[Preface 1. This scenario includes adult material, including child endangerment, and topics of a sensitive nature (all created as implication, no active behavior or specific descriptions) while it is every Keepers responsibility to know their players, there are certain sections that could be offensive to certain Players; however, the ‘trigger warning’ before session would go a long way to wrecking the horror – Keepers are encouraged to use their best judgement.]
[Overview]
“Meanwhile in Chicago…” violence has continued to escalate in the 3rd largest city in the United states. Looting, police on civilian incidents, mass shootings, each day seeing a greater frenzy of violence and barbarism. These incidents are not the natural result of humanity's nihilistic self-destruction, but rather fuel for a subtle and terrible ritual completed by a mad man. The Cell has been contacted, activated, and entrusted with recovering a counter-ritual. Program and Outlaw Cells are trying to stop the violence and ritual sacrifices before the City is overwhelmed and a way is made for the Great Tict’gnes, mother of entropy and father of destruction to be unleashed. First Chicago, then the world. As Delta Green struggles and stumbles along attempting to find a solution for this coming apocalypse all attempts to figure out a work around or closing of the ritual have failed. The Agent’s Cell has been contacted, activated, and entrusted with recovering a counter-ritual.
Enter Father Ezra Mark, formerly of the Order Carthusian. This defrocked Priest who is set to go to trial for multiple counts of sexual abuse of a minor stretching back forty-five years. Once, Father Ezra was of use to DG, the Priest has a deep knowledge of the Mythos and had access to knowledge DG does not – his knowledge is catalogued in memory and education as well as librams and manuscripts DG has no access to. After his defrocking, Delta Green stopped working with the former Priest. Alpha contacts your Cell. Agents are to affect the release of Father Ezra, collect him and select possessions of his, and then fly him to Chile where a certain community will give him sanctuary and freedoms to pursue his abhorrent “interests”. In exchange the Priest will give the Agents both the location of the Keystone and the Method to Destroy/Turn Off/Nullify the ritual/stone.
Part One
Briefing. Chicago has devolved into a hellscape of gang warfare, domestic instability, civil disorder, and near anarchy. The death toll each night surpasses 50 murders, by gun, by knife, by raised fist – violent and meaningless. The death toll is increasing each week. This is a harbinger of things to come, so say the thinkers at the top, with access to the Rituals and Tomes of understanding – the edge of the storm with worse to come. The psychic emanations in Chicago give sensitives nose bleeds, migraines, fits and seizures. The end is nigh, must be stopped. There is a man who has this knowledge. He is currently being held pending trial in Springfield, Missouri. He has been contacted and agrees to assist for a boon.
Part Two
The Agents must arrange a jailbreak for Father Ezra, currently held in AdSep (Administrative Separation: extra watches, separated from GenPop due to the threats on his life). The PCs will not be able to badge their way through this. A jailbreak or intercepting him during transport to court are their most obvious options (leave it up to the Players to come up with something even more outré {I can see a full on military assault on the courthouse, bribery on a broad and obscene level, more} so a good Keeper will have some prep done for the tiny sandbox nature of this action point – some suggested notes below).
- During Transport is the easiest method to break the Father free – bureaucracy, criminology, law, computer use: these are all good skills to find his travel schedule [for game ease, he goes to a doctor each week – next scheduled run is tomorrow, day after, whatever works for your players style]
- Bribery/Blackmail of Sheriff’s Deputies. Find the weak guards, pressure them to release the prisoner into the PCs custody (this is Badging their way through, but not). Find a way to allow the PCs to accomplish this as you see fit.
- Jail Break. You will need a basic county jail outline, stress what a bad, bad, bad idea this is. An armed assault on a County House of Corrections should result in the Agents climbing to the top of the Top 10 most wanted, the deaths of countless innocent civil servants, and the kind of splashy news story that DG tries to avoid
- Legal Wrangling. If a PC is a brilliant lawyer, it is possible to figure out a legal remedy, but this will need to be more than a simple Law roll. Require the Agents to come up with a rationale for releasing a man facing life sentences for heinous crimes, possible manufacturing of new and fake evidence.
Part Three
If the Priest is going to deliver the counter-ritual he has demands (he is wily, wise, smarter than most PCs, good at reading people – skill or Role Play as is the Keeper’s style) that he requires be met.
- First, he wishes to retrieve certain liturgical items for his former Chapter House (nothing of note here: personal items only).
- Second, he insists he be allowed to meet with a ‘friend’ of his in a shady area. This “friend” delivers him Jeremy, a nine year old boy
- Third he insists that “Jeremy” a 9 year old boy, travel with him to Chile. That the Agents fly him and Jeremy to Chile, where he and Jeremy are to be released.
Only after these conditions are met will he turn over the counter ritual.
(Roleplay Note 1: the Priest is as creepy and awful as you can muster: the Simpsons’ Mr. Burns crossed with Bundy or Dahmer; ancient and awful, but smart and arrogant. He will wield his leverage over the Agents like a whip – ensure the PCs have no way to skill out of this human being’s demands).
(Roleplay Note 2: Jeremy. Silent. Complacent. 1000yard stare. Occasional shivers. Silent tears once, running down his nine-year-old face).
Part Four
A charter jet is made available to the Agents. They arrive at a private airfield at the La Colonia Santuario. A dozen armed men receive the Priest.
[Scene: Father Ezra takes Jeremy’s small hand in his, walking with the officer, head thrown back, laughing gleefully – Jeremy casts one last long look back at the plane, the PCs watching him walk away – Helplessness SAN 1/1d6].
Attempting to rescue Jeremy or kill the Priest will end in disaster. Failure. The Apocalypse. That is the choice. If the Agents deliver the Priest and Jeremy, as promised, he hands them a flash drive with everything they need to know. He and Jeremy then enter the compound, never to be seen or heard from again. If the PCs attempt to extract justice, they die on the Tarmac in Chile, never to be seen or heard from again.
Part Five
Chicago. Fires spreading in the city. Gang conflict escalated. National Guard enforcing martial law. Chaos. PCs are to find the Keystone, perform a simple ritual (1/1d4 SAN, 8 POW) to trace the stone to it’s activator. (Note: Keystone is a generic phrase here, use your own Mythos version of a portal opener – flavor dependent upon the Campaign you are running). Bryan Wills is a young man belonging to the Incel movement. He is a genius. He is mad. He found a way to ‘punish’ everyone for his circumstances, and has engaged in doing so, he is calling forth Dread (fill in your Big Bad). He has already pulled in a couple of lesser creatures (Little Bads of your choice: scary, but not so powerful your Agents cannot overcome them, with a little luck) to protect himself. He lives in his mother’s basement. Mother was sacrificed for the ritual, her rotting bloated corpse in the kitchen above. Bryan is not a threat, but his guardians are. Engage the PCs in a room-by-room hunter killer situation. After the guardians are disposed of, Bryan can be confronted. He will wave an oversized knife in a barely threatening way. Subduing Bryan should be easy. Convincing him to stop the ritual easy. But the ritual doesn’t want to be stopped. The Agents must bring Bryan back to the Keystone, perform a counter ritual to end the incursion… …. Bryan is a lovely resource of 16 sacrificial POW (PCs are going to have to commit human sacrifice to end the incursion… …little evils in the name of the Greater Good).
Credits
This was an entry to the 2021 shotgun scenario contest. Written by Adam Seibert
The scenario can be seen in its original google docs form here