Norman Withers

Health
 6

 Investigator

**Norman Withers** is an Investigator that appears in the *Arkham Horror Second Edition* Innsmouth Horror, *Mansions of Madness Second Edition* Path of the Serpent, *Elder Sign* Gates of Arkham, and *Arkham Horror: The Card Game* Arkham Horror Fiction promo for *Ire of the Void*.

## Fiction

### The Story So Far

The stars hold secrets both great and terrible for those with courage - or curiosity - enough to look. While Norman would never claim to be especially courageous, he'd be the first to admit that he has an inability to ignore a mystery.

So when six stars vanished from the section of sky he was studying, he couldn't just let it go, not even when his colleagues told him that he was just imagining things and sent him home to sleep it off.

It took him years, not to mention the near death of his career, but he eventually found his answers in a book that none of his colleagues would be caught dead reading. An ancient tome, it described the stars and the sequence in which they would vanish, even detailing the date when their disappearance would take place. It was a sign, the book said, of the end of everything. It was the harbinger of a great beast that would tear asunder all that man had wrought.

Norman isn't sure what he can do to stop the beast from destroying the world. He knows that he isn't very strong, but if an answer can be found in the stars, then he will stand in the path of destruction until his dying breath.

Norman withers is a scientist. He is a rational man devoted to the reasoned exploration of the universe. So when six stars simply vanished from the sky, he double- and triple-checked his results, then calmly examined the situation from every logical angle. His conclusions were simple. Yes, the stars were truly missing. Yes, something impossible was moving in the void.
Although the scientific community dismissed his research as the ramblings of a crackpot, Norman continued his studies. Though his research now touches on ancient lore and magic, he is still a rational man.

Nobody believes him, and why should they? How could six stars vanish from sight all at once, never to reappear? Astronomer and Miskatonic University professor Norman Withers had all but given up on regaining his colleagues' esteem when a protege of the renowned Albert Einstein comes to speak on campus. The visiting physicist, with unsettling theories about the curvature of space-time, may hold the key to helping Norman explain the phenomenon of the vanishing stars...

### *The Investigators of Arkham Horror*

Norman Withers is an astronomer at Miskatonic University's Warren Observatory.

## Artwork

The *Elder Sign* Investigator Card for Norman Withers uses an illustration[?] from FC-21: Learned Astronomer by Felicia Cano.

The *Arkham Horror: The Card Game* Investigator Card for Norman Withers uses an illustration[?] by Magali Villeneuve.

## Notes and references

1. ↑ *Arkham Horror Second Edition* — Norman Withers Investigator Card
2. ↑ *Mansions of Madness Second Edition*: Path of the Serpent — Norman Withers Investigator Card
3. ↑ *Arkham Horror: The Card Game* — **BK-7: Norman Withers**
4. ↑ *The Investigators of Arkham Horror*, "Norman Withers"