Briefing / Coroner:
The agents are ordered to meet their contact at the Knox County Medical Examiner in Knoxville, TN during a September d ay in 2023.
Agent Nyle was supposed to deliver the results on two bodies he found concerning, which resulted in him calling A-Cell. He currently keeps the autopsy results from the police until the Agents have confirmed if it is an Unnatural incursion and destroy it, saving as many lives as they can. He prepared shaky CDC Cover Identities for the agents.
The two bodies are stored in the morgue. The results of the autopsies are the following:
The bodies belong to “Taylor Bellinger 24, M” and “Glenn Harne 28, M,” both locals known for petty crimes. Nyle has both of their home addresses.
Both died by myriads of bee stings all over their bodies. Other than that, there are visible signs of an old struggle, like bruises, abrasions and skin cells under their nails. I t seems like just days prior they fought with somebody. The DNA did not provide a match.
They died from anaphylactic shock as their bodies could not withstand the venom. It is quite weird that hundreds of bees would sacrifice themselves to kill the two when they should be out gathering for the long winter.
Seeing the swelled up bodies of both victims costs 0/1 SAN.
What Happened:
Henry Kirsch was murdered in his home in Louisville three days ago.
Four desperate criminals broke into his home. Henry kept most of his money in his house hidden to pass ont o his granddaughter once she would enter college, redeeming his retirement money every month. Bellinger’s mother told him about the old man always doing that; this is when they hatched the plan to rob him. They surprised Henry. Two held him back while the other two searched for the money, which they eventually found. Seeing his granddaughter’s college fund stolen, Henry mustered his last strength and fought the intruders. In the ensuing fight, he got hit by a bullet in the lower abdomen.
In fear, the gangsters fled the scene and left Henry to bleed out. In his last dying thoughts, Henry wished for revenge. The Black Wind, an avatar of Nyarlathotep, honoring a contract made in medieval times by Kirsch´s ancestors, listened to his pleading. Bees started to swarm Henry’s body and like a storm of black buzzing bodies, they started to engulf him and dig into him. Kirsch is unnaturally kept alive while simultaneously hollowed out and only his subconscious drives him. A day after his “death,” his body walks, again searching for his killers.
Henry Kirsch
72 year old American beekeeper, wife died 4 years ago, daughter and granddaughter live 5 hours away.
With his wife dying and then the pandemic hitting, Kirsch became lonely, but tried to keep himself occupied. He found old crates in his basement that he forgot about. In these crates were old German books dating back to 16th century Germany, where his ancestors came from. The book gave him advice on how to keep bees in an apiary and different “Bee Charms,” which seemed odd to Kirsch at first but as they were just German rhymes engraved into wood, he jokingly crafted some of them after he got the bees. Unknowingly, this restored an old pact between the Kirsch family and the Black Wind.
Since his death, Kirsch is a walking husk of a man kept alive by the Black Wind while being hollowed out by the swarm now living inside of him. Approximately every 24 hours, he finds one of the people responsible for his death.
The Investigation
When the agents go forth after their briefing, a third gangster is already dead but not yet discovered. Throw them this curveball after they have seen at least the coroner and one other location. Other locations are now listed with clues that can be found:
- The home of Taylor Bellinger. Taylor still lives with his parents who don't see anything wrong with him being out for a few days as he often does that. They don't know he died, but are still concerned when law enforcement show up at their doorstep. In his home they can find clues leading the agents to the other gang members.
- The home of Glenn Harne. Glenn has an old family home and he lives there with his wife and 3 year old son. They don't know he died yesterday and will try to cover for him when law enforcement comes knocking. His wife knew about the plan to rob an old man, either her or his computer could tell that to the agents. The plan was thought of by Max Mason, the last gangster in the group currently alive.
- The c rime scenes of Glenn and Taylor do not offer much to the agents. Both were found outside of Louisville seemingly running for their lives. No witnesses were around. The only unnatural thing about the crime scenes is the massive amount of dead bees; it's unbelievable how many killed themselves just so Taylor and Glenn would die (SAN 0/1).
- Investigating the criminal records of the gang members or asking around in the town provides the following: DUI, loitering, selling narcotics, burglary and theft. None of them ever harmed or killed anyone directly, making it clear to the agents that they are just petty criminals.
- The c rime scene of Joshua Ferguson. Nothing new can be obtained if they study his corpse in his home alone the current evening. Concerned neighbors called the police after hearing him scream and beg for his life - although they didn´t see the killer. However, his phone is unlocked and can be used to obtain the information about the last currently living accomplice, Max Mason. If the agents give him a call, he can tell them all about the crime they committed but won´t tell them where he is hiding out of fear. With good roleplay, he will give the agents his location inside a church in Maryville. The agents should intervene to not let Kirsch catch him in the middle of a bunch of innocent s. If they catch up to him, go to Finale.
- The home of Henry Kirsch. In his home the Agents can find bloodstains on the carpet near the open backdoor and clear signs of forced entry. The amount of blood is enough for a grown man to bleed out, realizing this costs 0/1 SAN. He owns 4 bee boxes. All of them show signs of usage up until days ago, but they are now completely void of living bees. They stand close to a little workshop where he keeps his utensils for beekeeping and above the door hangs the “swarm charm,” a painted, wooden sign saying “ Im gold'nen Glanz tanzt der Bienenschwarm, Getragen vom Schwarzen Wind, so warm.” The last relevant item which can be obtained is the tome “ Von Bienen, Ihrem Verhalten und dem Schwarzen Wind”. The tome is in German. Studying takes 1d4 hours via Google Translate or half the time if an agent speaks German. Inside the tome is a variation of “The Closing of the Breach” they can learn, detailed below.
With all of those information players should know the following:
Kirsch died because the gangsters wanted the money he stored at his home. In the process something went wrong and he got shot. The gangsters fled the scene and now everyone gets killed by a swarm of bees. Kirsch is a vector and is actively killing the gangsters out of revenge with help of the Unnatural.
Finale
The finale can take place either inside the Maryville church with bystanders, or if they convince Max to get him somewhere safe, somewhere the Agents decide. If the Agents encounter Kirsch before that and try to harm him, he will first try to kill the Agents.
It is near impossible for the Agents to kill Kirsch by means of firearms. Seeing Kirsch up close and noticing that he is completely hollowed out by his bees costs 1/1D4 Sanity from Violence. Witnessing him take bullet after bullet while the bees work on closing the wound s costs 1/1D4 from the Unnatural.
Kirsch is unstoppable until one of the following things happen:
- He is blown up by explosives or burned, killing the queen bee and at least 80% of the worker bees.
- The bees are stored in a container at least the size of 5 gallon s through “The Closing of the Breach”.
After one condition is fulfilled, the bees return to their normal state of being and the husk of Kirsch collapses.
It is possible for players to ignore Max; in that case Kirsch kills him.
“Free” from his hatred, his husk returns to his home to await the Agents or the next poor soul coming close enough to unleash The Black Wind once again.
Resolution
If Kirsch is killed, t he agents gain 1D4 Sanity.
If Max Mason is alive at the end of the scenario, gain 1 Sanity.
Entities and Artifacts
Henry Kirsch
Half man, half hive
STR 8, CON 16, DEX 6, INT 14, POW 14, CHA 13
SKILLS: No Skills, Kirsch is not in control anymore.
Swarm Entity: Kirsch is not “alive”, all the damage to his husk is quickly repaired by bees. Only killing most of the bees or severing his connection to The Black Wind can “kill” him. See Finale for more.
Engulf: The Bees swarm their target and try to engulf it, only a successful dodge or athletics roll can save the target. 1 Damage if dodged otherwise 1D3+1 and the effects of “Venom”.
Venom: Bees carry venom which can lead to swelling, everytime an agent takes at least 2 points of damage from the bees he needs to roll a CON check. If failed the stung body part starts to swell, hindering movement, sight, breathing or whatever part the handler decides was hit the hardest.
The Swarm Charm
The gateway for the Black Wind
A swarm charm is a wooden sign which has to be hand painted with dark swirls and one verse of a German poem written on it.
“ Im gold'nen Glanz tanzt der Bienenschwarm, Getragen vom Schwarzen Wind, so warm.”
It translates to "The swarm of bees dances in golden splendor, Carried by the Black Wind, so warm."
After crafting it one has to perform a ritual by chanting the verse all over and sprinkling the Charm with local earth. If the Swarm Charm now hangs close to the bees, they will always return to the hive and produce way more honey.
The Closing of the Breach - Black Wind Swarm
Simple ritual. Study time: 1 hour; Activation time: 1D4 rounds. Cost 1D6 Willpower; 1 SAN
The ritual banishes the Black Wind from possessing the swarm of bees similarly to what destroying the Swarm Charm does. To perform the ritual the user has to get a 5 gallon container and chant “In einem Hauch, der Hoffnung bringt, verbannt der Morgen den Schwarzen Wind, Die Welt erblüht im Licht, der Finsternis entschlungen, das Glück darin beginnt.” three times over the container. It translates to “In a breath that brings hope, the morning banishes the Black Wind, The world blossoms in light, the darkness vanishes, happiness begins.”
After a successful ritual roll, which can be retried if failed each round, the swarm gets sucked into the container, banishing the Black Wind with it.
Von Bienen, ihrem Verhalten und dem schwarzen Wind
In German. Study time: 1d4 hours with Google Translate or half if the reader speaks German. Occult +1d4, Unnatural +1, SAN loss 1
Created by an unknown author, ca. 1500s in the Holy Roman empire. Describes beekeeping and the occult. Beekeepers in old Europe sometimes used swarm charms to guarantee swarms returned home or to boost honey production. Most of it is just occult nonsense, but two hypergeometric rituals can be found within. One establishes a connection to the Black Wind and one to banish it.
Credits
Black Buzz was written by Loluan/Lukas for the 2023 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KAvg-s3KobqkYcMRdmlRB01YfLoFBW5dxMihl4fd_0g/edit