Unspeakable Journeys

[gwangi32]

Hello all!

 

We begin the first journey in 1925. I plan to keep the timeline going and maybe one day we will be playing Cthulhu Modern. I will be using the relatively large set of sources I have kept since I began playing the first edition of Call of Cthulhu. I will be using the rules found in the Hardcover edition 5.6.1, Chaosium Inc, Petersen and Willis, 1999/2001, for resolving combat and most character related dice rolling, creation and advancement. I am open to the use of other sources including d20 which can be resolved in PM or email.

 

We have a discussion and question thread for the game as well which is routine action. If you want to join, I feel that up to five characters at any time is within my span of control, though it will depend on the adventure of course.

 

February 18, 1925: It's cold in Bedford Falls in the winter. That's always been the case. But Arny Gilley felt it more now that he was older. And why did he have to go out in the cold anyway. This rich feller Cornthwaite, he had money and more money. If he wanted to get out of this cold who could blame him. And Cornthwaite didn't need to check in with the Dodge Brothers. They weren't his mama after all. Snickering at the thought Arny walked up to the door of the old mansion. It had always been a bad luck place he thought. I wouldn't want to winter here all alone. No one answered the knock. No one answered when he used the key and opened the door and looked in, but something kept Arny from going to far into the house to look around. A smell or a feeling kept him within a few feet of the door. After calling out a couple more times he backed out of the house. With a sigh of relief he went back to his horse drawn sled. Clicking his tongue he got his mare, Russet, trotting back toward town. Shivering from something a bit more than the cold he looked back once. Well the Dodge Brothers should be satisfied that their client had left town anyway and he had definitely earned some drinking money.

[gwangi32]

Friday; February 20, 1925; 10:30 a.m.; the office of Kyle Kolchack in the offices of the Midwestern News and Reports located in the Cinnibar Building, downtown Kansas City, MO

 

Kyle Kolchack is young to be the editor of a magazine. That's the first thought of most people who meet him. But he believes in the power of the press and has a nose for news. He advanced on some eastern paper and caught the eye of Brewster Charlton the millionaire cattleman that owned this news magazine. Between stock reports and agricutural news there is room for some very special stories.

 

Sherman Kyle Kolchack is your current boss. He is supportive and demanding at the same time. He called you in to say that there was a big story. He has sent you to see a strange thing or two since you took this job. The weirdest was down into Louisianna. The work pays better than your last two jobs and you have much more freedom to report what you see and believe.

 

Ray Your presence was requested the previous day. Apparently an archaeologist of your aquaintance has turned up missing. The missing man is named Arthur Cornthwaite, you had corresponded with him on your current research into the Mound Builder Cultures of the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys. You know Mr. Cornthwaite through seminars and correspondence. Most recently he had sent you a note that new research opportunities in South America had caught his attention and might shed light on the origins of the Mound Builders, that note had come in 1923. You know that Cornthwaite follows a fringe line of reasoning that says that the mounds were constructed by Atlanteans in line with stories told by Lefcadio Hearn. He has a mound on the property he owns in Bedford Falls, IL which is north of St. Loius and you have had an open invitation to visit that mound since a seminar at Miskatonic University in 1921.

 

Toth The previous day you had been told of a missing persons case by your supervisor. A millionaire who went to South America and came back under a cloud. There is the possibility that this Arthur Cornthwaite found some big Aztec or Inca or whatever treasure, killed his partners and snuck back into the country. He has been behaving squirrely since he got back in 1924, now he has gone missing. A magazine editor that is known to your supervisor is sending a team to look into the story and you are to join up and go along. Look into the matter and keep your eyes open.

 

Mr. Kolchack says "Gentlemen I know this much one of you is an FBI man, one a scientist and one a hard working journalist. You will be together for a bit and can get to know each other later. Right now let me tell you what I have on Arthur Cornthwiaite." He paused to light a cigar, he is sitting behind a big desk and you are in chairs, comfortably cushioned looking over the desk at him. "Cornthwaite is an archaeologist of private means, he's rolling in the dough. He bought this place in Bedford Falls in 1919. Because he doesn't answer to any institution he allows himself to be pretty wild in his theories. One of these was something about a lost tribe in South America and some other stuff about ties to North America. A couple years ago a happy go lucky Cornthwaite goes to South America. When he comes back he isn't happy anymore."

 

Kolchack leans forward and puts his cigar down in the ashtray. "I think there is something going on here. It may ne criminal and it may be odd. I want the story and I want the truth. I have been in touch with the Dodge Brothers in Bedford Falls. They are old friends of mine and sent me a telegram two days ago. They had been trying to talk to Cornthwaite for a whlie and sent someone out to the house that day. No one was home."

 

Taking the cigar Mr. Kolchack leans back. Blowing out a cloud of smoke he finsihes with, "There are three train tickets to St Louis on the desk and fifty dollars for expenses. If it costs more bill me when you get back. The train leaves tomorrow at 8 o'clock. There is a car at the station and a driver. You'll have a drive north. Meet with the Dodge Brothers and they'll give you keys and directions. Plan on staying at the house until at least Tuesday. The retunr tickets are in the package as well. By the way, Cornthwaite and Mr. Charleton were friends or at least well known to one another. Questions anyone?"

[Unglef]

"Yes, sir, I have a question," replies a man in his early thirties. He has a solid frame, black hair which is greying at the temples, and is wearing a tan suit. A snap-brim hat is in his left hand. "Who are these Dodge Brothers you are speaking of?"

[Froggy the Great]

Sherman Lorder, a youngish man with a sandy-colored bowl cut, looks up from his notes. "So something happened to this Corthwaite in South America and now he's possibly disappeared. "This had better turn out to be more of a story than that poltergeist story you sent me on when I lost a bet on the World Cup last year. Turned out to be the neighbor's cat..."

[gwangi32]

"Yes, sir, I have a question," replies a man in his early thirties. He has a solid frame, black hair which is greying at the temples, and is wearing a tan suit. A snap-brim hat is in his left hand. "Who are these Dodge Brothers you are speaking of?"

 

Kolchack exhales a streamer of smoke and says, "Walter, Reginald and Herbert Dodge run a law and accounting firm out of Bedford Falls. They oversee Arthur Cornthwaite's assets and were worried when business matters began to slide because they couldn't get in touch with him. Cornthwaite may have left the country but they have no clue as to the whereabouts of their client and are understandably worried."

[gwangi32]

Sherman Lorder, a youngish man with a sandy-colored bowl cut, looks up from his notes. "So something happened to this Corthwaite in South America and now he's possibly disappeared. "This had better turn out to be more of a story than that poltergeist story you sent me on when I lost a bet on the World Cup last year. Turned out to be the neighbor's cat..."

 

(Looking from Toth to Sherman) Kolchack smiles at the memory. "Sherm, you know that not everything turns into a story worth telling," he pauses for effect, "but this one has a mysterious disappearance, a wealthy man and some sort of foreign business dealings. I'd say that a story worth telling is hiding in their somewhere."

 

Taking a deep puff from his cigar he gets up, offers his hand to each man and says goodbye. He hands Sherman the train tickets, an envelope and a copy of the Bedford Falls Gazette, a weekly paper with the date for yesterday (Thursday, 19FEB25).

[Outkast Samurai]

Leaning forward to shake Kolchak's hand, Ray smiles a tight lipped smile. "Well let's hope that a minor dissapearing act on Aurthur's part is really all this is."

He runs a rough hand through his short, dark brown hair temporarily lost in thought. "Story or not let's hope there is something there to clue us into where Aurthur may have gotten off to," Ray continued under his breath "or what he's gotten into."

[Unglef]

"Good to meet you, Mr. Kolchak," Toth says with a smile. When the newsboss is gone, he turns to the others. "Since we're working together on this, we might as well make introductions right now. My name is Toth Gamor. I am an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. All I know about this case is that Mr. Cornthwaite has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Either of you fellows know anything else?"

[Outkast Samurai]

"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Toth," Ray says extending his hand to the agent. "My name is Humphrey Bullick but everyone calls me Ray. I would likely be the one that Mr. Kolchak refered to as the scientist but to be more specific that would be archeologist. I know Arthur from his work on the Moundbuilder cultures and have written with him about a few different theories over the years. The last that I had heard from him was that he had come upon something interesting in South America that may shed a bit of light on where the Moundbuilders came from and what the purpose of the mounds are."

Ray stands up after shaking Toth's hand and stretches. "Arthur has always had some rather strange ideas about the origins of things and that isn't always healthy. Not everything you dig up can be put back."

[Unglef]

Toth shakes Ray's hand. "What exactly is a Moundbuilder, Mr. Bullick? Do they have anything to do with Mr. Cornthwaite's disappearance, you think?"

[Froggy the Great]

"I'm beginning to think that they do,"says Sherman. "The paper here says that he's missed church for a few weeks, the police found nothing alarming at his home, and they speculate that he's gone either on vacation without telling anyone or that he's off adventuring again. This is all a load of hooey that's tiptoeing around the fact that they haven't a damn clue what happened."

[Outkast Samurai]

"No I doubt they had a real clue as to what may have happened and are looking for the best excuse that they can grasp." Ray leans back in his chair. "The Moundbuilders are an ancient civilization that built huge earthen mounds. No one is certain why they did this although there have been many theories varying from a complex burial means to alien contact. There have been mounds discovered all over. In fact there is a town in West Virginia called Moundsville after one of the mounds there."

[gwangi32]

As you stand in the hallway outside Kolchack's office a young woman approaches. "Gentlemen, Mr. Kolchack requested that I inform you that your contact on arrival at the St. Loius trainstation will be Axel McGruder. He will have a vehicle capable of carrying the three of you and limited baggage. I will be staying in Bedford Falls on Monday. If you decide that photographs need to be taken contact me at the Verity House. I will be there until Wednesday evening. Good day."

 

She turns and walks away.

[Unglef]

"Well, boys, sems like we have some help on this thing," Toth says with a smile as he watches the lady walk away. "Maybe you fellas will join me for dinner, we can compare notes and figure out a plan of action?"

[Froggy the Great]

"Works for me." Sherman closes his notebook and folds up his newspaper. "Got anywhere in mind?"

 

[sherman can autopilot at this point if the GM wants to change scenes.]