Issue 4

Free!

Staff and Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Legal Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Rest Stops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Goddess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Road Work

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Random Universes

Staff and Credits

Editor and Art Director:
Cover and Interior Art:

Michael C. LaBossiere, ontologist@aol.com.

Michael C. LaBossiere, ontologist@aol.com.

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Random Universes

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Random Universes

Rest Stops 1996

By Michael C. LaBossiere
Ontologist@aol.com
Call of Cthulhu
Legal Information
This adventure is copyright 1996 by Dr. Michael C. LaBossiere. It may be freely distributed for
personal use provided that it is not modified and no fee above the normal cost of distribution is charged
for it. Visit the Opifex Phoenix web site at http://user.aol.com/ontologist/web/opifex.anchor.html.
Call of Cthulhu is Chaosium Inc's registered trademark for their game of horror and wonder in the
worlds of HP Lovecraft. For more information, contact Chaosium Inc., 950-A 56th St, Oakland, CA
94608 -- or call us at 510-547-7681. Visit Chaosium's web page at
http://www.sirius.com/~chaosium/chaosium.html.

Introduction
In this adventure the investigators are called upon to aid a friend whose son and daughter in law
vanished on their way east from L.A. In their search for the missing couple the investigators will
stumble across an ancient horror. This adventure is set in the 1990s but could be set in an earlier era
with considerable modification.

Keepers Introduction
This adventure pits the investigators against a malign spirit of dust. These supernatural beings dwell
in the dry and desolate places of the earth but some of them revel in the chance to inflict suffering and
horror on mankind. A young couple on their way back east had the misfortune of encountering one of
these malign spirits at a rest stop. While David Holpen was walking a little way into the desert he was
attacked and possessed by a dust spirit. It went back to Holpens car, assaulted and killed his wife and
then left her body and the car out in the desert. Since then, this dust spirit has been traveling the
roads, satisfying its desire for evil.

Getting the Players Involved

One of the investigators will be contacted by a friend or associate, Frederick Holpen. This friend will
tell the investigator that his son (David) and daughter-in-law (Jean) vanished on their way east from
LA. He will say that they called him from a rest stop along Route 66 to say that they were heading out
across the Mojave and that they would call him when they reached a hotel. He will say that they never
called him and never showed up at their friends house (they were going to stop at a friends house the
next day).
Holpen will say that he called the police, but they did not find any sign of the missing pair. Holpen will
say that he fears something terrible has happened to his son and daughter-in-law and will ask the
investigator to look into things. Holpen is a successful investor and will be able to help the investigator
financially, if need be.

Investigation
The Area
The missing people last called from a rest stop on San Bernardino Route 66 and were on their way

Random Universes

east. The way east goes through the Mojave Desert, which is extremely hot and desolate.
Frederick Holpen
Holpen will be able to provide the investigators with photographs and descriptions of the missing
people and will be able to direct the investigators to the rest stop his son called from.
Initial Investigation
The investigators are likely to begin by talking to people who might have seen the missing people. If
the investigators go to various restaurants and gas stations in the area, they will be able to find one or
two people who remember seeing the missing people. However, they will not be able to provide much in
the way of useful information.
Police
The investigators will probably decide to talk to the police at some point. Bakerfield and Perez were
the officers who conducted the search for the missing pair. They will say that they checked the rest
stops, hotels, and along the highway for the missing car. They will also say that other officers further
up the highway have reported no sign of the missing people. The police will be friendly, but will not be
able to provide much useful information. If the investigators are amiable and ask if there is anything
unusual in the area, Perez will tell them that there has been a significant increase in the number of
abandoned vehicles as well as a slight increase in the number of people reported missing.
Rest Stops
The investigators might decide to investigate the rest stops. Their initial investigation will reveal
little substantial information. However, they should make a slightly disturbing find. Three rest areas
(the one the missing pair called from is the middle one) have several cars parked in the lots that are
heavily coated with dust and, upon closer inspection, can be determined to have been in the lots for a
while. Some of these cars have been simply abandoned, but some belonged to victims of the spirit. If the
investigators check the license plates with the police they will learn that some of them belong to people
who have been reported as missing. These people have not been reported as missing to the highway
patrol and hence the officers have not been checking for their cars. Most of the missing people were on
extended trips and hence no one knows where they went missing.
At one rest stop there are signs (use Spot Hidden or tracking to spot) that a car has been driven off
into the desert. If the investigators follow the trail for a half mile they will find Holpens car with a
tarp thrown over it. The tarp is covered with dust and debris which makes the car all but impossible to
spot from the distance. It is readily visible from the ground at about a quarter mile. The car contains
the dried out and half naked body of Jean Holpen. Her body bears marks of blunt trauma and she has
been sexually assaulted (by the spirit in Holpens body). A forensic examination will reveal that she
died of dehydration.
Juan Cortez
Before Encounter on the Highway:
If the investigators encounter Juan Cortez prior to the
Encounter on the Highway Cortez will be willing to talk to the investigators if they are friendly and
interesting. He will be sympathetic if the investigators mention the missing people. However, he will
probably not mention his past experience with a spirit of the dust.
After Encounter on the Highway:
If the investigators talk to Martinez after the encounter on the
highway, he will mention Perez when he is talking to the police. If the investigators follow up on this
and are polite, Perez will talk to them he will tell them a story from thirty years ago:
About thirty years ago, when I was a young man, I was just drifting about without a purpose. One day
I was by the fire station, cooling off in the water running from the hoses, when a group of determined
and dusty looking men drove up in a battered car. They offered the firemen a wad of bills to borrow

Random Universes

some of their equipment and one of asked me if I wanted to make some money at a dangerous job. Being
young and full of myself, I was all for it. Well, we rode out into the desert and we set up the gear. I had
an old back pack pumper on and they had hoses and stuff. One old guy, looked like he was from India,
made marks on the ground and started chanting something. Well, about 30 minutes passed and this guy
just came flying, and I mean literally flying, out of the desert. One of the younger guys emptied a
thompson, you know, one of those gangster guns, into the guy. Something came out of that man and they
started spraying it with water. They yelled at me and I started spraying it and screaming like a wild
animal. The thing, whatever it was, looked like a man of dust. The water was clearly hurting it and
eventually it was reduced to a pile of foul dust. The old guy gave me another fifty dollars and told me
not to tell the police. I never have. Ive always been a moral man, but that wasnt murder. Even though
I was just a green kid, I could see they were ridding the world of something evil.
Based on what Martinez has to say, Perez will suspect that another one of the things he say is in the
area. He will be able to suggest that the investigators will need a great deal of water to kill it. If asked
about the ritual used by the Indian, he will say that he does not know how to do it or even what it really
was. He will be willing to help the investigators if they ask for his aid.

Maps
The maps detail a standard rest stop area.
Rest Stop Exterior
The exterior map shows the
area used to get on and off the
highway, the parking lot and the
rest stop building. The parking lot
is well lit at night. The rest stop
building is made of concrete and
there are two water fountains out
front. There are automatic
sprinklers to keep the grass
around the rest stop alive.
The rest stops are cleaned about
once a week or every two weeks,
depending on the budget and the
conditions. The rest stops are
generally kept in good repair.
Chances are good that at least a
few people will be stopped at a
rest stop at any given time. Rest
stops are located every 50-100
miles.

Random Universes
Rest Stop Interior
The interior map shows the inside of
the rest stop building.

1
Men's
3

Mens:
1. Sinks.
2. Shower Stalls.
3. Bathroom Stalls.
4. Urinals.

4
Storage

Storage: This area contains cleaning

equipment, tools, supplies and such. The
door is kept locked.
Womens:
1. Sinks.
2. Shower Stalls.
3. Bathroom Stalls.

3
Women's
1

Action
Encounter on the Highway
At some point when the investigators are driving along the highway (perhaps when the players are
starting to run into dead ends) they will be driving by a rest stop and a flat bed truck will come flying
out of it. The truck will swerve, strike their vehicle a glancing blow and a car will fall of the back of
the truck (cruel Keepers may wish to have the wayward car inflict some more damage to the
investigators vehicle and give them a scare). Lucky for the investigators, a highway patrol car will be
in the area and set off in hot pursuit. After about ten miles, Martinez (the driver of the truck) will pull
over. The investigators, who should be driving after the fleeing Martinez, will arrive just in time to
see Martinez shouting out something about a flying man in Spanish to the officer who is trying to calm
him down. If the investigators stop, they will be able to hear his story. Roughly, it goes like this:
I was driving into the lot, looking for a place to rest before I brought the car back to town for
repairs. Well, I pull in and I see somebody lying in the parking lot. I go and check his body and I can see
that his jaw is broken and his face is a mass of bruises. I can see his chest and it is all busted up and
dried out. I then heard a woman scream. I looked up and saw a man standing there with a woman. She
was struggling with him and I could hear a crunching noise when he pulled on her arm. He then rose off
the ground, just like the guy in Perezs story. He was carrying her and came towards me. I jumped in
my truck and pulled out like a bat from hell.
If the investigators accompany the officer to the parking lot, they will find a Toyota with its engine
still running. In the parking lot is a tennis shoe and some dried blood. There is no sign of either the body
or the missing woman as the spirit took both of them out into the desert. The car is registered to Henry
Carver and his friends will say that he was going on a trip with his girlfriend Helen Jones.
The officer will question the investigators to see if they know anything and will call for a team to
come out to check the sight. Martinez will be ticketed for reckless driving. If asked about Perez,
Martinez will offer to introduce the investigators to him.
Hunting the Spirit
The spirit, which is currently in possession of Holpens body, spends most of its time cruising the
highway looking for victims. It prefers to prey on women, but it will attack anyone when it needs to

Random Universes

drain fluids. The dust spirit will not leave its desert and will tend to strike along a 150 mile stretch of
highway. This will give the investigators the chance to catch up with it and destroy it.
Fighting the Spirit
Once the investigators find the spirit, they will almost certainly want to destroy it. Destroying the
spirit will require the following steps. First, the spirit must be driven from the body it occupies. This
can be done by a magical exorcism, if the investigators have the means of performing one. This can also
be done by killing the host body or rendering it unconscious (the spirit will leave a body that has been
rendered unconscious out of fear-it cannot see or hear while occupying an unconscious body). Once the
spirit has been driven from its host body it can be attacked by magical means or by dousing it with
water. It will take a considerable amount of water to destroy it, so the investigators will need some
means of rapidly getting many gallons of water onto the spirit.

Conclusion
The adventure ends when the investigators defeat the spirit or they are defeated by the spirit. If the
investigators leave the area, the spirit will eventually decide to abandon Holpens body and get a new
one. Holpens body will be found shortly thereafter and the Spirit will continue its killing spree.
Surviving investigators should lose 1D3 Sanity Points when they learn of these events.
If the investigators defeat the spirit, they should receive 1D8 Sanity Points as a reward. If they are
able to destroy the spirit without killing Holpen, they should receive a 1D4 Sanity point bonus.

NPCs
Kevin Bakerfield, Highway Patrol Officer #1
STR: 13 Con: 15 SIZ: 14 INT: 12 POW: 12 DEX: 14 APP: 12 EDU: 14 SAN: 60 HP:15 DB: +1D4
Skills: Fast Talk 38%, First Aid 46%, Handgun 57%, Nightstick 41%, Shotgun 52%, English 70%,
Spanish 19%, Law 30%, Persuade 35%, Drive Automobile 65%, Martial Arts 25%
Weapons: .9mm 57% Shots/Round:3 Damage: 1D10 Range: 20 Shots: 15
12 Gauge Pump Shotgun 52% Shots/Round:1 Damage: 4D6/2D6/1D6 Range: 10/20/50 Shots: 5
Night Stick 41% Damage 1D6+db HP 15
Equipment: 2-Way personal radio, patrol car, 2 9mm clips, 50 shotgun shells
Description: Bakerfield has been a Highway Patrol Officer for six years. He is above average in size,
has tanned skin, black hair and brown eyes. He is a very calm individual and has a great deal of respect
for the law. Although he is somewhat religious, he does not believe in supernatural creatures and will
give no credence to any legends or myths.
Jacob Hector Perez, Highway Patrol Officer #2
STR: 14 Con: 14 SIZ: 10 INT: 16 POW: 11 DEX: 13 APP: 11 EDU: 15 SAN: 55 HP:12 DB: +1D4
Skills: Fast Talk 42%, First Aid 41%, Handgun 52%, Nightstick 43%, Shotgun 48%, Law 41%, English
80%, Spanish 45%, Persuade 38%, Drive Automobile 56%, Martial Arts 32%
Weapons: .9mm 52% Shots/Round:3 Damage: 1D10 Range: 20 Shots: 15
12 Gauge Pump Shotgun 48% Shots/Round:1 Damage: 4D6/2D6/1D6 Range: 10/20/50 Shots: 5
Night Stick 43% Damage 1D6+db HP 15
Equipment: 2-Way personal radio, patrol car, 2 9mm clips, 50 shotgun shells
Description: Perez has been a Highway Patrol Officer for four years. He is of average size but keeps in
excellent shape. He has black hair and brown eyes. Perez has a college degree and is currently working
his way through law school in his off hours. Perez is fairly religious and, thanks to some wild stories
told to him by his grandfather, he has some belief in the supernatural.

Random Universes

Jesus Martinez, Thief

STR: 13 Con: 13 SIZ: 13 INT: 11 POW: 11 DEX: 11 APP: 10 EDU:11 SAN: 55 HP: 13 DB: +1D4
Skills: Bargain 44%, Drive Auto 54%, Fast Talk 45%, Locksmith 53%, Mechanical Repair 47%, Sneak
47%, Spot Hidden 52%, Handgun 29%
Weapons: .22 Short Pistol 22 % Shots/Round: 3 Damage: 1D6 Range: 10 Shots: 6
Equipment: Truck, tools
Description: Martinez is of average height and in good shape. He has black hair and brown eyes.
Martinez was a college student for two years but was forced to leave school when his parents were
killed in a house fire. After that he drifted around, eventually turning to crime. He is actually fairly
moral and religious. Because of this, one of his main sources of income is stealing abandoned
vehicles. His latest operation is going along highways and areas where cars are abandoned. When he
finds abandoned vehicles he checks them out and loads them onto his flatbed truck if they are
worthwhile. Martinez is not a violent person and has never committed an act of violence against
another human being. He carries a small .22 automatic, mostly in case he runs into snakes (he has a
mild phobia about snakes). Martinez does not initially believe in the supernatural. He knows Juan Cortez
from a story Cortez did on new drifters of the west.
Juan Cortez, Writer
STR:11 Con: 12 SIZ: 13 INT: 14 POW: 13 DEX: 10 APP: 13 EDU:18 SAN: 65 HP: 13 DB: 0
Skills: History 58%, Library Use 63%, English 95%, Spanish 65%, Persuade 45%, Psychology 59%,
Mechanical Repair 34%, Occult 57%, Track 27%, Handgun 41%
Weapons: .45 Automatic 41% Shots/Round: 1 Damage: 1D10+2 Range: 15 Shots: 10
Equipment: Van, PowerBook, Cellular Modem
Description: Juan Cortez has written several successful books on such topics as myths of the wild west
and Native American legends. He is tall and thin with gray hair, beard and moustache. He has brown
eyes. Cortez travels the American west looking for new material for his stories.
When he was a young man, about 30 years ago, he had an encounter with a Spirit of the Dust. He
survived the encounter and saw how the spirit was destroyed. Because of his experience, he believes in
the supernatural. He will be quite willing to aid the investigators.

Creatures
Spirit of the Dust
Spirits of the Dust are non-Mythos supernatural beings. They have been in existence since there have
been extremely dry, dusty places (such as deserts). Most of them are wickedly evil and revel in
destroying living things ripping the moisture from them.
In their natural form, Spirits of Dust have vaguely human-like torsos, featureless heads, and a lower
body like a whirlwind. They appear to be made of swirling, dry dust and gritty sand. In this form they
move by flying and can pass trough any area which dust or sand can pass through (although the passage
will take time). In this form they cannot be harmed by most weapons. In this form they can be attacked
by magical means or by dousing them with large quantities of water. Each gallon of water that strikes a
spirit lowers its Magic Points by 1 point. When its Magic Points reaches 0, the spirit perishes. The
spirit can also be disrupted by extremely strong blasts of air (like an explosion) or captured by a high
power suction device. However, they take no damage from such attacks and will quickly reform.
They are also adept at escaping from confinement. In this form they can attack living things by
contacting their bodies. They damage living things by draining the moisture from their bodies. Such an
attack inflicts 1D8 and leaves marks on the victim that looks like excessively dry skin and windburn. A
spirit can also attack a victim at a distance. This attack has a range of 100 yards and inflicts 1D2
points of damage for every Magic Point the spirit expends. The spirit may make this attack whether it
is occupying a body or not.
Spirits of Dust can occupy human bodies and many of them enjoy this opportunity to enjoy the

Random Universes

10

experiences afforded by occupying flesh. To take possession of a victim, a Spirit of Dust must engage
the victim in a struggle. To initiate and maintain the struggle, the spirit must be in contact with the
victim. The spirit matches its POW against the victims POW. If the spirit wins, the victim loses 1D6
Magic Points. If the victim loses all Magic Points, the spirit occupies his body. If the spirit loses, it
loses 1D6 Magic Points. If it runs out of Magic Points, it is destroyed. A spirit will break off the
struggle when it runs low on Magic Points. Being possessed by a spirit costs the victim 1D8 Sanity
points. While the victim is possessed he has no awareness of what is going on and will have no memory
if he survives.
Once a spirit takes over a person it has full control over the body, but does not have access to the
victims memories or skills. Spirits can learn while in a body and will acquire skills to make their time
in the flesh easier. Because of the spirits nature, it increases the energy of the body, making it
stronger and tougher. However, the occupation by a spirit is draining on the body and the spirit tends to
dry out the host (this manifests itself as a dryness of skin, some cracking of the skin and a lack of
sweat). The host body lose two points of CON each day and will die when the CON falls below 0. This
loss can be offset by draining living things. For every 10 points of damage the spirit drains in a day, it
offsets one point of lost CON. CON loss is permanent and cannot be regained by the spirit by draining
others once it is lost. It also cannot be regained by the victim, should he survive(Keepers may wish to
make an exception if an Investigator becomes possessed). A spirit will abandon a body once its CON is
reduced to 50% of its enhanced CON. When the spirit leaves, the victims CON and STR return to
normal, which will typically result in the victims eventual death (the spirit generally abandons the
body in a desolate area and with a 0 CON the victim will not last long). A spirit can be driven from the
body by killing the victim or performing a magical exorcism. The spirit must expend 5 Magic Points at
the end of each day to maintain control over the body. If the spirit does not have the points to expend, it
must leave the body and the victim regains control. A spirit can inhabit one body every ten years for
every five points of POW it has. For example, a spirit with a POW of 20 can inhabit no more than four
bodies a decade.
When in a body, the spirit will be able to attack by touching a victim and drying them out. This leaves
marks on the victims flesh. The spirit can also attack by using the desiccation attack mentioned above.
The spirit can also attack with normal weapons, although they usually do not do this. The victims body
is normal flesh and vulnerable to conventional attacks. Killing the victim does not harm the spirit and it
can move on to another body.
When occupying a body, a spirit will typically go on a spree of violence and pleasure, indulging in
excesses of various kinds. Most of them turn to murder as they enjoy killing. They are intelligent and
cunning, but their evil natures often lead them to excesses that cause them to slip up. Spirits are also
confined to a particular geographical location, although this location can be up to 300 miles of territory
from a central point (the point the spirit was raised up from the dust by whatever malign beings
spawn such things).
The first body the spirit occupies belonged to David Holpen. The second body listed is that of Gus
Jacobs, a former football player. The spirit will take additional new bodies as needed.

Random Universes

11

Characteristics

Rolls

Averages

Body#1

Body#2

STR

3D6X2*

20-22

24

34

CON

3D6X2*

20-22

28

26

SIZ

2D6+6*

12

13

15

INT

3D6

10-11

14

14

POW

4D6

14

20

20

DEX

3D6*

10-11

13

15

HP

16-17

21

21

Damage Bonus

+1d4

+1D6

+2D6

* In a human host body. Outside of a body a Spirit of Dust only has INT and POW.
Move: 8 (in a human body)/ 16 (flying in a body)/30 (outside of a body)
Weapons(when inside a human host): Hand 60% Damage 1D6, Fist 65% 1D3+db, can use human
weapons.
Attacks (in spirit form): Desiccate 65% 1D8
Armor: None.
Skills: Varies. This particular spirit has the following skills: Bargain 25%, Climb 55%, Drive Auto
50%, Fast Talk 65%, Hide 45%, Jump 55%, Listen 55%, Locksmith 45%, Navigate 45%, Psychology
45%, Sneak 70%, Spot Hidden 30%, Track 47%
Spells/Special: Desiccation attack.
Sanity Loss: 1/1D8 Sanity points to see a Spirit of the Dust outside of a body.

Random Universes

12

Goddess 1992. 1996

By Michael C. LaBossiere
Ontologist@aol.com
Call of Cthulhu
Legal Information
This adventure is copyright 1992, 1996 by Dr. Michael C. LaBossiere. It may be freely distributed
for personal use provided that it is not modified and no fee above the normal cost of distribution is
charged for it. Visit the Opifex Phoenix web site at
http://user.aol.com/ontologist/web/opifex.anchor.html.
Call of Cthulhu is Chaosium Inc's registered trademark for their game of horror and wonder in the
worlds of HP Lovecraft. For more information, contact Chaosium Inc., 950-A 56th St, Oakland, CA
94608 -- or call us at 510-547-7681. Visit Chaosium's web page at
http://www.sirius.com/~chaosium/chaosium.html.
"I've always been for the environment, only a fool wouldn't be. Of course, you always have to
remember that Nature isn't all sweetness and light. It has a dark side and some parts of that dark side
are truly dark indeed."

Introduction:
This modern era Call of Cthulhu adventures pits the intrepid investigators against an ancient evil
hiding behind a facade of environmentalism. This adventure is fairly dangerous for the involved
investigators and is recommended for an experienced party with a good mix of fighting and magical
skills.
This adventure may be set in almost any location, provided the required woods are available.
While the adventure is written in a North American context, it may be modified for other locations and
ambitious Keepers may modify it for use in other times.

Keeper's Background:
Six months ago an ancient priestess of Shub-Niggurath came to the city in which the adventure is
set, posing as a young professional named Jennifer Drake. Drake soon joined a local environmental
group named Earth Friends with the intent of gaining followers for her dark goddess. The willful leader
of the group, Amanda Pierce, prevented Jennifer from taking over her organization, but Jennifer was
able to draw away several female members of the group (she didn't want any men) to form her own
group, the Daughters of Earth. The cover story for DOE is that it is a women's organization dedicated
to purifying the world and serving the Earth Goddess. In actuality, the group is Shub-Niggurath cult
made up of women who have been driven insane by the horrors Jennifer exposed them to.
Jennifer is not simply content with forming a cult in the city. She hopes to take advantage of the
upcoming Festival of the Earth in order to provide a special gift for her goddess. Her plan is to summon
Shub-Niggurath, with the aid of her cultists, during the festival. She expects that the appearance of
Shub-Niggurath will cause many people to accept her as their goddess. Those that fail to "see the light"
will serve the goddess as blood sacrifices.

Getting the Investigators Involved:

If there is a woman investigator, she will receive a disturbing letter from a friend, Jill Dyson. If
there is no woman investigator, pick one of them at random. The letter explains how she left EF and
joined a women's environmental group(DOE), then began suffering odd lapses in her memory and strange

Random Universes

13

attacks of extreme fear. A week after the investigator receives the letter, he or she will learn that
Jill Dyson was found dead in her apartment, apparently from an overdose of heroin . The investigator
friend of Jill knows she hated drugs and would never use them (her brother was killed when a person
high on marijuana hit him with a car while he was biking) so he or she will suspect foul play. Jill was in
fact, forced to kill herself by Jennifer who used her spells to bring about the event. The investigators
can be drawn in by their own curiosity and concern for one of their number's friends or they may be
hired by Jill's parents to investigate her death (the police think it is an open and shut case).

Investigating the Death

If the investigators decide to check on the details of Jill's death they can learn what is available
in the news quite easily. According to these reports, a young woman from a fairly wealthy family died
of a drug overdose. If the investigators talk with the police, successfully using Persuade or Law will
enable them to learn that Jill's body was found in her chair. The syringe was still in her hand and there
was no indication that she hadn't injected herself.
If the investigators talk to Jill's local friends, they will learn that she was a mostly happy,
intelligent person who was well liked by those who knew her. They can also learn that she volunteered
her weekends at the local drug rehabilitation clinic. If the investigators ask about any odd behavior on
her part, her friends will say she complained about lapses in her memory and that she would sometimes
freak out a bit. One friend will recall that she almost fainted when they went into the park (the trees
reminded her of the Dark Young).
If the investigators decide to check her apartment, they will find that it has been cleaned out, but
has not been rented. All of her stuff has been given to GoodWill. However, on their way out of the
building, the investigators will see Simon Washington working in the garden. Simon is a bit slow, but is
a very kind man. He will stop the investigators and say he saw them at Jill's apartment. He will tell
them how much he liked Jill and will ramble a bit. If the investigators are patient he'll finally say
"Before she went on to a better place, I saw this awful woman bring her here. Poor Jill looked really
tired. The woman was bad. She looked at me strange and my head hurt. I don't like her." If asked, he can
provide a rough description of the woman. In fact, he did see Jennifer bringing the bewitched Jill into
her apartment. Jennifer tried to cloud Simon's memory, but it didn't work very well on him.

Visiting Earth Friends

If the investigators decide to visit Earth Friends (which Jill mentioned as the group she left in her
letter to the investigator) they will find the organization in an office over a local gaming store. The
office is staffed mostly by young people working phones but there are people writing reports and
analyzing soil and water samples. There are posters up everywhere announcing the Festival of the
Earth that will be occurring next weekend. If the investigators talk to the people, those that knew her
will say that they liked her and were sorry when she left. They are all very sorry that she died. If an
investigator makes a Psychology skill roll, they will notice that some of the people they talk to seem to
grow a bit angry when they talk about her death and if they mention the Daughters of the Earth, they
can make their Psychology rolls at a +20% bonus. With very little prodding, the investigators can learn
that DOE is a split off group from EF and that the parting was not a friendly one. If the investigators
talk to Amanda (she will talk to them if they say they are friends of Jill or if they persuade her to give
up some of her time) she can tell them that Jill left with several other woman from the EF to join DOE.
If the investigators can get her talking (using their Persuade skill) they can learn that there was a
showdown between Amanda and a woman named Jennifer Drake. Jennifer left EF but took several
women with her. Amanda will say, if the investigators have gained her confidence, that she thinks
Jennifer is either a religious nut ("She was always talking about her great goddess") or a scam artist
(or both). With a little persuasion, she will give the investigators Jennifer's address, especially if she
thinks the investigators will cause Jennifer some trouble.
As the investigators leave, I young man will come in with a jar of green goo. He will say "Look at
this." to the investigators and unscrew the top. This will release a smell like an open grave. All

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investigators that are present can check against their Cthulhu Mythos skill to see if the recognize it as
Dark Young ichor (if the investigators have met Dark Young before they will recognize it). An analysis
of the material will reveal that it is very odd stuff. If the man is asked, he will say he found clumps of
it in a clearing in the park.

Visiting DOE.
If the investigators visit DOE, they will find that the organization is located in a building located
between a herbal medicine shop and a Grateful Dead style shop (sells tie-dyed T-shirts, beads, incense,
etc.). The first floor of the building contains telephones, three Macintosh computers, and other office
equipment. The young women here are working the phones, typing up reports and so forth. Most of the
young women have no idea what is going on, they are just working a summer job. Some of them are
insane cultists. If the investigators ask about Jill, the sane woman will say that they liked her and that
she was a happy person, but started complaining about memory loss and she wouldn't go to the meetings
in the park. One of the cultists will take the investigators aside and tell them, with feigned reluctance,
that Jill had been very depressed about something and that she had seen her meeting a man out front of
the building and she gave him some money in return for an envelope. This story is, of course a
fabrication. The fact that the investigators are asking questions about Jill will be reported to Jennifer
who will arrange to have the investigators observed.
If the investigators ask to see Jennifer, she will be called down from the second floor, which is
for members only. Jennifer will be friendly with the investigators and will express her sympathy. She
will pretend to let herself be persuaded into talking about Jill. She will say that Jill was depressed for
some time and then started suffering memory lapses and exhibited odd behavior on occasion. Jennifer
will say that she suspects Jill was using drugs. She will finish by saying "I only wish I knew. I only
wish I could have helped her." She will arrange for the investigators to be observed and will take action
if they keep digging.
If the investigators get onto the second floor (by sneaking in late at night or by some other
means) they will find that it has three rooms. The first is a storage area, the second contains all sort
of New Age stuff, incense holders and so forth. This is were the special meetings of the Chosen
Daughters (the cultists) meet. The third room is Jennifer's business office. It contains standard
furniture and a Macintosh computer. Everything in these rooms is above board and contains nothing
incriminating (Jennifer is an old hand at this game).
Only female investigators have chance of infiltrating DOE. What the investigator learns and what
happens is left to the Keeper. However, it should be kept in mind that Jennifer is not easily duped. She
may kill an infiltrator or, worse, she may turn her against her own friends.

Investigating the Park

The park itself is quite large (it can be a state or national park, but must be large enough to have
thick woods) and admission may be charged for admittance. The park closes at dark.
If the investigators encounter the young man with the jar, they may wish to investigate the park.
He can tell them where he found the stuff, or direct them to it. According to the young man, the stuff
was located in a clearing off from one of the hiking trails. If the investigators go there, they will find a
clearing in the woods. This dark and dank part of the forest will feel quite eerie and any investigator
making an idea roll will notice that the area is devoid of animals. In the center of the clearing is a stone
that seems to have been worked at a bit, giving it a roughly cubical shape. According to a plague set
beside it, the stone was used by a group of Native Americans for religious purposes . The plaque also
says that the tribe was latter killed off. If the investigators decide to check up on the stone, they can
learn in a library, using their Library Use skills, that the tribe in question worshipped a dark goddess
called the "She of the Forest with a Thousand Daughters" and sacrificed humans on the altar in the park.
This tribe was wiped out by Europeans and members of another tribe (many of those sacrificed were
members of this tribe). If the investigators get the politically corrected version, they will learn that a
group of Native Americans practiced an "alternative form of goddess worship" and were massacred by

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white Europeans.
If the investigators examine the clearing carefully, they will find traces of the green ichor on the
ground. An investigator with tracking skill who checks the area carefully can roll to see if he or she
spots what apear to be huge goat prints on the ground from a massive bipedal animal (the tracks are,
paradoxically too big to notice, the mind automatically classifies them as natural depressions). A
successful Cthulhu Mythos skill roll will reveal that the tracks are those of a Dark Young. If the
investigators have encountered a Dark Young before, they will recognize the tracks.
A spot hidden roll made while examining the altar will reveal the presence of rusty colored
material on the ground near the altar and an idea roll will reveal that the altar looks particularly clean.
The rusty material is blood and the altar looks clean because the cultists clean it off after each
sacrifice to avoid attracting attention. Jennifer and her cultists have been consecrating the altar
(requires 200 size points of sacrifice) at night when the park is closed. It is left up to the Keeper as to
how much more blood she needs to consecrate the altar and whether there will be sacrifices during the
course of the adventure.

Sacrifice in the Park

If the Keeper decides that the
consecration is not finished before
the investigators arrive in town,
the investigators may have a
chance to interrupt a sacrifice.
When a sacrifice is to be done,
Jennifer will gain a victim from the
Path
ranks of those not likely to be
missed. She will then drive to the
park in a rented van along with
3-9 cultists. All of the cultists will
wear dark robes and hoods.
Jennifer has a key to the park and
will let herself in, locking the gate
Altar
after her. She will then park the
van in the park and the group will
go to the sacrificial site where
Jennifer will summon a Dark Young
to aid in the sacrifice and take care
of the body afterwards. If the
investigators interrupt, they will
be in for a stiff fight, especially if the Dark Young is present. If the investigators kill off the cultists
and Jennifer and get rid of the Dark Young (if it is present) then they will have saved the day, unless
the Keeper decides that another cultist goes through with the summoning. If Jennifer escapes, she will
seek revenge using all her abilities and it is likely that either she or the investigators will be dead by
the time of the festival. If she cannot kill off the investigators in time, she will consecrate another
altar in another location and Shub-Niggurath will have to trek to the festival, wreaking havoc on
whatever lies in between her and the festival.

Jennifer's Apartment
The investigators may wish to check out Jennifer's home address. She lives in a modest
apartment building. The front door is locked and there is an intercom system for contacting people in
the apartments. There is a 30% chance that the door is propped open or that someone will let the
investigators in. If they can't get in that way, they may have to break in.
Jennifer's apartment is # 302 and it is on the third floor of the building. Jennifer is at her office

Random Universes

16

from 9am to about 5pm and is often away at night. The door is fairly secure (strength 16), but the lock
can be picked. Breaking it down has a 65% chance of attracting the attention of a neighbor who has an
80% chance of calling the police who will arrive in 11-20 minutes.
Kitchen
/Living
Room:
Contains
compact
kitchen
appliances,
furniture, a
TV, VCR and
stereo. There
is nothing
unusual about
the room.

Hall

Kitchen /
Living Room

Secret
Room
Bedroom

Closet

Bath

Bedroom:
Contains the
usual things found in a bedroom, with nothing unusual. There is a 9mm parabellum automatic under the
pillow and there are two boxes for shells for it in the dresser drawer.
Closet: Contains various articles of clothing as well as a 20 gauge pump shotgun with two boxes of
shells.
Bath: A standard bathroom.
Secret Room: This room can be found by a spot hidden roll made a 1/4 the normal value. Such a roll
might involve noticing a small mismatch in the paint or razor thin lines in the wall. Another way to find
it is to look at maps of the building or see another apartment which will reveal that a large chunk of the
bedroom is missing. Access to the room is via a cleverly designed door which is opened by pushing in
the proper place. The wall can also be bashed down. Bashing it down has a 20% chance of attracting a
neighbors attention, with a 10% chance they will investigate the noise. These chances can be modified
based on how the investigators open the wall or door.
The room contains a desk with a Macintosh Powerbook 170 on it (4/80 with internal fax/modem)
and a bookshelf containing several books. A dark robe and hood hangs on a wall hook and a bucket with
several scrub brushes (stained with human blood) is on the floor. The desk holds a sacrificial knife
(razor sharp and is considered an enchanted weapon), as well as $25,000 in cash, and a kg of pure
heroin. The book shelf contains a variety of books. Some are fairly mundane: law books, map books of
the area, and so forth. Others of them are hard core occult books. Two of the books are Mythos books.
One is the horrible Cultes des Goules (spells left up to the Keeper) the other is The Book of the Dark
Goddess see below). If the computer is checked, it will be found to have Word 6.0 and Lotus 1-2-3 on it.
The hard drive contains part of the text of the Cultes des Goules , which Jennifer has been typing into it
in French. Her work is backed up on disk (she's insane, not stupid).
If the investigators leave evidence of their presence (they smash a hole in the closet with an ax,
for example) Jennifer will know someone is on to her and will act accordingly. She will call the police
(owning a knife and weird books is not a crime, but taking them from their owner is) and will arrange
her own investigation. She can easily persuade the building manager that she received permission to
build the room, if the police ask her about it. Clever investigators may wish to make it look like a
simple robbery, this might throw Jennifer off the track. She will call the police, but may not be

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17

suspicious (unless she has reason to be suspicious of the investigators).

A Trap
If the investigators draw too much attention to themselves, Jennifer will arrange a trap for
them. The investigators will receive a call from one of the cultists who will say, between sobs, that
she knows something horrible, something that the investigators need to know. She will say that she is
afraid to talk on the phone, but is willing to meet the investigators at public place. She will meet with
them there and say that she will give the investigators a plausible story about something they are
curious about is at a nearby warehouse (examples: heroin or an altar).
If the investigators fall for this, they will be brought to the warehouse by the young woman. She
will take them through one of the large front doors which is open. Once all the investigators that are
going in are in the building, the door will close (its powered) and the lights will go out. The
investigators will notice a smell like an open grave (Cthulhu Mythos roll, or experience with Dark
Young to recognize it as the smell of a Dark Young) and hear boxes being knocked aside and crushed as
something huge and horrible closes in on them. The Dark Young will attack until it kills all the
investigators or is itself killed or driven off. Investigators that remain outside will be attacked by a
group of cultists (2-3 per investigator) armed with knifes and handguns who will fight to the death. If
the investigators survive, they will have to be careful to avoid leaving any clues that might link them
to the dead bodies as the police may suspect the investigators of committing some crime. The
warehouse is owned by a rental company. If the investigators survive to investigate, they can learn
that it was rented by Jennifer Drake.
Main Room:
Boss'
This room
contains all sorts
Office
of boxes and
containers. The
Office
main doors are
quite large and
Will be locked by
Main Room
the cultists once
Storage
the investigators
are inside. They
have a strength
of 25. The
smaller door is
weaker (strength
of 18) and will
also be locked.
The doors can be
unlocked from the inside, but this will be hard in the dark with a monster lose in the room. The cultists
will be watching the exits.
Office: The office is reachable by a set of stairs going up (they won't hold the Dark Young, it will have
to tear through the floor to get at people inside) and is empty. The door is locked, but only has a
strength of 14.
Storage: An empty storage room, the door is unlocked.
Boss' Office: An empty room, the door is unlocked.

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18

A Clue
The investigators will receive a phone call from one of the cultists. She will be sobbing and will
occasionally "loose it" (and start shouting into the phone, singing to herself, etc.) she will however,
make a lucid statement "She is going to call Her in the park during the concert. I'm evil, I'm evil, like
my parents said I would be. I must die..." she will then hang up the phone. Her body will be hooked by a
fisherman in a river a week latter. The paper will report the death of Madeline Parks, who was
employed by DOE, as a suicide.

Festival
The festival is to be a three day event that begins Friday night and ends on Sunday. It is supposed to
feature live music from a variety of bands, food, crafts, speeches, and all sorts of other stuff. During
the festival the park will be open until midnight, but will be patrolled by rangers and police with a low
tolerance for trouble. The festival is largely confined to the open areas of the park. Friday night will
see only a moderately sized crowd, but Saturday will be packed. On Saturday night a popular
pro-environment band (Keeper's choice) will hold a concert which thousands will attend. While everyone
else is heading to the show, Jennifer and her cultists will be heading for the woods to prepare the
sacrifice.
During the course of the extremely long show, Jennifer will summon four Dark Young to aid her
and then she will cast the spell to summon Shub-Niggurath after sacrificing four people on the altar. The
surviving cultists will chant along with Jennifer, each donating one point of power. Jennifer will put in
enough power to make the chance 100% (reserving the rest in case something goes wrong).

Resolution
If the spell works (which is will, unless the investigators stop it), Shub-Niggurath will be
summoned. She will then move into the concert area followed by the Dark Young and the cultists causing
many people to go insane. Any who resist her, or do not go insane, will be attacked by her. After
hundreds have been killed and thousands driven mad, she will return "home". The park will then be
frequented by Dark Young and a large cult will form in the area drawing upon those who went insane due
to seeing Shub Niggurath for its membership, with Jennifer as its head. Any surviving investigators
will lose an additional 1D10 SAN for failing to stop the situation.
If the investigators stop Jennifer from summoning her goddess and kill her and wipe out her
cult(which will soon collapse without her anyway) , they will receive 2D10+2 in SAN points. If they
stop Jennifer, but she escapes, they only gain 1D8 points (they know she is still out there, waiting for
another chance). If Shub Niggurath is summoned and banished by the investigators, their reward will
depend on how much damage she does beforehand and whether or not they kill Jennifer.
If Jennifer escapes, she will go far away, assume another identity and plot the deaths of those
who thwarted her.

NPCs
Amanda Pierce
STR: 12
DEX: 14
INT: 16
CON: 13
APP: 14
POW: 17
SIZ: 12
SAN: 85
EDU: 17
HP: 13
Damage Bonus: none
Weapons: Pistol (9mm parabellum) 50% 1D10, Martial Arts 45%
Skills: Accounting 60%, Computer Use 34%, Credit Rating 60%, Fast Talk 60%, Law 50%, Persuade
60%
Personality/Description: Amanda is an athletic woman in her mid thirties. She has black hair and brown
eyes. She was very pro-environment and pro-women's right when she was in college and after law

Random Universes

19

school she acted upon her convictions and formed EF. She also publishes several women's rights
magazines. She is best known for her incredible stubbornness and iron will power. The powers that be
are a bit worried about her, because she doesn't talk that much (they don't worry about the people that
talk a lot or write for scholarly journals, they know these people won't do anything). Amanda is very
open minded and if the investigators can persuade her, she will help them against Jennifer, whom she
hates.
Jennifer Drake
STR: 13
DEX: 16
INT: 19
CON: 13
APP: 17
POW: 21
SIZ: 13
SAN: 0
EDU: 21
HP: 13
Damage Bonus: +1D4
Weapons: Shotgun (20 gauge pump) 90%, Pistol (9mm Parabellum) 90% 1D10, Knife 110% 1D6,
Martial Arts 85%
Skills: Bargain 90%, Climb 80%, Chemistry 70%, Computer Use 25%, Conceal 90%, Cthulhu Mythos
90%, Hide 90%, History 80%, Law 85%, Library Use 95%, Listen 90%, Occult 95%, Sneak 80%,
Spot Hidden 90%, Swim 75%, Track 40%.
Languages: English 90%, French:105%, German 75%, Latin 70%, Greek 40%
Spells: Summon Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, Bind Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, Call
Shub-Niggurath, Shriveling, Voorish Sign, Cloud Memory, Dominate, Enthrall Victim, Mental
Suggestion, Steal Life.
Personality/Description: Jennifer currently has dyed blonde hair and blue contact lenses (her natural
hair color is brown and here eyes are green) as part of her disguise. She is very attractive and dresses
well. While Jennifer appears to be a perky young professional, she is actually a centuries old priestess
of Shub Niggurath. She learned of the Mythos when she seduced an old wizard in France back in 1523.
After learning all he knew, she used Steal Life to kill him and then set out on her own. She is ruthless
and completely evil, but possess a great intellect, augmented by her years of life. While she is
competent in the ways of personal violence, she prefers to use her magical abilities to defeat
opponents. Her favorite tactic is to turn members of an enemy group against one another and let them
destroy themselves. She also likes to turn former enemies into slaves.
Jennifer hasn't lived this long on luck alone. She is extremely intelligent and talented and will be a
very dangerous foe for the investigators.
Typical Cultist
STR: 11
DEX: 12
INT: 13
CON: 11
APP: 13
POW: 10
SIZ: 9
SAN: 0 EDU: 13
HP: 10
Damage Bonus: none
Weapons: Knife 35% 1D4, Pistol 30%
Skills: Computer Use 15%, Cthulhu Mythos 20%, Fast Talk 25%, Persuade 20%
Description: The cultists are twenty young woman who have been driven insane by Jennifer exposing
them to the Dark Young. The woman who went too insane were eaten by the Dark Young. These woman
are cunning and are completely dominated by Jennifer.

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Typical Dark Young

STR: 44
DEX: 16
INT: 13
CON: 23
POW: 17
Move: 8
SIZ: 41 HP: 33
Weapons: Tentacle (4 attacks/round) 80%, 4D6 damage + permanently drains 1D3 points of STR each
round thereafter.
Armor: None. Most firearms do 1 point of damage per hit, while an impaling shot only does 2 points.
Shotguns do minimal possible damage while crushing or slashing weapons do full damage.
Spells: Call Sub-Niggurath, Shriveling.
Sanity: 1D3/1D20.
The Book of the Dark Goddess
Title

Language

+ to Knowledge

Spell Multiplier

Effect on SAN

Book of the Dark

Goddess

English

+6%

X3

-1D8

Description: This book, written in England by Sir John Roth in 1614 (he was later executed under
mysterious circumstances) focuses primarily on Shub-Niggurath and her Dark Young. The book contains
the spells Summon Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, Bind Dark Young of Sub-Niggurath, and Call
Shub-Niggurath.

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21

Road Work 1992, 1996

By Michael C. LaBossiere
Ontologist@aol.com
Dark Conspiracy
Legal Information
This adventure is copyright 1992, 1996 by Dr. Michael C. LaBossiere. It may be freely distributed
for personal use provided that it is not modified and no fee above the normal cost of distribution is
charged for it. Visit the Opifex Phoenix web site at
http://user.aol.com/ontologist/web/opifex.anchor.html.
Tantalus Inc.
This item is not authorized or endorsed by Tantalus Inc. and is used without permission. The item is
for personal use only. Any use of Tantalus Inc.'s copyrighted material or trademarks in this file
should not be viewed as a challenge to those copyrights or trademarks. In addition, this item cannot be
republished or distributed without the consent of the author.
We were surprised to receive radio transmissions from the Out-Law section of West Virginia. We
didnt think there were any people left there, ever since those things moved in. We were even more
surprised when Captain Jeffreys came across the Williamstown Bridge into Marietta. We thought for
wed never see him again, but there he was, telling us there was a whole town of people who needed
help against the Dark.
Referees Introduction:
This is a difficult adventure for Dark Conspiracy and is intended for a group of experienced PCs. It
takes place in Ohio and West Virginia. On the surface, the PCs are being hired to bring supplies and
equipment to a group of human survivors in Demonground infested West Virginia. In actuality, the PCs
are being lured into an elaborate Dark Minion trap.
Player History:
The following information can be made available to the players. The exact amount revealed and how
the players become aware of it are left to the referees discretion.
The State of West Virginia is now virtually all Out-Law, with little or no federal authority present in
most areas. Even local authority has diminished or vanished entirely. Because of the horrible
conditions, most people have left West Virginia for better areas. However, not everyone was able to
leave. People fleeing the state often reported that others were unable to leave, for whatever reason. In
order to substantiate these claims a small military force led by Captain Jeffreys entered West Virginia.
Contact was lost several hours after the force entered West Virginia and no one expected to hear from
Captain Jeffreys or his men ever again. Naturally, it came as quite a surprise when two weeks after
contact had been lost, Captain Jeffreys came out of West Virginia with news of a large group of
survivors.
Referee History:
West Virginia is now infested with Dark Minions. Those who could flee did so as fast as their mode
of transportion could carry them. Those that didnt make it out died, or worse. There is no federal,
state, or local authority left intact in most of West Virginia.
It is, overall, a really bad place to be.

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Captain Jeffreys expedition was attacked by Dark Minions and their allies when they entered
Demonground. Most of the force died in battle, but several soldiers, including the Captain, were taken
alive. Most of these soldiers died in horrible Dark Minion experiments, but Captain Jeffreys and
Sergeant Miller were kept alive. Their brains were altered by Dark Minion surgery and they were sent
out to lure others into the Dark Minion trap.
Getting the PCs involved:
Once Captain Jeffreys returns, he will begin raising money to purchase equipment and supplies for
the survivors. He will also begin recruiting people for the relief effort. His recruiting efforts will be
geared at recruiting those who have fought the Dark Minions or at least know about them. Jeffreys may
contact the PCs, if he knows about them or if other people he has contacted know about them. The PCs
may also see one of his adds.
Jeffreys has chosen Columbus, Ohio as his base of operations. He has acquired an empty warehouse
in the downtown area and is using it as his staging area. He will conduct his interviews of potential
recruits in a small office in the warehouse. During the interview, he will make subtle hints about
strange things being on the loose in West Virginia and will attempt to draw information from the
interviewee. If Jeffreys believes that the person knows about the Dark Minions, he will hire them for
the job. Naturally, the interviews should be run so that all the PCs get hired.
The Mission:
Jeffreys will give a rough description of the mission to those he interviews, but only those actually
hired will get the fuller story. Jeffreys will tell the people he has hired that they will be taking several
truckloads of equipment and supplies to a large group of survivors who are holding out in West Virginia.
He will say that he intends to give them he means to keep on living. He also say that this is the first
step in reclaiming West Virginia. The exact amount each person is paid depends on their skill,
experience, and reputation. Jeffreys is willing to give some up front money for equipment or
whatever might be needed. He will also promise bonus money.
Of course, the actual purpose of the mission is to lure people who oppose the Dark Minions to their
deaths and to bring supplies and equipment to the Dark Minions in the West Virginia Demonground.
Naturally, the PCs wont know about this until its too late.
The Convoy:
The convoy consists of the following vehicles:
Two HMMWVs with mounted M60 machineguns.
One Orca 21/2 Ton Truck, configured to carry passengers.
Two Kenilworth Piledriver Semi-Trailer Tractors, hauling enclosed trailers.
Most of the trailers cargoes consist of mundane items like building material, food, medical
supplies, and so forth. There are also weapons included in the trailers cargoes. One of the trailers has
a box containing 10 M16A2s (the box is labeled as containing AR-15s), 20 30 round clips and 300
rounds for each weapon. Another box contains 10 Ingram M10 .45s (the box is labeled as containing
propane canisters), 20 clips, and 200 round for each weapon. There is also a box containing a M2HB and
4 belts. The box is labeled as containing a stove. A box labeled as containing pipes actually contains 8
M136s The last box of weapons is labeled as containing 10 Mossberg M500s and 100 rounds per gun,
and that is exactly what it contains. Only the captain and the sergeant know what is in the mislabeled
boxes.
NPCs can be used to fill out the convoy. They will be mostly experienced and veteran NPCs. There
will be no novice NPCs. They will be well armed and most will have had some experience with Dark
Minions.

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Columbus to Marietta:
The trip from Columbus to Marietta will take between 2 and 3 hours, depending on the speed of the
convoy. The highway between the two cities is in fair condition and is maintained on a semi-regular
basis. There has been some trouble recently on Ohios less patrolled highways from groups of people
attacking tractor trailers to loot them for food and other supplies. Some of these people have almost no
other way to survive, but others are in it for the loot and the thrill. Naturally, the convoy will be
attacked by one such group (they will assume anything worth guarding with two machine gun armed
Hummers is worth stealing). They will strike on a deserted stretch of highway, near an overpass.
The attacking group will consist of the following: The first subgroup consists of six people on dirt
bikes. The bikes can be treated as Apaches and the riders as Biker NPCs. They are armed with Colt
Pythons. The second subgroup consists of eight people in a beaten up pick up truck. The truck can be
treated as a Chrysler Conestoga 5/4-Ton Pickup Truck. The
people can be treated as Gangers. Two of them are armed with
Marlin .30-06 bolt action rifles, the rest are armed with
Mossberg M500s. The size of the group can be modified in
accordance with the numbers of people in the convoy.
The bikers cruise the highway, looking for victims. Once they
spot the convoy, they will radio the others in the truck. The
driver of the truck will drive to an overpass and set up an
ambush. Once the ambush is in place, the bikers will begin to
attack the convoy.
If the convoy makes it past the overpass, the ambushers will get
back in their truck and will set off in pursuit. The attackers will
not kill too many more people than they need to in order to capture
the trailer trucks. They are primarily after the cargo, not thrills.
They will break off the attack if the convoy seems to be too much
Overpass Ambush
for them (taking heavy casualties will do the trick). If the
attackers take the convoy, the survivors will be looking at a long
walk and the captain or sergeant will have to start over if they survive. If they do not, what happens
next will be up to the PCs. Of course, another survivor from Jeffreys expedition (a changeling this
time) could make an appearance. If the convoy makes it past the attackers, it will encounter no further
difficulty. Once they get within 10 miles of Marietta they will be back in a well patrolled area.
Marietta:
Marietta is a town of 22,000 at the intersection of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers. In this part of
the country, the lack of reliable land transport routes has led to a revival of river transport. A variety
of craft ply the rivers and Marietta has thrived because of this, becoming an important small port.
Since Marietta wants to stay prosperous, the city has invested in river patrol boats (a force of six,
with veteran crews). Because West Virginia is infested with human outlaws and worse, Marietta
maintains a paramilitary force of fifty people. The force consists of 10 Novice, 30 experienced, 9
veteran, and 1 elite NPCs . They are armed with M-16A2s and are equipped with jeeps. There is also
US Regular Army force of 20 soldiers. The unit consist of 16 experienced, 3 veteran, and 1 elite NPC.
The force has 2 two man M60 crews and one 60mm Mortar crew. The rest of the force is armed with
M16A2s. The soldiers are assigned to guard the bridge to prevent any unwanted intrusions from West
Virginia. Several members of the paramilitary force have been into West Virginia since it fell and
they may be a useful source of information. Some of those who have been into West Virginian
Demonground have their doubts about the town Jeffreys claims to have found, but will only express
such doubts if the PCs get to know them.
The convoy will be checked by members of the paramilitary force upon entering the town, but the
inspection will be cursory, since they Jeffreys is known by the checkers.
While the vehicles are being given the once over, a bedraggled old man will stagger up to the lead
vehicle and start shouting at the top of the lungs: Youre all dead men if you go across the bridge!

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There is only death over there! If you go, youll end up dead!
He will end his tirade in a whisper :Or worse, youll end up like them., he will say, pointing at the
captain and sergeant. He will then wander off, yelling out nonsense. If the PCs follow him, he will not
say anything else that makes sense. If the PCs ask about him, they will be told he is some crazy man
who swam across the river from West Virginia one night . He is actually an escapee from the Dark
Minions. Their experiments on him developed his empathetic talents (foreboding especially) but left him
completely mad.
Because there will be a mix up in the authorization to use the bridge, the convoy will be forced to
stay the night in Marietta. The problem will be cleared up around noon the next day, and the convoy will
be able to depart then. The stay over will give the PCs a chance to talk with some of the local people.
Most people in the city are nervous about West Virginia. Several people have tales about seeing strange
lights or shapes across the river late at night. Those who have actually been across the river recently
have darker tales. If the PCs are sufficiently persuasive, they may be able to get some stories out of
the few hunters and paramilitary force members that have been across the river. They have stories
about human outlaws which they will willingly tell, but they also have tales of strange things they have
seen lurking in the woods and moving about in the abandoned buildings of Williamstown. All of them
agree that most of West Virginia is a bad place to be.
Williamstown:
Williamstown is located on the West Virginia side of the bridge. It was a small town, now it is
abandoned. The streets are empty of all but bits of windblown paper. The buildings have a haunted,
empty look to them. An oppressive silence hangs over the town.
Unfortunately for the PCs, the town is not completely empty. The Dark Minions have sent three
Igors to the town to lie in ambush. The Igors are armed with Marlin .30-06 Bolt-Action rifles and Colt
M1911A1 pistols. They have been ordered to fire on anyone in the convoy, except Jeffreys, the
Sergeant, and the semi drivers. If they are captured, they will say that they were trying to rob the
convoy.They are smart enough not to say that they are working for the Dark Minions, but they may
brag that their bosses will get the convoy. They dont know why they were ordered not to fire on
Jeffreys or the sergeant.
The Graveyard:
The road the convoy will take goes
past a graveyard. The people in the lead
vehicle of the convoy will see a gray,
foggy mist obscuring the road ahead. The
mist spreads out over the graveyard,
obscuring it. Dark shapes will be visible
moving out into the road. As the convoy
gets closer, the nature of the things
blocking the road will be evident.
The road is blocked by skeletons that
have been animated by a Graveyard Mist.
There are eight skeletons in all. The
Garveyard Mist is detailed at the end of
the adventure. The Graveyard Mist
recently came through a dimensional
portal and is making its way towards
Ohio. It is not associated with the Dark
Minions who are controlling Jeffreys and
the sergeant.

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Encounters in West Virginia:

The town the convoy is heading to is eighty miles from Williamstown. The road to the town is
rather narrow and is in poor condition. Since the terrain is mountainous, the road goes up and down and
there are many hairpin turns. Wrecks often mark places where a drivers skill or luck ran out. Except
for an occasional abandoned shack or trailer, the area is empty wilderness.
The territory the convoy is going through borders very closely on several areas of Demonground.
The noise of the convoy may well attract unwanted attention.
Check for an encounter every half hour or more often if the convoy is very noisy. A roll of a 9 or a 0
on a D10 indicates an encounter. Roll a D6 to see what has been attracted by the convoy.
Roll
Encounter
1

Needlebeaks (see Challenge # 52, p. 32): These nasty birds will swoop
down into any open vehicles and through any open windows to get
at the people inside. If the convoy is stopped for a break, they will attack
anyone outside of the vehicles.

Dogs: When the people left or died in this section of West Virginia, many
dogs were abandoned. Many of these dogs have gone feral and will
attack humans. Of course, they can only attack humans outside of vehicles.

Chimeras: Chimeras have recently come to the West Virginian woods

have been feeding on the ample deer population. They will attack humans in the open.

Animated Auto: A leftover from a battle between humans and a group of

Dark Elves, the auto is parked off to the side of the road. A broken
skeleton (human) lies in front of it. Once the convoy goes past, it will
start up and attack them by ramming. The car is a Chrysler LeBoeuf.

Igors: A group of four Dark Minion lackeys, armed with double barrel shotguns (treat
as Savage 311-Rs). They have a battered
pick up (treat as a Chrysler Conestoga) for transportation. They
are servants from a group of Minions not aware of the plans of
the group Jeffreys is serving, so they will try to kill everyone in the
convoy.

Cows or horses in the road: The road is blocked by a group of

cows or horses that have gone wild. They must be removed from
the road for the convoy to continue (there may well be other creatures
stalking the cows or horses that wouldnt mind adding a little human
flesh to their diet).

The Town:
The town is located at the bottom of a large hill. As such, the PCs will have a good view of the town
as they head towards it. They will be able to see people moving about in he town and will see armed men
on the perimeter. The road to the town has a gate made of logs across it and several men are stationed
at it.
The convoy will be greeted at the gate by those stationed there. There are six Igors stationed at the
gate. They are armed with pump shotguns (treat as Mossberg M500s).
The men will smile at the PCs, but an average task roll using psychology will reveal that there is
something sinister about the men.
As the convoy enters the town, they will see people walking the streets. If the PCs are observant

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(an average roll using intelligence) it will be evident that there is something wrong with the people. A
difficult roll using intelligence, or an average roll using the psychology skill will reveal that the
peoples
expressions of joy
are not sincere and
that there is an
emptiness to their
eyes, as if they
were puppets.
They have, in fact,
had all their will
Gate
power drained and
are being forced to
serve as decoys.
There are thirty of
them in the town.
Once the
convoy reaches the
center of the town,
they will be met by
the town leaders.
They appear to be
three handsome
men and a beautiful women. Two of the men are actually Bloodkin vampires. The other man and the
woman are actually Dark Elves. The Blookin Vampires are unarmed, but the two Dark Elves are armed
with Walther PPKs. They will try to use persuasion and their empathetic abilities to try to capture the
PCs and NPCs alive. If resistance is offered, the Dark Minions will flee and have their Igors deal with
the problem. There are twenty Igors armed with a variety of hunting weapons (Ruger .22
Semiautomatics, Marlin .30-06 Bolt Actions, Savage 311-R, and Mossberg M500.) The Igors are not
terrible brave and will flee if things go bad, unless their masters stay to inspire them. The Igors have
four beat up pick up trucks and the Dark Minions have the female Dark Elfs GDM Ariel to escape in (the
car is concealed in a garage).
Conclusion:
If the PCs defeat the Dark Minions and their allies, they will be able to rescue the people in the town.
The people were captured from towns in human inhabited parts of West Virginia and from neighboring
states. If the PCs search the town, they will find little out of the ordinary. The main Dark Minion base
is located in a series of underground caverns forty miles from the town.
If the PCs are defeated, they will be taken to the Dark Minion base and subjected to horrible
experiments. The exact details are left to the referee.
NPCs
Captain Daniel Jeffreys
Level: Veteran
Skills:
Small Arms(Pistol) 5, Small Arms(Rifle)4, Vehicle Use (Wheeled Vehicle) 4, Computer Operation 2,
Leadership 4, interrogation 2
Initiative: 4
Physical Description: Jeffreys is a medium sized man with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He is of
average appearance and is in his early 30s. His eyes often have a far away look to them, as if he is

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seeing or hearing things that others cannot.

Personality: Jeffreys normal personality is that of a dedicated officer and a decent person. However,
he has been reprogrammed by the Dark Minions. They have altered his brain and have implanted
several devices that enable them to control him and use his senses. He is unaware of what has happened
to him (it has been erased from his memory) and as far as he knows, he is bringing supplies to help a
town full of desperate people. The devices and modifications insure that the Dark Minions that control
him will be able to control his every action, should they so desire.
Equipment: M9 pistol with two clips, M177 Carbine with four clips, Kevlar Vest, Steri-Med Personal
Medical Kit, and individual tactical radio.
Sergeant Slade Miller
Level: Experienced
Skills: Small Arms(Pistol) 3, Small Arms(Rifle)4, Vehicle Use (Wheeled Vehicle) 3, Leadership 2
Initiative: 3
Physical Description: The sergeant is a tall thin man with light brown hair and brown eyes. He eyes
have a glassy look and he seems cold and distant.
Personality: The sergeant really doesnt have a personality anymore. The Dark Minions worked on him
first, and didnt quite get it right. He is basically a remote controlled organic robot.
Equipment: M9 pistol with two clips, M177 Carbine with four clips, Kevlar Vest, Steri-Med Personal
Medical Kit, and individual tactical radio.
Dark Minions:
Graveyard Mist
Strength: Education: 1
Move: 5
Constitution:Charisma:Skill/Dam:Agility: 4
Empathy: 8
Hits: Intelligence: 4
Initiative: 3
#Appear:1
Special: Immune to most weapons, animation ability.
The Graveyard Mist is a sentient gaseous entity that is native to a number of proto-dimensions. In
appearance, it looks like a thick, gray fog. Shapes seem to twist and move within it, and many of them
will suggest faces to human observers. An average sized Graveyard Mist will cover an area of up to
100 meters in diameter and will be about four meters thick.
Graveyard Mists move by a form of self telikenesis. Being material entities, they are affected by
such factors as wind speed and direction. Strong winds will slow them down (or speed them up) and
very strong winds
can actually destroy them by breaking up their bodily integrity.
Graveyard Mists have no physical attack. They are too tenuous to do any harm. However, they
have a special ability to animate the bodies of the dead. They can animate and control up to their
empathy rating in Graveyard Mist Skeletons, or half that number in Graveyard Mist Zombies. The
Graveyard Mist animates the skeletons and corpses by infusing them with parts of its body. It can then
manipulate the bones or bodies by a modified use of its means of movement. Because of its method of
animation, it can only animate organic material. The animation process takes an half hour for a skeleton
and an hour for a zombie.
Graveyard Mists are not affected by most standard weapons. However, they can be driven off by
things like flamethrowers or small explosions (which cause them pain). They can be pushed away or
destroyed by strong winds, wind machines, large explosions with powerful shockwaves, and so forth.
While they need to derive some material sustenance (they can absorb blood and other fluids
slowly), they feed primarily on fear. They use their animated minions to frighten people so that they
may feed upon the emotional output. They prefer to reside in places where they can acquire dead things
to animate and places where they can generate maximum fear. Graveyards satisfy these two

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preferences nicely, so Graveyard Mists tend to be found in them (hence the name). Some authorities
have speculated that the Graveyard mist is related to the Deathmists (Challenge #52, p. 32). However,
there is no conclusive evidence to support this claim.
Graveyard Mist Skeletons:
Strength: 2
Education:Move: 3/9/18/25
Constitution: 1
Charisma:Skill/Dam: 5/1d6
Agility: 7
Empathy: Hits: 4/5
Intelligence:Initiative:4
#Appear:See below
Special: One level more difficult to hit in fire combat.
Graveyard Mist skeletons are very similar to normal animated skeletons. However, they are a
bit weaker. Graveyard Mist Skeletons must remain within the body of their creating Graveyard Mist to
remain animated. If they leave the body, they will de-animate. The number of Graveyard Mist Skeletons
present cannot exceed the creating Graveyard Mists empathy rating.
Graveyard Mist Zombies:
Strength: 7
Education:Move: 2/8/15
Constitution: 5
Charisma:Skill/Dam: 5/2d6+1
Agility: 2
Empathy: Hits: 15/30
Intelligence:Initiative:1
#Appear:See below
Graveyard Mist Zombies are very similar to normal animated Zombies. However, they are a bit
weaker. Graveyard Mist Zombies must remain within the body of their creating Graveyard Mist to
remain animated. If they leave the body, they will de-animate. The number of Graveyard Mist Zombies
present cannot exceed half the creating Graveyard Mists empathy rating.