Thursday, February 4, 2010

NEPA CoC #5: The Preacher and the Cross (Part Two)

March 17, 1922

As the group returned to Wilkes-Barre, they looked over the odd material they "recovered" from Mayhew Cooper's residence: Numerous notes referring to a ritual at the end of April, other papers and scraps of paper with strange codes, and what looked like a photograph of a detailed globe of the Earth, complete with clouds IN COLOR. How could one obtain a picture of Earth from Outer Space?

Finally, they decided to investigate, and possibly intervene whatever event was occurring.Dr. Bowsfield did a little work up in Arkham and discovered an old account of some cult around Corina and a large explosion atop a hill outside of town.

Just to keep things straight, the group travelling to Atlanta was comprised of:
  1. Dr. Nathaniel Millheim: a combination of Peter Venkman from Ghostbusters and "Big Dan" Teague from O Brother, Where Art Thou? Noted parapsychologist and crackpot author

  2. Steven O'Hara: Instructor of Mathematics and the Sciences at Wyoming Seminary. Friend of Dr. Millheim.

  3. Brian Nichols: Former bookkeeper for "questionable" organizations. Slowly becoming Dr. Millheim's personal assistant.

  4. "Smitty" : Proprietor of "The Angry Welshman" a speakeasy in Wilkes-Barre. He was lured into this field with money and chance to be violent. Curiosity is the reason he's staying.
Part Two: Southern Fried Chaos
The group boarded a train from Wilkes-Barre to Atlanta, and rented a Plymouth to drive to Corina to investigate. Tact is a useful skill when you’re in another part of the country. Unfortunately, since the players didn’t see it as a % on their character sheets, they completely ignored it. They walked around town, from the historical society to the sheriff, asking about cults, Lambert, and Mayhew Cooper. Smitty even asked townsfolk where "41P Blackamoor St" He had seen "41P Blackamoor No!" on a scrap of paper in Cooper's home and assumed it was a street.
For those of you not associated with the Klu Klux Klan, Blackamoor is Klanspeak for an "uppitty negro." Nothing like a large Welshman asking passers-by where "Uppitty Negro Street" was. It was surprising that they got out of town to begin with.
They loaded up in the Plymouth and drove out to the hill mentioned in Dr. Bowsfield’s research. As they drove through the countryside, they were accosted by a group of “southern gentlemen” (i.e. rednecks) who stopped the car and threatened them with baseball bats, pipes, and other household weaponry. Steve (the player) boldly stated, “My driving’s skill great. I’m going to put the car in reverse, floor it, pull a bootlegger reverse and get the hell out of here!”

*shooka shooka shooka* “99”

“You put it into reverse, loose control and plow into a tree, everyone takes 4 damage.”

The group managed to subdue the men long enough to make a dash back to town, but the gig was up. Groups of townsfolk began actively chasing them. The investigators split up, and were captured one by one…

Except for Steven O’Hara. Steven put on a southern drawl, stole a work jacket, and obtained a rail ticket for the afternoon train back to Atlanta, immediately transferring to a train going north.
To be continued...

Next:  #6 The Finale of The Preacher and the Cross

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