The Night That Murry Didn't Die

The Night That Murry Didn't Die

The truth

Serpent people have infested a mental hospital in the fictional town of Mercy Creek outside Tulsa. They are currently using the patients as human test subjects for their otherworldly experiments. The mental hospital provides the perfect testing ground as the hospital exclusively holds patients without any known family. The Agents enter the hospital because the program suspects paranormal activity after automatic AI systems flags a report where an offsite third-party security company (AYcon) called the police regarding a murder spotted through the CCTV system. The police responded but met the murdered person alive and well while inspecting the hospital. They closed the murder case and opened a criminal case against the CCTV operator, Frank Scotia, thinking the CCTV video clip has been altered as a sick joke.

In reality, a patient named Murry Sagman self-inflicted an injury serious enough for him to be taken to a trauma hospital in order to escape. During a session in therapy room 131, he cut a massive gash across his torso with a knife stolen from the kitchen. A serpent person (Akzauccushk) impersonating the Head of Treatment, Dr. Kelly Genncall, could not resist the temptation of blood and murdered a Murry in a BLOOD FRENZY.

The Agents have already solved the case and confronted Akzauccushk impersonating Dr. Genncall. They were, however, unaware of the other serpent person, Ucurtux,  who subjected them to an Obscure memory ritual. Now they find themselves in Dr. Genncalls office, completely unaware they have already confronted her.

Briefing

Mercy Creek P.D received a call from a security company (AYcon) claiming they have a video recording of a brutal murder inside Desert Sun mental hospital. While the video shows no signs of being altered, the police arrived at Desert Sun only to find both murderer and victim alive. Mercy Creek P.D. closes the murder case and presses charges against the security company believing it is a joke. Delta Green picks up on the strange case and sends Agents on a routine investigation to rule out any unnatural involvement.

Timeline

The opening scene

The scenario starts in Dr. Genncalls office after the Obscure memory ritual. The Agents remember the briefing and arriving at the hospital under false cover, but have no memory of entering the hospital. They remember the video clips but have no recollection of any investigation. Both Dr. Genncall (Akzauccushk) and Murry (Ucurtux)  are present in the room. Dr. Genncall is friendly but does not hide the fact that she thinks the police and the Agents have wasted enough of her time. Murry is friendly. He expresses he is there because of schizophrenia and that he hopes to recover soon.

The video clips

The Agents have a digital copy of the two clips received from AYcon on an iPad they brought to the hospital.

The murder clip:

The clip includes sounds and appears to be from a camera placed in the corner of therapy room 131. It shows a male patient (Murry Sagman) sitting on a couch. He yells “No snake fucker will have no voice in my head” before pulling a large kitchen knife and proceeds to cut himself deeply from the right shoulder to his left hip. He keels over on the floor splashing around in blood. Dr Genncalls then enters the frame. She lays down on top of him and wraps her arms and legs around his body. She then plunges her face into the wound, appearing to suck blood out of his convulsing body. Rhythmic pumping motion can be spotted in her neck. (san 0/1d4)

Dr. Genncall claims not to have seen the clip and has no interest in seeing it. If persuaded to watch it, she will say she finds it repulsive and says she will sue the one responsible for making it. (A HUMINT of 60 or a successful roll reveal that she has seen it before)

Murry shows no interest in the clips and will simply claim it's not him on the tape. (A HUMINT of 46 or a successful roll reveal he is laying)

The knife clip

The clip includes sounds and appears to show the hospital kitchen. A cook (Mark Lundin) can be seen entering the kitchen from the hallway carrying a box of noodles. As the door closes a hand can be seen stopping the door from closing completely. After half a minute the door is opened and Murry darts in grabbing a large knife before pushing the door-opener and leaving the same way he came in.  The clips run on, and after two minutes the sound of someone punching a code on the keypad outside can be heard before a female patient (Susan Runner) enters the kitchen, apparently holding a keycard.

Places

The hospital

All doors separating patients’ areas from service or administrative areas are equipped with a keycard reader on the patients’ side, and an opening button on the staff side. The murder knife can be found hidden in a storeroom in the basement (a SEARCH of 35 or a successful roll finds the knife). All patients have single rooms with their name tags on the doors. No nametag can be found for Susan Runner, but an ALERTNESS of 40 or a successful roll makes the Agents notice glue remains on a door where her name tag was removed. Susan’s bloody handbag (with ID) and other personal belongings can be found in her room. Only therapy room 131 and the exterior has CCTV.

The police station

If the Agents contact the police, they will be told the police regard this as a stupid joke, and that no murder took place.

AYcon

If the Agents contact or show up at Aycon they will be met with the silent treatment as AYcon fears legal repercussions.

People

Mark Lundin (34y)

Mark works as a cook at the hospital and can be found in the kitchen. He has not noticed anything strange. If asked about the video clip from the kitchen, he says the police showed him the clip. He says he did not see anyone following him as he simply rushed onwards to place the box in the storage area. He did not notice the missing knife before the police came. The knife is still missing, and he has no idea where it might be. Mark has no clue about the serpent people in the hospital. If asked about the patient coming in in the last part of the video, he will say it's Susan Runner. He does not know why she has a keycard.

Susan Runner (41y)

Susan cannot be found in the hospital. She was killed and eaten by Ucurtux over a month ago. Ucurtux has been impersonating Susan while experimenting on the other patients. Ucurtux switched from impersonating Susan to impersonating Murry to cover over the murder detected by the CCTV.

Murry Sagman (25y)

The real Murry was killed by the Akzauccushk while mpersonating Dr. Genncall. Murrys body was then eaten by Ucurtux who  is now impersonating Murry. He claims to be suffering from schizophrenia (a Phycology of 40 or a successful roll reveals he does not show any clinical signs of schizophrenia) Murry says whatever he thinks will make the Agents leave.

Dr. Kelly Genncalls (49y)

The real Dr. Genncall was killed and eaten over a month ago by Akzauccushk. Genncall now experiments on the hospital's patients by using rituals beyond human understanding. She is polite but will encourage the Agents to leave her and the hospital alone. If Akzauccushk encounters any Agent alone, she will kill and impersonate the Agent in order to persuade the rest of the Agents to leave.

Akzauccushk and Ucurtux

If confronted by the players they will not use Obscure memory again, but rather change into their true form and attempt to kill the Agents. If one Serpent person is killed the other will attempt to flee to secure the results and progress of their research. OPTION: make a third serpent person amongst the patients who attack the Agents during investigation.

Other patients

The hospital holds roughly 40 patients. They are suffering from various delusions and personality disorders. The handler can make up names and information given by the patients as needed. If the Agents struggle to understand what is going on, increase the number of patients talking about snake men or serpent people, making them describe having seen Akzauccushk or Ucurtux in their real form. They can also tell the Agents they have seen a knife in a storeroom in the basement.

Other staff

There are several other staff members in the hospital. Orderlies, nurses, cleaning staff and so on. OPTION: If the Agents struggle to get around in the hospital, the handler should provide them helpful staff willing to open locked doors, or the handler could provide the Agents with an opportunity to steal a keycard with the code attached on a post-it note.

STATS

Mark Lundin - Hospital cook

STR 12, CON 9, DEX 10, INT 11, POW 10, CHA 11HP 9, WP 7, SAN 45Skills: Dodge 40%, Craft cooking 50%, first aid 55%Attacks: Unarmed 40%, Damage 1d4-1, Kitchen knife 30% 1d6 Armor piercing 3.

Frank Scotia - CCTV operator at AYcon

STR 10, CON 12, DEX 10, INT 13, POW 10, CHA 0HP 11, WP 10, SAN 32Skills: Dodge 30%, Computer science 60%, Craft electronics 45% Attacks: Unarmed 40%, Damage 1d4-1

Akzauccushk - Serpent person

Impersonating Dr. Genncall

STR 19, CON 21, DEX 18, INT 20, POW 16, CHA 10HP 20, WP 16Skills: Alertness 80% Anthropology (Human) 35% Disguise 99% Dodge 60%, Medisin 99%, Science (biology) 99%  Science (serpet-men 90% Search 90%, Survival 70%, Unnatural 65%Attacks: Bite 55%, Damage 1d6 Armor Piercing 3 (see Venom), Grapple 45% Damage Special (see blood frenzy) Kitchen knife 1d6 Armor piercing 3. Sign of power Damage 2d6 (see sign of power)

Ucurtux - Serpent person

Impersonating Murry Sagman

STR 19, CON 21, DEX 18, INT 20, POW 16, CHA 10HP 20, WP 16Skills: Alertness 80% Anthropology (Human) 35% Disguise 99% Dodge 60%, Medisin 99%, Science (biology) 99%  Science (serpet-men 90% Search 90%, Survival 70%, Unnatural 65%Attacks: Bite 55%, Damage 1d6 Armor Piercing 3 (see Venom), Grapple 45% Damage Special (see blood frenzy) Kitchen knife 1d6 Armor piercing 3. Sign of power Damage 2d6 (see sign of power)

BLOOD FRENZY: A target that is bleeding causes one of the serpentfolk to enter a blood frenzy. It attempts to grapple and pin the victim. If it succeeds, it drains 1 HP per round from blood loss until the victim dies. Only a Dodge roll allows the target to escape. A seized victim can attempt an opposed STR roll to struggle free, suffering 1D4 damage from tearing flesh. Any successful attack on the serpent during the blood frenzy causes this attack to cease. During this blood frenzy, the serpent cannot perform any other action until the target is dead or escapes.

CHARNEL VISAGE: The serpent-folk have no CHA stat as humans would understand it. A serpent that uses an unnatural ritual such as Changeling Feast to disguise itself as human gains a CHA stat, usually with a score equal to half its INT. Many serpent-folk have consumed multiple victims, allowing one to instantly switch its appearance to any of a dozen human forms.

IMMORTALITY: A member of the serpent-folk never grows old, starves to death, or perishes of natural causes. If it fails to feed on fresh meat or blood, after a period of time, it enters a torporous state which can sometimes last hundreds, perhaps millions, of years.

INHUMAN DODGE: Serpent-folk have preternatural senses and reaction speed, allowing them to Dodge even firearm attacks. This includes Lethality attacks from machine guns, but not from explosives or hypergeometry.

VENOM: If a serpentfolk bite inflicts damage lin other words, if i's not stopped by armor, then the victim also suffers poisoning. The venom has a Speed of 1D6 turns and Lethality 15%. An antidote that treats snake venom is effective if the victim makes a Luck roll.

RITUALS: All serpent-folk know unnatural rituals.

Changeling Feast, Fascination, Infallible Suggestion, Obscure Memory, and Withering are the most common, but some know many more.

SIGN OF POWER: With a gesture at a cost of 6 WP, one of the serpent-folk can cause a single person to be flung backwards with extreme force, inflicting 2D6 damage. It is unknown whether this ability is a ritual or an inherent ability.

UNNATURAL BIOLOGY: Serpent-folk physiology would baffle any biologist. Making a called shot for "vitals" or another apparently vulnerable area inflicts normal damage, with no special game effect.

SAN LOSS: 1/1D6.

Credits

Stat Blocks for Serpent people - Credits to Arc Dream publishing, Stats are from Delta Green Handlers Guide

The Night That Murry Didn’t Die - Written by Magne Bondkall, 2024

For question, feedback or comments please email on.evil|llakdnob#on.evil|llakdnob

Credits

The Night That Murry Didn't Die was written by Magne Bondkall for the 2024 Shotgun Scenario contest.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QG1e2-Zgf3ZnFFBNfgbI21rNQlhY2tX6bGt4vuOt9Oo/edit