PREQUEL TO THE MASKS OF NYARLATHOTHEP

Werdi Nisan 13, 2022

BEFORE THE MASKS OF NYARLATHOTHEP

Scenario

The purpose of this scenario is to create a bond between the characters and Jackson Elias, strong enough that they want to get involved in the campaign and investigate or even avenge the death of Jackson Elias.

It can be played in a few hours. For my group, I had it played in parallel to the first scenario with a system of flashbacks. I split it into three acts: the first one, just before the investigators had discovered Elias in as a room, the second one after the characters contacted Myriam Atrwright and the last one just before meeting Jonah Kensington, the idea behind this is to conclude it before being introduced to Erica Carlyle and going on with the campaign. Of course the time when the Game Master places these flashbacks can vary depending on the actions and decisions of the players. Beware, however, this choice to integrate flashbacks can destabilize players and bring down the interest of the main plot of the first scenario: so use this artifice only if you feel very comfortable with your group.

Otherwise, the scenario may very well be played before starting the campaign in one shot

Information for the Game Master

The action will take place in the Providence area, Rhode Island, in Bancroft Manor, a beautiful mansion built during the last century and property of the Bancrofts. The characters participate in a spiritism event for reasons that will be determined according to their profession and background.

The event took place in the fall of 1919, exactly on the evening of Sunday November 16. The Bancrofts are known to organize every month occult events known for not being so serious but which nevertheless attract part of the wealthier residents of Providence

Famous among occult enthusiasts, the events are free but there are always one or two distinguished guests for whom the medium, Mrs Ursulina, receives a special visitation which will require more personal sessions, not free this time.

During the spirit event for the evening, the higher class guest will be Erica Carlyle, whose disappearance of his brother caused a stir and who certainly caught the attention of Silas Bancroft, scenting for a good deal.

As usual, Silas Bancroft has planned another event: this time besides the usual divination and spirit channeling session the highlight of the show is the opening of the coffin of the last century unearthed in Arkham.

They bought it from the cemetery keeper: he rounds off his end of the month this way and makes room in the cemetery by removing abandoned graves.

The Bancroft family claim this is a witch's grave and that Mrs. Ursulina will try to get in touch with her owner's spirit.

What they ignore is that a real witch, Abigail West, hid in the coffin to escape her pursuers and end up hanged and beheaded: she comes out of her stasis during the evening and will invade the spirit of Mrs Ursulina who will live her first real spiritual possession and who will come out very shaken.

Abigaïl West will be awaken enough to be able to use the Spirit Transfer spell: Her mind will substitute for Mrs. Ursulina's and replace it for longer and longer periods, without the medium being aware of anything.

As the spell taught to him by a priest of Yog Sothoth clarifies, it is necessary to destroy the original body with fire to definitively conclude the ritual and seal the spirit exchange.

Information for Players

Here is an evening that the characters cannot miss because the encounter they make there will change the course of their lives many years later. They will indeed meet Jackson Elias there. After the evening and over the following months and years, he will maintain a friendly relationship with the characters, often because they will be able to assist him in his research. Elias will eventually stop this relationship a few years before the start of the campaign of the Masks of Nyarlathothep.

For the evening at Bancroft Manor, the characters just had to phone Silas Bancroft to request a personal invitation. Indeed, Bancroft selects his guests based on the publicity he thinks he can get. He also likes to invite some gullible spirits who will be perfect witnesses of supposedly super natural phenomena.

The characters can perform only one search before going to the party: not that they do not have the material time to do it, but the information to be found is quite scarce

If their search is focused on the Bancrofts, they will find newspaper articles on parties they have hosted previously but without useful detail. If they are interested in Bancroft Manor, they can learn that the house was built in the 19th century and recently bought by the couple, who gave it a name. However, absolutely nothing will be found on Mrs Ursulina.

Examples of characters instrests in the event:

Psychiatrist: interested in strange phenomena

Occult journalist: writes for his newspaper

Private Detective: Paid to ensure the safety of the guests

Officer / Dilettante: it is a mundane social event like any other that should get him out of his boredom

Professor / Ethnologist / Archaeologist: made a dissertation on the success of occult evenings in the USA

Priest or Pastor: wants to prove that it is a hoax

Occult writer: attracted to stories of spirits

Actor: paid by the Bancroft family to play the role of “ghost under a sheet” type extra

Lawyer: employed by Bancroft to give a legal side to the sessions

Who's who

The Bancrofts:

Silas and Emily Bancroft (62 and 60): Childless, they invest all their profits in a property in Florida and in a collection of cars.

Interpretation tip: very friendly if not totally obsequious, they seem to be the perfect hosts, always concerned with the comfort of their guests. They are very hypocritical, offering refreshments and canapes to their guests as they wish, and they only care about the much-hoped-for Erica Carlyle for the evening. They tend to dodge any awkward questions, answering with a smile and a glass of Champagne..

The Medium Mrs Ursulina:

false medium supposed to be visited by the spirit of the dead. She is 47 years old and is presented as a woman of modestmeans born in Romania where she received her "powers". She was actually born in Chicago and has no connection to Romania. She was hired by the Bancrofts and enjoys her role not hesitating to overplay her various incarnations.

For the evening, she was scheduled to play the part of the spirit of an African guide who witnessed the Carlyleexpedition and is said to have secrets to reveal, the idea being to impress Erica Carlyle enough. to offer him private medium sessions.

Interpretation tip: She speaks with what she thinks is a strong Romanian accent. If one of the characters speaks this language he will quickly realize that Mrs Ursulina has no idea what Romanian is and she will try to change the subject of the conversation, helped by the Bancrofts who will always be on the lookout for anything. do to distract attention. If the questions are too pressing, she will pretend a strong attack of headache, due to the repeated visits of the spirits.

The servants Georges and Helena Benson:

married, in their forties, they have been employed by the Bancroft family for many years. Accomplices, they were sometimes bribed by journalists to confess the deception of the evenings at Bancroft Manor, but they have remained faithful for the moment in any case. Knowing that their employers have no descendants, they hope to be rewarded in the end by seeing their names written on their will, because Georges and Helena consider the house to be their own.

Interpretation tip: erased but available, their service is impeccable. They will stand up for their employers if a problem occurs.

Erica Carlyle:

she arrives last along with Joe Corey when the sessionhas just started. Bancroft told him that Mrs Ursulina had received a visit from her late brother. Erica places very little faith in this kind of medium but she is touched emotionally and clings to any hope of getting information about Roger. She won't talk to anyone except the Bancrofts. She will leave at the end of the session visibly quite unhappy.

Interpretation tip: distant and very cold, she won't deny any contact during the evening. Years later, if the players try to remind her they already met to contact her, she will have no memory of the participants at the said party. Joe Corey will be there to step in and dissuade anyone from wanting to contact her.

Jackson Elias: There is no need to introduce the occult investigator. In the course of writing his book Witches Cults of New England which would be published six years later. Consequently when he learned that Mrs. Ursulina managed to communicate with the spirit of a 17th century witch, he felt concerned.

Interpretation tip: very sympathetic and reachable, he's a bit sarcastic: he's curious to see what's going to happen, but he's convinced this is a hoax: he's ready to speak out. He will converse with the characters, starting to forge the bond that will unite them later and which will be strengthened by the events of the evening.

Bancroft Manor :

a large rectangular-shaped two-storey building surrounded by a small park protected by a fairly high wall. On the ground floor, there is a hall with a staircase, a library, an office, a kitchen, a dining room and a smoking room. Upstairs are the bedrooms, bathrooms and a utility room. The servants stay in a small house a few meters away, next to the garage and the storeroom.

Act 1 - The Spiritism Session

A small event takes place in the lobby of their property before the session around 6:00 p.m. The Bancrofts warmlywelcome the guests, offering them alcoholic drinks, the prohibition starting two months later. Silas gives the new arrivals the program of the evening, first the session of Mrs Ursulina then the opening of the coffin, which he does not hesitate to show in the office where the latter has been arranged on four chairs and covered with 'a dark cloth embroidered with cabalistic symbols of the most beautiful effect but without occult value.

Silas will prevent a close examination of the coffin, but a specialist in history or archeology will identify the object as coming from the last century; The wood embles quite worm-eaten but nothing can been seen inside.

Mrs and Mr Bancroft will speak with all their guests and will try to install a friendly atmosphere, telling the story of Mrs Ursulina's life since her youth in Romania and her arrival in the USA, a story all the more surprising as it changes according to Mr. Bancroft's mood and imagination.

Once the last guest has arrived, Silas invites the small group of fifteen or so pesone into the library which has been decorated with candlesticks with lighted candles, large dark sheets and atmospheric objects such as a skull, alchemy material, etc. ... The walls are covered with books and there is enough seats for all guests to sit comfortably.

The characters will be able to browse and search the library at their leisure, but there is nothing to find in this room.

In the center of the room, sits a round table decorated with a black silk tablecloth, a large glass ball in its center, surrounded by 6 chairs. Silas Bancroft invites his guests to make themselves comfortable while waiting for Mrs Ursulina.

This is when the butler Georges comes to pick up Silas with whom he returns to the hall; He returns after a few moments with a young blonde woman : Erica Carlyle arrives last accompanied by Joe Corey: she will only speak with Mr & Mrs Bancroft. Silas announces the arrival of Mrs. Ursulina and asks for four participants to sit at the table and participate in the session. Jackson Elias immediately volunteered. The characters can take the remaining three places, otherwise Silas himself and Mrs Bancroft will join the table.

This is the exact moment that Mrs Bancroft along with Mrs Ursulina chooses to join the assembly and help her sit at the table as if she were very old (but she is not). Once the servants have dimmed the lights, the session will begin.

Start of the session

 The Library is plunged into darkness.

The participants are Mrs Ursulina, Erica Carlyle, Jackson Elias and three more guests, including player characters. The other guests are spectators and asked to keep their calm and silence.

Instructions are given to all session participants around the round table and must stretch out their hands flat in front of them without their fingers touching

The masquerade begins with Mrs Ursulina who takes on a Shakespearean voice and claims to be in contact with Julius Cesar, Abraham Lincoln and Georges Washington. Overall this is all very bad, but with the atmosphere, only Jackson Elias seems to find the situation funny.

Suddenly she is silent and her head falls heavily on her chest. In detail, the spirit of the witch, Abigaïl West , whose remains are in the coffin, gradually awakens and incarnates in Mrs. Ursulina for a few moments.

She coughs and sniffles like someone waking from a deep sleep, before scrutinizing the session participants and making some scathing comments about their outfits or their looks. Mrs. Ursulina's voice grew quavering and tinged with meanness and bitterness. A specialist in psychology or psychiatry will be very surprised by this change because either she has become an excellent actress contrary to what her previous "incarnations" have suggested, or something strange is happening. A scholar will notice that she uses old-fashioned English peppered with words and phrases that have long been unused.

Hearing Mrs Ursulina talk like this must provoke a mental health test, the change is very disturbing and brutal.

Then she takes an interest in Erica. After inspecting her, she reveals with a big laugh that her brother is alive and that she must hurry to find him:

"Ah you, you came for something else I can feel it!" Yes you want to know don't you? (laughs) Well, your brother is alive, yes alive! (laughs) or rather what's left of it! Hurry to find him because his mind is already far away »

Right after that the medium recovers, screams and faintst.

Everyone rushes to her. Apparently this event was not planned because the panic is general. The Bancrofts rush to Mrs. Ursulina, who looks very shocked when she comes to herself, but she has no memory of the episode.

The servants rushed up to stretch her out on a divan: she seemed dazed, exhausted and very marked.

A quick psychological examination will show that she is in a state of intense stress. Physiologically, she is showing all the signs of a stroke: her mind is already lost but no one can guess it. She expresses herself by inverting syllables making her speech unintelligible.

If one looks at Erica Carlyle, she seems particularly shocked by what she has just gone through, having even lost some of her splendor. She hurriedly left the scene despite respectful protests from Silas Bancroft, who accompanied her back to the entrance. There she walks quickly to her magnificent Bentley, driven by Joe Corey, and the vehicle rolls away at high speed through the night. Erica will turn away anyone trying to hold her back, calling her bodyguard who is waiting in the hall if necessary.

Act 2 - Awakening the Witch

The lights are turned on. While Emily Bancroft and maid Helena give Mrs. Ursulina their best assistance, Silas will attempt to call a doctor they know who will accept to move Sunday night. If one of the player characters is a doctor, he can offer his help, which will be accepted with great relief, so great is the concern for the health of the medium. If one of the characters is a journalist, Silas is delighted and offers to help him write an article on the events, or even pose for a series of photographs: all publicity is good for the Bancroft.

After a few moments and a drink or two of tonic, Mrs Ursulina seems to be fine and thanks for the help given. A psychologist or psychiatrist will be amazed at such a rapid change, just as a doctor will be amazed to see her recover so quickly: her symptoms have practically disappeared and she is much better.

Decision is made to let her rest in the library while Silas Bancroft offers to serve a small glass of champagne to all his guests. Trying to warm up the mood for the evening, he chats with his guests asking everyone for their impressions.

Eager to move on, Silas leads everyone into the study, the room opposite the library. Quite small, several chairs have been placed there in front of the famous worm-eaten and blackened wooden coffin, itself placed on four chairs. After everyone is seated, Silas proceeds to open the top of the burial box with some difficulty. If one of the characters decides to help him, Silas happily accepts.

Tools are needed to remove the screws, but the job is not difficult. After a few moments, the cover is no longer attached. Silas then lifts the lid and the guests come closer to contemplate the contents of the coffin. Everyone is stunned by the spectacle and cries of surprise erupt from several guests.

Indeed, besides the dusty skeleton wearing the remains of a fashionable costume of the last century reduced to dusty shreds, all spectators can observe that the coffin contains another very different corpse: a woman dressed in a black dress : her skin is very brown as if mummified. This vision will lead to a Sanity test.

A historian, professor, archaeologist or someone with knowledge of occultism will identify her outfit as ritual outfit, related to an unknown cult. Silas is elated by the effect he has created on the audience: it goes beyond his expectations and he is already imagining the advertising fallout for his future parties.

The Great Fire Show

With all the fuss and talk that comes with such a discovery, everyone seems to have forgotten Mrs Ursulina / Abigail West in the library. The transfer is almost complete. Aware of the task that remains to be accomplished to definitively end the ritual. She knows Mrs. Ursulina's spirit is going to wake up and she wants to take advantage of the confusion to destroy her old body with fire.

In the office, recovered from their emotions, the guests begin to hear a sort of moan coming from the coffin. An attentive observer can hear that the complaint seems to come from the mummy; the sound becomes louder and louder and the mummy begins to stir and then tries to stand up.

Poor Mrs Ursulina's mind has just taken notice of her condition and struggles desperately to try to warn the people around her, but she is unable to utter an understandable word, only uttering a series of frightening rumblings. The sight of this animated corpse scares the spectators who must all take a Sanity check.

There is a certain commotion in the office: some scream, others try to flee, some pass out, others have attacks of vomiting or start to cry. Only Jackson Elias seems to keep his cool until a candlestick is thrown from the entrance to the office at the mummy whose parchment and parched skin begins to burn, reinforcing the maddened moans emitted by the creature.

It was Mrs. Ursulina standing in the doorway of the office who threw the candlestick: once her action is done, she runs back into the hall with a demented laugh. The fire spread quickly around the office and the panic didn't help. Things will get more and more tragic when the mummy trips over Mrs Bancroft and her dress catches fire beyond repair.

She can no longer be saved. Silas went in pursuit of Mrs Ursulina without realizing what was happening to his wife. If player characters follow them they realize that the library is already on fire and a thick smoke begins to fill the ground floor. It becomes necessary to evacuate all the guests and what Elias will do while asking the characters to help him in this task.

If one of the characters wants to follow Silas and Mrs Ursulina, Jackson Elias will stop him by showing that the flames have already reached the floor of the old house and that no one will come down alive from the first: the urgency is to get as many people as possible out. people; There is a lot of work because those who have recovered from the horrible spectacle are starting to show signs of intoxication.

After everyone is out, Elias realizes that Georges Benson, the butler, has not come out. He launches into the blaze (the characters can accompany him) just in time to catch up with Benson in the hall: he is covered in soot and has difficulty moving. His mind seems to be momentarily disturbed as he keeps repeating "She's walking in the fire."

A few minutes later, in the night lit by the fierce fire, several fire engines and police arrived on the scene. The night will be long to explain the events to the inspectors who will investigate the disaster and the deaths.

Elias warmly thanks the investigators for their help and for the courage they have displayed and asks them for their contact details in order to be able to contact them later to collect their memories and their impressions during the evening.

APPENDICES and PLAYING AIDS

Abigail West:

Witch member of the Evil Arkham Coven. In 1808, knowing that the city authorities wanted to get rid of her, she decided to hide in the coffin of a young man who was going to be buried. Once placed in catalepsy she would just have to wait for things to settle down about her. But things don't always turn out the way a wizard intended, and she wasn't able to climb out of her grave as she thought. After trying to get out of the wooden chest on her own, she understood that she was going to have to spend a few years there and decided by her magic to mummify her pulpits so that her mind had a receptacle while waiting for the right moment. pure change of body.

When the coffin was unearthed by the guardian of Arkham Cemetery, a slow process set in motion and his mind was able to slowly regain its vitality. Mrs Ursulina's weak mind was ideal prey for Abigail West who was able to make the transfer.

Spell :

Spirit Transfer: Allows the wizard's spirit to temporarily replace another person's spirit. Transference requires winning a power struggle between the two minds. If the sorcerer loses it is returned to his body. If he wins, he takes the place of the target's spirit. If the wizard's body is destroyed by fire, it remains permanently in the body of its host and the latter's spirit is lost. It is this spell that led the authorities to no longer send wizards and witches to the stake: they understood that the torture only destroyed their body and not their mind, that the spellcaster could send to a quidam with a weak will.

Conclusion

A few weeks after the events and the possible physical or mental wounds are healed, Jackson Elias will pay a visit to each of the investigors to share his thoughts: Mrs Ursulina has escaped the disaster and her mind has been replaced by that of a witch , out of his trance by the exhumation of the coffin.

He has taken from the archives two newspaper articles published just after the fire which corroborate his theories and will inspire him for his next book.