Chaosium Digest Volume 30, Number 4 Date: Sunday, January 16, 2000 Number: 5 of 5 ------------------------------ In a Different Light (pt. 5) Visiting the Ghost Town Most of the buildings in the long-abandoned farming village of Crawford's Rise still stand, although all items of value have long since been taken. Investigators are free to roam about this ghost town for as long as they wish, but there is little of interest to unearth. Most of the houses and shops remaining are humble one story structures, severely aged by their exposure to the elements. One somewhat more grand dwelling can be found: a large Gothic country house with discolored walls. This was the home of a semi-retired Arkham Professor of Anthropology by the name of Edgar Jamison. Jamison held a strong scholarly interest in the unusual indigenous tribe that once lived near The Rise. He retired here in the 1850's to continue his study of them at a more leisurely pace. The notebooks outlining his research remain in the study of the house, evidently passed over by looters as worthless. Reading Jamison's notes takes the Investigators several hours, but in that time they learn a number of things. Firstly the notes cover the lifestyle and religious beliefs of the tribe in minuscule detail. Assimilating this multitude of observations is simple (an INT x 5 roll should suffice), and provides the reader with all the facts described in the "Mythology and Religion of Massachusetts Indians" volume. The notebook also contains an extensive record of the rituals of the Indians, including a full version of the chant found in the Liber Ivonis. The brief annotation outlining the purpose of the chant is also included. Finally, the back of the last notebook contains some sketchy notes on the events leading up to the Sudbury Disappearance that may prove valuable to Investigators. It was not long after the departure of the dark-skinned merchant, relate the notes, that locals began to go missing. At first the folk of The Rise treated these nocturnal disappearances as isolated accidents or secretly motivated departures. As time wore on, the frequency of these strange vanishings increased, and the consternation of the villagers increased. It was not until a dozen or more townsfolk had gone missing that Jamison realized the parallels between these happenings and the Indian tales of abduction by the light spirits. He surmised that somehow the presence of the weird lamps had awoken these spirits. In his last entry in the book, he resolves to convince the townsfolk the lanterns are evil and that they must be destroyed. Besides the Jamison house, the only other place of interest in Crawford's Rise is the town common. Although the site of the great bonfire Jed describes is now long overgrown with spindly and unhealthy-looking grass, it is still possible to see the ring of blackened stones which contained the fire. Furthermore, closer investigations reveal that the earth within the circle is covered with a grainy blackish ash. Analyzing this substance reveals it to be essentially identical to the phosphorescent lamp coating (see "The Cave" below for more). The Cave Investigators eager to explore the cave from which Professor Duncan fetched his phosphorescent powder find it easy to locate. The hill noted on Duncan's crude map lies less than a mile north of Crawford's Rise. The weirdly hemispherical bulk of this hill, named Eye Bone Hill by locals, overshadows the ghost town casting an even more sinister air upon the place. Halfway up the northern side of Eye Bone Hill, amid some rather unstable rocky outcroppings, lies a partly obscured entrance. Beyond, a narrow tunnel descends at a shallow gradient. After approximately twenty feet, this tunnel opens out into a huge cavern. Almost no sunlight graces the cave, requiring Investigators to use their own illumination. When light of any sort strikes the uneven walls of the cavern they begin to glow with a soft light. This light has all the qualities of Duncan's street lamps. Examining the walls up close reveals them to be caked with the same powder used in the Professor's constructions. Tons of the curious whitish powder are present, all of it producing pineal awakening radiation once light has touched it. The number of "exposure points" accumulated by remaining in the presence of this unholy fluorescence is five times as much as from one of Duncan's lamps. The landscape that an Investigator perceives to exist in the large central region of the cavern depends on whether he or she is possessed of an active pineal gland. In the case that a cave explorer's third eye has not been awakened, the cave will appear empty aside from the abundant fluorescent powder. Such Investigators who move into the central region of the cave begin to feel cold and slimy surfaces blocking their progress. These surfaces are totally invisible, yet are clearly physically present. Investigators who navigate their way around these unseen pillars soon find themselves at the base of an equally invisible flight of ascending stairs. These steps are treacherous because of their slimy texture, but any explorer ascending slowly enough is in no danger. After a dozen or so steps, the stairs end, apparently at a platform of some sort. Investigators brave enough to explore this invisible plateau of slimy rock, soon find themselves brushing against some form of unseen hair or fur. The hair seems coarse and warm to the touch. Any further progress toward the center of the cave is barred by a huge and uneven wall of this hairy texture. Investigators exploring this invisible landscape should suffer some small loss of sanity, the exact amount depending on how far they explore. As a guide, this should be 1D4 at most. If, on the other hand, an Investigator venturing into the cave possesses an activated pineal gland, they will perceive a more alien vista. Amid all the usual chaos of floating transparent jelly-things can be seen a weird and non-Euclidean structure. Huge and twisted pillars of purple-veined stone fill the central area, rising all the way to the ceiling far above. The veins in this stone seem to writhe back and forth within the rock to some unheard rhythm. The pillars are placed in a seemingly random arrangement forming a forest of stone. Beyond this forest, in the very central part of the cave, stands a raised dais of the same stone with stairs leading up to its summit on all sides. From the cave entrance it is difficult to see what lies atop this dais. Those who proceed beyond the forest of pillars, however, can clearly make out the details of the hideous creature that motionlessly sits atop the dais. The Great Old One appears as a massive conglomeration of black tentacles, each covered in a disgusting uneven mat of red fur. Up close it is apparent that the individual hairs that make up the 'fur' are themselves minute tendrils covered with even smaller protuberance. SAN loss for seeing this sleeping evil is 1D3/1D10. In the air surrounding the Great Old One fly three Dissolvers and eight Renders. These creatures mercilessly attack any Investigator with an active pineal who ventures closer than the edge of the pillar forest. If an Investigator takes a sample of the fluorescent powder from the cave and subjects it to scientific testing, they obtain some curious results. Firstly the powder is not actually a mineral at all, but a conglomeration of tiny microorganisms. These microorganisms are totally unknown to science. Experiments which expose the organisms to electromagnetic radiation learn that somehow they are able to re-radiate more than twice as much energy as they absorb. No scientific explanation is available as to where the additional energy comes from. Another observation arising from testing is that the organisms themselves seem impossible to kill. Testers can expose them to extreme heat, extreme cold, radiation, and any number of chemicals, to no apparent effect save a change in the powder's color. Night of Many Awakenings Short of remarkable resourcefulness on the part of the Investigators, the hideous revival of the thing beneath Eye Bone Hill will take place the night following the murder of Wojtek Przedworski. No action available to the Investigators can stop this occurring. They may, however, possess enough information (in the form of Eibon's chant) to ensure that the Great Old One's awakening is short lived. Successfully using this ancient magic to achieve this end requires the Investigators to be present at the hill as the eldritch sleeper rouses. Luckily, the reappearance of the elusive Professor Duncan, a man they're sure to want to catch up with, should lead them to be in the right place at the right time. Unless the Investigators have destroyed the street lamps in Walnut Street, the night of the awakening is also a night of carnage in Arkham. Five Southside residents go insane, two will be found murdered and mutilated in a now-familiar fashion, and another two will simply disappear. Tales of strange happenings witnessed in the street will scream from the front page of the Advertiser the following morning. In all likelihood, however, the Investigators will have other more pressing matters to contend with by then. Duncan on the Telephone In the wake of the confusion caused by this latest set of terrible murders, the Investigators are likely to be stumped. In all likelihood all their leads have dried up by this point, leaving only a desperate desire to somehow stop these horrible visitations. Into this frantic situation comes a ray of hope in the form of the perhaps-long-awaited second contact from the unpredictable Professor Duncan. While one or more of the Investigators are at home, or in some public place possessed of a telephone, the harsh metallic ring pierces their desperate thoughts. Answering the imperative mechanical call, a voice is heard -- scratchy, unmodulated, but undeniably bearing a hint of a Scottish accent. The caller speaks quickly, almost incoherently. In a wild, almost hysterical scream he tells the Investigator "Tonight, it must be tonight. The horrible thing has been eating all too well. I know that now. I think it's almost ready. Meet me outside the Municipal Works Warehouse at seven tonight." The Investigators will probably seek clarification from this elusive character. Duncan is largely unresponsive to questions asked of him, continuing instead with his monologue. Any concerted effort to elicit information results in the strained voice going suddenly silent. After a moment of this stark quiet, Duncan mutters in a dull drone "Oh my Lord, I have made a terrible mistake." With that, the connection is broken. Even in the case that Investigators do not push the point with Duncan, something they do or say should ultimately trip this paranoid reaction. Something, it could be anything, will make him suddenly "realize" that the Investigators have been working with the terrible monstrosities all along, and that the hints he has given them have already endangered his plan. His resolve now shifts towards carrying out his plan unaided, and perhaps to destroy the foul agents in the process. Duncan Over The Edge At seven o'clock, the Investigators will probably be waiting patiently beneath the murky street-lighting outside the ugly gray Municipal Works Warehouse for their promised meeting with Duncan. As time passes it becomes obvious that their elusive quarry/ally will not show. Seven comes and goes, as does half-past. Just as the Investigators are ready to give up and leave the site of the arranged meeting, the scene suddenly erupts into action. >From within the Works Warehouse, the sounds of a motor starting up can be heard, closely followed by the loud impatient noises of a puttering revving. And then, without any warning, all hell breaks loose. The wooden door which takes up almost a third of the street frontage of the Warehouse suddenly disintegrates into tinder-wood as a large, powerful truck is rammed through its face. Any Investigators standing outside this part of the Warehouse must Dodge or be struck by the rampaging vehicle (for 1D10 Damage). Looking at the cab of the truck, swift Investigators can just catch a glimpse of the face of the insane driver. Even despite its obvious thinning of face, prickly white stubble and sagging reddened eyes, it is familiar to everyone who has seen a photograph of Graham Duncan. A thoroughly insane light dances in his eyes, some kind of idiot resolve stronger than anything a sane man can hold within his heart. The truck, its sides painted with "Arkham Council" rapidly zooms away from the scene of the carnage, weaving erratically through the streets in a westerly direction. Investigators with vehicles nearby may wish to give chase. They may readily do so, but the Keeper should bear in mind that the main purpose of such pursuit is to draw the Investigators to Eye Bone Hill and the climactic closing scenes of the scenario. Hence, Investigators should probably not have the opportunity to stop or overtake the Professor's vehicle. The concluding sections that Duncan arrives at the site of the immanent awakening several minutes ahead of any Investigators. If for some reason the Professor is somehow stopped or otherwise prevented from executing his plan, see the box titled "Duncan Foiled" nearby. Groups of Investigators who don't have vehicles at hand when Duncan's truck rattles past them can still effectively follow the Professor. Any success at an Idea roll guesses correctly that given the truck's westerly velocity, Duncan's likely destination is the region surrounding Crawford's Rise. Investigators who make this connection and proceed to the Rise by whatever form of transport is available to them, observe activity on Eye Bone Hill as soon as they arrive. Exactly what they see taking place depends on when they arrive. Use the Showdown scenario presented below modified so that the first happenings after Duncan's arrival have already been played out. If Duncan has fully executed his plan before the Investigators arrive, assume he has been trapped and killed, the latest victim of the servitors. [Duncan Foiled If by some means the Investigators have prevented the Professor from carrying out his plan, the Keeper may be required to alter the scenario climax. Exactly how great a modification is necessary depends on whether the Investigators have destroyed the Walnut Street lights or not. In the case that one or more of these pineal-awakening lamps still shine, the Great Old One's revival will still take place tonight. One or more of its servitors will bring active pineal bodies to the sleeper, fresh from the murderous happenings in Southside. These morsels of occult sustenance will be the last the being requires to shake off its aeons of slumber. Awakened, the thing forces its way out of the cave shrine, causing a landslide similar to the one the Professor's plan would have induced. From this point onwards, the plot proceeds as in the normal resolution. Alternatively, if Duncan's plans are foiled and the Walnut Street lamps have all been destroyed, the Investigators have effectively prevented the awakening of the Great Old One. That is, of course, until such time as it is fed its last pineal meal. And who knows just when that might be?] Showdown at the Cave By the time the Investigators arrive on the scene, Duncan has already scaled midway up the side of Eye Bone Hill to near where the cave entrance is located. His silhouette is clearly visible in the strong light of the full moon. As his pursuers ascend after him (or watch him), the Professor inexpertly lays several explosive charges around the cave mouth. Once the desperate Duncan catches sight or sound of close pursuit he redoubles his efforts to hastily complete the deployment of the charges. Unless Investigators manage to sneak up behind him and catch him unawares, the Professor will detonate the explosives before anybody can prevent him doing so. It is only once the charges have been set off that Duncan's lack of demolitions expertise becomes manifestly obvious. For, rather than causing the cavern entrance to collapse, the blasts actually destabilize a large area of rock surrounding the opening. The result is a small landslide: hundreds of tons of rock and dirt slip down the western face of the hill, sweeping Duncan and any other hill climbers in its wake. Everybody caught up in the landslide suffers 1D6 damage as they are buffeted down to the base of the hill. Once the dust clears, onlookers witness an altered scene. Firstly, the once narrow cave opening is now approximately fifty feet wide. Light from the full moon overhead spills gently into the opening and thus into the cavern within. A much stronger green-tinged light issues forth from the hole, phosphorescence from the cave walls. The whole vista seems drenched in this illumination, its quality reminiscent of the street lamps. This light seems, however, considerably brighter and more pervasive. It is a strong pineal stimulus. Each minute of exposure to this evil illumination causes the accumulation of exposure points equal to twice an Investigator's POW. Investigators with awakened pineal bodies, or whose glands are surreptitiously activated by the sudden light from the cave, see that six Renders and two Dissolvers now float about the mouth of the cave. As onlookers watch, two of these creatures separate from the group and begin to make forays against individuals whose active glands contain the food their master needs. Since the sleeper needs but one more meal before he can rouse from his slumber, the roving servitors will attack with some desperation. If the hunting servitors are slain, replacements from the company guarding the cave will take their place and continue the attack. A likely target for attack is the now-helpless Professor Duncan. He lies trapped beneath stone and rubble at the foot of the hill not far from any Investigators similarly swept down the hillside. Only his head and one shoulder protrude above the pile of rock. He has only 5 hit points remaining. Investigators searching for the partly-buried Professor need a successful Spot Hidden roll. One such roll can be attempted per round. It takes six man-rounds to dig the weary academic out from his stony prison. The pineal-hungry servitors will continue to harass those at the base of the hill until their master has received his last meal. This can occur in several ways. Firstly the creatures may scoop a functioning gland from the still-warm brain of anybody slain under the shadow of Eye Bone Hill. Professor Duncan will be a likely target, being incapacitated and already weak. The other potential source of the sleeper's last meal is the people of Walnut Street. If any of Duncan's street lights still shines over the accursed street, Renders and Dissolvers will murder more residents to obtain the last glands their master needs. If this source of sustenance is still open, a Dissolver with the needed food will arrive at the hill fifteen rounds after the explosion. Once the servitor bearing a captured pineal is safely in the cave, all others will also withdraw into the cavern to await their master's revival. The Sleeper Stirs The full awakening of the Great Old One beneath Eye Bone Hill will take quite some time even after it consumes the final morsel of food. It is during this time, while the sleeper is only partly awake, that the Investigators still have a chance of preventing the monstrosity from attaining permanent freedom. Even having consumed the occult substances it obtained from the human pineal bodies, the thing still requires a second unearthly reagent before its revival is permanent: the non-electromagnetic radiation emitted by the invisible living star Xoth. If, through stealing the thing's perceptual faculties, the Investigators deny the sleeper of this weird light, the Great Old One's awakening will be limited to a mere three hours. After this time, the thing will retreat back into its shrine, there to descend again into slumber awaiting a more fortuitous time to reenter the world. Immediately following the sleeper's consumption of the last pineal, changes begin taking place within the cave. The hundred black tentacles, each patchily coated with uneven red hair, begin to move slowly and rhythmically. Their movement is in time with the same unheard music to which the column veins sway. The sleeper's attendants, the remaining dissolving monstrosities and their rending brethren, dance in a curiously asymmetrical pattern around the base of their master's podium. After ten minutes, the Great Old One slowly begins to move from his place of rest. A hundred tentacles, each covered with a thousand smaller tendrils, begin to slowly draw the thing from the podium and down the stairway closest to the now-huge opening to the world outside. Once its snail's-pace of slimy locomotion has lead it to this threshold it halts. The hideous form, bathed in the evil green light from the cavern, is now visible to all at the hill's foot who can sense the non-electromagnetic radiation the thing reflects. Those unfortunates who witness the waving, twitching tentacles of the Great Old One suffer a SAN loss of 1D6/1D20. An Investigator who has already lost SAN for previously witnessing the thing's inanimate form only suffer a 1D3/1D10 loss now. The partly woken sleeper will remain at the threshold for almost three hours, almost motionless, gently swaying its tentacles at the stars unseen. This time is a perfect opportunity for Investigators to use Eibon's chant to capture the perceptions of the blasphemous being. To effectively guide the net of magical energy to wholly encapsulate the alien creature requires that the spell caster climb to within a dozen feet of the cave entrance. While this may seem a dangerous proposition, it is actually safe. During this stage of the Great Old One's awakening it will attack no one, instead intent on bathing in the alien glow of its home world. The visions that a successful caster steal are utterly alien in nature: half-dreams of outre cities which are at once too organic and too asymmetric, vistas of non-Euclidean geometric shapes, visions of squirming living dead things, and a myriad of other less identifiable sensations. Successfully depriving the entity of its perceptions for more than half of its appointed waking time (i.e., an hour and a half) ultimately has the desired effect. At the end of its three hours of waiting, the Great Old One will blindly retreat into its cave shrine. As it does so, it emits a curious cry, half gurgling half high pitch wailing. Once inside the cavern, the unspeakable thing will feel its way through the rock forest and ascend the stone dais. It will enigmatically wait there for several minutes, tentacles and tendrils flailing wildly about, ejecting caustic clouds in all directions. After ten minutes, this frantic violence stops quite suddenly. The Great Old One has voluntarily lapsed into its safe state of inanimacy, content to wait until such time as the stars are closer to their appointed patterns. Investigators with a more violent or desperate bent may attempt to use physical force against the partly awakened thing. This is a dangerous proposition. As soon as any damage is done to their master, all remaining servitors emerge from the cave to protect it. It may, however, still be possible to force the revived Great Old One back into its shrine. If Investigators manage to reduce the thing's hit points to zero, it will retreat into the cave as described above. In this instance it will likewise descend into inanimacy awaiting a more suitable time for its awakening. If the Investigators do not manage to successfully deprive the creature of its perceptions for at least an hour and a half, and do not drive the thing off with weapons, they have failed. The black tentacled monstrosity, tendrils waving with a new-found freedom, will slither down the side of Eye Bone Hill, now completely awake. Unless the Investigators interfere, the thing, looking disgustingly like an enormous mass of writhing black hairy worms, will make its way toward a small wood a half mile north of the hill. There it will brood and make unknowable plans for the demise of local populations. Conclusion The Investigators succeed in this scenario by either completely halting the awakening of the creature beneath Eye Bone Hill, or making the thing's awakening brief. The former can be achieved only by destroying every one of Duncan's street lamps before the requisite number of pineal glands has been collected and preventing Duncan's suicidal plan. Investigators achieving this are awarded 2D6 SAN each, as well as an additional 1D10 SAN if they understood the nature of the thing beneath the hill. The second, and far more likely method by which success may be achieved is by using either Eibon's Chant or physical damage to force the awakened thing back into its cave shrine. The SAN reward for achieving this is 1D20 -- Investigators will have more than deserved it. If the Investigators fail to contain the worm thing's awakening, the consequences are potentially severe and long term. While a single lesser Great Old One is nowhere near powerful enough to consider overtly subjugating the local populace, covert violence against humanity is a definite possibility. The number of disappearances in and around Arkham will skyrocket as the awakened blasphemy makes ready the way for others of its race to return. Investigators who link the sudden rash of disappearances with their failure stand to lose 1D6 SAN. Regardless of whether the Investigators succeed or fail, the disappearances and insanity on Walnut Street continue so long as some of Duncan's street lights remain. While the Renders will no longer stalk the street (they hunt only for their master's food), the Dissolvers will certainly still be interested in eating those humans it can perceive. For a similar reason, the lands around Eye Bone Hill will not be safe until the gaping hole in the hillside is somehow covered. Investigators may get a nasty shock if they have succeeded in this scenario but continue to read news of disappearances that seem related. Statistics Michael Farr, insane astronomer STR 10 CON 12 SIZ 14 INT 16 POW 18 DEX 7 APP 10 EDU 18 SAN 12 HP 13 Skills: Astronomy 95%, Spot Hidden 55% Georgio Caruso, fated Milk Deliverer STR 15 CON 14 SIZ 18 INT 10 POW 17 DEX 11 APP 14 EDU 9 SAN 43 HP 16 Damage Bonus: +1D6 Weapons: All at base chances. Skills: Accounting 35%, Fast Talk 50%, Locksmith 80% Shepley Herber, book seller STR 11 CON 14 SIZ 13 INT 17 POW 11 DEX 14 APP 15 EDU 12 SAN 65 HP 14 Damage Bonus: 0 Weapons: Baseball Bat 45%, damage 1D8; .45 Revolver 25%, damage 1D10+2 Skills: Bargain 75%, Fast Talk 60%, Natural History 20% Wojtek Przedworski, blind and insane witness STR 6 CON 5 SIZ 13 INT 10 POW 17 DEX 12 APP 9 EDU 11 SAN 8 HP 9 Skills: Scream Incoherently 80% Jed Ashcroft, apiarist STR 13 CON 18 SIZ 17 INT 12 POW 15 DEX 13 APP 9 EDU 13 SAN 74 HP 18 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Weapons: 12-gauge Shotgun (two barrel) 55%, damage 4D6/2D6/1D6 Skills: Avoid Bee-sting 60%, Drive Auto 40%, Natural History 65% Graham Duncan, Bostonian Professor of Engineering STR 14 CON 12 SIZ 18 INT 18 POW 13 DEX 11 APP 6 EDU 20 SAN 4 HP 11 Damage Bonus: 0 Weapons: .32 Revolver 30%, damage 1D8; Pocketknife 40%, damage 1D3 Skills: Electrical Repair 100%, Cthulhu Mythos 7%, Library Use 60% Eight Renders #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 STR 13 14 15 17 12 16 16 11 CON 14 10 14 12 12 16 13 12 SIZ 44 48 36 44 44 38 39 40 INT 7 7 8 3 6 11 6 4 POW 2 3 6 6 1 6 6 1 DEX 16 14 10 15 12 15 19 13 HP 29 29 25 28 28 27 26 26 Move --------------------10 -------------------- Damage Bonus +3D6 +3D6 +2D6 +3D6 +2D6 +2D6 +2D6 +2D6 Weapons: Tentacle (x5) 45%, Damage 1D10 + db + 1D6 per round target held Armor: When incorporeal, Renders take no damage from physical attacks. When corporeal their tentacles have 3 points. Spells: none Sanity Loss: 1/1D6 Three Dissolvers #1 #2 #3 STR 44 44 45 CON 31 39 34 SIZ 82 81 80 INT 9 4 6 POW 5 4 10 DEX 11 10 10 HP 57 60 57 Move ------- 8 ------ Damage Bonus +7D6 +7D6 +7D6 Weapons: Envelop 100%, immediate damage is db. All non-enchanted earthly material dissolved in two rounds. Armor: Invulnerable to physical attack when incorporeal. Otherwise 3 points. Also impaling weapons do minimum damage. Regenerates 5hp per round. Spells: none Sanity Loss: 1D3/1D10 The Sleeper, Great Old One The creature that sleeps beneath Eye Bone Hill is a lesser member of the alien race of beings which counts Cthulhu as its High Priest and Leader. Being a less powerful individual of the species, the mystical forces that bind the Great Old Ones "until the stars are right" hold this being less strongly. Thus, it can conceivably arise slightly before the appointed time. The Sleeping Great Old One is entirely invisible to normal vision. However, humans with developed pineal-sight may view the thing's gruesome visage. In appearance the being reminds the observer of nothing so much as an enormous knot of writhing hairy worms. A hundred tentacles, each coated with countless smaller red hairlike tendrils, comprise the thing's body. It has no eyes, or any other sensory organ to which humanity might relate. Nor does the being have a mouth, instead absorbing its food through the million sucker-like protuberances which grace the ubiquitous red tendrils. These protuberances can break down most organic matter by excreting a highly caustic powder (actually a conglomeration of micro organisms). Investigators unfortunate enough to find themselves in combat with the tentacled monstrosity will have a hard time. Firstly, the thing has at least sixteen tentacles that can be simultaneously used to attack, although each must strike against a different (man sized) target. The Great Old One, unlike its servitor races, is fully capable of sensing any human in any illumination, pineal-awakening or otherwise. Thus, anybody is a fair target. Besides the tentacle attack, the thing may attempt to crush opponents with its sheer weight. Unrestrained targets of this attack should be allowed some manner of Dodge Roll to avoid this attack. The Sleeper's final mode of attack is to cause all the suckers on a single tentacle to eject a 10 foot spherical clouds of caustic excreta. This is the standard manner by which it purges unwanted substances from its body. Anyone unlucky enough to find themselves in a cloud of excreta not only takes damage, but can be blinded for a short period of time. Targets must match their CON against the cloud's POT of 12. Failure means the individual is blinded for one round per 5 he or she failed the roll by. Once the caustic 'powder' has been exposed to air for more than a few minutes it begins to lose its corrosive properties. It is this unreactive form of the Great Old One's excreta which adorns all corners of the thing's cave shrine, not to mention Duncan's street lamps. STR 32 CON 50 SIZ 40 INT 26 POW 25 DEX 11 Move 8 HP 45 Damage Bonus: +3D6 Weapons: Tentacle 80%, damage db x2 + 1D3 caustic excreta damage per round Crush 100%, damage 8D6 Caustic Excreta Cloud 75%, damage 3D3 + blinding Armor: No armor, but all physical attacks do minimum damage. Additionally, the Sleeper can regenerate 2 hits per round, although it cannot regenerate damage done to a severed tentacle. Spells: All Call and Contact spells. Sanity Loss: 1D6/1D20 Sanity points to see the Sleeper awakened. --