Underneath System, Insight Resolution System, Campaign Intro, Encounters, GM Forward.
Ghost Ship / Missing Isle
The Woods
One can imagine that every non-aquatic location on the above map is separated by woods. If the Investigators want to venture into the Woods for any significant length of time, be it to try and shortcut, go around an obstacle, or flee, roll a Woods encounter. When in doubt traversing the woods doubles the travel time.
If walking (dotted line) between driving routes (solid line), multiply the time is takes by 20.
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| By Loch |
Townend Taxidermy
Day 2: At twilight, Eddy goes out back and slits his own throat before the monstrous prey-idol he's made. He becomes the Thing In The Woods - a 4HD creature that stalks the night, and abandons Townend. The deer-hunter taxidermy disappears with him.
Day 4: An A'aqur Cultist parks out front with his great big white pickup truck, scouting for potential sacrificial targets (young women). At night he returns to DeVart, leaving Townend unattended. He has 2 HD.
Appearance: A blocky white building made of concrete and ply metal, like a shipping container. The front exterior contains advertisements for hunting licenses, taxidermy, and beer. 3 kilometers from Townend the Traffic Jam begins west down the highway.
Townend Taxidermy, owned by Eddy Wozniak, is divided into two halves: taxidermy art, and hunting and camping supplies. The later contains much that you would expect from any sports goods store: tents, camo, camping food, etc. The entire back wall is devoted to various firearms. There are more guns and bullets here than a party of investigators can possibly use. When in doubt, each costs 1 Resource.
The former half is full of taxidermy that Eddy has made, ranging from critters big and small. It's decent more often than not. Themes range from the comical (six squirrels playing poker) to the macabre (a deer posed and dressed like a hunter).
Eddy: Quiet, creepy, and extremely wary of outsiders right now, on the inevitable dawn of his ascension. Conjure up a harbinger of doom. Greasy hair receding at the corners, plaid jacket, smells like death if you're too close.
Spook: Pick one player with a higher Empathy or Insight. They hear a dull scratching noise from somewhere in the store, like a nail being scraped against the inside of something big and hollow. Follow it, and it leads to a taxidermy deer. In an Insight vision, it suddenly bends down, dull eyes full of death, and tells this person to RUN. Offer no explanation. Nobody else sees or hears it.
Explanation: Tear open that taxidermy deer, and inside you'll find a skeleton of a dead fetal unicorn, progeny of the Unicorn in the woods. Eddy killed it. It's why he's crazy: he's being haunted by the living Unicorn's vengeance. Pry it out while Eddy is around and he'll definitely try and kill you. He has 2 HD in human form.
The Portrait: At the back of the taxidermy section, there's a painting on the wall. This one:
The Painting: Ask Eddy about it, and he'll say defensively (disregarding the question): "You can't have it. It's mine." He'll punctuate his responses with "You can't have it" in an as offsetting way as you can manage. Ask about unicorns, and he'll give you nothing.
Missing Hunters: Ask Eddy about the missing hunters Matt and Harvey, and he'll tell you what he knows: they came by here a week ago, bought some camping supplies and three cases of beer and went off to the "Henderson Property".
Roadhouse / Perfect Pasty: "Just down the road, over the hill."
Henderson Property: Some folks call it "The Magic Woods". Mr Henderson named it after his favorite basketball star: Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson. He even invited the celebrity to the Woods’ grand opening. Johnson never came, and Henderson was heartbroken. He died shortly after, about fifteen years ago. Not sure who owns it now, but that's where the boys were headed. Eddy can tell you how to get to it: either continue down the highway (through the traffic jam), or loop around on US-41(takes "a few hours"). You'll know it by the welcome sign by the Highway: "Welcome Magic Johnson!"
If Eddy Isn't There: if Eddy isn't there to point the way for the Missing Hunters, consider two options: 1) video surveillance in a back room of Townend that features the boys and conspicuously shows them with a map working out directions with Eddy. 2) Sarah Goodman finds her brothers' Youtube account, in which the last published video shows how to navigate to the Magic Woods. She forwards it to the investigators.
Out Back, The Idol: A small hidden beaten path leads behind Townend Taxidermy. A five minute walk leads to a small clearing in the woods. A horrible stench of decay precedes arrival. There, an idol 15ft high made of rotting carcasses in the monstrous shape of what-is-to-come. At the helm of this monument of flesh of roadkill, gutted animals, and fly-infested skins is a grinning deer skull wrapped in carrion. Eddy refuses to acknowledge or answer questions about this project of his, but if he senses the investigators have messed with it he'll go postal.
Smith's Fishing Supplies
Day 3: Ollie starts suffering from opiate withdrawal symptoms. He will not sleep again until his death.
Day 5: Ollie Smith, during the night, takes some opiates down to the beach and overdoses, killing himself. He is replaced by a Suicide Ghost at his store. As a warning, the Unsettling Mermaid Statue starts bleeding from her eyes.
Appearance: A run-down little store, made of flaky-painted wood, with a dozen broken, rusted, and scavenged old cars sitting out front. Most of them have been torn down to only their frames, with engines and interiors removed. Advertisements for bait and fishing rods on the front windows. There is an Unsettling Mermaid Statue next to the front door.
Unsettling Mermaid Statue: The paint is peeling away, particularly around the eyes. A lot of it has flaked off, pooling around the base. The craftsmanship is, frankly, bad. What was intended to be a beautiful big-chested mermaid has a kind of Simpsons-esque mockery mixed with amateurish gusto. It's the eyes, though, that are really just the worst: soulless wells that look like they contain the hunger of Scylla. Poor Mermaid - she doesn't deserve this.
Interior: Homely and a bit cramped. The store shelves are very close together, and the items are only loosely organized by theme. Fishing and hunting supplies: rods, licenses, trail food, tackle boxes, fly fishing crafts, and hooks. Ollie will usually be sweating behind the counter. It may be because the lack of air conditioning. It may be the opiates.
Ollie Smith: An older man, weathered by his time in the sun. Sweaty from withdrawal. Baseball cap for the "Vikings" - unclear which sports team precisely. Plain ochre T-shirt too big for him. Occasionally socially inappropriate in a way an old man who doesn't realize he's old would behave. He has back pain.
Missing Hunters: Ollie can give you similar info as Eddy above. The kids came by here a few days ago, asking about "weird deer".
Back Room: From the back of the store by the fly fishing craft supplies, a door ajar leading to a dimly lit room. Under the lone lamp light one can see a bloody severed human hand in a vice, perforated by sharp thin hooks like a Hellraiser fascination.
Close Examination of the Hand: It's a replica made of rubber, gore and all. Looks very lifelike, but it's fake. Don't tell the investigators this unless they specifically close to closely examine it. The tension from the initial discovery can be fun.
Turn the Lights on in the Back Room: You can find unlabeled opiate pills in the drawers of the work desk. In the corner buried under a blue tarp is a plaster cast used to make the hand. It's got dried blood around the wrist area - quite a lot of it. This should only be found after a thorough search.
Ask Ollie About the Hand: He'll get a good laugh about it, telling the Investigators it's made of rubber. He wants to use it to catch Pressie - the local Loch Ness monster of Lake Superior. He thinks human hand bait will finally get it.
He won't get the chance, feeling too unwell, but if the Investigators use it, the Human Hand Bait will indeed lure Beach monsters to it. It also works against the Coral Horror in the Ghost Ship, having the faintest traces of saline blood on it.
Information: Ollie can tell you rumors about the Beach, the Lighthouse, and the Ghost Ship.
- Beach: See strange things, particularly at dusk and dawn. Take care, the water's cold. "Lake Superior never gives up her dead." You can find Petosky stones on it, but the beach near town is largely picked clean.
- Lighthouse: "Sharps Point Lighthouse", used to be called "DeVart Lighthouse". It's haunted. Better stay away. Went in there as a kid, with friends. Got separated and lost within it. Beware the Troll.
- Ghost Ship: "Lake Superior never gives up her dead." Cargo ship ran aground a few miles west on the beach. From town: go to the beach, turn left, start walking. It'll take "a few hours" if you're quick.
Smith's Resting Place
Day 5: Ollie Smith's corpse will be out here. (See above)
Out behind the store is the path in the woods leading towards the Lake. A set of old mossy stone steps worn down by feet and time, smoothed in the middle like an ancient library. It's a little slippery. Where the path meets the Beach, between the Lighthouse and Venture, there is a small dock going out into the lake.
The Dock: Small, narrow, an inch submerged into the water. There's a old rowboat in poor condition and a plastic kayak in good condition moored to it. The kayak can seat one, the rowboat six. Taking the rowboat out onto the water without repairs has a 3 in 6 chance of it sinking.
Hidden Boat: If approaching from Smith's Fishing, you'll find a cache hidden in the woods under a camouflage tarp. It's got an upturned motor boat, devoid of gas but in good condition. It's also got a big heavy toolbox with a Good Screwdriver and a Watershed Map, along with a few handfuls of other rusty inferior tools.
The Map: Shows various rivers, streams, and lakes in the immediate area. Seems custom made.
The map suggests the Ghost Ship - Magic Woods - Orange Lake route on the pointcrawl.
Gas Station
Day 3: Sarah Anderson gets in her truck and heads off towards the Roadhouse. She is devoured by the Mysterious White Van while attending the line. In her absence, the gas station is unattended. It becomes dark and spooky, with flickering lights and the darkness of the woods creeping in from the flanks.
An Eccon-Mobile gas station, exactly like any gas station you'd find in the midwest. It's got four pumps full of gas and a convenience store with junk food. It is attended by Sarah Anderson, a bored woman in her mid 30s who really wants to visit the Roadhouse.
Why does she want to visit the Roadhouse? She hears they have the best Pasties in the state. Everybody she knows wants to visit it. People can't get enough!
Ask About Her Father: Any mention of her father (Mr. Anderson) in Superior Assisted Living and she'll shut down. She really doesn't want to talk about it with strangers.
US-41 Highway
A long straight road through the woods, seemingly going on forever, punctuated by the occasionally cross road, leading to who-knows-where. At night, the hypnotic penumbra of darkness comes and goes with the rising and falling of the road, like the waves of the lake, lulling one to the twilight of consciousness.
Roll for encounter 1 in 6 chance every Hour traveling. Include the following special events at your discretion:
Roadkill: Not an uncommon sight. A racoon here, a squirrel there. First it's one, then two, then four pieces of roadkill scattered on the road. Cross the hill and it's seven, then they start appearing in small piles. It starts to be dozens. Then, it's all of them, all at once: a pile of hundreds of pieces of roadkill - a great big pillar of decay sitting right in the middle of the road. If the Investigators are speeding, roll Instinct to avoid plowing right into it.
High Beams: Necessary in the dark, to see the sides of the road. Flick them on, and you'll get a flash of eyes on the margins of the light. Photoreflective like cats' eyes. Dozens of pairs, watching, for just an instant.
Potholes: The road gets bumpy. Potholes everywhere. Getting denser, getting deeper. Causes the car to leap and bump. Makes sounds you know are really bad. Jolts folks awake. It's like the suspension getting hit with bricks. Then the road simply stops. A pothole so big there's no more road. It goes down forever. Insight > 5 : there's people down there. It's you, staring back up. You've fallen in. There's no way out. You're in pothole now: it's your whole world, this pothole. Perhaps some Resolve can get you out...
Blue/Red Lights: Far behind you, police lights flashing away. They must be miles down the road. They stay miles down the road, for however long you drive. It's like they're always getting closer, but they never do. You never see the car, just the lights.
Rocket Man: As the Town encounter: a man in a yellow convertible screaming and laughing manically as he speeds towards a hill at 140mph. For the briefest moment, it seems like he's about to take off like a plane... then he plows straight into a series of pine trees and the car folds like squished butter. It catches fire. The trees catch fire. The car, folded around the truck of a pine tree 50 feet in the air, holds no trace of the man. Stick around, and that fire will start to be a problem. The woods are dry. Nobody will come to put it out.
Police Checkpoint (Progression of Evil): Barricades and car spikes set up across the Highway. The DeVart police have set up checkpoints at the edges of the Everlasting Summer. Nobody gets in or out. Marquette is now locked out. Getting around them in the Woods will take a substantial time commitment. Flashing lights reveal themselves dangerously at the last seconds before the barricade is approached. In the dark it's like getting ambushed. Five cops armed with combat rifles and body armor will question anybody coming through. If they get a whiff that anything illegal is happening, they'll try and rag the Investigators back to the DeVart Jail. 2HD encounter, with two additional dice rolled for damage purposes.
Police Checkpoint (Later Time): At some point in the future, at your discretion, the Checkpoint is slaughtered. Replace the five officers with five corpses. There's blood everywhere. Ghouls feast on their bodies. They'll feast on the Investigators, too.
