MoN 14: Aftermath of Horror

Summoned by a frantic telephone call, an ambulance quickly arrived and took Rupert to Boston hospital, where it seemed he was destined to spend some weeks. By now, Jezebel was also in jail and giving a somewhat confusing account of events, The fiery woman had no idea what Sam and Rupert had found in the house and was struggling to justify her actions. All was not lost, however.

In desperation, Jezebel telephoned Solomon Redwell’s office. Amazingly, her luck was in—Solomon had just returned from a long secondment to Alaska. Jezebel quickly gasped out the “facts” of the matter and told Solomon to check in with Rupert. Once the now thoroughly confused agent had put the phone down, Jezebel realised she hadn’t actually told him she was in prison.

Solomon Redwell was now on the case—or he would once he had got a huge backlog of paperwork out of the way. As January wore on, Solomon doggedly—with Sam’s help—began to unravel some of the mystery behind Corbitt and his alleged actions. Solomon discovered several troubling elements of Corbitt’s history—a father dead in India, a wife dead in childbirth and more. The two plucky investigators also discovered more of Corbit’s import/export business and recovered a decidedly strange idol from the warehouse of Corbitt Importers of America.

Meanwhile, Rupert continued his long slow road back to health—both physically and emotionally.

Jezebel Committed

Jezebel Slaughter faired less well. The police—now convinced she was insane—transferred her to Roxbury Sanitorium, wherein she began an aggressive treatment regime.

Terror in Boston

Back in Boston, things took a turn for the worse and the sinister. Strangely burnt and shrivelled bodies began to appear around the city. As the murders increased, agents of a special department of the FBI—Department M—arrived in the city. The agents quickly killed an escaped bear they alleged was responsible for the killings. They also thoroughly searched and then burnt to the ground Corbitt's house on Chestnut Street.

By now, Rupert was well enough to emerge from hospital; his mental and emotional health had improved enough for him to be reunited with Sam.

Friends Reunited

Things seemed to be looking up for Rupert until he got a phone call. It was from Jezebel Slaughter. It seemed her treatment at the asylum had gone marvellously—the canny minx had played along with the attendants—and she was (suspiciously quickly) deemed fit for release. However, she had to agree to go on a long trip to recover properly, and an archaeological trip to Peru had piqued her fancy!

Jezebel had sent a telegram to the trip's organiser telling them all about herself (well, not all about herself) and her beloved Rupert. Both had been accepted! Now all she needed was for Rupert to come and get her.

Thus it was that late in January 1921, Rupert and Sam set out for Roxbury Sanatorium in a car borrowed from one of Rupert's neighbours. The trip to the sanatorium was uneventful, and after some lengthy paperwork, Jezebel was released into Rupert's care.

It was now late, and the three wanted to get back to Boston quickly. Sam was driving while Rupert was navigating. The plucky biologist worked out a shortcut, and so the three left the highway to drive through a splendid countryside of rolling hills and deeply shaded woods.

Sadly, as night drew on, bad luck struck—the car ran out of petrol! As the engine sputtered and died, Sam pulled over to the side of the road. Consulting the map, it seemed they had broken down in a particularly isolated spot. The nearest town was miles away. Luckily, Sam spotted a large house just up the road, its lights ablaze. Luckily, the occupants were friendly and gave the three enough petrol to get back to Boston.

About this Session Summary

This post is a prelude to my 7th edition Call of Cthulhu Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign. We decided to run some “origin” sessions for some of the main characters, and this is one of them. Session summaries are posted in (game world) date order, so it will be some time before we get to the main campaign.

This session summary comes from the classic Call of Cthulhu adventure "The Haunting".

We play weekly, so sign up to get our session summaries direct to your inbox.

Read More

This post is a session summary for my weekly 7th edition Call of Cthulhu Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign.