Many characters begin their investigative careers at a relatively high age. Little attention is paid to the previous history of their lives. The players might have recorded the parents names and maybe what school they graduated from. The characters history might not be of outmost importance, but a character with a more colorful background is always more interesting and exciting to play.

This scenario is well suited to be played as an introductory adventure for campaign investigators. It presents an opportunity to tie the investigators together and also to let them take a sneak peek on the Cthulhu mythos. The mysteries that they confront might spur the curiosity of the investigators and solve the question why they should risk their lives by digging deeper into the mythos.

The setting is New York in the early 20-th century. The investigators will play youths, maybe students or low paid workers trying to make a living in the large city. They should be fairly poor, as they havent got a well-paid job and some earnings yet. Make the characters know each other by thinking of some common interests or maybe shared university classes.

Many adventures expect the investigators to be respected and trusted. They often have the resources needed to spend most of their time in libraries and museums, reading books and doing research. In this scenario, the characters have work to do, and may not have access to the libraries, the museums or even telephones.

THE SCENE, THE POOR MANS BROOKLYN

To get a genuine feeling during the play, describe the investigators favorite cafés and speakeasies, the shop where they buy their cheap food and the building in which they have a room for rent.

Brooklyn in the beginning of the 20:th century is a bustling place with a large population of immigrants who have traveled to America in search for a better life. Most of them havent come far in their search and now lives their lives as underpaid workers. Though life often is hard, the mix of different cultures have made Brooklyn a very exciting place to live in. German shopkeepers and Italian barbers crowd with Jewish café-owners and Swedish dockworkers. The streets and back-alleys are very much alive. One can feel the atmosphere with all senses. The sun setting over Brooklyn bridge is a sight for sore eyes, the sounds and odors of the street greets the investigators every day.

PRELUDE

I am not a thief, but yet I have been stealing. Who can blame a beggar pinching food to survive, who could blame the family father who steals clothes to his freezing family. I am a thinking man, and my soul needs fuel to survive, so who will blame me for borrowing cognac and some cigars to feed my starving inspiration?

- Edward Riley, Memoirs from the New York years

The scenario begins in medias res. The investigators are standing inside of an overturned truck, rapidly searching for valuables. Their rent might be paid with some of the stuff they find in here. The sun is setting over the crowded streets and alleys of Brooklyn as the poor crowd tries to get as much as they can from the truck. There are chairs, clocks, pillows, clothes, paintings, boxes and other furniture, all antiques. Let the investigators find some interesting stuff before they find a beautiful chest hidden under a pile of carpets. The thefts continue until someone shouts that the police are coming, and the crowd dissipates.

The truck belonged to a removal firm named Harvey Smith & Son. The driver, Curt Ransby, was drunk and fell asleep, which resulted in the accident. The antiquities was to be delivered to a Mr. Jeremiah Crompton who is moving some furniture to his new house in Manhattan.

THE STOLEN GOODS

After hurrying from the crime-scene, the characters might want to examine the goods. You might want to roll some Luck rolls to see if their smaller items are valuable. The chest which the characters hopefully carries is locked (a STR 15 lock) and contains some of Mr. Cromptons bizarre belongings:

• Two bottles of some very fine cognac. Worth about 15$ each.
  
• Five cases of hand-rolled Havana cigars. Worth 10$ each.
  
• A painting of Cromptons grandfather, Montgomery Crompton. He seems to be a dignified but somewhat mysterious old man with his odd smile and strange oriental costume.
  
• A portable gramophone
  
• One single record (see The Record)

THE RECORD

This record plays a central part of this scenario. Its labeled Massa di Requiem per Shuggay, a production financed by the insane Jeremiah Crompton. The music was composed by the Italian musician Benvento Chieti Bordighera in 1768 and has only been performed twice, once in the 18-th century, and now for the second time by the Boston Philharmonic Ensemble. Crompton who is obsessed with the thought of becoming a god thought that the music might inspire him in his quest for immortality. Thus he hired musicians to record this very difficult opera.

The opera is a horrendous caricature of music, and anyone who listens to the record will be compelled to dance spastically to the tunes. Sanity loss for listening to the record is 1/1D4. To resist the compulsion to dance, match the investigators POW against 8 on the resistance table. After completing the record, the Boston Philharmonic Ensembles musicians were severely shaken and thus split up.

INVESTIGATIONS ABOUT THE RECORD

Curious investigators might find some information about the record which might lead them to one of the lead singers in the Boston Philharmonic Ensemble, who can tell them about the enigmatic Mr. Crompton.

If the investigators tries to find some information about the opera in public libraries, let them make a Library Use roll to find the book Europeische Musik by a German author named Ludwig Amstein. The book is in German and has a small section containing music with a dark history. See What Amstein Wrote.

The names of the operas lead singers, Patricia Giorgi and Nino Andolini are printed on the record and one of them, Patricia, now lives in New York. Andolini is committed to the Arkham asylum, and cannot be contacted. Patricia owns a telephone and can be reached by calling the operator. Her number can also be found in the telephone catalogue which one can skim at the post office. She is very reluctant to speak about the opera. She has retired from the musical scene and lives the life of a lonely diva in her flat in Soho. Persistent investigators can however persuade her to tell a little about Jeremiah Crompton who ordered the opera. She describes him as a wealthy and secretive man who often listened to the rehearsals and spurred the musicians to continue even if there were hard or even impossible parts to perform. Mr. Crompton, she explains, also told them that he in fact didnt like the music, and that he recorded it only because of its historical value (which is a lie). If Patricia is flattered by the investigators, she might let them listen to her heavenly voice, only for this last time…

The investigators can find Cromptons postal address either by contacting the removal firm or looking through public records. Patricia Giorgi will remember his house on a successful Idea roll.

WHAT AMSTEIN WROTE

In 1768, the Italian composer Benvento Chieti Bordighera and his musicians performed the opera Massa di Requiem per Shuggay for a large audience in Rome with resulted in a mass riot. The music, which immediately were banned by the church was described by a listener as The most blasphemous performance I have ever seen. Bordighera forced my legs to dance to the devils music. People fled the opera and so did I, but some was left behind and what happened to them, I do not know. The opera was only performed once, and Bordigheras work was put away and havent been found since.

THE STRANGE DREAMS

The investigator who has least MP, or the one that lost most SAN while listening to the record will be contacted by Jeremiah Crompton through his/her dreams. Jeremiah uses his spell send dreams and must match his MP with the investigators to succeed. If he fail, he will try again next night.

The investigator dream of a man sitting in a large chair in front of a fireplace in which a greenish fire is burning. The man is Jeremiah Crompton, and asks the investigator if he enjoyed the opera. He then explains that he is a old man, and would like to make a proposition to the investigators. He wants them to help him becoming one with God. He becomes excited and asks if the investigator wants to see God. If the investigator refuses Crompton, he becomes angered and threatens to destroy the investigator and his friends and the dream ends. If the investigator accepts, Crompton sends a dream vision of Azatoth (SAN loss 1/1D10) and tells the investigator to contact him.

THE PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

(If the investigator didnt accept Cromptons proposition)

The police ask a few questions about the thefts, but dismisses the case if no evidence is found. The owner of the antiquities, Mr. Crompton, is however frustrated over the loss of his record and hires a private investigator to find it for him. The P.I, Joe Gibbons, arrives to the crime-scene two days after the thefts, and carefully begin to gather evidence and question the people living in the neighborhood. The investigators might spot him talking to housewives and playing kids. Soon enough, Gibbons will confront the investigators and urge them to return the stolen goods. He will threaten them if they refuse, but will not turn to the police. If they doesnt give him the chest or have lost it somehow, Gibbons will hire a few thugs and kidnap one of the investigators.

If the investigator persists, and Gibbons fail to kidnap the investigator, Crompton will become furious and summon a Byakhee to punish the thieves. Jeremiah Crompton might become a dangerous foe in later adventures.

CONFRONTING CROMPTON

The investigators might have followed the lead that Patricia Giorgi gave them, else they are kidnapped or have accepted Cromptons proposition. Jeremiah lives in a large house in Greenwich on 8th Street. He has recently moved some furniture from his mansion north of New York, and large crates and boxes are placed on the little garden in front of the 19-th century sandstone house which has two stories. Once inside, visitors are greeted by a scent of incense and spices. Crompton does not like electrical light, so the rooms are illuminated only by candles and lamps. Jeremiah lives alone in his large house, and only uses little space, so most of the rooms are empty. He has inherited many strange things from his grandfather, and has a large collection of books in his library. For outside observers, it seems like Crompton didnt really know where to put all thing when he moved in. Excellent Turkish carpets serve as doormats and priceless books strewn around.

Crompton are almost always at home, studying or merely relaxing. When the investigators confront him, he will be wearing his red smoking jacket and a Turkish fez. He has in the investigators found exactly what he has been looking for. Jeremiah is an old man and cannot trek the globe in search of what he desires, so he will try his hardest to convince the investigators to help him. This might be hard, as he is totally insane.

If one of the characters have been kidnapped, explain to him that he has been shown great hospitality. Jeremiah doesnt wish to kill anybody, only to find someone who could help him.

WHAT CROMPTON WANTS

Jeremiah Crompton has only one desire in life, to find and becoming part of God. He follows his strange grandfather, Montgomery Cromptons, footsteps. During his long life, Jeremiah has been studying books that describes the mythos, and is convinced that immortality can be achieved only by travelling the depths of space, to the center of the universe where Azatoth dwells. Jeremiah has read about the create gate spell and believes that it might be the last thing he need to travel to the outer god. He offers the investigators large sums of money, hundreds and thousands of dollars if they help them. He tells them he could provide them with books that speak of secrets man was never meant to know, and hints that they very well might become immortal just as he will be. As Crompton tells the investigators his story, he will become more and more obsessed with his own thoughts, upsetting himself with his own ideas. You might want to call for sanity rolls because of this unpleasant monologue (0/1 SAN).

If the investigators accept Cromptons proposition, this might lead them to other adventures in which Crompton acts as a mentor or boss for the investigators. The investigators will however most probably dismiss the old mans ramblings. Jeremiah will then become baffled, as he cannot understand why they chose to miss such a golden opportunity. He will then become angered, and throws them out.

THE END?

This scenario might introduce some interesting quirks to a Call of Cthulhu campaign game. Jeremiah Crompton can become an annoying or even dangerous foe, and the investigators are introduced to the Cthulhu Mythos. If played as part of the character generating process, players will find it easier to tie their investigators together and at the same time get personally involved with the Mythos. The record might be used as a unconventional weapon in later adventures.

STATISTICS

Curt Ransby, age 46, Drunk driver

STR 12 DEX 8 INT 9

CON 11 APP 7 POW 10

SIZ 14 SAN 50 EDU 6

HP: 13
Damage bonus: 1D4
Weapons: Fist/Punch 60%, damage 1D4+db
Skills: Drive Auto 35%, Swear 67%

Patricia Giorgi, age 49, ex. opera singer

STR 8 DEX 12 INT 13

CON 14 APP 14 POW 11

SIZ 12 SAN 47 EDU 13

HP: 13
Weapons: NONE
Skills: Sing 88%, Tell stories about her golden years 92%

Joe Gibbons, age 28, rough P.I

STR 15 DEX 12 INT 14

CON 12 APP 9 POW 16

SIZ 13 SAN 80 EDU 8

HP: 13
Damage bonus: 1D4
Weapons: Fist/Punch 70%, damage 1D4+db
.38 Revolver 40%, damage 1D10

Skills: Spot Hidden 65%, Fast Talk 45%, Listen 60%, Quote cheap fiction books 69%

The hired thugs

STR 13 DEX 9

HP: 14
Damage Bonus: 1D4
Weapons: Fist/Punch 50%, damage 1D4+db
Club 40%, damage 1D6+db
Skills: Follow orders 70%, Remain silent 85%

The Byakhee

STR 19 DEX 15

HP: 14
Damage Bonus: 1D6
Weapons: Clawx2 33%, damage 1D6+db
Bite 36%, damage 1D6 + blood drain (see rulebook)
Armor: 2 points
Sanity loss: 1/1D6

Jeremiah Crompton, age 67, Insane researcher in the mythos

STR 11 DEX 6 INT 17

CON 8 APP 14 POW 19

SIZ 13 SAN 0 EDU 17

HP: 11
Weapons: Antique saber 35%, 1D8+1
Skills: Archaeology 55%, Astronomy 45%, Cthulhu Mythos 21%, History 46%, Library Use 63%, Occult 37%
Spells: Summon/Bind Byakhee, Dread curse of Azatoth, Send Dreams
Artifacts: Bowl made of the copper from above (see Send dreams in the rulebook), Glass from Leng (in which he has seen Azatoth)