Holy Ground (Cthulhu City)

From the Guardian:

As they clamber up cathedral walls wearing vacuum cleaner backpacks, the researchers look more like ghostbusters than planetary scientists. But for the team at the University of Kent, the equipment is crucial for collecting cosmic dust that becomes stranded on the ancient roofs after falling to Earth from space …

All of which leads me to:

Stargazing

A peculiar group of masked investigators have been seen crawling over the rooftop of the Cathedral. After attracting comment, there was a press release in the Arkham Advertiser. The masked investigators are actually University professors, collecting cosmic dust from the rooftop in order to carry out their experiments. After becoming a nine-day’s wonder, speculation about the roof-crawling group dies. Until one of them takes a tumble from the roof and lands in a heap on the paving stones below. “I see them,” the broken man whispers, just before the medicos load him up in an ambulance and whisks him away.

Option 1:

The investigators are actually part of the Armitage Group, that notorious collection of radicals. The others involved in this experiment have fled to their safe houses, but the one who took the fall, student Morey Amsterdam (p90) was looking for materials to be used in paint pigments. According to Morey’s notes/diaries/friends the art student believed that the artists of old had a peculiar means of mixing cosmic dust with paint to create unearthly effects in their art. However, Morey’s gone missing, and the medicos are very, very anxious to find him or anyone who might know where he is.

Option 2:

The one who fell is a Stalwart Transport Police, Malone. It’s not clear who the others were; checking at the University reveals that the names given were aliases. The medicos refuse access to the patient and say he’s at death’s door, hanging by a thread. His family plead with whoever will listen: let us see Malone. At least, they do right up to the day when all of them mysteriously disappear, never to be seen again … As for Malone it’s not clear what he went up there to find but these days the roof of the Cathedral has a peculiar ambient glow. 

Option 3:

The investigation was actually sponsored by the Church of the Conciliator, who wanted to be kept at arm’s length from the whole affair. That’s why they hired academics from the University rather than go up themselves. The leader of this Stalwart group, Holly Kerr, was following up on Mythos clues that suggested the roof of the Cathedral was somehow coated with alien material. Kerr visited the unfortunate accident victim before he died and came away terrified by what he had to say. Meanwhile the other academics are back at the University planning their next jaunt on the Cathedral roof; what they saw up there has them hungry for knowledge.

What's on that roof?

Option 1:

Witch Keziah Mason is lost in space and time but that doesn't mean she's untraceable. Either her constituent parts or the trail of the things following on her heels can be found in the high places, where they won't be disturbed by people or vehicles. Those brave enough to scrape this dust from the high places can work out, approximately, where the witch is headed next, or going, or is. Problem being, people who get too much of this dust in their eyes start seeing things - hence the masks. But those masks don't provide perfect protection. Too much time up there and even the masks won't help ...

Option 2: 

The far-flung heavens contain secrets man ought not seek out, but by a strange mercy the low-hanging clouds over Cthulhu city protect the citizens from seeing what's really up there. The pilot of that light plane out in Dunwich (p100) might know more about it, but the average citizen can get a similar effect by climbing very high and waiting for a gap in the clouds. Even better if that average citizen has a good telescope. Of course, the adventurous might not like what they see ...

Option 3:

Residual pollution from the Gardner Company out in Westheath taints the rooftops of every tall building in Arkham City; it just so happens that the Cathedral's roof is better protected than the rest which means the pollutant Colour isn't disturbed. It lies thick on the slates. That allows those keen to know more about this strange substance, and who want to trace its origin, have their best chance of collecting it up there. It also means that those who go in seach of it on the Cathedral roof are most likely to be changed by their exposure to the dust ...

That's it for this week. Enjoy!

Les Babouains (Cthulhu City)

 

You can get inspiration from anywhere.

This is an annual festival event in Guernsey. There’s the walking trail with its scattered hordes of straw men, all designed to parody local and international events. Next door is the church with a big wide field for other events & tents. Exactly the sort of thing you’re probably thinking of; ice cream, bring & buy, local produce, that sort of thing. Bring the kids. Make a day of it. 

What if that were transposed somewhere else?

What if that event were taking place in Cthulhu City?

Well, you’d need somewhere with an agricultural history. Somewhere with a church. Maybe a field, though that’s optional; you could do the same thing in a parking lot. 

In a Cthulhu City context you’re looking at locations like Dunwich or Salamander Fields. Places with an active farming community or a former agricultural history. Dunwich is probably the better option with its connection to the Church of the Conciliator, but the Esoteric Order – encountered in Salamander Fields – works just as well. 

Somewhere with lots of narrow little lanes for the walking tour. Dark alleys. Twisting corridors. Maybe some of the houses or tenements have scarecrows hanging out of the windows, that sort of thing. You don’t even have to change the name. There’s plenty of French speakers in New England. Probably worth mentioning that the literal translation isn’t scarecrow; it’s monkey, or baboon. Except in Guernésiais, which apparently includes an extra letter in its Norman French version of the language.

In the actual world by 1919 the state government, following Federal guidelines, would have instituted programs designed to discourage multilingual education as part of its Americanization program. However, Cthulhu City isn’t the actual world. It’s something altogether other. 

Cthulhu City:

There is – by certain unreliable and maddening accounts, and now by your own dreadful experience – a city on the eastern seaboard of the United States, in northern Massachusetts. You do not recall seeing it on maps when you were growing up, and no-one of your acquaintance ever admitted coming from that place until you found yourself living within its eerie confines …

Under the rules:

Masked: The Masked take on a location describes it as relatively untouched by the strangeness of the 

city – or at least, its horrors are hidden beneath a mundane mask.

Unmasked: The sinister, Mythos-tainted version of the location, where the horrors wear no mask.

Cast: NPCs who might be encountered there.

Clues: Clues leading on from this location, pointing to other locations, individuals, or deeper mysteries ...

With all that in mind:

Les Babouains

Masked

A yearly festival where visitors are invited to take a tour round a series of vignettes, all of which are made up of scarecrows arranged in comic poses. Here’s one dressed like a politician everyone hates! Here’s one based on a local event or scandal! The tour trail is along a series of dark alleyways or overgrown, rocky paths; take care not to injure yourself. Once you have had enough of those, feel free to wander over to the food & drink tents, shop at the bring & buy, drop a few coins in the collection box. The Church appreciates your support! 

Children and adults giggle, at first, when they set off down the scarecrow trail. It soon becomes quiet; fear, ever-growing, stops tongues. Did that one move? Are they all … moving? Why is it so dark down here? It seemed sunny before. The displays are supposedly built by locals but you can never be sure who made what, and after a while the displays aren’t even named. They’re just … there. Did you make a wrong turn? What does the map say? Oh, you needed to retrace your steps after number 16 and never did – but was that number 16? Well, at least there’s the bring & buy, though some of those second-hand items have peculiar stains. Is that an atlas? Did this come from Dr. Armitage’s library? Let’s go over to the food tent and have some of that local brew. I’m sure no harm can come from it. After all, Prohibition’s long in the past, ha-ha!

Unmasked

Careful not to take a wrong turn on the scarecrow path. Some of these trails are deliberately arranged to lure the unwary into a situation they can’t easily get out of. Cultists use these as a means of snatching up victims for their sacrifices. That fellow in the doctor’s outfit is actually from the Sanitarium, as are the burly ‘nurses’ with him. It seems there’s always an incident or two each year that require the Sanitarium’s tender ministrations. Those with Mythos realize that the scarecrow path has its own peculiar significance; participants are actually wandering the holy maze of Theseus, and each step on the path powers the ritual. As the ritual comes closer and closer to its denouement, the sensitive may notice sounds of a large beast, padding after them on the trail. Perhaps the Priest knows more about this; the sweat on his gleaming brow increases as the day wears on, as if he’s waiting for something. Of course, each year at least one person on the Trail never comes out again but nobody likes to talk about that ...

Cast 

This is the kind of event that attracts people looking for a good time, as well as those looking to see and be seen. Artists, Gadabouts, Servants, Students, as well as at least one Priest, possibly a Mystic or Grifter. There’s a decent chance one of the Afflicted can be found out on the trail, howling at the unknown or petrified by the scarecrows.

Clues

Some of the items in the bring & buy did come from dubious sources and may contain information on the Occult or Theology. A chance encounter with the Sanatarium staff (Oral History, Flattery) may lead to further information about that dubious institution, or perhaps even allow the player to develop a Contact there. Outdoorsman may allow the character to turn the tables on whoever-it-was who arranged the scarecrow trail, perhaps even leading to a means of sabotaging the ritual. Medicine or Pharmacy allows the character to make an unpleasant realization about the food on offer - in turn leading to a plot by one of the cults or local gangs. Possibly a Cloned Tyrone moment ...

That's it for this week. Enjoy!