Destruction of Wheatfield

## Casualties

*“How many casualties?”*
*“Almost two thousand. The entire town of Wheatfield, Kansas was destroyed. We were required to move into the place with the assistance of the army. Even using flamethrowers, two substations suffered thirteen dead each. I almost called in help from other divisions.”*— Derek Hawthorne and the Professor, *Esoterrorism*
The **Destruction of Wheatfield** was the beginning of the Wazir's attempt to expose the supernatural to the public. The primary purpose of the attack was to test the effectiveness of Matheson-22, a bioweapon that could be used to turn humans into draugr. The Wazir chose to test the weapon in the town of Wheatfield, resulting in its complete destruction and the House having to cover up its existence after putting down the draugr.

## Background

For centuries, Karl Bjornson and the House were locked in a silent war, with the Emerald Eye mounting countless attacks against the organization. However, in the early 2000s, the Wazir decided to change his endgame, switching his methods from destroying the House entirely to attempting to expose the supernatural to the world. To do this, he needed a way to simultaneously damage the House and publicly expose the supernatural, and for this, he needed allies.

For this mission, he had Cassandra Cassidy make a pitch to the Committee, claiming that she was attempting to create a miracle cure for multiple diseases through reverse engineering the biological process that turns humans into draugr. The Committee agreed with her idea and loaned her Dr. Edward Strickland to assist her. Unknown to them, both Casssandra and Strickland were working with the Wazir, having their own grudges against the House. In secret, Strickland created the Matheson virus, a virus designed to turn people into draugr. It took almost two dozen iterations and the lives of several Pantheon Corp scientists, but eventually, the virus was perfected, and the Wazir decided to test it. Although the Committee knew the attack would happen due to their ability to see the future, they saw the chance to prove to the United States federal government that they were still necessary and chose not to intervene.

## Attack

For this test, the Wazir chose Wheatfield, Kansas. Using a homunculus so as to not risk his own life, the Wazir deployed the virus in the town, turning the civilians to draugr; not only that, but the latest iteration of the virus allowed the draugr to spread the infection through bites like zombies, exponentially increasing the infection rate. Soon enough, the entire town, with a population of roughly 2,000 people, was fully converted into draugr. To put down the outbreak, the Professor led a squad consisting of Army servicemen and some of the House's own agents, using flamethrowers to put down the draugr. Thanks to the draugrs' increased durability and infection rate, the team suffered around two dozen casualties, but they were eventually able to put down the draugr inside, ending the attack.

## Legacy

With no other option to keep the supernatural under wraps, the House had to completely erase the town's entire existence, including the people inside. It took much more time and effort than usual, but they were eventually able to make it as if Wheatfield, Kansas never existed.

The test was a complete success for the Wazir, who now had the bioweapon he needed to expose the supernatural to the world. The next step was to begin distributing the virus to his allies in the Emerald Eye, and one of these handoffs became a second attempted bio-attack.

During the Wazir's confrontation with Derek Hawthorne, he revealed that the Committee were aware of the attack before he did it and chose to let it happen. Though Derek originally did not believe the allegation, he later received evidence from the Wazir proving it was true, and it led to his decision to ascent to the Committee. During his own resulting conversation with Derek, the Chairman accidentally confirmed the allegation.

Wheatfield and its citizens were finally avenged when Derek killed the Wazir during the Battle at Cassandra's Lair.