CLOSED DOOR, LIGHT PASSING THROUGHby LowPhotojournalist6
1999, Adriatic SeaOperation Shining Hope
1st Cycle
The characters are aboard USS Kearsarge, inside a briefing room. They belong to a squad with the CIA SAD/SOG. Together in the room are a couple of US Navy officers and two men dressed in civilian clothes.
“Gentleman, there’s a man who needs to be rescued. His villa was stormed by Serbian militia. His name is Vath Radogoshi, an Albanian businessman and philanthropist and he’s a key part of the new Kosovar nation we’re helping to form. You’ll be inserted by chopper and extracted as soon as you have our man.”
The only form of light comes from the projected image in the whiteboard and a pale red light coming from the corridor. In the middle of the presentation, people passing through the corridor form a curious headless shadow.
A helicopter awaits the team on the deck of the carrier. Nothing unusual happens during the flight to the LZ, which lasts 45 minutes. On the horizon, columns of smoke rise from the maze of dark valleys.
There is no opposition at the LZ. The aircraft descends, and the team deploys to the ground via fast-rope. The team reaches the objective after a short hike. The villa is a small complex consisting of a main single-story homestead and rural buildings surrounding a central courtyard. Despite its age, the structure is in good condition.
Distributed around the villa are nine soldiers and one officer. The main entrance has been fortified with broken furniture, and is heavily guarded. The team may test Military Science (Land), Demolitions, Alertness, or any other relevant skills to conduct reconnaissance and plan the assault.
The enemies fight until they take three casualties. After that, they retreat into the villa and attempt to continue the fight room by room. After suffering more casualties, the remaining enemies attempt to flee or surrender, dropping their weapons and raising their hands. One of the surrendering soldiers speaks in broken English: “You’re going to kill the monster?”
The basement is dark, lit only by dim lamps. This is where everything begins to grow strange: Radogoshi is tied by rope, in shock, incapable of any form of communication. Granite blocks are scattered throughout the basement, some with bodies laid on top of them. The bodies have had their hands and feet grotescally removed (SAN 1/1d3).
Suddenly, the bodies rise, lifting themselves by their torsos. The characters realize that the bodies are their own. (SAN 1d4/1d8) The entire team feels a presence directly behind them. Breathing becomes difficult, as if the air in the basement were growing thin. And as their lungs burn, seconds before total suffocation, a voice echoes in all their minds: “I allow you to breathe.” A violent rush of air slams into the characters, and they lose consciousness.
2nd Cycle
The team awakens once more in the briefing room aboard the ship. The room is unbearably hot, and the projection on the wall seems distant, the voices muffled and distorted. The shadow of the headless man stands motionless in the doorway, and the projector’s light reflects through a water bottle on the table, forming a pattern that resembles a wall made of blocks.
Once again, the team is deployed by helicopter to the LZ. Although everything appears the same, the entire team feels a profound sense of strangeness. The kidnappers appear to be terrified, some already bearing the wounds the characters inflicted on them before. When they spot the team approaching, they flee in terror, screaming “Not again!”. (SAN 0/1)
At this point, the team can explore the location in greater detail. Several walls are covered with phrases written in Serbian, in blood, “Stop listening to him” and “You already lived this”. The house contains many rooms that are completely empty, except for the bathrooms, the kitchen, and four others that stand out:
A living room with carpets and sofas, currently being used as sleeping quarters by the kidnappers. In this room lies one half of the Orthodox icon of Jesus Christ, bearing the passage: “In the desert, Jesus was tempted by the Devil, and even while hungry, He said no.”
A dining room, now reduced to a few pieces of wood. Here the team can find the other half of the icon, which bears the rest of the inscription: “Then the Devil left Him in peace.”
A bedroom with old, luxurious furniture. Here, the team can find a collection of documents showing a list of names registered through Radogoshi’s NGO, followed by a list of buyers, passports, and plane tickets.
An office lined with bookshelves. There are few books left here, among them, there is a copy of 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade and other works of libertine literature and esoteric pornography.
The basement appears vastly larger than it was previously, arranged like a blasphemous cathedral illuminated by light cutting through cracks in the walls. Dozens of altars hold mutilated bodies. Six of these bodies rise violently, and from their heads, they split open, transforming into a mass of human flesh shaped like worms with pallid, blind eyes. (SAN 1d3/1d6). They crawl using the remnants of human limbs, attacking with a vertical mouth filled with red sharp teeth.
The attack of these creatures not only inflicts physical damage but also damages sanity When they bite, in addition to the searing pain, the creature forces a grotesque vision of the character, or their bonds, being killed. (SAN 1/1d3). A voice speaks in the characters’ minds: “These are my servants, but you can be my priests.”
If the characters die to the worms, the vision forced upon them becomes the beginning of the 3rd cycle. However, the sensation of dying and being devoured by worms is horrific. (SAN 1d3/1d6)
The surviving characters hear one of the worms whisper: "These are your memories, you have control here, not just Him." Knowing this grants advantages on all Power tests and allows the characters to predict the avatar's actions by testing Intelligence and achieving critical success.
3rd Cycle
The characters find themselves once again in the briefing room, and now it’s made of massive stone bricks. The door stands open, and the characters can see the cathedral.
From the darkness, a headless, obese, and rotten man rises, glowing sickly. Its feet are deformed masses of flesh, and its hands contain mouths filled with sharp teeth, from which saliva oozes. (SAN 1d6/1d20)
The fight against the avatar of Y’golonac is brutal. Its intent is to render the characters submissive and humiliated. The avatar attacks by knocking its target to the ground and using one of its mouths to tear off hands and feet, while his massive body pins the victim down.
After injuring a character, the avatar speaks directly into their minds: “Is this enough? Read my name and become priests.” A red leather-bound book stands out on the central altar. Characters who have already been injured by the monster must make Power tests to resist the temptation to read the book.
The fight ends if two attacks with lethality 10% or higher strike the avatar. Alternatively, the fight also ends if all characters read the name Y’golonac in the book The Revelations of Glaaki, 12th Volume.
Characters who read the book hear a vile, obscene laughter echoing in their minds, followed by silence, and characters that reach 0hp are devoured by the monster.
Final Cycle
Characters who survive the fight, whether by destroying the avatar or by reading the book, awaken beneath the ruins of the villa. Beside them lies Radogoshi, the Albanian man, in a state of absolute shock. A helicopter flies low overhead, and the characters may proceed toward the LZ for evacuation.
For those who read the book, there is nothing more to be done. Deep in their souls, they know they sold themselves to the Devil, in exchange for nothing. Kill or let him live, it wont matter. Y’gonolac will use his new pawns to advance his nefarious plans.
If no characters read the book
Doubt may arise about whether or not to keep the Albanian alive, as he is a key figure in a human trafficking operation. There is no voice in their minds now, only their own consciences:
Kill Radogoshi:The characters will forever question whether killing the man was an instruction from the monster. Subtly, Y’golonac remains close, waiting.
Let Radogoshi live and evacuate him:Given the man’s fragile mental state, he is no longer of interest to the CIA. As a gesture of consideration, he is committed to a psychiatric institution. Thirteen years later, he will become nationwide news, and Delta Green will be on the hunt.
Let Radogoshi live but leave him behind:The Albanian vanishes into the dark valleys, and his name is erased from every possible record. Decades later, there is no living human being who remembers him, nor the malignant influence of Y’golonac in the Balkans.
——STATS BLOCS
Serb Volunteer Guard paramilitary
STR 14 CON 12 DEX 12 INT 10 POW 14 CHA 9HP 13 WP 14 SAN 30 BREAKING POINT 16SKILLS: Alertness 50%, Athletics 35%, Dodge 35%, Firearms 45%, Melee Weapons 40%, Search 50%, Survival 50%, Unarmed Combat 40%, Heavy Weapons 20%, Military Science (Land) 30%
ATTACKS:
Zastava M59/66 PAP 7.62×39mm semi-auto rifle (1d12+2) orM56 7.62×25mm submachine gun (1d10, Lethality 10%) orZastava M70 7.62×39mm assault rifle (1d12+2, Lethality 10%) orZastava M72 7.62×39mm light machine-gun (1d12+2, Lethality 20%)Zastava M57 7,62×25mm pistol (1d10)M75 hand grenade (10% Lethality)M70E Bayonet (1d6)
Serb Volunteer Guard Lieutenant
STR 13 CON 12 DEX 14 INT 14 POW 13 CHA 11HP 12 WP 13 SAN 35 BREAKING POINT 22SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Athletics 30%, Dodge 40%, Firearms 40%, Melee Weapons 30%, Search 65%, Survival 40%, Unarmed Combat 30%, Military Science (Land) 45%.
ATTACKS:
Zastava M88, 9x19mm pistol (1d10)M75 hand grenade (10% Lethality)RGD-2M white smoke grenade
Vath Radogoshi, the Albanian
STR 9 CON 12 DEX 14 INT 16 POW 15 CHA 14HP 11 WP 15 SAN 0 BREAKING POINT -SKILLS: Alertness 60%, Dodge 45%, Firearms 20%, Melee Weapons 40%, Search 50%, Survival 40%, Unarmed Combat 30%, History 60%, Occult 40%, Unnatural 5%, Serbo-croat 60%, Albanian 70%, English 30%, Bureaucracy 30%, Criminology 30%.
ATTACKS: Hands (1d3)
Y’golonac’s Blind Servitors
STR 10 CON 12 DEX 5 INT - POW - CHA -HP 11 WP - SAN - BREAKING POINT -SKILLS: Alertness 20%, Athletics 40%, Dodge 20%, Search 50%
ATTACKS: Bite 60% (1d6)
Y’golonac’s Avatar
STR 20 CON 18 DEX 8 INT - POW - CHA -HP - WP - SAN - BREAKING POINT -SKILLS: Alertness 80%, Athletics 50%, Dodge 20%, Search 60%
ATTACKS: Hand-Mouths 65% (1d8+2)
And here are 5 ready-made characters that fit perfectly into the scenario:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zKnjHVytA6C3yNb2TQQEnske2RfJdsDtvnd5673uE3A/edit?usp=sharing
Credits
CLOSED DOOR, LIGHT PASSING THROUGH was written by LowPhotojournalist6 for the 2025 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vcn7GRyq3QKSGDx8spasJ_7LhKU1pERDk6L5yCZl8q8/edit