Edge of Darkness

### Introduction

The Edge of Darkness scenario brought together a team of new investigators at the deathbed of a mutual friend, who tasked them with investigating his dalliances with dark forces in his youth. Can they find their resolve to do what he could not, and face the horrors to rid them from this world?

## Episode 1

### A gathering of "Friends"

On a sunny Saturday in June, 1923, Marguerite Rivers was enjoying her breakfast, when the postman delivered an urgent telegram. Her presence was requested at the hospital bedside of an old acquaintance, Rupert Merriweather. He didn't say what he needed of her, but that he was sorry for the burden he must place on her shoulders.

Travelling to the hospital, she met Mary Monroe, and Robin Jeffreys, and together they visited upon their friend, who looked frail and broken. The Doctors said it was consumption, and though Rupert wore a brave face, it was a mask that easily slipped when the coughing started. After pleasantries were conducted, and the investigators were re-introduced to Rupert's wife Agnes, and son Betrand, he told them of a society he was a part of in his youth.

Together, he and his friends had purchased a small farmhouse outside of Arkham to conduct seances and minor psychic and supernatural ceremonies. It was supposed to be drunken fun. But one night they managed to summon forth something truly evil, leading to the death of one of the group, and madness for another.

As Rupert collapsed into a bloody coughing fit and was surrounded by doctors and nurses, he begged his friends to take the box on his side table, and do what he could not.

### What's in the box?

Upon retreating to a quiet corridor of the hospital, the three new-found friends discovered within the box a collection of items, including a letter, diary, Egyptian sarcophagus, a key, and a deed to the farmhouse. The diary and letter revealed more details about what Rupert believed he had brought forth into the world. It was said to be a horrible thing, which spoke in strange voices of its desire to kill and maim once it was freed.

Even though Rupert and his friends had failed to banish this creature, they had at least managed to secure it within the farmhouse with some form of magical warding. However, Rupert feared that as he and his friends passed, the bonds that held it so would weaken and break, and perhaps when he in turn passed, it could go free.

Although he wasn't sure how to rid the world of this monstrosity, Rupert claimed the leader of their group, Marion Allen had known, and that the secret to it lay in the forbidden tome of De Vermis Mysteriis.

The investigators followed up that thread by visiting the Miskatonic University library and managed to talk their way into a meeting with curator of the restricted section, Dr. Henry Armitage. He showed particular interest in the sarcophagus, and offered to let the group look at De Vermis Mysteriis if they could give him an opportunity to study it. Feeling put off by his persistence, the group beat a hasty retreat, and resolved to visit the farmhouse itself, before continuing any further investigation.

### Finding Ross' Corner

Robin was able to borrow his chauffeured vehicle for the day, and capably drove Mary and Marguerite into the backwoods of Massachusetts, travelling on vague directions to Ross' Corner. Although some backtracking was required, they eventually made it to the small hamlet, where they were accosted by the local sheriff, who questioned them on their plans and whether they knew anything of a missing local resident, Maggie McPhirter. They then stopped at a local store and purchased torches, and a cold soda pop.

Not taking time to ask for further directions, the investigators used the process of elimination and Robin's keen sense of direction to find the rutted path leading to Rupert Merriweather's farmhouse.

### The Farmhouse

The dilapidated building had seen better days, with sagging shutters, cracked windows, and what appeared to be a large hole in the roof near the rear of the building. Long grass ringed the driveway, and a collapsed barn behind the farmhouse only added to the isolated, and oddly silent veil of unease that rested upon the area.

The key from the box opened the front door, and inside the investigators were greeted with an awful smell of rot, and damp, and perhaps something worse besides. While searching, Mary heard some sort of scrabbling from the basement downstairs, and so, with torch in hand, descended the staircase to investigate. As they neared the basement itself, they heard the sound of someone's fast and panicked breathing, and before they could descend further, a crazed man attacked from the shadows, striking Mary on the shoulder with a broken table leg.

Unperturbed, Marguerite was able to halt the man's rampage and held him close, while Mary ripped the weapon from his hand, and struck him across the temple, dropping him to the floor instantly.

The attack seemed to pull him from his manic episode, long enough at least to tell them of his fears of the monster that dwelled within the forest surrounding the farmhouse, and that now he had rested, he would leave as soon as he could. Suspecting that he was perhaps relevant to the missing person that the sheriff was hunting for, the investigators made a quiet pledge to take the man known as Red Jake, back to Ross' Corner.

## Episode 2

### The body

At Red Jake's urging, the investigators returned to the woods to look for what may have happened to the woman who he heard screaming there. While walking through the long grass surrounding the property, Robin discovered the body of a raccoon, seemingly recently deceased. It was stiff, with flies buzzing over its matted fur, but when turned, showed a huge gaping wound in its chest, with oddly smooth sides, as if something had been scooped from it, rather than ripped, torn, or cut.

Venturing into the darkening woods, they eventually stumbled across the body of a woman matching the description of the missing Maggie McPhirter. She too had a terrible wound in her chest, and appeared to be missing her heart.

Horrified at what they'd found, the investigators returned to their car, only to find Red Jake gone. They headed back to Ross' corner where they informed the sheriff what they had found. He followed them back to the body and confirmed their suspicions. Although he did question them on their potential involvement with the victim, he ultimately called in some deputies from Ross' Corner to recover the body.

The investigators took this time to further explore the farmhouse, discovering elements from the original ritual in a trunk under the stairs in the basement. It included some copper oxide powder, and an unknown silvery substance that even Marguerite's skills couldn't identify.

For a moment they considered investigating the attic, but upon being assaulted with a loud banging from the trap door, they decided against it.

### Back to Arkham

Resolving to translate the Latin ritual, Robin drove them back to Arkham where they again visited the Orne Library at the Miskatonic University, this time agreeing to a meeting with Dr Armitage who traded them time with De Vermiis Mysteriis in return for their rubbings of the sarcophagus' hieroglyphs. He couldn't identify them, but suggested they were very old and once again urged them to let him see the trinket in person.

With their time with the book, they confirmed the steps from the original summoning ritual, and learned that to banish the creature that it brought forth, they would have to complete all of the original elements of the ritual, but perform the chant in reverse.

With the hour now late, they retreated to the Astall's estate to ponder their discoveries and recuperate from the day's travels. As they were about to head to bed, a banging at the door threatened to wake the whole household. It was Bertrand. He confirmed his father's passing, and having discovered details of the farmhouse in his Father's will, he pledged to travel there himself, immediately. He was armed with a long barrel rifle and seemed keen to use it.

The investigators made an attempt to dissuade him, and he promised to wait at least until morning. Whether he did, is another matter.

## Episode 3

### The Ritual

Waking the next morning, the investigators regrouped and visited the Town Hall in an attempt to find Betrand's address. They discovered a phone number, but no one picked up, so they visited his address, but nobody seemed home. Assuming he had followed through on his threat to visit the farmhouse, they drove there are high speed, using Robin's knowledge of the back roads to shave precious minutes off their travel time.

When they reached the farmhouse, they saw Betrand's car outside, its engine ripped and wrought as if assaulted by a wild animal. Bertrand stumbled outside holding his rifle, clearly drunk, or hungover, or both. They calmed him down and filled him in on their plans for the ritual. He agreed to go along with it, but seemed incredulous of its potential.

They waited for the evening, preparing and resting as best they could. After Marguerite's multiple failed attempts to draw the pentagram on the floor in charcoal, Betrand aided the effort and helped them set the stage for the ritual. The copper oxide was thrown into a fresh fire, and the chanting began.

There was an immediate response from somewhere in the attic, where the banging resumed, followed by an awful smell permeating the property. Drips of hissing black liquid began to seep between the floorboards of the ceiling above, scorching Robin's arm. Then the raccoon they saw earlier, appeared reanimated at the window, hissing and spitting and clawing at the glass.

Lights flashed across the window as a car pulled up. The sheriff began banging on the door, demanding that they let him and Mrs Agnes Merriweather inside. When Mary greeted them, Agnes accused them of attempting to steal her late husband's property, and demanded they remove themselves. While arguing with the sheriff, the investigators heard a terrifying roar, only for a bear to loom behind the sheriff and strike him down. Agnes was attacked in turn, and went running into the night.

After mauling the sheriff, the bear began to stalk the investigators, throwing itself at the door, then scratching at the protective symbols over the window. At Robin's urging, Betrand turned the rifle on the bear as it tried to breach the window and fired twice in quick succession, dropping the creature out of sight.

A woman's cry pierced the night and almost interrupted their chanting. It was Agnes. Betrand opened the door and ran for her, hoping to help his crying mother. But she was no longer as he knew her. Laughing, she reached bone white hands for him and dragged him to the ground, trying to bite and claw at him, cackling despite the huge wound in her chest.

After freeing himself, Betrand reluctantly handed the rifle to Robin, who punched a round through her chest wound, which exploded out of her back, putting her down again; For good this time.

While the sheriff too had reanimated and was clawing and gurgling at the window, the ritual reached its zenith, and through their collective will, the investigators drew down the awful creature from the attic as a swirling cloud, pinning it within the pentagram. It roiled like oily black smoke, coalescing and collapsing into various faces, before settling on the visage of Marguerite's old lover, David. He tried to convince her to stop the chant and set him free, but she held strong and ignored his pleas. Frustrated, the creature then transformed itself into Sky Jeffries, Robin's late wife.

Believing her returned to him and unable to resist her siren's song, Robin stepped forward to embrace his long lost wife. Marguerite attempted to tackle him, but missed, leaving only moments until he would break the pentagram and set the creature free. Mary managed to block him with her body, and embracing the old man in a restraining hug, she pulled him away.

Before the creature could attempt anything further, Marguerite threw the silvery powder onto it, revealing its true and terrifying form. A million maws, folding in upon each other, with gnashing, drooling teeth, and flailing limbs that grew and shrank in tandem with its swirling. The awful, cancerous, roiling mass threw itself against the bounds of the pentagram, but was unable to free itself. The investigators could feel it pounding at their minds, hoping its psychic assault would break their will.

But it held firm.

Maintaining steadfast in their chanting, the investigators resisted the creatures efforts, and slowly, but surely, it began to fade, pieces of it flaking off and fizzling away as if burned. Before long, all that was left was a bubbling black pool in the floor, which gradually cooled and seeped into the woodwork.

### The Aftermath

Buoyed by their success, but fearful of the consequences of their actions, Betrand and the investigators agreed to burn the building to the ground, with the bodies of those nearby inside it. It might not hide their tracks for long, but it was better than nothing.

Dragging the bodies of Agnes Merriweather and the sheriff inside, they set the building ablaze, along with Betrand's car. Mary set the sheriff's horse loose into the woods with a firm slap on its rear.

Days later, with the glow of the fire fading like their memories of that night, an article appeared in the Arkham Gazette, discussing the fire. It said that due to the presence of multiple unknown bodies within the burned out husk of the building, the county sheriff's office was investigating. The missing Betrand Merriweather, was the only named person of interest.