Opifex 18

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes
In This Issue:
Page 6: The Jonathan H.

Bierce Foundation for
Anthropological and
Archaeological Studies
Page 9: A Night In The

Gallery
Page 22: Finger Biter
Issue 18 March-April, 1999

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The Jonathan H. Bierce Foundation for Anthropological

and Archaeological Studies
Ricardo J. Mndez
rmendez@geocities.com
PLAYER WARNING: THIS
DOCUMENT CONTAINS
INFORMATION THAT COULD BE
CONSIDERED SPOILERS FOR BOTH
PAGAN PUBLISHING'S WALKER IN
THE WASTES AND CHAOSIUM'S
MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP.
Introduction
This text describes a foundation that I'm
currently using on a run of Walker in
the Wastes. Its possible uses in your
campaign as well as its background and
real motives are described below. While
the text focus on using it on WitW, they
are a nice overall enemy for your
investigators.
Its Background
The Jonathan H. Bierce Foundation for
Anthropological and Archaeological
Studies, referred to usually just as the
Bierce Foundation, was founded in
New York by Jonathan H. Bierce on
1925 just before he went on a trip
through Europe and Africa. The
foundation stayed in charge of
Bierce's lawyer Gerald Laughton and
was apparently in a dormant state for
some months until, after a short
disappearance in Egypt, Mr. Bierce
and his travel partner Sherman Rogers
returned to take charge of the
foundation themselves.
Since June 1925 the foundation has

grown steadily, in part due to donations
from several institutions but mostly due
to Rogers' and Bierce's investment and
business savvy. Now (1929) its cash
holdings are in the hundreds of
thousands of dollars and they are able to
fund anthropological expeditions and
study groups at Universities around the
world.
Its Public Purpose
As its name implies, the foundation was
created with anthropological and
archaeological matters in mind. The
first expedition they backed was
Bierce's own rushed expedition to
Africa, but nowadays they usually
finance expeditions of third parties and
universities. They appear to have a
special interest in Africa but don't look
away from expeditions headed
elsewhere. Anyone can present a
proposition for consideration to the
Bierce Foundation, but only those that
have carefully planned every step will
get any backing from them.
Any proposition should be presented in
witting and be detailed as to the plan
and purpose of the expedition. They are
first culled by assistants but if the
applicants have done their homework
they'll end up meeting with one of the
top men themselves. Such a meeting is
almost an assurance that the
Foundation will support the plan and
many a would-be explorer's dream is to
finally have a face to face meeting with
Dr. Rogers or Mr. Bierce.
Its Hidden Motives

The real reason why the Foundation
was created touches only tangentially
with its public purpose. On January
1925, a friend of Bierce was brutally
murdered in a apparently ritual manner.
Following the trail of paper crumbs left
by his friend, Bierce and Rogers found
something that appeared to be a worldspanning cult dedicated to the worship
of some dark and violent god. They
assembled a group and set about
following this trail, but before Bierce
created the foundation and instructed
Laughton to look for people that
would be receptive to the idea of
investigating old and apparently
forgotten cults that may have survived
from ancient times.
To all appearances within the
foundation, this search for receptive
people still continues although very few
know of it. Alas, even less knows the
real force that is now behind the
foundation.
The Truth
Their search for the cult led Bierce and
Rogers to Cairo, where they had a most
unfortunate encounter with
Nyarlathotep himself in the shape of
the Black Pharaoh. The Dark God
concluded that simply destroying
the investigators would bring more
bothersome characters onto the scene,
and so decided to bend them to his will.
At Nyarlathotep's command, Rogers
and Bierce returned to New York to
run the foundation. They quickly
established a tie with the Penhew
Foundation in England and the local
branch of the Cult of the Bloody
Tongue and are now actively working
to further Nyarlathotep's ends.
7
However, don't make the error of
believing that all the Foundation's
members and personnel are cultists. As
a matter of fact, most are regular
people happy to be working with
understanding bosses. Bierce and
Penhew themselves are active Priests of
Nyarlathotep, but even Laughton
doesn't know what's really behind their
peculiar schedules.
Its connections to the campaign
On the aforementioned mentioned run
of Masks of Nyarlathotep I had the
worst roleplaying experience of my
entire life. The Keeper was a complete
dolt and it is surprising that we took it
for as long as we did. My character
Bierce and Manuel Badilla's Sherman
Rogers were the only constants during
what we completed of the campaign,
but they finally got killed by
Nyarlathotep in the Red Pyramid
encounter. But a good Foundation is a
terrible thing to waste, so when I was
returned to the helm I decided to
change their fate to the one mentioned
in the section The Truth.
Now, how does all of this fits into
Walker in the Wastes? Bear with me for
a moment.
According to some versions of the
Quetzalcoatl myth, Quetzalcoatl was
forced to leave by Tezcatlipoca, lord of
Death and Fire, the Night sky and
Moon and the Stars. An overall twisted
guy that was also known as "Yotl", or
"the enemy". He was considered a
master of the black arts and is usually
represented wearing a black mask and
having an obsidian mirror in his
chest, where he was able to see all the
actions and thoughts of humanity.
If the description of Tezcatlipoca has
gotten Nyarlathotep bells ringing in
your head, you have just won whatever

comes out of Dimensional Gate #1!
Tezcatlipoca not only *wasn't* a nice
god by far, but in Aztec religion was an
enemy of Quetzalcoatl. He managed to
remove Quetzalcoatl and take over his
kingdom and cult, so he was what could
be called the ruling god when the
spaniards arrived.
Let's try to take this and run with it.
For some reason, Nyarlathotep
worked against Ithaqua and imprisoned
him. Alas, he is aware that the
Temple of the Winds will return every
year and needs something permanent
done about it.
Nyarlathotep contacted Bierce and
Rogers during a ceremony and told
them about the plan of the cult of
Ithaqua to free their lord. He stated that
if the Wind Walker got released
Nyarlathotep's cult would probably
suffer.
The local cult of the Black Pharaoh
immediately started investigating
different possibilities for foiling the
plans of the cult of Ithaqua. But
suddenly, on a lucky strike, they
learned that members of one of the
expeditions to the Canadian Arctic that
the Bierce foundation had backed had
returned with stories about local cults
and savage, heretofore unknown Arctic
predators. Cue to your party.
Its possible uses
The Foundation has since been keeping
track as well as they can of the
investigators and are more than willing
to support them if needed be.
However, this backing will most likely
come in the form of monetary support
or contacts.
The name of the Bierce Foundation is

sure to come up when the players start
looking for ways to finance their
expensive exploits. The Foundation
may support the investigators when
they are trying to acquire the dirigible
for their own expedition, or they may
help the investigators by funding for
their different trips, or to recruit the
necessary personnel. In this way, the
Cult of Nyarlathotep can become the
way investigators replace casualties.
Proper face will be kept at all times:
reports back to the Foundation must be
made and some kind of public
semblance maintained, but for
obvious reasons Bierce and Rogers will
be quite more lenient with the
investigators than they would be with
any other group. However, in no case
whatsoever will any of the members of
the cult make its real allegiance known
to the investigators in any way, and
that specially includes lending any
magic aid or being in the right place at
the right time. Your players must think
that the Bierce Foundation is just the
gimmick that you're using for easy
casualty replacement and shouldn't
suspect that there's something shady
going on. Unless, of course, you want to
add a special tone of paranoia once
the investigators have become
dependent on the Foundation.
But exactly what does the Cult of
Nyarlathotep wins by using the
investigators? Simply put, the
investigators will server as a buffer for
the war that's going on between the two
groups. The Cult of Nyarlathotep
wouldn't probably make such a public
move as to try to bust a public airship
like the Camden, while the investigators
will surely give it a shot. And in the
end, if some operation goes wrong it
will be the investigators who take the

fall.
Walker in the Wastes is copyright John

H. Crowe III.
Masks of Nyarlathotep is copyright
Chaosium Intl.
Copyright information
A NIGHT AT THE GALLERY

RICARDO J. MNDEZ
RMENDEZ@GEOCITIES.COM
Introduction
This scenario was originally created to
introduce new investigators (and
players) on a run of Pagan Publishing's
Walker in the Wastes campaign, during
a short stretch of time that the main
group was going to spend on
Washington. Since by this moment in
the campaign (after Alaska) my players
are already paranoid, I needed a
plausible way to introduce new
Investigators without the Old Crew
going Gun Ho! on them.
The result was this short piece. It is
mainly unrelated to the main campaign,
so you should be able to introduce it on
your 1920 CoC campaign or play it as a
one-shot affair. If you wish to run it
outside of Walker in the Wastes, just
ignore any reference to Barrow or his
expeditions. If you plan to run it with
Walker make sure that the fake Lang
arrives at the hotel before Barrow and
the rest of the team, so that there isn't
anyone who can identify him.
I also took the opportunity to slowly
introduce Phillip Challis' The Stage to
my CoC campaigns, to give the players
a chance to start accepting into their
CoC realities something else than their
usual share of cults and their gods.
Since The Stage is freely available I
won't detail it here. The connections
with it can be safely ignored, but given

its quality keepers are recommended to
look it up. It's available from
http://www.mimgames.com/Stage/
Vanilla legal information

This adventure is copyright 1999 by
Ricardo J. Mndez. It may be freely
distributed for personal use provided
that it is not modified and no fee above
the normal cost of distribution is
charged for it.
Call of Cthulhu is Chaosium Inc.'s
Chaosium Inc., 950-A 56th St, Oakland,
CA 94608 -- or call us at 510-547-7681.
Walker in the Wastes is copyright (
1994 John H. Crowe III.
The Stage is copyright ( 1998 by Phillip
Challis.
A night at the gallery

Opening moves
The adventure starts in Washington
when the investigators are invited to an
inauguration of an exposition at the
Griefswald Gallery, owned by Mr.
Ingmar Andersson. One of the
investigators is assumed to be of
10
wealthy station and to have been in

Washington for a couple of weeks now.
He will receive a call at his hotel from a
friend of the family; an antiques dealer
specializing in odd books called Enzo
Lutz.
Enzo has to leave the country to make
an acquisition in Austria and needs the
investigator to hold a book for him. The
book is a rare tome and the individual
who acquired it is coming from New
York to pick it up on the days Enzo will
be out of the country. Enzo will leave
the name of the investigator to the
gentleman, who should be pass by the
hotel in a couple of days.
Since Enzo has an engagement at the
inauguration at the Griefswald Gallery,
he asks the investigator to meet him
there and bring company so that he can
be safe on the way back. The event is by
invitation only, of course, and Enzo will
have two invitations delivered to the
investigators' hotel.
The gallery is on the center of the city
and there are two guards armed with
shotguns at the door. The great event is
a show of paintings following the
romantic style, apparently the owner's
favorite. Several of the works are from
his personal collection and all are
originals, which explains the heavily
armed security. Among the works
displayed there are a couple by
Francisco de Goya (El sueo de la razn
produce monstruos and several of the
series Los caprichos) and several by
German painter Caspar David Friedrich,
including the crucifixion scene The cross
in the mountains. The feelings of
despair and impotence that flow from
Friedrich's work are strong enough to
move even people that have seen it in
the past, and it should affect any
investigator with some knowledge of
art. Such investigator should be able to
value the complete show in the vicinity
of a million dollars.
A short time after entering Lutz spots

them and goes over to welcome them.
He then shows then around the gallery,
explaining the work of Goya and
Friedrich to the investigators if they
aren't knowledgeable in art. When he
finally gets a chance he works his way
to Mr. Andersson's side, who is chatting
with two gentlemen. One of them is a
young man on his thirties called Robert
Beryl, who assists Andersson in
organizing his social events. Aside from
MacMahon and Lindblom guarding the
door, Beryl is the only other of
Andersson's assistants present at the
party. The other gentleman is a sternlooking priest on his forties who is quite
knowledgeable of art and will be
introduced to them as Father Anthony
Block.
Andersson is an old acquaintance of
Lutz, since they both deal in antiques in
a way. Lutz has told him about the
book and the arrangement with the
investigator in question some time ago
and Andersson is keeping it on his safe
until the investigators arrive. When the
Lutz finally gives the book to the
investigator, Andersson and Beryl will
serve as witnesses.
The book is a copy of Massa Di
Requiem Per Shuggay, an opera libretto
and score in Italian by Benvento Chieti
Bordighera, 1768. San 1d3/1d6,
Cthulhu Mythos +4, no spells. It is
given to the investigator in a carefully
worked leather document folder with
the opera name inscribed on it. Lang
paid for it $40,000, a fact that Lutz won't
reveal. If pressed, he will state that the
book is worth over thirty thousand
dollars and that secrecy duty to his
client forbids him to say more.
Keeper's background
The players
Ingmar Andersson was among the

hundreds of thousands of Swedish who
immigrated to the United States around
1870, due to a serious scarcity of jobs
that Sweden had at the time. His name
then was Ingmar Ekerot, son of a
fisherman who disappeared during a
storm and a mother who had died when
he was a child. He was a bright but lazy
young man who once in New York
quickly turned to crime, robbing
indiscriminately and stabbing those
who resisted. It was during one of his
rampages that he stabbed Richard
Fowler, a Matar host. The Matar
quickly let go of Fowler's body and as a
sort of punishment took over Ingmar's
younger body, who wasn't able to resist
the mental attack. It then dominated
Fowler as it had dominated Fowler's
assistants and became Fowler's protg
and inherited all of his assets when
Fowler killed himself in the New Year
party of 1900.
Ingmar took over running Fowler's
bank operations, surprising everyone
with the performance of such a young
man with no formal education at all.
By 1920 the Matar who used his body
had the nagging certainty that he was
being observed so it decided to sell the
bank, change his appearance and
disappear. He resurfaced during 1923
in Washington, posing as a German art
collector named Ingmar Andersson and
has lived there ever since, furthering his
own ends as usual.
Father Anthony Block is a member of
an organization called the Knights of
Saint Jerome (see appendix #2). He
started keeping tabs on Ekerot when a
Prime Locus controlled by the Juvat was
assassinated in New York with the trail
leading to Ekerot. He believes him to be
a rogue member of the Juvat and
watched him closely ever since but lost
him after the bank was sold. It took him
six years to find him again and even
now he isn't sure if he is the same man
11
that he had been investigating.
Nevertheless, he has befriended
Andersson with the excuse of being an
art lover and regularly meets with him
to discuss about paintings and play
chess.
Block is dying with a cancer that is
slowly eating him and has decided to
spend his last years twarthing
Andersson's controlling moves. This
cancer and his approaching end have
made him re-think his spiritual values
and he now believes that the good he
will be able to do in this life will
outweigh the possibility of going to hell,
even if to accomplish that good he must
step over the boundaries set by his
religion. Unbeknownst to him, part of
this new philosophy stems from his
constant contact with a Matar, who have
the uncontrollable ability to lower the
mental balance of those individuals near
them. Because of that decision he has
disregarded several direct instructions
by the Order to leave Andersson alone
until his motives can be understood and
is currently considered a rogue member
of the order himself. Andersson knows
him only as a priest with good art taste
and has ignored him so far, considering
him unworthy of dominating and
useless as a tool.
The pieces
A Mr. Donald Lang visited Enzo Lutz
in his antique store several months ago
and gave him a list of very rare books to
look for and sizable advance payments
for his efforts. Since then Lutz has been
tracking them down and just a couple of
days ago managed to find one of them.
Experienced players will expect Lutz to
die either before they get there or
shortly after. None of this will happen;
he is truly going out on a business trip.
He knows little about the buyer, only
that he is quite secretive and apparently
in no lack of monetary means.
12
Donald Lang is just a wealthy man who

lately has taken on the habit of
collecting rare books. Unfortunately for
him his search for books is quite
indiscriminate and appears to be based
only on age and rarity and not on
content, so it has unknowingly put him
on the trail of several mythos tomes.
Lang is also one of those wealthy
persons that fund Barrow's expeditions
(sometimes secretly) and will serve to
introduce the new characters to the
group. Mr. Lang is of a secretive nature
when running his affairs, something
that may spark the new investigator's
curiosity. That secrecy has roots only on
his eccentric nature. Lang knows of
Barrow's presence in Washington, since
his departure from Alaska was
somewhat publicized by the
newspapers after they left, and plans to
pay a visit to know how the expedition
is going. Mr. Lang is also a strong
believer in the existence of the
supernatural in everyday life, which is
the reason why he continues to fund
Barrow's expeditions. If Barrow has
died by this point in the campaign, Lang
will want to meet with the survivors of
the expedition.
Paul Livingstone is Andersson's
assistant in matters of acquisitions. He
is currently forty-six years old, but the
strain of unsuccessfully fighting against
Andersson's mental control has aged
him well beyond his years. Anyone
looking at him would say that he is
around his sixties. He has a passing
resemblance to Mr. Lang but none of his
vivacity and personality. Andersson
likes to toy with his subjects and
sometimes intentionally lets them
escape his control for a while. Those are
times that Livingstone can't stand and
he has slowly succumbed to a morphine
addiction to relieve the stress and
escape. Several times he has toyed with
the idea of giving himself an overdose
and be done with it, but he doesn't seem

to be able to find the nerve to do it.
Alec Jason is the accountant for Mr.
Andersson. He was dominated several
years ago but couldn't stand being in
touch with his basest instincts and has a
serious dislike of physical contact with
any person, maybe fearing that it will
trigger some sort of violent or
inappropriate response from him. Now
the only thing keeping him from a
nervous breakdown is Andersson's
mind control.
Of all those in Andersson's staff
Robert Beryl is the one that has
responded better to his domination,
possibly because he was privately
already a violent man who spend a
sizeable chunk of his income paying off
the prostitutes he liked to beat up.
While in the surface he is calm and
collected, Beryl is bad enough that
Andersson has toyed with using him to
do his dirty work instead of using
MacMahon and Lindblom.
A previous employer and
acquaintance of Nils Lindblom, who
thought that they could get along well
since they were both from the same
country, recommended him to
Andersson. He idolizes Andersson and
would probably follow him even if he
didn't control his every action.
Fred MacMahon thought for a while to
employ himself on the private
investigator business but unfortunately
he didn't have the brains. He started
working for Andersson only two years
ago and Andersson is already
considering having him commit suicide.
The game
The Matar's gambit
Donald Lang is one of those persons
that are called prime locus in The Stage:
persons who don't follow the same
preset trails as everyone else and have
the possibility of shaping the future

through their actions. Andersson put
his eye on him when he still lived in
New York but hasn't been able to find a
way to keep him near for enough time
to subdue him. When Lutz told him
about Lang acquiring a book from him
and picking it up in Washington, Lang
saw an opportunity he couldn't let go.
The day after the inauguration
Andersson will send Livingstone to
pose as Mr. Lang and pick up the book,
which is likely to be staying at the
hotel's safe. He will then have
Livingstone disappear with the book
and when it is finally established that it
was his acquisition assistant who took it
Lang is likely to come to him.
Andersson plans to kidnap Lang for a
few days so that he can dominate him at
his leisure.
When the fake Lang arrives at the
hotel the day manager for the Seattle
Hilton will oversee the delivery and
Livingstone will sign any receipt that is
given to him. If requested to present
any identification, Livingstone will
produce several fake cards of
membership to historic societies. If
pressed, he will flash a counterfeit
passport that Andersson had made
about a week ago when he learned of
Lang coming to town.
A couple of hours later the real
Donald Lang will arrive at the hotel,
show his passport and demand the book
to be delivered to him. He will be quite
upset that the book was delivered to
somebody else but won't blame the
investigators if they thought to request
the passport from the impostor (do
remember that there was a witness of
the exchange). If they did, he'll offer
them a $10,000 reward for the book. If
they didn't, the investigators will then
have to scramble around to recover it.
Lang will wish to call the police to
inform them of the theft and it will take
some serious convincing from the
13
investigators if for any reason they wish
to avoid that.
Later that same day, Lang will have an
interview with the survivors from the
Barrow expedition to Alaska and will
drop a comment about the theft of the
tome. After discovering in Alaska that
they'll have to start globe trotting, they'll
surely like the possibility of having a
man of monetary means on their side.
Preliminary investigations
There are several things that the
investigators may wish to check out.
Black market of rare items
Nothing is to be gained investigating on
this direction, since Livingstone isn't
putting the book up for sale. Give the
investigators a couple of shots at it if
they request it, and if they roll a critical
group Luck roll (or a group Luck if a
character has connections to the
underground as a part of their
background) someone will put them in
touch with Thomas McGregor, a
collector art items of dubious legality
who will be able to identify the man as
Livingstone.
However, he won't know why
Livingstone would steal a rare book and
will state that he believes Andersson to
be clean on the stolen items department.
After all, if he didn't do his acquisitions
using regular channels he wouldn't be
able to put them in display.
McGregor will refuse to give the
investigators any leads in the
underworld of stolen items, since doing
so would endanger his ability to acquire
paintings and other items in the future.
Due to his own personal wealth, bribery
will just serve to offend him.
The fake passport
Since Andersson didn't have the time
to commission the fake passport out of
Washington, said underworld contacts
may put the Investigators in a position

to learn about who paid for it. That will
lead them to a slim and nervous man
known only as "Skinny Jack", a forger of
trade. Coaxing any information out of
him will be hard unless force or large
amounts of cash are used, but in any of
those cases he will say that a young man
paid in cash and picked up the
document himself. He didn't give a
name and none was requested. That
young man was Robert Beryl, and you
can see his description in Appendix #1.
The man's identity
There are several ways for the
investigators to establish Livingstone's
identity. For example, if a group luck
roll succeeds, a high-ranking hotel
employee may remember Livingstone
from a past encounter. Spreading
Livingstone's description around is
another way sure to get them to the
man, but that will take at least a couple
of days and the scenario is geared
towards a speedier completion.
Andersson's
Once the man's identity has been
established the first likely stop is
Andersson's office. The gallery will be
closed for the day, since Andersson
doesn't wish to use the security needed
on hours where nobody is likely to come
by, but he may be contacted at his
luxurious office on top of the gallery
and will receive them if they show up
after 10 in the morning.
Andersson will show surprise at the
theft and deny any involvement with it,
refusing to believe that Livingstone
could have been involved in such a
scheme. Privately, he's already
wondering why he lost contact with
Livingstone. He will also personally
offer his help to Mr. Lang if he is present
and call him to his hotel if he isn't. Lang
will be pleased at having the help of
such a distinguished citizen and will
14
surely accept Andersson's invitation for
lunch at his mansion when it presents
itself.
Investigating Livingstone's house
If the Investigators don't take any steps
towards searching Livingstone's house,
Lang will notify the police and they will
pay him a visit.
If they do decide the check out
Livingstone's house nobody will answer
the door. If they decide to break in (a
likely possibility) there is a front door
and a back door. The back door leads
directly into the kitchen, and any
investigator succeeding in a Spot
Hidden roll will notice that the
refrigerator door is slightly ajar.
Checking the fridge will reveal several
bottles of morphine, although it may
take a Medicine or Pharmacy roll to
recognize them as such.
Livingstone lies in his room in the
second floor, dead in the bed. A needle
protrudes from his arm and the glass
syringe lies in the floor amidst several
empty bottles. Some blood has dripped
from the needle and formed a small
puddle in the floor. His rolled up sleeve
will reveal the expected needle marks all
over his arm. The leather pouch that the
tome came in lies empty in the floor.
Knight takes pawn
At around the same time the book
changed hands, Father Block was
coming to the Seattle Hilton to wait for
Lang's arrival (since they are both old
acquaintances). He watches the
exchange from the door and recognizes
Livingstone, who he sees carrying the
tome outside. Having heard about
Lang's coming for the book, he will put
two and two together and conclude that
Andersson is indeed a Juvat who plans
to use the tome as leverage on Lang.
His Matar-induced disappearance of the
boundaries between right and wrong
impulses him to go to Livingstone's
house to recover the book by whatever
means necessary. Breaking in, Block

finds Livingstone out on a morphine
trip and the book beside the bed.
Without knowing that Livingstone is
just a puppet and considering that it is
better to remove a Juvat from the face of
the Earth, Block looks through the house
and after finding Livingstone's stash of
morphine in the refrigerator goes up
again and gives him an overdose. He
then takes the book with him to the
parochial house, changes his clothes and
takes a taxi to a train station and send
Lang a telegram from there. The
telegram itself is unsigned, but Block
will sign the registry under the name
"Abraham Isaacs". A copy for your
players is on Appendix 3.
STAY AWAY FROM ANDERSSON
STOP HE MEANS TO MANIPULATE
YOU STOP BOOK IS SAFE AND WILL
BE DELIVERED TO YOU IN NEW
YORK STOP
His original intention is to send the
book via a courier to Lang's offices in
New York, but curiosity gets him before
he does it so he leafs through the libretto
and ends up reading it through the
night. The tome perturbs him but he
recognizes it as something his order
would be interested in. However, the
man who cold bloodedly overdosed
somebody the day before won't wish to
steal a valuable book and he will decide
to take a step forward and contact Lang,
even if it will put him at suspicion from
both the theft and Livingstone's
overdose. He is counting on his
occupation to get Lang to trust him and
keep away from Andersson, but he
doesn't know how Lang will react to the
offer of buying the book.
Further moves
The telegram
15
It is quite possible that the investigators
will believe the telegram to be a ruse to
have Lang return to New York so that
the trail cools down, so they will surely
investigate it.
The telegram was received at a local
office of the World Wide Telegraph, and
the clerk reminds it clearly because he
was surprised that it had come from
Washington itself. If any theft is
mentioned and the proper Credit Rating
passed, the young man will give them
the name of the office that sent it where
they will be able to find out about
Isaacs.
Isaacs
Of course, yet another possibility is
that the telegram is legitimate and
somebody took the book from
Livingstone to help Lang. In this case,
does Lang know anybody by the name
Abraham Isaacs? He most surely
doesn't, but a successful History check
will remind the investigator that in the
Bible, Abraham was prepared to
sacrifice his son Isaac because his god
demanded it. Lang may remember a
priest by the name of Block who he met
in New York, since Lang usually helped
the church with donations. Lang
believes that the priest got transferred
somewhere, but he doesn't quite know if
it was to Washington.
The Matar's den
Maybe the police find Livingstone's
dead body and call Andersson or maybe
he tires of waiting for Livingstone to
come out of his trip, but sooner or later
Andersson is going to find out about
Livingstone's death and the book's
second disappearance. When this
happens he will be mad and will start
pushing his pieces around to watch
Lang and those that hang around him.
It is quite possible that he will send
Robert Beryl or Alec Jason to query
Lang about the progress with the
investigation. When he finds out that

the tome is still missing he'll realize that
not all is lost, since he doesn't actually
need to hold the book for the gambit to
work, and will invite Lang to a personal
meeting at lunch time in his mansion.
His new plan is to hold Lang hostage for
the few days he needs to make a
domination without transferring his
conscience to Lang's body.
As a good host, Andersson will send
MacMahon and Lindblom to pick up
Lang and bring him to the house, which
is on large property in the outskirts of
Washington. If Lang wishes to bring
company with him (the investigators)
they will allow only for two more
persons, since those are all who fit in the
car.
Andersson's house is a large threestory building surrounded by about 100
meters of land and trees on every side.
About six guards check on the grounds
at night, due to the huge value of the
paintings stored in the mansion.
Andersson will be all nice and pleasant
at lunch, chatting about any topic that
they fill comfortable with and sharing
several glasses of what the guests prefer.
Alas, the food will be drugged and the
characters taken to rooms on the third
floor where the windows have been
bricked to avoid escape. Andersson will
then have one of his assistants call the
hotel and notify them that Lang is going
to be his guest for a couple of days.
Afterwards he will patiently sit in the
next room to Lang to slowly scramble
his mind and influence his thoughts.
If any of the investigators refuses to eat
and doesn't fall asleep things could get
hairy. After all Andersson is only
interested in dominating Lang, and after
the domination Lang will surely assert
that the investigators who get killed had
left after lunch.
The Knight comes calling
16
Sometime after lunch time that day
Block will go visit Lang at the hotel,
tired and weary after spending a night
reading the libretto. He will be carrying
the tome itself with him. When told that
Lang is going to be visiting a friend for a
couple of days he will request to see
whoever is traveling with him. His tone
is one of such sincere urgency that the
person attending him will put him in
touch with the gentlemen with whom
Lang has been meeting steadily since he
arrived: the investigators.
Block will tell the investigators that
Lang has been kidnapped by Andersson
and will tell them anything he needs to
tell in order to get them to stage a rescue
operation, going so far as lying if
needed. The book, by the way, just fell
on his lap. He believes that Andersson
is going to brainwash Lang (he actually
doesn't know how he does it) in order to
gain influence in several circles where
Lang can be of use. He'll also insist that
since Andersson is such a respected
member of the community the police
won't believe their story and by the time
the cops do decide to check on
Andersson the damage will be done.
When he finally convinces them to do
the daring rescue, Block will consider
his own possible death and write a letter
to his order explaining his behavior and
suggesting that they do check on
Andersson. The letter will be addressed
to somebody in the Vatican and Block
will request that the letter be sent in case
of his demise.
If one of the investigators has
somehow convinced Block that he can
be trusted Block may drop a hint about
the possibility of the Order contacting
him for details of the events.
The raid
Getting into Andersson's house
Block feels that it is his fault that Lang is
trapped in Andersson's lair, so he will
offer to actively cooperate in the raid.
17
Since he usually visits the house, he can

play a small part by getting one of the
investigators in with him with the
excuse of introducing him to Andersson.
Block will then draw Andersson's
attention to an unfinished game of chess
while the investigator tries to sneak
around the house. The rest will have to
scale the 2.5-meter wall that surrounds
the property.
Staging the raid
I've spared you from having to see a
map of the house drawn by my hand,
since I'm assuming that you may need
to keep some sanity for the session.
Here are the sketchy details of the
house.
As mentioned before the hostages are
being held in rooms in the third floor,
which only has rooms for that purpose.
There is a guard at the end of the
hallway. On the first floor there will be
Andersson's studio, the living room,
foyer, dining room, kitchen, etc. On the
back of the house there is a garage
holding Andersson's cars. The second
floor contains Andersson's rooms,
library, etc.
The investigators will have to plan the
raid careful, since a badly planned
rescue would end up with the whole
party dead by the shotguns the guards
use. Once the fighting starts, Block will
pull a .32 gun and try to hold Andersson
hostage. Andersson will then mentally
blast him (which will render him
unconscious) and go look for the noisy
investigators before they ruin his
paintings.
Do keep in mind that Andersson has
dominated all of the guards, so they
won't behave rationally and are likely to
fight to the death. Even if the
investigators do manage to release their
friends from their prison, they will still
have to fight their way to the first floor
where they will likely encounter
Andersson.
Andersson is by no means immortal, so

he won't just walk into the group's
range of fire. He will instead try to find
them and then attack them with his
mental powers (for which he doesn't
need to be in line of sight with the
victim). It should be quite interesting to
see the investigators having to come out
of their hiding because they keep falling
out unconscious one after the other.
When and if Andersson gets killed, he
will try to transfer his consciousness to
the body of the priest. If he doesn't have
enough magic points available, off he
goes to wherever it is that Matar stay
when they're not in somebody's body.
Alas, if he can make it he will allow the
investigators to "save" him from the
house and will sooner or later try to
exact his revenge on them.
Aftermath
Hopefully, after raiding a rich guy's
house the Old Crew will have bonded
already with the new recruits, making it
easier for them to get along. If the
investigators didn't handle things
correctly, raiding Andersson's house
may become a serious stain that will
chase them through their operations in
America. Fortunately for them, Lang
will feel that he owes them his life and
will be willing to fund their operations
if they can be reasonably explained to
him (and hopefully their claims
proved!). Lang can also become a useful
contact to recruit new investigators for
the party when someone goes to a better
place.
If Andersson took over the priest's
body, things could get really interesting
both for the investigators and the
Knights of Saint Jerome...
Appendix 1: The pieces - stats

White
Father Anthony Block
Priest and Knight of Saint Jerome

STR 12 DEX 13 INT 17 CON 13
APP 11 POW 17 SIZ 15 EDU 16
SAN 31 HP 14 Age 43
Damage bonus: +1D4
Skills: Accounting 30%, Art: Painting
29%, Bargain 20%, Credit Rating 80%,
History 63%, Persuade 61%, Religious
History 71%, Spot Hidden 33%, Throw
59%
Languages: English 91%, Italian 45%,
Latin 60%, Spanish 40%
Notes: Father Anthony is a tall, strong
looking man with a full beard that is
already starting to show it's white. He
has a deep voice with which he could
well intimidate almost anyone he
wanted if it wasn't for his kind nature.
He is also incredibly intelligent,
something that is betrayed by the fact
that nothing appear to escape his
watchful eyes.
Donald Lang
Expedition funder and book collector
SAN 60 HP 14 Age 59
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Accounting 30%, Appraise 30%,
Antiques 40%, Art: Painting 29%, Art:
Literature 45%, Bargain 60%, Credit
Rating 95%, History 63%, Occult 49%,
Persuade 61%, Spot Hidden 33%
Languages: English 80%, French 40%,
German 20%, Spanish 60%
Notes: Donald Lang is almost pushing
his sixties, although he doesn't appear to
feel it. His only prescense is
commanding, and he is obviously used
to having things done his way. He
usually dresses in a three-piece suit and
carries a gold pocket watch.
Black
Ingmar Andersson
Matar art collector
18
SAN 80 HP 13 Age 72
Damage bonus: +1D4
Skills: Accounting 45%, Art: Painting
60%, Art: Literature 59%, Bargain 65%,
Credit Rating 95%, History 83%,
Languages: English 60%, Finnish 30%,
German 79%, Latin 30%, Swedish 87%
Attacks: Knife 40%
Notes: Ingmar Andersson looks at least
thirty years younger than his actual age.
He currently has black hair that is just
starting to show some white and brown
eyes that never wholly look at a person.
Paul Livingstone
Locura in charge of acquisitions
SAN 12 HP 11 Age 46
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Accounting 20%, Appraise 70%,
Antiques 80%, Art: Painting 53%,
Bargain 60%, Credit Rating 55%, History
40%, Spot Hidden 45%
Attacks: none above average
Languages: English 80%, German 13%
Notes: A thin man whose eyes are deep
set in his skull and who looks at least
ten years older than his real age. All of
his movements are slow and deliberate,
as if he was afraid of giving something
away. He will never be seen alive
wearing a short-sleeved shirt, since
those wouldn't hide the needle marks
on his arms.
Alec Jason
Locura accountant
SAN 20 HP 14 Age 39
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Accounting 70%, Credit Rating
41%, Fast Talk 30%, Forge signature
72%, Spot Hidden 21%
19
Notes: A diminutive man with mouselike eyes, Alec looks like he expects a
crazed killer to jump out of each and
every shadow. Soft spoken and evasive,
he uses thin glasses to read and never
looks at anyone in the eye.
Robert Beryl
Locura social liaison
SAN 13 HP 11 Age 32
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Credit Rating 61%, Fast Talk 30%,
Spot Hidden 43%
Notes: A young man with hazel eyes
and black hair, Beryl hides his violent
nature behind a calm and quiet faade.
Fred MacMahon
Locura bodyguard
SAN 80 HP 14 Age 34
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Intimidate 63%, Persuade 20%,
Spot Hidden 30%
Languages: English 45%
Attacks: Fist/Punch 55%, Handgun
60%, Kick 40%, Shotgun 40%
Notes: MacMahon's black hair is usually
dirty and his clothes betray the
contempt he has for personal
appearance. The only times where he
looks presentable are when Andresson
literally forces him to be.
Nils Lindblom
Locura bodyguard
SAN 80 HP 14 Age 30
Damage bonus: +1D4
Skills: Intimidate 63%, Martial Arts 40%,
Languages: English 12%, German (own)
50%
Attacks: Fist/Punch 65%, Handgun

45%, Kick 60%, Shotgun 45%
Notes: Lindblom's blond (almost white)
hair, black eyes and his square, drawerlike jaw are his most prominent
features. He is incredibly loyal to
Andersson and would obey even if he
wasn't being mind-controlled.
Appendix 2: Groups
The Knights of Saint Jerome
It is funny how the Knights of Saint
Jerome aren't explained in The Stage,
given that the sourcebook is about the
order itself. Here are some bits of how I
conceive them:
* A person doesn't have to be a priest to
get into the Order, but they do have to
be sponsored by a current member.
* On an interesting turn of events, the
Catholic Church has privately
recognized that men and women are
created equal, so both sexes can become
knights.
* The Knights don't just document or
watch, but they are quite cautious and
like to look before they jump.
* The order runs on their own funds,
most of which were willed to it by a
member.
* They answer to the Vatican directly.
* They have their own hierarchy inside
the Catholic Church, although few in it
know about the Order.
The Matar
Little is mentioned about the Matar on
the sourcebook for The Stage. They
appear to be some sort of mental entities
much like the Lloigor, but with each
having a conscience of their own. Since
they aren't explained there, here is a mix
of what they are like in my campaign
with the information provided in the
sourcebook.
As it is mentioned on The Stage, the
Matar like to dominate Prime Loci so
that they can control the future for their

own ends (which are never explained).
When they take over a host, they absorb
all of their knowledge and past
experiences and then remove the
original conscience of the host. There
isn't any sort of internal struggle going
on: the original person isn't on the
driving seat anymore and the body has
become just a puppet of the Matar.
They are able to rejuvenate their hosts
and alter their appearance in a limited
way using their own energy, but while
the host won't die of old age nor will it
succumb to any regular disease that is
not to say that they are immortal. A
shot to the stomach will kill a Matar's
host as dead as any regular person,
forcing the Matar to look for a new host.
That is not to say that the Matar are as
defenseless as a regular human is. If
winning on a POW contest against a
target, they are able to pour as many
points of damage as magic points they
are willing to commit to the attack. The
target will feel the attack as is a huge
invisible hand was trying to squeeze
them, constricting their bodies from all
directions at once. Do note that if a
Matar is willing to spend a sizeable
chunk of their magic points on this, it is
quite possible to kill a person this way.
However, the Matar need their magical
energy when transporting to a new host.
On the attempt the Matar must
succeed in a POW to POW contest
against the target, being able to raise
their score by one for each magic point
they still haven't spent. Those magic
points are spent and have to be
normally recovered.
The Matar also have the
uncontrollable ability of lowering the
mental balance of those that spend
prolonged periods of time near them,
putting people in contact with their
basest aggressions and desires. For this
change to take effect, a person must
spend at least 20 hours a week with the
20
Matar host itself. It is possible that
combined with drugs and sleep
deprivation this period of time can be
significantly shortened.
It isn't clear if there is a way to kill a
Matar. The only possibility may be to
force it to continually switch bodies
until all its points are spent and it fails
the attempt, but that possibility would
require the slaughter of many hosts and
hasn't been attempted.
As a side note: the Knights of Saint
Jerome didn't find their first record of
the existence of the Matar until 1950, so
even if Father Block survives the
adventure he won't be able to recognize
the influence of the Matar from the
work of a regular Juvat member.
Appendix 3: Player Handouts

Handout #1: Block's first telegram
Created with David Harvey's Byakhee.
21
22
Finger Biter1998
By Michael C. LaBossiere
Ontologist@aol.com
Call of Cthulhu
Legal Information
This adventure is copyright 1998 by
Dr. Michael C. LaBossiere. It may be
freely distributed for personal use
provided that it is not modified and no
fee above the normal cost of distribution
is charged for it. Visit my web site at
http://user.aol.com/ontologist/index.h
tml.
Call of Cthulhu is Chaosium Inc's
Chaosium Inc., 950-A 56th St, Oakland,
CA 94608 -- or call us at 510-595-2440.
Visit Chaosium's web page at
http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/.
This adventure was inspired, in part,
by The Little Finger on the Left Hand,
by Ardath Mayhar. It is copyright 1990
by the Ardath Mayhar. The copy I read
is in 100 Twisted Little Tales of Torment,
which contains tales selected by Stefan
Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg, and
Martin H. Greenberg. It was published
by Barnes & Noble Books in 1998.
Introduction
This is a short, but nasty, adventure
for a small group of investigators. It is
set in 1920s Scotland, but can easily be
modified for use in other times and
places.
The adventure is ideal for times when
a short, one session adventure is
needed, or as a break between larger
adventures.
Getting the Investigators

Involved
It is assumed that the investigators are
in Europe, preferably in Scotland.
However, they can be in any part of the
world, provided they can travel to
Scotland in a reasonable amount of time.
One of the investigators will receive an
urgent letter from an old friend or
associate who is aware of the
investigators involvement in the
strange and unusual. The letter reads as
follows:
Dear x,
I hope this letter finds you well.
I apologize in advance for my
brevity, but the pain I am suffering
moves me to get right to the point.
As you might know, I journeyed
to Scotland some months ago to
conduct genealogical research on
my family. My research went well,
then I met with a terrible disaster.
At first, I doubted the true horror of
my experience, but at this time the
truth is undeniable. I must ask your
help in this matter for I feel that you
might well be my only salvation.
Sincerely,
Clarence MacDougal
23
The letter includes information on how

to reach the village where MacDougal is
staying as well as a hand drawn map
showing the location of the inn. By
following the directions, the
investigators will have no trouble
reaching MacDougal.
Keepers Background
In the 15th century the successful
MacDougal family built a tower and a
village grew up around it. The family
and the village prospered for some time
until 1751. In that year Andrew
MacDougal entered into a deal with a
terrible being that promised him gold in
return for certain considerations. To
cover the true source of the gold,
Andrew claimed that when he had a
well dug beneath the tower, he found
gold. Andrew enjoyed his new wealth,
until he found out what some of
thecertain considerations were. At
that time, Andrew went to the church to
have the minister drive out the creature.
Unfortunately, the exorcism had no
real effect on the creature, except to
anger it and cause it to take action
against the MacDougal family. The
creature bit a finger from the hand of
each of the six MacDougals while they
slept. It then told Andrew that he and
his fellow MacDougals were doomed.
Andrew sent a letter to his youngest
brother, Ian, who was away in London.
Ian thought his brother had gone mad
and tried to persuade him to seek help.
However, when news reached Ian of his
brothers death, he left London
immediately and returned home. Over
the next year, all the other MacDougals
went insane and died, despite all of
Ians efforts
In desperation, Ian purchased a dozen
kegs of black powder and used them to
destroy the family tower. He gave a
large quantity of the gold to the church
and used the rest to start a new life in

America.
Unfortunately, this was not the end of
the tale. The creature Andrews had
dealt with returned to the village. It
performed a vile ritual and placed the
severed fingers into the mouths of its
victims. The fingers crawled down into
their owners stomachs and a vile
contagion spread through the corpses.
They twisted and changed in their
coffins and, the next night, rose from
their graves as Finger-Biters.
Instinctively, they crawled back to their
old home and have dwelt there ever
since.
The creatures stay within the ruins of
their old home and only attack those
that come too close to the ruins at night.
Because the local people know the evil
reputation of the ruins, they steer clear
of it. Hence, the creatures get few
opportunities to take victims. They did
recently take a finger from Ian
Bannerman. Bannerman, a travelling
salesman, who made the mistake of
visiting the ruins at night to see if any
gold remained. Bannerman was driven
mad by his experience and, in his
madness, came back to serve the FingerBiters. In return for small bits of gold, he
does various things for the FingerBiters. Mainly he uses some of the gold
to get victims, typically prostitutes, for
the Finger-Biters. He knocks the victims
out and drives her to the ruins. A
Finger-Biter then takes a finger and
Bannerman drives the unconscious
victim back and dumps her in some
alley.
Investigation
The following details the information
that might become available to the
investigators.
Clarence MacDougal
When the investigators arrive at the
inn, they will be told they are expected
The investigators will find MacDougal
in his room at the inn. The man will
greet them warmly from his bed, but he
will appear pale, nervous and
frightened. The investigators will see
that his left hand is swathed in
bandages. The investigators will notice
that Macdougal seems to be in pain and
that he occasionally steals nervous
glances at his bandaged hand.
After some preliminary small talk,
MacDougal will relate the following
story:
It might surprise you to know that
despite all the research I have done in
history, I knew almost nothing of my
own family history. In fact, when I
checked, it seemed to simply begin in
America In 1783. I know that does not
sound very odd, since so many people
started over in the new United States.
However, my family has passed down
a number of heirlooms and there is, of
course, my familys wealth which is
based solidly on gold.
Through some diligent research, I
managed to trace my ancestors back to
this village and I set out at once to come
here. I now greatly regret this.
MacDougal will pause and take a large
drink of whiskey at this point. He will
then say:
I suppose you are wondering about
my bandages. Well, you see I lost a
finger. As I mentioned, I came here in
search of my family history and I found
much more than I bargained for.
I went to the ruins at night, despite the
warnings of the villagers. Naturally, I
dismissed their superstitions out of
hand. Now that is a funny way to put it,
now that I do not have a full hand.
Anyway, I went there and looked at the
24
ruins. I thought I heard something
moving in the stones, so I went closer. I
supposed at the time it was rats, but it
turned out to be something larger.
Something that was most definitely not
a rat.
Something horrid and furry came
from the stones. I did not get a good
look at it, for it moved very fast and it
was, as I said night. I felt a sharp jerk on
my finger, and was horrified to see it
missing at the knuckle. I stanched the
flow with my handkerchief and made
my way back to the village. My assistant
took the care to a nearby town to fetch a
doctor and he did a fine job stitching me
up.
MacDougal will pause again, and take
another large drink of whiskey. A
grimace of pain will come across his face
and observant investigators will see a
faint glint of madness in his eyes for just
a second. He will then continue his tale.
I told the doctor that I could still feel
my finger. He mentioned phantom
limbs. You, know, that people who have
lost limbs will often feel itches in the
limb that is missing. He said that he had
not heard of such cases with fingers, but
that the theory would be the same.
However, I am not feeling itches. It feels
like something is gnawing and rending
my finger. Like some horrid teeth are
tearing the flesh right down to the bone.
I feel that something in the hole has my
finger. I think that madness will
overtake me unless I get it back. I must
have it back!
MacDougal will do his best to convince
the investigators to go find his finger.
He will also do his best to convince
them that he is not insane.
David Zuckerman
Zuckerman is MacDougals assistant.
He will back up MacDougals story. If
he is asked in private about
MacDougals mental state, he will say
that MacDougal was perfectly fine until
he went to the tower. He is not sure
what is going on but will say You
know, if a man had his finger taken by a
rat...or something...he certainly would
not rest well knowing some horrid
creature had a piece of himself.
Zuckerman will have nothing else to
add.
The Villagers
Provided the investigators are polite,
the villagers will be willing to speak to
25
them. The villagers know about the
MacDougal ruins, which are looked
upon as a place best left alone. Some of
the older villagers know stories about
the place and will be willing to share
them with the investigators, perhaps
over a friendly cup of whiskey or two.
The younger villagers know that the
ruins have a bad reputation and the few
that have been there think it is infested
with rats. In any case, the investigators
will be hard pressed to get any villager
to go near the ruins at night.
A Story About the Ruins
As mentioned above, some of the
older villagers know the traditional
story of the ruins, which is as follows:
According to the old stories, the MacDougals were a well respected family and
rose to a position of some prominence. They had a small tower built and a village
built around that. The village prospered for some time until madness came to the
tower. The madness came shortly after Andrew MacDougal found gold. It is said
that when a well was being dug in the tower, gold was found. Whatever the
source, the MacDougals had plenty of gold to spend. But, the gold seemed to
have a price, for they were never quite right again. Some stories say the
MacDougals each cut off a finger in their madness, for they were spoken of as
the nine-finger MacDougals. Some of the older people whispered that the
MacDougal family had made a deal with Satan and that he was collecting his
interest for a diabolical loan.
All this madness came to an end when the tower was exploded from within
and burned well into the night. After that the tale of the MacDougals came to an
end.
Of course, the story of the ruins isnt at and end. Some say the place is still
plagued by the devil or his minions. Whatever the case, none of us go near those
ruins, and if you are wise, you will stay away as well.
The villagers do not have much to add
to the tale. If the investigators ask for
more information, they will be told to
check the church records.
The villagers know about
MacDougals wound and some of them
have been speaking of the return of the

nine-finger MacDougals. However,
most of the villagers believe he had a
nasty run in with a large rat.
The Church Records

The church records are kept by the
minister, Alan Gibson. Gibson is in his
late fifties and enjoys talking to people.

He will be happy to talk to the
investigators about the ruins. According
26
to his records, the tower was

constructed in the 15th century and the
village sprang up around it. In 1781, a
member of the MacDougal family came
to the church and asked the minister to
perform an exorcism on the tower to
drive out an evil spirit that plagued
them. There is no mention in the records
as to whether the exorcism was
performed or not. The church records
also list several burials for the
MacDougal family during 1782. If the
investigators think to check the birth
records, they will learn that all the
MacDougals except the nineteen year
old Ian were dead by the end of 1782. In
early 1783, after the death of Ians wife,
the church records list that the tower
exploded in the night and that all
burnable parts were burned. The
church records list a large donation of
gold by Ian Macdougal on January 9,
1783. The last entry on the MacDougals
reports that the family graves were
desecrated in late 1783. No further
record exists of the Macdougals.
If asked, Gibson will say that his
hypothesis is that madness struck the
family. He will say that he has read that
madness can run in families. He will
also speculate that perhaps the well
mentioned in the village tradition was
contaminated with something. If he
learns what MacDougal said about his
finger, he will definitely think that their
is madness in the MacDougal blood and
he will urge the investigators to seek
professional help for their friend.
Newspaper Reports
If the investigators decide to check any
nearby towns for information, they
might learn that a few newspapers have
reports of women being attacked and
having their fingers hacked off. If the
investigators check further, they will be
able to learn that the women involved
are prostitutes. In each case they report
being picked up by a strange man, with
a missing finger, who clubbed them.

After that, they just remember waking
up in an alley with a missing finger.
Each will report that their wound was
carefully bandaged, which struck them
as odd. None of the prostitutes will be
able to give a good description of their
attacker, who is Bannerman. If the
Keeper desires, some suspicion might be
cast on Clarence MacDougal.
Maps/Places
The following details the maps and
places for the adventure.
The Village of Dunval
The village consists of about two dozen
houses, a charming inn, as well as a few
small businesses. The major industry of
the village is the raising of sheep and
the preparation of wool.
The Ruins
The ruins are those of the old
MacDougal tower. Even after all the
centuries, it is evident that the tower
was destroyed (as opposed to just
falling into ruin). The area immediately
around the ruins is surprisingly
desolate, as if the soil itself was
poisoned.
The ruins have been picked clean over
the years by the weather and people
brave (or ignorant) enough to come in
search of valuables. All that remains is
the broken stones and a pile of rubble in
the center of what was once the tower.
If the area around the ruins is checked,
a successful Spot Hidden or Tracking
skill roll will reveal that there has been
activity around the ruins. There are
signs of footprints leading up to the pile
of stone rubble.
The Stones: The stones appear to have
been intentionally piled and arranged so
as to provide a stable entrance into an
underground chamber. The entrance is
27
fairly small and only an investigator of

SIZ 12 or less would be able to squeeze
through it. Of course, the stones can be
moved out of the way to allow larger
investigators into the chamber. A faint
smell of decay and an unrecognizable
(but very unpleasant) scent wafts from
the hole.
The Burrows
The burrows are located under the
ruins. Originally, the basement of the
tower, the area has been dug out by the
Finger-Biters. The interior of the
burrows is packed earth, reinforced
with chunks of old stone.
1. Entrance: The entrance chamber is a
dark and foul smelling pit that reeks of
flesh, decay, and an unpleasant, but
unknown scent. The ceiling of the
chamber is five feet above the floor,
which will require taller investigators to
crouch down.
2. The Old Well: The old well leads
down into the earth. The well is touch
climb and there is still water in it. The
finger-Biters will retreat into the well
(they do not need to breath) if things go
badly. If an investigator goes after the
Finger-Biters, he will have to squeeze
into the well and climb down. A fall into
the well will be dangerous, especially if
there are enraged Finger-Biters in the
well. At the bottom of the well is an
assortment of gold items, such as rings,
necklaces and earrings.
3. Fingers: The Finger-Biters keep their
fingers here. Right now they only have
Clarence finger. The area is strewn with
bone fragments from the fingers of the
Finger-Biters victims.
4. Resting Area: The Finger-Biters rest
here during the day.
Action
The action begins when the
investigators set out to deal with the
Finger-Biters.
Visiting the Ruins/Fighting the FingerBiters
Once the investigators learn about the
ruins, they will certainly set out to
investigate them. During the day, the
Finger-Biters will stay in the ruins. If the
investigators come at night, the FingerBiters will assess them from within the
safety of their burrows. If the
investigators outnumber them or seem
quite dangerous and prepared, the
Finger-Biters will not attack. If the
investigators seem weak or ill-prepared,
the Finger-Biters will dash out and try to
take their fingers.
If the investigators enter the burrows,
the Finger-Biters will attack them, even
during the day. If the battle goes badly
for the Finger-Biters, they will retreat
into the remains of the old well.
If the Finger-Biters are killed, they
will rise again the next night, unless the
fingers in them are destroyed. If the
Finger-Biters rise again, they will be
enraged and will go into the village in
search of the investigators. If they
cannot find them, they will attack some
of the villagers they encounter. Reports
of these attacks should let the
investigators know that they have not
defeated the Finger-Biters.
Ian Bannerman
If the investigators do not destroy all
the Finger-Biters, they will summon
Bannerman. They have a special mental
link to him and can let him know when
they need him. He will be commanded
to kill the investigators.
Bannerman will attempt to ambush or
attack the investigators when they are
not prepared. For example, if the
28
investigators are staying at the inn he

will try to kill them in their sleep.
If the investigators investigate the
stories about the attacked prostitutes
before going to the ruins, they might
end up dealing with Bannerman first.
Bannerman is quite cunning and is
careful to select only prostitutes as his
victims. If confronted, he will try to talk
his way out. Failing that he will turn to
violence.
Bannerman is quite insane and serves
the Finger-Biters with complete
devotion.
Conclusion
The adventure ends when the
investigators defeat the Finger-Biters or
are themselves defeated. If the
investigators kill all the Finger-Biters,

they should receive a 1D4 Sanity Point
reward. MacDougal and the villagers
will be grateful and will be willing to
aid the investigators in the future.
If the investigators are defeated and
flee, they will bear in their hearts the
knowledge that they have abandoned
their friend and the villagers to the
mercy of the Finger-Biters. The shame
and the horror should cost the
investigators 1D3 Sanity Points.
Clarence MacDougal is a wealthy
individual who owns his own plane.
Thus, if the investigators are able to help
him, he will be in a position to help
them as a patron and/or a means of
transportation.
NPCs
Clarence MacDougal, Wealthy Traveler
STR: 13 CON:14 SIZ:13 INT:14 POW:12
DEX: 11 APP:13 EDU: 17 SAN:60- HP:
14 DB:+1D4
Description: MacDougal is a man in his
thirties. He has black hair and blue eyes.
He keeps himself reasonably fit and
dresses well. His family is wealthy,
thanks to Andrew MacDougals gold.
MacDougal spent most of his youth
going from university to university and
he eventually graduated with a degree
in history. His family wealth enables
him to travel at will, which he greatly
enjoys. MacDougal is not exceptionally
brave and will need the investigators to
stiffen his backbone so that he will
take action.
Important Skills: Accounting 25%,
Anthropology 15%, Archaeology 17%,
Bargain 31%, Chemistry 14%, Credit
Rating 80%, Geology 11%, History 45%,
Law 14%, Library Use 42%, Natural
History 70%, Occult 43%
David Zuckerman, Assistant to

MacDougal
STR: 13 CON:13 SIZ:13 INT:12
POW:13 DEX: 13 APP:12 EDU: 14 SAN:
65 HP: 13 DB:+1D4
Description: Zuckerman is a mediumsized man who radiates an air of quiet
confidence, Zuckerman fought in the
Great War as both a soldier and, later, as
a pilot. After the war he worked as a
pilot and was eventually hired by
MacDougal. Zuckerman loves to travel
and visit strange places and
MacDougals money makes the possible.
However, Zuckerman is very fond of
MacDougal and feels quite loyal to him.
Zuckerman does not believe in the
supernatural, but he is a man of action
and will aid the investigators.
Important Skills: Bargain 24%, Climb
55%, Dodge 41%, Fast Talk 24%, Jump
45%, Listen 37%, Navigate 44%, German
34%, French 21%, Pilot (Airplane) 64%,
Handgun 55%, Rifle 74%, Fist 60%
Ian Bannerman, friend to the Finger

Biters
STR: 14 CON:14 SIZ:15 INT:10
POW:11 DEX: 13 APP:10 EDU: 10 SAN:
0 HP: 15 DB:+1D4
Description: Bannerman is a large man
who wears a heavy coat and drives a
well worn car. He lives outside of the
village. Bannerman was traveling
salesman until he had the misfortune of
becoming a victim of the Finger-Biters.
Now he is the insane, but devoted
servant of the Finger-Biters. He is
cunning and violent and will do
anything his masters tell him.
Important Skills: Climb 50%, Fast Talk
21%, Hide 50%, Jump 31%, Fist 62%
Weapons: Hatchet 38% Damage
1D6+1+DB HP 12, Club 49% Damage
1D6+DB HP 15
Mythos Beings
Finger-Biter, Lesser Servitor Race
Finger-Biters are horrid creatures that
are the product of vile magic. They are
created in a terrible ritual, which is
described above. A Finger Biters body
looks like a terrible mixture of rat and
human features. The body is oddly
shrunken, making it look emaciated. A
finger biter has long, grasping fingers
that end in small, jagged claws. Their
hands look much like human hands and
each one has a single finger missing.
The head of a finger biter is vaguely
human, but the jaws are elongated and
occupied by four sharp, chisel like teeth
and several small, but wicked looking,
gnawing teeth. The eyes seem to be
malign embers burning in deep sockets.
The entire creature seems to be oddly
mummified, with bones sticking out
through the dry and withered flesh.
They can attack by biting and clawing.
If they make an attack roll equal to 20%
of their biting skill, they have struck
29
their victims finger. The victim must
match POW with the Finger-Biter. If the
roll fails, the Finger-Biter takes the
victims finger. Once a Finger-Biter has a
finger, it will attempt to flee with it.
Finger-Biters have no interest in killing
their victims, since they have something
very special in mind.
Once a Finger-Biter gets a finger, it
will take it to its lair or some other
suitable place. There it will gnaw and
worry the finger. The magic used in the
creation of the horror enables a FingerBiter to form a mental link to its victim
through the finger. Each day, the FingerBiter can match its POW against its
victim. If the Finger-Biter wins, the
victim will experience terrible pain, as if
his finger were still attached to his body
as the Finger-Biter gnaws and tears at it.
A victim so affected needs to make a
Sanity Roll each time. A failed roll costs
the victim 1 Sanity point, while a
successful roll results in no loss. The
pain also distracts the victim, giving
him a -5% on all skill rolls. Most
horribly, the Finger-Biter can keep
gnawing the finger even after it has
been reduced to bone. The Finger-Biter
can use a single finger for up to thirty
days, until there is nothing left of it. At
that point, the victim is free. A victim
can also be freed by destroying the
Finger-Biter that took his finger or
recovering the finger. A recovered
finger can be reclaimed by the FingerBiter. Only the Finger-Biter who took
the finger can use it, so the owner can
destroy it without any pain or harm.
Finger-Biters are a form of undead
creature and, as such, are not very
vulnerable to conventional weapons.
Impaling weapons, such as firearms, do
only 1 point of damage. All other
conventional weapons do half damage.
Finger-Biters do not heal normally.
However, the magic that created them
preserves them. As long as the finger
used in its creation remains intact, a
30
Finger-Biter will regenerate completely

when the sun sets again. The only way
to permanently destroy a Finger-Biter is
to destroy the finger. The finger will be
almost as solid as stone and will take a
number of hits points to destroy as the
creature has POW points.
The Finger-Biters in this adventure
are, of course, the MacDougal family. A
Characteristics
Rolls
STR
CON
SIZ
INT
POW
DEX
HP
Damage Bonus
2D6
3D6
2D6
2D6
3D6
4D6
Average
s
7
10-11
7
7
12
14
9
-1D4
close look at them will reveal that their

features, as horrid as they are, bear a
faint but clear resemblance to Clarence
MacDougal. The creatures also have
rings that have the Macdougal family
crest on them. Realizing that these
creatures were once the MacDougals
costs 0/1 points of Sanity.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
8
13
8
7
13
16
11
-1D4
7
12
10
6
11
19
11
0
10
13
12
9
14
17
13
0
6
13
7
12
13
13
10
-1D4
5
8
5
5
10
19
7
-1D6
Move: 8
Weapons: Bite 40% Damage 1D4+ Special, Claw 20% 1D3+db
Armor: None, but impaling weapons do 1 point of damage and all other conventional
weapons do only half damage.
Spells: None.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D4 Sanity Points to see a Finger-Biter
31
Handouts
-Handout #1, MacDougals Letter
Dear x,
I hope this letter finds you well. I apologize in advance for my brevity, but the pain I
am suffering moves me to get right to the point.
As you might know, I journeyed to Scotland some months ago to conduct
genealogical research on my family. My research went well, then I met with a terrible
disaster. At first, I doubted the true horror of my experience, but at this time the truth is
undeniable. I must ask your help in this matter for I feel that you might well be my only
salvation.
Sincerely,
Clarence MacDougal
32
Keeper's Maps
Ruin
Stones
33
Burrows
2.
4.
1.
3.

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Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

Page 6: The Jonathan H.

Page 9: A Night In The

Page 22: Finger Biter

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

Issue 18 March-April, 1999

it using Adobe Acrobat Reader. Go

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

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material (within good taste - no porn,

5. In no case will illegal material be

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proprietary fonts (such as those in

games. For the current list see the Legal

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The Jonathan H. Bierce Foundation for Anthropological

Since June 1925 the foundation has

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Its Hidden Motives

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

your head, you have just won whatever

The name of the Bierce Foundation is

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will be the investigators who take the

Walker in the Wastes is copyright John

A NIGHT AT THE GALLERY

with it can be safely ignored, but given

Vanilla legal information

A night at the gallery

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

wealthy station and to have been in

A short time after entering Lutz spots

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

Ingmar Andersson was among the

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

Donald Lang is just a wealthy man who

and be done with it, but he doesn't seem

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

the possibility of shaping the future

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

may put the Investigators in a position

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

means necessary. Breaking in, Block

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

investigation. When he finds out that

Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes

Since he usually visits the house, he can

Andersson is by no means immortal, so

Appendix 1: The pieces - stats

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Priest and Knight of Saint Jerome

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Attacks: Fist/Punch 65%, Handgun

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that they can control the future for their

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Appendix 3: Player Handouts

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Getting the Investigators

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The letter includes information on how

and used the rest to start a new life in

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Opifex Bi-Monthly Random Universes