Moment of Impact

## INTRODUCTION

The scenario takes place in Atlanta, Georgia in the mid-summer of 2020 and is well suited for agents with good compsci skills. It is written for agents who are members of the Outlaws, though handlers may run it all the same for their Program group.

## THE TRUTH

**Ambrose O’Neal** is a data analyst who has been contracted by the Department of Transportation to solve a bizarre, serious, but seemingly mundane issue; the intersection of **Barber Street and Lewiston avenue**, in a poor neighborhood of Atlanta called **“Lithgow Heights”**.
Though the cause(s) remain unknown, **Barber & Lewiston** is the site of more fatal car accidents than anywhere in Atlanta; on bad years, thrice the state average. The intersection is not markedly different from any other intersection in Atlanta: all four streets meet at 90 degree angles, there is a perfectly functional stoplight, and the lots on half the street corners are vacant, allowing most to see oncoming traffic; despite this, the death toll remains high.

Ambrose does not know this, but the man responsible for designing Lithgow Heights, an architect named **Peter Barber,** had inherited a copy of the **King in Yellow** from his late brother. He was corrupted by it and designed the entirety of Lithgow Heights in accordance with his visions of Carcosa. Barber was hunted and murdered in the 70s by Delta Green. The events here are a result of the corruption that is in the very layout of Lithgow Heights.
Ambrose sought out a modern solution, and so used his computer science experience to develop a program that would run simulations of the car accidents at Barber & Lewiston, tracking the vectors that the vehicles and their occupants made during the incident. After a few days of working, Ambrose finished programming **BARBLEWIS\_SIM.EXE**. He ran it and was confused and disappointed by the results.

The vectors of the occupants and their vehicles would make a pattern, one from a series of five. This was regardless of weather condition, type of vehicle, or even direction of entry into the intersection. Searching for any explanation, Ambrose put the images they created and superimposed them over one another.
Ambrose found out then that layering them onto one another made another shape:

### The Yellow Sign.

Upon seeing it, his curiosity seemed sated. He didn’t turn in a report to his superiors, but he did continue working, though not on the program.
**Ambrose** has been receiving directions through postcards, telephone calls, and dreams, telling him what to do to reach a city of intense beauty and wonder, Carcosa, which he longs to see.
Most recently, the orders directed him towards a self-storage business near the outskirts of Georgia, and to one of its containers. A note he found written on a balled-up napkin in his coffee cup a few days ago has instructed him to break in and steal some of its contents, and given him instructions on exactly how he can do that. He has utilized a ritual that allows him to travel through the whisper labyrinth and enter the storage container magically. Using what he stole from the container, and some parts mysteriously delivered to his door, he has built a contraption that is guarding his house - **The Matador,** and is making final preparations for his sojourn to Carcosa.

## BRIEFING

The agents are summoned by the usual means. The Cell Leader is ordered to join with their case officer, **Agent Sullivan**, a portly, limping retired DEA agent, who meets them at a gas station and briefs them on their mission, codenamed **“Operation Skipping Stone**”.
Delta Green received word from a friendly, Sgt. Dawson Brune with the APD, that a motion detector within the Green Box was triggered, though upon investigation, there seemed to be no signs of forced entry. Brune has not investigated any further and notified Delta Green, who has told him to standby and not to act unless contacted by Agents.
The Agents mission is to investigate Green Box #0309 and determine which items were stolen, destroy or regain custody of them, and investigate and eliminate whatever is responsible. They are given a list of items that are supposed to be contained in the Green Box

### The List

* One Remington Over-Under Shotgun
* Two snub-nose revolvers
* One chinese Type-56S with three magazines.
* An antique Spanish Rapier
* Any other tome or artifact the handler wishes to include

## GREEN BOX #0309

The Green Box is a rented self-storage container at “OTTO’S U-STORE” on the outskirts of Atlanta. The Green Box is lit by a single fluorescent bulb, and boxes of books on urban planning, english studies, poetry, drama, and fiction are scattered about the floor. A single teddy bear sits in the corner of the room.
Upon investigating the Green Box, they find that only two of the items are missing - the shotgun and the antique rapier.

### Investigation

#### The Nanny Cam

Sticking out like a sore thumb in the corner of the box is a Teddy bear, which most agents should be able to deduce is a nanny cam. The camera on it is motion-activated, and it contains three videos on its hard drive.

1. The first is off two agents of another cell depositing a manilla folder and two snub nose revolvers in a wooden crate before promptly leaving.
2. The second video begins with the camera on night-vision mode, the sound of wind is heard and what appears to be a dark-skinned man in a dirty business suit steps out of the wall carrying a coil-bound notebook. He briefly searches the container before collecting the Remington and the Spanish Rapier and leaving the way he came. The video ends. This costs any agent viewing it 0/1d3 SAN from the unnatural.
3. The third is a video of the agents entering the green box.

#### Forensics

Agents that decide to attempt the forensic approach are immediately rewarded with fingerprints, which will come up as a match for O’Neal within a few moments.
Footprints are also visible in the dust of the green box, though they seem to lead from the concrete wall, around the box, then back to it, with no indication that the wall was demolished or disturbed.
Agents who pull his face from the nanny cam will also find a match using facial recognition technology (legitimate or otherwise) and find his personal information (address and such). He has no criminal record.

## PURSUING O’NEAL

Leads gathered from the Green Box should lead them towards Ambrose O’Neal.

### Following him

O’Neal will only leave his home sporadically, usually at night, where he will travel to Barber & Lewiston and hand over books, costumes, machine pieces, and other items to masked men in yellow robes that seem to come from nowhere in the vacant, weedy lots. If he notices the agents, he will run down an alley and disappear into the whisper labyrinth.

### Hacking him

Ambrose, despite being a programmer, has rather poor cybersecurity. His social media and computer can be compromised by a savvy agent with a few hours of hard work. He hasn’t made any posts in two weeks, and his email shows a draft email addressed to his superiors, containing an image of him dressed in a bizarre, antique uniform carrying the shotgun, and another of the Yellow Sign. Gaining access to his webcam provides no useful info, as he has taped over it, though the webcam’s microphone still captures audio. They could gain access to BARBLEWIS.EXE and his notes on his research, which would give clues to his downfall.

### The O’Neal Residence

O’Neal’s house is in Lithgow Heights, it’s an old two-story house with an overgrown lawn. He has placed paper over the windows and rarely leaves.
Inside his house, he has taped up hundreds of images of the car wrecks at Barber & Lewiston, being inundated with the gruesome images costs 0/1 SAN from violence. Additionally, underneath some of the pictures, he has scrawled the Yellow Sign, which will be visible if any of the paper is removed from the walls.
Dozens of glass bottles and jars are scattered about his home, filled with yellowish-red water and swirling with leeches - byproducts of him building and feeding The Matador.
Upstairs is his bedroom and the bathroom. He has painted a yellow sign on the mattress of his bed. His bedroom also contains his home office, and his laptop as well as his “travel notes” (see ENTITIES AND ARTIFACTS). Inside the bathroom is where the Matador rests. Agents that enter the bathroom will awaken it, and it will relentlessly attack anyone that threatens its creator.

## RESOLUTION

The agents will have to find a way to eliminate O’Neal and destroy the mountain of unnatural phenomena that has infested his house without attracting too much attention.

## ENTITIES AND ARTIFACTS

### Characters

#### Sergeant Dawson Brune, Delta Green Friendly and Policeman

Brune’s been a friendly since the mid-2010s, he understands the importance of the group and he's willing to cooperate, he won’t do anything, but he’ll do a lot. He might be a viable choice if one of the PCs wants to play a friendly.

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

**HP** 11 **WP** 11 **SAN** 55 **BP** 44

**ARMOR:** Reinforced Kevlar Vest (armor 4)

**MOTIVATIONS AND DISORDERS**

Protecting the innocent

Being a decent fucking cop

Keeping the streets clean

Making it up to his ex-wife

**SKILLS:** Alertness 50%, Athletics 50%, Bureaucracy 40%, Criminology 40%, Driving 40%, Firearms 40%, HUMINT 40%, Law 40%, Melee Combat 50%, Persuade 50%, Search 40%, Stealth 30%, Unarmed Combat 40%

**ATTACKS:** *.40 Pistol* 40%, damage 1D10

*AR-15 Carbine* 40% damage 1D12, Armor Piercing 3

*Baton* 50% damage 1d6

*Stun Gun* 50% target stunned

*Unarmed* 50% damage 1d4-1

#### Ambrose O’Neal, Corrupted DoT Analyst

Ambrose was, up until very recently, a normal guy. Now he’s a traveler, looking to bypass this illusory world and see the true world of Carcosa. He is skittish and, though not trained, will not hesitate to use his new shotgun if threatened, which he usually keeps in a gym bag or slung over his shoulder. He will also keep his “travel notes” in said gym bag if he’s out of his house.

**STR** 10 **CON** 11 **DEX** 12 **INT** 15 **POW** 12 **CHA** 10

**WP** 12 **HP** 10 **SAN** 0 **Breaking Point:** N/A

**ARMOR:** None

**MOTIVATIONS AND DISORDERS:**

Procuring an invitation to the masquerade ball

Reaching Carcosa

Obsession (Understanding the Yellow Sign)

Paranoia

**SKILLS:** Accounting 50%, Alertness 40%, Athletics 23%, Art (textiles) 35%, Bureaucracy 40%, Computer Science 45%, Craft (Mechanics) 50%, Criminology 50%, Dodge 50%, Drive 50%, Firearms 20%, First Aid 20%, History 20%, HUMINT 30%, Law 40%, Melee Weapons 40%, Navigate 40%, Occult 20%, Persuade 41%, Search 40%, Swim 40%, Unarmed Combat 48%, Unnatural 10%

**ATTACKS:** *Unarmed* 40%, 1d4-1;

*Remington Over-Under* 40%, 2d8, 50m

**RITUALS KNOWN:** Enter the Labyrinth

### Entities

#### The Matador, Daredevil of Carcosa

Like all things from the dread city of Carcosa, no one is exactly sure what the Matador is or why it exists. Those who are aware of the King in Yellow and its manifestations group it in with the other quasi-clockwork constructs that the agents of the King are known to deploy. The Matador will activate if approached, or if the activation phrase (a quote from the King in Yellow) is uttered by O’Neal. This automaton resembles a clockwork skeleton wearing a harlequin mask. It holds a rapier in one hand and Muleta in the other.

##### THE MATADOR

**STR** 13, **CON** 20, **DEX** 16, **INT** 6, **POW** 6

**HP** 16, **WP** 6

**ARMOR:** See METAL AND PAPER

**SKILLS:** Alertness 40%, Athletics 40%

**ATTACKS:** Sweeping Rapier (65%, 1D8 or Disarm)

Lunge and Stab (45%, 1D8, 3 AP)

Clockwork Grapple (55%, 1D4 or Pin/Disarm)

**METAL AND PAPER:** The Matador is a hollow creature made of metal, porcelain, and paper. Any attack that rolls an odd number of damage only inflicts 1 point of damage. Successful Lethality rolls destroy it.

**PERFORMANCE FIGHTER:** Once per round, the Matador can call on its otherworldly powers of swordsmanship to viciously assault its victims. A leech bursts with a spray of blood.

**RIPOSTE:** The Matador spends 1 WP to apply a second offensive action as part of its fighting back roll. This can be their current victim or another target.

**VANISH:** The Matador spends 1 WP and heaves the muleta over itself. It flutters to the ground, empty. The Matador teleports to an unobserved location within 100m, 0/1D4 SAN to witness. The Matador can Vanish by itself, or it can teleport itself and another creature if that creature is either willing or has been successfully grappled. If the Matador expends all of its WP points, it can transport itself and anyone else directly to the Whisper Labrinth beneath Carcosa.

**THE MARK:** The Matador spends 1 WP carving the Yellow Sign into anyone it attacked and dealt damage past their Armor, inflicting an extra point. This costs 0/1D4 from helplessness even if the victim has already seen the sign.

**FEINT:** Whenever the Matador chooses to fight back against an attack, it can spend 1 WP to whip its rapier around in a confusing flurry of shining steel instead of imposing an offensive action. It gains +20% to its next attack roll.

**SHATTER:** Targeting the jar of leeches is a called shot at -20%. If the attack hits and does 2+ points of damage, the jar shatters and the Matador cannot spend WP to use any of its special abilities.
**SAN Loss:** 0/1D6 SAN to see spring into action. Analyzing the blueprints for the Matador or its remains turns up baffling results. Anyone with Craft (Mechanics) of 30% or more knows that if built according to its blueprint, the machine shouldn’t work, in fact, it shouldn’t even be able to move. This costs 0/1d4 SAN upon learning this after seeing it moving in spite of this.

### Artifacts

#### The Spanish Rapier

Peter Barber’s sword is a finely crafted Spanish rapier that looks to be about from the mid-19th century. It is dark with gold and copper filigree, obviously very expensive. Underneath the hit, the Yellow Sign has been imprinted.
An agent that falls asleep in possession of the sword (or, the last agent that has touched it with bare skin and is asleep in the same room as it) has terrifying dreams about brutally murdering a bond with the sword, dismembering them and skewering their limbs with it. They lose 1/1d6 from helplessness upon waking up, and find that the sword is in his arms. An agent that goes beyond their breaking point because of this, or because of violence inflicted onto them by the sword, develops an anxiety disorder or a phobia of bladed weapons. If an agent used the sword to harm someone, they do not experience these dreams, but become liable to develop a totemic compulsion to the sword if they hit their breaking point while in its possession.

### Tomes

#### O'Neal's Travel Notes

Ambrose O’Neal’s “Travel Notes”

The garbled notes of the maddened Ambrose O’Neal written inside of a 200-page Hilroy notebook. The official text on the notebook’s cover is corrupted and reads as text from the King in Yellow.
The first three pages are notes from his initial investigation into the Barber-and-Lewiston intersection, though after that the text becomes a disjointed mess of writing. Some pages contain hand-written transcripts of conversations with O’Neal and “Barber”, others contain lines from The King in Yellow. Towards the end of the notebook, O’Neal has written instructions to use the Enter the Labyrinth ritual.
( In English. Study time: 4 Hours. Unnatural +2%, Accounting +1%, San loss 1d6. Rituals: Enter the Labyrinth )

### Spells

#### Enter the Labyrinth

**Enter the Labyrinth**

*Simple Ritual.* Study Time: *days;* *1D6 SAN.* Activation: *One Turn; 6 WP; 1D6 SAN.*

This spell involves the user scrawling the Yellow Sign on any solid surface, closing their eyes, and walking forwards, as if no obstruction were there. When they open their eyes, they will appear in the Whisper Labyrinth beneath Carcosa. They can use this ritual from within the Whisper Labyrinth to exit in a particular location (through a solid surface), though they need to know where they go in the Labyrinth to travel to a specific location. In the real world, the yellow sign disappears after someone uses it to cast this spell.

## Credits

Moment of Impact was written by Fin Deeley for the 2022  Shotgun Scenario contest. Source: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vATw4LyMTBGNCLkodtyLs1BrUIKQujRsJ-MeRAxnYh8/edit#.

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 © Fin Deeley, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property.

Moment of Impact is not available here under CC-BY-SA.

For preservation purposes, a PDF backup of the original submission can be found here.