The Disappearance of Elias Wells
A concerning image has been flagged for investigation by Delta Green. Elias Well's niece Mindy Wells first reported him missing 2 weeks ago. Yesterday the police broke into his house. Photos that the police took, including that of an occult symbol, have already been destroyed by Delta Green. Find out what happened to Elias, and destroy any evidence of the unnatural.
What Happened to Elias Wells
Elias Wells 63 is a retired, horticultural enthusiast. He buys and plants a rare species of fern with a purple flower head, imported from Greenland via O’Grady Brokers.
Unbeknownst to him, the plant contains tiny pale larva, originally from a realm of snow and mountains, somehow cosmically adjacent to our reality.
Elias’s dog Bonkers eats the larva from the plant by accident, is sick and dies. Elias transports some of the plants into the darkness of his attic. In this environment, two of the tiny larva grow rapidly to a horrific size. They become roughly two feet in length, bulbous girthy and pallid. Instead of a face they have a circular opening at the front of their body, lined with a circle of sharp triangular teeth.
One of the larva latches onto the back of Elias’s head and begins to control his mind. The larva wish to return to their realm. They instruct Elias to perform a ritual of teleportation, which requires multiple conditions.
An artifact from their realm with an occult symbol.
A circle of blood.
Something of sentimental value to the caster of the spell.
A location, comically adjacent to their realm of ice and snow.
After initially failing to perform this ritual in his own house, Elias finds the artifact he requires and the location of resonance. He performs the ritual and teleports himself to this other realm.
The House of Elias Wells
Elias Wells lives in the suburbs of New York in a three story detached house. The driveway is empty. The garden surrounding his house contains some of the rare ferns with a purple flowerhead. At the back of the house is a dog bowl marked “BONKERS” and a little puddle of sick. Agents may the tiny white larva within the vomit.
First Floor
The front door has been forced open by the police, who yesterday searched the house. Just behind the door, post is stacked. Agents will find a letter from Jennifer O’Grady requesting payment for brokerage services from Elias and a letter from the City Council which has identified a concerning discrepancy between Elias’s electric meter and unusual electricity usage patterns.
The Basement
Elias has spliced power cables into the house’s mains electricity that run down into a basement. Descending, agents will find a bitterly cold room, lined from ceiling to floor with tarpaulin. The power lines lead to the exposed coils of multiple freezers ripped apart. Hydrofluorocarbons from the coils permeate the air and will cause dizziness and confusion to anyone not wearing a mask. Elias has moved his bed down here into this makeshift freezer. Fecal droppings can be found here from the larva.
Second Floor
Bedroom
The bedroom contains a photo of Elias and his Niece Mindy at disneyland, and another of his dog Bonkers. The bed is missing.
The Office
In the office, physical files contain records of purchases made through O’Grady Brokers at various auctions of antiques around the country. Each file comes with an accompanying photo of the item bought. There is a pattern, each one is a container of some kind, like an urn or vase. An Agent may recognise they each have symbols on them that are similar yet not identical to the occult symbol described in the police report.
The computer requires a log in, but any technically savvy Agent can access the unencrypted hard drive. Agents will find pdfs of academic papers relating to the cultivation of plants in the low light and cold northern hemisphere climates. There is also an excel spreadsheet of temperatures, ranging across four years, a dataset of reported temperatures across New York City.
Meat Room
The last room contains rotting meat hanging from metal hooks. The room has been stripped of furniture and the meat is four or more weeks old. In the corner is a pile of animal bones, including those of Bonker the dog.
Third Floor
Ritual Room
The third floor one large room of interest, stripped of furniture, the site of Elias’s failed ritual. A pattern of concentric circles has been draw on the floor in blood and placed in the middle is the occult symbol and a photograph of Mindy Wells. Surrounding the ritual site Agents will find all the antiques from the photos, save for one black urn, which has the symbol that actually matches the occult symbol.
The Attic
Above the landing of the third floor is a hatch to the attic, so flush with the ceiling that it is easy to miss. Agents will find a broom handle somewhere in the house with an “attic” label attached.
When an Agent climbs the ladder they will see a number of these purple flowered ferms at one end of the attic. Upon close inspection tiny white larva can be found within the plant. One of the large sized larva will launch itself directly at the head of the Agent entering the attic. It will attempt to latch itself onto any flesh is can find by it’s circular mouth and razor sharp teeth.
The Map
In the house somewhere the agents will find a map of New York with 82 circled locations. If agents cross reference the map with the temperature data they will find Elias has circled places in New York that are consistently the coldest throughout the years.
People
The Neighbors
Talking to the neighbors will reveal that Elia’s dog was last seen being walked a month and half ago. Elias was also seen by a neighbor wearing a coat with his hood up to hide the parasitic larva attached to the back of his head. His car is missing and players will get a description of the vehicle.
Jenifer O’Grady
Jenifer O’Grady runs her brokers agency from a tiny office space. She knows that Elias changed behavior just over a month ago, getting her to find any antique container with the occult symbol on it, which he drew for her. She also acquired the temperature data for him from the city council.
Mindy Wells
Mindy Wells is a college student and last saw Elias a month ago, just after he was taken by the larva and Bonkers was dead. Then she visited again, two weeks ago, this time unable to find her uncle. Handlers can use a conversation with her to give the Agents any clues they may need.
Finding Elias
Where Elias went can be primarily discovered by tracking down his car which was clamped for illegal parking, or by correlating the temperature data with the circles on the map and going to the coldest location.
Saint Josephs
Elias has parked outside a derelict school called Saint Josephs. Amongst the collection of buildings withing the perimeter walls, Agents will immediately feel unnatural cold emanating from the gym hall. Inside is another ritual site, the same circles of blood, a photo of Elias this time and the missing black urn with the occult symbol.
The Mountain
When agents approach the urn they are blinded by white light, and become entirely disoriented. As their senses return they find themselves in a thick blizzard, entirely transported to the side of a mountain. Agents are in danger of getting separated, lost and freezing to death. Far below them an agent may spot what initially looks like a mountain peak but is actually the silhouette of an impossibly colossal humanoid, hewn from rock.
The Cave
Nearby is the mouth of a cave. Contained within is Elias Wells, emaciated and half dead, the larva still attached to the back of his head. He clutches the black urn in his hands. Large white eggs line the back of the cave.
A great behemoth creature will stalk the Agents in the snow and follow them to the cave. It has a body just like the white larva, and instead of a face, rows of teeth that seem to go deeper into its gullet, endless circles of nightmarish gnashing that end only in a black void deep within its body. This, fully grown version also has impossibly spindly legs, like that of heaving elk, and will charge at the Agents, attempting to engulf them entirely within its head and blend them.
Escape
To return to reality the Agents must recreate the teleportation spell, with circles of blood, the black urn and an item or photo of sentimental value. Elias will beg for help and simultaneously attack you. If the larva attached to the base of his skull is killed or removed he will become cognizant enough to help you recreate the ritual but bleed to death very quickly.
Stat Blocks
Large Larva
STR 12 CON 16 DEX 11 INT 16 POW 24
HP 14 WP 15
ARMOR 1 point of rubbery hide.
SKILLS Alertness 50%
ATTACKS Latch on 60%, damage 1D4.
SAN LOSS: 0/1D4
Mother Larva
STR 50 CON 40 DEX 13 INT 18 POW 26
HP 45 WP 26
ARMOR 3 points of rubbery hide.
SKILLS Alertness 60%, Survival 80%
ATTACKS Maw blend 70%, Lethality 40%.
SAN LOSS: 1/1D10
Credits
The Disappearance of Elias Wells was written by Timothy Cathcart for the 2024 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RCX8GjgAwQJDLspRxsKK8vzY3Cz02Q29Vk5vqWWo5f0/edit