The scenario combines elements of previous scenarios(metamorphosis) or parts of things that have been put up on Detwillers patreon. It's meant to take advantage of the sensation of relief after having completed assumed objectives. It works best if the PCs aren't actually combat monsters but soft skill types.
The PCs begin at an impromptu multi-agency briefing where no one is wearing identifying attire. Assault team members(DG inducted marines) are openly carrying suppressed automatic weapons, AP ammunition, and there's an air of casual violence about them.
The case officer conducting the brief puts several pictures on a dry erase board at the front of the meeting. The first is a daguerreotype of a man in his late forties with a handlebar mustache in an East coast City. The second appears to be the same man in attire that would be appropriate in the 1940s and what appears to be LA. The third shows the same man in a modern city setting tbd by handler.
It's explained that through no small investigatory effort, and cost in lives, this individual has been linked to a DV shelter in a rural area (again handlers discretion for area). There have been two past operations attempting to capture or kill him, both failed even though he was directly observed until minutes before the action began. the suspicion is that he's using hypergeometric means to detect immediate threats. Using GPS records they've tracked him to the location of this operation. Tonight, this group will be inserted nearby, recon the house, and if all is fortuitous attempt to make entry, clear the house and extract or kill the individual in the picture. Past operations have shown opposition with arachnid characteristics. Windows, though of normal construction have been inaccessible due to hypergeometric effects.
If the PC's are built for combat, there is no assault team they're just the hammer there to take care of the final stages of an investigation. If they are of a more investigatory bent with medical skills, human intelligence skills, or mythos knowledge the role will be to assess the scene for further clues and help take care of any eventualities after the spec ops types have done their thing.
Shit PCs are about to step in:
The PCs will be linked in the comm system with the assault team. Everyone will be issued appropriate weapons with serial numbers removed.
The site of the assault will be a two-story late 1800s build stone foundation farmhouse, that has been converted into a domestic violence shelter. Ownership has been established through a number of shell corporations. There is no licensing authority to provide oversight for this type of facility in this state.
The first story of the house will by all appearances be roughly normal, pastoral, and appropriate to a Norman Rockwell painting, although in somewhat rough repair, a new roof is obviously needed and the foundation is visibly crumbling. Four residents will be present on the ground floor, normal humans if somewhat confused and easily overwhelmed. At this point comms traffic will be orderly calm, and business like, even as muzzle flashes and sounds of violence come from inside the house.
The stairs leading to the second story begin to show the cobwebs. On breaching the second story the firefight begins in true. The cadence of Comms traffic, picks up, and the PCs are able to hear emotions start leaking into the voices of the assault team. Muzzle flashes become rapid indicative of automatic fire, and a window breaks out on the back of the house as one of the assault team flies out landing on the ground limp if PC's approach it will be immediately obvious that his head is facing backwards. A wounded partially transformed daughter of atlach nacha still struggling underneath the corpse can easily be dispatched with a mag dump at close range.
At this point comm traffic is slowing down, the assault team is calling for a medic, and the cadence of speech begins returning to normal.
On reintegration with the assault team it should appear to casual observation that they are calm cool collected, however anyone with psychology military science, or actual combat experience will see the signs that every one of these men is shaken, fingers trembling, performing actions that obviously have no use, repeatedly asking the same thing even after they've received an answer.
The second team that was deployed to the other side of the house should be called in and should arrive carrying a mortar, making it obvious that had the assault failed the house would have been destroyed by indirect fire. One of the team members is laying on the ground face up as the medic attempts to ventilate him using a BVM, Every time he squeezes the bag the air is obviously leaking out of the fist sized hole in the side of the man's face.
On clearing the house the team should find the child in the locked 8x10 storage shed outback. One ankle is handcuffed to a structural support, there are three filthy sleeping bags and a soiled teddy bear nearby. A dog food bowl and water dish are present and filled with what appear to be scraps of Happy meals and filthy water. The child will be obviously panicked on The PCs entry into the shed. Repeated gestures of goodwill, soothing, and humint rolls will garner various information about the child's state and calm the child to the point where he can be removed.
The assault team leader, though he appears to be confident and in control is not in a good mental state having had two of his teammates KIA. Priority will be settled on removing the child henceforth referred to as "the package" to the safe house. If The PC is requested one member of the assault team will be attached to them as a protective detail.
If the agents are able to consistently project comfort to the child, He will begin to talk in bits and pieces. His tone will be fearful his knowledge and information are extremely limited and he will be subject to becoming dazed and silent if the topic strays to anything that would further traumatize him.
On arrival at the safe house, the child will at some point open up. He informs the PCs that "the bad man" is talking to him. The bad man knows where they are even though the child tried not to let him find out. The child thinks that the bad man is coming.
The PCs will have the option of remaining in the safe house and fortifying it to defend against intrusion, or attempting to drive the child away to another safe place and hand him over to a retrieval team.
Either way the " bad man" is coming. If the PCs fortify the house, he arrives within the hour. The assault will begin with small fauna making probing actions birds and bats will strike the windows, waves of native fauna Will be following shortly (I like raccoons, deer, moose and bears.)
If the PCs attempt to depart by ground vehicle, they will be ambushed on the road. Deer, elk, or moose can be useful in this. They will run towards the vehicle head on and launch themselves towards the windshield, after breaking through the windshield while dying they will flail about with their hooves/antlers and the vehicle may lose control rolling and inflicting crash damage.
The "bad man" will approach the vehicle if it goes off the road and becomes stuck. In a nonchalant tone of voice He will request politely that they turn the child over to him. If the PCs turn over the obviously panicking child, they will get into his vehicle and they will depart.
If the PCs attempt to fight, he is capable of rapidly casting wither and will stay out of line of sight while more fauna arrives.
If the PCs kill the child, The thing in the bottle will be released, likely killing everyone in the vehicle.
If they manage to survive long enough to turn him over to a coral nomad team, the child will never be seen again.
Behind the scenes
The sorcerer is over 200 years old, he's managed to survive by preparing bodies as they grow placing an entity within children which over time clears out aspects of the personality and essentially makes room for his spirit to enter them, this is an irreversible process. During this time the entity can also be used to track the child, give augaries, and view future events. He will always - in real time- know where the child is.
The work invested in creating this victim is labor intensive, but not at all impossible to repeat and in the end expendable.
Use stats from the handlers guide page 353 for the animals and NPCs present, see Detwiler's patreon for the 2 minute horror "the child" with the notable change the child is ALIVE. Daughters of Atlach nacha scaled to the PCs or the assault team should provide the opposition in the second story of the house.
Credits
This was an entry to the 2020 shotgun scenario contest. Written by John Eichhorn