The Moss Man Mystery

Dusty decides to visit his boarding school chum, Lord "Punchy" Partfine, who lives in New Orleans.

[https://youtu.be/7UszYmZDILk Recording of game session (YouTube)]

==Summary==

('''Spoiler alert''': this summary reveals plot details of the adventure "Watcher In The Bayou", by Mark Eley, from the Triad Entertainment sourcebook ''Dwellers In Shadow''.)

===Part 1===

While fueling up the [[:File:1973_GMC_Motorhome.jpg|motorhome]] at a Shell station, the gang discusses where to go next. Dusty suggests visiting his boarding school chum, Lord "Punchy" Partfine, who lives in New Orleans.

<blockquote>Where did Punchy Partfine get his nickname? Punchy's given name is 'Lord', but no one wanted to call him that. Partfine led to 'Party', which led to 'Punchbowl', which led to 'Punchy'.</blockquote>

Dusty calls Punchy from a pay phone, and Punchy says it would be "a gas" if Dusty would come down to New Orleans to visit him, and suggests that Dusty "lay rubber".

For a week or so, Punchy is an enthusiastic host, taking the gang to jazz concerts, crawfish boils, and groovy dance clubs in the French Quarter. Just before the gang is about to head on to the next leg of their journey, Punchy receives a letter from one of his tenants, a Cajun named Jean-Claude DuMoss. DuMoss apparently believes that a local bogeyman called "[http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2012/02/the-moss-man-cometh/ Père Malfait]" is stalking the bayou around Deadwater Lake, and DuMoss wants Punchy to hire hunters to track it down and capture it. Punchy says it would be outta sight if they take Dusty's hip new wheels down to Cajun country to check it out.

[[:File:Halbert_map.jpg|Halbert]] is a tiny town with a police station, a bed-and-breakfast/restaurant/bar (the Bayou Belle), a library, and a single-sheet newspaper (the Halbert Herald). On asking around for Jean-Claude DuMoss, they learn that DuMoss disappeared almost a week ago, and that [[:File:003_moss_man_handout_02.png|Sheriff Buton thinks DuMoss is dead]].

The gang hikes down to the [[:File:Jean-Claude_DuMoss_house.jpg|DuMoss shack near Deadwater Lake]]. The shack has been ransacked, but they find some notes left by DuMoss describing the strange goings-on in the area. However, they also find a secret alcove with [[:File:003_moss_man_handout_04.png|a diary]] in it, which also appears to have been written by DuMoss -- with completely different handwriting. Comparing the notes and journal with the letter sent to Punchy, the gang discovers that the notes match the letter, but neither of them matches the handwriting in the journal.

The gang walks back to town and talks to Theresa Dunn, the editor of the Halbert Herald, and Richard Swain, postmaster and librarian of Halbert. They learn that [[:File:003_moss_man_handout_03.png|Deadwater Lake]] has been a haunted area for centuries. They also learn that a Spanish slave ship, the Santa Christina, was lost in a hurricane off the coast of Louisiana in the late 1600s. The name "Santa Christina" is also in DuMoss' journal.

The gang heads back to DuMoss' shack, and using a map drawn for them by Mr. Swain (the librarian), make their way to Deadwater lake, dragging DuMoss' jon boat with them. Once on the lake, they search for the remains of the Santa Christina. They find the ship despite it being shrouded in vines and Spanish moss, but it is in remarkably well-preserved condition.

As they approach the ship, they are attacked by [[:File:White_polypous_thing.jpg|a white polypous thing]], but they manage to drive it away. Boarding the ship, they discover that the ship is also protected by the remains of the crew and their "cargo" (the slaves). After a pitched battle, the gang manages to incapacitate the [[:File:Bloated_zombie.png|animated dead]].

A search of the ship turns up about $5,000 worth of old silver and gold coins, and an octagonal chest. Inside the chest is a strange artifact: a barrel-shaped statue about a foot in diameter and two feet tall. Sharp spines run up its sides, and the top and bottom are each ringed by blue gems resembling eyes.

The gang packs up the chest with the statue in it, puts it aboard the jon boat, and starts poling back to shore.

===Part 2===

Examining the map drawn for them by Mr. Swain, the gang decides to use the jon boat to get most of the way back to town, rather than carrying the chest all the way. While poling up the creek, they hear a group of people running along the road in the same direction. Discretion being the better part of valor, the gang decides to detour to a different creek and take the northern road back to town instead.

However, their pursuers know the bayou well, and they confront the gang on the road. A group of five men dressed in yellow robes and hoods aims guns at the gang and demands that they turn over the "Chott Rhuul". The leader of the robed group is obviously Deputy Barney Fluter. D.J. acts swiftly, firing his shotgun at Fluter and knocking the man down. A scuffle and gunfight ensues, but the gang is victorious over their attackers.

The gang leaves their assailants (a few of whom have been shot) tied up by the side of the road, and they walk to town. They give the coins to the librarian, and Theresa Dunn develops the photos they took of the ship and the men who attacked them. Meanwhile, they store the statue -- the "Chott Rhuul" -- in the motorhome.

While debating whether to report the attack to the sheriff or to leave town in a rush, the sheriff approaches them and asks if they ran into Deputy Fluter on the road out to the DuMoss place. The gang shows the sheriff their photos, and he asks to keep them. They agree, since they have several copies. The sheriff isn't happy to hear that. Before he leaves them, the sheriff tells them that Mayor LaRue has invited the gang to dinner at [[:File:LaRue_mansion_(Knott_House).jpg|her mansion]] later that evening.

The gang debates whether to go to the Mayor's house, but eventually they decide that running away is too risky: they don't want to be charged with whatever the sheriff might frame them for. However, they do drive back to New Orleans and drop off the Chott Rhuul and the firearms they took from Deputy Fluter's friends at Punchy's place in New Orleans. D.J. also picks up some more ammunition for his pistol.

The mayor arrives late to dinner, but as soon as most of the gang have had a sip of drugged wine, she makes her intentions clear: they will either turn over the Chott Rhuul to her, or she will make bad things happen to them. She emphasizes this point by gesturing with a straight razor.

D.J. acts swiftly, firing his pistol at Mayor LaRue. A scuffle and gunfight ensues, and D.J. is shot by Theo, the mayor's manservant. The mayor slips away, and while looking for her the gang finds a large serving dish containing the decapitated heads of Sheriff Buton, Deputy Fluter, and the men who attacked the gang on the road. Dusty notices that the windows and doors have some kind of metal shutters built into them, and the gang blocks the door with a heavy chair just before the metal shutters fall and block the doors and windows.

As the gang drives away from the mayor's mansion, the house bursts into flame.

==People==

<div><ul class="thumbs"> 
<li>[[File:Cleo_Brule.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Cleo Brule, proprietor of the Bayou Belle]]</li>
<li>[[File:Sheriff_Axil_Buton.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Axil Buton, Sheriff of Halbert]]</li>
<li>[[File:Theresa_Dunn.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Theresa Dunn, editor of the Halbert Herald]]</li>
<li>[[File:Deputy_Barney_Fluter.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Barney Fluter, Deputy Sheriff]]</li>
<li>[[File:Estelle_LaRue.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Estelle LaRue, Mayor of Halbert]]</li>
<li>[[File:Lord_Punchy_Partfine.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Lord "Punchy" Partfine, Dusty's boarding school chum]]</li>
<li>[[File:Richard_Swain.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Richard Swain, postmaster and librarian of Halbert]]</li>
<li>[[File:Theo_(Arthur_French).jpg|200px|thumb|none|Theo, Mayor LaRue's manservant]]</li>
</ul>
</div>

[[Category:Scooby Cthulhu]]
[[Category:Horror]]