Chaosium Digest Volume 25, Number 1 Date: Sunday, April 5, 1998 Number: 5 of 5 Contents: >From Foreign Shores, Part 5 (Paul Williams) CALL OF CTHULHU -------------------- From: "Paul Williams" Subject: From Foreign Shores, Part 5 System: Call of Cthulhu Scene 51: The God awakens! At some point during the Investigators' exploration the magic chaining Father Dagon fades, releasing him from a four thousand-year slumber. Wherever the Investigators are in the tomb they feel the walls and floor vibrate heavily for a few moments. Then everything stops and a deathly silence hangs over the tomb. Seconds later a loud and bloodcurdling roar echoes through the tomb, its source unknown. Hearing so alien a sound in such claustrophobic conditions causes the Investigator to make a SAN roll or lose 1d2 SAN points. Father Dragon has been released in the main shrine and the only passageway he can take is the one to the outside world. Unfortunately he tries to widen one of the other passageways first and begins to smash the walls, sending vibrations throughout the entire tomb. He keeps this up for several minutes before giving up and going outside. If the Investigators rush straight to the shrine they see Father Dagon in his full horror and must make appropriate SAN checks. Should they delay in investigating then when they arrive they see the shrine covered in pieces of fallen masonry and notice that the large statue of the fish-man god Oannes is missing. The horrifying implications of this are enough for the Investigators to make a SAN roll or lose 1d2 SAN points. Unless Father Dagon is stopped by the Investigators he marches through the desert towards the temple the Investigators visited earlier in their investigations. Along the way he destroys three villages and devours their populations. Four thousand years of hunger needs to be sated, remember. Once at the temple he enters the pool and travels along the tunnels to the Mediterranean Sea, emerging roughly one month later. Investigators who willingly shy away from destroying him and eventually return to civilisation soon find out about the massacred villages and must make SAN checks or lose 1d4 SAN through knowing that they could possibly have prevented the wanton destruction. Scene 52: Epilogue Once the foul Father Dagon has been thwarted the Investigators are free to leave the tomb. Come dawn the tomb reseals itself for another four thousand years, shutting off its ghastly inhabitants from the world of man. The horror is over, for now. Getting back to Alexandria should be a matter of course for the intrepid Investigators and once there they are free to depart back to America armed with more knowledge of the Cthulhu Mythos. Hopefully the Investigators have made some good friends in Alexandria and will feel the urge to visit the land of Egypt again in the future. They have no trouble removing the Mythos books or items they have acquired from Egypt and the trip back is uneventful, and indeed extremely boring, compared to the adventures they have had in the last week. And Professor Hutchinson? He is tried under Islamic law and found not guilty of murder. The case regarding the missing students is listed as Death by Unknown Causes and is generally attributed to a cave-in in an underground tomb. The professor is sent back to America. On the journey back he jumps ship into the Atlantic two days before it docks in Boston and is never heard from again. The story is reported in the Arkham papers. Scene 53: Recovering SAN Throughout the adventure the Investigators can recover some of their SAN by defeating the various Mythos creatures they encounter. Defeating the cultists in the desert is worth only 1d6 San points, as is fighting off the Sand People (the first because they are human, the second because the only possible way out of the situation is to flee). For completing the entire adventure and protecting the world from Father Dagon for a few more millennia each Investigator receives an extra ld20 SAN points, on lop of the rewards for defeating Father Dagon. THE END? ** APPENDIX A: TOMES & SPELLS THE DARK TRUTHS OF THE EGYPTIAN PEOPLE - In Latin, Septimus Philo, c. 325 Although not a true Mythos tome, it accurately describes several Egyptian legends, which have a basis in the Mythos. Some of the stories, such as that of the great sphinx, are well known to historians as a myth but others, such as the real nature of the Sea People, are not known at all. The author claims to have travelled to Egypt and seen many unspeakable sights with his own eyes but his location descriptions are very vague and only one site has a temple as described by the author. Sanity loss 1d2/1d4 Sanity points, Cthulhu Mythos +3 percentile, spell multiplier x2 Spells: - Bringing Life to the Children of the Stars (Summon/Bind Fire Vampire). - Invoke the Power of Thoth (Call/Dismiss Azathoth). - Summon Forth the Howling Wind of the Underworld (Contact Flying Polyp). PAPYRUS SCRAP FOUND AT CEREMONY in Arabic, unknown, c. 1458 This is little more than a scrap of papyrus containing a spell. The villagers who worship Dagon use the spell when they wish to make contact with his children, the deep ones. Anyone skimming the text will immediately know that virtually the entire text is one long ritual although the exact nature of the ritual is unknown. Sanity loss 1/d2 Sanity points, Cthulhu Mythos +1 percentile, spell multiplier x4 Spells: - Ritual to Bring Forth People from the Western Sea (contact Deep One). GEMHETEP PAPYRUS [originally appeared in White Dwarf magazine] in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Gemhetep, 1437BC A powerful sorcerer wrote this papyrus in the time shortly after the Black Pharaoh reigned. It covers standard Egyptian topics, such as rites for embalming the dead, giving the dead protection in the afterlife and also for bringing their spirit back to the mundane world. A section at the back covers Egyptian alchemy and lists instructions and ingredients needed to create a number of poisons and elixirs. Sanity loss 1d8/2d8 Sanity points, Cthulhu Mythos +15 percentile, spell multiplier x5 Spells: - Chant of Attracting the Nomads of the Endless Desert (contact Sand-Dweller). - Incantation of Gaining the Wisdom of Thoth (Contact Nyarlathotep). - Sacred Compound of Revealing the Things that cannot be seen (Powder of Ibn-Ghazi). - Spreading the Spawn of Apep upon the Earth (Summon/Bind Hunting Horror). - The Magical Elixir of Journeying to the Home of the Gods (Brew Space Mead). RITUAL OF CONTACTING THE GREAT FATHER (Contact Father Dagon) This ritual must be cast within twenty miles of a deep one settlement if the caster wishes it to work. Once cast the caster receives a vision from Father Dragon when he next sleeps. Whether the vision is beneficial, meaningful, or even relevant to the caster is up to the individual Keeper. Using the spell and having the subsequent vision costs the caster 1d4 SAN points. ** APPENDIX B: STATISTICS BLACK PHARAOH ASSASSIN STR 12 CON 14 SIZ 12 INT 11 POW 10 DEX 10 Move 8, HP 13, Sanity Points 0 Weapons: Dagger 50%, damage 1d4+2 Garrotte 20%, damage 1d3 choke per round, STR vs. STR to break free Skills: Archaeology 5%, Astronomy 5%, Conceal 45%, Cthulhu Mythos 35%, Hide 75%, listen 55%, Occult 20%, Other Language (English) 15%, Sneak 60%, Spot Hidden 45% BYAKHEE STR 19 CON 9 SIZ 17 INT 9 POW 11 DEX 13 Move 5/20 flying, HP 13 Sanity loss 1/1d6 Weapons: Claw 35%, damage 1d6+1d6 Bite 35%, damage 1d6 + blood drain Armour: 2 points of fur and rough hide Skills: Listen 50%, Spot Hidden 50% CULTIST PRIEST Attributes are all 11, except POW 15 Move 8, HP 11, Sanity Points 0 Weapons: Punch 55%, damage 1d3 Dagger 45%, damage 1d4+ 2 Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 15%, Occult 40%, Speak Arabic 55%, Speak English 20%, Spot Hidden 20% Spells: Summon/Bind Byakhee, Contact Deep Ones, Contact Cthulhu TYPICAL CULTISTS Attributes are all 11 Move 8, HP 11, Sanity Points 20 Weapons: Punch 55%, damage 1d3 Rifle 30%, damage 1d6+2 Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Occult 20%, Speak Arabic 55%, Speak English 20%, Spot Hidden 30% SAND DWELLERS STR 10 CON 13 SIZ 17 INT 10 POW 11 DEX 13 Move 8, HP 15, Sanity Loss 0/1d6 Weapons: Claw 30%, damage 1d6 +1d4 Armour: 3 points of rough hide Skills: Hide 60%, Sneak 50%, Spot Hidden 50% SHOGGOTH STR 62 CON 14 SIZ 75 INT 3 POW 10 DEX 4 Move 10 rolling, HP 59, Sanity Loss: 1d6/1d20 Weapons: Crush 80%, damage 8d6 Armour: none but (1) Fire and electrical attacks do only half damage; (2) physical weapons such as firearms do only 1 point of damage, impaling or not; (3) it regenerates 2 hit points per round. FORMLESS SPAWN STR 17 CON 14 SIZ 26 INT 17 POW 15 DEX 19 Move 12, HP 20, Sanity loss 1/1d10 Weapons: Whip* 90%, damage 1d6 Tentacle** 60%, damage 2d6 Bludgeon 20%, damage 2d6 Bite 30%, damage special * May seek to Grapple rather than do damage, range is the Spawn's SIZ in yards. ** May strike 1d3 opponents in a round, and may seek to Grapple rather than do damage; range equals the Spawn's SIZ in yards. Armour: They are immune to all physical weapons, even enchanted ones and wounds made by them simply snap closed after being opened. Spells may affect them, as may fire, chemicals and other forces. FATHER DAGON STR 52 CON 50 SIZ 60 INT 20 POW 30 DEX 20 Move 10, HP 65, Sanity loss 1/1d10 Weapons: Claw 80%, damage 7d6 Armour: 6 point skin Spells: although Father Dagon knows many spells he is hungry and confused after his long imprisonment and will not use any during this adventure. --