Mathis's Journal of Events

NOTE FOR OTHER PLAYERS READING THIS

If your character reads this journal, it should be treated as a Mythos Tome.

Currently, the information within, if read by someone that wasn't present during the events results in

+1 Cthulhu Mythos
-1d2 Sanity

Strange Dream 3
You are on a cold, earthen floor. It’s dark here, but not so
dark that you don’t realize you are in a root cellar. Gnarled knots of decayed vegetables droop above your head, root tendrils brush against your face and bare shoulders when you stand. You are naked, cold, and vulnerable. You see long wooden shelves lining two walls, holding jars containing pulsing, slightly glowing objects. Could they be brains? As you begin to approach, you turn as you hear a low, ugly growl that makes your hairs stand on end. The growl transforms into guttural words speaking a strange language you don’t understand. Panicking, you run towards the stairs but, in true nightmare fashion, the stairs never get any closer as you run and run.
The roots grow thicker as you attempt to escape; grasping your hair and limbs. It is only when the strange voice reaches a booming crescendo that the roots part and you finally stumble onto the stairs. Darting upwards, you see a sturdy looking trap door barring the exit. The voice issues a final scream of rage as you hammer at the trap door and somehow manage to break it open, flooding the cellar with starlight. Sweating and panting, you climb outside to see that you are in a clearing surrounded by Sugar Maple trees. You take a few cautious steps across the wet grass.
Something cold and sticky wraps around your ankles and begins to drag you back towards the cellar. Painfully, you are bundled down the stairs and the last thing you hear before complete darkness descends is a roar of bestial laughter. You wake up, shaking in abject terror, the laughter still echoing in your ears.

August 18th, 1929: After awaking from another terrible dream, I am even more sure that I was there for a reason. I didn't notice it till to late, but something i think was trying to communicate with me. Maybe I can go back to cobbs corner later and try again. But for now, back to writing about that day.

Joseph awoke and found a note in his uncles old journal about the rat like creatures. Apparently they are called zoogs. I copied the notes down here for future reference.

"Zoogs, pesky and cunning. Small brown creatures with a rodent like body and general outline. Small tentacles dangling from snouts. Eat fungi and fresh meat. Feign docility but work in packs to take down prey. Seen brandishing basic weapons. Beside this is a small illustration"


Joseph tells me there is nothing else of use in the journal, so i decide to go interview the "Witch" bellweather and then start setting up our camp. Just then Angel bursts in and exclaims that they have found bones in the flower garden. I go and look and confirm this to be true. Then we call the sheriff. He comes and removes the skeleton from the garden. I believe it to be Sarah, the girl who lived in this house with an abusive husband. I ask the sheriff if he knows anything and he refuses any answer except "I'm not prepared to speculate but I will be investigating." I am about done with all the people in this town burying their damn heads in the sand. I'm going to keep working on my investigation and to hell with them.

Blaine takes us by car to the campsite. We get setup and then hike down to talk to Mrs. Bellweather. Clarissa wants us to go back to the farmhouse tonight, but I can't. I think something important is waiting to be found at the campsite. So we decide that john will stay with her back at the house tonight. We then all head off to see the old women. Mrs. Bellweather quickly advises us that she is not a witch, but that she does know some town history. When we asked what she knew, she said "When Franklin Cobb and the original settlers were moving toward this valley, they was halted by a group of Indians.
It seems the Indians tried to warn the settlers this was cursed land. They told Franklin that, long ago, a tribe settled in this valley and evil spirits wiped them out in a single night. According to their legends, the tribe died in the most hideous ways: frozen, burned, or ripped apart.
The remains of those massacred were found and buried at the foot of a hill in the valley. But on that evening, the evil spirits took to the air, screaming curses and threats, but the Indian’s wise man had powerful magic and he was able to keep the spirits at bay while the his tribe made their escape.
Now I believe that there’s some truth in it. There ain’t no bugs in the valley, no bees, and no skeeters. Birds don’t fly overhead going south for the winter, and no bear or mountain lion comes down to terrorize us. The only things living in this valley are man and the things man brings. Did you know that farmers here don’t have to worry about weeds? They won’t grow here! Least not
in the crops. So many things do grow here though; if we couldn’t sell it all off to the cities, we’d be drowning in crops and cows! And all this produce coming from thin, rocky soil. Every so often I wonder why we was granted this bounty, but more than that, I wonder what we’re paying for it." She claims the land has been this way for many generations. I had a notion that the town officials might be performing some type of ritual to make this happen, at some terrible price. Though I don't have any proof and have yet to find any. Looking back as I right this, and knowing some of the zoog legend, I wonder if they aren't the reason for the missing children. Zoogs love the taste of flesh. But I didn't know that then. Maybe if I go back one day.

Back to the events. When I arrived at the campsite I was told they had found the mass indian grave, I believe it's the same one Agnus Bellweather was just telling us about. I have a very bad feeling about this, and I attempted to get everyone to leave the sight for the night. Most of them refuse so I abandon the idea, and begin to set protective preparations. I set trip wire alarms and get a fire going to make dinner. We then set a watch schedule. We then settle in. I can tell Angel thinks I am losing my mind. I'm not, but I can see why they think I am. We talk a bit and keep first watch. We then go to sleep. When I awoke again, my life would never be the same. The three of us are awoken to the sounds of screams and cold air hitting you, as the tents are ripped out of the ground and fly off into the air. The camp is in confusion, and I see Jason Trent scrambling on the ground when a dark figure on wings swoops and grabs him. More winged figures, over a dozen, swoop round, unclear as a fog seems to have descended. None of the other students can be seen, but multiple screams echo round the hill. I catch one silhouette of something with some kind of rifle. A wood stands off to my left, giving an escape route. As we approach the road a car comes up. It's the deputy. He asks us to get in so we can go make a report. Once we are in the car he starts accusing us of being drunk and unreliable. When we get to the jail the sheriff puts us under arrest and disbelieves everything we have said. I am pissed, and I mean pissed, and make an escape attempt. The deputy caught me though, and they cuff me. And once I am defenseless he hits me hard enough to break my jaw. We sleep in the jail and the school comes and gets us in the morning.

(END CHAPTER ONE)

August 20th, 1930

As soon as I return I hit the hospital for treatment. My jaw is wired shut for a while. I decide to work on my locksmith skills before school starts back up. I then go to the library and find jon studying there. He shows me "Wandering through the Dreamlands" by Terrence Deeks.



Moon-beasts are "great greyish-white slippery things which could expand and contract at will, and whose principal shape — though it often changed — was that of a sort of toad without any eyes, but with a curious vibrating mass of short pink tentacles on the end of its blunt, vague snout". They live on the dark side of the Dreamlands' moon which, unlike the moon of the waking world, has great forests and oily seas.

The Moon-beasts sail black galleys between the moon and the Dreamlands, trading rubies for both slaves and gold, at the port of Dylath-Leen. When there, they employ the Men of Leng, disguised in turbans, as their go-between and stay hidden below deck, less the merchants of Dylath-Leen learn the terrible secret of with whom they are dealing.

This is some serious stuff. That's very similar to the moon beast we saw in the woods out there. Is it possible those woods have some kind of connection to this "Dreamland"? Everyone seems to just want to forget this, but I can't. I know things are happening now. I have to learn more.

September 8th, 1930

I haven't written in a while. Been busy healing and learning. A new member has joined our little coterie. His name is father bill. He seems alright. We chat and make introductions for a while, and then I see Roderick from across the way. He is dress different but its very much him. I go to talk to him. He doesn't seem to recognize me at all, and flatly blows me off. He claims to have gotten lost out there, wandering in the fog. Then Blaine found him and brought him back. I know that's bullshit though. He then takes off. Something is clearly wrong here. As a matter of fact, his accent was gone completely. He didn't dress or talk the same at all. But he did tell us that Blaine was back at school too. I don't trust this. I'm following roderick for a while. He takes an obviously circuitous route, and then goes to Professor Harold s Office. He knocks one time and just walks in. While I was off following, Jon found a newspaper clipping saying more people had been killed around cobbs corner.


After noting that Professor Harold may be involved, angel and I come up with a plan to get him out of his office so we can investigate him. Angel will take him to lunch to "apologize" for being involved in the fiasco while I search his office. They plan lunch for friday while I continue to search the library. I find a reference to a book called the dhol chants that is supposedly attributed to the men of leng. But its in the restricted section. I will have to figure out how to get access. So I go to speak to the head of the library, Dr Armatige. Luckily he likes me and tells me he will give me a supervised hour of reading tomorrow. This is so exciting.

September 9th, 1930

I go to my appointment with Dr. Armatige. He sets the book in front of me and watches me read. Its in some ancient german dialect that I can read next to nothing of. But I do get a bit, and an picture that I have redrawn here.

"The Men of Leng are a species of primitive Satyr-like beings indigenous to the Leng plateau, which they call "Y'Pawfrm e'din Leng", which resides within the Dreamlands."



I fervently thank the Dr and volunteer my services to help the library. Anything to show my gratitude and possibly have further access. This is all of importance that happens this day.

Over the next several days we notice that all the members of our group are back at school. Even the ones we know to have been taken by the creatures.

September 12th, 1930

Today is the day we attempt to investigate the professor. The plan works and I get in. I find his personal diaries and look into them about the time of the expedition. FOC (Federated Oil and Chemical) is funding these expeditions. I wonder why. I don't find anything else of value really. A few birthday on a calendar. We make it out without being spotted and I go to the library to work. It's BS busy work, but I do it with fervor. I need to earn a reputation and trust here.

Once we are all back together I tell them about the sponsor of the trip. We discuss whether to contact them or not, but no real decision is made.

Over the next week I notice Louis Gibbons, Jason Trent and Terrence Laslow in the library alot. Rod is there too, and leaves everytime I see him. Blaine is also skipping all his classes. Jon finds some info on Federated oil.

A huge international company formed in 1908, FOC is involved in the exploitation of mineral resources including oil, coal, natural gas, and others. They also manufacture raw chemicals for industrial use. FOC has major facilities in Canada, Great Britain, Italy, and three in the United States, as well as smaller operations worldwide
Michael Abelard is the founder and current president of the board Horrendously wealthy in post crash America, he wields great financial and political clout, yet his personal life has been marred by tragedy after tragedy.
 His beautiful wife Maria died giving birth to a son who also didn’t survive the ordeal His only surviving son Michael Jnr was killed in a climbing accident in the Pyrenees. Abelard lost the use of his legs during the same accident Now confined to a wheelchair, he runs FOC with draconian vigor and retains the keen mind and ruthlessness of his youthful years.

September 18th, 1930
Someone attacks angel by pushing him down the stairs at school. The fall breaks his leg. He has no idea who it was. A few more weeks pass and nothing major happens. Angel is finally able to return to school, though he is on crutches.

September 30th, 1930
Blaine has been found dead in his apartment, gunshot to the head. The police believe it to be suicide. The group seems to want to break in and investigate. I recommend a stake out instead. As we are preparing to go, i get a call from roderick. He needs me to meet him he says, alone. I don't trust this at all. I need to be extremely careful. But I will go meet him. He wants to meet at hangmans hill at 2315.

Hangman’s Hill is the highest point in the overgrown and bramble infested Old Wooded Graveyard, which lies on the southeastern side of Arkham. This lone hill got its name from an incident in 1704 when the citizens of Arkham hung a suspected witch named Goody Fowler. Since then, a legend has been passed on: if anyone is brave, or foolish, enough to spend the night alone on the hill on May Eve or Hallowmass, then they are visited by the ghost of Goody Fowler. Some say they have attempted the vigil and have seen nothing while others claim to have seen the specter. Of those who have seen Goody’s ghost, most admit to fleeing in terror and refuse to speak about what happened while others claim to have spoken to the shade. There are even stories about people who have gone to the graveyard to look for the witch’s ghost who were never seen again.
Your trip through the Old Wooded Graveyard is creepy, with low lying fog, strange shadows, and rustling noises; yet, Goody does not make an appearance.

Roderick Block is waiting for me on the hill in the cemetary. He has a pair of binoculars and watches my approach. He is alone.

Once he sees that I am alone he begins to tell me some things.

"My name is not Roderick Block, it's Keith Clark and I have a story to tell. It was 1921. I was vacationing with my family in the Vermont hills. I went on a nature walk, alone and found an interesting cave. I went in to explore. As it turned out, it was a mine belonging to a species not of this Earth, known to some as the Mi-Go. The mine was not abandoned. I was captured and threatened. In exchange for the safety of my wife and two children, I agreed to have my brain scooped out and placed in a cylinder. I know how it sounds, but this stuff is real. I don't know how I kept my sanity through this. My brain was placed in this body and with others impersonating those from your expedition, we were sent to the University on a mission for the Mi-Go. As soon as I got here, I started researching what happened to my family and found I was betrayed, they murdered my family." He begins to sob, hot angry tears, "Now I want revenge on these alien horrors."

I ask "I assume this means their brains of our friends were saved the same way? And what was your mission?" Give me some details to work with. I believe you, because you obviously are not Roderick. And i have seen enough strange happenings going on to not be flabbergasted by your story. But i need you to provide me some details of whats going on before i believe that your actually on my side."

He responds "I can't speak for them, I only know of my own experience. We were briefed on behaviours of our host bodies so no-one would know the difference, but all are not what they seem. William Noakes, Terrence Laslow, Harold Higgins, Clarissa Thurber, Louis Gibbins, Jason Trent and Professor Harold, all mi-go agents. They are planning on raiding Professor Learmonth's laboratory and office in the Science Annex as well as putting flames to sections of the Orne Library tomorrow night."

Then the Mi-Go agent in Terrence Laslows body appears in front of me out of thin air and points some type of device at me. I attempt to fight back and fail, but the Rod-go shoots at him, and gives me a chance to fight. I jump on the bastard and slash him with my knife. but Then something shocks me hard in the back. I fall off, still conscious until the other agents show up, and stomp on my head to knock me unconscious. I was captured.

This part was told to me later. Rod-go gathered some of my friends for a rescue mission. Chuck (who I didn't know at the time) and father bill are the rescue team.

I awake tied on an old mattress. There are some people I don't recognize right off here with me. I finally recognize father bill. I get untied and look around for a weapon. I spot some weird contraption that one of the agents had used to shock me. I take it with me. We escape, and the Rod-go reminds me of the coming attack. We run back to campus. On the way I think I hear a gunshot. Perhaps the Rod-go couldn't live with being in a different body, but I don't know. I go off to the woods and investigate my new weapon. It appears to be a shock weapon, and has 8 remaining charges after testing.

We decide to meet at the library the next day. I refuse to hide as I know if they attack me in the open it will ruin their plans. Jon is here but will barely speak. I think he is losing his mind to all this. He does however tell that joseph has dropped out of school. There are so few of us left that know. Father Bill produces some books and a letter. I have copied it down here for further use.



I tell everyone present what I learned from the Rod-go. Then I go to see Dr. Armitage and warn him of the attack. I tell him I found the Mi-Go in my research. He knows better, but knows what the Mi-Go are. He also doesn't look to well. He goes to his private collection and grabs a tome called Nameless Cults. He gives me some gloves, and shows me this page in the book.

The image is carefully drawn in ink, credited to Khannea SunTzu. Much of the page is gibberish, or at least a language that Mathis does not recognise, but there are some scrawled notes in English. The "Mi-go" described as large, pinkish, fungoid, crustacean-like entities the size of a man; where a head would be, they have a "convoluted ellipsoid" composed of pyramided, fleshy rings and covered in antennae. They are about five feet (1.5 m) long, and their crustacean-like bodies bear numerous sets of paired appendages. They possess a pair of membranous bat-like wings which are used to fly through the "aether" of outer space. The Mi-go can transport humans from Earth to Pluto (and beyond) and back again by removing the subject's brain and placing it into a "brain cylinder" as an isolated brain, which can be attached to external devices to allow it to see, hear, and speak. The text also mentions a group called The Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign that hunt down the Mi-Go. There are also random notes scrawled, "Him Who Is Not to Be Named", Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath.



He tells me the language of is sanskrit, and again asks how I know of the Mi-go. I took some notes for later translation.

(this is a placeholder for said notes, as they were never shown to me OOC)

I tell him I heard about it from a patient at the hospital that one of my friends is in. I then ask him about the Zoogs, and show him my sketch. He says to me "Listen very carefully Mathis, there are things stalking this land not of this earth and there are things waiting to come. Stay clear, for the sake of your mind, knowledge of these things can destroy you. Tell no-one of these things you have seen. Study if you must, but keep it to yourself, lest you end up in Arkham Asylum with your friend."

I leave, but go back and take a chance warning him about the attack on the library and lab. He gives me a revolver and says to do what we must.

When I come out I see my friend Alma Garvin in the library. I try to get her to leave as I know the attack is coming. Turns out angel who is in the hospital, was ranting about me. So she had to come check on me. (She is a nursing student) I try to tell her that what he was talking about was real. She obviously doesn't believe me. So I show her the weapon I stole and about the coming attack. She still won't believe. So I introduce her hoping the group can help convince her. Then I notice a strange women eaves dropping on our group. I confront her and she gets lippy. I call her on her BS, and tell her to either get in or get out. The sit down. Alma asks for the gun, so I give it to her. "Jane" is still be dodgy, but is sitting and listening. I begin by telling them about the mi-go and the men of leng. I tell them all about Mi-Go brain transplant agents. "Jane" wants to leave, and I warn her of the dangers. Alma stays. Most of the others think I am crazy as well. Boy will they only learn the hard way.

"Jane" talks to a library assistant and then to clive, and leaves. Alma goes back to her dorm to rest. We plan to meet at 7.

I continue to prepare for the attack. They go through the books found in blaine's room. In them they find a note about the mysterious ore. Atomic Weight: 322.430532 Atomic Number: 124
Specific Gravity: 31.4 (making it about 1.6 times heavier than gold or uranium).
Color: exhibits pleochroism, as it appears to have two colors, these being green and black.
Luster: metallic to pitchy and dull.
Texture: in its raw state it has a very rough texture reminiscent of sandpaper. In addition, it possesses a greasy feel, even after it has been worked into other forms.
Transparency: crystals are opaque. Crystal System: isometric, 6/m bar 4 3/m
Crystal Habit: large botryoidal, dark, lamellar reniform aggregates. De ned octahedral and cubic crystals are few.
Cleavage: rare in any direction due to the overall brittleness involved.
Hardness: on the Mohs scale of hardness it would rate greater than ten for its resistance to scratching—harder than diamond. (In the 1930’s, nothing known to man can scratch it.)
Malleability: the Brinell test is useless for determining its overall toughness as there currently isn’t a hard enough metal to make an impression in it.
Reactivity: it is unaffected by extremes of air, moisture, acids, or solvents. When exposed to detonation however, it undergoes a rapid chemical change followed by an explosive reaction.
Associated Minerals: none.
Melting Point: 8420° F (compared to the current record
holder Tungsten, which melts at around 6170° F).
Other Characteristics: non radioactive; very brittle, once its threshold for stress has been reached it shatters instead of bending. They think the metal is called Pasquallium.

As I continue around the library a plan begins to form. Chuck and Bill go back to blaines apartment on a hunch about some down feathers they find. They find the diary of daphne devine. In it is this letter.

Also is an important note to find Jethro Cratchett and ask about his fathers journals. They should have some relevant information. The rest of the journal is more local legends of cobbs corner.

We finish prepping for the attack, choosing to defend the library and not the science wing as it would spread us to thin. At 2200 things start going crazy outside. everyone starts fighting. During the distraction the main doors are blown off the building by some form of explosive. Then the Jason Trent suit wearing Mi-go agent steps in with the William Noakes look alike. They shoot some kind of ice gun at the guards, but fail to hit them. The guards loose the dogs to attack. One dog is down, and the guards continue the fight. Upstairs there are some gunshots and such, but we manage to defend the library.

We did note that their strange guns used extreme cold as a weapon. Both the guard dogs were frozen solid. It also was noted that it has a limited range. It appear as if professor harold was killed in the attack, as well as professor learnmouth. All his papers and minerals are gone, as well as his wife killed in their home. Alma was kidnapped and lost her mind. And the cops are investigating us. But it appears we are gonna be ok.

END CHAPTER TWO

I'm not sure the date anymore. It seems so unimportant. But its been a few weeks since anything of note happened. The last major thing was saving the library. Federated oil has reached out to us to set a meeting. Apparently they have taken an interest in us. I try researching them and can find nothing really. And given that I have been able to find books on unknown worlds and monsters, that seems suspicious. But maybe I was just having a bad day. I don't know. I go to the meeting, ready for anything. Alma shows up here, it appears she it getting better. Mr. Pasqualle is here as well. He buys everyones dinner. He then tells us he works directly for the head of FOC, Michael Abelard. Mr. Abelard wishes to meet us directly, and has sent him to arrange it. I agree to meet, as well as the others. We get on a plane and fly inland, due west for a couple hours. We land on the water, at a private plane dock at FOC. We are on the detroit river, near detroit michigan. We are checked for weapons, which I have none but my tools in my bag. I put it in the trunk to put them at ease. Then the door opens and Mr. Abelard is in the car. He invites us in to have a discussion. In case i didn't write this down earlier, Janes name is actually evie. She is here in the car as well. He tells us of an accident that killed his son and took his legs in a camping trip. This "accident" was actually a Mi-go Attack. Now he hunts them using the power of FOC. He wishes to know our stories of the Mi-Go attack on the school. I told him We discovered that the MI-GO were involved in the events taking place in the quiet rural town. And they were none to happy about it as it seems. From what I can tell there is some kind of rare metal up there that they need. Our expedition up there uncovered some of it, as well as lore about things they would rather not have known. So they abducted the majority of the students, replaced their brains with agent brains, and sent them back to the school to destroy the science center and the library. The science center was targeted for its discovery of the rare metal, and the library due to the restricted section having books that have the MI-GO and their relationships recorded in them. One of the MI-GO agents came to my rescue along with some of my companions when I was captured.
However when I was captured I was able to steal this. I am fairly certain it is one of their weapons. It will deliver a nasty shock. Anyway, they kidnapped and attacked to try and cover up the discovery of themselves and their precious metal. That's all i know for sure.

He knew I was the last remaining member of the original group. All others have lost their minds. or Died. He has asked us to join his group and go back to vermont to study the Mi-go. He promised to pay us well, give us all the equipment we could need, and to smooth things over with the school. I graciously agreed. Chuck and Alma quit. He got in touch with the church and got them to release father Simon back to us. I won't be the last from the original group after all. Once we are all back at FOC headquarters I am told about Mrs. Matherson. She is the leading scientist on all things Mi-go.

Important to note that there has been mention of the 9th planet, which up until earlier this year (1930) was not known to exist.
. This ‘new’ planet was named Pluto.