Mellification
Delta Green alerts the Agents after Freddie Grant, night watchman at a museum, is hospitalized. The doctors are puzzled, as a number of bones in Grant’s body have inexplicably gone missing.
Background
Freddie Grant was attacked by the ghost of Hong Chen, an ancient Chinese sorcerer and member of the infamous Kuen-Yuin. A copper sphere in the museum’s latest exhibition contains Hong Chen’s still beating heart, preserved in honey.
This copper sphere was once recovered by Delta Green as part of a mission and stored in the D-Stacks of the New York Natural History Museum. It was kept in a special room that suppressed its hypergeometric effects and remained in the D-Stacks even after the mysterious disappearance of Jensen Wu. The artifact was recently re-discovered by Constance Ainsworth, who was looking for items to loan for an exhibition at her own museum.
Unfortunately, relocating the sphere from the D-Stacks released Hong Chen’s ghost. Now he stalks the museum floors at night with the goal of creating a body to possess. Freddie Grant’s bones are the first components of this New Flesh, but they won’t be the last.
The Deathless Sorcerer
Around 150 AD Hong Chen ruled over a small province in the Western Region Protectorate of Han dynasty China. His cruel reign was ended by General Li Feng, who had the sorcerer killed, dismembered, and his body parts preserved in copper vessels filled with honey. Li Feng hoped that eating these “delicacies” would transfer some of the sorcerer’s powers to him and his descendants. However, Li Feng himself was disposed of before he could consume all of the human confectionery.
As a member of the Kuen-Yuin, Hong Chen had learned how to cheat death. Various rituals and alchemical concoctions enabled him to keep his spirit alive and bound to his still beating heart. For centuries the copper sphere containing his heart was in the possession of various sorcerers and occultists who knew how to keep his spirit in check, including Delta Green. But now that the sphere is in the hands of unwitting civilians he is free to return.
The Victim
Freddie Grant works nights as security in the local museum. He was found unconscious by a colleague in the recently opened China exhibition. He is missing bones in his right arm and hand, several ribs and all bones in his left leg and foot. The Agents cannot talk to Grant, as he is in a coma.
The doctors have already taken X-rays when the Agents arrive and can confirm the disappearance of the bones. The Agents can do additional tests themselves or let the physicians do them. CT scans or MRI show that a viscous fluid has replaced the bones. A biopsy and a lab test of the fluid reveals that it is honey. This realization costs 1/1D4 SAN.
The Museum
Constance Ainsworth, the museum’s director, was deeply involved in the planning of the China exhibition. She is shocked by the events transpiring in her museum and, if asked, willingly provides a list of all exhibits and their provenance. Veteran Agents might notice that two items, a copper mask and a copper sphere, are on loan from the New York Natural History museum, location of the D-Stacks. Going through the whole list takes a day, half if the Agent has History.
Jamal Coleman is the night watchman that found the body of Grant. He can tell the Agents that he found him unconscious just outside the new China exhibition. He can also show them security cam footage, which shows Grant freezing during his patrol. He stands motionless for a minute and then suddenly collapses. For a few frames an unexplainable moving shadow can be seen at the edge of the camera’s field of vision.
Zhou Jing is the museum’s expert on Chinese history. If asked about the significance of honey in Chinese culture he can mention the legend of the mellified man, a type of medicine that is made from a human cadaver preserved in honey. Agents with Anthropology, History or Occult might already know of this myth. Zhou Jing knows Old Chinese and can decipher the inscription on the copper sphere.
Jodie Williamson works as a cleaner. She found several dead rats in the basement, which somehow felt sticky when picked up. Analyzing the animal carcasses shows that they are missing their organs and are instead filled with honey. Williamson can lead the Agents to the location where she found the rats.
The Exhibition
The theme of the latest exhibition is Chinese funerary traditions. It features a recreation of a Han dynasty tomb, including a replica jade burial suit. There is also a large collection of mingqi or “spirit objects”, items that are buried with the deceased. The collection includes:
- burial jars and urns
- decorated stoneware pillows
- burial money
- silk textiles
- everyday utensils
- weapons and armor
Of particular interest are the following exhibits:
- A group of earthenware figurines, located near the copper sphere. They serve as Hong Chen’s spies. They are somehow facing towards the Agents, even though they can never see them move. Noticing this requires Alertness and costs 0/1 SAN.
- A Tarim mummy under a glass case. Archeology, Forensics or Medicine reveals that the thousands of years old body has suddenly started to decompose. A close inspection reveals that the dry insides have been replaced with honey.
- A funerary mask made from copper. It also stems from the D-Stacks and was retrieved by Delta Green during the same operation as the copper sphere. Looking through the mask’s eye holes can reveal invisible entities, including Hong Chen’s ghost.
The Agents might want to look at every single exhibit in detail to find an artifact that could be the source of the problem. The Agent with the highest Search is allowed one roll per day. They get a +20% bonus if one of the Agents has Archeology above base. On a success they notice the copper sphere and that it seems to be “sweating” a sticky substance (honey).
There are several other options to find the sphere:
- With Alertness the heart inside the sphere can be heard beating once per minute, but only at night. It gets louder every night. Experiencing this costs 0/1 SAN.
- By looking through the copper mask an Agent can see a dim glow coming from the sphere. This costs 0/1 SAN.
- An Agent with Foreign Language (Chinese) might notice something off about the inscription. However, an expert for Old Chinese is required for translation. The inscription proclaims that the sphere contains the mellified heart of the warlock Hong Chen, defeated by the heroic General Li Feng.
The sphere rests on a pedestal, protected by a glass case. A recessed holder stops it from rolling away. The info label speculates that the sphere represents a celestial body or has some kind of cosmological significance, similar to that of a bi-disk.
The New Flesh
Hong Chen constructs a new body in a utility closet in the vast basements of the museum. Each night the ghost emerges from the copper sphere and lurks the halls and corridors of the museum, looking for a victim. He mesmerizes them and then takes their body parts for himself. The following events happen in the course of the investigation, unless the Agents intervene or are targeted themselves:
- First night: Jamal Coleman is killed inside the China exhibition. The ghost takes his inner organs and replaces them with honey.
- Second night: A pile of bones and skin is found in the basement, all muscle tissue is exchanged with honey. The body is that of Jodie Williamson.
- Third night: Hong Chen kills Constance Ainsworth and steals her skin. The New Flesh is complete. Hong Chen possesses the abomination, retrieves the copper sphere to implant his own heart, then flees into the night.
The New Flesh starts as a child-sized shambling mass of bones, sinews and desiccated tissue, connected by a sticky honey mass. It gives off a sickly-sweet stench. Each additional victim gets incorporated into its body, adding to its size and strength.
Finding the New Flesh requires a successful Search roll and takes a whole day. The roll is at +20% if the Agents have learned about the dead rats or if Jodie Williamson has already died.
Resolution
To succeed in their mission the Agents have to destroy both the heart inside the copper sphere and Hong Chen’s new body. Destroying only the body means that Hong Chen has to start from scratch. If the Agents destroy only the heart then the ghost immediately possesses the incomplete New Flesh and wrecks havoc.
Alternatively, the Agents could return the copper sphere to the D-Stacks and store it in the room that it came from. This room contains an Elder Sign that suppresses the manifestation of Hong Chen’s ghost.
SAN rewards:
- Neutralizing Hong Chen and the New Flesh: +1D4 SAN
- letting the New Flesh escape: -1/1D4 SAN
Stat Blocks
Hong Chen’s Ghost
Indomitable spirit
STR - CON - DEX 14 INT 14 POW 18 CHA -
HP 18 WP 18
ARMOR: see TRANSCENDENT
MESMERIZE: The ghost and the target have to make an opposed POWx5 test. If the ghost succeeds the victim is entranced by a sweet smell and unable to act for five minutes. This costs Hong Chen 3 WP. Only a painful sensation costing at least 1 HP can shock the target out of the trance.
MELLIFYING TOUCH: The target has to make a CONx5 roll, if the target is mesmerized the roll is at -40%. If the roll is unsuccessful the victim loses 1D6 STR as some part of their body (muscles, bones, etc.) dissolves into honey. Using this ability costs Hong Chen 6 WP.
IMMATERIAL: The ghost is not made of physical matter and can only interact with its environment via hypergeometry. It is invisible, but video cameras and similar equipment can detect it as a moving shadow. It is immune to physical damage, but takes full damage from hypergeometry. Its HP is equivalent to its POW.
SAN LOSS: 1/1D4 (only when seeing the ghost through a camera/copper mask or when witnessing a hypergeometric effect)
The New Flesh
Spirit vessel
STR 16* CON 16* DEX 12 INT 14 POW 18 CHA -
HP 16* WP 18
ARMOR: 3 points of unnaturally crystallized honey
SKILLS: Alertness 80%, Athletics 50%
ATTACKS: Grapple 60% (see CONSUME)
CONSUME: In any turn after pinning a victim the New Flesh can start incorporating the victim’s body into its own. This deals 2D6 damage. If the New Flesh has taken damage it heals the same amount of damage as it caused the victim, up to its maximum.
RESILIENT: A successful Lethality roll does not destroy the New Flesh, but inflicts HP damage equal to the Lethality rating.
*GROWTH: The listed STR, CON and HP are the values at the start of the scenario. They increase by +4 for every NPC killed by Hong Chen’s ghost in the course of the investigation. Successfully killing an Agent with CONSUME also increases the attributes.
SAN LOSS: 1/1D6
Credits
Mellification was written by Andrascha and Hendrik for the 2024 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/110wREQyWEbBhnZIQXmZQx-tkhq-6f2HzBAncuLh4nd0/edit