Urban Exploration

Urban exploration is a hobby exploring abandoned sites, normally without proper permissions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban\_exploration Despite being of dubious legality, some urban explorers put their travels on the internet. This scenario begins at the Belchertown State School abandoned asylum in western Massachusetts. https://mschwarzphoto.com/blog-1/2016/7/12/the-top-five-abandoned-asylums-to-visit-in-massachusetts . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS-kA\_4CzNY

Two events draw Delta Green attention.

1. A homeless man (Sam Wilmont) goes into the nearby small town of Belchertown and does a knife attack spree. He is killed by police, but he rambles (recorded on police body worn camera) about the "the thing in the room" before expiring of his injuries. Inquiries among local homeless or social service workers glean that he often (illegally) camped on the grounds at Belchertown State School.
2. Two urban explorers (Al Haas and Richard Silva), who had been friends since childhood, run a well known youtube urban exploration page documenting their New England area journeys. A youtube search for "urban exploration" should provide plenty of fodder for keepers. Last year they departed their Boston homes for a three day trip to Belchertown State School. Only Al came back, or rather, was found wandering into Belchertown with no identification and out his mind, rambling about "it made me do it." Local police eventually identified him by fingerprints from a previous arrest (an old minor trespassing charge from his hobby), but he was not coherent. His family was reluctant to talk to the police given that his best friend had gone missing while they were engaged in an illegal endeavor. Richard was reported as a missing person to the Boston Police Dept. by his concerned family members (who the Keeper is free to describe as best fits the narrative), last seen in the company of Al Haas. A search of their emails and texts (requiring a search warrant, court order, computer hacking skills, or permissions from the family) indicated they had most recently been planning a trip to the Belchertown State School. Al Haas is undergoing psychiatric care in an hospital. Thus far Boston Police Dept. attempts (Boston Det. Robert Henthorne is assigned to the case) to interview Al Haas have not led to useful information given Haas' shaky mental state, but Haas has also not refused to speak to investigators. Two days after the scenario involves the agents, the mutilated body of Richard Silva is found by hikers in the woods near the Belchertown State School. The Belchertown Police Dept. is cooperating in this inquiry. Belchertown Police Dept. Detective Walter McGuiness has considerable local knowledge and is familiar with stories about the abandoned asylum. Det. McGuiness is willing to cooperate fully with either state (https://www.mass.gov/orgs/massachusetts-state-police ) or federal law enforcement who appear to be pursuing a legitimate investigation.

## What happened, or It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time

Camelia Fenner is a Boston University graduate student (doctoral candidate in Anthropology). She is a Wiccan and belongs to the Boston based Azure Sky Coven. The keeper is free to describe the membership of this group as needed, but it is a typical New Age sort of thing and would not otherwise interest Delta Green. Three years ago, Camelia Fenner was researching Wiccan topics in the Boston University library and came across an obscure doctoral thesis ("Folk traditions in Tudor England" or some similar title) written in 1923 by a long dead and forgotten Miskatonic graduate student (the keeper is free to describe this author as best suits the narrative). Boston University acquired a copy in 1925 and it has been gathering dust on a shelf ever since. A copy is also listed in the Miskatonic University card catalog should the agents check, but the actual book at Miskatonic is secured in the special collections. The Boston University copy has been overlooked or else it might have similarly left circulation. In the appendix to this rather dry dissertation are two functional spells, which the author provides as examples of rituals reputedly employed among some of those he studied. The footnotes might lead interesting directions if the keepers wishes them to. Those rituals (the keeper is free to invent names) function to summon a variant Llioigor (Delta Green Handlers Guide pg. 211) presence and also has a spell (of whatever name the keeper wishes to use) that functions as The Closing Of The Breach (Delta Green Handlers Guide pg. 176). Four other rituals are described that have zero actual effect. It is not clear to the reader which of these rituals work or do not without attempting to perform them.

Camelia Fenner persuaded the more adventurous members of the Azure Sky Coven to join her in a series of field trips to Belchertown State School to cast the spells she had found in the dissertation. Their goal was to "heal" the site given the terrible (non-magical) events that had occurred there. They performed two of the non-functional rituals without incident. On a third excursion, the summoning spell worked. There is now a fell disembodied Lloigar-like presence at that abandoned site. Now those who visit the site must make a sanity check for every twelve hours they spend there. A failed check induces a homicidal rage to be taken out on the nearest persons at hand. This presence can be dismissed by Closing Of The Breach spell conveniently found in the dissertation at the same location the original summoning was cast, but no mundane methods will remove it. Destroying the site will knock over the buildings but the presence stays. Over time, the presence expands at a pace the keeper finds best suited for their narrative.

When Camelia's group cast the successful summoning spell on a cloudy Hallowmass evening in the main dining hall of one of the abandoned buildings, they fled as they felt real supernatural effects for the first time. Some of them felt homicidal urges, but they resisted (making the sanity checks) these desires before driving back to Boston at top speed. They ultimately collectively decided to hush the matter up. With the possible exception of Camelia Fenner, the Azure Sky Coven will not voluntarily return there.

Finding Camelia: Investigators who do a deep internet search for Belchertown State School that includes paranormal or otherwise outre search terms will find a prominent social media site and discussion board for the Azure Sky Coven. They will find on the discussion boards dating back three years a post by Camelia Fenner describing her discovery (as mentioned above) and considerable excitement about enacting those rituals. There is much talk of using these formulae to "cleanse" the "haunted" Belchertown State School. The talks go on about two ritual attempts there that seemed to have gone well. These were in fact two of the non-functional rituals from the book, but the Coven felt they had "worked" in the same way that a devout Catholic might feel better after attending Mass. The discussion boards then speak about plans for a third trip there for Hallowmass with similar anticipation and planning (food, lodging, travel arrangements, etc.). Then, there is a month of silence on the board. Finally, Camelia Fenner posts "Please don't speak of this ever again." Six months later the board gradually resumes (more muted) activity describing typical Wiccan or New Age topics, but only in the Boston area. No further mention is made on the internet of Belchertown State School or Camelia Fenner's book and it's contents.

Camelia Fenner is easily located in Boston. She lives in a studio apartment. She follows the news and has heard about the recent events near Belchertown. She is frightened and guilt ridden that she may have had some role in it. If approached by an agent she believes to be a private citizen or the media, she will refuse to speak. If approached by someone who presents legitimate law enforcement credentials (she will call their parent agency to confirm this), she gives the impression that she knows something, but is reluctant to talk about it. An investigator who attempts to browbeat or otherwise aggressively interrogate her will result in Camelia invoking her miranda rights and demanding a lawyer. An empathetic investigator who might offer her immunity from prosecution (whether that offer is real or not) will find her extremely forthcoming and relieved to have a chance to set this right. The dissertation that contains the spells is on a shelf in her apartment. She is willing to tell the investigators the precise location her Coven did the ritual in the compound. She does not know how to remove the fell presence she believes her group mistakenly brought into this world. However, she does say the dissertation has three spells (two non-functional rituals and Closing Of The Breach) the Azure Sky Coven did not attempt. With great reluctance she might accompany the investigators back to the Belchertown State School site, but her sanity is now precarious and might break should she experience a Night At The Opera there.

This scenario works best for a group of agents who include at least one federal or state level law enforcement officer.

## Credits

Urban Exploration was written by Jaron Bernstein for the 2020  shotgun scenario contest.

Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this document are © Jaron Bernstein, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

Urban Exploration is not available here under CC-BY-SA.