THE BOOK OF MUD
(Delta Green Shotgun Scenario by Dregarexter)
INTRODUCTION
In mid-May 2025, the 1st Assault Company of the 42nd Ukrainian Mechanized Brigade continues fighting between Khromove and the Bakhmut railway line with a resilience that defies all logic. Russian drones capture figures emerging from the mud without emitting any heat and obstacles that slow down the enemy advance, allowing the few remaining Ukrainian soldiers to cut down assailants with unsettling ease.
For the Program, this enough: such an anomaly must be investigated. What the Agents do not know is that they are not the first Westerners to set foot in Khromove.
Two German advisors are at the frontline posing as NATO advisors. Officially, they assist Ukrainians in identifying targets beyond the lines and coordinating deep-strike attacks with TAURUS missiles. In reality, they are K-Zelle Ulm agents, one of the surviving cells of the modern Karotechia.
BACKGROUND
In 1944, Karotechia researcher Olaf Bitterich recovered the coffin of Alexis Ladeau, read a single survived fragment of Unaussprechlichen Kulten and wrote a new tome, the Liber Lutum, the “Book of Mud”, a derivative work controlled by that one authentic page of the true Unaussprechlichen Kulten.
In January 1945, Karotechia tested the Liber Lutum near Łódź, achieving the first resuscitated casualties: dead soldiers returning to battle. After the war, the manuscript was deemed too powerful to remain in the now weak hands of Karothechia. It was hidden in Ukraine, in the underground of a destroyed 16th-century monastery, stored in a ritual case designed to bind it to the location through an arcane tether: if taken beyond two kilometers, the book would disintegrate and reappear inside its case.
Back in may 2025, when the Ukraine 1st Assault Company was encircled, Ukrainian Lieutenant Serhii Lutsenko was “guided” by the two German advisors directly to the crypt to retrieve the manuscript. They told him about Karotechia, presenting it as a secret order serving Ukraine, and made him believe the book could change the outcome of the battle. The GRU-SV8 agents have discovered the cult’s interest and are ordering attacks in the area to seize control of the zone, and take possession of the manuscript.
BRIEFING
The briefing is quick and to the point. A DG Agent, officially a NATO officer, shows thermal images from Russian drones, somehow intercepted by U.S. technology: completely black silhouettes, with no IR emission, in the trenches near Khromove. No Ukrainian combat suits are capable of producing such an effect. ISR devices confirm even stranger phenomena: piles of earth rising from the ground, creating new obstacle in few secdonds. US SIGINT intercepts mention about “мёртворожденцы,” an ambiguous term meaning “stillborn” or “those who return.”
The Agents may freely choose whatever cover they prefer and receive assistance with a Bureaucracy roll at +20% to establish it. Covers include “NATO advisors, military personnel from other local units, NGO members, journalists.” Beyond the problem of eradicating the supernatural, many nations, especially the US, are deeply engaged in Ukraine support operations. Agents must take this into account.
ARRIVAL IN KHROMOVE
A civilian vehicle or a Ukrainian armored vehicle drops the group in an area hammered by artillery. Shell craters still smoke. Wreckage of Russian drones is scattered everywhere. The sky hangs low, occasionally crossed by buzzing FPV drones like metallic insects.
They approach the trenches of the 1st Company. A few men slowly emerge from the mud to greet them. They seem at ease despite the presence of many of their fallen comrades’ bodies in the trenches, laid out macabrely on camp cots or chairs, as if they were resting.
The company is a shadow of what it once was: only twelve men remain alive, worn down by hunger and cold. The rest of the fighters are dead soldiers able to temporarily “revive” thanks to the ritual in the book.
The command house is at the center of the operational area. It is a standing structure fortified with sandbags and mounds of concrete. On the upper floor, in a room smelling of mold and soil, the Liber Lutum rests on a table. If observed long enough, the pages occasionally shift on their own, as if following a slow breath.
Inside the room there are 12 coffins, as many as the remaining living soldiers of the unit.
Lutsenko greets the Delta Green Agents with the right amount of enthusiasm; he expects them to help his unit continue the offensive. He clearly asks what they have to offer; lacking something concrete, his attitude becomes indifferent and then hostile, although, since they are Westerners, he does not intend to harm them. He does not speak of the book, though he may mention the presence of the KSK advisors. Initially, when questioned about the Liber Lutum, he claims that only God can give him the strength to win the battle and that the tome is there by divine intervention.
THE NATO ADVISORS (K-ZELLE ULM)
The two German advisors, Captain Lukas Reinhardt and Sergeant Markus Dietl, formerly belonging to the Bundeswehr, present themselves as experts in target designation for TAURUS missiles. In reality, they are members of K-Zelle Ulm, ideological survivors of Karotechia. They provided Lutsenko with small drones, thermal scopes, and medicines.
One of them carries in his jacket an authentic fragment of Unaussprechlichen Kulten.
The advisors have discovered that, to “free” the book from the location, they must charge that fragment with the psychic energy from the final moments of life of the Russian soldiers killed in the area.The required amount, according to their calculations, is 1200 dead (equal to 12,000 WP). Until that, they cannot leave. They are turning the forest battles into disguised sacrifices. Currently, the death toll is around 1100 Russian soldiers.
Delta Green agents are unlikely to learn this directly from them but may understand it following an attack.
THE TAURUS SYSTEM
The advisors also brought a guidance terminal for TAURUS missiles. It is a computer with complex software combining 3D mapping, waypoints, and advanced navigation algorithms. The system fuses INS, GPS, and terrain matching (TERPROM / TERCOM) to create low-altitude routes invisible to radar. They want to use it to destroy the site as soon as they are free to go with the book.
Agents may analyze or use this terminal (requiring rolls in Science, Heavy Weapons, SIGINT, or Electronics). The missile can be reprogrammed for a potential final strike, useful for attempting to destroy the crypt or the book’s case.
THE BURIED TEMPLE
A hatch in the command house leads to the monastery’s underground. There, a stone corridor leads to the remnants of the original temple, soaked in black soil and medieval symbols warped by time.
At the center lies the ritual case: an opaline glass parallelepiped framed in engraved dark metal.This is where Lutsenko found the book. The case seems to be resistent from being smashed by normal means. The book always returns here whenever someone tries to move it too far. When this happens, the case vibrates and a dull sound travels through the stones, like a breath through the foundations. The earth pulses around the case like a heart waiting.
KEY EVENT
During the Agents’ presence, a Russian attack occurs, and they witness the battle’s transformation into a ritual. A Russian assault company advances through the forest, supported by FPV drones. Lutsenko opens the book and begins murmuring words in ancient German. The trench pulses. It opens.Drones crash into sudden rising mounds of earth.Soldiers are overwhelmed by figures moving erratically. Within twenty minutes, over 85 Russians lie dead; the others retreat.
The two advisors watch with excitement. One writes in a notebook. The other, after the battle ends, runs toward the forest.
If the Agents observe carefully, they notice that on the body being touched by the KSK. the tissue collapse, as if drained. An Occult roll reveals that they are seeing a Karotechia ritual, charging the fragment. The Karotechia Agents might now calculate that killing the remaining living members of the 1st Company—and possibly some of the PCs—could bring them to the needed 1200 deaths, completing their mission without risking another Russian attack.
GRU SV8 ARRIVES.
GRU SV8 operatives may already be in the area, and one of their soldiers might even allow himself to be captured to manipulate the agents during interrogation. If the characters venture into the zone, they too could fall into Russian hands and be questioned. GRU SV8 is focused on recovering the book and regards Russian casualties as mere collateral damage in pursuit of that goal.
ENDINGS
The ritual is completed
Karotechia activates the relic and frees the book from its territorial tether.
They attempt to escape with the Liber Lutum, possibly escorted by several Lehmträger, particularly stable risen.
Agents with or without GRU SV8 helps, may attempt to steal the book and escape.
The book is destroyed along with the case
TAURUS or a lot of Explosive will destroy the book and the temple, ending the mission. The area is winned by the russian. The 1st Company is annihilated.
The Devil alternative
The Agents may find an arrangement with the GRU-SV8 to save the life of the 1st company. The russians keep the book, agents keep the Fragment of Unaussprechlichen Kulten. This is until the next battle.
STATS BLOCK
Lieutenant Serhii Lutsenko (Same statistics for the other surviving soldiers of the 1st Company)STR 14, CON 12, DEX 14, INT 14, POW 15, CHA 13HP 12, WP 15, SAN 35Skills: Alertness 50%, Persuade 60%, Occult 70%, Firearms 55%Special: As long as he holds the book, POW+3, he commands the risen within 50m.
Risen of the 1st Company
STR 16, CON 18, DEX 10, INT 4, POW 6HP 20Armor: 3 (earth crust)Unarmed: 60% (1d8)Special: Ignores pain; rises again in 1d4 rounds; collapses if the book is destroyed.SAN: 0/1d6.
NATO / KSK Advisor – K-Zelle Ulm
STR 13, CON 12, DEX 13, INT 12, POW 12HP 12, WP 12, SAN 50Skills: Firearms 60%, Stealth 50%, Occult 60%, Alertness 50%Weapons: HK416 (1d12), Glock (1d10)Special: They possess an original fragment of Unaussprechlichen Kulten; they may attempt minor commands on the risen (POWx3 vs risen).
Russian Soldier – Regular Infantry
STR 11, CON 12, DEX 10, INT 10, POW 9, CHA 9 | HP 12, WP 9, SAN 40Skills: Alertness 40%, Firearms (Rifle) 45%, Athletics 40%, Bureaucracy 20%, Melee 35%, Stealth 30%, Dodge 30%, First Aid 30%Weapons: AK-74M (45%, 1d10), RGD-5 grenade (35%, 2d6), knife (35%, 1d4)Armor: ARMOR 1SAN on sight: 0/1 (Violence)
GRU SV8 - Spetsnaz Operator
STR 12, CON 13, DEX 14, INT 12, POW 11, CHA 10 | HP 13, WP 11, SAN 50Skills: Alertness 60%, Firearms (Rifle) 65%, Firearms (Pistol) 60%, Stealth 60%, Athletics 60%, Melee 55%, Demolitions 40%, Dodge 50%, First Aid 50%, Survival 50%Weapons: AK-12 with optic (65%, 1d12), suppressed Glock (60%, 1d10), F1 (40%, 2d6), Spetsnaz knife (55%, 1d6)Special: Advanced training (ignores the first wound penalty), rapid breach (+20% to the first ambush attack)Armor: ARMOR 3SAN on sight: 0/1 (Violence)
The Liber Lutum
Written in German, requires 1 month for full study.Once studied, POW increases by 3 points permanently.The ritual inside can be learned even without fully understanding the main text.SAN: 1d4/1d10.Bearer: POW+3, plagued by dreams of battlefields.Rituals: Infusion of ValhallaDestruction: The book and the case containing it must be destroyed with high-power explosives.
Fragment of Unaussprechlichen Kulten
SAN: 1d4/1d10Bearer: POW+6Rituals: Call Forth Those from Outside.
Ritual – Infusion of Valhalla
Study Time: 7 Days, 1d4 SANActivation: 6 WP, 1d12 SAN
The ritual allows the caster to dominate reality within two kilometers of the Liber Lutum’s position.The bearer falls into a trance and perceives the battlefield with a view similar to that of a drone or satellite.They may then move masses of earth to erect instant barricades (but cannot throw earth masses) and animate corpses to make them fight.
Materials available near the command post
Light and assault weapons
• 12–16 AK-74M / AK-12, many in poor condition• 6–8 Western AR-15 with variable optics (Vortex / Holosun)• 3 FN SCAR-H 7.62 NATO (undeclared supply)• 1 PKM with 8–10 ammo boxes (100 rounds each)• 8–10 Glock 17 and 2 SIG P320• 4 marksman rifles (SVD, modified Mosins, one SCAR-H DMR)
Heavy and anti-vehicle weapons
• 3 RPG-7 with 15–20 mixed rounds (OG-7V / PG-7VL)• 2 Panzerfaust 3 with 6 rounds• 5 M72 LAW• 1 DShK heavy machine gun on tripod (Lethality 30% - limited ammunition)
Explosives and demolitions
• 8–10 kg of TNT blocks• 5–6 kg of C-4 / PE-4 (Western origin)• Detonator spools, clackers, improvised timers• 10–12 F-1 / RGD-5 grenades and 6–8 American M67• 10 anti-personnel mines made by fragments of munitions recovered from kamikaze drones
Useful military equipment
• 4 operational DJI Mavic 3 drones + modified batteries• 1 damaged Fly-Eye recon drone• 5 Pulsar thermal scopes, 4 PVS-14• 6 encrypted Motorola radios + 1 portable repeater• 1 rugged tablets for TAURUS fire-planning• Advanced medical kits, analgesics, morphine, adrenaline
“Suspicious” material from the advisors
• 1 Ukraine map from 1944 with added glyphs• 1 knife with runic engravings (not unnatural)• Notes filled with casualty counts.
Credits
The Book of Mud was written by Dregarexter for the 2025 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ax3EJ4i4uQndSxtPnf-7xX6ayWsafjZyy7p-XxAhZAk/edit