The Briefing:
March 15th 2025
Buffalo, New York, FBI Offices.
The Agents are activated by their case officer and brought in for an urgent investigation. Less than 24 hours ago every resident of Birdsall, a small town in Allegany County vanished. A local friendly flagged it, before stifling the news of the mass disappearance.
A copy of the police call reporting the event is on hand, recorded at 3:33am is a confused boy struggling to explain his entire town is missing. Claiming he saw something fall from the sky and then the ground shake just hours earlier. He spends half the call mumbling and talking to himself. Mentioning "The Cruel Empire", "A Might Child" and "Cthulhu” before abandoning the phone. The operator seems unconvinced but still puts out the dispatch. When the police arrive everyone is missing.
The Child has been identified as Jack McBride, a 13 year old suffering from terminal Glioblastoma and undergoing end of life hospice care at home.
What's Happening?
Over three thousand years in the future a Mighty Child of The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan faces certain death in battle. In a moment of desperation, Transcendental Vector calls out to her father Yog-Sothoth to be saved and is thrown through space and time in an attempt to escape. However the act is too late, Mortally wounded she lands in the Keeney Swamp State Forest. Unleashing a tidal wave of alien contaminants into the vicinity and creating a twisted biome.
While dying, Transcendental Vector emits various bursts of alien radiation in a failed form of communication to all surrounding life. Instead of coming to aid her, the radiation mutates the genetic makeup and biochemical receivers inside the brains of every living creature within 5km(3.1M) compelling the afflicted to find and consume her.
The biological altering effects of the siren call fails to subsume McBride due to the deterioration of his brain, instead the mutations impact McBride by countering the cancer and degradation. Retroactively exchanging a successful transmission from TV, bestowing the child with eldritch knowledge and mission to rescue her by completing a ritual.
What is a Mighty Child?
In humanity's dark future the stars are right and the world has died screaming as Cthulhu rises. Yet the Cruel Empire persists a bastion of what humanity remains, Mighty Children exist as the bulwark against the enemies of the empire.
Mighty Children are Eldritch Demigods, those born from the copulation with mythos deities. Rigorously trained, Psycho-Indoctrinated and armed with powerful Arcanotechnology they fill the role of nobility in the empire. Worshipped like their parents and capable of going toe-to-toe with numerous star spawn at once.
The Mesopelagic Zone (Twilight)
5km(3.1m)
The Agents arrive to find the entirety of Birdsall and western portion of Grove abandoned. A handful of police work the perimeter, keeping locals away under the guise of a chemical leak. The presence of TV's contamination has reduced, what remains causes headaches after hours of exposure and can be detected as otherworldly yet symptomless pathogens in blood tests. Along with a chemical smell in the air, the small town is eerily quiet, no birds, insects or pets can be found. Everything has headed towards the crash site, the subtle yet weakened contaminants deter new animals from entering the area.
The local houses have all been abandoned in the middle of activity, food left at tables, tv shows play, ovens continue to bake blackened bread. The afflicted headed into the swamp without a second thought. Yet graffiti litters the interiors and exteriors. Ritualistic symbols and mad scrawlings left behind by McBride preparing the ritual.
The McBride residence stands out against the other houses. Completely covered in hypergeometric graffiti, drawings and notes. It has been locked up by McBride on his way out, inside every surface holds geometric shapes and nonsensical mathematical equations. His bedroom contains a selection of Hospice care equipment and drugs, those for terminal brain cancer. A closet that once contained spray paint, permanent markers and other artistic tools has been ransacked.
Local restaurant the Birdsall Inn was also abandoned mid service. Then graffitied by McBride. Security camera footage shows the locals reacting to something happening off camera at 9:13pm. The people return to their meals a few minutes later, but by 9:31pm they all freeze and appear to undergo a trance. Calmly exiting the building and heading north towards the swamp. Cockroaches, racoons and other lifeforms are seen doing the same. McBride shows up at 11:56pm in a similar trance and begins to graffiti for half an hour. Jumping between looking dazed and partially aware.
At the forest's border the agents find a collection of abandoned cars, bicycles and other forms of transportation. The ground has been stamped flat in numerous places, tracks packed tight by the marching afflicted. Human and animal tracks intermingle, all sharing the same goal.
The Bathypelagic Zone (Midnight)
2km(1.25m)
Within the Keeney Swamp State Forest mutations start to become noticeable and the presence of radiation is higher, yet poses no direct threat. The chemical scent becomes disgustingly strong and the air becomes thinner similar to higher altitudes. Any samples taken to a lab reveal gasses with unknown chemical components.
The environment has begun to warp from TV's influence, minor gravity fluctuations make movement feel strange and floaty. The area is littered with confused or dead afflicted. These weaker afflicted are small animals suffering from drastic mutations after consuming scraps of TV. Raccoons with gills struggle to breath, birds with gelatinous wings fall victim to eel headed flowers.
McBride has been busy carving more symbols necessary for his ritual; he is found by the agents on the edge of the next zone afraid to go further because of the Failed Host.
Jack McBride
A frightfully skinny and pale child appears on the cusp of death, kept alive by hypergeometric life support. Tiny painted symbols cover him from head to toe. McBride is benevolent to the presence of the agents willing to explain the situation and seek their help as long as he can carry out his ritual and second chance at life.
He will declare:
- Transcendental Vector is Human.
- She isn't a threat.
- She isn't truly dead, only her body.
- He will free her and share his body as a host.
- The afflicted are all failed hosts.
- Agents with low sanity can take his place.
If TV is threatened he will use hypergeometry to fight.
The Abyssopelagic Zone (Abyss)
500m(1640ft)
A small clearing with a steep crater circled by blown over trees is the crash site. All plant life has merged with the weaker afflicted becoming colourful anemones and funguses, gravity here is entirely gone allowing zero-g movement.
The corpse of Transcendental Vector is visible, partially hidden by the feeding Failed Host, a sanity-draining mass of over 200 People and large animals.
Transcendental Vector
Once massive the hours of constant feasting have reduced her body, revealing crystal bones picked clean. What remains is a long segmented serpentine form, brightly gleaming frilled transparent flesh is exposed to the air as glass scales lay discarded around the clearing, Isopod natured legs also lay scattered gnawed upon. Small portions of humanity are visible, at one end a long thick bundle of nerves and muscle tappers off forming a leech-like neck adorned with six Immensely beautiful and virtuous faces, Madonnas carved into silvery marble.
The Failed Host
Hundreds of living creatures have merged together after their gluttonous feast, forming a vast chimeric centipedal monster. A prevalent combination of deepsea and extraterrestrial adaptations are present. The Insectoid squid-thing tests the air with tendrils lined with barbed and Felty Feelers
The Aggressive abomination will attack once aware of the Agents or McBride.
The Hadalpelagic Zone (Hadal)
10m(32ft)
The carcass that remains is approximately 10m in diameter. Walking amongst scales and extraterrestrial organs McBride must make direct contact to complete the ritual and share his body. If wounded he will request an agent take his place.
The Siren's call is quiet but Agents entering must pass a Power Test to resist the overwhelming urge to feast on what remains. Fluid exchange or consumption results in instant drastic transformation inducing violent psychosis.
Resolutions
- Stopping the Ritual will result in TV's consciousness fading within three weeks as its spiritual form decays. McBride will succumb to cancer at that moment.
- Helping McBride will reward the agents with a powerful pro-humanity ally, the combination of McBride and TV wishes to destroy any Cthulhu Cults hoping to change the future.
- Agents willingly becoming a host for Transcendental Vector gain 65% Unnatural, 50 Sanity, +D10 to each stat, +D10 Rituals and knowledge to use mythos weaponry. Along with developing Megalomania and D.I.D where TV takes direct control to pursue her own goals.
If DG becomes aware of any suspicious activity they'll dispatch a star chamber team.
After three weeks anything contaminated will wither away.
The Failed Host
Deadly Abomination
STR 60 CON 80 DEX 40 INT 05 POW 10
HP 80 WP 10
ARMOR: Glass Chitin (5)
SKILLS: Alertness 50%, Zero-G Movement 60%, Dodge 50%
ATTACKS: Barbed Slash: 60% 1D10, Lethality 20%, Armor
Piercing 5.
Feeler Sting: 30% 1D6 pass luck test or suffer mutation.
NON-TERRENE
OTHERWORLDLY FLIGHT
UNNATURAL BIOLOGY
Jack McBride
Prospective Host
STR 18 CON 18 DEX 18 INT 18 POW 12
HP 20 WP 8
SKILLS: Alertness 80%, Zero-G Movement 60%, Dodge 50%, Hide 60%, Unnatural 75%
ATTACKS: Any offensive Ritual or spell.
HYPERGEOMETRIC BIOLOGY
Credits
OPERATION PROCIDENS CETE was written by Lovecraft's Cat Herder for the 2025 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PJ9oxCLgdr7abQaJem2Lm6O-Twmn5p-HhV3Z5hoVRVg/edit