The Moss Man Mystery

Campaign: Scooby Cthulhu

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(Created page with "Dusty receives a call from his boarding school chum, Lord "Punchy" Partfine. "Fancy a trip to New Orleans?" Recording of game session (YouTube) ==Summary== While fueling up...")
 
 
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Dusty receives a call from his boarding school chum, Lord "Punchy" Partfine. "Fancy a trip to New Orleans?"
Dusty decides to visit his boarding school chum, Lord "Punchy" Partfine, who lives in New Orleans.


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


==Summary==
==Summary==


While fueling up the [https://nexus.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=File:1973_GMC_Motorhome.jpg motorhome] at a Shell station, the gang calls back to Miskatonic to check in with [https://nexus.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=File:Knox_Makepeace_(Leo_McKern).jpg Professor Knox]. Knox tells the gang that Dusty received a call from Dusty's boarding school chum, Lord "Punchy" Partfine.
('''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''.)


<blockquote>(Where did Punchy get his nickname? Partfine led to "Party", which led to "Party Punch", which led to "Punchy".)</blockquote>
===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>


Still shaken by [[Scooby_Cthulhu:The_Hommas_Leaf_Mystery|their experiences at the home of Doctor Hommas Leaf]], the gang needs to unwind and relax. DJ suggests a side trip to visit his old friend Lemmy Hedemin, who won [https://nexus.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=File:Whimsy_Park.jpg Whimsy Park] in a card game a few years ago.
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".


When they arrive, the park is nearly empty. Very few people are in line to get in. While they approach the gates, a chipmunk mascot gives Hideyori a hug. The mascot's costume is stained, and it smells of tobacco, sweat, and formaldehyde. At the gates, DJ asks a ticket-seller to call Lemmy, and Lemmy appears a few minutes later. He is happy to see DJ and the gang, and invites them to lunch at [https://youtu.be/Lv8q8epbJVw Chipmunk Clubhouse].
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.


Lemmy is upset that the park is not doing as well as it had been. According to Lemmy, a boy went missing in the park three months ago, and since then people claim to have seen ghosts and monsters wandering the park. Business is down, and Lemmy is considering selling the park to a group of Germans who have been trying to buy the park from him for over a year.
[[: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 group decides to split up and look around, and then meet later at the Chipmunk Clubhouse.
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.


Connie and Dusty ride the Ferris wheel. While at the top, they both notice that the park is not laid out in a loop like most parks. Instead, the paths form a star with the center slightly... off-center. Something is wrong about the shape, but neither Connie nor Dusty can put their finger on it. Dusty tries several times to sketch the park, but each time the lines do not quite match up. The effort is unnerving him, and eventually he gives up.
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.


Hideyori rides the bumper cars. Most of the cars are empty and idle, which makes the ride a sad experience. Just before the ride ends, Hideyori's car is rammed by a car that appears to be driven by a ghost -- the translucent figure of a young boy, [https://nexus.rpglibrary.org/index.php?title=File:screaming_child.jpg silently screaming in terror]. Hideyori tries to follow the car, but loses sight of it and the ghost.
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.


DJ visits the funhouse. It is the standard affair, with halls of mirrors, rotating tunnels, and stairs that are painted to look tilted. Animatronic creatures jump out from dark corners. One of these is particularly scary: a tall, skeletal figure with a round stomach, crazy smile, and a top hat. The figure grabs DJ with its long, hard fingers, but DJ pulls away and flees. DJ finds the exit ("See the egress!"), and takes a long pull on his flask.
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]].


Connie, Dusty, and Hideyori are making their separate ways back to Chipmunk Clubhouse when they run into DJ. Everyone relates what they have found. As they are talking, they are approached by Drufus Miltoop, the assistant manager of the park. He takes the VIP passes that Lemmy had given the group, and replaces them with badges that appear virtually identical, insisting that these are the "correct" badges.
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.


Drufus warns the gang not to stay in the park, because bad things have been happening. A boy was kidnapped, and dark things prowl the park at night. He hopes that Lemmy will sell the park to the Germans soon, before the park has to close for good. Dusty (whose family is quite wealthy) suggests that perhaps he could invest in the park, and asks to see the books. Drufus absolutely refuses, and orders the group not to go the office. He repeats his warnings, and then leaves.
The gang packs up the chest with the statue in it, puts it aboard the jon boat, and starts poling back to shore.


As Drufus stalks off, Hideyori catches a scent of formaldehyde.
===Part 2===


The gang wants to see the park from above to see the pattern that Connie and Dusty saw, so they ride the roller coaster, Thunder Alley, the tallest ride in the park. At the top, they all see the pattern, and can tell that something is wrong with it, but they do not know what. Near the end of the ride, the ghost of the silently screaming boy briefly appears next to DJ.
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.


The gang heads to the "center" of the park's pattern, which they saw from above. It is a locked storage building. They break into it and search it, finding assorted supplies and decorations for the park. They also find numerous mascot costumes of various designs. Among them is the stained chipmunk costume that hugged Hideyori and the thin man costume that attacked DJ. Both costumes smell of formaldehyde. They also find a dated invoice on the floor, apparently dropped there no more than a week ago. The invoice is signed by Drufus Miltoop.
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 final room of the storage building has a new hasp on the door, locked with a large padlock. They break into the room, finding it to be chemical storage. It also contains the crudely embalmed body of a young boy. The body is tied at the wrists and ankles, its mouth is sewn shut, and its eyes are stapled open. Hideyori examines the body and finds that occult marks have been cut into the boy's chest, postmortem. It is a spell, binding the spirit of the boy to the park. After debating the best course of action for a few minutes, the gang permits Hideyori to break the spell by cutting the bonds from the body's wrists and ankles, removing the staples from its eyelids, and cutting the stitches from its mouth.
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.


The body sits up and screams for a full minute, then collapses, at peace.
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.


When the group has regained their composure, they head to the office to see the books that Drufus Miltoop did not want them to see. Drufus is in the office, but Dusty distracts him while Connie quickly looks through the files. The gang departs office to look over what Connie found: it is a letter from the German amusement park conglomerate, offering Drufus Miltoop a 10% finder's fee for the sale of the amusement park, with an additional bonus if the sale price is less than the park's market value.
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 gang finds Lemmy and tells him everything. They call the police, and when the police arrive they confront Drufus. Presented with the invoice found in the storage building and the letter from the Germans, Drufus admits everything, and is taken away in handcuffs.
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.


Lemmy thanks the gang for their help, and they spend the rest of the evening at the park, which is no longer haunted.
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==
==People==


<div><ul>  
<div><ul class="thumbs">
<li style="display: inline-block;"> [[File:Lemmy_Hedemin.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Lemmy Hedemin, Owner and Manager of Whimsy Park]]</li>
<li>[[File:Cleo_Brule.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Cleo Brule, proprietor of the Bayou Belle]]</li>
<li style="display: inline-block;"> [[File:Drufus_Miltoop.jpg|200px|thumb|none|Drufus Miltoop, Assistant Manager of Whimsy Park]]</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>
</ul>
</div>
</div>

Latest revision as of 11:56, 23 April 2016

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

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 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.

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'.

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 "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.

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 Sheriff Buton thinks DuMoss is dead.

The gang hikes down to the 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 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 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 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 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 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

  • Cleo Brule, proprietor of the Bayou Belle
  • Axil Buton, Sheriff of Halbert
  • Theresa Dunn, editor of the Halbert Herald
  • Barney Fluter, Deputy Sheriff
  • Estelle LaRue, Mayor of Halbert
  • Lord "Punchy" Partfine, Dusty's boarding school chum
  • Richard Swain, postmaster and librarian of Halbert
  • Theo, Mayor LaRue's manservant
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