BRIEFING
The players are contacted by their handler, who notifies them that a group of five individuals (Eliza Shrew, Jonathan Marty, Fred Marty [Jonathan’s twin brother], Albert Melbourne, and Abigail MacArthur), inhabitants of Montauk, Long Island, have been missing for four weeks.
The players are informed that the missing individuals are all members of the same eighteenth century studies club, and Delta Green has reason to believe that their disappearance could be related to the occult. Jonathan’s wife, a 63 year old woman named Allison Marty, is a recommended contact.
INVESTIGATING THE MONTAUK NEIGHBORHOOD
Allison Marty:
Allison is very open with the players. She is quite old, and an extremely devout catholic. Allison will talk about how her husband, Jonathan, was acting very strange in the weeks leading to his disappearance, disappearing to his study for days on end and only leaving to attend to unexplained “errands.” She says that Jonathan only starting behaving this way after his brother obtained “some fruity play, romanticizing witchcraft and devilry.” Allison has some suspicion that he was having an affair with Abigail MacArthur, who is closer to his age. She also suspects that Jonathan only married her for her wealth, but will not openly admit this to the players. She will not allow the players to search Jonathan’s study, but they may decide to sneak into it. The door is unlocked. Allison will suggest talking to Gordon Peele (“Jonathan’s old fishing buddy”), asking around Eliza Shrew’s book club, and investigating Albert Melbourne’s apartment.
Jonathan’s Study
Jonathan’s study is in the same condition that he left it in. There are papers everywhere, notes on the sinking of the titanic, the Bermuda triangle, and the human subconscious. In the midst of the clutter is a piece of paper with long calculations and crossed out numbers resulting in a circled phrase; “41.7666 NORTH, -50.2333 WEST.” These are coordinates to a location near the site of the wreck of the Titanic, near the Sohm Abyssal Plain in the North Atlantic Ocean.
Gordon Peele
Gordon has no clue where his friend Jonathan has gone. “Ever since Jonathan started hanging around that MacArthur chick, he’s been getting into some weird shit.” Gordon will not outright mention it because he does not believe it is related to the case, but his boat has been missing for five weeks. He is a fisherman by trade, so this is very troubling. He might grumble about it to himself once in awhile, to tip players off that it’s gone.
Eliza Shrew’s book club
Eliza’s book club was in the middle of reading Moby Dick when she left. She was not acting strange in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. She was excited about “some eighteenth century play that weird guy, Fred what’s-his-name, found for the history club.” One of the book club members knocked on Eliza’s door one afternoon after she skipped a meeting, and reported her as a missing persons to the local police after noticing that she was gone and all of the lights in the house were off.
Albert’s Apartment:
Albert Melbourne was not noticed as missing for quite a while, since he was not very social. He fashions himself a poet and very rarely leaves his house, preferring to keep the shutters and drapes closed. His apartment is mostly very tidy. There’s a copy of Moby Dick in his room, with the name Eliza Shrew signed in cursive on the inside of the front cover. There is a slip of notebook paper serving as a bookmark, at the beginning of chapter 104. The paper has the phrase “41.7666 NORTH, -50.2333 WEST - DOCKS 0100” scrawled on it in pen. It’s similar to the paper in Jonathan’s study, and has the same coordinates. Albert has a notebook containing odd poems on his bedside desk. A few of these include “Along the shore of man’s whispers they seeketh to creep - darkened in tone unheard - unbinding the mind of shepherd to sheep - with one yellow, unbroken word”, “Blue are her eyes, and the well of her heart - green are the sights which do grace her fair hearth - and red are my cheeks in the season of winter - but yellow I’ll be when the time comes to end her”, and “O Traveler, o traveler, where have you gone? - May I follow, where might I be? - All has come to a stop in here - Within, without, withon.”
Jennifer MacArthur:
Jennifer MacArthur is Abigail MacArthur’s mother. She could approach the players to inform them on events leading up to her daughter’s death, or people around town may mention that they might want to talk to her about the investigation. Jennifer mentions that her daughter is “very kind, and sweet. She wouldn’t do anything wrong. Please, please find her.” She has been taking care of her daughter for her entire life, and she still lived at home when she disappeared. Jennifer states that she knocked on Abigail’s door one morning, and she just wasn’t there. Her window was left open. It is important to note that the MacArthur house lacks an alarm system. Jennifer will not openly admit it, but Abigail was losing her grip on reality ever since she joined the eighteenth century studies club, which she only joined because her mother told her to get more in touch with people her age. She started secretly not taking her medication to deal with her paranoid schizophrenia, which she was diagnosed with at a young age. This caused her to start believing in Jonathan’s occult ramblings. Jennifer, looking for clues as to where Abigail went, found a slip of paper saying “41.7666 NORTH, -50.2333 WEST.” in Abigail’s desk drawer, but will not readily admit this to the party as she does not think it is relevant. She returned the paper to Abigail’s desk shortly after finding it.
THE COORDINATES
At the coordinates given by the papers in Jonathan’s study, Albert’s apartment, and Abigail’s room the players will find Gordon’s stolen ship, and it will be abandoned. It’s above the wreck of the titanic, and afloat. Aboard the ship are many closed barrels. If opened, they will ooze gray slugs. The body of Freddy Marty can be found in the captain’s lounge. In his pocket is a book titled The Enchanter, or, Love and Magic by David Garrick. It is an eighteenth century play centering around a magician. A baroque bordered mirror behind Fred’s body shows a world that is not our own. Many slugs are inside the body, some bloated and red and others small and gray. The red slugs will pop, splattering blood when touched. Fred’s left hand is inside the mirror. If players step through the mirror, they will enter the other world.
THE PLAINS
The mirror is a one way entry point to an expanse of mud, extending to all directions. Massive, scaled beings with many limbs and more eyes can be seen in the distance, some rising up and out of the mud and others slinking beneath it. There are many grounded shipwrecks near the entrance, which does not exist from the other side. Looking back, Fred’s disembodied hand is just floating in the air. The living members of the eighteenth century studies club are camped out near the entrance. Eliza, Jonathan, and Albert, who were dissatisfied with their lives in the real world, are ecstatic. They are extremely glad to be where they are, where they are unbound by the laws of civilization. Eliza, Jonathan, and Albert will not want to return to Earth. Abigail, on the other hand, just wants to leave. She misses the real world, and sees this world as a nightmare. Abigail can be found nearby, crying. The club has a baroque bordered mirror, similar to the one on Earth, but it just acts as a normal mirror would. The only way to turn the mirror into an entrance back to Earth is to douse it in the blood of a sacrificed human. Smart players will choose to try and coax one of the bloody slugs from Fred’s corpse through the mirror, or perhaps drag Fred’s body through to the other side.
THE CONCLUSION
Eliza, Jonathan, and Albert are a lost cause. They will attempt to kill the players if they try to bring them back to the real world. On the other hand, if the players stay in the muddy wasteland, they may get attacked and killed by one of the massive reptiles seen in the distance. If Abigail is brought back to the real world, citizens of her neighborhood will believe her to be clinically insane and try to get her admitted to a psych ward. Reward players with 1d4 sanity if they return Abigail alive. Punish players with -3d8 sanity if they sacrificed another person to get through the mirror back to Earth.
Credits
This was an entry to the 2017 Delta Green shotgun scenario contest, written by Hazen Lane.