Misappropriated

## **The Hook**

In April 2014, the FBI art crime division raided the Waldron, Indiana home of 91-year-old missionary Donald Miller.  They found tens of thousands of ancient bones and relics taken from sites across the globe, many obtained illegally.  The FBI partnered with experts and academics to catalogue and determine the provenance of these artifacts.  One unusual item caught the attention of a Delta Green friendly, who called in a team for examination.

## **The Mide-wiigwaas**

**Dr. Eleanor Drake** summons the team to Indianapolis and briefs them over coffee at 10 am on Wednesday, November 12, 2014.  Dr. Drake is an art history professor, a DG friendly, and one of many experts analyzing the artifacts.
The item of interest is a mide-wiigwaas, a ceremonial birch bark scroll inscribed with complex images and patterns.  Dr. Drake describes the markings on the scroll as a curious combination of Native American (Nipmuc) iconography and Mesopotamian cuneiform.  The scroll is exceptionally preserved; it was stored in an unusual cylindrical stone box carved with Nipmuc figures.  Preliminary analysis estimates the scroll and box are 700+ years old, making these the oldest such artifacts ever found.

Dr. Drake hasn’t examined the scroll closely.  Rather, the object’s principal investigator, Dr. Davis Skinner, consulted her on some of the strange figures it depicts.  The pictograms unnerved Dr. Drake, and she called in DG support.  She plans to bring the Agents into the FBI’s art restoration lab, let them examine the scroll, and then determine the best next steps.

## **What’s Really Going On?**

The mide-wiigwaas is a genuine artifact of unnatural derivation.  It details the genesis of Native American “magic” (as described in Deeds of a Little-boy) and encodes a ritual for calling forth the Sun Spirit, an otherworldly entity of unknown power or intent.  The spiritual leaders of the Nipmuc buried the mide-wiigwaas in a sacred site for safekeeping.  Centuries later, Donald Miller unearthed it and added it to his collection.

Besides the Agents, two other parties are also obsessed with it:

* **Dr. Davis Skinner** is an Indiana University expert on Native American art and spiritual practices hired to help analyze and catalogue the artifacts.  Skinner recently began studying the mide-wiigwaas and is fixated on decoding it.
* **Joseph Maquinna Walker** is a Midewinini of the Nipmuc people, a role passed down to him through generations.  Walker knows the mide-wiigwaas must be kept secret and secure, and seeks to obtain it and hide it away.  Walker is working with **Nita Wapasha Fiske**, a graduate student at Indiana University and a Native American advocate.  She is proud of her heritage and invested in preserving her ancestral culture.  Fiske hopes to win Walker’s approval and mentorship.

The following events transpire prior to and concurrent with the Agents’ investigation.  Adjust timing as needed.

The following events transpire prior to and concurrent with the Agents’ investigation.  Adjust timing as needed.

* **April 2014**  - Miller residence raided.
* **May-October** - Mide-wiigwaas shipped to the FBI art lab in Indianapolis, IN, with hundreds of other artifacts. Skinner, Drake, and others hired to begin analysis.  Walker recognizes the mide-wiigwaas from online videos of the raid and travels to Indiana to find it.  He tracks it to the lab then contacts Fiske, who organizes protests to cover Walker’s investigations.
* **November 1** - Skinner begins analysis of the mide-wiigwaas.
* **November 10** - Skinner consults Drake.  Drake activates Agents.
* **November 11** - Walker and activists storm the art lab.  Walker sees Skinner working on the mide-wiigwaas and tries to approach him, but is ejected by security.  Skinner, afraid the scroll might be confiscated, smuggles it home to continue study.  Walker follows Skinner to Martinsville, IN, but is frightened off by neighbors.   Walker summons Fiske to Martinsville.
* **November 12, 9 AM** - Fiske and Walker confront Skinner at his house.  When Skinner becomes belligerent, Walker and Fiske subdue, bind, and interrogate the professor and his wife.
* **November 12, 10 AM** - Drake meets Agents in Indianapolis for briefing.
* **November 12, 11 AM** - Briefing ends.  Drake takes the Agents to the FBI art lab.  Walker and Fiske leave Skinner’s house, taking Skinner and the mide-wiigwaas with them.  They return to their hotel to plan and gather supplies.
* **November 12, ~2 PM** - Walker, Fiske, and Skinner depart Martinsville, headed south.  The Chase begins.

## **The Art Lab**

After the briefing, Dr. Drake escorts the Agents to the FBI art restoration lab.  They pass through a crowd of protestors and Drake comments on the attempt to storm the lab the previous day.
Inside the lab, the Agents discover:

* **The mide-wiigwaas is missing.**
* **Dr. Skinner did not come in for work today.**

Agent investigations reveal:

* No other artifacts are missing.
* Skinner left the lab at 9 pm on November 11 carrying a gym bag.
* Skinner accessed research databases from his home VPN between 10pm - 1am.  He appeared to be researching Nipmuc mythology.
* Skinner does not answer his phone.
* Security footage of the break-in on November 11 shows Walker trying to calmly approach Skinner in the midst of the melee.  The protestors outside can identify Walker, Fiske, and their association.

From these clues, the Agents will likely go to Dr. Skinner’s house or try to locate Walker.

## **Dr. Skinner’s House**

Dr. Skinner and his wife Evelyn live in a modest ranch house in Martinsville, IN.
The front door is unlocked. Inside, the Agents discover:

* Evidence of a scuffle (upended furniture, etc.).
* Evelyn Skinner tied to a chair.  She describes Walker and Fiske’s arrival, her husband’s violent response to their questions, the subsequent interrogation, and their departure with Skinner and the mide-wiigwaas.

## **Finding Walker**

Investigations into Walker reveal:

* Address in Grafton, MA, but no recent sightings.
* Recent activity in Indiana, mostly Waldron and Indianapolis.
* Hotel room rental at the Best Western in Martinsville, IN on Nov 11.

Investigating the hotel:

* Permit parking Walker’s and Fiske’s vehicles.
* Walker’s vehicle in the parking lot.
* Room in disarray, but empty.

## **The Chase**

Walker and Fiske bundle Skinner and the mide-wiigwaas into Fiske’s Prius and head south out of Martinsville by mid-afternoon on November 12.  Various eyewitnesses can describe Fiske’s vehicle, enabling Agents to use traffic cams, police alerts, etc. to identify its location and direction of travel.

* Heading for Hoosier National Forest via SR-37.
* If alerted to pursuit, Fiske will detour and look for any densely wooded area.

As sunset approaches, Fiske parks near a stretch of woodland.  She and Walker take Skinner, the mide-wiigwaas, and their supplies and enter the forest.

## **The Mogkunk Ritual**

About 200 feet after entering the forest, Walker and Fiske find a suitable clearing to perform the Mogkunk (“Great Tree”) Ritual.

* Fiske keeps watch with a handgun.
* Walker places the mide-wiigwaas in Skinner’s arms, then binds Skinner and the artifact with thick hempen rope before tethering them to a small nearby boulder.
* Walker then changes into ceremonial dress and prepares for the ritual.

The ritual itself involves Walker singing, dancing, and presenting a number of offerings in a circle around Skinner for 10-20 minutes.  Fiske keeps watch.  She is focused on Walker, and is a poor lookout.  Skinner is entranced watching Walker enact ritual practices that he’s studied academically.
The ritual concludes when Walker completes his final revolution around Skinner, then draws an obsidian knife from his belt and slits his own throat, sending blood spraying across the bound professor.
Several things happen:

* Fiske drops the gun and runs to Walker.
* Skinner transforms.  His limbs bulge and twist, shredding his clothing.  The top of his head explodes as dozens of twig-like extrusions erupt from within and claw towards the sky, bright red leaves unfurling across them.  The rapid change is accompanied by a horrendous creaking and cracking, as if Skinner’s screams were being shredded in a wood chipper.

In the space of a minute, all semblance of Skinner is gone.  In his place stands an enormous red maple tree, its resplendent foliage the color of fresh blood. Tatters of Skinner’s clothing hang from some of the branches.  The length of rope leads from the boulder directly into the bark of the tree.
Witnessing Skinner’s transformation costs **1d4/ 1d10 SAN** from the unnatural.
There is no sign of the mide-wiigwaas - it is now encased within the tree.
**The Handler may decide whether the Agents have been savvy enough to arrive in time to interrupt the ritual, arrive just as it concludes, or arrive after the fact and deal with the aftermath.**

## **Conclusion**

Agents who come upon Fiske after the ritual’s conclusion find her weeping over the dead body of Joseph Walker.  She is overcome with grief and surrounded with enough circumstantial evidence that she can be easily framed for the murder of both Walker and Skinner.  If the Agents threaten her or mistreat Walker’s body, she will attack them with Walker’s obsidian knife (she has forgotten about the handgun).
Agents who want to destroy the tree find it difficult.  Using an axe or chainsaw causes the tree to emit very unnerving, inhuman shrieks (**1/1d4 SAN unnatural**) and weep dark red sap.  The wood is very wet and does not burn easily.  Destroying and sectioning the tree reveals the mide-wiigwaas encased midway up the tree’s trunk, protected within its stone box.

## **Stats**

### **Dr. Davis Skinner** - *Obsessed Academic*

**STR** 8, **CON** 9, **DEX** 10, **INT** 15, **POW** 10, **CHA** 11

**HP** 9, **WP** 10, **SAN** 45, **BP** 40

**Skills:** Anthropology 70%, Archeology 50%, Art (Native American) 60%, Occult 40%

**Attacks:** Unarmed 40%, Damage 1d4-1

### **Joseph Maquinna Walker** - *Nipmuc Spiritual Leader*

**STR** 12, **CON** 12, **DEX** 10, **INT** 10, **POW** 15, **CHA** 13

**HP** 12, **WP** 15, **SAN** 33, **BP** 20

**Skills:** Anthropology 40%, Firearms 40%, Language (Algonquin) 60%, Occult 80%, Survival 40%

**Attacks:** Obsidian Knife 50%, Damage 1d6

Rituals:  Mogkunk Ritual (see above)

### **Nita Wapasha Fiske** - *College Student and Activist*

**STR** 10, **CON** 10, **DEX** 12, **INT** 12, **POW** 11, **CHA** 12

**HP** 10, **WP** 10, **SAN** 55, **BP** 39

**Skills:** HUMINT 50%, Firearms 40%, Occult 40%, Persuade 50%

**Attacks:** Colt M1911A (medium pistol) 40%, Damage 1d10

## Credits

Misappropriated was written by belmer11 for the 2021  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 © belmer11, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

Misappropriated is not available here under CC-BY-SA.
Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iGvGBrrB3MTYiDaVPCWQHIvTRIZZ-mOeztiwJze2aqI/edit