Edge of Darkness

Lenny (24yo janitor-Bill), Henry (22yo History Prof- Duane), January (34yo Language Prof -Jen), Arthur (33yo Big Game Hunter- Matt), Clayton (62yo Prof of Psychology- Brian)

August 1923: It was an eclectic collection of visitors to St Mary’s Hospital in Arkham, invited at the request of their friend/mentor/boss, Professor Rupert Merriweather. They squirmed in the waiting room amid the waft of ammonia and bedpans till Rupert’s wife Agnes and son Bertrand greeted them, “So glad you could come. I fear he is dying of scarlet fever. Rupert has been asking for you in a private conversation. He won’t tell us anything.” As they gathered around his bed, Rupert kissed his wife goodbye and asked his son to close the door behind him as he escorted his mother out of the room. 

Rupert clutched a letter as he looked at those left and amid coughs began, “I’m not long for this world and have a favor to ask. I was a young man years ago when I innocently explored the occult with others in a literary society. This letter explains our stupidity at unleashing something into this world.” With each cough, Rupert expelled phlegm into his handkerchief before pointing to a breadbox size sarcophagus at his bedside. “Henry, as a History Professor, I’ve willed the box to you. Inside, you will find my notes and chemicals to finish what I could not.” His last words were drowned out by more coughing before he died.

When notified, Agnes rushed to her husband’s side in tears. Bertrand entered with a frown, “As heir, that box should be mine! Did father mention that he’s been paying taxes on a farm outside the city?! That too should be listed in his will." Clayton tried to put Bertrand at ease, "Your father mentioned his friend Marion Allen." Agnes interrupted, “Marion died in an accident before Bertrand was even born.” Henry tried to appease Bertrand, “I’m a math professor. Perhaps I could help you with the taxes on the farm. We could meet at 5pm to go over your records.”

Henry waited till all left the hospital before studying the box with its occultist runes. “I’m not ready to open it yet till we’ve done some research on these runes. Lenny, if you’ll hold the box… Who else wants to go to the library? Maybe Dr. Armitage at the MU Orne Library knows something about the referenced book titled De Vermiis Mysteriis.”

1pm: Henry/January/Arthur patiently waited to be ushered into Armitage’s office. January (Jan) was the first to speak as she offered the letter to Armitage, “Rupert thinks he might have summoned something…” Dr. Armitage was even more cautious allowing them to enter the restricted section, “Gloves only. I’ll turn the pages. What exactly are you looking for?” And that was the question: what WERE they looking for? A banishment spell? Besides, the book was written in Latin which none knew. And Dr. Armitage wasn’t willing to immediately aid, “It will take weeks to find the passage you are interested in.”

Silly fools… letting the janitor hold the box. Lenny excused himself to the bathroom where he opened the small sarcophagus. Inside: keys and deed to the farmhouse property mentioned earlier, Rupert’s journal and collected notes, and another letter written by Rupert.

Clayton escorted Lenny up to the Orne Library, “You’ll never guess what this fool did.” January read Rupert's October 1877 letter aloud, “Marion was murdered in New Orleans. That makes 3 of the society members dead: Robert Menkin, Harold Copley, and now Marion.”

Arthur had been reading Rupert’s other file, “This article tells of Marion’s death at the New Orleans' docks. His tongue was cut out and gruesome marks carved into his forehead. As reported by the police, he had a premonition cultists were after the small Egyptian sarcophagus.”

Lenny spoke about the list of other dead members of the literary society, “Here’s a March 1877 newspaper article about Robert Menkin killed near the farmhouse and Harold Copley gone mad. And Cecil Jones died in 1919.” And that’s when Dr. Armitage spoke up, “I remember Cecil as one of my students. He died of consumption. At least he still had his tongue.”

3:30pm: Arthur offered to drive the one-hour to Ross Corner to see the farmhouse for themselves. A crossroad community of barely 40 people. At least it had a church, post-office/general store, and gas station. They stopped at the post-office to ask about the farm address. The clerk (Ma Peters) was reluctant to help the city folk till Henry lied, “My pa died and left me this deed.” She focused more on the newspaper article with the picture of the farm, “That’s the old Washington place.”

She recognized Arthur’s tailored hunting clothes and teased, “Used to be good for hunting pheasants, turkeys, snip. Hehe. Take the old Boone road north 2.5 miles, then turn right at the tree split by lightning. It’s the second house on the right… brown with a broken porch swing.” January slipped Ma a couple of bucks which earned more news, “Never mind them hillbilly vagrants.” Arthur stepped into her adjoining General Store and soon paid for: a bag of salt, an electric lantern, shovel, and rope. Ma screwed her cheeks at the goods, “What kinda hunter ya be?” Arthur slipped her two fin ($5 bills), “If a Bertrand comes calling, don’t send him our way.”

4pm: A cloud of dust marked their passage down the dirt farm road and settled around the Bentley parked in front of the house with broken windows and collapsed porch swing. An outhouse and decrepit barn added to the rustic ambiance. Lenny looked for mud-prints on the porch (to indicate vagrants) but found none. Arthur stepped to a window to look inside: a wood stove, an old couch with busted springs, and an obvious trapdoor set in the floor, with an interior door to the rear. January turned the key in the front door lock and entered and was immediately assaulted by a foul musty odor mixed with rodent droppings. The warped and stained floorboards creaked at every step.

Clayton opened the trapdoor and shined his flashlight into the abyss, half expecting a varmint to jump out. Henry was too freaked out to descend… he left it to Jan and Clayton to go first. And that’s when the axe-head came into view! And a hobo scrambled out of the cellar, “You need to leave! Finders’ keeper. I was here first!” Arthur interceded, “Easy fella, we’re not here to bother you. You look like a hungry veteran; care for an egg-salad sandwich?” The hobo snatched the offered sandwich, “Name’s Red Jake but you can call me Red. Been here a couple of nights. The barn leaks and with all of that racket above, I just moved into the cellar when you arrived. With that woman screaming out there in the woods, I think I’ll just grab my bindle and mosey along.”

Arthur convinced Red to stick around, “You look like you could use some cash. How about fixing the back door you busted in. I’m sure there are other repairs to be made.” Meanwhile, Henry climbed down into the cellar and found the hobo’s bedroll on the earthen floor along with old crates filled with rusted cans of spoiled food. But under the stairs, under a tarp, he found Marion’s trunk. Clayton climbed down and recognized the protective runes carved on it, “Just like those on the sarcophagus box.” Inside the trunk, they found 6 black robes, a letter, a cigar-box, Marion’s journal, and a faded yellow sheet with writing on it.

The 1877 letter proved to be Marion's last words, "He stole the sarcophagus from his uncle. Whatever they summoned, he thinks it’s bound to the farmhouse where it lives in the attic. Marion sealed material and notes in this trunk (carved with protective runes) left at the house. He traveled to New Orleans to seek mystics who might know how to banish it."

As for the faded yellow sheet: sadly, Jan didn’t know Latin. Yet of all the scholars around, it was the devote Catholic Lenny who put his religion to use, “It’s a spell or chant of exorcism that calls upon dark lords called the Old Ones, such as Nyarlathotep and Azathoth.” 

Marion’s journal explained the ritual and use of a pentagram. The cigar box contained the powders needed to be burned at the appointed midnight hour. “We have 6 hours to practice the chant that must be continually repeated without interruption.”

9pm: And that’s when they heard the car approach and saw Bertrand walk up the steps to angrily confront Henry, “You missed our appointment!” Henry didn’t skip a beat as he fast-talked, “I thought you meant here so I could appraise the house for its taxes. I already hired this handyman to make repairs.” [Persuade- extreme] Clayton stepped into the conversation, “I ‘ve had a chance to look the property over. I’m willing to buy at whatever your price. Bring your lawyers Monday and we can discuss." As Bertrand drove away, Red also excused himself as they had no more food to offer.

11pm: As Clayton drew the last symbols in the pentagram drawn on the main room floor, they all heard the piercing female shriek from outside and saw the vortex of dead leaves that advanced from the edge of the forest to the porch. Tension rose when it became deathly quiet… they could hear their own heartbeat! Everyone was on edge as the midnight hour approached.

Midnight: Clayton stepped into the circle and sprinkled the white powder at the points of the star as he began to chant in a steady rhythm. He was 10 minutes into the ritual when all heard scratching at both the front and back doors. Raccoons! They barred the doors with chairs braced against the handle.

Jan was about to relieve Clayton with the chanting when she heard huffing outside the window. Of course, she looked… and saw the bloodied woman zombie walking towards them! And shrieked! Arthur leveled his elephant gun: “BOOM”. [Sanity & POW checks] Somehow Clayton maintained his focus despite the blast and screams. Jan screamed louder when the headless woman didn’t fall. Instead, she blindly reached for the front door trying to let in the zombie raccoons.

And from the edge of the forest…at the most inappropriate time to return, it was Red. Except… Jan screamed when she saw his red bulging eyes and his chest ripped open with his entrails dragging behind him. Red slung a zombie raccoon at her through the window! Jan dodged the creature that landed at Lenny’s feet. Lenny swung his wrench but missed. Henry opened the trapdoor, “Kick it inside!”

Arthur aimed at the headless woman and obliterated her hips. [Sanity check] The upper torso clawed its way onto the porch! As Arthur sat in front of the door to brace it while he reloaded, Lenny kicked the raccoon into the cellar. Clayton managed to dodge another raccoon thrown thru the window by Red. Henry was able to grab that one by its tail and sling it into the cellar.  Red stood at the porch window about to enter when Jan threw her knife and impaled Red in the eye. [Sanity check] Jan whimpered as she watched Red pull the knife out with his eyeball impaled on the blade. Red leapt at Henry who dodged as he aimlessly threw his knife.

And that’s when they heard the roar of a bear from somewhere outside! And still Clayton maintained focus as he chanted. But for now, the immediate threat inside was Red… Lenny swung his wrench [extreme] and caved the hobo’s head in! Yet the body continued to twitch and amble towards them. Henry stooped to regain his knife [fumble 00] but was distracted by the twitching zombie standing over him… he grabbed the knife by the blade. And Red grabbed the knife handle and yanked, almost severing a couple of Henry’s fingers in the process.

Arthur stood at the open front door and aimed at the now visible, charging bear and fired… [fumble 00] “Click!” The gun jammed! Jan tried to patch Henry’s bleeding hand but didn’t realize the severity. She was too focused on Henry to see the shadow of Red hovering over her… Red stabbed with the knife, plunging the blade deep into her skull. She collapsed dead onto Henry.

The bear charged at Arthur who just managed to dodge back inside. Somehow Clayton remained focused on his chanting despite his allies being assaulted nearby. And the clock struck one: and time seemed to stand still. The bear seemed to melt into a void as a wispy oily smoke descended from the attic into the pentagram where Clayton stood. Rupert appeared before Clayton to warn, “It is all a trick… erase the pentagram!” Maybe the elder professor was just deaf, for he ignored the instructions as he reached into the cigar-box to throw the remaining black powder onto the candles.

The candle fires flared per the added chemicals. [Sanity check] Rupert’s image transformed into a hideous monstrosity. Suddenly a blast of energy erupted from the center of the pentagram erasing Clayton from existence, while sheering Henry’s face clean off. Thankfully Henry died instantly rather than suffer such injury. All zombie animations also collapsed and melted away: the bear and Red Jake were no more along with the numerous raccoons.

Arthur and Lenny dragged the bodies of their fellow allies from the farmhouse before torching it. It was a quiet drive back to town. At least Arthur’s purchase of a shovel became handy as they stopped to perform burial services for their fallen comrades in unmarked graves.