A period of some weeks passed, during which time life at the White Tiger became very comfortable. The other NPC parties in residence had long since moved on, the Drunken Vikings and Rich Kids being supplanted by an objectionable bunch known as "The Lethal Line-up" and an intensely annoying group of travelling minstrels called "The Gnome Acrobats". Fortunately, a new quest was at hand, when one morning, the characters were awoken by a ruckus in the bar.
The smouldering corpse of a thief had materialised in the main salon, and was identifiable as Shaky Graham, one of Cousin Barry's mates. He held a quickly scrawled message requesting the help of Chops. Todd "Spanner" Devon used some impressive ritual magic to review Shaky Graham's last visions. It revealed an vicious underground battle between Barry and his gang, and some unidentified demonic acolytes.
Sunday 25 April 2010
Saturday 10 April 2010
The Wretched Earth Part 3 : Rat Race
The Hyena Death Clan
Artwork by Emma Yam (mlynnz)
Having made a name for themselves in Winder for cleansing Backdrag Keep of the Ratfolk incursion, celebration and a room upgrade were the order of the day back at The White Tiger. Things quietened down for a few weeks as the characters recuperated and carried out a few minor quests.The most noticeable event was that the Bear Killers had taken up residence in the Adventurer's barracks across town. They had also levelled-up and were pretty pleased with themselves generally. A great deal of excitement amongst the Bear Killers seemed to hide a secret. Casual talk with a couple of them revealed only that Toot was on to a "big score" which would guarantee the fame and fortune of "that" side of the Dog Leg graduates. The Bear Killers ran around town buying supplies and practicing spells and battle tactics in the empty fields behind the market.
The White Tiger was a different proposition. Well known for the highest-paid adventurers, it attracted the highest-paying patrons. One morning, with some fanfare, a high ranking Paladin entered the bar seeking the Dog Leg Style (as they had come to be known). Presenting himself as the herald/personal guard of Mother Bedana, the Regional Director of Healing for the Cult of Pel (aka Pelor on other continents) - he invited the DLS to an audience as she had travelled to Winder in person to meet them.
Mother Bedana turned out to be a formidable old crone of some importance. She indicated that she had sought out the party after hearing of their battle with the Ratfolk. Ratfolk were a scurvy and foul menace never encountered in this part of the world. The DLS had become the most expert (and most expendable) means to deal with them. Spreading a terrible disease known as Ratfolk Wasting Fever (or Rat Flu), these sewer denizens were much feared by common folk. In a town known as Hobart, some 20 miles north of Winder - the local Rangers had reported finding corpses that had been killed by Rat Flu. Part of the remit of the Cult of Pel was the fight against disease - and this fell within their sphere of operations. Mother Bedana was assigned the task - her sources indicated that the Ratfolk had moved into the area, and sent one of their Oracles "Mould Maker", and she in turn sought out the party. With promise of money and holy treasures, the party set out to investigate the Rat Flu and dispose of Mould Maker.
Arriving in Hobart, the party meet Simon Ironleaf, of the Ranger service. Drum was actually a classmate of his at Ranger School although he went by his real name of Simon Thornton, and changed it to fit in better with the Rangers. Simon explains the background - several Wretchling corpses were discovered in a clearing a few miles from Hobart, dislaying clear symptoms of RatFlu. Simon takes the party to site, where Drum quickly picks up a trail - the corpses had been dragged from a nearby Wretchling community. Following the tracks is not a problem, and the party soon encounter the Wretchlings, all of whom are infected with RatFlu and even more pathetic than normal. Using a combination of sign language and threats, the party communicate with the Wretchlings, and are able to bribe the village elder with wine in order to learn what has happened. Apparently, the Ratfolk had arrived and taken a few dozen Wretchlings as slaves. The Ratfolk took the slaves to a nearby river where they forced them to work on a Ratfolk Poison Farm, mainly carrying heavy barrels of various concoctions. A few Wretchlings escaped back to their village, but brought the RatFlu with them, which over the next week spread to the population and started to kill them off. Knowing no better, the Wretchlings simply dragged the corpses away from the village - to the clearing.
The party conviced a Wretchling to lead them to the Poison Farm, carried out a quick reconaissance, and duly attacked. Gaining complete surprise, the Dog Leg clan quickly wiped out the Ratfolk, using terrain to their best advantage, and having trouble with only one or two archers. Looking over the wreckage of the battlefiled suggested that there was no poison being stored at the farm - and it was being transported to another location. Following the tracks made by the Wretchling slaves, the party came upon a defended bridge location swarming with Ratfolk, including a leader-type - presumably Mould Maker. Using stealth again, the party attacked from cover, and with some good fortune, trapped Mould Maker amongst some tents and killed him. Following that, the rest were a close run thing, but ultimately killed or routed.
Returning victorious to Winder, the Dog Leg clan were widely hailed as experts in fighting the Ratfolk.
Sunday 4 April 2010
The Wretched Earth Chapter 2 : Down the Drain
The party split soon after the tomb incident. Chops the Warlord led Stinky the Fighter, Drum the Ranger and Sandals the cleric away from the main group (led by Toot). On the road, the new party encountered a travelling pedlar. This pedlar gave some advice to the would-be adventurers, that the small town of Winder, some 4 days travel away was renowned as an hub for mercenaries and sellswords. Drum took it upon himself to replenish his dwindling supply of arrows from the pedlar.
Entering Winder, the Dog Leg gang had their first experience of a truly eclectic town. Demi-humans of all varieties wandered the streets freely, including a number of halflings, who were generally despised and reviled in Dog County as a form of vermin. The party had a small tally of gold (recovered from the Hyena Death Clan), and booked into The White Tiger Inn, easily the most luxurious adventurer's lodgings in town.
After exploring Winder for a week or so, including the party district and the notorious nightclub "Kobolds", a contract was undertaken to "Defeat Evil" at a location known as Backdrag Keep, a fortress some 20 miles to the north. The pay rate was promised to be 400g - a fortune for the starters.
Arrival at Backdrag Keep was a surprise - not least due to the undead guards at the gatehouse. This was eventually explained by the Keep's custodian. Apparently the entire staff and garrison of the Keep had been poisoned and laid low for some weeks now. This had been traced to the water supply, which was a well sunk in one of the towers. Due to this, an emergency security company had been called in - SkelGuard - which guaranteed immunity to poisoning, but was horrendously expensive. Furthermore the source of the poisoning couldn't be determined. The Keep was a recent acquisition and it was known that there was an extensive plumbing/sewage system below, although none had ever explored it. The SkelGuard operatives had been sent down, but proved remarkably ineffective at this type of work.
Chops, Drum, Stinky and Sandals accepted the job of "Defeating Evil" even though this had manifested itself in the form of "Cleaning the Sewers". And made their way through a manhole in one of the towers. After wandering the maze of sewers, they ran headlong into a man-sized rat wielding a spear. There was brief panic, and Drum fired several arrows, none of which were confirmed hits. A chase ended abruptly with a meeting in a chamber with several of the rats, including a huge muscular Rat Ogre and a grenade-wielding rat. A whirlwind type ability of the Rat Ogre knocked the party members prone several times, and resulted in most of the combat taking place sitting or on all fours in the rancid water. Prevailing against these, and several others, the party eventually made its way to the headquarters of the Ratfolk and their formidable bosses. Globes of manufactured poison were recovered from the water supply, and the heroes emerged from the well filthy, but victorious.
Entering Winder, the Dog Leg gang had their first experience of a truly eclectic town. Demi-humans of all varieties wandered the streets freely, including a number of halflings, who were generally despised and reviled in Dog County as a form of vermin. The party had a small tally of gold (recovered from the Hyena Death Clan), and booked into The White Tiger Inn, easily the most luxurious adventurer's lodgings in town.
After exploring Winder for a week or so, including the party district and the notorious nightclub "Kobolds", a contract was undertaken to "Defeat Evil" at a location known as Backdrag Keep, a fortress some 20 miles to the north. The pay rate was promised to be 400g - a fortune for the starters.
Arrival at Backdrag Keep was a surprise - not least due to the undead guards at the gatehouse. This was eventually explained by the Keep's custodian. Apparently the entire staff and garrison of the Keep had been poisoned and laid low for some weeks now. This had been traced to the water supply, which was a well sunk in one of the towers. Due to this, an emergency security company had been called in - SkelGuard - which guaranteed immunity to poisoning, but was horrendously expensive. Furthermore the source of the poisoning couldn't be determined. The Keep was a recent acquisition and it was known that there was an extensive plumbing/sewage system below, although none had ever explored it. The SkelGuard operatives had been sent down, but proved remarkably ineffective at this type of work.
Chops, Drum, Stinky and Sandals accepted the job of "Defeating Evil" even though this had manifested itself in the form of "Cleaning the Sewers". And made their way through a manhole in one of the towers. After wandering the maze of sewers, they ran headlong into a man-sized rat wielding a spear. There was brief panic, and Drum fired several arrows, none of which were confirmed hits. A chase ended abruptly with a meeting in a chamber with several of the rats, including a huge muscular Rat Ogre and a grenade-wielding rat. A whirlwind type ability of the Rat Ogre knocked the party members prone several times, and resulted in most of the combat taking place sitting or on all fours in the rancid water. Prevailing against these, and several others, the party eventually made its way to the headquarters of the Ratfolk and their formidable bosses. Globes of manufactured poison were recovered from the water supply, and the heroes emerged from the well filthy, but victorious.
Saturday 3 April 2010
The Wretched Earth Chapter 1 : Taken to the Cleaners
Wretchlings
Artwork by Emma Yam (mlynnz)
The tiny state of Dog County was an affiliate of a larger coalition, which went to war with some unspecified Pirate nations. Dog County wasn’t obliged to send troops, but got rich on the back of huge war commerce, making uniforms and rations. The residents of Dog County, and the small farming town of Dog Leg became very rich. Unfortunately, the war ended (although their side won), and all the orders dried up. Dog County was plunged into poverty.
With Dog Leg on a miserable subsistence existence, a group of about 12 of the young men of the town- led by local tough guy, "Barry the Fist" - left town to seek their fame and fortune as adventurers. Nothing was heard of them for many months. A year later, Barry and some of his party returned, driving large carts of livestock, ale and booty for the town. They were given a heroes’ welcome, and several days of partying and revelry ensued. All the boys in town wanted to be Barry and his gang, all the girls wanted to be their groupies. After the excitement died down, they left to take on another quest.
The excitement and glamour of the returning heroes was too much for the remaining youngsters of Dog Leg. A collection of former magical, clerical and fighter students (pulled out of school and university when the money dried up) got together determined to follow in their elders’ footsteps, led by Barry’s cousin – Chops, and the leader of the town band, Toot.
None of the would-be adventurers had ever been involved in real fighting before, or undertaken any kind of adventure. The first few days were filled with hope and excitement, with Toot the warlord egging the group on with talk of tactics and plans. Indeed, Toot and Chops emerged as the two charismatic leaders of the 30 or so strong group.
After walking for three or four days through familiar lands, spirits were high, even though one or two souls turned round and headed home. After a week, when all the rations ran out, a few more left – disillusioned with the realities of life as adventurers. After a few more days, things became desperate. The lands were still relatively civilised, and a lack of foraging (and the skills to do so) became apparent. The group took to stealing barsnacks from pubs, but feeding 24 people on pork scratchings and slices of lemon is something of a feat.
One evening, after sharing a cold meal of maraschino cherries and the very last KitKat, spirits were low. The group huddled around a campfire and set up a guard rota. It was Drum the ranger that saw the intruder on the edge of the camp. A small stealthy humanoid – almost certainly armed, and no doubt with murderous intent. Shouting out a warning to rouse his fellows, Drum fired his first ever real hostile arrow – and missed by several hundred yards. Pandemonium ensued in the camp as two dozen adventurers scrambled around for weapons. Toot sounded the call-to-arms on his trumpet and the battle was joined. The humanoid rushed away through the undergrowth, but Drum’s second arrow was true, striking the creature cleanly. It tried to escape across a stream, but was cornered by several of the party who hacked and smashed it to pieces with weapons, cauldrons, cutlery and rocks. The party looked down at the remains of the creature. It seemed to be armed with a small stick and clothed only in a loincloth, and resembled Gollum – only less well presented. As the campfire crackled away behind them, the party took the only logical step – and proceeded to cook and eat the creature.
The following morning, with a good meal inside them, and a light continental breakfast of Bombay Mix and lime cordial, the party sent Drum the ranger to search for tracks. This proved relatively easy as the creature was clearly not well-versed in the ways of the woodlands, and had left large and obvious tracks. A smaller group of six, led by Chops followed this path, whilst Toot and the remainder guarded the main camp. The trail led the adventurers to a large clearing a mile away through the forest. In the centre of this clearing stood a stone mausoleum.
Chops took it upon himself to jog a circuit around the building, and as he did so found two more of the wretched humanoids at the rear of the building carrying out menial washing and cleaning duties. Chops completed his jog and gathered the rest of the party for an assault. Defending themselves by throwing bricks and plates, the humanoids were quickly overwhelmed by the party's firepower.
Giddy with success, the group descended into the mausoleum. Inside, they were confronted by the bosses of the wretchlings - a trio of brutal beastmen from the "Hyena Death Clan" who were a lot tougher than their slaves. A violent and lethal struggle ensued, with both sides close to death, but the Dog Leg posse prevailed, and emerged as blooded adventurers.
Meanwhile, back at the camp, Toot and his band had encountered a large woodland bear. A melee had ensued, resulting in the annihilation of the bear, although there were some injuries to Toot's mob. These pivotal events eventually became a schism in the Dog Leg party, the Tomb Robbers obviously having faced the greater challenge, but having to co-exist with the Bear Killers who were certain of their equal warrior status.
IOS Case 3 : The Glenridge Chiropractor
The Glenridge Chiropractor
Massi, Curran and Polkow travel to Glenridge, NY to investigate a serial killer in a small suburban town. Grisly murders all seem to link to a teenager – Thomas Dengler. They suspect that he is either transforming into a supernatural predator, or at least summoning one. An encounter with a huge winged monster confirms their suspicions, but a government conspiracy is suspected when the FBI show up to hamper the investigation. Finally, an ancient South American artefact is found and destroyed, and the blame is laid on an infamous serial killer who seems to have mysteriously escaped custody.
Massi, Curran and Polkow travel to Glenridge, NY to investigate a serial killer in a small suburban town. Grisly murders all seem to link to a teenager – Thomas Dengler. They suspect that he is either transforming into a supernatural predator, or at least summoning one. An encounter with a huge winged monster confirms their suspicions, but a government conspiracy is suspected when the FBI show up to hamper the investigation. Finally, an ancient South American artefact is found and destroyed, and the blame is laid on an infamous serial killer who seems to have mysteriously escaped custody.
Illegal Organisations Squad : Snakemen in Tribeca
SESSION 1:
Year 2009 : Events involve the "Illegal Organisations Squad" of the New York Police Department. A unit that formerly investigated cults and religious extremism; following 9/11 virtually all responsibility for "real" religious extremism was handed over to Homeland Security, leaving the IOS with various loons, UFO cults and the like. On a very small budget the unit is under constant threat of closure, but fortunately the nature of the work involves a fair few high profile rescues of kidnap victims from strange sects, and this is enough to stave off closure. The unit has 4 pairs of detectives, the players - Nigel and Nick play one of these pairs, Det. Vincent Massi and Det. Charlie Curran.
The investigation started on a Summer evening with the detectives in a high speed chase through Greenwich Village in pursuit of a suspect in the disappearance of women thought to have joined a cult. The suspect was a sometime "Music Producer" and was thought to pick girls up at clubs and induct them into an unknown religious cult. He saw the detectives, got into a car and fled. This is where play started.
The suspect's car ran into traffic, and he alighted and ran across an intersection into traffic. The players stopped short and one jumped out to follow. The other edged forward slowly across the traffic. Suspect was seen to run into an alleyway into the goods entrance of a shop. Curran fumbled a locksmith roll and broke a lockpick in the door. Ironically, this had the effect of sealing the door from the outside, so they went round the block to identify the front entrance....which predictably turned out to be a bookshop.
As they entered, calling police warnings, a gun was heard being loaded. Massi charged across the shop and over a counter and was confronted with the bookstore clerk holding a handgun. The clerk fired first, hitting Massi, but thanks to a Kevlar vest, minimal damage was taken. Massi fired and missed. Curran started firing through a bookcase, but this was completely ineffective. The clerk turned and ran, Massi hit him with his handgun and grappled with him. For some reason, Curran then tried to push a bookcase onto the both of them, which also failed. The clerk rolled 04 for grappling and escaped. Curran panicked and fired, hitting the clerk in the back, killing him. The dust settled and stories were invented. A search of the store revealed a basement with some occult paraphernalia and some property of the missing women. A hole in the basement wall led to the boiler room of an adjoining property where it appears the original suspect escaped. Crime Scene Unit and the Mortuary were called to clean up.
Detective work revealed the owner of the bookstore owned a van for the shop and a flat in Queens. This flat was searched, found empty, but evidence of a warehouse also in Queens where the bulk of the books were stored. This warehouse was located, and the van was spotted outside. Entering cautiously, the detectives were eventually confronted by what appeared to be human sized lizards (SAN checks abounded). One lizard used a breath weapon on the characters, resulting in a lot of damage. A vicious firefight ensued ending in the death of the lizards, which upon closer inspection a few minutes later appeared to have reverted to the original forms of the bookstore owner and Music producer. More SAN checks and a lot of excuses had to be made up before the Crime Scene Unit arrived. The warehouse also revealed a killing room containing the desiccated corpses of 11 women (including the two originals) and a curious snake-like piece of jewellery. A lot of handshakes all around from the Squad commander for clearing 11 homicides.
Curiously, the Squad commander took them aside after a few days sickleave, commenting on what they had seen. They were then bizarrely sent on detachment to assist as "consultants" in a multiple homicide case in Arizona. Even more bizarrely, the local FBI was completely ok with it. The squad commander seems to have his hand in a lot of pies.
The multiple homicide case sees the characters largely taking a spectators role as some strange events take place. It seems their boss and someone in the FBI had heard about what they had seen in Queens and wanted them there to see something going on in Arizona.
Arriving in Phoenix, the detectives found themselves in the middle of a major investigation, a quiet stretch of highway through an Indian reservation had seen a series of disappearances and abandoned vehicles – especially belonging to tourists. A local farming family had also disappeared. Following some early investigations, Massi received an envelope under the door of his motel room containing several clippings relating to murders occurring in a linear pattern originating in West Virginia, and a report of a meteor shower in Tecumseh County, WV.
During helicopter observation, Curran spotted a metallic object in the desert which turned out to be a partially excavated car. Inside was the corpse of a missing Houston police detective, Ken Braverman – wanted in Houston in connection with the disappearances of several prostitutes and the murder of his family.
Proceedings were interrupted by the report of a siege at a nearby spiritual site – a cave where three tribal elders had been taken hostage. The State Troopers’ SWAT team stormed the cave, and found only skeletonised remains of the elders. Fingerprint analysis later matched to a Emanuel Santana, an Army Special Forces deserter from the early 70s. He had been known to be living in the area as a hermit, but the tribal sheriff was unaware of his past.
Early the next morning, an emergency report came in of an attack at a tribal police station. It had been reported that three on-duty tribal deputies had been murdered.
SESSION 2:
Curran and Massi are joined in Arizona by the newest member of IOS, Det. Daniel Pulkow. Pulkow was involved in the clean-up after the “lizardman” incident and was witness to some of the very unusual scenes found afterwards. Lt. White sends Pulkow to help out given what he saw in Queens.
There is chaos in around the Deputy station in the wake of the attack. Tribal and State police are everywhere conducting roadblocks and door-to-door enquiries as well as mobilising as many people as possible. The media are starting to arrive in force. With incredible vision, the first action of Det. Pulkow is to notice the CCTV system of a mini-market across from the station. Examination reveals footage of Santana entering and leaving the Deputy station.
Examination of the Deputy station revealed that something had been removed from the cell. As the station had no evidence locker, it was said that it was commonplace to keep evidence in the cell. Major Garrett mentioned seeing a “basketball” in the cave during the siege. They were unsure if it was part of the tribal Elder’s effects (and possibly a religious artefact) so it was given to the Deputies to guard on the reservation.
Returning to the cave, a possible, but unlikely escape route – a smoke flue at the back of the cave was identified, and it was postulated that while a man could possibly escape there, to do so carrying the basketball would be much more difficult, as such Santana had left it behind when he escaped, then returned for it.
More evidence was collected pointing to a continuous westward trail of destruction from West Virginia to Arizona. Re-interviewing Joe Rope at the Begay Ranch, and examination of the ranch found several recently-excavated graves of sheep stolen from the Begays. Apparently Victor Begay suspected rustlers and had taken to staking out the outer reaches of his ranch before he disappeared.
Hiring a vet to examine the sheep remains threw up evidence of stabbing or piercing action on the bones. Tying this into the blood-draining, created images of a huge mosquito type creature.
The detectives travelled to Phoenix to see the autopsy results on the deputies, Ken Braverman and tribal elders. The ME, Dr. Jorge Gutierrez stated evidence of piercing and stabbing motion on the bones, and total blood drain on Braverman.
Leaving Phoenix, a radioed report of a sighting of Santana heading toward the city limits. A State Trooper set up a roadblock to intercept. The large manhunt force was heading westward to catch up with him, as the detectives sped eastward toward the roadblock. En route, the saw a State Trooper vehicle pass them speeding toward Phoenix. They turned and pursued it, seeing by chance pull into a drive-thru burger restaurant. Securing the scene, several shots were fired toward them, including one rifle round hitting Massi in the back, fortunately absorbed by his vest.
Following sporadic gunfire, the state troopers surrounded the restaurant, and when Santana made a break out the rear exit, he was hit repeatedly by fire. Staggering down the drive-thru lane, he was fired on by the detectives. A glancing shot at range from Massi’s shotgun was followed by a solid hit by Pulkow. Santana went down and was declared dead.
Later in the night, having received medical treatment, the group returned to Phoenix to observe the autopsy of Santana, expecting to find evidence of several cannibalistic murders in his digestive tract. However, they were faced with a grisly scene through the Perspex observation window into the autopsy room. Dr. Gutierrez had apparently been incapacitated by the badly damaged corpse of Santana which was in the process of transferring some kind of parasite or organism into Gutierrez’s body. No cellular reception was available for calling help. Curran ran outside to call for help and get body armour. Pulkow fired into the glass, whilst Massi kicked the glazed unit through. No reaction was observed from the occupants, and the detectives started firing on the “worm”. Pulkow missed, but Massi scored a very good direct hit, cutting the organism in two. This was placed into a tub and secreted. Excuses were made, and some ideas bandied about that Santana was “not quite dead” and had attacked and killed the ME.
Massi received a phone call from someone calling herself “Ms. Green” and stated that she had passed the envelope containing the clippings. She asked to meet at the Phoenix museum of firefighting the next day. At this meeting, Ms. Green and an associate took custody of the corpse of the worm and of the basketball. Ms. Green invited the detectives to join their covert organisation, Delta Green and promised the opportunity to learn untold secrets and potential help in escaping difficult legal situations. After accepting, they were told about the “Green Boxes” and given the code to one in Greenwich Village.
Recuperating, they took the opportunity to go on some departmental training. Massi took on a course in Departmental Administration. Curran took a course in Forensic Accountancy, and Pulkow a course on basic crime scene procedure – although he apparently learned very little.
These were the first sessions of the DG Campaign, the "Snakemen in Tribeca" was custom-built, and the second part is "Puppet Shows & Shadowplays" from the Delta Green Sourcebook. IOS is peculiar to this campaign, as is the Continuous Professional Development at the end of the scenarios.
Year 2009 : Events involve the "Illegal Organisations Squad" of the New York Police Department. A unit that formerly investigated cults and religious extremism; following 9/11 virtually all responsibility for "real" religious extremism was handed over to Homeland Security, leaving the IOS with various loons, UFO cults and the like. On a very small budget the unit is under constant threat of closure, but fortunately the nature of the work involves a fair few high profile rescues of kidnap victims from strange sects, and this is enough to stave off closure. The unit has 4 pairs of detectives, the players - Nigel and Nick play one of these pairs, Det. Vincent Massi and Det. Charlie Curran.
The investigation started on a Summer evening with the detectives in a high speed chase through Greenwich Village in pursuit of a suspect in the disappearance of women thought to have joined a cult. The suspect was a sometime "Music Producer" and was thought to pick girls up at clubs and induct them into an unknown religious cult. He saw the detectives, got into a car and fled. This is where play started.
The suspect's car ran into traffic, and he alighted and ran across an intersection into traffic. The players stopped short and one jumped out to follow. The other edged forward slowly across the traffic. Suspect was seen to run into an alleyway into the goods entrance of a shop. Curran fumbled a locksmith roll and broke a lockpick in the door. Ironically, this had the effect of sealing the door from the outside, so they went round the block to identify the front entrance....which predictably turned out to be a bookshop.
As they entered, calling police warnings, a gun was heard being loaded. Massi charged across the shop and over a counter and was confronted with the bookstore clerk holding a handgun. The clerk fired first, hitting Massi, but thanks to a Kevlar vest, minimal damage was taken. Massi fired and missed. Curran started firing through a bookcase, but this was completely ineffective. The clerk turned and ran, Massi hit him with his handgun and grappled with him. For some reason, Curran then tried to push a bookcase onto the both of them, which also failed. The clerk rolled 04 for grappling and escaped. Curran panicked and fired, hitting the clerk in the back, killing him. The dust settled and stories were invented. A search of the store revealed a basement with some occult paraphernalia and some property of the missing women. A hole in the basement wall led to the boiler room of an adjoining property where it appears the original suspect escaped. Crime Scene Unit and the Mortuary were called to clean up.
Detective work revealed the owner of the bookstore owned a van for the shop and a flat in Queens. This flat was searched, found empty, but evidence of a warehouse also in Queens where the bulk of the books were stored. This warehouse was located, and the van was spotted outside. Entering cautiously, the detectives were eventually confronted by what appeared to be human sized lizards (SAN checks abounded). One lizard used a breath weapon on the characters, resulting in a lot of damage. A vicious firefight ensued ending in the death of the lizards, which upon closer inspection a few minutes later appeared to have reverted to the original forms of the bookstore owner and Music producer. More SAN checks and a lot of excuses had to be made up before the Crime Scene Unit arrived. The warehouse also revealed a killing room containing the desiccated corpses of 11 women (including the two originals) and a curious snake-like piece of jewellery. A lot of handshakes all around from the Squad commander for clearing 11 homicides.
Curiously, the Squad commander took them aside after a few days sickleave, commenting on what they had seen. They were then bizarrely sent on detachment to assist as "consultants" in a multiple homicide case in Arizona. Even more bizarrely, the local FBI was completely ok with it. The squad commander seems to have his hand in a lot of pies.
The multiple homicide case sees the characters largely taking a spectators role as some strange events take place. It seems their boss and someone in the FBI had heard about what they had seen in Queens and wanted them there to see something going on in Arizona.
Arriving in Phoenix, the detectives found themselves in the middle of a major investigation, a quiet stretch of highway through an Indian reservation had seen a series of disappearances and abandoned vehicles – especially belonging to tourists. A local farming family had also disappeared. Following some early investigations, Massi received an envelope under the door of his motel room containing several clippings relating to murders occurring in a linear pattern originating in West Virginia, and a report of a meteor shower in Tecumseh County, WV.
During helicopter observation, Curran spotted a metallic object in the desert which turned out to be a partially excavated car. Inside was the corpse of a missing Houston police detective, Ken Braverman – wanted in Houston in connection with the disappearances of several prostitutes and the murder of his family.
Proceedings were interrupted by the report of a siege at a nearby spiritual site – a cave where three tribal elders had been taken hostage. The State Troopers’ SWAT team stormed the cave, and found only skeletonised remains of the elders. Fingerprint analysis later matched to a Emanuel Santana, an Army Special Forces deserter from the early 70s. He had been known to be living in the area as a hermit, but the tribal sheriff was unaware of his past.
Early the next morning, an emergency report came in of an attack at a tribal police station. It had been reported that three on-duty tribal deputies had been murdered.
SESSION 2:
Curran and Massi are joined in Arizona by the newest member of IOS, Det. Daniel Pulkow. Pulkow was involved in the clean-up after the “lizardman” incident and was witness to some of the very unusual scenes found afterwards. Lt. White sends Pulkow to help out given what he saw in Queens.
There is chaos in around the Deputy station in the wake of the attack. Tribal and State police are everywhere conducting roadblocks and door-to-door enquiries as well as mobilising as many people as possible. The media are starting to arrive in force. With incredible vision, the first action of Det. Pulkow is to notice the CCTV system of a mini-market across from the station. Examination reveals footage of Santana entering and leaving the Deputy station.
Examination of the Deputy station revealed that something had been removed from the cell. As the station had no evidence locker, it was said that it was commonplace to keep evidence in the cell. Major Garrett mentioned seeing a “basketball” in the cave during the siege. They were unsure if it was part of the tribal Elder’s effects (and possibly a religious artefact) so it was given to the Deputies to guard on the reservation.
Returning to the cave, a possible, but unlikely escape route – a smoke flue at the back of the cave was identified, and it was postulated that while a man could possibly escape there, to do so carrying the basketball would be much more difficult, as such Santana had left it behind when he escaped, then returned for it.
More evidence was collected pointing to a continuous westward trail of destruction from West Virginia to Arizona. Re-interviewing Joe Rope at the Begay Ranch, and examination of the ranch found several recently-excavated graves of sheep stolen from the Begays. Apparently Victor Begay suspected rustlers and had taken to staking out the outer reaches of his ranch before he disappeared.
Hiring a vet to examine the sheep remains threw up evidence of stabbing or piercing action on the bones. Tying this into the blood-draining, created images of a huge mosquito type creature.
The detectives travelled to Phoenix to see the autopsy results on the deputies, Ken Braverman and tribal elders. The ME, Dr. Jorge Gutierrez stated evidence of piercing and stabbing motion on the bones, and total blood drain on Braverman.
Leaving Phoenix, a radioed report of a sighting of Santana heading toward the city limits. A State Trooper set up a roadblock to intercept. The large manhunt force was heading westward to catch up with him, as the detectives sped eastward toward the roadblock. En route, the saw a State Trooper vehicle pass them speeding toward Phoenix. They turned and pursued it, seeing by chance pull into a drive-thru burger restaurant. Securing the scene, several shots were fired toward them, including one rifle round hitting Massi in the back, fortunately absorbed by his vest.
Following sporadic gunfire, the state troopers surrounded the restaurant, and when Santana made a break out the rear exit, he was hit repeatedly by fire. Staggering down the drive-thru lane, he was fired on by the detectives. A glancing shot at range from Massi’s shotgun was followed by a solid hit by Pulkow. Santana went down and was declared dead.
Later in the night, having received medical treatment, the group returned to Phoenix to observe the autopsy of Santana, expecting to find evidence of several cannibalistic murders in his digestive tract. However, they were faced with a grisly scene through the Perspex observation window into the autopsy room. Dr. Gutierrez had apparently been incapacitated by the badly damaged corpse of Santana which was in the process of transferring some kind of parasite or organism into Gutierrez’s body. No cellular reception was available for calling help. Curran ran outside to call for help and get body armour. Pulkow fired into the glass, whilst Massi kicked the glazed unit through. No reaction was observed from the occupants, and the detectives started firing on the “worm”. Pulkow missed, but Massi scored a very good direct hit, cutting the organism in two. This was placed into a tub and secreted. Excuses were made, and some ideas bandied about that Santana was “not quite dead” and had attacked and killed the ME.
Massi received a phone call from someone calling herself “Ms. Green” and stated that she had passed the envelope containing the clippings. She asked to meet at the Phoenix museum of firefighting the next day. At this meeting, Ms. Green and an associate took custody of the corpse of the worm and of the basketball. Ms. Green invited the detectives to join their covert organisation, Delta Green and promised the opportunity to learn untold secrets and potential help in escaping difficult legal situations. After accepting, they were told about the “Green Boxes” and given the code to one in Greenwich Village.
Recuperating, they took the opportunity to go on some departmental training. Massi took on a course in Departmental Administration. Curran took a course in Forensic Accountancy, and Pulkow a course on basic crime scene procedure – although he apparently learned very little.
These were the first sessions of the DG Campaign, the "Snakemen in Tribeca" was custom-built, and the second part is "Puppet Shows & Shadowplays" from the Delta Green Sourcebook. IOS is peculiar to this campaign, as is the Continuous Professional Development at the end of the scenarios.
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