Black Lilith

## Keeper’s background

Eight ancient stone disks, which were stolen from the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, were bought by a black market collector from New York, Dr James Hanneman, and stored in a safety deposit box at the Apple Bank for Savings, at 124 East 125th Street in Harlem, New York. The discs were reputed to have magical properties, and sponsors from Tiger Transit became interested in the discs, after transporting them. Unable to secure their purchase, they arranged for an ex-CIA operative, Marly Simmons, to stage a bank robbery to obtain the discs. Although the heist went badly, and Marly was forced to kill all her co-conspirators (with the help of a summoned Dimensional Shambler), she did escape with the discs, which she promptly delivered to the Uptown Ladies Lounge in Upper Manhatten, a proprietary of Tiger Transit.

The madam of the ‘Lounge’, Miss Lucy Wong, stored the discs in the safe as instructed, but could not resist examining them herself, being aware of the ‘ceremonial’ activities of Tiger Transit. She tried spinning one of them, which evoked the entity, Black Lilith, but there was no visible evidence of this summoning, only that the disc itself hummed an alien tune when spun, and began to hover for about 20 seconds. Terrified of what she had done, she hurriedly put the discs back in the safe.

Lilith manifests as a tulpa initially, a thought form, rather than a physical creature, and her presence is now abroad, urging radical atrocities. As her first act, she caused the prostitutes of the ‘Lounge’ to rebel, whereby a violent uprising left the minders dead, and the Lounge burnt to the ground.

Although Lilith has not manifested physically as yet, a number of terrifying incidents about the city are now occuring, including children being thrown from high windows, and men being messily emasculated by their partners during felatio. In each case, Lilith takes over a woman with low SAN, and gleefully causes havoc.

## Agents’ introduction

The Agents are called to the scene of the fire in New York, the next day. They discover evidence of multiple slayings in what was known as a high-class brothel, including the remains of a businessman still handcuffed to a blackened bedstead, fat and burnt flesh fused to the bedsprings. It should be possible to trace ownership of the burnt out club via front companies to Tiger Transit, whose spokesmen will maintain that their relationship was merely financial.

The safe has already been drilled open, and the discs are available for examination, although their origins are not yet known.

## Leads

### The discs

Tests will confirm that these date from around 800BC. They are etched with Hebrew, telling the tale of Black Lilith, Adam’s other wife. If anyone tries to spin one of the discs, they will do so easily, and will even begin to float above the surface for a short while before returning. The effects of the discs will vary; shadows will start to emerge in the vicinity, a tittering sound is audible, and a voice in their heads telling them of Lilith, and of how she is abroad. Spinning the discs will also have the effect of giving Lilith an additional POW each time, and their unsettling effects will cause a SAN loss (1/1D4). They will also trigger further attrocities in the city, although the Agents may not be aware of this. Note that if the discs are converted to digital form and viewed, the same effect will occur.

Patient research will reveal that they were recently stored at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, under the care of a curator, Çelebi Hasbi. Hasbi can be reached by phone or email, however, he is quite old, half-deaf, half-mad and half-blind. If the Agents contact him, he may not be able to hear them properly, or may forget entirely that he spoke to them, the moment that the call ends. Hasbi should be a frustrating foil for the Agents – he has fully translated the discs (+4% Cthulhu Mythos, 1D6 SAN, 1 Month, 1 spell: Summon/ Bind Lilith), and also knows its single spell (see below), which can end Lilith’s spree. However, reliably obtaining this information from him should be arduous.

### The Uptown Ladies Lounge

Forensics of the site shows that some of the bodies were victims of bodily violence, whilst others died from the fire. It seems a mass brawl was in progress when the fire started.

Investigating the background of the former establishment may turn up the Madam Wong, in hiding. Wong may be induced to disclose her knowledge of the discs, how she ‘accidentally’ caused one to spin, the ensuing violence, and that they were first delivered to the Lounge by Marly Simmons.

Researching Simmons, will reveal that she is ex-CIA, and wanted for questioning for the aforementioned bank robbery, whereby two of her associates were shot dead, and the third was never found – he simply ‘disappeared’ in the vault. The Agents may be able to get a meeting, as Wong knows how to contact her. It is likely, however, that Simmons will suspect a trap, and will take appropriate precautions. How this pans out is down to the Agents and the Keeper.

If Simmons can be induced to talk (threats, cash and false passports will likely help), then she can fill in the Agents on her recent activities. She would never testify against Tiger Transit, and will likely try to sell any information she has. She can reveal that her employers, Tiger Transit, seemed interested in the discs for their ‘esoteric’ value. She will not elaborate on the bank robbery, other than ‘it got messy’.

### Lilith and a resolution

Every time an atrocity occurs in the city (and is reported in the press), or the discs are spun, or a lengthy discussion about Lilith occurs (probably by the Agents), her thought form gains a point of POW. Starting at 12, when she reaches 18 POW, she will manifest physically. The key to stopping Lilith is either diverting all attention away from her, such that her thought form gains no more POW, and gradually disappears (a press blackout would help, for example), or using the spell, Summon/ Bind Lilith from the discs to slay her directly.

If Hasbi can be contacted, and he can outline the correct usage of the discs for Summon/ Bind Lilith, it will cause her to appear within minutes, whereby they can attack her physically. To bind her, requires that a female sings a lullaby to her (must be LARPed, live action delays are mapped into game time delays), which causes Lilith to become mesmerised, until the next attack occurs, which inflicts full damage (if it hits). This cannot be used twice by the same group.

## NPCs

### Lilith

**STR** 20 **CON** 15 **SIZ** 15 **INT** 19 **POW** 12 **DEX** 12 **APP** ? **EDU** ? **SAN** ? **HP** \*

**Damage Bonus:** +1D6

**Weapons**: Paralysing Breath 85%\*\*, Claw 55%, damage 1D6+db

*\*HP are equal to POW*

*\*\*Paralysing Breath is POT 20 poison, which causes total paralysis. Roll vs POT 20 every 30 minutes to shake off the paralysis. The victim can see, hear and feel everything. They can grunt and make small gestures, but nothing else. She is likely to paralyse a victim, then pick them up and carry them off using her unnatural Climb.*

**Possession**: If Lilith is still a tulpa, when a female victim is alone they must make a SAN roll, else be possessed for 1D6 x10 minutes. She can only try the same person once per night.

**Armor**: All weapons do minimum damage, unless mesmerised, then it is full damage for the next attack.

**Skills**: Climb 99% (Like a fly), Hide 90%, Listen 75%, Sneak 90% (In shadows), Spot Hidden 50%.

**Sanity Loss**: 1/1D8

**Description**: She appears as an extremely elderly, naked woman with elongated limbs and fingers. She has a very long purple tongue, and often crawls across ceilings and building exteriors.

### Marly Simmons, age 27

**STR** 9 **CON** 12 **SIZ** 11 **INT** 8 **POW** 12 **DEX** 10 **APP** 15 **EDU** 14 **SAN** 50 **HP** 13

**Damage Bonus**: +0

**Occupation**: Criminal

**Skills**: Bargain 55%, Computer Use 40%, Dodge 30%, Drive Auto 75%, Fast Talk 55%, Listen 45%, Persuade 55%, Psychology 25%, Tradecraft 45%

**Languages**: English 80%

**Attacks**: Knife 65% Damage 1D4+2, Glock 17 85% Damage 1D10 (3 shots per round, magazine 17)

## Credits

Black Lilith was written by Mark Brassington for the 2013 shotgun scenario contest.