CABIN

RISOTTO
FEVER
AUTHOR/ARTWORK:
Spaghetti Quester
EDITING:
Andre Novoa
ISBN:
978-989-54641-4-2
LAYOUT/DESIGN:
lina & nando
PRINTED IN PORTUGAL
PRINTER: Papelmunde
DEP. LEGAL: 470431/20
[ First Printing: 500 copies ]

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

GAMES OMNIVOROUS
© 2020
AREA OF THE
SUPPOSED
SACRED SITE

2
 Introduction
In the summer of 1949, an expedition led by Professor Martin D. Ernst from the Department
of Anthropology of the Schuylkill University set out in search of a remote location in the
Canadian wilds, in northern Labrador. The purpose of the mission was to locate an ancient
Algonquian ritual site, which appeared in the travel diaries of undisclosed explorers.

Following budget cuts in the department, Professor Ernst was forced to secure external
funding. Fortunately, one Signor Rubicondo Bronzetti, an Italian antiques and curios dealer,
agreed to finance the expedition in exchange for the seven excellently-preserved carved
wooden poles that marked the ritual site – which stood there according to the accounts.
Looking to avoid the hard labours of the trip, Professor Ernst “asked” young researcher
Salomon Silverberg to come along, convincing him that the data was crucial to his PhD thesis.

The Bronzetti expedition set off from the small village of Nain, next to lake Tasisuak. For
three days, they ventured up the river, canoeing through the rapids that make up the Fraser
Canyon. By the fourth day of the expedition, the three men reached the scared grounds, as
marked in the explorers’ annotations.

This was three weeks ago.

Since then, no one heard from or saw the scholars again.

The adventure
The player-characters in this adventure are a rescue group that has been assembled to search
for the academics. The action begins in front of a small cabin in the woods, after a three-day
journey into the cold Canadian wilderness. Smoke rises from the chimney. The entire adventure
is played in and around the cabin.

3
What do I need to play?
• 2-5 players, including one Game Master (GM).
• Paper and pencils.
• Dice, according to your favourite roleplaying system.
• A room lit only by candlelight.
• A stove and ingredients to cook a risotto.

PRE-GEN CHARACTERS

Name: Brandon / Brenda Marchand Name: Prof. Carl / Carla O’Connor

Age: 42
Occupation: forest ranger.
Skills: tracking, bushcraft, hunting.
---|---
Name: Eugene / Eugénielle Boilard
Age: 18
Occupation: forest ranger apprentice.
Skills: mushrooms & bird specialist.
Age: 55
Occupation: professor of anthropology.
| Skills: languages, history, anthropology.
| Name: Matchitehew
Age: 67
Occupation: native shaman.
Skills: shamanism, folklore, herbs.

SANITY SYSTEM
Give each player four sanity tokens. Whenever their PC sees, hears or experiences
something disturbing, they must roll a d6. If the roll is on or below their current
number of sanity tokens, they have a minor panic attack and lose one token, but they
also remember one piece of information listed in the next page.

If a PC reaches sanity 2, roll 1d8 to determine the effect of that panic attack.
Roll again when the PC reaches sanity 1.

1. Attacks nearest ally.

2. Starts to sweat and strips naked.
3. Must have a glass of water or breaks something.
4. Must take a drug. If this happens twice to same PC, the craving is fourfold.
5. Breaks own finger.
6. Pees own pants. Smell of urine is pervasive.
7. Destroys an object of value.
8. They must eat the risotto and make another sanity roll. (Ignore before chapter 3.)
If a PC loses all sanity tokens, the GM will assume control of them.

4
 Pieces of Information
THE CURSED TRIBE
It is said that, in the sacred grounds where
the Bronzetti expedition ventured, a tribe
of Algonquian descent established itself
many centuries ago in isolation. Its name
was to remain unpronounced until it was
forgotten. The tribe’s most sacred ritual
included the ingestion of hallucinogenic
mushrooms that impelled episodes of vio-
lence and perhaps even lethal self-harm.
///////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////
CANNIBALISM
In the late 19th century, prospectors of
a mining expedition found themselves
stuck in a hut, after being surprised by
an avalanche in the western parts of the
canyon. With little food left, they were
doomed to starve. Some died of natural
causes. Others were killed by Phineas
Hughes (the mining foreman), who ate the
flesh off of their corpses. The bodies were
found months later with their limbs severed
and cuts similar to those made by a butcher
on cows. Close by on tree trunks, several
engravings were discovered, depicting
Phineas himself begging for forgiveness
to a tall unknown being.
Preparing the Game
The Room
To create an ambience of dread and terror,
the GM should light the room with can-
dlelight only. Use a particularly fast and
simple rules system, so that the rules do not
get in the way of the roleplaying.
5
PSILOCYBE CUBENSIS
The character realises they saw a type
of rare mushroom in the woods, the famous
Psilocybe Cubensis (rare in this latitude).
The fungus can be ingested as a psychede-
lic drug due to its high concentration of
psilocin and psilocybin as well as baeo-
cystin and norbaeocystin. Native rites
that make use of such fungi are known to be
widespread amongst the native populations
of the Americas, but consumption in this
region is undocumented.
THE WENDIGO
According to local oral tradition, the
woods where the Bronzetti expedition
was last seen are cursed and haunted by
a terrible creature known as the Wendigo.
A ravenous monster and a devourer of men,
it is said that the creature was born out
of winter and hunger. The few who survived
its sightings tell of an anthropomorphic
being two meters high with an emaciated and
elongated body. Its face is that of a skull,
resembling the scarred head of a deer with
long antlers and a maw with no flesh or
lips. The Wendigo is thought to be a man who
has been cursed and condemned to eternal
hunger for his acts of cannibalism.
The Food
Follow the recipe in the next page and pre-
pare the risotto. Yes, it has animal bones.
When the time comes (chapter 3), place it in
front of the players. When someone eats the
risotto for the first time, their PC must
make a sanity roll.
Bronzetti’s
great Risotto al Midollo
r.
- Soak the bones with marrow in salty wate
wate r and add 3 table
Cover them completely in
e day. Chan ge
spoons of salt. Store for a whol
y
water 2-3 times, adding more salt with ever
change.

- dry the bones and remove the marrow with

a spoon or butter knife.
medi-
- Chop the marrow and heat it in a pan over
, chop ping
um-high heat.. Allow it to soften and melt
if it
it gently with a spoon as needed. It's okay
doesn't all melt right away.
row for
- Add chopped onion and sauté it in the mar
as nece ssar y; don't
about 4 minutes. Lower heat
let the onions brown.
wine
- Add rice and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add
heat
and saffron threads and stir. Turn up the
has abso rbed alm ost all
and cook until the rice
of the liquid.
and
- Add a ladle full of warm broth to the rice
Cont inue
allow it absorb, stirring every so often.
all
adding broth ladle by ladle and stirring until
to
8 cups are incorporated. While you don't need
e you do this, it wou ld be
be glued to the stove whil
wise to keep an eye on the pan, adju sting heat
tes
as needed and stirring. It takes about 40 minu
for the rice to absorb all of the liqu id.

- taste and add salt as needed.

The Cabin
The cabin is small and spoiled. Its wooden walls are half rotten, the windows are broken and
the roof has holes. From the chimney, a column of smoke rises towards skies. On the background,
the dark forest engulfs the hut.

The involving area is wild: there are scattered leafs, timber and loose stones everywhere.
Noises of animals can be heard, especially after nightfall – unidentified shrieks, howls, the
grunts of unknown mammals, and the likes. Mushrooms with psychoactive properties grow in the
area. If PCs use them, they experience a trance-like state and vivid hallucinations. Roll 1d6:

D6 Effect
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. The PC becomes unconscious for 2d6 minutes (of real gaming time!). They will wake up with
a very uncomfortable and painful headache.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The mushroom acts as poison and makes the PC vomit. This will last for 1d6 hours.
Whenever the GM finds amusing, the PC must pass a check or throws up.
--------------------------------------------------------------
3. Nothing more than beautiful, reassuring and comfortable
hallucinations. The PC gets a bonus/advantage the next
time they need to make a sanity check.
------------------------------------------------------
4. The PC gains the ability to talk to animals for 1d6 minutes
(of real gaming time). Or at least they think as much.
------------------------------------------------
5. The spirit of a large dog appears to protect the PC.
Only they can see it. It stays until dawn,
giving the PC an advantage in combat.
-------------------------------------------
6. The PC has flashbacks of the cabin in another
time. There is a man here called Phineas
Hughes and his dog Conall.
----------------------------

8
Random Events
The GM can roll 1d12 on the following table at any time it seems convenient. These events
are here to add drama to the adventure. If a particular result seems unfitting, the GM can
re-roll or choose one.

D12 Events
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. A bear comes looking for food. Confrontation is inevitable.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Howls can be heard outside. Or are they humans screams?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Sounds of children playing outside. If inspected, two large elks surprise the
characters and attack them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. A sudden and brutal hailstorm. The cabin gets partially flooded. There is a 5% chance
that one PC is hit by a large hailstone.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Ritual chants can be heard coming from the woods. These are sung in an unknown
native tongue.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Two birds crash into the cabin’s windows, smashing them. Anyone standing by the
window is hit by glass shards.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. A sudden and potent flash occurs. The cabin is now sitting inside a circle of blood
that appeared on the outside.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. A random PC looks through the window and falls under the impression that the trees
are animated, with their branches slowly grasping the cabin.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Someone (or something) knocks at the door. If checked, no one is there, but a bag
of bones has been left at the doorstep.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. The woods produce a sudden and utter silence. Roll sanity immediately.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. A popping sound comes from inside the stove and a large piece of ember falls to the
floor. It will set the cabin on fire if not dealt with quickly.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. The painting on the wall suddenly falls and its frame breaks (remember that it has
a message written on the back).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9
“Libero e Lontano”
“Libero
e Lontano” Chapter 1
For a few hours now, you have trailed towards a smoke column rising above the treetops. It's
5:30pm when you finally spot a run-down cabin in the forest. The wooden walls are damaged and
half-rotten, the ceiling is partially collapsed, some of the windows are shattered and a small
wooden slab indicates the date of construction: 1810. Movement and light indicates human
presence inside.

IF PCS PEEK INSIDE, THEY SEE TWO MEN:

• One is busy preparing meat on a large table, whilst singing in a tenor Italian voice
the aria "Ch'ella mi creda", from Giacomo Puccini's opera “La fanciulla del West.”
(the GM should play the aria for the players. Youtube it.)
• The other is seated, going through a notebook with drawings and scribbles, whilst
moving his lips in silence. Occasionally, he adds notes into the book with vigour and
a sense of urgency.

The men will be surprised by the arrival of the party, regardless of how the players show them-
selves (breaking in, knocking, shooting a rifle, etc.). "Sacripante!”, exclaims the man singing,
whilst holding a cleaver in a gesture of defense – although not particularly threatening. The
other frowns upon the party and stares blankly at them, angry for being interrupted in his
task.
12
 THE MEN INSIDE THE HUT

Professor Martin D. Ernst

Professor Ernst is the man sitting down

going through the notebook. He is a skinny,
bald man who lacks dressing skills. His
clothes are run-down and dirty. He is wear-
ing a combination of hunting and academic
attire, all rounded down in a well-knotted
tie. He has a bookworm appearance, with
thick round glasses and a yellow-browned
mustache – perhaps caused by smoke. His
voice is brittle and low-pitched.

Mr. Rubicondo Bronzetti

Mr. Bronzetti is a ruddy man in his late

forties, with curly raven hair, a well-
groomed beard and an assertive presence.
His clothes are better preserved and more
extravagant than those of the professor.
His round and expressive voice is always
accompanied by permanent gesticulating
and theatricals. Despite the many days spent
without food in the woods, it appears that
Bronzetti has not lost weight.

13
Someone’s
missing Chapter 2
Prof. Ernst and Bronzetti will be surprised that someone came looking for them, and even more
surprised that they were actually found. PCs will have to use their charisma and persuasion to
establish a dialogue, for the men seem to have lost their reasoning.

The men give away little information.

• They explain they got lost after leaving the river, due to a brutal hailstorm,
and found refuge in the cabin.
• Supplies are running low and some of the gear is damaged.
• Lacking hope and the ability to find the right trail, they gave up on their original
destination, the sacred Algonquian grounds. Fears of getting further derailed
and of wild beasts has kept them at bay, in hopes that someone would find them.

Surprisingly, they make no mention of young Dr. Silveberg, Prof. Ernst’s PhD student. If ques-
tioned on the subject, they will answer evasively: the professor will stare at the floor in
silence; Bronzetti makes random exclamations in Italian.

• If pressed, Ernst says that the young man was “possessed” by spirits of despair,
taking off into the woods unexpectedly. This was one week ago. He has not returned.
Bronzetti adds that this is typical of young academics, so “insatiable hungry for
knowledge and novelty”.

THE MEAL
When Bronzetti is questioned about the meal, he says he is preparing a dish with what little is
left: a risotto using the last bag of rice and the marrow of the bones of a tender deer, captured
two days ago.

On the table are various bones. Bronzetti chops them to extract the marrow. A sheet of paper
next to the bones reads “Marrow Risotto”. If things do not escalate, Bronzetti will remain calm
and prepare the food in orderly fashion. Occasionally, he will resume singing. Out of the blue,
he asks: “By any means, did you bring saffron?”

These are the last minutes before nightfall. When the night comes, the woods will be engulfed
in darkness, making it impossible to search outside. Leaving now means retiring the character.
Dinner is ready.

14
 DETAIL OF PROF. ERNST NOTES
If a PC inspects the notebook, the GM can show the illustration below. There are also writings
about mushrooms, cannibalism and native rituals. These notes have “enough meat” on them to
produce a fabulous PhD thesis on social and cultural anthropology. They are inestimable to any
young scholar of the discipline, keen on fame and fortune.

15
Hungry?
Dinner’s ready
Hungry?
Dinner’s ready Chapter 3
Bronzetti will insist that the PCs must have dinner with them. The risotto smells like heaven.
The GM should now pull the cooked risotto from the kitchen and place it on the gaming table.
Describe it in the most pleasant way.

PCs who have basic knowledge of human or animal anatomy may recognise that the bones are not
of a deer, but probably human – these are the last edible parts of Dr. Silverberg. Regardless of
whether the PCs eat it or not, the GM should suggest that this is an anthropophagous meal. Add
some nauseating details:

• Oily broth running down Bronzetti’s beard.

• Little bone fragments between the Professor’s teeth.
• A sudden smell of flesh.
• Black flies buzz around the remains of bones left on the table.

18
 ACCUSATIONS MOUNT
If accused of cannibalism, the men will give vague and elusive answers.
Roll 1d12 to generate replies:

D12 Answers
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Phineas, it was that old bastard. Phineas.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. The cold and hunger make you so strong... and so fast
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. I did nothing wrong Sir!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. After all, the risotto wasn't bad... I just wish I had a little more saffron…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. I-Indian curse… the Indian curse!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. The forest spirits!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. … atavistic hunger, eternal hunger …
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Curse is upon us, oh the curse! We're forever doomed…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Oh! Good god what did I do... What did I do…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. The mushrooms, they tasted good…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Is this a dream or are we awake?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. WI-NTEKO-WA
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

BRONZETTI AND THE PROFESSOR ARE ON THE BRINK OF LOSING THEIR MINDS.

• They will continue to answer elusively and react passively.

• All of a sudden, they resume to normal behaviour and start eating the risotto as if
nothing had happened.
• They will do everything to avoid a bloodbath.
• The GM should try to halt the PCs from murdering them, but if one of them is mortally
wounded, the other will surrender and beg for mercy.

At this point in the night, the woods are pitch black. Only a fool would leave this late. If any
PC does, they will end up lost or eaten by a bear. The GM can retire the character from play and
come up with an epilogue. The best course of action is to immobilise the cannibals, wait until
dawn and then head back to Nain, handing them over to the local authorities.

IF BRONZETTI AND THE PROFESSOR… are both killed, the adventure ends here.
The rescue party must now explain to the local authorities at Nain what happened
and show evidence to support their claims.
19
The Cold Night Chapter 4
All characters fall into a strange slumber. The GM can ask for rolls to resist the sleep. Those
who succeed stay awake, but their bodies become oddly immobile. As if day-dreaming. Perhaps,
it is the cold. Perhaps, the mind playing tricks. What was in that risotto again?

THE WENDIGO
The Wendigo will make its appearance at this point.

• A cold gust of wind invades the hut along with the screams of an owl.
• The wind brings the smells of moss and rotten flesh.
• The lantern’s oil runs out and the hut is now lit only by the stove’s faint glow.
• Either Bronzetti or the Professor are missing (see who below).
• One random character (PC or NPC) has been hit and is now trying to stop a gust of blood
coming from their opened belly. Parts of the intestine are visible and little
fragments of bones come out of it from the meal: “The Wendigo! It was the Wendigo! It
is back!”.
• The deer head hanging on the wall is missing.
A skinny, tall creature, covered in furs, with a skull and antlers appears through the door.

• It moves in a fast, disturbing and unnatural way.

• Makes three attacks per turn: two claw attacks and one bite attack.
• It has the HP equivalent to a level 10 creature. Once down to 10%, it will flee into
the woods.
• It can make one automatic surprise attack when in the woods.

WHO IS THE WENDIGO?

If the creature is defeated, PCs discover that it is a human being in disguise. This person is
half-naked, has a set of gloves with bear claws, a pair of stilts strapped onto the feet with
goat paws attached to them, and is covered in animal fur, underneath which is a pouch with
mushrooms. The Wendigo is exposed as either Professor Ernst or Bronzetti (the GM can choose
which – but this should be the same person that went missing, as detailed above).

Optional: in the event that one of the PCs has been retired due to sanity, or death,
or having gone into the woods at night, the GM can use them as the Wendigo! The
conclusions in chapter 5 must be amended accordingly.

20
21
Break
of
Dawn Chapter 5
The skies slowly turn blue and the birds sing. If PCs reach this point in the adventure, they
understand a few things:

• The transformation of either Bronzetti or the Professor into the Wendigo and the
subsequent acts of cannibalism were most likely the result of a psychotic breakdown,
or of the ingestion of one mushroom too many, or maybe even both. The men were clearly
not lucid.
• Careful PCs notice that there is a trail leading into the woods. If followed, they come
across a ditch with the mutilated body of Dr. Silverberg. Only his head remains intact.
The GM should ask for a final sanity roll.
• Next to the body, they also find a bunch of clothes, belonging to whoever turned into
the Wendigo.
• Not far from the ditch, PCs find several signs and symbols drawn on wooden tablets.
These resemble the ritual dance on the professor’s notes. Going back to the notes,
it is possible to discern that this is, apparently, a ritual of offering in which the
natives appease the spirits of the woods.

The situation is now relatively clear…

Bronzetti and the Professor became trapped in the woods and, on the accounts of famine and
isolation, resorted to cooking rice with hallucinogenic mushrooms for several days. This re-
sulted in a psychotic meltdown, which convinced them that their anthropological studies were
real, pushing them towards a grand re-enactment. Eating Dr. Silverberg was an unfortunate
event amidst these cold circumstances. This outcome is not entirely unknown amongst presti-
gious colleges of anthropology in both Europe and the US.

22
Epilogue

PCs should now collect their belongings, along with evidence to support the murders and the
madness, and leave the cabin before the sun is too high up in the skies. Their boat is still far
away.

• If a PC turns back for a last glance at the house, they see a large, stern-eyed owl
standing still on the roof.
• If another PC stares into the woods, they see a horned creature covered in moss amidst
the pine trees, staring back with hungry eyes. A blink is enough for the creature to
disappear. It was probably just a tree.

Doubts and questions will probably linger – But such is the nature of exploration.

“It is a universal tradition among the Indians that in the primitive ages
there were anthropophagous giants called Windigos. The people's fancy is so
busy with them, as well as with the isolated cases of real cannibalism,
that they begin to dream of them, and these dreams, here and there,
degenerate to such a point that a man is gained over to the idea that he is fated
to be a Windigo. Such dreams vary greatly. At times a man will merely dream
that he must kill so many persons during his life; another dream adds that
he must also devour them; and as these strange beings believe in their dreams
as they do in the stars, they act in accordance with their gloomy suggestions”

Joann Georg Kohl, Kitchi Ganû: Life among the Lake Superior Ojibway,
St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1850.

The end
 MANIFESTUS
OMNIVOROUS
1. All books are adventures.
2. The adventures must be system-agnostic.
3. The adventures must take place on Earth.
4. The adventures can only have one location.
5. The adventures can only have one monster.
6. The adventures must include saprophagy or osteophagy.
7. The adventures must include a voracious eater.
8. The adventures must have less than 6,666 words.
9. The adventures can only be in two colours.

THE LOST RULE:

10. The adventures cannot have good taste.

A - THE BIN – A rusty bin with
burned wood and charred bones.
Impossible to discern to which
species they belong.
B - THE CLOSET - Two old rain-
coats reeking of grease (intelli-
gence PCs understand the grease was
used to waterproof them). It also
has unlabeled cans of grease,
crates with old tools and two
.30-30 Winchester cartridges.
C - THE RIFLE - An oxidized, but
functional, Winchester model 94
with the letters "P.H." engraved.
A entering the Lake, namely, that the
D H
E human flesh that they pounce upon
D - THE MOUND - Mushrooms have
grown here, surrounding a man-made
pile of stones. If PCs dig through,
they discover the remains of a dog.
E - THE KITCHEN – Food is being
prepared. There is a rice bag,
various kitchen tools, and a
cleaver. One bowl contains bone
marrow. All around there are bones,
blood and fat. On the wall hangs a
piece of paper with the recipe.
F - THE POT - Old steel pot on the
stove with boiling water.
I - THE BUCRANIUM - A large deer
skull hangs on the wall like a trophy.
J - THE BACKPACK - Has clothes and
camping gear: swiss army knife, 10’
of rope, matches, compass, deck of
cards, flask of oil and first aid
kit. The gear is new.
K - THE BOOK – A worn, leather-
I -bound copy of “The Jesuit Rela-
tions: Travels and Expectations of
the Jesuit Missionaries in New
France, 1610-1791 Translated by
Tomasz Mentrak”. Cleveland, Ohio
1899. A bookmark has been left on
this page:
C K “What caused us greater concern was
the intelligence that met us upon
J men (…) had met their death in a
very strange manner. (…) They are
B afflicted with neither lunacy,
hypochondria, nor frenzy; but have
a combination of all these species
of disease, which affects causes
them a more than canine hunger.
This makes them so ravenous for
women, children, and even upon men,
L like veritable werewolves, and
devour them voraciously, without
being able to appease or glut their
appetite.”
G L - THE PAINTING - A mediocre
painting of an explorer on a horse
F in the mountains, hiding an old
inscription in the back: "I didn't
want to do what I did but now it
happened and there is no remedy to
what you do in anger or despair; I
hate myself and want to die, but I
can't. I'm sorry."
G - UNDER THE BED – Old dog tag: "Conall".
H - THE PAPERS - Prof. Ernst’s notes. Most are undecipherable gibberish.
Some have information on mushrooms, cannibalism, native rituals, and so
forth.