Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Oklahoma Part #2)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

The team decides to walk the town, to see what they can learn about the local happenings and the good Rev. Kornfield. On their excursion they make the following stops, and learn and see the following things: 

• Oz flips through the newspapers in the hotel lobby, looking for any sign that people have been dying or disappearing in town. On the contrary, he discovers there have been almost no deaths since the Rev. Kornfield returned from his wilderness excursion, and none at all from traumatic events. 
• As the team makes it's way down Main Street, Ivy notes the stray cats all look half-starved. 
• Nigel and Oz head for Kinkel's Barbershop for a trim and to ask questions. Ralph Kinkel, barber  and owner, has nothing but praise for Rev, Kornfield, hinting even that the good reverend has helped his wife get over some unspecified affliction. They pair are startled when Ralphs' wife rushes into the shop from their upstairs home, leaps against the window to slurp up the lazy flies that buzz there, then rushes back upstairs. Ralph shrugs as if to say 'Woman!' and goes back to cutting hair. Oz likewise notes old Harry Mathewson snoring the the comer, looking like he (literally) just ate a whole pig. And is again startled when the old man stirs, rubs his jaw so hard it unhinges completely, before pushing it back in place. Ralph notes the Rev. Kornfield has recently cured Harry of his blindness. 
• Ivy and Zeke head for the offices of the local paper, the  Bingham Journal. There they befriend the editor Baxter Fandyke, who they learn is not a fan of the Reverend. But is too afraid of alienating his customers to say much. But he does let Ivy browse the pile of back issues and his files to learn more about the town. She notes that pictures of the  Reverend show a man who looks much younger after his harrowing pilgrimage in the wilderness. She also learns he is single, and dismissed his cook shortly after returning from the wilderness
• The four reunite and head for the church. Except for the lack of half the sign outside and the usual Christian paraphernalia inside, it looks much like any other small town church. Except the Sunday school kids seem obsessed by Adam and Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. As is the good reverend, based on the sermon notes the team rifles through in the small office. 
• Having learned from the newspaper editor that the local blacksmith is no fan of Rev, Kornfield's, they head to Bill Schoenbaum's forge to have a talk. The big man is clear in his dislike of the reverend; seems to have something to do with how his wife was 'healed' of her skin condition. But the blacksmith gives few details, and remains guarded. He does tell them to go see Peggy Shaw if they want to see more of what the Rev Kornfeld's supposed healing touch can do. 
• Encountering a crowd of street urchins rushing out of an abandoned house nearby, the team gets the kids to show them what's going on. They are led to the upper story which overlooks the Schoenbaum home. There they see Bill wife, Pearl, sunbathing naked on the roof. They see no sign of a skin condition though; in fact her skin looks pink as fresh as a newborn. Remarkable for a woman in her fifties.  
• Before going to see Peggy Shaw, they head back to the telegraph/telephone office where her husband Greg works. They've learned he seems to be uncomfortable with the Reverend as well. He doesn't say much, so they go outside to eat their picnic lunch and eavesdrop with the serpent person listening device they brought. They hear Greg conspiring with Suzie Schoenbaum, Bill and Pearl's teenage daughter. The pair plan to firebomb the church that night. They also overhear the office manager listening in on the phone calls of everyone in town, and making notes on those who speak ill of the Rev, Kornfield. 
• The team backtracks to the Shaw house, where Ivy gains entry by posing as a public health nurse. Peggy Shaw is just recovering from a difficult birth, one in which the Rev, Kornfield intervened to save mother and child. As she speaks to the pale and frail Peggy, she is shocked to learn the young woman is very visibly pregnant again, having given birth weeks before. And notes she is tending a sand tray full of reptilian eggs warming under the kitchen stove. Checking on the newborn in the nursery, Ivy is further shocked to see a baby with scales and a forked tongue! 

The team reconvenes back at the hotel. They decide to not intervene in the planned firebombing of the church, but instead will find a place nearby to observe what happens. They find an abandoned house just across the street, and watch (and listen) as Greg and Suzie sneak into the church and set it ablaze before running off into the shadows. The alarm is soon raised, and after some time the team likewise sneak out and joins the the bucket brigade of townsfolk who have gathered, attempting unsuccessfully to douse the flames. This brings them to the attention of Rev, Kornfield, who  praises and thanks them for their efforts and insists they join the congregation for a outdoor Sunday service  the following day ... 

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (New York Part #2 / Oklahoma Part #1)

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)

[Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)]

Over the course of the four days flying back to New York, Ivy spends time studying the sketch Pangea map from the serpent person outpost. She  locates four of the red dots on the current map of the world; North Borneo, Iceland, Belgian Congo and New York. Meanwhile, Zeke begins to air his doubts about their employer with the rest of the team. He gets everyone in line with his thinking, that there are many  more secrets under the Caduceus cover, and they need to find out more so they know what they are getting themselves into on these missions. And if they're really working for the good guys. 

As such, on arrival back in New York, they report to the Meadham Building for debrief. And this time push back, demanding to be told more information, pushing the fact they need to know more if they're putting their necks on the line. Their interviewer, a stuffed shirt named John Adams,  tells them nothing. And they figure out quickly he doesn't know anything to tell them.  But the push does get Ms. Parville, Mr. Meadham's personal secretary, involved. She agrees to arrange a meeting with her boss, and let's it slip to Nigel that Mr. Meadham has already expressed interest in meeting the team. 

Left with many days to spare before their meeting with the head of Caduceus, the team spends some time digging for more information. A trip to the New York City Library uncovered some more information on Rose Meadham. It seems she is still alive, but estranged from her father and somehow changed (both physically and mentally). Attempts to learn more about Joshua Meadham turned up nothing they didn't' already know. But they did find building permits for his Connecticut estate that dated from about the time he sold his pharmaceutical business and started Caduceus. In seems he built some sort of  unusual structure around that time, but details were unclear. 

Ivy then turned to her street contacts, but likewise was unable to learn anything new. But did learn that people had been asking about her. And that she was right now being tailed, her contact pointing out a trenchcoated man standing in a doorway just down the street. When she informed the rest of the team, tthey quickly realized they were being followed as well. 

After about a week, the team is summoned to the Meadham Building. Arriving by cab, they have a curious encounter. As Zeke is about the pay the cabbie, a man steps out of the crowd and pays instead. The man then simply says "Fugetaboutit. Let your friends take care of this one for you" before disappearing  into the crowd.

The team is led into a 7th floor meeting room, and are seated at a table opposite two men. One they recognize as Dr. Goncalves, the Caduceus head of research. The other is a 7' tall giant of a man who simply stares unblinkingly at the party, making them feel increasingly uncomfortable. Relief arrives in the form of Joshua Meadham, a white haired old man with a cane who sits between the other two.  He begins by praising the team and their efforts in Bolivia and North Borneo, somewhat callously noting the success of their recent mission and seemingly unconcerned with the loss of innocent life involved. He also made some snide comments' about their ability to kill off team leads, before appointing Nigel as their new lead. Zeke and the others try to pry more information out of Mr. Meadham, but the presence of the huge bodyguard (Canning) throws them off their game. They do draw out a promise to provide more information on missions when possible. But there is a sense of urgency. When asked how far advanced the serpent person plans are, Joshua Meadham is unhesitant when he says they are very close to completion and time is critical.  But it is not clear which to which plans he refers, and when Oz uses his clairvoyance on the meeting room table, he is troubled by the sense that the last meeting in here involved creatures of the Mythos! 

But for now, they turn to the briefing for their next mission. A cult worshipping Yig, the Father of Snakes, has come to light. They are situated in a small town in Oklahoma and are using the guise of a Christian church. A heavy-handed approach is not needed at least, not to begin with. Caduceus needs to find out the root cause of all this. Find out how this backwater town has turned to worshipping this particular god. Be on the lookout for serpent people. Remember the Inner Night is dangerous and can appear just like a human! Mr. Medaham and Canning then leave, and Dr Goncalves takes over the briefing. He plays them a recording from Radio KFOC in Oklahoma City. It's a broadcast by the preacher from the little town of Bigham, a man by the name Kornfield. It seems at first to be a standard radio sermon, but when Dr. Goncalves makes a few adjustments on the record player, a second recording is heard praising Yig instead. 

The team draws some equipment (including a serpent person listening device) and hops the train to the dustbowl of Oklahoma. Dropped on the platform in the town of Bingham, they make their way to the only hotel and get rooms. Using as a cover story that they have been drawn by the reverend's preaching on the radio, they hear nothing but praise for the Kornfield. The hotel co-owner, Delbert Adams, tells them how the reverend was always a good man, but some months ago went into the wilderness to fast and pray, and returned a new man. A few other folks they talk too likewise have nothing but good to say about the Rev. Kornfield ...