When The Boat Comes In

Agents work for PISCES, Britain's anti-paranormal agency.

Charles Glass, PISCES operative, went on a fortnight’s vacation to Crawthorne, a Cornish fishing village. He’s not returned. His phone is off and local police seem unconcerned. Find him and return him to London.

TRUTH

Centuries ago the village of Crawthorne upset the deep ones, whose vengeance ensured fish were no longer caught nearby. Locals turned to cannibalism to survive, and centuries later still cling to their "tradition." The rise in migrants crossing the English Channel offers ample victims, locals plucking them from the water and turning them into chunks at the local cannery, eating what they will and selling the rest as "Cornish sardines" (pilchards). Glass discovered this and was “canned” himself.

BRIEFING

Agents are briefed at London HQ.

• Glass: single, 41. Cover: Inland Revenue. Rented cottage in Crawthorne for fishing.
• Psych evaluation: normal. Logical, flexible, alert.
• Local police - PISCES masquerading as a family member - were noncommittal. PISCES has informed Glass’ sister he’s "overseas."

One sedan per four Agents. Agents with 40%+ Firearms must succeed at Bureaucracy to bring a Glock and one magazine.

TIMELINE

• Day 1: Agents arrive. Cannery inactive.
• Night 1: fishermen collect victims/fish, taking former to lighthouse.
• Day 2: cannery begins processing fish. Reports of fog rolling in.
• Night 2: storm/fog, cell-phones stop working. Fishermen ferry victims to cannery, send men to ensure Agents don't visit cannery.
• Day 3: big feast of victims at church, Agents invited to join in if not hunted.

CRAWTHORNE

A six-hour-drive from London and a half-hour from the next town. No railroad nor bus route.

Population: 100-or-so. Built on cliffs along a winding road overlooking English Channel, quaint cottages rising from cliffs and sea. Big blue skies but storm clouds on horizon.

Fishing is the main profession; large fishing boats bob on jetties below the cliffs by day, working by night. Most women work at home, in the nearby cannery or, during summer, tend to tourists.

All telephones go through the pub switchboard (calls can be intercepted/cut off). Cell phones work until second day (due to coastal storm).

> Locals: cannibals but friendly; show Agents around etc. Most remember Glass but haven’t seen him in days (or so they say). Not superstitious; no belief in occult. Will fight if attacked. Sgt. Carew arrests assailants - who are later turned into meat.

> Statue: of Gryffyn Trevoze, 1600s local, who bested a merman, ending its lascivious ways and winning an abundance of fish (so say both plaque and locals, if asked).

> Ship Inn: village pub and restaurant. Elderly Mr and Mrs Spargo own it and rented COTTAGE to Glass. Feign shock at Glass' disappearance. If claiming to be family, friends, police etc., Agents can get a spare cottage key.

> Police Station: Sgt. Neville Carew lives above the small station-house. Gives minimal assistance ("Your Glass’s a grown lad, aye?"). If Agents admit to being law-enforcement, he is incredibly helpful, if only to lead them from the cannery and lighthouse, and spy on them.

> Church: stone church, converted to Methodism in the 1790s.

• The minister, Stella Shearsmith, is hard-of-hearing and misinterprets simple questions.
• Someone stole a book on local history from the vestry (Glass did; it's at the cottage).
• The stained glass windows tell of Trevoze, except the "merman" is a mermaid. If they've met Morwena there’s an uncanny resemblance. Final window shows Gryffyn drowned by locals lamenting their empty fishing nets.

> Bay: sandy beach and quay, waters a beautiful blue.

• A dozen professional fishing boats, each crewed by 5-to-6 men.
• Unmanned by day, but crews chase off anyone trying to board one.
• In their holds: blood, manacles, chains and gags for victims.
• At night the boats can be followed - and seen "rescuing" refugees, only to tie them up and take them to the island/cannery.

> Lighthouse: half a mile (two Swim rolls or boat) from shore is an islet with (now automated) lighthouse and WW2-era artillery casemate (guns removed). No one lives here - locals use it to hold refugees before taking them to the cannery. On first day there are 17 prisoners (52 the second night), shackled in casemate/magazine. Guarded by two bored, shotgun-armed Crawthorners, they are in a sorry state.

> Lifeboat Station: under cliffs near cottage, hidden from Crawthorne’s view, a tumbledown lifeboat shack containing engine-powered lifeboat. it can be launched (Pilot or Drive/2).

> Cannery: large warehouse with dock for unloading fish. Interior is slippery, full of intimidating machinery, conveyor belts, buckets of fish-and-guts. Visitors are turned away, particularly during second evening/night. Snoops are captured.

COTTAGE

A short walk from Crawthorne. Beachside, two-story, isolated. Glass' car is outside. The cottage is locked.

• Glass’ expensive fishing rods are still here, as are his car keys.
• The kitchen cupboards have a shocking number of tinned pilchards from the village cannery (if DNA tested, their “fish” is actually Glass; 1/1D4 if eaten).
• Search (Car): in the car is a raggedy book of local history stolen from the church. It claims Crawthorne historically worshiped sea-monsters until Gryffyn Trevoze killed one of them; the village then ate him in penance but the mermaids never returned.
• Search (Cottage): under the mattress is Glass’ dictaphone covering the holiday - mostly fishing, enjoying the village. The final entry: “I saw them; from the sea! Hundreds brought to - oh no, the cannery - God, I never realized - wait, I hear them - outside the doo…”

Agents can sleep here, even without permission (locals won’t kick them out).

MORWENA WATERS

Attractive red-head, often wandering beach near cottage; has a key Glass gave her. Locals have never heard of her.

• Glass was her friend. She thinks something bad happened to him.
• There’s something wrong with the village. She never goes there.
• Picks an Agent and latches onto them, offering to show them sights nearby.
• Confesses to this Agent how Trevoze murdered a mermaid who loved him, cursing the town. She denies being the mermaid but says she’s “related.”

Morwena is a deep one hybrid. If Agents attack her she flees to the sea. If killed, she dies - and the Agents suffer the deep ones’ enmity.

WEIRDNESS

• All meals revolve around "pilchard" - a local specialty. Anything the Agents are served has pilchard in it. It is fish and human meat (1/1D6 if discovered).
• Atop the cliffs a tourist daubs a watercolor of lighthouse. When Agents return, only her easel remains. The painting is unsettling, clouds and shapes in the water. She is not seen again.
• Night screams echo from the lighthouse, suddenly cut off. Locals say it's birds.
• If Agents are difficult to dissuade, Glass' clothes and shoes are “found” on the beach. Sgt. Carew claim it's suicide.

SECOND NIGHT

On second night, a great storm blows in.

Two locals visit Agents to ensure they don't visit cannery. They might slash car tires, pretend they've spotted Glass, or invite them for a drinking session. If Agents don't take the bait, physical force is used. If Agents escape, mobs patrol the streets to catch them.

Instead of lethal damage, assume Agents reduced to 0 HP are knocked out.

Agents awake (with minimum of 3 HP), trussed in a room in the cannery. The locals want to know why Glass is so special and what Agents know.

• If Agents admit to being LEOs or have ID, locals decide to fake the Agents dying in a car crash. Ample opportunity should be given to escape.
• Locals don't believe in occult; laugh at talk of PISCES, magic or mermaids.
• They admit to eating people; it's tradition and they enjoy it. Nothing personal.

Interrogation over, Agents have a brief window to escape or be “canned” themselves.

If Morwena’s on their side, she rescues them, begging her favorite Agent to join her at sea, as her lover, forever. If they agree, she casts Call of Dagon. Dozens of deep ones hop from the sea, tearing apart the villagers (1D6/1D20). They then try to drag the Agent away - forever.

If Agents refuse or fight off the deep ones, Morwena curses them in Old Cornish, claims they're as bad as Trevoze, and leaves.

There are two Mobs in the cannery, feeding victims into grinders and packing the proceeds (1D4/1D10). Agents can try to stop it - breaking machinery, rescuing refugees, etc. - or flee.

ESCAPE!

Agents fleeing town on second night, or escaping cannery, are hunted by six Mobs.

Sgt. Carew drives around. He offers to help Agents, even rescuing them from mobs, only to double-cross them. If Agents steal a car he blocks the road out of town and flags them down; a mob hides nearby to attack.

If not yet interrogated, the mobs aim to capture Agents; if Agents escaped cannery, they intend to kill and eat them.

END-GAME

Agents escaping Crawthorne can inform authorities – but unless Unnatural vectors are confirmed, PISCES sends police in. Probably best to jointly-narrate the raid, players describing their revenge.

If Agents don't get backup that night, locals hide any evidence. Agents are disbelieved - and everyone, including cops, enjoy a nice bountiful "fish feast."

STATISTICS

> Random Villager
STR 10, CON 10, DEX 10, INT 09, POW 10, CHA 10
HP 10, WP 10, SAN 30, BP 20
Skills: Base
Attacks: Unarmed 40%, 1D4-1
Melee Weapon 30%, 1D6
Firearm 20%, varies
Description: generous, kind, decent, friendly people who eat other folk. Run them as honestly helpful and nice, forgiving the Agents’ trespasses right up until becoming pitchfork-wielding lunatics.

> Sgt. Neville Carew
STR 10, CON 10, DEX 11, INT 11, POW 11, CHA 11
HP 10, WP 11, SAN 28, BP 20
Armor: 4-points
Skills: Alertness 50%, Drive 50%, HUMINT 60%, Melee Weapon 50%, Persuade 50%
Attacks: Unarmed 40%, 1D4-1
Baton 50%, 1D6
Firearm 20%, varies
Pepper spray 55%, special
Description: jovial, chubby local cop, always trying to get people to play Monopoly and HeroQuest. Likes his job, loves the village, wants a quiet life of no crime and eating people. Play up his good side until he double-crosses the players. Then he gets violent and starts salivating.

> Morwena Waters
STR 16, CON 15, DEX 12, INT 13, POW 13, CHA 16
HP 16, WP 13
Skills: Alertness 60%, Athletics 60%, Persuade 60%, Swim 75%, Unnatural 10%
Attacks: Unarmed 40%, 1D4
Melee Weapons 40%, 1D6
Firearm 20%, varies
Ritual: Call of Dagon (via one turn of alien singing)
Description: beautiful, red-haired, tinkling laughter and coy. Yes, she’s a deep-one hybrid - is she the same one that was “killed” by Gryffyn Trevoze? That’s up to the Handler. If the Agents treat her badly she’ll swear forever vengeance on them. And deep ones have long memories.

> Random Refugee
STR 08, CON 08, DEX 09, INT 10, POW 08, CHA 07
HP 08, SAN 40, BP 32
Skills: Base, plus English (2D20%)
Attacks: Unarmed 40%, 1D4-2
Melee Weapon 30%, 1D6-1
Firearm 20%, varies
Description: looking for a better life, wound up on the menu. Skittish and, if rescued, inclined to run unless the Agents can convince them to team up. Persuade a dozen of these folks and you’ve just made your very own Villager Mob to turn on the locals. The more you persuade, the more mobs (up to 4).

> Villager Mob
STR 17, CON 15, DEX 10, INT 09, POW 11, CHA 07
HP 20*, SAN N/A, BP N/A
Skills: Alertness 40%, Athletics 40%
Attacks: Mobbing 50%, 1D8
Firearm 20%, 1D8 (every other round)
Group Health: a mob is made up of multiple individuals; describe each infliction of 5 damage as incapacitating or killing an individual. Reduced to 0 HP survivors flee.
Huge: a mob takes damage equal to a Lethality rating attack, whether the roll succeeds or fails.
Mobbing: a mob in close-combat deals 1D8 damage and ignores personal armor except when fighting other mobs.
Sanity: a mob only suffers SAN loss to violent Unnatural displays or obvious ; instead of rolling SAN roll POWx5. On a failure, the mob disperses, possibly reforming later.
Description: a mob of ornery locals, armed with cudgels and burning torches, though a couple lug a hunting rifle or shotgun. You can hide, you can run, but you probably don’t want to fight.

> Cop Mob
STR 20, CON 16, DEX 12, INT 11, POW 12, CHA 08
HP 25, SAN N/A, BP N/A
Skills: Alertness 50%, Athletics 40%, Persuade 40%
Armor: 6-points
Attacks: Mobbing 60%, 1D8+1
Group Health: a mob is made up of multiple individuals; describe each infliction of 5 damage as incapacitating or killing an individual. Reduced to 0 HP survivors flee.
Huge: a mob takes damage equal to a Lethality rating attack, whether the roll succeeds or fails.
Mobbing: a mob in close-combat deals 1D8+1 damage and ignores personal armor except when fighting other mobs.
Sanity: a mob only suffers SAN loss to violent Unnatural displays or obvious ; instead of rolling SAN roll POWx5. On a failure, the mob disperses, possibly reforming later.
Description: a riot-squad made up of Devon & Cornwall Constabulary officers. Likely turn up at the end to crack heads.

BONUSES/LOSSES

+1: discover Glass’ fate
+1D4: bring town to justice
+1D6: rescue majority of refugees
-1D6: failing to bring town to justice
-1D8: majority of refugees minced

Credits

This was an entry to the 2021 shotgun scenario contest. Written by Agent Obtuse.