Verboten!

Operation: FAUST

A Scenario for Call of Cthulhu

By Gareth Hanrahan
For Warpcon XII
 Verboten

Introduction:
This scenario kicks off a three part story which is basically a “what-if” scenario –
what if humanity tried to use and enslave the mythos, what if the terrible magic of the
Great Old Ones was discovered and utilised by mere humans? This first scenario details
how the secrets of the mythos fall into the hands of those willing to use them. It takes
place in early Spring, 1945, in Germany. The Third Reich – specifically, the SS and
Operation: WEREWOLF – intend to use dark magics to drive back the advancing Red
Army.
The second scenario, A Spectre is Haunting Europe will take place in the 1960s,
when cold war sorcerers duel for eldritch lore in the shadow of the superpowers. The
final scenario, Inauguration, describes what happens when man brings the stars to
rightness.
Although the plan is to do three linked scenarios, the players are not linked into a
strict plot. If your players manage to derail my story and come up with a better solution,
run with that. Let their actions, their heroism, determine if humanity will take the
poisoned chalice of Cthulhu and his space brethren.

Backstory:
It’s February, 1945. The defences of the Reich are crumbling. From the east,
Stalin’s armies sweep in. As the eastern front collapses, Hitler orders the activation of
Operation: WEREWOLF, a last-ditch effort to destroy the enemy by unleashing the alien
powers of prehistoric entities. The American ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) and the
various spies and agents operating inside Germany have managed to uncover something
of the plot. The defection of an SS officer, Erik Janson, spurred ONI and its secret occult
branch, DELTA GREEN, into action. Janson told British Intelligence about a series of
experiments at the so-called Black Monastery of Toberg. Janson’s details were sketchy,
but convincing enough to justify a mission to stop WEREWOLF’s activities.
Two partisans living near the Black Monastery were contacted by ONI, and told
to study methods of getting a team in. A squad of elite agents will parachute in behind
enemy lines, link up with the partisans, and eliminate the SS officers in the monastery.

Characters:
• Captain George Ellis: one of the best tacticians in the US Army, Ellis led a platoon
into Flanders on D-Day. He was injured in the battle, and transferred to ONI while he
was recuperating. He’s eager to prove that he’s the best of the best.
• Sgt. Al Blank: Ellis’ right hand man, Blank’s a veritable killing machine. Part of this
is due to the injured and comatose Insect from Shaggai sitting in his brain.
• Lt. Elijah Snow: A top parachutist, commando and sniper, Snow’s been on four
missions behind enemy lines. He’s a Delta Green agent.
• Lt. Alistair May: A British spy and agent. His superiors insisted May go along on
the mission as a condition of the British handing over Janson’s information.

The two partisans the team will meet in Germany are:

 • Maria Hensch: She’s co-ordinated resistance efforts in Germany. Several of her
friends were Jewish, and she began her battle against the Nazi party when her
friends were taken away by the Gestapo.
• Frater von Almich: a former initiate of the Black Monks of Toberg, he is aware
of the mythos, and wants revenge on the SS for stealing the lore of the monks.

Goals and themes:

The basic concept of this whole series is that the mythos corrupts. It is
fundamentally inimical to human decency and sanity. Those who use it are doomed to
worship it and eventually, inevitably be consumed by it. Oblivion is a blessing in the face
of the true horror of the universe. It is only by losing that the characters can win a
reprieve for humanity.

Timing:
Getrict, the SS Commander at the Monastery, intends to use the dark magic of the
Necronomicon to awaken a Great Old One called Th’rygh and have it destroy the
advancing Red Army. He’ll do this after two and a half hours of game time has elapsed.
Keep track of time, and if the characters haven’t stopped Getrict when time’s up – well,
it’s all bad for the Russians.

Al Blank and the Insect from Shaggai: The comatose alien insect inside Blank’s brain
gives him his incredible accuracy and a taste for sadism. This subplot isn’t required for
the scenario, but if the game is dragging and you want to shake things up, you can have
the magics of the monastery begin to awaken the insect.
The insect is immensely intelligent, but lost chunks of its racial memory when it
was injured. It can sense the mental activities of humans, and can whisper fragments of
the thoughts of others to Blank. It might also want the Book for itself. It’s not capable of
fully controlling its host, but it can certainly threaten to take over. (If the insect wants to
override Blank’s wishes for one round, it’s got a 40% chance of success)

Events in the scenario:

• The ONI team parachute in. They are met by Maria and von Almich.
• They work out their method for getting into the Monastery.
• They get into the Monastery.
• It is discovered that the real secrets of the monastery lie in Chapel Perilous.
• In Chapel Perilous, they discover the nature of the experiments.
• They work out the location of the German trap for the Russian army.
• They travel to <location> and use the dark magicks to subvert the ritual.

The scenario starts here:

1. Operation: FAUST
The four military characters are on board a <plane> over <location>. It’s three in
the morning. The weather is just inside the operational envelope of the parachutes – they
can make the jump, but it will be very risky. Luckily, most of the Luftwaffe have been
shot down, so the bomber’s flight will be unhindered by enemy planes. However, the
monastery has some aerial defences that aren’t planes – a trio of Byakhee. The byakhee
will attack the plane, tearing at the windows. If anyone jumps, they’ll go after the jumper.
The plane will be over the drop zone for a maximum of ten rounds. It’s got 2 machine
guns.
Maria and von Almich are in the woods below. They’ve got to signal to the place
without attracting the attention of German patrols. There is a single patrol in the forest,
monitoring the perimeter of the hills surrounding the monastery. It’s a foul night, and
they won’t be out much unless there’s a major sign that something’s up, like a bonfire or
a low-flying bomber.
Let Maria and von Almich decide what method they’re going to use to signal their
location to the plane. Assign a percentage success value to this. This percentage is used
as a bonus to the military characters’ Spot Hidden roll to see the landing site. You should
also roll this percentage to see if the German patrol spots the signal.
For the actual jump, each character rolls Parachuting, and gets a bonus or penalty
equal to the margin of success (or failure) of the spot hidden roll. Anyone who fails the
roll takes 1d6 damage for every 10 points they fail by (halved with successful jump or
luck rolls).
If the Germans saw the signal, or were alerted by the Byakhee, they’ll drive into
the woods in a jeep. The characters can probably escape into the woods unless the jump
goes really badly and they have to carry wounded people.
If any of the Byakhee survive, they’ll fly back to the belfry in the monastery.

2. The Lodge
Maria has the location of a small hunting lodge hidden in the forest on her
character sheet. It’s likely the characters will hide there to recuperate. The lodge is deep
in the woods, and the paths leading to it are fairly overgrown. If any of the characters are
injured, there are medical supplies which restore 1d3+1 hit points.
The characters will probably share information at this point. Both Maria and von
Almich have “what you know about the Black Monastery” sheets. The obvious thing to
do is sneak into the monastery, but the PCs may also want to visit Toberg.
German patrols sweep the area around the monastery, and the town is partially
occupied. Most of the troops in the town have been moved to the front.

3. Toberg
The town’s main economies are woollen mills and some iron mining. Most of the
buildings are fairly old-fashioned and dark, decaying gambrel roofs nestled amid the
overhanging mountains. The townsfolk have living in the shadow of the monastery for
centuries, and have learned not to speak of it. One notable feature in the centre of the
town is a statue of a cowled, staff-bearing monk, trampling a dragon underfoot.
There are three dozen soldiers, and half as many officers and staff, protecting the
outer monastery and the town, and patrolling the surrounding woods and foothills. Half
the soldiers will be on duty at any time. Of these, five will be off in a jeep driving around
the woods, and another five will be manning the gates of the monastery. Another five will
be in the town hall. The last three will be patrolling the streets of Toberg.
In the town hall is the local command post. The commanding officer, Spittzler, is
increasingly terrified of the goings on at the monastery, and is trying to keep his troops
away from it whenever possible. A single supply truck visits the monastery once a day, in
the morning. Increasingly, it’s been loaded with meat. It’s possible to sneak onto or storm
the truck, and use it to get into the courtyard of the monastery.
4. The Church
The cathedral at the heart of Toberg overlooks the town hall. It’s around three
hundred years old, and has been boarded up to protect the stained glass windows from
being damaged in bombing raids. The building of the cathedral was sponsored by the
Black Monks, and there are a few unusual pieces of décor which reveal this. For
example, the stations of the cross include several scenes of monks laughing at the
crucifixion. One monk appears in all but two of the pictures. In the second last picture, as
Christ’s corpse is being prepared for burial, the monk stands in front of a wall in the
background, reaching up as if to touch one of the blocks in the wall.
An idea roll reveals that the wall in the picture exactly matches the pattern of
stones in the floor below. The small stone which the monk is pointing too can be
removed, and inside is a small lever which can be moved to any of the cardinal compass
points (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW). Next to this is a gravestone, which reads in latin
“HERMES, AS BLESSED BY THE DEAD FISHER KING AS HE IS GREAT.” This is
a reference to Hermes Trisgestimis, Hermes Thricegreat. The lever must be moved to
trace the shape of the cross three times. If this is done, the catch is released, and a larger
block can be pushed down to reveal a trapdoor.
This trapdoor leads to a narrow, dust-choked passageway, which goes under the
church, along a section of the sewers, and then to a narrow spiral staircase that ascends
steeply. Halfway along the staircase is a trapped step – if any weight is placed on this, an
iron ball is released at the top of the stairs, and it bounces down. Spot Hidden is required
to see the trap or a halved Dodge is needed to avoid the ball. If it hits a PC, it does 1d6+2
damage.
The staircase ends in the southern cellars of the monastery (beneath area 15).

5. The Monastery
Much of the monastery is abandoned and collapsed – the number of monks has
decreased over the years, and many were executed by the Nazis during Hitler’s purge of
occultists and during the early years of the war.
The monastery is arranged as a large square surrounding the Chapel. The south
and eastern sections are uninhabited – by anything human, anyway. The monks keep to
the western part of the complex, and the Nazis have occupied the courtyard and the
northern buildings. They’ve strung electric lights powered by a diesel generator in the
courtyard throughout their section of the monastery, and put up some Wolfenstein-style
Nazi regalia, as well as SS and runic symbols.

Guards: There are half a dozen SS guards left in the monastery. They’re all in the
refectory (area 8), and will only investigate any obvious signs of intruders, like gunfire or
American voices. The rest of their unit has gone off to the ritual site at Kursk, and
they’ve been left alone in a haunted monastery. They won’t leave the safe environs of the
refectory unless they have too.

Monks: all the monks are in the western monastery. See below.
Monsters: The only creatures that will pursue the characters are the three (or less, if any
were killed in the first attack) Byakhee living in the bell tower (13). They’ll swoop down
and carry off anyone crossing the courtyard (around the chapel, area 16).
Monastery Key:
1. Altar
2. North Church
3. Western Gate
4. Monks’ chambers
5. Garage/stables
6. Barracks
7. Kitchen
8. Refectory
9. Commander’s room
10. North passage
11. Library
12. Generator
13. Bell Tower
14. Well
15. Ruins
16. Chapel Perilous
5.1. & 5.2. The Altar in the Dark Church
This is the lesser church in the monastery - the Chapel Perilous which was
summoned out of space-time became the main focus of worship after the 16th century. In
comparison to that eerie, alien structure, the Dark Church is almost comforting. The
geometries are thankfully normal, and the walls are made out of ordinary stone. The
stations of the cross are painted on wooden carvings around the walls, but seem to mock
the crucifixion. The crowd jeer at the figure carrying the cross, and trip him when he
falls. For some reason, he seems to be buried at sea in this set.
Behind the altar is a magnificent painting of the Last Judgement. Christ is veiled
in this picture, and the people being thrown into hell can be identified as various popes
and political leaders with a successful history roll. The altar itself is (unsurprisingly)
encrusted with a reddish-brown substance.
The SS have stored equipment, including ammunition and some drums of diesel
fuel, in the church. A guard checks on them every hour, to make sure they haven’t been
disturbed by anything. There is a considerable amount of explosive material here, enough
to bring down much of the monastery (if not the chapel).

5.3. The Western Gate

The heavy double doors of the monastery are opened by the guards to let the truck
in. The truck then parks just inside and is unloaded. The door is strength 40 on the
resistance table, if the characters try to force it.

5.4. The Monks’ Chambers

This section of the monastery is a warren of small cells, each of which has a small
cot-bed and little else in it. At the end of the corridor is a prayer room. Seven monks sit
in a circle, with an eighth monk sitting on a stool by a desk writing in a book. The seven
monks are dead – each of them has committed suicide by stabbing a ritual dagger into
their hearts.
The eighth monk is named Brother Jube. The abbot has gone off with the SS to
Kursk, and his brethren have killed themselves because the time of the Black Monks is
coming to an end. The End Times are approaching, when humanity will be as one with
the Great Old Ones, and the monks are no longer needed to keep the dark threads of the
old ways alive, the ancient rites need no longer be performed, and so the Outer Gods
have withdrawn their favours. The world has gone over the brink.
Jube is a tired and cynical old monk, who has watched his life’s work be undone
by a gang of jackbooted soldiers who have no idea what they’re really doing. He’s gaunt,
dressed in tattered black robes. The characters are welcome to pick whatever carrion they
wish from the ruins of the monastery, free to be missionaries of the Great Old Ones to the
rest of humanity. He is recording the last days of the monastery in his book. He won’t
help or hinder the PCs. He represents the old face of the Mythos, and the characters are
the new face. He will admit that the abbot has gone with the SS, and that there are still
documents and books in the library and in the Chapel.
The last page of the book is handout 1. Jube also has a key to the Chapel.

5.5. Garage/Motor Pool

2 motor bikes with sidecars, and a staff car.
5.6. Barracks
Depending on what the time of day is, some of the bedrooms in this section may
be occupied. It’s obvious that far more troops were once stationed at the monastery -at
least fifty. There are SS uniforms and equipment in lockers.

5.7. Kitchen
It’s a kitchen. It doesn’t even have any weird unidentifiable chunks of dead meat
–it was scrubbed and disinfected by the Nazis.

5.8. Refectory
The monks once ate here. Now, half a dozen rather scared SS officers cluster
around a dying fire and a wireless tuned to the BBC. There’s almost no question of the
German officers talking with the PCs, but in case they do, the lieutenant in charge is
named Hausgrofr. He’s been ordered to defend the monastery against all reasonable
opposition, but he’ll interpret any use of magic as “unreasonable opposition”, and retreat.

5.9. Commander’s Quarters

Obersturmbannführer Getrict has gone to the ritual site with the Abbot. He’s left
most of his personal belongings here at the monastery, because he intends to return here
after he’s single-handedly crushed the Red Army. He’s been living in the monastery for
several months, decoding the Necronomicon, and has decorated what was once the
Abbot’s rooms and private chapel with SS symbols. Paintings of Aryan warriors and
Thule, runes carved into the crossbeams and shields on the wall.
He has left his dogs behind, Sturm and Drang, a pair of huge wolfhounds. They’ll
attack anyone who enters the room that they don’t recognise, and they really only obey
Getrict and Hausgrofr. They both have Bite: 30% and do 1d8 damage if they hit (if you
have a rulebook, use the stats for wolves).
Searching will reveal dozens of notebooks filled with notes on translating the
Necronomicon, and attempts to understand the prophecy on the doors of the Chapel
Perilous (Getrict thinks it has something to do with the conquest and surrender of France,
and refers to his decryption of the Necronomicon). There are also some telegrams to and
from Werewolf command (handout 2), and a key to the Chapel.

5.10. North Passage

This narrow corridor leads to a heavy door, which opens up onto an almost sheer
cliff. The door is unlocked, but it requires two climb rolls to inch along the cliff to the
road up to the western gate, and four climb rolls to get up or down the mountainside. If
any of these rolls are failed, the PC falls to their death.
The door has been enchanted with a Gate spell, and can be activated with the
expenditure of one magic point. The Gate will transport anyone stepping through the
door to the ritual site.

5.11. The Library

Filled from floor to ceiling with books and scrolls. It’s arranged in a “8” shape –
two main corridors of shelves, with three connecting passages. The library is two levels
high, and the upper level is accessible by stairs at each corner of the room.
If any of the characters (except von Almich) enter the library, they’ll trigger its
defences – a set of thirteen magical tomes called the Graphica, which are scattered
throughout the library. A few minutes after they enter, sentences in black gothic print will
begin to crawl out of the books like caterpillars, and creep towards the character. If a
sentence reaches a character, it inflicts one point of damage as it tattoos itself into the
character’s skin. Each sentence has one hit point, and can be stamped on, shot, set on fire
etc. Sanity loss is 1/1d10 for seeing the books disgorge their contents, and 1/1d4 for each
tattoo. Open on a table at the centre of the library is the Record of the Black Chapel
(handout 3)

5.12. The Generator

A portable diesel generator.

5.13. The Bell Tower

At four stories tall, this tower is easily the biggest structure in the monastery. The
lower floors are choked with foul-smelling, strange-looking dung – Byahkee droppings.
One of the bell-ropes is a loop, and has meat-hooks attached to it. The monks hang
carcasses on the hooks and winch them up to the hungry Byahkee every few days.
If any of the other ropes are pulled, the Byakhee take off and attack anyone who
isn’t a monk.

5.14. The Well

A very deep, very dark well, with rusted steel rungs leading down into the
darkness. There are caverns beneath the monastery, inhabited by things that cannot stand
the light of day. Anyone climbing down the ladder hears a strange bubbling growl, and
this is pretty much their only warning. If they keep going after that, they’re eaten.

5.15. The Southern Monastery

This section is largely ruined, exploded outwards as if some great flying beast had
erupted from a space too small to house its vast bulk. There are several small cellars
beneath the rubble, including the one the secret passage from the village church opens
into. There are a few human skeletons buried in the rubble - they’ve been left there as a
deterrent to casual trespassers.

5.16. The Chapel Perilous (exterior)

At first, you can hardly see it. The outline of it is there, the silhouette of a small
Gothic chapel, but the black stones reflect so little light that that you have to touch it to
convince yourself it’s real. The material it’s made out of is almost frictionless, but as
your fingers run over it, some strange gritty liquid covers them, and no matter how you
wash your hands, they’ll always feel tainted. The outside of the chapel is covered in alien
carvings of tentacled horrors and stranger things. All this has a total sanity impact of
1/1D6.
The upper stories are lined with stained-glass windows, but they don’t appear to
have any images on them – all the panes are black, and can’t be seen through. The only
way in is through a pair of huge double doors. There are fine scratches all over the
smooth surface of the doors. At first they seem to be random markings, but then the light
catches them, and the following couplet appears:
THAT IS NOT DEAD WHICH CAN ETERNAL LIE
 AND WITH STRANGE AEONS EVEN DEATH MAY DIE”
The words appear in the primary language of whoever’s looking at the door. So, if
Maria Hensch (German) and Snow (English) both look at the doors, they’ll see the same
arrangement of scratches, but the light will highlight different markings to show the same
sentence in two different languages.
The doors are locked. Brother Jube (area 4) has a key, and there’s another in area
9.

6. Inside the Chapel Perilous

The black doors open to an empty void, and a sound like the buzzing of
tremendous bees. The characters can all perceive something in the distance, a closed
book seemingly floating in the distance. Crossing the Chapel Perilous is a difficult and
dangerous prospect. Anyone crossing the threshold finds themselves in a space that is
very reminiscent of the inside of a church, but somehow isn’t the same. It’s like being in
a dream, or being on a stage set. It looks right, but feels wrong. All the pews and steps
are slightly the wrong size, as if designed for a humanoid species a little bigger than us,
whose limbs fold differently.
Once again, there are stations of the cross here, but they’re very different, with
very odd images. They’re all carved from the same black rock as the outside of the
Chapel. The style is very strange, resembling nothing so much as Dali’s surrealism.
1. What appears to be a nuclear explosion. (should be: Jesus is condemned)
2. Tentacled beings floating down from space (should be: Jesus carries his cross)
3. A great cyclopean city sinking beneath the oceans. (should be: the First Fall)
4. Star-headed, radial creatures surrounding a man and a woman. (Jesus meets His
mother)
5. Fish-headed beings mating with humans (should be: Simon helps carry the cross)
6. A man holding a scroll entitled Al Azif. (should be: Veronica wipes His face)
7. Inquisitors burning witches at the stake (should be: the Second Fall)
8. The same scroll in the hands of seven monks (should be: He meets the women of
Jerusalem)
9. The Monastery, seen from the outside. The Chapel is not shown. (should be: the
Third Fall)
10. The Monastery, seen from the outside. The Chapel is shown. (should be: He is
stripped of His Garments)
11. A Nazi rally in Berlin. (should be: He is nailed to the cross)
12. Hands lifting the scroll. (should be: He dies on the cross)
13. Seven men in suits worshipping the scroll (should be: He is taken down)
14. What appears to be a nuclear explosion. (should be: He is laid in the tomb)
Sanity loss for looking at all the pictures is 1d6.

Crossing the floor of the Chapel to look at the stations or explore the various
nooks and crannies is easy enough. Approaching the altar is more difficult. The
Chapel is outside space and time. Anyone who tries to approach the altar should be
told that they somehow know that it’s many million years and an unthinkable distance
(trillions of light years) away. It is possible to walk to the altar, but the character is
aware that each step takes them forward a horrifying distance. Outside the Chapel,
the world flashes away and dies, mountain ranges rising and falling like waves. After
 a few steps, a sickening red light shines through the dark windows – the sun has
swollen obscenely, grown to a hideous red giant star. Another step, a wave of heat,
and the only light is that of dead stars.
Sanity loss for the walk to the book is 1d10/1d20. Freak the players out with this
scene.

The Necronomicon:
It sits on a cloth on black altar. The cloth is embroidered with the Latin message
“Here Until The Beginning Of The End, Here The Beginning Of The End”. The book
is a large and heavy, bound in leather and written in an angular Gothic print that
seems to crawl slightly. Numerous bookmarks and notes have been inserted into the
book, all with neat German handwriting. Skimming the book costs another 1d10
SAN.
The book is open to the Ritual of Th’rygh (see handout 4). Th’rygh is a minor
Great Old One who happens to be sleeping somewhere near where the advance forces
of the Red Army are now. The commander of the SS at the monastery, Getrict,
intends to use the spells from the Necronomicon to awaken the monster and have it
destroy the Russian army. The first spell on the handout will irritate the monster, and
can be used by the PCs to have Th’rygh eat Getrict and co. The second spell can be
used to awaken or quell the monster.
Since the Necronomicon was placed here in the Chapel, none of the monks or
Nazis have been able to remove it. The dark attentions of the Outer Gods hold it
there. The characters, however, can freely take it with them. It’s got lots of nice
spells in it.

7. Decision Points
At this point, the characters should have retrieved the Necronomicon from the
Chapel and may know about Getrict’s plans. They may choose to either retreat back to
Allied lines, or to stop Getrict. It’s also fairly likely that the characters start turning on
each other at this point, fighting for the book.

Allied Lines: About two hundred miles of Germany are between the monastery and the
nearest American forces. The Russians are slightly closer, but the characters are still a
long way from home. Maria can probably hide them in the village for a few days, and
then they can cut across country. If the players choose this option, and the whole group
agrees, then fast-forward to the Allies arriving in Toberg, and let the players decide what
they’re going to do with the Book. Of course, this also results in the Russian army getting
eaten by Th’rygh, and Getrict and Himmler now have time to unleash far worse magics.
Germany is too far gone to win the war, though, and the Allies will eventually
win. The really important thing is the ultimate fate of the Necronomicon and the rest of
the SS’s occult research. As the events and history of the monastery have shown, the
Mythos is a corrupting influence. See wrapping up, below.

The Gate: Getrict has created a Gate to Kursk (location 10 in the monastery map). The
characters can use this Gate to get to Kursk in time. They can also try to alter the Gate to
transport them to London or some other safe location. The latter requires a successful
POWX2 roll. If they fail, give them a luck roll. Success means the Gate is now
inoperative. Failure means the Gate goes…elsewhere, and anyone passing through it is
killed.

8. The Red Army

If the characters pass through the Gate, they find themselves in the ruins of an
ancient tower on the side of a mountain. Below them, through the muddy fields of the
valley, march thousands of Russian soldiers. The tower is part of a larger, ruined
structure, and the characters can hear low voices. In another part of the building, by a
large and weathered runic stone that’s set into the floor, Getrict, the Black Abbot, and
four SS officers are preparing the ritual to awake Th’rygh.
When the time is right (i.e., either the clock has run out, or it’s dramatically
appropriate), Getrict’s men prize up the stone, revealing a deep black hole plunging down
into the depths. Getrict chants the second line from the ritual in the Necronomicon.
Unless the characters do something, here’s what happens: a horrendous stench
boils up out of the well, and the hillside begins to shake. A crack appears in the ground,
and a thin, almost transparent tentacle snakes out of it. It darts out and brushes over a unit
of Russian infantry. They’re sucked into it, their flesh melting and spreading out into the
tentacle, filling it. More and more tentacles appear, sucking in more organic matter.
Within a few minutes, Th’rygh emerges, a horrible patchwork of flesh and soil and alien
matter. Sanity loss is 1d20/1d100. The entire army (not to mention Getrict, the SS, and
every living thing in the valley) is devoured.
If the characters cast the fine line from the book, the tentacle rushes out of the
well instead snake out of the hole and suck in Getrict, the Abbot, the SS, and any PCs
who fail to pass either a Dodge or Luck roll. If they cast the second line from the Book,
Th’rygh goes back to sleep. The characters will then be captured by the Russian army
(unless they hop back through the Gate), and the Necronomicon confiscated.

9. Wrapping Up
Assuming at least some of the characters survived, they’re now in possession of
the most powerful grimoire in the world, at a time when the power of the Great Old Ones
is rising. The real question is what do they do with it. The best and most heroic option is
to destroy it. They may also choose to return it to their respective commanders, or keep it
for themselves.
Take note of the players’ answers, and note them on the scoresheets. The most
popular response will determine how later scenarios go.

Appendix 1:
STATS
3 Horrible Byakhee
STR CON SIZ DEX POW HP
#1 20 12 24 14 12 18
#2 16 14 16 12 11 15
#3 15 12 15 16 13 14
San Loss 1/1d6 2 points of armour
Claw 35%, damage 2d6
Bite 35%, damage 1d6 + 1d6 STR lost

A Selection of SS Officers and Guards

 STR CON SIZ DEX POW HP
#1 14 16 14 14 15 15
#2 17 18 18 11 12 18
#3 12 13 12 15 15 13
#4 15 15 15 12 12 15
#5 13 12 13 13 9 13
#6 12 10 12 10 12 11
Submachine gun 40%, damage 1d8, 3 shot burst
Grenade 35%, damage 4d6

Getrict
Str: 8 Dex: 11 Con: 8 Siz: 12 Int: 17 Pow: 18 Edu: 20 HP: 10 San: 0
Skills: Occult 70%, Cthulhu Mythos 20%, Thule Society Stuff 60%, Rant About The
Aryan Destiny 40%, Diabolical Chant 30%
Weapons: None
Spells: Call Th’rygh, Call Azathoth, Call Yog-Sothoth, Contact Cthulhu, Contact Deep
One, Summon/Bind Byakhee, Flesh Ward, Withering, Voorish Sign, Elder Sign

Appendix 2 – a possibly useful timeline

Sept 3, 1941 - First experimental use of gas chambers at Auschwitz.
Dec 19, 1941 - Hitler takes complete command of the German Army.
Jan 13, 1942 - Germans begin a U-boat offensive along east coast of USA.
May 30, 1942 - First thousand bomber British air raid (against Cologne).
In June - Mass murder of Jews by gassing begins at Auschwitz.
Aug 17, 1942 - First all-American air attack in Europe.
Sept 13, 1942 - Battle of Stalingrad begins.
July 9/10 - Allies land in Sicily.
July 19, 1943 - Allies bomb Rome.
Nov 18, 1943 - Large British air raid on Berlin.
Nov 28, 1943 - Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet at Teheran.
June 6, 1944 - D-Day landings.
Feb 13/14 - Dresden is destroyed by a firestorm after Allied bombing raids.
April 30, 1945 - Adolf Hitler commits suicide.
July 1, 1945 - U.S., British, and French troops move into Berlin.
July 16, 1945 - First U.S. atomic bomb test; Potsdam Conference begins.
Aug 6, 1945 - First atomic bomb dropped, on Hiroshima, Japan.

Appendix 3:

HOW TO RUN Verboten! IN FIVE MINUTES

It’s the closing stages of the Second World War. Four of the characters are part of
the Allied armies, and are about to be parachuted in to destroy a Nazi occult research
team located in a monastery. The other two PCs are German partisans opposed to the
Reich. The characters are:
• Captain George Ellis: one of the best tacticians in the US Army, Ellis led a platoon
into Flanders on D-Day. He was injured in the battle, and transferred to ONI while he
was recuperating. He’s eager to prove that he’s the best of the best.
• Sgt. Al Blank: Ellis’ right hand man, Blank’s a veritable killing machine. Part of this
is due to the injured and comatose Insect from Shaggai sitting in his brain.
• Lt. Elijah Snow: A top parachutist, commando and sniper, Snow’s been on four
missions behind enemy lines. He’s a Delta Green agent.
• Lt. Alistair May: A British spy and agent. His superiors insisted May go along on
the mission as a condition of the British handing over information.
• Maria Hensch: She’s co-ordinated resistance efforts in Germany. Several of her
friends were Jewish, and she began her battle against the Nazi party when her friends
were taken away by the Gestapo.
• Frater von Almich: a former initiate of the Black Monks of Toberg, he is aware of
the mythos, and wants revenge on the SS for stealing the lore of the monks.

The Nazi occultists are located in the Black Monastery, an ancient corrupted
monastery which possesses a copy of the Necronomicon. Several of the characters
want the dread book for their own ends, or have been commanded to acquire the
Nazis’ occult knowledge.
The scenario begins with the first four characters being parachuted into the
woods, and attacked by byakhee on the way down. Once the PCs have all met up,
they’ve got to find a way into the monastery. There’s a secret passage they can use, or
they can sneak in.
The monastery is centred on the Chapel Perilous. While exploring the monastery,
the characters can encounter various horrors, the last of the monks, and the few SS
officers and guards left. The commander of the monastery intends to use the power of
the Necronomicon to summon a sleeping Great Old One and defeat the advancing
Russian army.
The PCs have to find a way into the Chapel, get the Necronomicon, work out
what’s going on, and stop the commander before it’s too late.
Alistair May
PISCES Agent

This one might be a bit tricky.

Three weeks ago, a German officer named Janson surrendered to
advancing British troops in the Ardennes. He was bounced around between
various agencies and officials until PISCES found out about him, and since
then he’s been under constant interrogation and telepathic scan. PISCES is a
secret department within MI6, dedicated to using “unconventional methods”
for espionage and intelligence gathering.
Janson described a monastery in the town of Toberg, where the Nazis
were experimenting with mysterious rites and rituals. PISCES’ occult
researchers managed to dig up a reference to Toberg – apparently, some
13th-century nobleman and sorcerer donated his library to the monastery,
including (according to legend) a copy of the Necronomicon. PISCES would
rather like to get their hands on that beauty.
Currently, PISCES doesn’t have the resources to go after the
monastery, so you passed the information onto the American Office of Naval
Intelligence – MI6 suspects that ONI is their counterpart to PISCES. The
Yanks have taken the bait – they’re sending a team in to storm the
monastery. And you’re going in with the team. Your mission –retrieve the
Necronomicon.
You’ve got the training and confidence to pull this off. Your family
have been servants of the Crown for generations, from Walsingham on down.
Someone has to show the Americans that fancy Yankee engineering isn’t the
answer to everything.

Roleplaying Notes: If May were around in twenty years time, he’d see
himself as an occult James Bond. He tries to act suave, debonair and cool at
all times. He keeps his stiff upper lip in the face of danger. He’s never really
been tested in battle though – his fairly cushy job with PISCES means that
he’s been able to stay away from the front lines up until now.

The Others:
Captain Ellis: The CO of the mission. Good chap, apparently. You’re
theoretically under his command…
Blank and Snow: Muscle and firepower, respectively.
Maria Hensch: A German partisan, who’ll be signalling the drop zone to you.
Investigator Name: Alistair May STR: 14 DEX: 14 INT: 17 Idea: 85
Occupation: Intelligence Agent CON: 15 APP: 16 POW: 14 Luck: 70
Colleges, Degrees: Psychology, Cambridge SIZ: 13 SAN: 60 EDU: 20 Know: 100
Birthplace: Sussex 99-Cthulhu Mythos: 94 Damage Bonus: 0
Mental Disorders:

Parachuting: 50%
Bargain 30% Tactics: 10% Chemistry 10%
Climb 30% Conceal 30% Credit Rating 60%
Cthulhu Mythos 5% Dodge 40% Drive Auto 40%
Electrical Repair 20% Fast Talk 50% First Aid 60%
Geology 10% Handgun 60% Hide 40%
History 60% Jump 40% Law 10%
Library Use 50% Listen 60% Locksmith 20%
Machine Gun 40% Martial Arts 20% Mechanical Repair 20%
Medicine 60% Natural History 20% Navigate 20%
Occult 50% Operate Hvy. Machine 10% Persuade 60%
Pharmacy 15% Photography 15% Physics 15%
Pilot: Aircraft 60% Psychology 40%
Ride 50% Rifle 40% Shotgun 30%
Sneak 60% Spot Hidden 50% Submachine Gun 30%
Swim 30% Throw 20% Track 20%
Fist/Punch 60% Head Butt 30% Kick 50%
Elijah Snow
Lieutenant, Office of Naval Intelligenct/DELTA GREEN CLEARANCE

You’re not coming back from this one.

In 1928, the Office of Naval Intelligence discovered that humanity is
not the only intelligent species on Earth. In the waters off Massachusetts,
near Innsmouth, a colony of aquatic humanoid monsters was discovered. The
secret task force known as DELTA GREEN was formed to deal with this and
other occurrences of hostile and dangerous supernatural entities.
Your father was one of the commanders of the raid, and he recruited
you into DELTA GREEN six months ago. The Nazis have been attempting to
ally with the aquatic creatures, and have been researching into the
supernatural formulae and nightmarish technologies of the monsters. DELTA
GREEN have been trying to stop them, and after the slaughter of Nazi
officers and a sea-beast scouting party in France last year, you all thought
the Nazi occult effort had been shut down.
Two weeks ago, the British contacted ONI offering the results of a
debriefing of a German agent, Janson. The Nazis are conducting occult
experiments in a monastery. You know that similar experiments in Bavaria
resulted in a blast comparable with the atomic bombs they’re working on
back home. The experiments have to be stopped. That’s why you’re in a plane,
high over Germany, about to jump out.
It’s not the jump that scares you – you’re a skilled parachutist and
sniper. It’s what’s waiting for you.
You saw your father’s corpse after the operation in France. He’d been
torn apart by the monsters. You’d never seen anyone look so terrified. You’re
almost over the drop zone now. You’re almost in hell.

Roleplaying Notes: Elijah’s father promoted him and put a lot of weight on
his shoulders, and Elijah’s not sure if he can handle it. This is quite possibly a
suicide mission – even if the team stops the experiments in the monastery,
you’ll then have to fight your way home.
The rest of the team aren’t DELTA GREEN. They know nothing about
the occult or the monsters. It’s all going to be up to you.

The Others:
Captain Ellis: The CO. Apparently, he’s the best of the best. You just hope
that’s good enough.
Sgt. Blank: Ellis brought him in. He’s insane. A stone cold killer.
Alistair May: An English agent. One of the conditions of getting the
defector’s debriefing was that May could accompany the squad.
Maria Hensch: A German partisan, who’ll be signalling the drop zone to you.

Investigator Name: Elijah Snow STR: 15 DEX: 15 INT: 14 Idea: 70

Occupation: US Marines CON: 14 APP: 15 POW: 15 Luck: 75
Colleges, Degrees: Officer Training SIZ: 10 SAN: 60 EDU: 16 Know: 80
Birthplace: Boston 99-Cthulhu Mythos: 94 Damage Bonus: 0
Mental Disorders:

Parachuting: 70%
Bargain 30% Tactics: 10% Chemistry 10%
Climb 40% Conceal 30% Credit Rating 40%
Cthulhu Mythos 5% Dodge 40% Drive Auto 30%
Electrical Repair 20% Fast Talk 20% First Aid 60%
Geology 10% Handgun 60% Hide 40%
History 30% Jump 40% Law 10%
Library Use 40% Listen 60% Locksmith 20%
Machine Gun 50% Martial Arts 20% Mechanical Repair 20%
Medicine 40% Natural History 20% Navigate 20%
Occult 40% Operate Hvy. Machine 20% Persuade 20%
Pharmacy 15% Photography 15% Physics 15%
Pilot: Aircraft 60% Psychology 0%
Ride 50% Rifle 90% Shotgun 30%
Sneak 60% Spot Hidden 50% Submachine Gun 40%
Swim 30% Throw 20% Track 30%
Fist/Punch 60% Head Butt 30% Kick 50%
Frater von Almich
You can still taste the blood. The twisting, impossible outline of that
thing is burnt into the back of your eyes, into the very meat of your brain.
The horror tears at your very reason, and if you linger on it for too long, you
can feel sanity slip away into the cracks. There are things out there, buried
deep in the rotting earth or out in the cold depths of space, things that
violate every natural law.
And once, they called you master.
For six centuries, the monks of the Black Monastery of Toberg have
guarded their greatest possession – the Necronomicon, the forbidden
spellbook of Abdul Al-Hazred. For six centuries, the monks have wielded the
terrible power of the book. Gods have been called down from the stars and
made to crawl and abase themselves before the Abbot.
On your 23rd birthday, you drank the Liao Draught and were initiated
into the Monastery. You wrote your name in the book of Azathoth and swore
the Unspeakable Oath.
A year later, the doors were shut in your face, and your legs and
manhood withered with a curse. You had refused the Abbot’s advances, and
he banished you from the order. You swore revenge, you swore that he and
the rest of the devil-worshipping monks would one day beg to serve you.
That was more than three decades ago. Now, doubtless, the other
monks retain their youth, preserved by their alchemies and spells, while you
have decayed. Your hatred has become all-consuming.
War, the petty wars of mortal man, but driven by a dark machine
hate, now rages across Europe. The monks have aligned themselves with the
reborn Templars of the Reich, so you have joined with the resistance. Now
the Americans and the English and the Russians have turned the tide against
the Nazis. Soon they will be here, in Toberg. Soon the Black Monastery will
be in their hands – and the Necronomicon will be in yours.
Your contact with the resistance tells you that the Americans are
sending soldiers to storm the monastery. Your hour is almost at hand.

Roleplaying Notes: Von Almich was a power-hungry and sadistic young man.
He desired to conquer the invisible realms that common men cannot even
perceive. His banishment from the Black Monastery poisoned and twisted his
life, and all he has plotted for decades is revenge. His powers are greatly
diminished, but he still has enough life left to guide his foolish Allied pawns
into the mouth of hell and steal back the Book that haunts his dreams.

The Others:
Maria Hensch: A political opponent of National Socialism, she has being
communicating with the Allies for over a year. She is blind to your true
intentions.

Your Magics: You still recall a number of spells from your days in the
Monastery. These are:
The Satanic Benediction: renders the invisible visible, and makes subsequent
magics easier.
Binding the Night Flyer: allows you to command the terrible Byakhee which
guard the monastery.
Puissant Armour of Hermes: Shields you from harm.
Requiem in the Abyss: summons up the dark, subconscious part of the soul
for counsel and prognostication.
Plaguesight: Inflicts a withering disease on anyone you look at.

Investigator Name: Frater von Almich STR: 8 DEX: 12 INT: 17 Idea: 85

Occupation: Defrocked Black Monk CON: 7 APP: 9 POW: 17 Luck: 85
Colleges, Degrees: None SIZ: 13 SAN: 30 EDU: 20 Know: 100
Birthplace: Salzburg 99-Cthulhu Mythos: 99 Damage Bonus: none

Accounting 30% Anthropology 30% Archaeology 29%

Art: Singing 20% Astronomy 29%
Bargain 40% Biology 24% Chemistry 10%
Climb 10% Conceal 10% Credit Rating 40%
Cthulhu Mythos 20% Dodge 24% Drive Auto 0%
Electrical Repair 10% Fast Talk 50% First Aid 40%
Geology 9% Handgun 20% Hide 10%
History 60% Jump 40% Law 10%
Library Use 70% Listen 25% Locksmith 20%
Machine Gun 15% Martial Arts 0% Mechanical Repair 20%
Medicine 30% Natural History 20% Navigate 10%
Occult 60% Operate Hvy. Machine 0% Persuade 60%
Pharmacy 25% Photography 15% Physics 9%
Pilot: Aircraft 0% Psychoanalysis 9% Psychology 10%
Ride 50% Rifle 25% Shotgun 30%
Sneak 40% Spot Hidden 50% Submachine Gun 15%
Swim 40% Throw 50% Track 20%
Fist/Punch 60% Head Butt 50% Kick 0%
 What you know about the black monastery

The monastery was founded in the early middle ages, and initially was
faithful to the Christian God. A local noble repented on his deathbed, and
donated his possessions and estates to the monastery. Amid his books was
found a copy of the Necronomicon.
Within a year, the monastery had fallen to the dark arts.
Careful bribes and the occasional summoned assassin shielded the
monks from the attention of the Inquisition. For six centuries, the Black
Monks of Toberg have used the powers of the Necronomicon to delve deep
into the forbidden mysteries of the Outer Gods.
Physically, the monastery has expanded greatly since its foundation.
Most of the buildings have been renovated or rebuilt, and a network of
tunnels and dungeons have been dug into the mountain below. You know there
is a secret passage which spirals all the way from the monastery to the
church in Toberg.
The monastery is centred on the Chapel Perilous, which is forbidden
to all the monks below the rank of Adept, a level you never reached. Legend
says the Chapel was summoned out of the depths of the far future, from a
time after the annihilation of humanity. The Necronomicon is kept in the
Chapel. The doors are kept locked. You also know the library is defended
somehow by a set of magical books called the Graphica.
The monastery has numerous occult defences. The corpses of failed
initiates are kept in the vaults below, and are enchanted to rise up and
destroy invaders. There are starbeasts known as Byakhee roosting in the
belfry, and there are magical traps for outsiders scattered throughout the
buildings. The monastery is a temporal as well as a spiritual fortress.
Al “Shaggy” Blank
Sergeant, US Marines

When you were three years old, your folks brought you on vacation to
England. You remember running off into the woods. Something flew at you, a
big bug, all wings and mouths. It landed on your face, you felt it sliding
through your skull. You panicked, screamed, ran blind, and smashed head-
first into a tree. Blood. Pain, Bruises…but no bug. It was just a product of
your fear.
That was the last time you felt fear.
That was nearly the last time you felt anything.
You joined the army. You discovered you’re perfectly suited for killing
people. It gave you a dim, distant thrill, the only emotion you ever seem to
feel. You’re a prodigy of the battlefield, able to react faster than anyone
else. Inhumanly fast and accurate. Inhumanly uncaring.
At Flanders, your commanding officer was shot. You stood over his
bleeding body and fired into the blinding smoke. Every shot hit.
Now you’re in a plane over Germany, with that commanding officer.
There’s some secret Nazi weapons factory in a monastery, and you’ve been
ordered to take it out.
Easy. Soft targets. Yielding bloodrich flesh.
And something stirs and twitches in your head.

Roleplaying Notes: Al isn’t entirely a sociopath. When he’s on the

battlefield, when he’s on duty, then yes, he’s an emotionless and terrifying
killing machine. At other times, though, he’s almost normal. It’s like there’s
something within him, something cold and hungry, that awakens at the
thought of violence.

The Others:
Captain Ellis: Your CO. A good officer. Concerned a bit too much with his
reputation.
Lt. Snow: A sniper and parachutist. Something about him irritates you,
gives you headaches.
Alistair May: This mission started with information from the English. May’s
one of their men, who’s supervising the mission. Ellis is in command, though.
Maria Hensch: A German partisan who’s your contact on the ground.
Investigator Name: Al Blank STR: 17 DEX: 22 INT: 8 Idea: 40
Occupation: US Marines CON: 18 APP: 12 POW: 12 Luck: 60
Colleges, Degrees: None SIZ: 17 SAN: 60 EDU: 14 Know: 70
Birthplace: Queen, NY 99-Cthulhu Mythos: 94 Damage Bonus: +1d6
Mental Disorders:

Parachuting: 50%
Bargain 30% Tactics: 30% Chemistry 10%
Climb 40% Conceal 40% Credit Rating 20%
Cthulhu Mythos 5% Dodge 60% Drive Auto 30%
Electrical Repair 20% Fast Talk 40% First Aid 40%
Geology 10% Handgun 80% Hide 40%
History 20% Jump 40% Law 10%
Library Use 20% Listen 50% Locksmith 20%
Machine Gun 80% Martial Arts 30% Mechanical Repair 20%
Medicine 30% Natural History 20% Navigate 20%
Occult 20% Operate Hvy. Machine 20% Persuade 20%
Pharmacy 15% Photography 15% Physics 15%
Pilot: Aircraft 30% Psychology 0%
Ride 50% Rifle 70% Shotgun 30%
Sneak 60% Spot Hidden 50% Submachine Gun 80%
Swim 60% Throw 50% Track 30%
Fist/Punch 70% Head Butt 50% Kick 50%
George Ellis
Captain, Office of Naval Intelligence

Your wound still aches, but the quicksilver thrill of being back in
action flows through your veins. The Flanders beach where you were shot is
hundreds of miles behind you, in the darkness. Stupid, sloppy. Your
deployment was perfect, your troops storming the coast with ferocious
precision. Then a shot in the dark, and you’re down, blacking out, in red sand.
By the time you’d recovered, the tide had turned. France is liberated,
and the Germans are retreating. You felt like you’d missed your destiny. Ever
since you gained your officer’s stripes, you’ve felt like you were the guy who
would win the war for the USA. Now, the war’s nearly won. The Reds are
coming in from the East, the allies from the west, and all that’s left is the
race to Berlin.
This mission might be your last chance to fulfil that destiny. A
German officer defected three weeks ago. According to him, the Nazis have
activated something called Operation: WEREWOLF, a last-ditch scorched-
earth effort to slow the allied advance. Some terrible new weapon is being
developed at an occupied monastery. The Office of Naval Intelligence was
convinced that that was something worth looking into, and made contact with
friendly partisans opposed to the Nazis. They’ve confirmed that something’s
going on in that monastery.
So now you’re in a plane over occupied territory with a small but very
skilled team. Your orders are to parachute down, rendezvous with the
partisans, then investigate and terminate the operations in the monastery,
retrieving any useful information.
You’re outnumbered, outgunned, and going in blind. If you come out
alive, you’ll prove yourself. Best of the best.
They don’t have a prayer.

Roleplaying Notes: An all-American super-soldier, Ellis is a master of squad-

level combat and tactics. His confidence was severely shaken when he was
shot on D-Day, so he hopes this mission will banish whatever doubts linger in
his mind. Take charge, make the plan, and execute the plan. Nothing can stop
you.

The Others:
Sgt. Al Blank: Your right-hand man. Blank’s a career soldier, and he’s the
one man you requested for this mission. If you’re going in behind enemy lines,
you want someone who’s capable of fighting his way home.

Lt. Snow: A top sniper and parachutist attached to ONI. He’s there to get
the team through the early part of the mission.
Alistair May: The German officer defected to the English, and they passed
the information onto ONI. May came with the information – he seems like a
good man, but you didn’t want someone who might have their own agenda on
this mission.
Maria Hensch: Your contact with the partisans. She should be signalling to
the plane to mark the drop zone.

Investigator Name: George Ellis STR: 15 DEX: 16 INT: 16 Idea: 80

Occupation: Captain, US Marines CON: 16 APP: 15 POW: 15 Luck: 75
Colleges, Degrees: Officer Training SIZ: 15 SAN: 60 EDU: 18 Know: 90
Birthplace: Camden, Iowa 99-Cthulhu Mythos: 99 Damage Bonus: +1d4

Accounting 30%
Parachuting: 50%
Bargain 40% Tactics: 40% Chemistry 10%
Climb 40% Conceal 20% Credit Rating 40%
Cthulhu Mythos 0% Dodge 40% Drive Auto 30%
Electrical Repair 20% Fast Talk 40% First Aid 40%
Geology 10% Handgun 60% Hide 40%
History 30% Jump 40% Law 10%
Library Use 40% Listen 50% Locksmith 20%
Machine Gun 65% Martial Arts 30% Mechanical Repair 20%
Medicine 30% Natural History 20% Navigate 50%
Occult 10% Operate Hvy. Machine 20% Persuade 40%
Pharmacy 25% Photography 15% Physics 9%
Pilot: Aircraft 30% Psychoanalysis 9% Psychology 10%
Ride 50% Rifle 60% Shotgun 30%
Sneak 60% Spot Hidden 50% Submachine Gun 55%
Swim 60% Throw 50% Track 30%
Fist/Punch 70% Head Butt 50% Kick 50%
Maria Hensch
The radio crackles and spits in the cold night, then through the static
you hear the accented voice of the BBC announcer. Nonsense words and
phrases for the most part, code words for other people. Then, you hear a
keyword you know, and frantically scribble down the message.
This is how you deal with the shame.
You were a committed and loyal member of the National Socialist
party a few years ago. You were going to rebuild Germany, make it strong
again, wipe away the shame of defeat…then you discovered the cost.
You’ve always been a warmhearted and open person, with many friends
in Berlin. When Hitler took power, they began to take people. At first, you
closed your eyes to it, but your conscience gnawed at you until you could stay
silent no longer.
By then, Germany was at war with all the world. You became a criminal
and a traitor, supplying the English with information. You hate that you have
lost your husband, your friends, your whole life. You hate betraying your
country. You hate what your country has become. And most of all you hate
yourself.
For the last few weeks, you’ve been in Toberg, a small town in the
east, reporting on the Nazi efforts to stop the Russians. You’re terrified of
what the Russians will do when they come. In Toberg, you became aware that
scientists and SS were occupying a strange ancient monastery above the
town. You made contact with a former monk, von Almich, in the hope that
he’d know more about the monastery.
Now, Allied Command are sending commandoes to destroy the
monastery. They’ll be parachuting in tonight. You’ve got to signal to them, to
show them the landing area out in the woods.
Sometimes, you hope some stray bullet will find you in the night.
It would be easier than living with yourself.

Roleplaying Notes: Maria doesn’t think of herself as a hero, but she’s

remarkably resourceful and brave. Her uncertainty and sadness at the war is
beginning to wear down her soul, though, and once she stops fighting, she’ll
break down, defeated and destroyed.

The Others:
Frater von Almich: The former monk. A strange, bitter old man, but he
claims he’ll help you get into the monastery.

Investigator Name: Maria Hensch STR: 12 DEX: 15 INT: 16 Idea: 80

Occupation: None CON: 14 APP: 16 POW: 17 Luck: 85
Colleges, Degrees: None SIZ: 10 SAN: 60 EDU: 16 Know: 80
Birthplace: Berlin 99-Cthulhu Mythos: 99 Damage Bonus: 0
Mental Disorders:

Bargain 40% Chemistry 10%

Climb 40% Conceal 30% Credit Rating 60%
Cthulhu Mythos 0% Dodge 40% Drive Auto 40%
Electrical Repair 20% Fast Talk 50% First Aid 60%
Geology 10% Handgun 40% Hide 40%
History 30% Jump 40% Law 30%
Library Use 50% Listen 60% Locksmith 50%
Machine Gun 20% Martial Arts 30% Mechanical Repair 40%
Medicine 40% Natural History 40% Navigate 20%
Occult 30% Operate Hvy. Machine 10% Persuade 60%
Pharmacy 15% Photography 15% Physics 15%
Pilot: Aircraft 10% Psychology 40%
Ride 60% Rifle 40% Shotgun 30%
Sneak 60% Spot Hidden 60% Submachine Gun 30%
Swim 40% Throw 20% Track 20%
Fist/Punch 50% Head Butt 30% Kick 50%
(1)
Year of Their Lord 1945

The soldiers from Berlin have left with the Abbot. They go
through a twisted door, travelling east to where Th’rygh sleeps
beneath the mountain. They have opened the Chapel and drunk
deep of the wisdom of Al-Hazred. Theirs is the empire that knows no
ending.
For us, the long vigil is at an end. The Harbringer stirs in the
deeps, bringing the heavens to rightness. Below, the blind hordes
begin to cast off their blindfolds and yearn to embrace the wild joy of
the Old Ones. The time of waiting and jealously guarding their
secrets is almost over. Now humanity is ready for what they will learn,
as corn before the scythe.
Not for us the glory of the End Times, not for us the savage
winnowing, not for us the rising tide in sea and blood and soul. We
shall depart this sorry globe, heralds of the end of time.

And to those that come after, who read this as the skies rain
blood and the City of Dreams rises from the choking ocean wastes –
know that they are in truth no worse than you, for we are born of
them.
(2)

FROM: Obersturmbannführer Getrict

TO: H
Toberg secured. The Monks are proving
uncooperative. Study of Thulian artefacts has
begun.

FROM: H
TO: Obersturmbannführer Getrict
Do whatever is necessary. All the resources of the
Thule Society are yours.

FROM: Obersturmbannführer Getrict

TO: H
Wonders. A building older than any other known
structure. Implications of things older still. Our
ancestors made great works when cavemen roamed the
rest of the world. Surviving monks tell of a book,
a copy of a copy of a copy, which records certain
ancient wisdoms.

FROM: H
TO: Obersturmbannführer Getrict
What news of the book?

FROM: Obersturmbannführer Getrict

TO: H
Translating it now, but unable to remove it from
the monastery. It is the key to Vril, I feel sure.
Incantations to raise the dead from essential
salts, stories of fabulous prehuman creatures,
cosmic gods and monsters. Our cause is validated
beyond our wildest dreams.

FROM: H
TO: Obersturmbannführer Getrict
Gretrict, we need results. The situation grows
increasingly dire, both in Berlin and in Russia.

FROM: H
TO: Obersturmbannführer Getrict
Gretrict, I need results.

FROM: H
TO: Obersturmbannführer Getrict
If you do not respond, I’ll have you reassigned to
the resuscitated casualties project.

FROM: Obersturmbannführer Getrict

TO: H
Beautiful things.
Herr Reichsfuhrer Himmler: space and time are now
as nothing to us. I have deciphered the
mathematical curves of the ninth seal. My men can
be anywhere in the Reich within a moment. And I
have seen such things…

FROM: H
TO: Obersturmbannführer Getrict
Russian forces closing on Berlin. Suggest
relocation to Wewelsburg.

FROM: Obersturmbannführer Getrict

TO: H
HE sits in the path of their advance, and I know
the sacred words to awaken HIM to glory. O my Grand
Master, this is the turning of the tide.
(3)
When our voices, one by one, fell silent, and those of us who
could still see opened our eyes, we looked into the darkness of the
Chapel Perilous, and a vision seemed to come upon me.
I stood in a high place, and I looked down upon the Kingdoms
of the World. I saw a great darkness arise, and spread over half the
globe, and at its heart was a song. Then two great lights, one blue
and one red, began to shine, and they drove back the darkness,
banishing it and diminishing it until it was nothing more than a
shadow, and then a shadow of a nothing, and it was ended.
And for a moment, the song was nothing more than the echo in
the Chapel.
And then the song was taken up, stronger than before, two
themes that seemed to compete for a moment, then were united in
one great hymn. It echoed off the moon and rattled the stars in their
courses. From cold Yuggoth on the rim to the hot seas of Y’san, the
song was heard. Ghroth, the Harbringer and the Maker, took up the
song, and the stars were urged to rightness.
And all the Earth was plunged into a fire and a darkness and a
fierce love. The seas rolled back and the mountains crumbled. The
Great Old Ones danced with their newfound kin, and sang the song
that was old when Carcosa was young.
And amid the fire and ruin, wielding the strange tools that
feeble mankind had made in his last hours, I saw a small few men
carve the chapel from stone burnt black by the radiance of Azathoth.
(4)
Al-Hazred writes of a godbeast that dwells in the heart of
certain mountains, who is named Th’rygh, and he was most afraid of
the malignant emanations of Th’rygh, who devours whole nations in
his hunger. For Th’rygh is but the least and last of the Great Old
Ones, and he but hears the song dimly as from afar. He did not
slumber in the TINDLOSIAN regions, but did roam until the
manspawn had come to the land. And he did eat of them, and whole
generations did fill the many maws of Th’rygh.
Two great sorcerers of Hyperborea did ride forth on shantak-
back to do battle with Th’rygh, and they laid a mighty spell on the
godbeast, as wizards of Hyperborea were wont to do in days of yore.
Th’rygh reached forth and devoured the lesser of the two, but the
spell was wrought. And Th’rygh did draw the mountains over him like
a great blanket of earth, and all the manspawn did yell and gibber
and prostrated themselves before the sorcerer, and offered him the
first of their daughters.
The sorcerer wept, for he knew that his spell was nothing more
than a thin veil in the cyclopean mind of the godbeast, and in the
winter that comes after summer it would be as nothing. He never
spoke the charms he and his brother had laid to any living man, but
the great ones learned them, and so did I.

His brother said

V’YOD NAM HTHAT TH’RYGH YOG TSO
But this was not pleasing to Th’rygh, and he reached forth and
devoured what was closest to him.
And the sorcerer said
G’YA NVOR MAE KSANTH TH’RYGH
And Th’rygh slept.

Ten generations of men later, a great stone was laid to mark

where Th’rygh sleeps.

If there is wisdom in this tale, it belongs to the brother who died,

not to the one who lived. There is no profit in sorcery, for it maligns all
that it touches. Your humble scribe would have been much the
happier if he had not sat at the foot of Al-Jahied and never learned
the dread name of Azathoth. As a foulness shall ye know them – and
yourself, should ye come to that time.