All's Well At The Macallen Farm

An investigation in which all is quite possibly not well.

For Cthork Borg.

Writing, Editing, Design, Playtesting, Layout, And Publishing - Richard Kelly

Playtesting - Joshua Berkowitz-Geller, Ian Hamilton, Adam Kraus, Beate Schulz

Artwork - Pieces by Abbott Handerson Thayer, Jan Toorop, and Jose Guadalupe Posada, all
provided by rawpixel and in the public domain with no known copyright restrictions. Also
the excellent Village Generator by watabou (https://watabou.itch.io/procgen-mansion) which
permits commercial, unattributed use of images generated.

CW - The usual MÖRK BORG grimness, plus body horror, meat, harm to children.

Recommended Safety Mechanics - Whatever your group is most comfortable with. If you
don't have or typically use safety mechanics, then X-Card by John Stavropoulos (http://
tinyurl.com/x-card-rpg) is this game's default.

Pairing - This is a supplement for Cthork Borg (https://kumada1.itch.io/cthork-borg).

Cthork Borg is a full-conversion hack that adapts Mork Borg to a 1920s cosmic horror
setting.

Rights - All's Well At The Macallen Farm's text, save for the parts that are already covered
under the MÖRK BORG Third Party License---and save for the elements from works of late
1800s and early 1900s literature that have entered the public domain---is CC BY NC 4.0
Richard Kelly. If you want to make something based on this, you'll still need to comply with
the MÖRK BORG Third Party License, but you can reach out @SprintingOwl and I'm happy
to give advice or provide support.

MÖRK BORG Third Party License - All's Well At The Macallen Farm is an independent
production by Richard Kelly and is not affiliated with Ockult Örtmästare Games or
Stockholm Kartell. It is published under the MÖRK BORG Third Party License. MÖRK
BORG is copyright Ockult Örtmästare Games and Stockholm Kartell. For further details
about the MÖRK BORG Third Party License, see https://morkborg.com/license/

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Sample Investigation: All's Well At The Macallen Farm………………………………………………….. 3
The Macallen Family………………………………………..………………………………………………………….. 4
The Meat Seam………………………………………..………………………………………………………………….. 5
Timeline Preceding The Investigation…………………………………………………………………………. 7
Meat Corruption And You………………………………………..…………………………………………………. 8
The Missing Persons Request……………………………………………………………………………………… 9
The Macallen Property Map………………………………………..………………………………….………….10
1 - The Approach To The Property………………………………………………………………….…………. 11
2 - The Farmhouse………………………………………..…………………………………………………………… 11
3 - Silos And Barns………………………………………..…………………………………………………………… 12
4 - The Cornfield………………………………………..……………………………………………………………….12
5 - The Pastures………………………………………..……………………………………………………………….. 12
6 - The Abandoned Foundation…………………………………………………………………………………. 13
7 - The Outlying Woods………………………………………..…………………………………………………… 13
Interacting With The Macallens………………………………………..………………………………………. 14
If The Investigators Take No Action………………………………………..……………………………….… 15
Resolution………………………………………..………………………………………………………………….…..…16

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A trip to the countryside finds more than quaint simplicity.

3
The Macallens are a rural family on a broad but isolated stretch of farmland. At the
farmland's back are dense woods, and most of the soil is hilly and rocky, good mostly for
growing grass and weeds and used for pasturing the Macallens' cattle, sheep, and horses.

The Macallens currently have 30 cows, 75 sheep, 10 horses, 3 dogs, and 24 chickens. They
also have a cornfield, some fruit trees, and a small herb garden.

Ezekiel Macallen (10 HP, Morale 4, Punch 1 damage, 15+ Meat Corruption) is the oldest
living Macallen. He is Terrence's grandfather, and is pushing ninety. His joys in life include
alcohol, scripture, and spitting with precision.

Terrance Macallen (15 HP, Morale 8, Handaxe d6 damage and 1 bleed, 15+ Meat
Corruption) is the head of the household. He is in his late forties and has a stern, solemn
demeanor. The world outside the farm isn't especially interesting to him. Man was never
meant to live at the pace of modernity.

Susan Macallen (13 HP, Morale 10, Shotgun D10+2 damage and +2 DR to avoid, 15+ Meat
Corruption) is Terrance's wife. She is shorter than him and built more solidly, though she is
as old as he is and has some steel underneath her long-practiced compassion. Her family
lives several states away, and due to Terrance's views on travel she rarely sees them.

Eliza Macallen (16 HP, Morale 9, Club d6 damage, 15+ Meat Corruption) is the oldest
Macallen daughter. At twenty two years, she has bristled at and then reluctantly accepted
her place on the farm. She is as tall as Terrance and works harder---though neither Terrance
nor the others have acknowledged this second detail.

Ricky Macallen (10 HP, Morale 13, Punch 1 damage, 15+ Meat Corruption) is ten years old
and sees the farm as a microcosm of the wider world---a place to play and learn and grow
strong until he eventually goes on to do great things. He has watched Eliza go from hopeful
to resigned, but is certain that the same thing won't happen to him.

Tammy Macallen (9 HP, Morale 16, Punch 0 damage, 15+ Meat Corruption) is five years
old and still bright-eyed with wonder at things like chickens. She is happy when strangers
visit, and asks questions incessantly.

There is, additionally, one more inhabitant of the Macallen farm.

It fell to earth in the late Pleistocene, and the tip of it was uncovered one month ago when
the Macallens went to dig the foundation for a new outbuilding.

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The Meat Seam is a vast underground expanse of flesh. It is ancient, immortal, and knows
neither pleasure nor ethics but finds contact with mortal minds to be lightly energizing.

In most places on the farm, the Meat is covered by a good deal of dirt. Five minutes of
dedicated digging are required to expose it. However, in the neighboring woods, the Meat
is much closer to the topsoil and can even be seen through close inspection of the gaps in
the roots of some trees.

Practically, the Meat has HP 600, Morale -, Armor -d4 for its main body. It is immune to
most poisons, as well as to ionizing radiation, and it recovers 50 HP per day. It can
communicate remotely with anyone who has at least 1 point of Meat Corruption (see Meat
Corruption And You,) and this communication starts out as barely audible impulses but
grows stronger as the target's Meat Corruption increases. The bulk of the main body's flesh
lies under the Macallen farm and the surrounding woods, and when its mottled and veined
flesh is exposed it can absorb over the course of 5 Rounds any non-living meat in surface
contact with it. The Meat Seam does not need to feed to sustain itself, but it does endlessly
desire to gain more mass. When strangers enter the farm, after 20 minutes the Meat Seam
can Sense Intruders By Vibration DR 7.

Furthermore, the Meat Seam has the following resources to call on:

● Every day it empties and then fills a pool of 8 Injection Points. It may spend an
Injection Point at any time to extrude a Thin Injection Tendril (HP 2, Morale -, Pierce
1 damage bypassing physical armor and inflicts 1 Meat Corruption, Presence DR
14 to detect before it strikes) anywhere on the farm or in the neighboring woods.
This Tendril emerges immediately and may strike as soon as it has emerged.

● Also every day, the Meat Seam empties and then fills a pool of 2 Sentinel Points. It
may spend a Sentinel Point at any time to extrude a Sentinel Tendril (HP 18, Morale
N/A, Thick Hide -d4, Flail And Smash d8 damage, Grab no damage and Strength DR
15 to wriggle free,) anywhere on the farm or in the neighboring woods. This Tendril
emerges over the course of a Round before becoming ready to act.

● At the beginning of the investigation, the Meat additionally fills a pool of 10 Scurrier
Points. The Meat may spend 5 minutes and a Scurrier Point to extrude a birthing
pustule anywhere on the farm or in the neighboring woods and create a Red-
Drenched Scurrier (HP 4, Morale 10, Razor Claws d4 damage and 2 bleed, +2 DR to
ranged attacks against it.) While the pustule is being extruded, any damage to it
ruptures it and kills the Scurrier. The Meat can extrude a maximum of 5 Scurriers per
half hour. Scurriers have a lifespan of 2 hours and take 1 damage bypassing Armor at
the end of every minute while outside of the farm and the neighboring woods.

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 ● Finally, should the Meat wish to expend a lot of calories at once, it may spend 15
minutes and 5 Scurrier Points to pustule-birth a Gore-Dripping Harrier (HP 15,
Morale 6, Killing Claws d6+1 damage and 2 bleed, can cast Sweet Scent Of The
Veins and Breath Thief, Lurk In Darkness DR 8, receives 2 Actions per Round.) This
extrusion process follows the same rules as creating a Red-Drenched Scurrier, and
the Meat may not extrude more than 2 Harriers per half hour. Harriers have a
lifespan of 6 hours, and take 1 damage bypassing Armor at the end of every minute
while outside of the farm and the neighboring woods.

Some of these resources are easy for the Meat to recover, but Scurrier Points are more
difficult.

The Meat gains a new Scurrier Point for every human or large animal that the Macallens
feed it. For the purpose of gaining these points, 5 chickens or 2 dogs are equivalent to a
person. Each feeding process takes 30 minutes of corralling the animals, and the Macallens
can feed 30 animals to the Meat at a time.

After extruding its creations, the Meat can recall any number of extruded tendrils recalled
back into the earth with a single Round of effort. Scurriers or Harriers can be recalled over
the course of 3 Rounds by liquefaction, however recalling the Meat's creations does not
give the Meat back any points.

If killed, the Meat's creations rot away into foul-smelling goo over the course of the next
3 Rounds.

The Meat Seam's broad goal is to add more mass to itself, growing slowly beyond the
bounds of the farm. That said, it does not think or operate on a human timescale. Its reach
will eventually extend to the edges of the county, but it will take a hundred years of steady
growth before this comes to pass.

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1 Month Ago - Terrance and Ricky Macallen find the outer edges of the Meat Seam while
digging 6 - The Abandoned Foundation. Ricky wants to sell tickets to see it. Terrance is
troubled by it and can't decide whether it's ungodly.

1 Month Ago, Night - The Meat Seam, now peripherally aware of the Macallens, sprouts
Injection Tendrils around their house and begins the process of corrupting them with small,
quick stings.

3 Weeks Ago - The Macallens enter a fugue state as the Meat Seam invades their
consciousnesses. They sacrifice Lillian (91, laconic, cruel), Ezekiel's wife, to the Meat Seam.
They follow this with 10 cattle, 25 sheep, 2 dogs, 12 chickens, and Mimi (0), their newborn.
The Meat Seam's understanding of mortals expands and it deliberately scales back the
psychic effect it is having on them. It wants them to ranch more meat---not simply pour
themselves down its gullet.

2 Weeks Ago - The Macallens have dim memories of Lillian and Mimi's deaths, which they
report to the paper as sudden illnesses. They dig graves on their property, but have no
bodies to place in them.

2 Weeks Ago, Evening - Sara Beth Parker (34, outgoing, bright), a mushroom-hunter, is
illegally foraging in the woods behind the property. She spots the empty graves being filled,
gets a bad feeling from it, and is leaving the property when Susan catches her, shoots her,
and feeds her to the Meat Seam. The Macallens hide Sara Beth's automobile in the woods.

1 Week Ago - Daniella Parker (32, anxious, dresses plainly), Sara Beth's sister, files a
missing persons report with the police in the nearest city. She doesn't mention the illegal
foraging and instead claims Sara Beth was visiting the farm. The police ask the Macallens
about this, and they say they never saw her. The police tell Daniella that if Sara Beth didn't
visit the farm, they see no reason to look there.

Today - Growing desperate, Daniella contacts the investigators. She tells them that Sara
Beth disappeared while visiting the farm, and she's willing to pay $5 apiece per day of the
investigation, up to a week, with a further $120 to split if they find out what happened to
Sara Beth. She also offers an additional $90 per person if Sara Beth is returned alive.

7
Meat Corruption is a measure of how closely aligned a person has become with the biology
and the interests of the Meat Seam.

Meat Corruption never goes away (unless cured as a Malice using the rules in Fascinations
And Aversions: https://kumada1.itch.io/fascinations-and-aversions), and it influences a
person's behavior in subtle and persistent ways.

0 Meat Corruption: No effects.

1--3 Meat Corruption: +1 max HP, +1 DR to Stability tests when within 5 miles (8
kilometers) of the Meat Seam, you have an idle but recurring desire to visit the Macallen
farm.

4--7 Meat Corruption: +2 max HP, +1 DR to Stability tests, +1 DR to Stability tests when
within 5 miles (8 kilometers) of the Meat Seam, suffer 1 damage bypassing armor at the end
of any day in which you do not visit the Macallen farm.

8--11 Meat Corruption: +3 max HP, +2 DR to Stability tests, +4 DR to Stability tests when
within 5 miles (8 kilometers) of the Meat Seam, suffer 4 damage bypassing armor at the end
of any day in which you do not spend at least d4 hours at the Macallen farm.

12--14 Meat Corruption: +5 max HP, +6 DR to Stability tests, suffer 2 damage any time you
leave the Macallen farm and 2 damage again at the end of every 4 hours until you return.

15+ Meat Corruption: +7 max HP, suffer 6 damage any time you leave the Macallen farm
and 8 damage at the end of every 4 hours until you return. While at the Macallen farm,
should you die in a way that does not fully destroy your body, you regenerate with 1 HP d4
Rounds later (being sacrificed to the Meat Seam counts as fully destroying your body. )The
sole purpose for your existence has become delivering flesh to the Meat Seam, however
you only have a dim understanding of this and appear perfectly normal when not acting
directly on the Seam's behalf.

8
Daniella Parker has a personal connection to at least one of the investigators. She works as
a receptionist at the office of one Dr. Thomas Stone (41, dry, logical), who runs his own
private practice and has a reputation for treating people off the books.

Daniella tries to contact the investigators first by letter, then by phone, then completely
flustered and in person. If the investigators do not agree to the job, she will go to the farm
herself and disappear within the week.

Daniella does not suspect the Macallens, but doesn't know who else could have been
involved. She shares an apartment with the missing Sara Beth and is willing to let the
investigators poke through her personal possessions (4 hours, uncovers a log listing her
planned errands for the day she disappeared---including a heading "Mack Allen Farm"---but
no other leads).

Daniella knows that Sara Beth worked a variety of odd jobs, including mushroom hunting
for restaurants and herbalists, but doesn't believe she had any enemies. On the contrary,
everyone seemed to like her. She got on with artists, cooks, criminals, housewives. Daniella
saw no hints of trouble.

Daniella is worried that Sara Beth might have gotten injured or lost in the woods, but she
insists that Sara Beth is resourceful and must still be alive. Daniella does not want to
confront the idea of the alternative.

9
 The Macallen
Property Map
7 - The
Outlying
Woods
6 - The
Abandoned
Foundation
5 - The 1 - The
Pastures Approach
To The
3 - Silos
Property
And Barns 2 - The
Farmhouse

4 - The
Cornfield

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A long dirt drive winds down off the main road, past fenced pastures and thick, waist-high grasses.
Small clusters of cows and sheep graze amidst thick weeds.

● Mailbox: Contains a few bills and one angry letter about a shipment of cows for
slaughter that's overdue.

A tall, well-built structure. Care has been put into the cutting and joining of its timbers.

The edges are weatherworn, but it looks unshakeable.

● Herb Garden: A small series of herb beds outside, strictly growing climate-
appropriate culinary herbs.
● Fruit Trees: A loose range of trees growing hardy fruit.
● Living Room: A wide, cozy chamber with a big fireplace. The couch and chairs all
have blankets draped over them in case of cold evenings. A Boar Spear hangs over
the fireplace.
● Kitchen: Cramped but navigable. The back leads into a well-stocked larder. There
are d6 Knives, d2 Thick Clothing, Household Pesticide, Cough Syrup, and 40
Rations worth of food.
● Rootcellar: Cold and dark, without electric light. The floor is wooden boards, and
they have been pried back in the far corner where a foot of dirt lies over the body of
the Meat Seam. The boards were removed less than a week ago, and if confronted
the Macallens will say this was for repairs.
● Upstairs: There are three bedrooms and one master bedroom. The master bedroom
is over the kitchen and has a fireplace. The others have freestanding metal braziers
for cold nights.
● Smash Through A Wall: The Meat Seam has worked its way into every crevice in the
building, and can extrude Tendrils through gaps in the walls or floor. Concordantly, if
the investigators break open a wall, they will discover that the inside is full of meat.

Occupants: During the day, Ezekiel, Susan, and Tammy are here. During the night, all family
members are here.

11
Capacious structures for housing livestock at night and during rough weather, as well as for
holding silage and feed. Each one dwarfs the farmhouse in size.

● Barn Interiors: The barns' floors are fresh straw, properly mucked out, but the barns
themselves seem too large for the number of animals the Macallens have.
● Chicken Coop: Slightly oversized for the flock it holds, but the hens are lively and
well fed.

Occupants: During the day, Eliza is here.

A modest corn field. Not so vast that anyone could get lost in it, but large enough to serve as a small
secondary source of income for the family.

● Rustling Stalks: The corn field provides a -3 DR bonus to anyone attempting to hide
in it.

Occupants: During the day, Terrance is here.

Rolling terrain, rife with weeds and debris, bordered by scraggly wooden fences. The cows and
sheep stay within their bounds more out of habit than because the fences offer any real obstacle
to them.

● Herds And Flocks: Generally in good condition, although there are too few animals
for the amount of pasture allotted to them.
● Grasses: Wild and tall. -1 DR to anyone hiding here.
● Two Rough Graves: One for 'Lillian', dated from ninety one years ago to this year.
Another for 'Mimi', dated from this year to this year. Neither marker is especially
fancy, and both are made from recently carved stone. The area around them has
been mostly cleared, but is quickly regrowing. Both graves, if dug up, are empty.

Occupants: During the day, Ricky is here.

12
Almost invisible over the tops of the grasses, a square of half-laid stone and timber surrounding a
square of churned earth.

● Animal Leavings: A large number of cows and sheep seem to have evacuated
themselves nearby, although no cows and sheep are congregated here.
● Churned Earth: The loose soil is only a foot deep. Beneath it lies the outermost edge
of the main body of the Meat.

A sparse treeline followed by dense, occluding growth as far as the eye can see.

● Deep Woods: Gloomy and quiet. An animal rustling in the foliage or a twig breaking
sounds sharp in the stillness.
● Abandoned Motor Car: In good condition, but upside-down in a gully. Still has
personal effects belonging to Sara Beth Parker, including a Revolver that hasn't
been fired. 2-in-6 chance of finding the car each time the investigators search the
woods.

13
Depending on how the investigators approach this investigation, occurrences at the farm
may unfold one of two ways.

If simply observed from a distance, the Macallens will go about their regular chores. At
midnight each night, they will feed one of their cows, a dog, or a pair of sheep to the main
body at 6 - The Abandoned Foundation. If the main body becomes aware that the feeding
is being observed, it will begin deploying Tendrils and Scurriers to ensure that the observers
do not leave. If the Macallens realize they have been seen, they will help the main body
pacify the intruders.

On the other hand, if the investigators approach the Macallens directly, the Macallens will
be kind and understanding and offer food and a place to stay while the investigators search.
The Macallens will say that they have heard howls from 7 - The Outlying Woods, and that
they know that there might also be some wild pigs in these parts, so they recommend the
investigators carry weapons if they plan to go out past the treeline.

When approached, the Macallens' ultimate goal is to split the investigators up, kill them,
and feed them to the Meat Seam. However, the Macallens will prioritize keeping their cover
over moving against the investigators. After all, if they die, who will feed the Seam?

In the end, the Macallens may allow the investigators to stay for a few days before acting.
They may also obliquely hint that the farm is having financial problems, and that they're
hoping to expand their herd, but they just can't get together the money to do so.

If they can trick the investigators into making a donation, that's more money to buy cows
with, and therefore more dead flesh that they can give to the Seam.

14
1 Week: Daniella Parker goes to the Macallen farm and is disposed of by Terrance.

2 Weeks: Dr. Thomas Stone, worried over Daniella's disappearance, contacts the
investigators.

3 Weeks: Dr. Thomas Stone goes to the Macallen farm and is disposed of by Ricky and
Tammy.

4 Weeks: Police find a note in the missing Dr. Stone's house directing them to investigate
the Macallens. Two officers are dispatched the the Macallen farm that evening. They stay
for dinner with the Macallens and are disposed of by the family.

4 Weeks And 1 Day: Police raid the Macallen farm in force. They are pulled into the ground,
slaughtered by Harriers, their motor vehicles are crushed, and the Macallens disappear
into the soil, descending into the Meat Seam via slow peristaltic motion, to one day
commune with its heart. The papers attribute this massacre to a shootout with organized
criminals and everyone stays clear of the farm for the next fifty years.

15
If the investigators fulfill Daniella's request, they receive her payment as promised ($5
apiece per day and $120 to split).

If the investigators do not find a way to severely inconvenience the Meat Seam, they suffer
-1 Stability each.

If the investigators somehow save the Macallens, they gain +1 Stability each.

If the investigators ignore the farm entirely, 4 weeks and 1 day later the surrounding area
becomes overrun with strange reports of maulings and abductions and the investigators
suffer -2 Stability each.

16