Deep in the Bayou

## The Hook

A scientist in Louisiana recently uploaded a series of photos of local children with Batracian features. Delta Green Investigators are dispatched to investigate.

## The Setup

Agents are contacted via the usual means and instructed to make their way to Hank's Storage Park, near Baton Rouge Metropolitan airport by 10am the next morning. They are to meet up outside locker R23, which can be opened by using the code 02422420 on the keypad. This is a green box- please use an online generator to create a suitable inventory. An envelope containing three photos of two children with the distinctive Innsmouth look, a burner phone and a document file are on a table just inside the locker. Investigators unfamiliar with the deep ones may need to pass sanity tests as the children are obviously not fully human.

## The File

The file contains the Curriculum Vitae and Human Resources record of US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) agent and herpetologist Dr Debrah Carnegie (29 years old). A distinguished alumni of the University of Florida, she is now based in Butte la Rose, on the Atchafalaya Basin near Baton Rouge, studying climate related desalination's impact on local Alligator breeding patterns. She has been based in Butte la Rose for nine and a half months. A post-it on the cover reads: *Town sheriff - Jim Rose, Lab/home address: 18, Manatee Lane, BLR. Phone 220-555-0144 when investigation complete*.

## Butte la Rose

It is a small town of barely a thousand inhabitants, mainly Cajun folk who communicate in the local patois. They distrust strangers, especially government agents, and will stonewall and mislead investigators who do not have good persuasive skills. There is a run-down Lodge where the agents can stay, and a diner (Peggy Sue’s - the Best Gumbo in the South) which is struggling to stay open as business is scarce. A visit to the local sheriff's office will lead an observant investigator to notice an inordinate amount of missing posters, particularly young local women. Sheriff Rose, a middle-aged balding good old boy, will be cooperative but suspicious, as Debrah has not been seen for a few days and he was considering raising the alarm. Peggy-Sue Bonnevie, a fiery young red-head who runs the diner, is friends with and has had long talks with Dr Debrah, who had told her about some strange swamp-folk she met while tracking some pregnant alligators in the southern end of the Swamp. Peggy-Sue has not seen Debrah for a few days, and she is likewise becoming concerned that her friend may have come too close to an alligator’s maw.

## **Carnegie's Lab**

Debrah Carnegie lives in a new ultra-wide trailer parked on a vacant plot between much more decrepit shacks. It functions as her home and her lab, and is a well organized mess of working material, tracking technology, lab equipment and research data. A search will reveal more photos of the children with batracian traits, along with notes about how she encountered some very unusual locals while tracking a test subject. GPS Coordinates in the notes refer to an area deep in the swamp, to an area reachable only by fly-boat - which they will have to source locally. Jimmie's fly-boat world is officially closed for the season, but Jimmie Larue is not hard to track down and will rent them a boat for an extortionate price. The sheriff will also have a fly-boat which they may be able to persuade him to loan them.

## The Swamp-folk

Carnegie’s notes reference an area deep in the more isolated southern part of the Atchafalaya Basin- the swamp becomes more oppressive, the water fetid and stagnant, the air humid and pestilent. Mosquitos and flies cover everything, the atmosphere becomes oppressive and heavy. Eventually, they will come across the homes of two families, the Cormiers and the Bergerons, who live in a couple of sprawling shacks built around some moonshine stills. They will be very wary of the investigators, especially if they realize they are government agents, and may reach for their ancient but deadly shotguns if sufficiently alarmed. If a firefight erupts, the swamp-folk will surrender as soon as one of their members is injured. They will no matter what attempt to hide Gabrielle, the headman André Bergeron's wife- and her strange looking children. All of the locals show signs of a limited bloodline, apart from André and Gabrielle's offspring. If shown the photos or otherwise pressed, André will explain that his wife was found, lost in the Southern part of the swamp ten years ago, and they took her in hoping that the new blood would lead to less mutations. Gabrielle looks to be in her early twenties, with bulbous eyes and silvery hair- she communicates only with rough grunts, and will only speak to her husband. The swamp-folk have not seen Debrah, or as they call her, the Alligator-lady, in a few days. The last time they saw her she asked them about what they call the Meat house. She set off toward the south and they have not seen her since. They speak of the Meat house in hushed tones, and Gabrielle shuts down completely when she hears the name, refusing to communicate even with her husband.

## MIET

March Industry Eso-Tech, a medical research laboratory is based on the southern edge of the swamp. It is a big concrete structure on the edge of the river at the end of a dirt track. Built in the late 80s, it is an imposing building surrounded by a high fence but with a dock reaching out into the swamp. Three mercenaries provide security 2 patrolling the perimeter at all times, one in a security office on the front gate. Security is tight, but good tactical analysis will reveal weaknesses in the patrol frequency and camera coverage, allowing a tightly timed incursion if the Investigators opt for a stealthy approach. A full frontal attack will be hazardous as the security staff are well trained, well armed mercenaries. Local police will stonewall and obstruct- they have been paid handsomely for decades to keep this place off the map, all contacting them will do is lead to heightened security. The swamp-folk could possibly be persuaded to help attack the facility, as their moonshine molotov cocktails could prove particularly helpful.

During the week 8-10 staff can be counted to be on-site during working hours, only the security staff thereafter. All of the staff are non-local, and the place is kept on high alert and permanent lock-down. The basement of the complex contains a series of interconnected rooms built around a large central cell where a lesser deep one is chained to the wall. It will attack anyone who ventures within it's reach, and take any opportunity presented to escape to the Swamp. Other cells contain 3 very distressed women, including a deeply traumatized and catatonic Dr Carnegie. One, heavily pregnant, is strapped to a gurney in a lab, tubes feeding off her and a variety of scanners monitoring her vitals. Dissection vials line the walls, containing previous pregnancy results. Looking at these for longer than a couple of seconds necessitates a strenuous sanity test.

Most of the staff are clerical and work only on the upper floors- they will attempt to flee upon any sign of trouble, as will the three scientists downstairs. Only lead scientist Dr Kelly Strand will remain, a charismatic if petite woman in her early 50s. She will insist that March Tech security, clean up crew and lawyers are on their way, and attempt to intimidate the Investigators. She will refuse to divulge any information, but if she is brought before the Deep One he will rip his chains out of the wall and attack her, and unless prevented will drag her to the swamp and pull her into the depths.

All of the computer systems are tightly secured, but can be cracked to download lab data. The investigators will also find written records dating back decades, detailing the traumatic experiments which took place in this hell-hole. Reading these will necessitate repeated sanity tests. Papers in the Doctor's office will reveal that the complex was formerly known as YY-III, a hitherto unknown sister facility of the MAJESTIC New-Mexico YY-II facility which studied the Deep One reproductive element.

## The End

Scenario will end with the liberation of the prisoners. DG instructions will be to liberate the imprisoned women and evacuate the facility. The Pregnant woman is to be delivered to an ambulance which will be waiting at exit 135 of the 10, just over the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge. A retrieval team will be sent to handle the Deep One and sanitize the facility.

## Stats

### Swamp-Folk

**STR** 9, **CON** 10, **DEX** 11, **INT** 9, **POW** 11, **CHA** 7, **HP** 9, **WP** 8, **SAN** 25, **BP** 20

**Skills**: alertness 25%, Athletics 25%, melee combat 20%

**Attacks:** 12-Gauge Shotgun 40% Damage 2D10

### Mercenaries

**STR** 12, **CON** 14, **DEX** 12, **INT** 13, **POW** 10, **CHA** 9, **HP** 11, **WP** 10, **SAN** 35, **BP** 30

**Armor**: Kevlar Vest (3)

**Skills**: alertness 45%, Athletics 35%, melee combat 50%

**Attacks**: FAMAS G2 gun 50% Damage 1D12

Pepper spray 50% stuns target\

Bowie knife 50% damage 1d6

### Kelly Strand

**STR** 11, **CON** 8, **DEX** 11, **INT** 18, **POW** 6, **CHA** 14, **HP** 10, **WP** 6

**Skills**: Alertness 40%, HUMINT 65%, Persuade 65%, Science (Medical 80%), Unnatural 80%

**Attacks**: Unarmed %60, 1d4-1 damage

### Deep one (lesser)

**STR** 17 **CON** 13 **DEX** 12 **INT** 14 **POW** 12 **HP** 15 **WP** 12

**Armor** 1 - thick scales

**Skills**: Alertness 30%, Athletics 40%, Swim 75%, Unnatural 10%

**Attacks** - Talons 55%, 1d8 damage, AP3

Grapple 55% to pin target

## Credits

Deep in the Bayou was written by Karl Lloyd 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 © Karl Lloyd, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

Deep in the Bayou is not available here under CC-BY-SA.