Chaosium Digest Volume 4, Number 3 Date: Sunday, September 19, 1993 Number: 3 of 3 Contents: Dolphin Tides (Sandy Antunes) CALL OF CTHULHU -------------------- From: Alex ANTUNES Subject: Dolphin Tides System: Call of Cthulhu Dolphin Tides A short CoC Adventure for any group, any time copyright (C) 1993 by Sandy Antunes, all rights reserved This is a short adventure (one day real time) for any sized group of adventurers, in any century. I have described it for the 1920s, which has the advantage of Prohibition to aid in introductions. The team MUST include an archaeologist. This adventure write-up is divided into five sections: The Player Intro, The Keeper Notes, The Myth of Croatan, Suggested Progression and Final Storm. PLAYER INTRO AND ARRIVAL Miskatonic University has been doing a shoreline dig of some non-Indian ruins found at Falmouth, Cape Cod. The professor on the site is Dr. J. Adamiak, and most of the work is being done by graduate students. Regretfully, Dr. Adamiak's hobby of fishing has led him astray, and he was found along with the remains of his boat -- well, half of him was found, clearly the victim of a shark attack. Thus, the PC archaeologist is being sent out to continue the dig. Since it is such short notice, Miskatonic suggests he/she consider it a vacation and invite a few friends, as the senior grad student can handle most of the actual dig details. The dig team is, in order of seniority: Dr. J. Adamiak, deceased (was rather bookish, not very dedicated) Albert Sherman, ABD (all but degree, a PhD student, from Boston) Marcia Shapley, a PhD student (from Bostonian) George Ericson, a Masters candidate (from Maine) Drew Carson, an undergraduate (from New York) Lyja Miller, an undergraduate (from Scandinavia) Walter Witlow, a PhD candidate-- for the past 12 years (from Arkham)! The team camps out at tents near the site, but have booked a local Inn (much like a Bed and Breakfast) about a mile away for the visitors. The team arrives by train, and are met by Albert and Marcia. The students are friendly and guide them to the Inn, then suggest dinner at a local restaurant. The crowd at the inn is local. It is mostly families, although there is one local fisherman sitting at a corner table clearly drinking alcohol. He is friendly with the staff (he is useful for information and more. His name is Ty Hunter. He is around age 40, bald and smiles a lot). If the team mentions Dr. Adamiak, the students look rather queasy (due to the fact that they saw his remains), but they clearly agree it was a shark. (If verified, the local sherrif, fisherfolk, and everyone agrees it was a shark. It was.) They comment that they (Albert and Marcia) generally ran the dig, while Dr. Adamiak enjoyed taking out a boat and fishing all day (which fits his general reputation in the department as not being very dedicated). If the team wishes to head to the site that night, Albert will smile and say "sure, let me just check with Chris." If the team wishes to go right to their rooms, Albert will say something like "Okay, we'll see you tomorrow, Chris is looking forward to meeting you." Assuming the team is curious about 'Chris', the students will comment on how he washed ashore from a shipwreck two days earlier, and joined the dig to help out. He has been invaluable since dear Dr. Adamiak died, keeping the dig team structured and together. He clearly is a take-charge kind of person, and the grad students follow him. If anyone bothers to talk to a local at this point, there are two choices: the owner of the restaurant, a matronly woman named Margo, or the fisherman Ty Hunter. As Margo is busy with customers, inquisitive investigators will tend to gravitate towards Ty. If they don't bother, then just let them go back to the Inn to sleep. If the investigators insist on going to the dig, Albert will run ahead to notify Chris while Marcia guides them. If somehow prevented, Albert will not run ahead, but the team must be forceful (exerting authority as a professor is very effective). Otherwise, see the Dig description below. At this point, the adventurers will generally go around looking for clues. Remember to keep the NPCs lively. It's a friendly fishing village. FOR THE KEEPER Ty Hunter: Ty is a valuable ally for this, but he should be portrayed as a friendly local fisherman (who likes to drink). He was the fisherman that found Dr. Adamiak's body, so it is likely the investigators will contact him even if they ignore him in the Inn. Ty likes to use a pipe, but doesn't light it (and doesn't explain why. The Keeper knows it is because he dislikes fire). He is quite knowledgeable about the area, and also rather spiritual. Ty lives in a simple cottage, but spends most of his time on his boat. He goes out to fish at night three times a week, which makes him enough to live on (he says he fishes at night with a lantern to attract the fish, a believable enough way to get LOTS of fish). Actually, Ty is a dolphin. The dolphins are quite civilized, and his role is to be the one that walks among mankind, to see how mankind is doing, learn their ways and help the dolphins decide when man will be civilized enough for the two civilizations to make contact. Ty will, if the investigators are friendly enough, talk about the gods of the sea, which he believes all fisherfolk worship "Cause when the waves whip up and storms blow in, you have to pray to something that your boat will make it safely to land." Once the situation peaks, if Ty is still friendly with the players, he will make comments like "You see, dolphins are favored by my God, men by yours, but my God rules over 3/4 of the world. Then again, you folks get the sky, so I suppose it's even." He tends to see the man-god as Zeus and his god as Neptune, but realizes those are just labels. Chris (no last name): Chris is the other main character of this plot. It is important that the initial impressions of him be kept somewhat neutral. Describe Chris as a talk, dark-haired man who moves minimally but smoothly, and is very cool and charismatic. He seems to instantly assess anyone that comes near, is very alert, and tends to take command of a situation. He seems very capable. Chris is not very warm, but is a clever conversationalist. He talks nothing of his past, only that he is a simple fisherman who drifts along the coasts finding work. However, the students will (privately, if queried) tell about some of the old fables he told them. The Keeper should play him as a very suave and charming person, ESPECIALLY to females. Chris is constantly trying to get them into bed. He never lies, but is evasive. See also "Croatan", below. Chris' persuasion skill is extremely high (based on natural charisma and an innate ability to hypnotise/mesmerize). He also carried an unsheathed fisherman's knife quite openly on his belt. The Inn: The Inn is run by an old woman named Alicia, who babbles constantly about her wonderful daughter (currently traveling somewhere), and says nothing of value. The Inn is perhaps a mile from the center of town. One centerpiece of the place is an elephant gun hanging over the fireplace. If it is noticed or if anyone asks her what she does for protection, Alicia talks about what fun her daughter used to have practicing with it. (She can scrounge up 4 rounds of ammo for it.) The Dig by Day: Work at the dig site generally starts around 6am, just after sunrise. The dig site is actually at the shoreline, about a mile from the Inn. There are seven tents, but at present the students use one for equipment and are somewhat paired up. For equipment, they have the standard stuff expected: pickaxes, snorkels, etc. No diving suit is present, but you could hire one in town. The dig consists of two parts: out of water and in water. What seems to be a sort of temple is being unearthed. All that remains now is the floor and the rubble from the fallen walls and ceilings, ie nothing that is visible above ground level. The dating of the ruins is up to the GM. The land part has been cleared away to reveal a plain floor, and most of the rubble has been collected and roughly re-shaped nearby to the original shape of the roof. The workmanship is very solid, but clearly done by a pre-techno society. (See notes on "Croatan", also). At present, the procedure from the dig is to walk around the water gathering pieces carefully to reconstruct the underwater part. A rough idea of the shape of the original (side view) is: --------------- | | | | | "door" -------------- ______________ | |_ | |_ | |________ <--- approx. 2 yard circular opening ^--- approx position of the waterline The land section's floor is inscribed with ornate carvings [Keeper's Choice]. While the students work on the reconstruction, Chris has been at the in-water part trying to clear the sand from the floor section to see the patterns inscribed there (if the team helps, these end up being tridents, fish shapes, and the like- nothing very weird). Chris is skilled at diving, so he is the only one able to stay down for enough time (two minutes per dive!) to make any real headway. What the site really is, is a temple made by local settlers (can be anything, such as Norse) at this site to a local God. The temple was made at his command as a place suitable for worship. A single word was clearly etched on the stone over the entranceway, and Albert will let slip that it was "Croatan" (see below), and then fall silent at a warning look from Chris (yes, this is A Clue). During the Dig, the students will check with Chris for most orders, even if given by a professor. He is clearly in charge. However, equally clearly, the group is happy, works well and seems normal. The Dig By Night: At night, everyone gathers around the fire, eats and talks. It is very normal. Late at night, most everyone retires to bed. Lyja goes to the same tent as Chris (with knowing expressions on the other's faces!), while Albert and Marcia remain by the fire and chat about the dig and such. The investigators are made to feel welcome. If the team stays really late, or wonders why Albert and Marcia are still up, they will find out Albert is just making sure Marcia is okay until Lyja and Chris finish. Then Lyja goes to her tent, Albert to his tent, and Marcia to Chris's tent. None of them seem to see this as odd. The Town: Friendly place. Wing it. Remember the townsfolk (especially the Sheriff) see the team as Strangers, and are not likely to believe in weird happenings. CROATAN The core of this adventure is the story of Croatan. Somewhere between 9650 BC and 3500 BC, Atlantis sank. Prior to this, they were an advanced culture with many fine works, ruled by an Emperor and Empress. The last emperor was named Croatan. The God the Atlantians worshipped was Neptune. When Croatan's wife was killed in a simple, common shark attack, Croatan grew angry that the God of the Sea would allow this. Declaring revenge, he began the systematic slaughter of dolphins, the most beloved creatures of Neptune. By doing so, he broke Natural Law, and angered Neptune. Thus, Neptune called a great storm and sank Atlantis. The few survivors to make it to shore landed at Crete and eventually founded Greek civilization, losing their history in the process. Around 386 BC, Plato wrote about Atlantis (the Greeks were also developers of Natural Law as a theory). But, moving back to Croatan, he was cursed by Neptune for his crime (since just destroying his nation wasn't enough), by being turned into a shark. Neptune (the planet, discovered in 1846) has a year of 164.8 earth years, and a day of 15.8 hours (The planet is a symbol of Neptune, in this game). Part of Croatan's curse is that, if his name is called with respect due to an emperor, he may go to the caller and assume human form. But, he can only do this when the planets are aligned, every 164.8 years. For up to one year from his being called, he can freely change between shark and human form. To break the curse, all he must do is repent (and abase himself before Neptune). However, Croatan's pride is too great, and over the many thousands of years he has become more shark than man. He lives, like any shark, only to Eat and to Breed. He kills dolphins for pleasure, to continue his revenge against Neptune. The idea of repenting (such as, saving a dolphin in distress) is difficult for him to imagine without smiling, due to the great hate he still feels for Neptune, and the great loss he still feels in his heart for his long-dead wife-and-true-love. When the students began work on the dig, they found the pieces from over the door and saw the word Croatan. Speaking it out loud, while feeling great reverence of the value of the site, was enough to enable Croatan to resume human form for a bit. He then easily came up and took the leadership of their group, killing Dr. Adamiak (while in shark form) to secure his hold. He is breeding with the women to ensure they become pregnant and keeping the rest around for support and food. Once the temple excavation is done to his liking and he is sure that both females are pregnant, he will send one male with each to guard them, then eat the rest, do a dark mass against Neptune (see "Final Storm") and return to the sea... at least, that is his plan. This is similar to what happened when he found the Roanoke colony in North Carolina, where he did much the same before killing the males at the end of the year (though one did manage to carve his name in a tree there, either as worship or warning.) The ruins are from another, much older group that once worshipped him. He finds it pleasurable and ironic to excavate his past in this way. A Note on Sharks: Sharks and dolphins do not get along. Your average dolphin will be quick food for your average shark. For this reason, dolphins will attack sharks on sight, especially in packs. In a pack, dolphins can easily kill a shark. Sharks just consider dolphins one of many kinds of food, and do not go after them specifically. Thus, if Chris and Ty ever meet face to face (ie if the Investigators arrange a meeting), Ty will go berserk and try to kill Chris on sight, while Chris will simple defend himself calmly (and is diplomatic enough not to attack back). This is useful for making Ty seem to be the villain of the game... SUGGESTED PROGRESSION Either night one or day one, the team will visit the dig and meet Chris. Also, they will likely ask around about Dr. Adamiak and meet Ty. The dig will reveal clues, as will library searches and the like. Sooner or later, Chris and Ty will meet (if the Investigators do NOT do anything, well, they won't meet, but this assumes the team figures out at least part of the picture). At this point, they will both partially realize what the other is. Chris will realize Ty is a dolphin-were, while Ty will realize Chris is a Shark, but NOT that he is from Atlantis or is Croatan. The average dolphin does not know that tale, though he dolphin high priest might, especially if the players need clues. Ty will likely fail to kill Chris on his first attempt, so will plan that night to gather a pack of dolphins and get him. Ty is sure that they will win, because a pack of dolphins always defeats a lone shark, that's part of natural law. Chris, however, is far more cunning and more powerful than Ty knows and will be able to easily slaughter the bunch. This leads right into the Final Storm. FINAL STORM The night of the fight, Chris will leave the campsite around 12pm, or ten minutes before the investigators arrive (as he does not wish to see them), whichever comes first. If the investigators (for some reason) insist on hanging around the site all night, he will have one or two of the students find a reason to move them away. He will then eat Drew Carson (if you need to foreshadow this or give more clues, you can have him eat Walter Witlow a few days earlier just for fun). The other students just ignore this. His strength now boosted, Chris will order Albert to guard Marcia and take her to safety, and George to guard Lyja and do likewise. These pair will then go to sleep, and around 6am will pack up and head for the mainland. They are in a deep hypnotic trance, with only two orders: Protect the Women and Go Home To The City (and they do still have the pickaxes). That morning, the beach will be strewn with pieces of dead dolphin from the previous night's combat. Chris is nowhere in sight. A storm is slowly starting to come up (summoned by Chris's slaughter, and more). The storm is noticed by the town, "gee, there was no hint of a storm coming but it looks like it'll be a doozy, probably last at least half a day!" Naturally, it will last 15.8 hours. After a few hours, it is near hurricane level and getting worse. Chris is now sitting nude, cross-legged before the temple ruins. Ty, in dolphin form, has been wrapped in barbed wire in the undersea part of the ruins (out of sight, especially with the storm-tossed waves), and is slowly dying. Chris will stay there while the storm gets worse and worse, goading Neptune's fury on. Finally the storm will be bad enough to wipe out the town, Chris will be satisfied and resume shark form and go away, and that's that. Assuming the investigators haven't done anything. A Note about the storm: due to winds and spray, effective gun range is point-blank only, unless you have something really heavy (like an elephant gun). Shooting is at 25% skill for the first round, 50% for the next, 75% for the next, and normal thereafter for that weapon, as you learn to account for the wind. The ONLY way to stop the storm is to rescue Ty. If he is rescued, the storm ends. Otherwise, it wipes out Falmouth. To rescue him, you must go into the waters. Visibility is nearly nothing, the current and undertow is vicious, and the winds are strong. To do so will generally require a roll against strength*5 to keep your feet, and strength*5 again to advance. It will take three sets of rolls-- the first part, the steps, then into the totally underwater part. Because of the barbed wire, freeing Ty is difficult. It will require a strength*2 roll to do this well. If you fail this roll, you can try once more. You will succeed, but are guaranteed to cut yourself heavily on the wire in the attempt. If you choose to do so, you take 4d10 in damage, and if your hit points drop below 0, you will die before you can make it to shore (but you will have freed Ty!) Naturally, this is modified for more people or for smart moves like having someone on shore with a rope and a pickaxes for support (recommended way to handle this: the person on shore must make a roll at strength*5 every time you miss a roll, success indicates you keep your feet and can try again). Chris in combat: His knife skill is 90%, he has 2 attacks per round, and there is no penalty for instantly drawing it. He has 35 hit points (or more or less, as the Keeper wishes) in either shark or human form, can transform forms in about two minutes and regains half his hit points upon completing the transformation. Thus, he is VERY hard to kill. However, if you use hit location, head shot damage is not recovered from when transforming forms (until many hours later). In shark form, he will recover from all damage in about 4 hours (if in the water). In the aftermath, see if the players remember to deal with the students who'd gone back to the city, and the possible future heirs of Atlantis. Note that since Chris WAS human stock, any children would be pure human, not were. That was a curse, not genetic-- Neptune isn't crazy, just aloof. Clearly there are several possible endings, depending on the investigator's approach. If anyone runs this, I'd appreciate knowing how things worked out! EXTRA INFORMATION When Emma and Garrett ran in this, they made friends with Ty quickly and (due to a previous adventure) made the Neptune connection quickly. When it came to the storm, they ran out to the site. Emma, using the Innkeeper's elephant gun and shooting EXTREMELY well, basically massacred the Atlantian. He never even made it into the water, though he did almost finish his transformation into a shark (thus ruining any future plots I might have written around him-- I'd been sure he could escape, not counting on repeated successful aimed head shots in a hurricane!) Garrett then won the toss for entering the water, and with Emma on shore holding the rope, went in and nearly died freeing Ty. Ty was a mess but very grateful the next day. -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's Games. To submit an article, mail to: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu. The old digests are archived on soda.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium, and may be retrieved via FTP. fnord.