Death is No Parenthesis

> “Unbeing dead isn't being alive.”
>
> ― E.E. Cummings

## The Hook

Following an anonymous tip, the DEA raid a Sinaloa Cartel drug den. They find no drugs, nor the man they’re looking for, but a stray bullet reveals bodies wrapped in plastic inside the walls. Not just bodies. The same body, of the same man. Twenty-three same bodies.

## The Dying Man

Julian Ramirez has been a thorn in the side of the Sinaloa for some time. It started when he managed to acquire a new drug. It’s local name is “Contra Vida,” but resembles the 90s drug Reverb.The local cartel leader, Sepulturero (Grave Digger), was convinced Ramirez double crossed the cartel and made a deal with the Tong Shukoran. For this, he was tracked down, and executed. His body buried somewhere in a Southwestern desert.

But Ramirez operation kept going. His customers kept getting the drugs. They tracked down the source, killing everyone they could find. They found Ramirez alright. There he was, bleeding from gutshot, smiling the whole time.

It was after the third death they started “collecting” the bodies. He kept coming back. They don’t know how. Sepulturero’s crew began to call Ramirez “El Eco.” Soon enough he started seeing his own crew turn and join Eco’s growing gang. The war he was winning had turned into a bloody fight for survival against an enemy he cannot kill no matter how many bodies he stacks up.

## Investigation

This scenario can be based in any major Southwestern U.S. city near the border with Mexico. I recommend El Paso given it’s proximity to Juarez. Both are fantastic locales surrounded by a bleak landscape suitable for the bleak western tone.

Their primary leads are the cartels. They will be briefed on the existence of the Sinaloas and the new gang, Los Ecos and how they’ve been at war. They will need to do some police work to track down potential informants by canvassing victims, neighbors, known cartel members and other unwilling witnesses. This will draw attention. Interrogating a hapless Reverb addict could lead to a deadly encounter with Eco’s gang, cartel thugs, or a Hound of Angles. Particularly sadistic Handlers might be tempted to do both at the same time.

The house was owned in the name of an old woman in a nursing home. Originally, a safe house to keep the Sinaloa's illicit goods. Activity had died down, but a recent tip claimed Sepulturero was there. The FBI raid was quick and brutal. Four suspects were killed and an officer injured, but the cartel leader nowhere to be found.

It is now gutted after the discovery of 23 bodies. The temperature is noticeably warmer. The air tastes metallic. Radios act up, wireless signals and electronics behave strangely. Overlooked earlier is a puddle of strange green slime pooling in a corner. SAN (1/0) A successful Unnatural roll brings to mind reports of things living and hunting from inside corners and angles. The house was a tomb, now it’s the agents’ doorway to the underworld.

## Sepulturero

Sepulturero is in hiding. Eco has become far too formidable for him. Not only that, the cartel is already making overtures to Eco and put a hit on him. Cartel rivals as well as corrupt police and federal agents looking for a handsome payday will be looking for him at the same time. The tip-off to the FBI was likely one such attempt on his life. To add to his woes, Sepulturero is very sick after repeated exposure to Eco’s radiation.

If they succeed in getting the intel they need, they are able to set up a meeting or directed to Sepulturero’s hideout on their own terms. However, if they show up armed, he’ll rabbit, convinced they are assassins. If they fail, Sepulturero becomes aware they are looking for him and sends his most loyal soldiers to “collect” them and take them to a remote location. They will have to agree to be blindfolded and disarmed at night in the desert.

Sepulturero can be turned into an Asset. If they successfully negotiate, he is convinced to help them take Los Ecos down and surrender to custody. If negotiations go south he will end the meeting abruptly. If they pursue, things get violent. Remember, there are cartel thugs and Ecos looking for him. Be a shame if the agents got caught in the crossfire.

## Los Ecos

Tracking down Eco has two possible avenues. The first is police work similar to tracking down Sepulturero. If Agents track down Sepulturero first, skip this step. He he can lead them right to Eco’s operation. The second is finding signs of or using devices which detect radiation. The drug is highly radioactive as are its most frequent users. Eco’s bodies give off x-ray radiation and he can be detected in the same way.

Eco’s compound, unfortunately, is across the border. It is either in catacombs of Juarez or a system of tunnels and caves in the desert outside Juarez. Federal agencies have no jurisdiction in Mexico. Agents will have no back-up on this unless Sepulturero’s crew is with them. The Federales are unpredictable, territorial, many on the take. Even so, the Program wants Eco taken alive. No easy feat as he’s surrounded himself with addicted, loyal followers and with the Hound closing in on his trail. Surviving, capturing and returning him to Delta Green custody in the U.S. heals 1d6 SAN. Finding and destroying his Reverb crop also heals 1d6 SAN

Killing Eco won’t end this. Eco was contacted and given pure Liao and a translation of a hypergeometric ritual. He performed it under the influence of Liao creating recurring instances of himself throughout time. If he’s ever killed, a new instance takes over. This experience is mind altering and transcendental, giving him a constant far-away look. This is his true addiction and every addict is a victim he’s throwing at the Hound as bait to feed that addiction.

The only way to kill him permanently is to feed him to a Hound. He will argue the danger of this. If a Hound devours even one of him, they devour all his instances across time. This would erase him and potentially creating a paradox that would unravel all of time. Do they believe him? Are they willing to find out? Will it even work or will the Hound of Angles bite the hand that feeds it? If agents feed him to, or fail to save him from the Hound they suffer 1d4/1d8 SAN.

## Optional Inquiries

These are not necessary lines of investigation. They also don’t necessarily fit the overall theme. They do provide additional clues and some foreshadowing. They are also good threads to fall back on if Eco is killed.

## The Bodies

Another inquiry is the 23 Ramirez bodies. After discovering they were the same person, the Program split them up, labeled them as John Doe’s and outsourced their autopsies to as many Medical Examiners as they could. Most remain on ice and untouched. The completed exams show various causes of death. But there is one startling commonality: the bodies are riddled with tumors. The same tumors in the same spots.

## Radiation

Agents could discover that Federal agents involved in the raid and the medical examiners have reported flu-like symptoms. Sepulturero himself has a fever and a rash. This would prompt a quarantine of those affected.

Agents  unknowingly risk exposure to radiation in this scenario. After visiting the House 1 PC suffers mild flu symptoms. If an agent takes a hit of reverb they are exposed to radiation, it also makes them a target of the Hound of Angles if it comes into reality. If they examine a body, or are around a body for too long they will be exposed.

If for any reason one of the bodies is ever X-Rayed, the radiographic image lights up like a christmas tree. This is an automatic lure for the Hounds of Angles. One will emerge out of the corners of the radiograph and begin hunting any witless doctors or agents, especially those previously exposed to the bodies or having taken reverb.

## Radiation Sickness

Radiation sickness includes flu-like symptoms, anemia, bruising, fatigue, mild to severe sunburn, hair-loss, and at the extreme end severe rash and boils, bleeding, and coughing up blood.

## STATS

### Julian Ramirez; El Eco

**STR** 12 **CON** 14 **DEX** 11 **INT** 12 **POW** 12 **CHA** 14

**HP** 13 **WP** 12 **SAN** 0 **BP** n/a

**SKILLS** Alertness 60%, Athletics 50%, Dodge 40% Firearms 40%, Melee Weapon 60%, Stealth 40%, Unarmed Combat 60%.

**ATTACKS** Switchblade 60% (Damage 1D6, AP 3)

Unarmed 60% (Damage 1D4–1)

Light pistol 40% (10 m. Damage 1D8, Ammo 7)

Submachine gun (SMG) 40% (Range 50 m. Damage 1D10, Ammo 30)

### El Sepulturero (The Grave Digger)

**STR** 17 **CON** 11 **DEX** 15 **INT** 11 **POW** 8 **CHA** 13

**HP** 14  **WP** 8 **SAN** 40 **BP** 32

**SKILLS**: Alertness 50%, Athletics 50%, Dodge 40%, Firearms 50%, Melee Combat 50%, Persuade 40%, Unarmed Combat 60%.

**ATTACKS**: SMG  50% (Range 50 m. Damage 1D10, Ammo 30)

Shovel 50%, damage 1D8.

Knife 50%, damage 1D4, Armor Piercing 3.

Unarmed 60%, damage 1D4–1.

### Cartel Dealers and Thugs

**STR** 13 **CON** 11 **DEX** 10 **INT** 10 **POW** 9 **CHA** 10

**HP** 12  **WP** 9 **SAN** 45 **BP** 36

**SKILLS**: Alertness 40%, Drive 40%, Firearms 40%, Melee Weapons 40%, Unarmed Combat 50%

**ATTACKS**: 9mm pistol 40%, damage 1D10.

Baseball bat 40%, damage 1D8, or Knife 40%, damage 1D4, Armor Piercing 3.

Unarmed 40%, damage 1D4–1.

## References

**Sicaro**: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwuhnfKnTYY

**Cartel**: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ju%C3%A1rez\_Cartel

## Credits

Death is No Parenthesis was written by William Schar for the 2017  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 © William Schar, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

Death is No Parenthesis is not available here under CC-BY-SA.