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Der Läuterer

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  1. HORROR ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS

    Chaosium - 1991 / 2014 - CoC4 (Box) / CoC7 (Box)*

    CLASSIC 1920 SETTING --- Jan. - March 1923 ---

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    1st Edition 206 pages + 16 pages handouts + 28 pages NPCs

    2nd Edition 816 pages + 196 pages handouts + 94 pages NPCs

     

    From that sky, bizarre and livid,

    Distorted as your destiny,

    What thoughts into your empty soul

    Descend? Answer me, libertine.

    - Insatiably avid

    For the dark and the uncertain,

    I shall not whimper like Ovid

    Chased from his Latin paradise.

    Skies torn like the shores of the sea,

    You are the mirror of my pride;

    Your vast clouds in mourning

    Are the black hearses of my dreams,

    And your gleams are the reflection

    Of the Hell which delights my heart.

    --- Charles Baudelaire, The Flowers of Evil ---

     

    BOOK I: The Campaign Book

     

    BOOK II: Through The Alps

     

    Dancers in an Evening Fog

    Locations: London, England

    SYNOPSIS:

    The investigators attend the prestigious Challenger Trust Banquet-Lecture given by Professor Smith, at the Oriental Club, regarding the phenomenon of hauntings.

     

     

    Professor Julius Arthur Smith, Litt.D., Ph.D., is a heavy-set Englishman and a former world-traveler. He is an expert on European and Middle Eastern languages, known for his public lectures on history and archaeology. Recently he has begun an extensive study of so-called paranormal phenomena in hopes of applying the techniques and disciplines of modern science to the topic.

    During the lecture, the investigators notice that they are observed by a foreign looking man with a large bushy mustache - Mr. Mehmet Makryat.

     

    Mehmet Makryat is the son of a powerful Turkish family. He runs a shabby shop in Islington, but appears to be connected with a network of smuggling and other illicit activity in London.

    Before they can confront him, he disappeares into the audience. Little do they know that they will soon be drawn into a web of intrigue, death, and trainspotting. When the professor disappeares, the investigators must pierce together the mystery surrounding and his recent unusual behavior. The next day begins with a front-page article in the Times of London. Three men, all identical in identification, were found dead in the same room of the Chelsea Arms. All were dispatched in a similar manner - stabbed through the heart. One of the professor's former students, Wallis Hilton, is hideously murdered by agents of Mehmet Makryat. Wallis is replaced by an imposter wearing Wallis's own skin as a disguise. Then the home of Professor Smith burns to the ground, severely burning him in the process. Professor Smith gives the investigators instructions regarding a statue, the Sedefkar Simulacrum.

     

    The Sedefkar Simulacrum is an ancient humanoid statue of immense evil power, split into pieces in Paris at the end of the 18th century, and scattered across Europe. The last known owner was a noble, Comte Fenalik, who lost it just prior to the French Revolution. One piece of the statue can be located in Poissy, on the former grounds of Fenalik's villa. Another piece was sold to someone from Milan; now in the la Scala opera house. Napoleon's soldiers carried a piece into Venice when they invaded the city. It was sold to Alvise de Gremanci. Another piece made its way to Trieste at the same time. Smith does not know what became of it, but advised to look up Johann Winckelmann at the museum there. There may be a piece in Serbia. Smith advises the investigators to start at the Belgrade Museum. Dr. Milovan Todorovic is the curator. One piece was lost near Sofia during the Bulgarian War in 1875. At the time things of value were hidden from the invaders, so it may be buried somewhere. In order to destoy the Simulacrum, it must be taken back to its original home, a place in Constantinople known as the Shunned Mosque. There are niches there, in which it once lay.

    A ritual which will destroy the statue utterly is included in a set of documents known as the Sedefkar Scrolls. While hunting for the fragments of the sinister statue based around an avatar of Nyarlathothep, the investigators will experience the supernatural. They investigate the attack on their friend, Professor Smith and the triple homicide of Mehmet Makryat. Each corpse contained an identical telegram sent from Paris. And each of the three corpses had been partially skinned by the Brotherhood of Skin - one, the torso; one, the arms; and the last, the legs.

     

    The Brotherhood of Skin is a vicious and secretive cult that worships the Skinless One - avatar of Nyarlathotep. The main cult is based in Istanbul but some foreign members have established smaller sub cults all across Europe. The cult was formed during the 19th century, by the scholar and future cult leader; Selim Markyat. As of 1920 the Brothers have became increasingly engaged in the search for the Sedefkar Simulacrum. The headquarters of the cult are situated under the ruined Red Mosque. Many of the cult's ceremonies revolve around the skinning and mutilating of their still living victims. Once every decade the Brothers engage in a huge ritual to summon the Skinless One, during which up to one hundred freshly flayed human sacrifices are offered to their god. Some of the high ranking cult members extend their lives through the use of the Transfer Organ Spell. This method is not without its drawbacks since the users are left with a large amount of unsightly scars. At times of great importance or danger the Brothers sometimes create a powerful creature known as a Skin Beast to destroy cult enemies or act as a guardian.

    When they look over Makryat’s ledgers, they see that the last item purchased was a Wrightson special-commission train set, sold to Mr. Henry Stanley for one pound. The train had been purchased from the estate of Randolph Alexis months before. No other trains, toys, or anything of the sort had ever been sold or purchased in the shop. Randolph Alexis, was an occultist with links to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight. His son Albert, was also a member of these groups. The senior died in a train derailment while traveling to Liverpool in 1897, while junior disappeared from his home in 1917 - all that was left was a few drops of dried blood, and a room full of smoke.

     

    Doom Train, the

    Locations: London, England

    Creatures: Zombie (Dead Passanger in the Doom Train)

    SYNOPSIS:

    In the Spring of 1897 a passenger train set on the Liverpool-London line derailed in a terrible accident, the front four cars falling into the Thames to be washed away without a trace.

     

    In the winter of 1921 Professor Julius Smith had been corresponding with an Albert Alexis on the subject of mysterious disappearances. Albert believed his own father, Randolph had vanished, years ago, rather than being killed in the 1897 train wreck. Now Albert himself has gone missing. The investigators go on the trail of an elaborate train set assembled by Albert, which has ended up in the hands of a Turkish merchant, Mahmet Makryat. This train set is somehow linked to the 1897 disaster which did not destroy the train, but sent it adrift in time and space as the result of a botched ritual performed by Randolph Alexis.

     

    In 1897 Randolph Alexis, a murderous sorcerer, attempted to flee creditors and other unknown threats by opening a portal through multi-dimensional space. It all went wrong and he was lost in time and space.

    Albert, Randolph's son discovered his father's occult notes and came to believe that he vanished due to supernatural forces rather than dying in a train wreck.

     

    Albert Alexis' interest in and knowledge about strange disappearances brought him into contact with Professor Smith. Albert had used a toy train set as part of his own ritual to reach his father, but succeeded only long enough to be taken aboard himself. Unfortunately when he finally mastered enough occult lore to reach his father, he was also swept onto the Doom Train.

    The front half of the train is still in the pocket dimension, where it has spent the last thirty years chugging around in empty space. When Albert gets run down by the train - in his room, during the unsuccessful attempt to resummon the train to the real world via the enchanted model railroad set - the investigators, following a slender lead from a newspaper article, investigate and find themselves sucked into the train's world. They have to flee the spectral passengers into the only safe place on the train. In order to get back to the real world, the investigators have to play with the model railroad set made out of human remains, gliding a human heart across the proxy track in order to return the train to the real world.

    The scenario feels like a good classic Victorian ghost story but it has no relevance to the plot.

     

    *Blood Red Fez, a

    Setting: 1890s

    Locations: From London to Constantinople

    SYNOPSIS:

    The investigators meet the young Professor Smith, Mehmet Makryat’s father and the Jigsaw Prince. And they are only on the train with nowhere else to go. The investigators are confronted with an evil cult, a cursed artifact with bizarre powers, a mysterious tome and an otherworldly entity trying to enter our plane of existence.

    This scenario is a prequel to the Horror On The Orient Express campaign, and is intended to be played as a flashback.

     

    Fleurs du Mal, les

    Locations: Paris, Poissy, France

    Creatures: Vampire

    SYNOPSIS:

    The investigators arrive in Paris, and begin their search for the mysterious Sedefkar Simulacrum, with some leads to chase down, and there's only one place to begin: the Bibliothèque Nationale, one of the greatest libraries in the world, where they meet Remi Vangeim, a student at the Sorbonne, who wants to be an essayist but in the meantime needs a way to pay the bills. Unfortunately, even the greatest library in the world won't give up its secrets lightly. As the investigators go through ancient records to track down the original owner of the Sedefkar Simulacrum, Count Fenalik.

     

    Fenalik - Comte Fenalichque - was the last known owner of the intact Sedefkar Simulacrum. He was a German-born French nobleman who resided in Paris, and who was known for excesses of every kind. He lost the statue just prior to the French Revolution. Research on count Fenalik at the Bibliothèque Nationale reveals a number of court histories that refer to some unspecified scandal in the queen's court. The count's mansion at Poissy was raided. The count was arrested, deemed insane and sentenced to life imprisonment inside the Charenton Asylum, where he was left to rot and be forgotten - but no death date was ever recorded.

    Diary of a member of the Queen's court

     

    Dating from June 1789: "The Comte was like a sun amongst us, shedding his light and making all rejoice in his pleasures. His feasts are said to be the most lavish and lascivious yet seen in our city... (illegible part) It was then that it became apparent that much evil was afoot, and the Queen became angered. The King's men did raid the house, and much was destroyed, and the Comte was arrested... (the rest is illegible)."

    Diary of Louis Malon, the captain who led the assault on Fenalik's mansion

    "When we arrived, the feast was still in progress, men and women were rutting like rabid dogs. We chased them out, arresting the ones who were not able to vouch for themselves. I sent Huilliam and five others to capture the Comte, while I entered the chambers beneath. I cannot bring myself to describe what I saw there, save that we had entered a cesspool and it was Hell. God protect us. Many devices of torture lay in many chambers. One of my men found what looked like a strange Nuremberg Virgin, which was locked. Fearing to find a fresh occupant, we smashed it open, but within we found only a stinking refuse of some poor wretch long-dead. It was a dark day when noble vermin such as Fenalik did descend upon Poissy, and if God does not punish him for his sins, then the King surely will. It was with a just heart that I did give the order to burn the house and those who remained within, though the Comte did howl and scream as though his very soul was burning. We then took him to the place that would be his new home. There may he rot."

    Journal of Lucien Rigault, a physician to the Queen

    "Two nights later the soldiers of the King went in force to the Comte's villa, to halt his excesses. After they burned his mansion, they brought the Comte before the King's deputy, who then ordered me present to deliver an opinion. Comte Fenalik was screaming and writhing; it was easy to see that he was mad. As a nobleman and a madman, he could not be executed, so I suggested that a merciful King might place Fenalik in Charenton. The King's deputy apparently decided upon this course, and arranged that Fenalik be taken there. Later the King expressed his approval, and the disposition was made permanent. The last I learned of him was that he had been locked away in a cellar, because he had attacked other patients."

    The count's old estate in Poissy, a suburb west of Paris, is a well documented architectural oddity - a potpourri of architectural styles and had been built over by the Lorien family. The Loriens have heard of the Sedefkar Simulacrum, specifically a letter from a man named Edgar Wellington that discussed a scroll. The family had been suffering from a string of bad luck. Unusually, they all seemed to get injured in their left arm quite a lot. Searching the basement of the estate, the investigators discover an unmapped cellar area. In the count's dungeon they find the left arm of the Simulacrum. In the Charenton asylum the investigators discover the journal of the former director, Etienne Delplace. He described one of the guards finding some sort of strange patient in the basement, and bringing him up to his private wing. A week later, Delplace died of electrocution in his own shock therapy chair, while the inmate had disappeared.

    Fenalik is actually an unnatural creature of unknown capabilities. He has managed to survive his imprisonment of 134 years and may possibly be much older. He appears able to alter his form to that of animals, swarms of vermin, or a wave of darkness and feeds off both the flesh and spiritual essence of living creatures. He avoids light and holy words and may have a vulnerability to iron or silver. People he slays may rise from the grave as his 'children'. He seeks to regain the statue, which he calls his 'armor', and has his children in a cave outside of Poissy, acting on his behalf.

     

     

    *Dreamlands Express, the

    Locations: Dreamlands

    SYNOPSIS:

    The investigators find a mighty artifact that is quite useful against the undead antagonist. Locations the Dreamlands train stops at are: Ulthar, Dylath-Leen, Zar, Aphorat, Thalarion, Xura, Aira, Sona-Nyl, and Serannian.

    The scenario has almost no relevance to the plot.

     

    Nocture

    Locations: Lausenne, Switzerland

    SYNOPSIS:

    The investigators chase the Scroll of the Head - another component required to make the Simulacrum work, and investigate Dream Lausanne. Here they get some eerie foreshadowing of what's coming up for them and face a powerful enemy in a battle of words, get a lot of hints towards things to come and discover the first of five important scrolls.

     

    The investigators visit Edgar Wellington, a stuffer. He bought the scroll from a Frenchman during the Great War. But they are not alone; another man is also interested in buying the scroll; Duc Jean Floressas des Esseintes.

     

    The Duc is a an aristocrat, a free lance sorcerer, and a high ranking member of the cult of the Brothers of the Skin. He also is a ruler in Dream Lausanne, where he calls himself the Jigsaw Prince. A man sharing the same name and title was found to have lived in Paris some time ago, although if it was the same man he would be 90 now, and not 40. That man was mentioned in a string of unsolved murders, although he never was convicted of anything.

    The investigators find a green bottle full of a strange, muddy looking concoction labelled 'Dream Lausenne', and Edgar’s diary, a chronicle of Edgar's pain in his everyday life, his addiction to morphine, and his discovery of Dream Lausenne through the Duc. The Duc provided him with the dream drug, saying it would combat insomnia, but Edgar quickly discovered that it was another Lausenne, and that anything he held in his hands as he slept would go to Dream Lausenne with him.

     

    Note for Note

    Locations: Milan, Italy

    SYNOPSIS:

    The investigators visit Caterina Cavollaro, an opera singer whom they have met on the train. She is performing the title role of Aida at La Scala. But when they arrive they hear about her kidnapping and explore the inside of the opera house the night before a performance.

     

    An opera singer with a pure, beautiful voice is kidnapped by a cultist, who then removes her voicebox with a spell and replaces his own with it in order to sing along to a particular opera - not to summon Cthulhu, or to complete a spell. The investigators are only able to witness her ruin at the very end, when the villain is ripped to shreds by another villain.

    In this scenario the players lose control of their investigators. They only become passive and inactive observers in a number of scenes they go through, without any chance to affect the scene around them.

  2. "Wir können Ihnen nur noch Suiten in der 4ten Etage anbieten, Madame." Der Mann am Empfang näselt ein wenig, während er die Belegungspläne des Hotels studiert. Und er fügt sofort hinzu "Unser Hotel verfügt selbstverständlich über zwei Aufzüge."

     

    "Wenn Sie telefonieren möchten haben wir dort..." er zeigt nach rechts "... die Telefonzellen unseres Hauses."

     

    http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/reporters-in-telephone-booths-in-white-everett.jpg

     

    "Wie lange gedenken die Herrschaften hier zu verweilen?"

  3. DARK DESIGNS

    Chaosium - 1991 - CoC4

    GASLIGHT 1890 SETTING

    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

    Straight lines and right angles are simply straight lines and right angles the world over, but the delicate and particular curves of a town slowly reared on a certain spot have a priceless wealth of suggestion pertaining to place and people; a suggestion which makes every narrow, devious hillside lane, rich with its mellow limning of antique, characteristick doorways and windows and chimneys and gables, a veritable gateway of memory and mystery... London! Majestick, ineffable, and immemorial!

    --- H.P. Lovecraft ---

     

    Eyes for the Blind

    Locations: Twyford station and train, Berkshire, Cornwall, London, Avebury, Silbury Hill, gypsy fairgrounds

    Creatures: Zombie, The Green Man

    Tomes and Artifacts: Necronomicon

    SYNOPSIS:

    A gentle breeze wafts across Platform Five of Twyford Station. You wait for the ten o'clock train for Henley-on-Thames, for soon the Henley Royal Regatta begins. Attending the regatta is in high fashion, and patronized by royalty. Not only tremendously entertaining, the regatta is an important meeting-place of contacts, both business and casual. The train arrives bearing a single first-class car, as usual for runs during the regatta. Everyone gets aboard, taking their seats, and the journey begins. Clacking rails pass below. A tunnel approaches, quiet darkness falls, and two men die - a blind man and a stockbroker.

     

    A cabal of sorcerers, lead by a 450 year old wizard who lives with a gypsy fair, has plans to raise the Dulcarnon - the 'intermediary life-spirit of Britain'. Their plans involve the construction of an effigy called The Green Man, which will house a part of the spirit when it is awakened. The murder on the train is a part of these nefarious plans, and by investigating the odd deaths the investigators become drawn into a complex trail of clues across several different parts of Britain. The ancient wizard has an unusual magical ability: while his body is severely aged and frail, he can see through the eyes of any of an army of (apparently blind) zombie corpses which are slaves to his will. Thus, as the investigators pursue their investigation they have an odd collection of mysterious blind men with tinted spectacles closely following their movements.

    The scenario is suitable for vets only.

    Surprises even hardened Cthulhu players - RECOMMENDED

     

    The Menace from Sumatra

    Locations: London

    Creatures: The Thing from Beyond

    SYNOPSIS:

    A blind man dressed in rags stumbles into Hyde Park police station and expires in front of the investigators, but not before exhorting them to 'save Susan'. The strange blue vapour surrounding the man, as well as the fact that he possesses no eyeballs, compels them to investigate further.

     

    On a recent expedition to the Western coast of Sumatra, a pair of British scientists discovered a strange blue fungus, associated with a Mythos god called Vibur. While one of the principals seemed to fall under the terrible influence of the primitive natives the other fled with his wife, afraid for their lives. They made their way back to London, but unbeknownst to them they were pursued by a contingent of cultists and their god. Ultimately these unpleasant forces captured the unfortunate scientist, infecting him with the terrible spores of the fungus. His wife managed to escape such a fate, but became amnesiac from the shock, and is still wandering the streets of London in confusion. The infected scientist ultimately escaped his captivity only to expire in the police station during the opening scene of the adventure.

     

    Lord of the Dance

    Locations: London Underground, Cornwall, Thaxted, Tollesbury

    Creatures: Byakhee, Dimensional Shambler, Zoog, Hound of Tindalos, The Child

    SYNOPSIS:

    Dorothy Amis, a relative or acquaintance of the investigators, has suddenly become 'bereft of reason' for no apparent cause. So bad is her condition that she has been confined to a private nursing home in Kent. Discovered huddled in an unfinished tunnel which forms part of the London Underground, questions have obviously been asked as to the circumstances behind her curious madness. It is up to the investigators to unearth the truth.

     

    The previous attempt to summon the Dulcarnon - the 'spirit of Britain' - was thwarted in Eyes For The Blind, but not all of the cabal of sorcerers were defeated. A survivor is trying once again to bring part of this mystical spirit into the world although in a less ambitious fashion. His plan involves channelling a portion of the Dulcarnon into a painter with the expectation that the artist will be able to both wield its power and form the template for an army of beings under the survivor's control. Unfortunately, the initiation was witnessed by Dorothy Amis, whose sanity was so shaken that she was confined to a nursing home. In the meantime, the painter's body has been moved to Cornwall and his mind and soul are imprisoned somewhere in the Dreamlands.

     

  4. ST IVES

    Porthminster Hotel,

    The Terrace, Porthminster Beach

    Montag, der 16.07.1928

     

    http://photos.francisfrith.com/frith/st-ives-the-porthminster-hotel-1928_81181.jpg

     

    Ein schönes Hotel. Viktorianischer Baustil.

    Das Hotel ist ruhig gelegen...

    ... in luftiger Höhe über der Bucht...

    ... und angenehm kühl.

     

    Mit einem herrlichen Blick auf den Strand und das Meer...

     

    http://www.hungouttodry.co.uk/userimages/Porthminster%20Beach%20St%20Ives%20Cornwall.jpg

    • Like 2
  5. ST IVES

    Westspitze Cornwalls

    Montag, der 16.07.1928

     

    Das Klima hier ist angenehm. Die Schwüle wird vom Wind verweht. Die sanfte Brise kühlt Eure Haut, obwohl es immer noch sehr heiss ist.

     

    Die Stadt ist weder gross noch klein. Alles ist überschaubar.

     

    Der Hafen quillt über von Boten...

     

    http://www.stivesjumbo.com/userimages/archive1900.JPG

     

    http://www.cornwalls.co.uk/photos/data/media/6/stives_harbour_vintage.jpg

     

    ... kleine Fischerboote.

     

    http://www.cornwalls.co.uk/photos/data/thumbnails/6/st_ives_fish_gutting_1890.jpg

    • Like 1
  6. "D' wirscht nisch meh' schachern mit de Mischpoke, verschtande?" Die anderen beiden Juden drängen sich an Dir vorbei, schieben Dich aus der Vorratskammer und setzen unbeirrt ihren Weg durch die Küche fort.

     

    Am Boden der Kammer liegt ein Mann in einer Ecke, dem ein wenig die Visage zerbeult wurde, mit blutiger Nase.

     

    Einer der beiden Juden räumt im Vorbeigehen noch Töpfe, Pfannen und Geschirr vom Herd und von den Anrichten und Schränken in der Küche ab, so dass der Boden mit Essen und Scherben übersät ist. "Baaah! Wasch fü' 'ne Sauerei! D' musch hier ma' schrubbe un' rischtig saube' mache, D' Schmock."

     

    Als sie an Matilde vorbei gehen, verbeugen sie sich kurz "Schalom." und verlassen dann ebenfalls die Küche.

     

    http://images.tvtoday.de/imedia/0505/3760505,3x+YXwlRdvSU5UZz+387kZT0gWeNoUd7u5VeFots4ypEssHpb5SKvshXFDuiM_EX3N6yzWPcsnPbPTcyKeq6BA==.jpg

  7. "Nischt is hier losch, Ische"

     

    http://images.jm-hohenems.at/imagegallery/images/Displaced_Persons/f-dis-146.jpg

     

    Der Mann mit den langen Schläfenlocken kommt langsam auf Matilde zu. Seine dunklen, fast schwarzen Augen sind unter der breiten Hutkrempe kaum zu sehen. Im Vorbeigehen rämpelt er Ove mit der linken Schulter hart an "Vorsischt! Pasch doch uff, Bube." geht weiter auf Matilde zu und verbeugt sich kurz "Schalom." und geht ohne ein weiteres Wort aus der Küche.

    • Like 1
  8. Plötzlich schwingt die Tür zur Vorratskammer auf und einer der Juden tritt heraus. Er wischt sich seine Hände mit einer weissen Serviette ab, während er auf seine Hände schaut.

     

    Als er Dich wahrnimmt, schaut er kurz zu Dir hoch "Wasch glotschst so?" und reibt weiter seine Hände.

     

    Dann wirft er Dir provokant die zusammengeknüllte Serviette an die Brust und Du siehst, als sie am Boden liegt, dass sie blutverschmiert ist...

    • Like 1
  9. Die Küche scheint menschenleer zu sein. Doch dann seht Ihr einen verschüchterten Mann, offensichtlich der Koch des Restaurants, in einem Eck stehen, der an einem Handtuch herum nestelt und Euch nicht beachtet.

     

    Dann hört Ihr "Hasch's g'hört, D' Schmock?" aus einem Raum nebenan... gefolgt von einem klatschenden Geräusch und einem fast gleichzeitigem Stöhnen.

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