Shotgun Scenario: Hospital Horror
The Set-up:
The members of your cell have been called-up to retrieve the only surviving member of a mission gone horribly wrong. A member of K-Cell (Agent Kuato) has been admitted to a hospital in Kiev. K-Cell's last assignment was a small town in Michigan on the Ohio border. Agent Kent was found dead in his car parked outside of the Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station near Monroe. The third and final agent: Khiew, has not been found. His body is somewhere in the ruins of Chernobyl. Once Kuato was discovered in the Ukraine, messages were sent to the U.S. Government. Delta Green friendlies inside the government intercepted the information and passed it on to A-Cell. To avoid any intelligence leaks, A-Cell wants him back, ASAP.
What They Don't Know:
Agent Kuato has become host to an abnormal form of Shan (DG: Countdown pgs. 4-12). This relative of the insects from Shaggai (CoC: Malleus Monstrorum pgs. 79-80) has a few unique characteristics. A full description of this unique form of Shan is found in the supplementary material of this shotgun scenario. Agent Kuato will die within a few moments of meeting the agents.
Orders:
Retrieve Agent Kuato without alerting Ukrainian government officials. Your cell has been provided with (faked) requisition papers to fly into Kiev, take custody of Agent Kuato and leave. He is to be brought back to the U.S. for debriefing. A safehouse has been provided in rural Arkansas. Be as unobtrusive as possible.
The Event:
After arriving at the hospital, while being escorted into Agent Kuato's hospital room on the fifth floor, the agents will, likely through the help of an interpreter, learn that Agent Kuato is almost certain to expire soon from severe radiation poisoning. The investigators are escorted to Kuato's room by a nurse. Agent Kuato sits in a hospital bed. He is naked from the waist up. His lower torso is wrapped in bandages as is his head above his temples. A blanket is pulled up over his legs. There is an intravenous tube going into his left arm. There are machines monitoring his life signs. He appears asleep or unconscious. While it is not readily apparent, anyone succeeding a Biology, First Aid, Forensics, Surgery or Medicine roll can deduce that he is suffering from acute radiation syndrome (ARS). The evidence of this includes a fever (investigators can feel the heat radiating off of his exposed skin), blisters on his skin, purpura (red or purple skin discolorations caused by subdermal bleeding), and hair loss. Seeing him in this position prompts a SAN roll at 0/1D2
Almost imperceptibly at first, the location on his skin where the IV enters his body begins to grow and darken, turning black. The IV falls out. Suddenly, sores begin to appear all over his exposed skin. They also grow in size and turn black. The man is awake now, screaming (SAN loss 1/1D3). His tongue begins to extend out of his mouth, he reaches to grab it, as if to push it back in. It falls out into his hands. He drops it (or hands it to an investigator), horrified (SAN loss 2/1D4+1). The patient, still screaming, pulls a doctor to him. The doctor too begins to scream as the man in the hospital bed continues to pull him closer, forcing their faces to meet, touching in an obscene and horrific mockery of a kiss. The doctor finally manages to break the man's grasp and pulls away, bringing the lower half of the man's face with him, trailing tendrils of flesh and skin still connected to the remainder of the dying man's face (SAN loss 1D2/1D4+1).
The sores on the patients' body have continued to grow, joining together, leaving his muscles and connective tissue exposed. There is a growing pool of blood on the floor of the room, dribbling down from the bed in rivulets. The patient's screams no longer sound like anything that could come from a human, it has risen in pitch and taken on a droning characteristic. The man no longer pauses to draw breath, making the droning screams constant (SAN loss 1D3/1D6).
The doctor, still connected to the man by chains of flesh and skin originating from the remains of the patients lower jaw and cheeks, ceases to struggle. He stands rigidly still in the middle of the room. His eyes, whites showing in fear, quickly dart around the room, rolling about in his head in a sickening manner. Suspended on the bridge of flesh joining the two men, a floating blue light begins to form (0/1D3).
The light pulses quickly, growing in intensity until finally the pinpoint of light seems to explode, filling the room with a blinding glare. A strong force accompanies the light, rocking the room with a blast of power, knocking people down, tearing clothing, breaking light bulbs and equipment. As the light recedes, sparks shower down from the lights. Illuminated by the sparks, an ethereal form, also composed of blue light (the shan variant), seems to pass from the patient, a grisly, bloody skeleton, barely resembling the man he once was, into the connected doctor (1/1D4+1).
The screams stop. The room is filled with silence save for the whimpering of a few of the nurses, lying in heaps against the walls. The doctor, clothes now in shreds, slowly gives a half smile, turns and runs out of the room, down the hall, past the other rooms and people. His movements display a grace and speed not commonly observed in average humans. If you would like to calculate the SAN loss at the end of the event rather than throughout it is roughly 1D10+5/1D20+10.
SAN Loss:
There are a quick succession of SAN losses associated with "The Event". This is designed to allow the players to realize the seriousness of the situation. Far too often in a scenario, the investigators manage to succeed with a minimal of damage and SAN loss. The purpose of the SAN loss in this scenario is not to make it impossible to kill the shan, but to make it a task that, when completed, is a significant accomplishment. If at any time during "The Event" an investigator would like to leave the room allow them do do so (with a successful POW vs. the shan's POW using the resistance table). Anyone remaining within earshot of "The Event", especially having just been inside, will still take SAN loss at ½ normal value. Additionally, they will suffer an additional 1/1D5 upon viewing the aftermath of the room
The Rest of the Scenario:
Upon exiting the room, your investigators will meet a man identifying himself as Agent Daniliants. Daniliants will address your investigators by their agent designations and if asked, will show a Ukranian government credentials. He is GRU SV-8, although your agents will not know this and he will not reveal it. He will notify the investigators that, until they rectify the situation, they will be unable to leave the country. He is willing to help. It is now your investigators' responsibility to prevent the shan from leaving the hospital, whether in the form of the doctor or in another body entirely.
Kiev Hospital
The hospital is five stories. All of the windows are barred leaving the only possible methods of egress to be the North and South entrances, both on the ground floor, and the service entrance which is in the basement. If out of options, the Shan Variant may try to jump off the roof, hoping that it can still manage to transfer itself soon after impact. The fifth floor is patient care, the fourth is maternity, the third is Surgery, the second is Diagnostics, the first is Admittance/Emergency, and the basement includes the Laundry, Morgue and Boiler. There is a central laundry chute, large enough for someone to use (SIZ <14) although they must make frequent STR checks to avoid falling. The hospital has an elevator and two stairwells.
False Alarms:
The Shan Variant, and anyone inhabited by the Shan Variant will give off radiation which is detectable by Gieger counters. However, this is a hospital, radiation is abundant. Alternate sources of radiation include: x-ray machines on the diagnostic floor, the radiologist and radiology technicians who've yet to learn that one of their machines is malfunctioning, anyone who's had x-rays taken that day, anyone who's ingested, or been injected with a radioactive solution to aid in x-ray imaging, and bananas (or anyone who has eaten a banana [From Wikipedia: Bananas are radioactive enough to cause false alarms on radiation sensors used to detect smuggling of nuclear material.]).
Stats:
The Shan Variant, Lesser Independent Race
The Shan Variant cannot survive more than a few rounds, in the absence of high radioactivity, outside of a host. This Shan is immaterial but still retains the ability to manipulate and control its host. Unlike normal insects from Shaggai, it is not especially photosensitive.
The Shan Variant, Radioactive Parasite
char. rolls averages this scenario
STR 1D3 2 3
CON 1D3 2 3
SIZ 1 1 1
INT 3D6+6 16-17 15
POW 5D6 17-18 13
DEX 2D6+24 31 31
Move 4/40 flying HP 2
Av. Damage Bonus: N/A
Weapons: Meld 60%, damage is progressive control after insect enters
brain of target
Armor: none.
Spells: roll 1D20 - if the result is less than or equal to the shan variant's INT, that many spells are known by it. When inhabiting the brain of an individual, it gains access to a number of additional magic points equal to half the POW of the inhabited individual. When these magic points are exhausted, the inhabited character dies and the Shan Variant must find a new host. The shan variant in this scenario knows 6 spells (in addition to Grisly Transfer and Create Gate [Limited: from and to areas of high radioactivity]).
Possible Spells: Cause/Cure Blindness, Cause Disease, Cloud Memory, Curse Of The Putrid Husk, Death Spell, Dominate, Implant Fear, Melt Flesh, Pose Mundane (Mask), Summon/Bind Dimensional Shambler, Summon/Bind Hunting Horror, Wither Limb, Wrack.
Sanity Loss: 0/1D6 Sanity points to see a shan
Grisly Transfer: Once begun, it is near impossible to halt or reverse the grisly transfer. Anybody witnessing a grisly transfer for the first time is unable to do anything besides cower in horror. The next time (and each subsequent time) a character manages to witness the grisly transfer that character matches POW vs. the Shan's POW on the Resistance table. A success indicates that the character has overcome their fear and manages to act.
Vasily Ivanovich Daniliants, Human
Vasily was recruited into GRU SV-8 directly from the Soviet Army where he excelled in marksmanship and wilderness survival. Once in SV-8, Vasily's other talents came forward. He has a keen and intuitive mind and has been integral in protecting much of Eastern Europe from multiple encounters with the mythos. Although starting to get older, Vasily has rejected just about every promotion that has come his way. He has no desire to leave fieldwork behind. Of course, experience with the Mythos has left it's mark. He's overly cautious to the point of being trigger happy. He is used to having his orders followed immediately and often gives ridiculous orders just to prove the point. Agent Daniliants has an affinity for American idioms although he often misquotes or misuses them. Also, he wears women's underwear.
Vasily Daniliants, Age 58, GRU SV-8 agent
STR 14 CON 13 SIZ 15 INT 15 POW 10
DEX 11 APP 9 EDU 18 SAN 50 HP 14
Damage Bonus: +1D4
Education: Frunze Military Academy, Malinovsky Military Armored Forces
Academy (Dropout), GRU Training
Occupation: GRU Operative, Ukraine
Skills: Climb 60%, Cthulhu Mythos 20%, Demolitions 15%, Dodge 62%,
Drive Auto 50%, Hide 40%, Jump 35%, Martial Arts 30%, Military Science
15%, Occult 25%, Sneak 35%, Survival 74%, Throw 55%, Track 67%,
Tradecraft 29%
Languages: Russian 80%, Ukrainian 45%, English 40%, Crimean Tatar 15%
Attacks:
AK-47 Rifle 42% , 2D6
Bayonet 35%, 1D6+1+db
Rifle Butt 40%, 1D8+db
Makarov 9mm pistol 55%, 1D10
Fist/Punch 60%, 1D3+db
Grapple 48%, Special
Commando Knife 42%, 1D4+2+db
Physical Description:
Tall and lanky, Vasily can often give the impression of looming. He wears his mostly grey hair just long enough to part and keeps it closely cropped on the sides. He sports a trim mustache and often has more than a weeks growth of stubble on his chin. A life spent outdoors in the wilderness of Russia has left his face hard and chiseled. Despite his appearance he has a jovial nature and enjoys a good laugh. He is a chain smoker and in his downtime he likes his vodka and a warm fire.