%, French 31%, Latin 11%, Literature 30%, Make Polite Conversation 60%,Persuade 35%, Psychology 16% Smoke Covertly 59%, Sneak 46%

JANE MARSHPOOL, talkative matronSTR 8 CON 10 SIZ 14 INT 14 POW 15DEX 12 APP 12 EDU 11 SAN 72 HP 12Weapons: Umbrella 25%, 1d2Skills: Art (Knitting) 10%, Credit Rating 20%, English 75%, Knit Poorly Fitting Jumpers 85%,

Literature 40%, Talk Incessantly 95%

Brigadier Lord ARCHIBALD JAMES DILLINGHAM-STEWART, retired soldier and gentleman gamesmanSTR 13 CON 14 SIZ 12 INT 14 POW 16DEX 13 APP 14 EDU 16 SAN 49 HP 13Weapons: Webley Mark III 65%, 1d10Skills: Cribbage 75%, Poker 60%, Bluff 75%, Command Troops 70%, Dismiss Nonsense and

Puffery 65%, Military History 70%, Etiquette 75%, Recall Amusing Incidents from HisYounger Days 90%

DR. JAMES O’REILLY, deferential ship’s physicianSTR 11 CON 9 SIZ 14 INT 14 POW 13DEX 15 APP 13 EDU 17 SAN 52 HP 12Skills: First Aid 75%, Medicine 60%

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Appendix AAppendix ACharacter Generation &Character Generation &Pre-Generated CharactersPre-Generated Characters

For all the work that the Keeper will perform inrunning this campaign, it is important toconsider the other element involved: that of theplayers and their investigators. This articlecovers the most important issues that generallyarise in the run of a Call of Cthulhu campaign:character creation, character replacement, anddealing with the loss of a large number ofcharacters (a.k.a. a T.P.K. or “Total Party Kill”). Inaddition, this article provides a summary of thepre-generated characters included with thisbook, with notes on how and where they can bebest employed. If so desired, the Keeper canshare the section on character creation with hisplayers, before the start of your campaign.

CREATING CHARACTERSThere are essentially two approaches to thecreation of the investigator for the Call ofCthulhu game; a “game-play” centered one and a“role-play” centered one. The former is bothquick and easy, but produces characters that arefundamentally uninteresting and a mere meansto play, rather than role-play the game. In thisapproach, a player assigns points to what areconventionally regarded as the game’s key skills– Dodge, Listen, Library Use, Spot Hidden, aforeign language (frequently Latin), andShotgun – and little else. The player’s aim withthis approach is to create an investigator with agreater chance of surviving whatever horrorsthe Keeper is going to throw at him. This is, tobe blunt, meta-gaming and the investigatorcreated is anything other than Lovecraftian.

The second approach, and the one that wewholly advocate, creates a character that can be

more Lovecraftian, is more interesting, and canbe, if not totally historically accurate, can at leasthave more of a historical feel to it. This “role-play” approach is as much a design process as acreative process, and it requires someconsideration and even a modicum of researchupon the part of the player. It makes use of boththe Call of Cthulhu core rule book, The Keeper’sCompanion Vol. I for its skills list, and The1920s Investigator’s Companion for its extraoccupations.

Today most players have at their disposal awealth of resources to assist them in thecreation of fully fleshed-out characters. Theforemost of these is the internet; even a basicsearch through Wikipedia can turn up a wealthof historical details that gives both richness anda modicum of verisimilitude to a newly createdcharacter, while providing instant and plausiblebiographical information. Other resources existin abundance, be they sites like Yog-Sothoth.com, magazines like Worlds of Cthulhu,or simply hobbyist creations about the fashionsor events of the era. A player can use these tospark the imagination and to break away fromthe tried and true, but well-worn, stereotypicalinvestigator tropes.

The method outlined below is the same thatwas used in the creation of the pre-generatedcharacters for this book. Our aim was to provideinteresting and playable investigators from allwalks of life, of numerous nationalities, and withlogical skill sets that might be encountered atcertain points throughout the campaign. Thusalongside the many Americans and Englishmen,there are American Blacks, Egyptians, Russians,Dutch, Malians, Indians and even a German.

Appendix A474Characters in Masks of

NyarlathotepBy Matthew Pook and Bret Kramer

Their skills include martial arts, explosives, bookbinding, and even knitting. When you have awhole world to play with, there is no reason notto make as much use of this method as possible.

The process itself begins with the playerasking himself several questions, the answers towhich should provide the basis for theirinvestigator. What do I want to play, basically thecore occupation? What are my character’s age,gender, and nationality? What did they doduring the Great War? What are their hobbies?Have they had any previous occupations? Theanswers to these questions are up to the player,but they are in turn supported by the game’smechanics. These will obviously provide the coreoccupation, but there is no reason why a secondoccupation cannot be selected and its skillsbought with the investigator’s Personal InterestSkill Points to represent previous experience.This is in addition to the various rules on theGreat War that will give the character severalmilitary or other skills that they might not havegained through the course of ordinary life.

THE GREAT WARThe Great War will be a significant event in thelife of the average male investigator, and willaffect his outlook and attitude for the rest of hislife. If old enough, and in some cases, even ifunderage, both male and female investigatorsmay have served or helped in the war efforteither at the front or the “home front”. Eventhose not directly involved in the war effort mayhave been affected by it indirectly, by the loss orinjury of friends and family.

The number of years in service is dependentupon the military arm served in and theinvestigator’s nationality. Four years is possiblefor many men, especially if an investigator isfrom Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, orone of the European nations directly involved inthe first years of the war. Three years is moreprobable for these nations and theirdependencies, conscription being introducedbetween 1915 and 1916. Two years is the likelylength of service for American investigators,although a few souls might have entered the warearlier by going north across the border andenlisting in the Canadian military or joining thevolunteer groups like the Lafayette Flying Corps.

It should be noted that fighting did not endwith the Armistice signed at the end of the GreatWar. In particular, the Russian Civil War wouldextend the fighting by a further five years,although by 1920 most foreign expeditionaryforces had withdrawn from the conflict. Alliedforces served in Northern Russian, in the Baltic,Southern Russia and the Ukraine, Siberia, andthe Russian Far East. Any investigator servingwith these expeditionary forces should considertaking Other Language: Russian and PolarSurvival as additional skills.

Service in the military provides aninvestigator with access to military skills andskill points to spend on them, but with the lossof Sanity points for each year spent in service.For each year served, to a maximum of four, aninvestigator receives 15 Skill Points, but loses 1d3Sanity points. A mere 15 Skill Points seems likea very low number for each year served, but theyrepresent skills that will never be used again by

475Characters

MATTHEW POOK ON HOUSE RULESEvery Keeper and every group has its house rules. On skills and character generation I have two. The first deals with the Dodgeskill. This is the most abused skill in the game and as a Keeper I let the players assign a maximum of ten points to the skill beyondits base value. Military experience or Martial Arts: Boxing might increase the skill a little beyond this, but fundamentally, for mostinvestigators, a Dodge skill of 80% is impossible. If the investigator grew up in the circus or with the Chinese opera, then it isarguably possible, but only if the investigator has similar skill levels in the Climb and Jump skills. Further, the Dodge cannot be studied,nor should it be taken as part of an Occupation unless the Occupation actually lists it.

Similarly the Martial Arts skill needs careful consideration. Historically, few actual martial arts are available to study in theWest during the 1920s, and even fewer during the 1890s. The two obvious are Boxing and Wrestling, the latter used with theGrapple skill. Unless the investigator has spent time in the Orient, it is unlikely that he will have encountered any of the myriadof martial arts disciplines found there. Some schools were opened in Europe and America by the Japanese, but explaining whyan occidental investigator was accepted for study will take some explanation and plenty of skill points.

most veterans of the Great War. Doubtless, theCall of Cthulhu investigator will find ways inwhich he can use and improve the skills learnedduring the Great War.

When most people think of the Great War,they think of the Western Front, and of the menthat served in the trenches – this is true of Callof Cthulhu players as well. Not every soldier waspart of the infantry however, and many servedas engineers, medics, in the cavalry, asartillerists, as clerks, as signalmen, asmessengers or runners, or on the graves detail.Thus the widest choice of military occupationsreflects the fact that most will have served onthe Western Front or the similar battle lines thatdivided Europe during the Great War.

Alternatively, an investigator might have insteadserved in the Navy or in the fledgling air services,typified by Great Britain’s Royal Flying Corp andRoyal Naval Air Service.

It should be noted that as much as possiblethese military occupations are not specific toone nation or another fighting in the Great War.Veterans of specific units or fronts may havedifferent skills available to them at thediscretion of the Keeper – here is an example ofwhere a little research pays rich dividends. Inthis book character templates for formermembers of the French Foreign Legion orBelgium’s Force Publique (see page XX and XXrespectively).

Appendix A476

The Army

Artillerist: Fast Talk, Drive Auto, Heavy Weapon, Jump, Listen -10%, MechanicalRepair, Operate Heavy Machinery, Rifle, Spot Hidden

Artillery Officer: Bargain, Cartography, Climb, Credit Rating, Dodge, Handgun, HeavyWeapon, Jump, Listen -10%, Operate Heavy Machinery, Persuade

Cavalryman: Climb, Dodge, Fast Talk, Jump, Medicine (Veterinary), Navigate, Ride, Rifle,Saber, Track

Cavalry Officer: Bargain, Climb, Credit Rating, Dodge, Handgun, Jump, Navigate, Persuade,Ride, Saber, Track

Chaplain: First Aid, Medicine, Other Language, Persuade, Philosophy & Religion,Psychoanalysis, Psychology

Intelligence Officer: Bargain, Cartography, Climb, Credit Rating, Dodge, Handgun, Hide, Jump,Listen, Meteorology, Navigate, Other Language, Persuade, Psychology

Officer: Bargain, Climb, Credit Rating, Dodge, Handgun, Hide, Jump, Listen,Navigate, Persuade

Rifleman: Bayonet, Climb, Conceal, Dodge, Fast Talk, Hide, Jump, Listen, MachineGun, Rifle, Sneak, Spot Hidden

Signalman: Conceal, Cryptography, Dodge, Electrical Repair, Hide, Jump, MechanicalRepair, Rifle, Sneak, Spot Hidden

Stretcher-Bearer: Dodge, Drive Auto, First Aid, Jump, MedicineSapper: Climb, Conceal, Dodge, Electrical Repair, Explosives, Fast Talk, Operate

Heavy Machinery, Jump, Mechanical Repair, RifleTank Commander: Cartography, Credit Rating, Handgun, Mechanical Repair, Navigate,

Operate Heavy Machinery, PersuadeTank Crewman: Heavy Weapon, Machine Gun, Mechanical Repair, Operate Heavy

Machinery, Rifle

The Navy & The Naval Air Service

Seaman: Climb, Conceal, Dodge, Fast Talk, Heavy Weapon, Listen, MechanicalRepair, Operate Heavy Machinery, Pilot Boat, Spot Hidden, Swim

Naval Officer: Climb, Credit Rating, Dodge, Fast Talk, Heavy Weapon, Mechanical Repair,Meteorology, Navigate (Air/Sea), Operate Heavy Machinery, Persuade, PilotBoat, Spot Hidden, Swim

Naval Pilot: Credit Rating, Handgun, Heavy Weapon, Machine Gun, Mechanical Repair,Navigate (Air/Sea), Persuade, Photography, Pilot Aircraft, Spot Hidden,Swim

Naval Aircraft Fitter: Fast Talk, Craft (Carpentry), Jump, Listen, Mechanical Repair, Rifle, SpotHidden, Swim

The Air Force

Pilot: Credit Rating, Handgun, Heavy Weapon, Machine Gun, Mechanical Repair,Navigate (Air/Sea), Persuade, Photography, Pilot Aircraft, Spot Hidden

Aircraft Fitter: Fast Talk, Craft (Carpentry), Jump, Listen, Mechanical Repair, Rifle, SpotHidden

477Characters

The Other Option: The Conscientious Objector

An interesting alternative would be for aninvestigator to have been a ConscientiousObjector. This would have been a very difficultchoice, even a courageous choice, as the socialconsequences would have been to earn the scornof almost everyone. The refusal to fight wouldhave lead to the Conscientious Objector beingarrested and his actions carefully considered bythe army. He could be kept on the home front towork on the farm or perform other duties vitalto the war effort, but a Conscientious Objectorcould still have been sent to the Western Frontwhere his refusal to fight could have led to his

being assigned to a labor or stretcher-bearerunit, or at worst a death sentence. Fortunatelythe latter would be commuted to a prisonsentence, but this was still not safe as a prisonercould expect harsh treatment from his jailors.

For the Quaker who became a ConscientiousObjector on religious grounds one option was toserve as a volunteer with the Friends’Ambulance Unit. This was a volunteer non-military unit that served throughout the GreatWar and beyond.

It should be noted that all ConscientiousObjectors receive a -20% penalty on their CreditRating skill. Quakers and other religiousobjectors receive a -10% penalty.

Farm Worker: Craft (Agronomy), Mechanical Repair, Medicine (Veterinary), NaturalHistory, Operate Heavy Machinery

Friends’ Ambulance Unit:Dodge, Drive Auto, First Aid, Jump, Mechanical Repair, Medicine,Psychology, Psychoanalysis

Prisoner: Bargain, Conceal, Fast Talk, Fist/Punch, Listen, Psychology, Spot HiddenStretcher-Bearer: Dodge, Drive Auto, First Aid, Jump, Medicine

The Home Front:

The role of women in the Great War should notbe ignored. Many served as nurses throughout,but their role was greater on the home front.Women worked the land, they worked infactories, and they worked elsewhere doing the

jobs that men had been doing before 1915.Apart from the nurses who have to deal with thehorrific injuries inflicted upon the bodies andminds of the men serving in the trenches, it isunlikely that the women now working a man’sjob will suffer as much Sanity loss as thesoldiery. A female investigator should onlysuffer 1d2 points of Sanity loss per year at most.

Appendix A478

Driver: Accounting, Drive Auto, Fast Talk, Mechanical RepairFarm Worker: Craft (Agronomy), Mechanical Repair, Medicine (Veterinary), Natural

History, Operate Heavy MachineryMunitions Worker: Chemistry, Mechanical Repair, Operate Heavy Machinery

-1 APPearanceNurse: First Aid, Listen, Medicine, Pharmacy, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, Spot

Hidden

The Process in Practice:My first example is a Private Investigator,Vincent Orsini. He is Italian-American, fromNew York and the son of a watchmaker. Fromthis we know that he will have those skills fromthis occupation and some of his PersonalInterest Skills Points will need to be assigned tothe Mechanical Repair and Italian languageskills. Rolling Vincent’s attributes we see thathe looks like the following, and has 340 points toassign to Occupation Skills and 160 points toassign to Personal Interest Skills.

STR 3 DEX 6 INT 6 SIZ 4 APP 6POW 9 CON 16 SAN 5 EDU 17

From what we know of Vincent so far, I willassign 40 points of his Personal Interest Skills toItalian to give him 41% and another 20% toMechanical Repair, leaving him 100 pointsremaining. Being a patriotic young man,Vincent enlists in the army to fight the Kaiserafter learning of the sinking of the RMSLusitania, but instead of becoming a rifleman heis assigned to the Aviation Section, U.S. SignalCorps and then to Air Service of the AmericanExpeditionary Force (both discovered afterinvestigating the history of the United States Air Forcebetween 1914 and 1918, on Wikipedia), as an aircraftmechanic or fitter. For his war service, Vincentreceives two years’ worth of skill points and

loses 2d3 Sanity Points. I could assign all ofthose 30 points to Mechanical Repair and Craft(Carpentry) to represent his time spentrepairing aircraft of the period, but to add awrinkle to Vincent’s background, whilst inFrance he persuaded a pilot to take him up for ajoyride and he earned a taste for flying, so I givehim Mechanical Repair 10%, Craft (Carpentry)10%, Pilot (Aircraft) 05%, and French 5%.Vincent also loses 3 points of Sanity.

Returning from the Great War, Vincent islucky enough to not fall prey to the Spanish Fluepidemic. He decides not to join his father in hisshop – his younger brothers are still workingthere. Instead he enrolls in the police academyand becomes a patrolman. To represent thisexperience I spend part of Vincent’s PersonalInterest Skill Points on those skills listed for theUniformed Police Officer given in The 1920sInvestigator’s Companion: Club, DriveAutomobile, Firearms, Fist/Punch, Grapple, Kick,Law, Persuade, and Track. Of these, Law isreplicated by the Private Investigator occupationand so points cannot be assigned to it. Withonly 100 points left to assign, this is not many, soneeds an explanation. Let us say that just a yearinto his service Vincent comes upon a burglaryand in attempting to arrest the miscreant isstabbed in the leg, an injury that results in hisbeing invalided out of the Police Force. Theinjury also accounts for his low Dexterity. So Iassign 70 of his Personal Interest Skill Points togive Vincent the following additional skills: Club

35%, Drive Automobile 35%, Pistol 30%, Grapple35%, Persuade 25%, and Track 20%. He does notreceive the special bonuses listed underUniformed Police Officer, but still has 30 pointsleft to assign.

Upon leaving the Police Force, Vincent, stillwith a desire to do some good, manages to buyhis way on with the Mahoney Inquiry Agency asa junior partner and begins training to be aprivate investigator. Thus I assign Vincent’sOccupation Skill Points in the following fashionwith Accounting as his extra specialty to givehim the following skills: Accounting 50%,Bargain 50%, Fast Talk 50%, Law 45%, LibraryUse 45%, Locksmith 51%, Photography 60%, andPsychology 55%.

This just leaves Vincent’s few remainingPersonal Interest Skill Points, representing hishobbies when not investigating cases of divorceor fraud. Though with little free time, becausehe helps with his father’s books also, he picks uphis passion for all things aeronautical. He takesflying lessons and even a correspondence coursein the rudiments of aerial navigation,represented by another 10% to Pilot (Aircraft),5% on Navigation (Sea/Air), and 5% onAstronomy, with the last 10% split between theListen and Spot Hidden skills.

This is how Vincent looks:

VINCENT ORSINI, Private Investigator & Aspiring PilotSTR 13 CON 16 SIZ 14 INT 16 POW 9DEX 6 APP 16 EDU 17 SAN 42 HP 15Damage Bonus: +1d4Weapons: Grapple 35%, damage special

Smith & Wesson .38 revolver 30%, damage1d10Walking Cane 35%, damage 1d6+db

Languages: English 85%, French 05%, Italian 41%.

Skills: Accounting 50%, Astronomy 06%, Bargain50%, Craft (Carpentry) 15%, DriveAutomobile 35%, Fast Talk 50%, Law 45%,Library Use 45%, Listen 30%, Locksmith51%, Mechanical Repair 50%, Navigation(Sea/Air) 10%, Persuade 25%, Pilot (Aircraft)16%, Photography 60%, Psychology 55%,Spot Hidden 30%, Track 20%.

We can see that Vincent is a capableinvestigator, with an understanding of mostmen, of their account books, and of machinery.He is capable of defending himself, with thewalking stick he has to carry, and the .38 Smith& Wesson he is permitted to carry as necessary.We know that he walks with a limp, even withthe stick.

This process could easily have been reversedso that Vincent could have been given theUniformed Police Officer skills using hisOccupation Skill Points and then PrivateInvestigator skills bought using personalinterest points. The end result would have beena more physical character with more combatskills over investigative ones.

Let us do the same for a female investigator.History limits what a woman can do during the1920s so we will take the archetypal occupationof the period, the Flapper, and build it aroundthat. To be more realistic, the Flapper cannot beher sole occupation, so instead I will spend herPersonal Interest Skill Points upon it. For heractual occupation – let us call her Elizabeth – Iwill make her a hairdresser, adapting the Barberoccupation from The 1920s Investigator’sCompanion and adding to it in the Craft(Hairdressing) skill. I could also add theBusiness skill, but the Accounting skill will coverit. To those skills not replicated by the Flapperoccupation, I will add the Literature skill as apersonal interest and the Art (Piano) and Frenchlanguage skills to represent the aspirations ofElizabeth’s mother. To represent what theinvestigator did during the war, I shall have herwork a farm as a member of the Land Army forthree years giving her 45 points to assign and3d2 Sanity points to lose. The skills will be Craft(Agronomy) 10%, Mechanical Repair 05%,Medicine (Veterinary) 10%, Natural History 10%,and Operate Heavy Machinery 10%. She loses 4Sanity points as well – a brother died in the War.

The finished character looks like this:

ELIZABETH CLISSOLD, Hairdresser &ConfidanteSTR 12 CON 12 SIZ 8 INT 17 POW 15DEX 14 APP 16 EDU 15 SAN 71 HP 10Damage Bonus: +0

479Characters

Weapons: Hairdresser’s Scissors 35%, damage1d3+dbKick 35%, damage 1d6+dbStraight Razor 35%, damage 1d4+db

Languages: English 75%, French 26%.Skills: Art (Dance) 55%, Art (Piano) 06%,

Accounting 50%, Bargain 45%, Craft(Agronomy) 15%, Craft (Hairdressing)70%, Credit Rating 25%, Drive Auto40%, Fast Talk 45%, Literature 30%,Listen 45%, Mechanical Repair 30%,Medicine (Veterinary) 15%, NaturalHistory 20%, Operate HeavyMachinery 11%, Persuade 55%,Psychology 55%, Spot Hidden 45%.

Elizabeth Clissold is the proprietor of a ladieshairdressing salon, a business that she has builtup over several years after working as a visitinghairdresser. She is partly self-educated and hastaken a number of business related courses.Both she and her family are proud of heraccomplishments, but they wonder when shewill marry. Elizabeth is slender and attractivewith grey eyes and ash blonde hair, perfectly cutof course.

At the end of the week Elizabeth likes to goout, spending each Friday and Saturday nightwith her girlfriends, dancing, drinking, andhaving a good time. She has fewer friends thesedays as many have married and started families,so now Lizzie is an “auntie” or older voice to theyounger, unmarried girls. This care has evengone as far as coming to the aid of a girl who wasbeing menaced, the miscreant being sent offwith a slash with her hairdresser’s scissors.Outside of work, Elizabeth still lives at homeand reads Charles Dickens for pleasure.

ON REPLACINGINVESTIGATORSFor most players, one of the sources ofenjoyment during play is tension. This tensionusually comes from an impending sense of riskto the characters. In turn, this risk cansometimes result in the loss of one or moreinvestigators. Therefore, it pays to be preparedfor such losses before they happen. When

reading the campaign, take note of thosesituations in which it seems likely that aninvestigator might be lost – the Ju-ju House isone such place early in the campaign, but thereare many others.

Even when an investigator is not killed,serious injury, or worse, bouts of indefiniteinsanity can incapacitate a character for longstretches of time, effectively removing themfrom play. While for most players a crippledcharacter is preferable to a deceased one (andmany a Keeper who pulls his punches will endup with loads of these), the effect is the same onthe game itself: a new character is needed.

There are several steps in replacing acharacter. First, the player should generate anew character (hopefully as per the suggestionsabove). As this can take some time – especially ifthe player is struggling to find inspiration – itmay be better to have this done betweensessions. This is so that the player can conferwith his Keeper and so give him some notion ofthe character being created. In this case, it ishandy to have some background NPC ready tostep forward for the session until the newcharacter is created. For example, in the editor’sown campaign, one of the characters had atrusty valet who often filled this role – by theend of campaign nearly everyone had playedhim for part of a session.

Once the character is created, the next issuehow he might join with the party. This can be astilted affair – “How do you do? I hear you’re inneed of someone to help save the world?” – isindicative of the sort of meta-game shorthandthat detracts from play. The Keeper shouldinstead consider one or more alternativeapproaches that confer some degree ofplausibility to the process. The pre-generatedcharacters in this appendix all come with theirown reasons for joining the investigators on thetrail of the Carlyle Expedition, includingfriendship or an acquaintanceship with JacksonElias, previous encounters with the Mythos, oran overdeveloped sense of adventure. Each inturn can provide inspiration for both the playersand Keeper alike. The Keeper should work withthe player to generate a hook that will draw thenew investigator into the thick of things.

Appendix A480

Conversely, consider the issues that mayarise for a group of investigators who aresuddenly approached by a stranger offeringtheir aid against Nyarlathotep and his cults.Suspicion is de rigueur in such circumstances!This is where having some reliable NPC ally ofthe party is helpful – a word of recommendationfrom the likes of Jonah Kensington or MickeyMahoney can greatly simplify things. The longerthe campaign has gone on, the more difficult itcan be to introduce new characters, so layingsome groundwork early on for inserting newcharacters is essential.

FULL STOP: DEALING WITHA “TOTAL PARTY KILL” ANDOTHER DISASTERSMasks of Nyarlathotep is a notoriously deadlycampaign in which there are multipleopportunities for massed combat versus cultists,mighty alien beings, and powerful sorcerers aswell as the more mundane risks faced by globetrotting investigators. Sometimes things can govery badly for the party, either by their own follyor through some grave misfortune, and most oreven all of the investigators might be killed orotherwise incapacitated. The Keeper has severalpossible responses to a calamity of thismagnitude; while no one, hopefully, wants thisto happen during his run of the game, theKeeper should be prepared for it and have laidthe ground-work for rebuilding in advance.

‘Walk it off’- rest and recuperateAssuming that a majority of the losses were dueto incarceration or hospitalization, it may bepossible to simply move time ahead a fewmonths to a point where the various woundshave healed. Even the most gravely injuredcharacters will be back from death’s door after afew weeks in the hospital (assuming even poorMedicine rolls, the average character will be backto full Hit Points after 4 or 5 weeks), though ina less pulpy game serious injury may either takelonger or leave some lingering weakness. As forhealing psychological trauma, “indefinite

insanity” lasts for a period of 1d6 months (as arule) and Psychoanalysis rolls can only be mademonthly.

In the early stages of the campaign, suchbreaks are possible, but as the deadline of theGreat Ceremony approaches, they areincreasingly less so. If there are characters whosurvived the catastrophe more or less intact, theKeeper might want to discuss with his playerswhat they plan to do while they are waiting fortheir friends to recuperate – additional research,studying tomes, and perhaps low-leveladventuring may continue; a session or twobased around a side scenario for the survivorsmight be in order here. Several suitablescenarios are listed at the end of the various setsof Keeper’s Notes given in Companion, eachsuggestion easily inserted into (and sometimeseven adding to) the campaign. In the meantime,the Keeper should be considering what theopposition might be up to while theinvestigators are otherwise quiet and distracted.

Example: After a terrible fight at MisrHouse, only one character (Dr. Wolcott) isuninjured, though he managed to drag two ofhis companions to safety. A fourth investigator,having gone mad at the sight of a Servitor of theOuter Gods, is found two days later wanderingin the marsh, and is forcibly hospitalized. Thetwo injured players though, having beenreduced to 1 Hit Point each, will be well enoughin three weeks to resume adventuring and fullyhealed in another week or two beyond, even ifthey leave their hospital beds. Theunfortunately insane character, having beentransferred to one of London’s better asylums,enjoys the benefits of a successful Psychoanalysisroll and also a Persuade roll (required at theKeeper’s request) and is released, though is stillrather worse for wear mentally. In themeantime, armed with photographs takenduring their search of the house, Dr. Wolcott hasmanaged to persuade the police that the late Mr.Gavigan was involved in some kind of criminalsmuggling enterprise; unfortunately the cultistshave had time to remove the evidence (andsacrifices) from the basement. The investigatorshave lost a month and are now facing a well-informed and well-prepared Brotherhood of theBlack Pharaoh, but they are ready to return tothe fight.

481Characters

‘Send in the clowns’ - relatives andreplacementsIf the survivors, even incapacitated ones, are fewand far between, replacements are unavoidable.This is where well-developed characterbackgrounds are at their most helpful. TheKeeper should consider the investigators andtheir actions so far and ask himself severalquestions. Who is likely to come to their aid?Who would want to avenge their deaths? Whomight they have told, to whatever degree, abouttheir activities? If the investigators have apatron, consider who that person might call onas well. Use this background information toshape the replacement investigators as well asto determine how they join up with thesurvivors.

Example: Disaster in Cairo kills all but twoof the investigators. Previous to theircatastrophic attack on Omar Shakti, theinvestigators had consulted with Dr. Kafour, whohad warned them against rash action.Chastened, the survivors, still dogged by Shakti’sassassins, are rescued by members of the Swordof Sneferu (see Worlds of Cthulhu #5 & #6), ananti-Mythos organization of which Dr. Kafour isa high-ranking member. The players are toldthat they must make new investigators who arelikewise members of the “Sword.” Three dayslater, a mixed party of Europeans and Egyptiansdepart Cairo, bound for Kenya…

Five years later…When all else fails and the Keeper has lost thewhole party, but the players want to continueon, then he should consider re-launching thecampaign with an entirely unrelated group ofinvestigators. Perhaps this new group is probingthe death of the old investigators, or has beenorganized by one of the “tent-pole NPCs” (seepage XX), or has come independently to themystery of the Carlyle Expedition and its fate.Whatever the case, the likelihood is that thisnew group will not be able to come together andbegin investigating anew until after January of1926. The Keeper needs to decide if theinvestigators were able to delay the opening ofthe Great Gate and if so, when the date is of thenext eclipse that conspirators will use to

attempt the ceremonies anew. If the Gate hasalready opened, consider what the variousvillains will do as their next step – will theysimply continue as they were in worship ofNyarlathotep or go off in some new inhumandirection?

Example: It is 1931. Bradley Grey convenes ameeting of a dozen or so leading figures in therealms of American and European finance,academia, and government. He presents tothem a dossier detailing a three-yearinvestigation into a seemingly disparate series ofevents – instability in Egypt, a rapidly rising newwarlord in Shanghai rumored to be responsiblefor the assassination of Chiang Kai-shek, tribalrebellion in East Africa, a massive earthquake inWestern Australia, the rise of Johannes Sprech,the German fascist and founder of the mysticSchwarzbrüderschaft movement, and so on.While the supernatural elements are only hintedat, the evidence compiled points to a world-wideconspiracy bent on the death of millions. “Fiveyears ago, gentlemen, my employer wasapproach by a group of private citizens fearfulthat her late brother might have been involvedin a conspiracy to bring ruin upon us all. At thetime, and without evidence to support theseclaims, she rebuffed them. Unfortunately, thosemen and women were right, but they wereunable to stop the events that Roger Carlyle putin motion. We now live in that world that theseheroes so rightly feared. Today we hope to beginto find a way to undo the damage that was done,to stave off the darkness we were once warnedof…”

Appendix A482

USING THIS APPENDIXWe have gathered together here twenty-six pre-generated characters suitable for use in Masks ofNyarlathotep. This table provides their names, nominal location, nationality, and profession.

Location Name Profession NationNew York Helen Alexander Author U.S.A.

Zack Allemby Conjure Man U.S.A.Henry Brinded Antiquarian U.S.A.Simon Exton Toxicologist U.K.Roman Harkov Folklorist RussiaRaoul Piñera (NPC) Artist MexicoGeorge Randall Big Game Hunter U.K.Claire Simpson (NPC) Nurse U.S.A.Neil Young Valet U.K.

London Helen Coulston (NPC) Librarian U.K.Stephen Hughes Medium U.K.Paul Maclean (NPC) Conservationist U.K.Maurice Paterson (NPC) Physician U.K.

Cario Asim aka “Sandow the Ox” Digger EgyptHusam al-Fulami Ulema Egypt

Kenya Johannes H. G. Hendriks Missionary Netherlands James McTavish Zebra Hunter U.K.

Australia Bruce Baugh Prospector/Poet U.S.A.Mrs. Louise Hayes Boarding House Owner U.K.

Shanghai Moussa Coulibaly Soldier of Fortune French SoudanHorst von Schroeter Diplomat Germany

Other Kumaran Azhikode Lascar Tindal IndiaRobert Scott Bennie Dept. Texas Ranger U.S.A.Catrine Blitchfeldt Society Reporter U.S.A.Donald Brewer Engineer U.K.Finlay Patterson Private Investigator U.S.A.

483Characters

Those listed with a particular location willwork best if they are encountered there, thoughwith a little work, most can be relocated asneeded. Almost all of the New York-basedinvestigators are suitable for use at the start ofthe campaign, and any one of them can easily beused instead of a player creating his own. Allnine come with specific connections to eitherJackson Elias or the Carlyle Expedition.

Each of the other investigators listed underthe other locations has its own point of entryinto the campaign. Robert Scott Bennie isintended for use in the scenario “The God of

Mitnal,” which is set before the events of thecampaign and is designed to introduce theinvestigators to Jackson Elias through play. BothKumaran Azhikode and Donald Brewer aremeant to be encountered in transit (usuallyaboard a ship, so they can be encountered in thescenarios, “The Mauritania” or “Case of the Cat’sCradle,” for example) and can be introducedbetween any two locations. In addition, bothFinlay Patterson and Catrine Blichfeldt havereasons of their own to be trailing theinvestigators and might be encounteredanywhere.

Several of the pre-generated investigatorsare listed with the “(NPC)” tag. This indicatesthat the investigator has also been designed andwritten so that the Keeper can use him or her asan NPC for the player characters to meet andinteract with. In New York, Raoul Piñera can beinterviewed about his former girlfriend, HypatiaMasters, while Claire Simpson can be questionedby her former employer, Doctor Huston. Bothwill be interested in the fate of the CarlyleExpedition members that each knows. RaoulPiñera actually appears as an NPC in Masks ofNyarlathotep (see p. 35 of the actual campaignfor further information), while in London,Maurice Paterson is an NPC who will appear ifthe investigators have played through “TheMauritania” from The Asylum & Other Tales andseen his uncle fall victim to the Mythos. Also inLondon, Helen Coulston and the fate of herfiancée, Paul Maclean can be used to be spur theinvestigators to look into the PenhewFoundation (as if they need muchencouragement) and Gavigan’s countryresidence, Misr House.

Careful attention has been paid to theweaponry skills possessed by these pre-generated investigators. Not all of them possessweapons skills though. This is intentional, asoutside of the campaign, not every investigatorwill have had the experience, or currently theneed, for him to have learned to use a weapon.In particular, none of the characters have beengiven any skill in automatic weapons, primarilybecause no logical reason could be found foranyone to learn how to use an SMG, or indeedto own one. Further, not having an SMG in your

possession avoids an awful lot of complicationsfor the investigator. It was also more logical forthe investigators to have learned to use andsometimes own long arms, such as rifles andshotguns, and even heavy weaponry, likehowitzers. Further, while some investigatorspossess weapons skills, they do not always ownthe guns that they are trained in, and even ifthey do, one investigator actually quite literally“being armed for bear,” they will not always bein their possession. The open carrying andwielding of weapons, as noted elsewhere, willget the investigators into trouble with theauthorities.

The pre-generated characters are intendedto simplify the character replacement process bygiving players fully-developed charactersspecifically created for the locations andsituations described in the campaign. Characterbackgrounds have been written with theintention of providing a convenient hook withwhich to draw the new investigator into theparty in a plausible manner and to give the newinvestigator his own motivations for joining thesearch for the Carlyle Expedition. As always,they may be adjusted by the Keeper (or by theplayer is permitted) as needed. For the mostpart, these characters have been constructed asper the current character generation rules fornew investigators. Where they differ in pointtotals, the aim has been not to make thecharacter better, but to make him or her moreinteresting.1

Appendix A484Experienced InvestigatorsEspecially later in the campaign, surviving investigators may have a greater skill set than new investigators, so much so that thismay be disadvantageous to the new character. In this case, use the following guidelines to augment the pre-generated characters:give the player an extra 50 skill points to assign to any skill except Cthulhu Mythos, with no skill to be increased by more than 10points. It is suggested that these not be spent on combat related skills. Cthulhu Mythos skill points should not be gained, unlessotherwise initially listed or with the approval of the Keeper. If they are given, be sure to reduce the maximum possible Sanity and,potentially, starting Sanity as well. In all cases, character starting with a Cthulhu Mythos score above 0 should have some minimaloutline of the nature and circumstances of their encounter with the Mythos as well as possibly an associated phobia or mentaldisorder.

1. It should be noted that two of the pre-generated investigators given above, Helen Alexander and Henry Brinded, are both based on actualplayer characters (as is Vincent Orsini above), although none of the three ever scaled the heights of The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep.Nevertheless, Matthew Pook would like to thank Louise Hayes, Tim Barker, and Matt Rose for bringing each of them to life.

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Appendix A486

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Appendix A488

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Appendix A490

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Appendix A492

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Appendix A494

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Appendix A496

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Appendix A498

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Appendix A500

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Appendix A502

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Appendix A504

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Appendix A506

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Appendix A508

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Appendix A510

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Appendix A512

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Appendix A514

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Appendix A516

517Characters

Appendix A518

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Appendix A520

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Appendix A522

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Appendix A524

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Appendix A526

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Appendix A528

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Appendix A530

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Appendix A532

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Appendix A534

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Appendix A536

537Characters

Appendix A538

Appendix BAppendix B1925/6 Timeline1925/6 TimelineCthulhu’s RisingCthulhu’s Rising

HEADLINES FOR JANUARY 1925 – JANUARY 1926One of the many methods that Lovecraft used to establish horror in his writing was usingverisimilitude – incorporating the events of his tales into the real world – and thereby making theunreality and terror of the events described all the more unsettling because of the plausibility ofwhat had come before. The Keeper can incorporate the headlines of the day as presented here toprovide a bit of color to his campaign or to foreshadow certain future events in the game. Certainevents, marked with an asterisk, are taken from Lovecraft’s own fiction or from elements of otherCall of Cthulhu campaigns and scenarios and are included for the amusement of the Keeper.

Appendix B538Masks of Nyarlathotep

Timeline for 1925/6By Hal Eccles with Bret Kramer

January 1 1925CHINESE TRAIN “HELD UP” Peking alarmed as militaryabuse railways.

January 2 1925 SYRIA AND THE TURKSFears for Alexandretta as newstate formed.

January 4 1925 FASCIST VIOLENCEMussolini assumes full controlof Italy.

January 5 1925STORM AT SEA New York Liners delayed.

January 12 1925FIGHTING NEAR SHANGHAI Rival factions cause tension inthe Far East.

January 14 1925US SUBMARINE AGROUND40 men stranded as boat isgrounded.

January 15 1925TRAIN ROBBERY ON LONGISLAND$2000 stolen by youth.

January 23 1925COSTA RICA AND THE LEAGUECosta Rica announces itswithdrawal from the League ofNations.

January 24 1925BRITISH BOYS AS SETTLERSFarm apprentices to settle inSouth Australia.

January 25 1925SOLAR ECLIPSE IN AMERICAVisible from Manhattan toMinnesota.

January 27 1925ROYAL VISIT TO EAST AFRICA Duke and Duchess of York visitMombasa.

January 29 1925 THE GREAT RACE OF MERCYDog sleds take diphtheriaserum to Alaska.

February 2 1925ANOTHER MOUNTAINEXPEDITIONClimbers organize trip upMount Logan.

February 4 1925FRANCE AND THE VATICAN Socialist party suspicious asembassy question raises itshead.

February 7 1925ROYAL VISIT REACHESNAIROBIShooting expedition planned!

February 10 1925FOG OVER NEW ENGLANDSTATESNew York railway accidents.

February 11 1925SUDDEN DEATH OF KENYAGOVERNOR Operation not enough to saveSir Coryndon.

February 18 1925“WHITE CARGO”: INJUCTIONGRANTED FOR PIRACY!New York play is “copy of anovel,” court rules.

February 21 1925THE GOVERNORSHIP OFKENYA Bigger salary to entice the rightman.

February 22 1925NEW YORKER, NEW!The New Yorker, a magazine,publishes its first issue.

February 24 1925AFTER DINNER SPEAKERFOUND DEADLondon Police investigate!

February 26 1925THE KURDISH REVOLTInsurgent Kurds occupyKarput and overrun Turkishforces.

*February 28 1925*PATIENTS STORM FROMASYLUM Vancouver police on high alertafter breakout.

March 2 1925EARTH TREMOR IN NEWYORKPublic alarm as city shakes.

March 4 1925MR COOLIDGE,INAUGURATION TODAYUS Presidential inaugurationbroadcast on radio!

March 9 1925JUBALAND OUTBREAKInter-tribal fighting. Garrisonstrengthened in Kismayu.

March 11 1925TWO KILLED BYRHINOCEROSDeath of woman and ArmyCaptain.

March 13 1925SUN YAT-SEN DEAD AT 58Illness fells Chinese leader andKuomintang Party founder.

March 14 1925INFLUENZA EPIDEMIC INCHICAGOHeavy death roll predicted.

March 17 1925WOMAN’S DEATH IN HOTELWoman shot dead in Doverhotel; strange easternconnections.

March 20 1925TORNADO HAVOC INAMERICA900 persons dead and 26 townsin ruin as tornado sweepsMissouri, Illinois, and Indiana.

*March 23 1925*SHIPPING DISRUPTEDSouthern Pacific shipping inturmoil. Freak weather and seaconditions forcing many toreturn to port.

March 25 1925WORKMAN DISCOVERSMASTADON BONESNew York cellar find!

April 2 1925GERMAN PACT PROPOSALFrench support Rhinelandguarantee pact.

539Timeline

April 3 1925TURKISH INTERESTS IN SYRIANegotiations with France agreeto autonomy of Syria.

April 4 1925MURDER AND SUICIDE INNEW YORKLong standing feud in MexicanWar office ends in tragedy.

April 5 1925MUSEUM FOR KENYAMemorial to Sir RobertCoryndon proposed forNairobi.

April 6 1925GENEVA ARMS CONFERENCEArms limitations agreed.

*April 12 1925*MISSING SAILOR RECOVEREDNorwegian is rescued after amonth lost at sea.

April 18 1925SOFIA BOMB OUTRAGE150 killed in suspectedcommunist plot.

April 21 1925KENYA TO KHARTOUM AIRSERVICE Preliminary survey underway!

April 22 1925JAPANESE STEAMER SUNK48 lives lost as New York boundsteamer flounders.

April 23 1925REPRIMAND FOR KENYAOFFICIAL Money missing from NativeTrust fund.

May 9 1925HERO LEE SAVES 32 Tom Lee saves lives onsteamboat M.E Norman.

July 1 1925H. R. HAGGARD MOURNEDNoted author of KingSolomon’s Mines, dead inLondon at 68.

May 16 1925SHANGHAI INCIDENT CLOSEDChinese government payscompensation for mystery fire.

May 19 1925SMALL POX OUTBREAK INNEW YORKPrecautions taken.

May 20 1925PANIC ON THE NEW YORKUNDERGROUND100 persons injured fleeingfrom acrid smoke.

May 22 1925THOUSANDS HOMELESSAs earthquake strikes Japan,100 killed!

May 25 1925AMERICAN DISTURBANCESTidal waves sweep southernshores of Lake Ontario &Huron.

May 31, 1925FOUR STRIKERS SHOT BYPOLICE IN SHANGHAIWidespread riots by workers.

June 9 1925US HEATWAVE BROKENRecord high temperaturesplummet in just 3 hours!

*June 11 1925*POLICE INVESTIGATEDISAPPEARANCES Children missing in Brooklyn,New York

June 15 1925BRITISH EXPLORER MISSINGPercy Fawcett missing in theAmazon.

June 22 1925THE TEACHING OFEVOLUTIONDarwinist Tennessee teacherJohn Scopes is prosecuted!

June 23 1925KENYA INDIANS Decision made to cooperatewith the Europeans.

June 24 1925FIRING ON FOREIGNQUARTER4 British sailors injured inCanton Riots.

June 25 1925ARCTIC BODIES FOUNDAFTER 14 YEARSFate of expedition confirmed.

Appendix B540

June 26 1925AMERICAN WARNING TOMEXICOMexico fails to protectAmerican lives and property.

June 26 1925RAIDERS DEFEATED IN KENYAKing’s African Rifles dispose ofborder outlaws & poachers.

June 29 1925EARTHQUAKE IN CALIFORNIATrembler damages much ofcity of Santa Barbara

July 1 1925FRESH SHOCKS IN SANTABARBARADeath toll stands at 12.

July 6 1925INDEPENDENCE DAY IN NEWYORK Defense day test deemedsuccessful once again as 8million sign up.

July 14 1925EVACUATION OF THE RUHRFrench occupying forces beginwithdrawal from Germany.

July 17 1925THE CANCER VIRUS Possible vaccination for thevirus causing the cancerdisease discovered.

July 21 1925ATTACK ON RIVER STEAMERChinese troops fire onimmigrant steamersaccompanied by the H.M.S.Teal.

July 22 1925SCOPES FINED $100 Biology teacher found guilty ofteaching evolution.

July 27 1925THE PROBLEM OFCOOPERATION France and Spain take commonaction against Moroccaninsurgents.

July 27 1925MR. W. J. BRYAN DEAD Prosecution attorney for theScopes trial found dead.

August 4 1925AMERICAN PLAY BANNEDDesire Under the Elms brandedabhorrent by London censors.

August 5 1925AN EAST AFRICAN GOLDFIELDLupa river diggings prove to belucrative.

August 6 1925CONTROL OF MOMBASSA’SKILINDINI HARBOURBritish Government purchasesprivate pier, tension expectedwith locals.

August 17 1925ARCTIC ISLANDS ANNEXEDNorway annexes Spitzbergendespite Soviet Russia’s claims.

August 21 1925DEATH OF MR. V. M. LAWSON Distinguished journalist dies inNew York.

August 21 1925SOVIET AEROPLANES OVERSHANGHAI Planes complete long haulflight from Moscow.

August 24 1925REFUSE IN NEW YORKHARBOUR Shipping companies take theblame.

August 25 1925FRENCH TROOPS COMPLETEWITHDRAWALDawes Plan guarantees peaceand security.

September 2 1925MISSING ITALIAN SUBMARINEAnxiety is growing aboutmissing Sebastiano Veneiro.

September 4 1925AIRSHIP SHENANDOAHCRASHES IN OHIO14 dead as airship weaknesseshighlighted!

541Timeline

September 6 1925PRISON SEGREGATION INKENYABritish plans deemed backwardthinking.

September 7 1925FURTHER RIOTS INSHANGHAIWorkers still unsatisfied!

September 9 1925MORE DINOSAUR EGGSFOUND IN GOBINew York Natural HistoryMuseum’s latest finds on show.

September 10 1925JOINT OFFENSIVE INMOROCCOCombined Franco-Spanishforce began an offensiveyesterday.

September 16 1925POLICE RAID ON CHINESE INNEW YORK100 deported in agreementwith rival “Tongs.”

September 19 1925285 MILES AN HOUR!Curtiss aeroplane’s top speed.

September 24 1925AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATIONACT Governor-General now has theauthority to prohibit theentrance of aliens.

September 24 1925THREAT OF CIVIL WARHostilities pending nearShanghai.

September 30 1925YELLOW RIVER FLOODFurther disasters feared forrainy season ahead.

October 6 1925AT LOCARNOIs the Locarno conference asign that war is morally over?

October 12 1925HEAVY GALE HITS NEW YORK78 mile an hour winds lash thecity, 5 killed.

October 15 1925DAMASCUS REVOLTFrench forces withdraw fromthe city.

October 18 1925AMERICAN LINER BURNT10 passenger missing as NewYork Liner catches fire en routeto Florida.

October 19 1925ITALIAN AIRMAN AT HONGKONG Returning to Rome, fromTokyo via Shanghai.

October 20 1925HERR SCHACHT IN NEWYORKPresident of the Reich bankarrives for surprise visit.

October 21 1925SURRENDER OF NANKINGThe War between Chekjangand Kiangsu factions threatensto become widespread.

October 22 1925BULGARIAN-GREEK BORDERINCIDENTRattling of sabres results inGreek invasion.

October 26 1925THE BOMBARDMENT OFDAMASCUSFrench counter attack isconclusive!

October 27 1925A COUP D’ETAT IN NICARAGUAFormer President seizes power.

October 28 1925TROOPS MOVING IN CHINAArmy of 100,000 in Shantung,south of Peking.

October 30 1925BAIRD’S INVENTIONJohn Logie Baird and his“television” transmitter!

November 1 1925PORTUGESE FRAUDINVESTIGATION Major money forgery exposed!

November 2 1925EAST AFRICAN RAILWAYPROBLEMS£10,000,000 to extend to theCongo deemed unfeasible.

Appendix B542

November 6 1925CHICAGO BOOTLEGGERS’ PAYROLL“Salaries” for the police!

November 11 1925CIVIL WAR IN CHINAHeavy fighting continues.

November 14 1925CUNARD WINTER SAILINGSSix new liners to make the NewYork run.

November 18 1925FRENCH POLAR EXPEDITIONPREPARESFrench Navy to use amphibiousvehicles.

November 24 1925NY CUSTOMS AGENTS SEIZEOPIUM443 tins recovered!

November 27 1925DEATH OF THE KING OF SIAMTo be succeeded by youngerbrother.

December 7 1925PROHIBITION SWEEP IN NEWYORK27 arrests!December 8 1925PHILIPPINES DEMANDINDEPENDENCE Petition sent to US Congress.

December 11 1925IRISH AGREEMENTTalks delineating the borderbetween Eire and Ulsteroptimistic.

December 19 1925ALASKAN AIR SURVEYUS Navy Department’s task.

December 21 1925THE VOYAGE OF THEGRIPSHOLMNew Swedish liner meets allexpectations.

December 22 1925DEATH OF PROFESSORMORSEEminent pottery expert dies.

December 23 1925IBN SAUD’S TRIUMPHCity of Medina surrenders.

December 27 1925GIZA EXCAVATIONSCONTINUEGreat Sphinx unearthed.January 08 1926NEW YORK SLUMS EVIL!Governor proposes changes tohousing.

January 09 1926DRAMATIST’S RIGHTSProtective measures againstexploitation from managers.

January 14 1926ECLIPSE: EXCELLENT VIEWFROM NAIROBICentre of the shadow to passover Kenya.

January 23 1926NEW OPERA HOUSE FOR NEWYORKMetropolitan company unveilsplan.

January 26 1926ENGLISH BUTLER MURDEREDIN NEW YORKHerbert Bramell mysteriouslymurdered.

543Timeline

About the Rise of CthulhuPerhaps the most important event of 1925 will not appear, at least directly, in any newspaper or periodical. Thatevent is the rising of the nightmare city of R’lyeh and the brief emergence of Cthulhu as outlined in the storyThe Call of Cthulhu. Since The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep is already a complex and dangerous campaign, aKeeper should carefully consider to what extent he wants to make use of these events. Lovecraftian purismmay be fun, but it should not come at the expense of derailing your campaign or overburdening alreadychallenged investigators.

Timeline for R’lyeh’s RiseAccording to The Call of Cthulhu, the first stirrings of the madness to come began on February 28th/March 1st(the discrepancy being due to the International Date Line) and were marked by earthquakes and storms in theSouth Pacific. Sensitive types began to experience strange and unsettling dreams at this point; most oftenthese dreams are ambiguous or unrecalled, but a few begin to have visions of R’lyeh. These dreams grow morepowerful and affect a wider number of victims, reaching a zenith around March 22nd. At about that timeunwary sailors land on the recently arisen R’lyeh and accidentally unleash Cthulhu. By a stroke of fortuneCthulhu is trapped again in his oceanic tomb when R’lyeh sinks soon after. The dreams and visions broughton by Cthulhu then abate and finally abruptly end around April 2nd. Here is a timeline based on the eventsof the story.

February 28 Earliest reports of dreams of R’lyeh

March 1 Wilcox’s dreams begin after minor earthquake Emma thrown off course by violent storms

March 22 Emma encounters the Alert, is sunk but crew seizes the Alert

March 23 Alert reaches R’lyeh; crew encounters Cthulhu

March 23 through April 2 Wilcox delirious

April 2 Heavy seas force Vigilant to change course

April 12 Alert found by Vigilant with Johansen as only survivor

April 18 Sydney Bulletin publishes story “Mystery Derelict Found at Sea”

The Keeper can take inspiration from the story as well an insert the sort of headlines that so troubledDrs. Angell and Thurston:

“Here was a nocturnal suicide in London, where a lone sleeper had leaped from a window aftera shocking cry. Here likewise a rambling letter to the editor of a paper in South America, where afanatic deduces a dire future from visions he has seen. A dispatch from California describes atheosophist colony as donning white robes en masse for some “glorious fulfillment” which neverarrives, whilst items from India speak guardedly of serious native unrest toward the end of March 22-23.”

“The west of Ireland, too, is full of wild rumour and legendry… And so numerous are the recordedtroubles in insane asylums that only a miracle can have stopped the medical fraternity from notingstrange parallelisms and drawing mystified conclusions.”

The story of the Alert, as given by the Sydney Bulletin (and presented in The Call of Cthulhu), is an obvioushandout in the making.

Appendix B544

Dreams of CthulhuIf the Keeper wishes, after careful consideration, to still incorporate Cthulhu’s dream sendings into his campaign,then the following rules are suggested as a guideline. For each day of Cthulhu’s rise test each investigator’sPOW (see below for modifiers) versus his INT on Resistance Table. A success means that the particularinvestigator suffers from Cthuhu-inspired dreams. These dreams cannot be recalled (save perhaps underhypnosis) unless the investigator rolls under his modified POW on a second d100 roll. Remembered dreams(of vast undersea vistas of impossible geographies or great aquatic beasts) cost the investigator 0/1d2 pointsof Sanity for each recalled dream.

March 1-14: ! POWMarch 15-22: " POWMarch 23-March 24: POWMarch 25-April 1: " POW

Any investigator losing more than five points of Sanity to these dreams will begin to suffer their effectsmore intensely – increase the modifier by one step (! to ", " to 1, and 1 to 1.5). If an investigator is drivenindefinitely insane, he should suffer from one or more appropriate phobias – thalassophobia is a good start –and should then match his modified POW versus his CON. The investigator will lapse into a coma if he failsthis roll and he will lose no more Sanity. He needs to be hospitalized though, and will lose 0-1 points from hisCON for each day that he remains unconscious each day unless a successful Medicine roll is made. The comawill only end with the sinking of R’lyeh.

At any point in this process these dreams can be prevented by the application of narcotic drugs. A Medicineroll (or professional physician) is required and there may be a risk of dependency (depending upon which drugis used) at the Keeper’s discretion.

An investigator who has a skill of more than 20% in any of the Art skills and has suffered from these dreamswill be moved towards producing works inspired by Cthulhu’s sendings. If he follows these impulses, then anysubsequent skill checks are made at double the investigator’s normal skill value. Unfortunately, the successfulpiece of art will have a Sanity cost (0/1 points unless a true masterpiece, when such a work might cost asmuch as 1/1d3 points). A successful skill check arising from these dreams might also grant an automatic skillincrease.

545Timeline

Appendix B546