(Read the previous letter here.)
Letter 5: Nyarlathotep
Background info:
Character: Artist Issac Barnard (Skill: Inspiration +1 dice to a single Language test)
Penmanship: Good (3d)
Language: Poor (1d)
Heart: Average (2d)
Profile: As with the past two letters, the year is 1904. You live on the edge of the northern woods. For the past several months, you have had a front-row seat for the lights, chants, and other phenomena that have been occurring from somewhere within the woods. Because of these unsettling events, you were already contemplating moving to Nebraska to live with your mother when the most recent deaths and disappearances began. First, it was that student and her friend who was staying in the home of Catherine Gale while the owner was recovering in the hospital from a serious illness. Next, a journalist from Boston and his companion went missing after heading into the woods to investigate the same lights and sounds that concerned you. However, it’s the last death, the body you personally discovered, that prompted you to alert others of the evil that might exist in Arkham, Massachusetts.
Goal: You must relay the events to the editor at the New England Journal - telling them what you saw and that people have the right to know about it. Convince them to report on it at once.
Rules of correspondence: You write on high-quality vellum paper with professional stationery. Reroll your first Penmanship test and take the highest number.
Inkpot words will be printed in red, flourish in blue. The scores for each paragraph are listed after the letter.
* * * * *
Dear Editor,
My name is Issac Barnard and I have been a resident of Arkham, Massachusetts for nearly ten years. I am an artist by trade, and I moved to New England for an opportunity to capture the homes, people, forests, and oceanscapes of this picturesque corner of our country in my paintings. My life has been enjoyable, but recent events have disrupted the town’s peaceful nature. Several months ago, some type of nighttime gathering began in the woods near my home, and people in town have grown increasingly secretive and curious. These alone could be dismissed as oddities and mere annoyance, however, things have grown more serious with several unexplained deaths and disappearances. I would urge you, Sir, to send some of you best people down here to investigate the facts themselves and report about it in your Journal before more people die.
The worst of this started with two girls. Their bodies were found in an upstairs bedroom of the house in which they were staying. According to my friend Charlie, who worked with the police, both bodies were covered with cuts that resembled shapes and symbols. The man who found the bodies, a man of science from what I hear, knew one of the young women. He asked a lot of questions about the goings-on around Arkham and the late-night activities in the woods. He contacted a journalist friend of his and the two of them began their own investigation, beginning with a trip into the forest. I don’t believe their search went very far, however, for they never came out and were never heard from since.
It is the most recent occurrence, however, that greatly affected me. Two days ago I was walking my dog through a field near my home when I discovered a body hidden in some brush. It turned out to be my friend Charlie, who I mentioned earlier. He was dead, of course, but what was even more shocking was the state of his body. His arms, legs, face -- any part I could see -- were covered in shapes and images, all carved into his skin. I remember him telling me about the same marks on the two dead girls. I also remember he took a particular, almost obsessive interest in their case. He suspected occult involvement, primarily due to an old book and other writings that were recovered from the house. Charlie was constantly speaking of the Man from the Stars who was coming to bring peace to our world. He spoke of these things with such passion that I wonder if he might have believed them himself. Regardless, I fear he may have become too involved and that his death is related to the others and the strange gatherings in the woods.
I have saved the next part for last, primarily so you might first have some facts that can be checked out and verified, and thus be more likely to believe what I encountered next. I admit I have taken to drinking lately, and last night I was about a quarter of the way through a fresh bottle of whiskey when I heard the cacophonous music and chanting emanate from the woods. Next, lights from the trees shone through my window and illuminated my room. I built up my courage -- I'm sure the drink helped -- and set out to discover once and for all what was happening in this town. I entered the forest and traveled about two hundred feet when I came to a clearing. A circle of people, many of them whom I recognized, danced and contorted in a circle around a large bonfire. They were buck naked, men and women both, and their bodies were covered in the same gouged-out symbols I saw on Charlie. In the center of the circle, at the edge of the fire, was a finely dressed, lanky giant. He was nearly eight feet tall, wore a coat and tails, had on a top hat, and carried a jeweled cane. I couldn’t be certain if this man, his own face scarred as well, was the dancer’s object of worship or simply the leader of the service. Either way, he cackled as everyone chanted the name Nyarlathotep, along with other nonsense words, as though they were casting some spell. Soon, tendrils of light like lightning coursed through the group, jumping from body to body. Then suddenly, a creature with wings like a bat, a body like a skeleton, and a long pointed beak with needle-like teeth descended from the sky and alit on one of the cultists. That’s when I ran!
Writing this letter is my last duty to Arkham. Once I am done I will be packing my things and making for the station. I have seen too much and I fear it will be my quietus unless I leave immediately. Even then, it might already be too late. I wish I had never heard of Arkham, Massachusetts. If this missive compels you to act -- which I hope it does -- I would urge you to send a team of journalists, for their own protection. And trust no one. This must stop. I wish you well.
Sincerely,
Issac Barnard
P1 - Flourish: pass Inkpot: 5 - superior word Penmanship: 4,4,5 reroll per rules 2,3,5 both succeed.
Total Score: 2
P2 - Flourish: 4, 4 fail Inkpot: 2 - inferior word Penmanship: 3,4,5 success.
Total Score: 1
P3 - Flourish: 3, 3 fail Inkpot: 4 - inferior word Penmanship: 3,5,5 success.
Total Score: 1
P4 - Flourish: 3, 5 success Inkpot: 5 - superior word Penmanship: 2, 5, 6 success.
Total Score: 4
P4 - Flourish:2, 2 fail Inkpot (use skill, +1 die): 1, 5 - superior word Penmanship: 5,5,5 success.
Total Score: 2
Total Letter Score: 10
9+ points
The editor of the New England Journal is very intrigued by your letter and receives it with utmost seriousness. After a few inquiries, he is able to confirm the stories of the disappearances and the deaths and feels, based on your account, that a thorough investigative report would be in order. He puts his top reporter, Jacob Hughes, on the story. Hughes writes back, hoping his letter will be forwarded to your new address. He desires to interview you more fully, should that be possible, but in the meantime will travel to Arkham with two other journalists, a seasoned veteran with whom he has teamed up in the past, and a young student just starting at the paper. The three hope to interview the locals and make it out to the woods in the hopes of spying on the activities that go on at night. Hughes promises to contact you when their trip is done to give you an update and schedule a time to visit for an interview.
Actual text from the rules: The letter from the editor is everything you hoped for. He is extremely interested in following this story and is immediately dispatching the Journal’s most seasoned reporter. Before long you’re getting paid a visit by journalist Jacob Hughes who interviews you about what you saw and decides to set out into the woods at night. Gain 2 story points.
Total Story Points: 6
(Read the next letter here.)
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