AD&D Campaign Discussion Post

 It's been suggested that I post my ideas for the upcoming campaign somewhere rather than a long email thread to make it easier to keep track the plans and discussion. I've posted it here and to the Facebook group, and will update each location on an ongoing basis as I get new ideas, change my mind on others, and respond to questions and suggestions from the peanut gallery potential players. Feel free to add thoughts and pose questions in the comments to avoid the ungodly email string these things sometimes turn into. Note that you have to be logged in to a Google account to comment; that's the only way to keep the spam-bots under control.

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Below is a short summary of my thoughts at the moment, subject to change between now and whenever we start playing. For those of you not re-living your 1980's AD&D nerd-dom, feel free to tune the rest of us out for the foreseeable future. Rest assured, once we actually start play, there will be monsters to slay, treasure to steal, and Terry's character(s) to mock for their short lifespan(s).

In no particular order:

- Working title of the campaign is "Gygax & Greyhawk". I'll be using Greyhawk (focused in one area TBD) as the campaign setting, and we'll hit as many of the old modules as we can. This will be a regular campaign, not just a 'greatest hits', so their will be other things mixed in with the old school AD&D modules.

- The goal of the campaign is to get you guys to name level (i.e. 9th +) or higher and let you run rampant against one or more of the cool AD&D end game monsters and locales. Fight Drow and mindflayers in the Underdark, Asmodeus in the Nine Hells, or Orcus in the Abyss. Or something like that. To make sure we get there before we all (i.e. me) burn out, the pace of character advancement will be faster than in past campaigns. But I still intend this to run a 'full' campaign of 50-80 sessions or so.

- Of the modules you guys have mentioned the following are likely out: Pharaoh, Lost City, Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, Slaver series. They don't quite fit with what I have in mind. The others (along with a lot of other stuff) are fair game. Agree with Jon that TOEE might be a bit much for the speed at which we play; but I might mine it for ideas and themes and bits and pieces.

- Rules will be 1st Ed AD&D, with the retroclone OSRIC (and houserules etc) as a backup for those esoteric bits in the original rules that are a wee bit obtuse. But as much as possible, we'll play rules a written.

- No Unearthed Arcana. Sorry, no barbarians, cavaliers, drow, or deep gnomes. I reserve the right to mine UA for magic items, spells, and bits of rules, but for players you are following the Players Handbook for everything you need character wise. I will entertain specific UA requests on a case by case basis.

- From a character perspective, if it's in the PH, it's game legal. Yes you can be a half-orc assassin if you so wish. And we're not using the psionics rules.

- Although character selection is entirely up to you, keep in mind these old modules are written for a well balanced party i.e. a good mix of fighters, clerics, magic users, etc. Sounds like most of you are leaning towards the fighter/cleric area; except Terry's werido options. I think Mary is also leaning towards elf fighter/magic user or something similar. But I'd suggest being flexible with your choices just in case a particular 'role' needs to be filled.

- Speaking of characters, we'll roll them all together at the first session. We'll use 4d6, drop the lowest and arrange as you like. So should be no trouble to get whatever race/class you want unless it's got some silly ability score requirements like paladins, monks, etc.

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (New York Part#5)

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 spent the next week laying low in the cheap hotel to which they'd relocated their centre of operations. Zeke did slip out to make contact with some old friends, returning with a resupply of weaponry, ammunition and dynamite. Oz locked himself in the bathroom with the two fearful tomes liberated from Joshua Meadham's library. But otherwise they waited for any hubbub arising from their gunfight at the Meadham Building to die down, and discussed what to do next. They decided to make contact with the Bonanno crime family, who'd been making efforts to connect with the team over their last few visits to New York. Ivy dropped some hints to he friends on the streets, and she was not surprised to find, a few days later, a large car pull up in front of the hotel, driven by Lucio and Filemone Casale, their erstwhile Mafia contact. Casale bundled the team into the car, and by a circuitous route, drove them deep into Brooklyn, stopping in front of the Green Garden Cafe. 

Although the sign said the restaurant was closed, all the tables appeared to be full, and Casale led them inside. There, leading them past tables of rough looking men in bad suits, he introduced them to four men at a large table in the rear: Giuseppe “Joseph” Bonanno, Phillipe Rappa, Francesco “Frank Caroll” Garofalo, and  Giovanni “John” Bonventre. Ivy recognize Bonanno as the head of that crime family, and the others as his highest advisors. After some polite banter and good Italian cooking, they get down to business.  Bonanno questions the team about their role with Caduceus, experiences, and their recent falling out with their employer. The team is pretty forthcoming without getting too far into the details of 'the Mythos is coming'. Impressed by their candor, Bonanno has an offer for them. The family has gotten intelligence that Caduceus is edging into the illegal drug market in New York, a market which the Bonanno family currently dominates. Using a cover story of ensuring the drug supply is 'clean', Bonanno makes the team an offer. They help Bonanno find out what Caduceus is up to drug-wise, and he will help them find the Serpent Scepter (which he seemed to know all about). He directs them to a pair of warehouses in the Redhook district, both owned by Caduceus. One is obviously used for supplies related to Caduceus' humanitarian cover. The other they do not know, but suspect it is related to the drug trade.  Bonanno send the team on their way, and lets them know “John” Bonventre will be their contact going forward. 

Deal made, the team takes a taxi down to Redhook to scout the location. The two buildings lie in a maze of other warehouses. One is quite busy, but poorly guarded. The other is largely silent, but the guards appear much more active. Both are surrounded by fences, with a vehicle gate facing the road and large cargo doors facing the docks on the East River. The team crosses over to Manhattan to size up the docks, and decide their best bet is to approach from the water late at night. That night, they obtain a small rowboat and row with muffled oars to the seemingly inactive warehouse, timing their arrival to avoid the guards walking the perimeter.  Once on the dock, they listen at the bay doors, and hear voices inside. At least 4-5 men by the sound of it. They then split into two parties (Ivy & Zeke, Oz & Nigel) and move into the shadows on either side of the warehouse, in the hopes of surprising and chloroforming the two outside guards they'd seen on their earlier scouting trip. Ivy & Zeke pull it off with ease, but Oz & Nigel stumble a bit in the dark and have to clobber their guard with a pistol butt to knock him out. Thankfully before he can call out for help. 

Tying them up and stripping them of their uniforms (one of which fit Oz nicely, Nigel with the other not so much), they move towards the front entrance. Seeing and hearing nothing inside, they use the guard's keys to get into the building, finding themselves in the office area.  They silently sift through paperwork, finding the warehouse seems to hold lot's of construction related equipment and supplies, as well as some other undisclosed 'special' items. They also learn there are likely 10 guards on site, which definitely points to something of value and great danger to the team. However, they carefully open the door at the end of the office area which leads into the rest of the warehouse. And are confronted with a maze of wooden packing crates, large and small, blocking their view. They grade a small one by the door, and carry it back into the office to open. It contains a mix of tools, just as the contents painted on the side suggests.  Hoping to find one of the 'special' crates, they head back into the warehouse and carefully move their way down the passages between the rows. But turning the corner, Nigel runs headlong into a security guard. He tries to take him down silently, but the guard dodges, and turns to run. Presumably for help. Nigel raises his revolver to shoot the fleeing man in the back ...   

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Belgian Congo Part #3 / New York Part#4)

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 heads back to the basement of the pyramid to contemplate next moves. Should they go through the gate, even through they're not sure where it leads and what might be waiting for them? Or take their chances with the jungle and get back to civilization the old fashioned way? They decide on the gate, but only after Oz tries his clairvoyance on it and learns it leads somewhere they've been before. And that the control panel doesn't control destination, but activates/deactivates defenses on the other side. So Oz deactivates the defenses, while Zeke examines the serpent person laser staffs and figures out a way to jury rig two together and fire a continuous beam. Which he sets in place to destroy the strange power plant, and then follows the rest of the team through the gate..

Which drops them into a long concrete corridor, and standing ready about 40' away was the head of Caduceus security, Frank DeLuca, and four security guards, two of whom carried tommy guns. The security guards open fire, and the team responses. In short order, the guards and Mr. De Luca are down for the cost of a minor wound to both Nigel and Ivy. Examining the bodies the team is horrified, but not surprised, to find the guards were all serpent persons in disguise and Mr. De Luca was some sort of serpent person / human hybrid. They relieve the dead of their weapons (and Mr. De Luca of his key ring) and get moving before anyone comes to investigate the gunfire. Assuming they are at Caduceus HQ, they find stairs and go up. They avoid the next floor, with signs of laboratories and commotion, and instead make their way into the mechanical  and janitorial spaces in the 'real' basement. Determined the search the upper floors for the Serpent Scepter and more information, they disguise themselves as the evening janitorial crew and make their way to he main lobby. It being Friday evening, the building is largely empty, but they do note lot's of chaotic activity at the security desk. They slip into the main elevators and head to the topmost floors; they have never been there, but assume they must hold Mr. Meadham's private offices which would be the most likely place to search.

Using the Chief of Security's keys, they are able to make it past locked doors and into what appears to be Meadham's private secretarial pool. They search through the locked file cabinets and uncover a few more hints of the Caduceus operation. These confirm much of what they already know about the plans to access the lost continent of Mu via a gate on the "Ilha da Queimada" off the coast of Brazil, but that the Cobra Crown is needed to bypass the gate guardians.  But finding no sign or mention of the Serpent Scepter, the team presses on, stumbling into a security office guarding an elevator and set of stairs going to the 18th floor. They bypass the guards with a flurry of gunfire, and use the private elevator to head up to the top floor. This they find is Joshua Meadham's privates rooms, with a large well appointed conference room and office. Carefully searching, they find more documents (and a curious serpent dagger) in a hidden safe with more information of the Hidden Night and Tyranissh. Oz discovers a pair of curious and frightful old books on one bookcase, while Ivy discovers a strip of dried skin in the attached sauna that is a strange hybrid of human and serpent. But they do not find the Serpent Scepter nor any hint as to it's whereabouts. Maybe it's been taken to Meadham's Connecticut estate? Or maybe Caduceus didn't steal it; maybe it was the Mafia? In any case, a glace from the rooftop cupula showed signs of security teams heading up the stairs to the buildings' upper floors, so the team decides to get out while they can. Luckily, the private elevator takes them to a back entrance, and they flee into the night. Quickly hitting their usual places of residence to gather all their gear and warn friends and family to flee to safety, the team reassembles in a new hiding place to lay low for a bit and plan next moves ... 

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Belgian Congo 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 doorway enters into a wide corridor, seamlessly carved of the same black stone as the pyramid itself. A bright light glows at the end, so to team heads towards it. Nigel notes movement, but they press on to a brightly lit central foyer where stairs lead up and down. They surprise a serpent person scientist emerging from a door to their left. The creature runs back through the doorway, and the team follows. A short fight ensues between the team and the two serpent people in the room, the last falling to a pistol shot from Zeke. The room is set up for surgery or dissection. Cages line the walls, and Ivy notes they all look like Rose Meadham, though of varying ethnicities and all grossly mutated and disfigured. And oddly silent, a state explained by the syringes full of strong sedative (and vials of serpent person domination serum) they recover from the dead scientists. 

Zeke now hears activity up stairs, and the sound of serpent person feet approaching. The team builds a barricade of carts at the door to hold them off. Four guards appear, each armed with a fire staff that shoots laser beams at the team. In the ensuing firefight and hand to hand struggle, the team prevails and gains the staves for themselves. 

As the firefight draws to a close, Zeke notes more serpent people emerging from another room, but they run down the stairs rather than engage the party. The team follows, passing through an ajar blast door and into a chamber just in time to see the last serpent person disappear through a gate. Uncertain of where it leads, the team this time does not rush on through, but look closer at their surroundings. A small control panel sits next to the gate, but the controls are indecipherable to both Oz and Zeke. Other doors lead into what Zeke recognizes, from the controls panels on the wall,  as some sort of power plant. Rods of metal hang over or are inserted into wells in the floor. 

The team bars the gate room door to prevent any nasty surprises coming through behind them, and head upstairs to continue looking for clues and a way home. At this point, Ivy is suddenly overcome by a bout of weakness, nausea and severe headache. She and Zeke have both been feeling off since their trek through the jungle. The illness passes though, and the team searches the other two rooms on the main level. The first is similar to the original surgery room, but with 'normal' humans subjects in the cages. And on the dissection tables are subjects with  brains that have been exposed, skin pealed back to reveal the nervous system, each with probes and wires inserted into the exposed organs. All while the subjects remain alive and conscious! The sights, screams, and moans are too much for Ivy, Zeke and Nigel, who momentarily loose their minds. Ivy and Zeke quiver in fear, while Nigel tries to intervene and save those who suffer by performing brain surgery, casing yet more agony and no success. 

While his companions suffer, Oz moves on to the next room, a strange space filled with glass tubes of green gas rising from floor to ceiling. Inside each he observed thousands of flying insects. When his now (mostly) recovered comrades join him, Ivy notes a pile of lab documents on a table. They describe experiments the serpent people have been performing, making a mutated form of sleeping sickness that turns the victims into mindless slaves that can be controlled by the serpent people. The disease is spread by a mutated tsetse fly. And the description of the disease suggests this is what Ivy has contracted.  

Moving on, the team checks the upper level of the pyramid. The first door they check leads to a supply room, full of glassware, instruments, vials and medical gear. And against the wall a strange rack with two of the serpent person fire staffs. Among the vials are carotid toxin (causes massive internal bleeding and death), domination serum (allows control by serpent people) and the cure for the mutated sleeping sickness. Ivy and Zeke shoot up a vial of the later while the rest of the vials are scooped into a bag for later use and investigation. The team then moves to the next room, where they are confronted with cabinets full of thousands of small vials labelled with names of long-extinct life forms. And just around the corner they find a large fluid filled glass cylinder in which floats an immature T. rex.  As the team approaches, they see movement behind the cylinder, and then a smashing sound as a serpent person breaks it open. As the team turns to fight the ravenous baby T. rex, the serpent person uses the distraction to run, heading down the stairs towards the gate. As the rest of the team deals with the dinosaur, Nigel chases after the serpent person. Outpaced, Nigel fires several shots at the fleeing foe, but the creatures successfully makes it to the gate room. 

In the last room the ream finds tons of records that unequivocally prove this site is under the control of Caduceus. It seems their employer is secretly run by serpent person followers of Yig. And contrary to what they'd been led to believe, the followers of Yig are not benign. They have a plan to make humanity their slaves by using the mutated sleeping sickness; only slightly more appealing than the Inner Night/Tsathaggua plan to eliminate humanity. But the followers of Yig have been unable to find a suitable insect vector to reliably spread the disease anywhere in the world (as shown on a map on the wall), so they plan to return to the lost Citadel of Mu and use it's facilities to make a suitable biomechanical insect.  To reach Mu, they need the Cobra Crown to get past the reptilian guardians that block the gate, hence the search for that lost artifact. There are references to an island off the coast of Brazil called 'Ilha da Queimada" where a gate to Mu has been located ... 

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (New York Part #3 / Belgian Congo 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)

Returning on the train from Oklahoma, the team discussed future plans. Although they were all starting to question exactly what Caduceus was up to, they decided they would at least report to headquarters for debriefing on this latest mission and see where that would lead. Arriving at Grand Central Station, Nigel stopped at a payphone to call the airport to check on his plane. He was disturbed to hear there had been a break-in at the hanger. Even though he was assured nothing was damaged or disturbed, his thoughts immediately turned to the Serpent Scepter hidden onboard. So the team decided first stop would be the airport to check it out. Just as he was hailing  a cab, Nigel felt someone grab his arm. A young man stopped him, saying in a thick Sicilian accent "No need for a cab. I have a car waiting for you" and led them to a nearby black sedan. Questioning reveled he (Lucio) represented some 'friends' who were doing the team a favor; closer hypnosis questioning by Oz confirm what they already suspected; their new friends were the Mafia. During the questioning, Ivy recognized the name of Lucio's bass, one Filemone Casale, a low level Mafioso soldier with the Bonanno crime family.  

Taking advantage of their 'friends' largess, the team headed for the airport. Where a check of the plane revealed subtle signs of careful searching; and that the Serpent Scepter was gone. With nothing else to be done, they had Lucio drive them to a hotel to freshen up before reporting to Caduceus HQ for debrief. Lucio dropped them off at Caduceus before finally disappearing into traffic. Inside the building, the team was lead to an eighth floor meeting room by a secretary. As she opened the door, however, they were surprised to see the room occupied. Inside sat the serpent mummy they'd recovered in Bolivia, very much alive and strapped tight to a chair as a scientist in a white lab coat injected something into her arm. Tyranissh turned to glare at the team as the secretary, realizing with a gasp she'd brought them to the wrong place, closed the door and lead the team into the adjacent room.     

There the team was joined by Dr. Gonzales for the debrief. This was shorter and more perfunctory than before, and while he congratulated the team on a job well done, there was the distinct impression that the missions' success was not key to whatever was going on at Caduceus.  Questioned further about the mutated people of Bingham, Dr. Gonzales waved off their concern saying simply 'such things will be dealt with'. He then took his leave of the party, telling them to stay in New York as there may be another mission for them in the near future.

As the team prepared to leave, they suddenly heard screaming and a great commotion next door. Rushing into the corridor, they ran into office staff shrieking and running away. And the door to Tyranissh's room lay smoking on the floor, while inside was a scene of destruction. The room was starting to burn, Tyranissh had broken free of the chair, and the two scientists had been brutally slain. And on the wall a strange swirling portal was forming.  Oz tried to talk tothe serpent sorcerous in Naacal; she turned to face him and yelled back “You are as bad as each other! I refuse to serve the Father of Snakes or the Mother of Darkness! May you all be struck down!” And with that, she stepped through the portal. And with just a moment of hesitation, Zeke pushed into the room and followed her, quickly trailed  by the rest of the team ....

... who found themselves in a sweltering hot jungle. Nigel recognized some of the vegetation and guessed they were somewhere in central Africa. And 10 feet away stood a rather hostile looking Tyranissh. But Oz was able to talk fast and convince her they meant no harm and wanted to talk, to learn more about what the heck was going on. The serpent sorcerous confirmed what they'd started to suspect; Caduceus was up to no good. The organization was a front for the serpent people followers of Yig, who'd replaced all the chief people (including Joshua Meadham) with serpent people. Their goal was not that different from the Inner Night. Whereas the followers of Tsathoggua wanted to eradicate humans, the followers of Yig planned to enslave humanity to fuel the rise of a third serpent person empire. Tyrannish came from a time before the split between Yig and Tsathoggua, and was a worshiper of Ghatanothoa, the Lord of the Volcano. She and her kind believed men and serpent people could live together and share the earth. And she intended to follow through and thwart the plans of both Caduceus and Inner Night. Both organizations sought the Cobra Crown, which would allow them to tap the lost power and technology of the Citadel oo the lost continent of Mu. She intend to beat them to the Crown. And finally making their break from Caduceus, the party offered to join Tyrannish and help by recovering the Serpent Scepter, to pair with the Crown. 

Alliance made, Tyrannish then prepared to gate to Calcutta, the party having told her of the rumors of the Cobra Crown being seen there. Asked how the team could get back to New York, the sorcerous waved vaguely to the north-east and said humans could be found to help them there. And then she disappeared into the jungle, while the team turned to and did then same. After a few hours they came to a road, which led them to a clearing the jungle in which stood an abandoned open pit mine. Over the gate hung a battered sign: Société Internationale Forestière et Minière du Congo - Lukenie Diamond Mine". Curiously, a new chain linked fence,  topped with barred wire, surrounded the facility.  Oz broke the lock on the gate, and the team moved carefully inside the compound. Getting closer to the open pit, they observed four relatively new lifts going done into the open mine. And then were shocked to see a large black pyramid filling most of the pit. A covered entrance could be seen, as well as a large number of people just shuffling zombie-like around the pyramid. When some experimentation showed the people (based on their clothing, from all parts of the globe and all walks of life) were harmless, the party descended into the pit and headed to the pyramid entrance. It was a simple metal door, with serpent person hand-shaped sensor plate to one side.  No one wanted to risk touching it, so Nigel and Oz scanned the crowd around them for signs of a suitable serpent person. They found none, but did spy one man who showed strange signs of scales where a previous injury had healed. So he was gently lead over to the door and his hand placed on the pad. And the door opened with  a click .... 

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Oklahoma Part #3)

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 spends a quiet night at the hotel mulling over all they've seen and heard, and in the morning don their Sunday best and head for the Rev. Kornfield's outdoor service. They arrive to find much of the town there in the street in front of the burned church. The Reverend himself arrives shortly, accompanied by Sheriff Benson and a couple of men carrying a large wooden crate. The Reverend launches into the service, opening with a pleas for forgiveness for those responsible for burning the church (which does not seem to please the Sheriff). He then launches into a fiery sermon with a definite serpent theme, before having the two men open the crate. He reaches in and hauls out a pair of rattlesnakes, and calls upon the faithful to come forward and take the creatures in their hands, for "true believers will not be harmed by the children of the god".  Several worshipers do so, before one is bit. He survives the event, but after Ivy checks him over, he leaves the crowd dejected for having failed in the test of faith. Rev Kornfield then turns to the team, and calls Zeke up to test his faith. Zeke passes the test to Rev, Kornfield's delight, who ends the service by announcing he will lead these new faithful on a pilgrimage into the wilderness the next day,. 

As the service breaks up, the team finds an empty house nearby to hide in and listen in on the conversation between Rev, Kornfield and Sheriff Benson using the serpent person listening device. The Sheriff is vehement that they track down and punish the Dissidents and non-believers, blaming them for the church bombing. The Reverend however maintains a conciliatory tone and forbids any rash action by the Sherriff. The team then takes the chance, with the Reverend busy, to search his house. The only thing of interest they find is the Reverends huge leather bible which they steal. A cursory reading shows it to be a large, leather bound tome, which was originally a standard Bible. The margins contain many handwritten notes and drawings. Some passages have been amended, some crossed out, and replaced with new ones, all the a strong Yig theme. 

Hoping to learn more of where this pilgrimage will lead, they track down Greg Shaw. The young man directs them to Hillard Fowler, owner of the lumber yard. He knows quite a bit of the rocky hills south of town and might be able to help them. They track Hillard down at the Deer Head Saloon, and learn he too is a Dissenter who does not like Rev Kornfield. A very drunk one mind you, but he does recall a series of caves in the rocky hills that would be worth investigating. Grabbing a truck from the lumber yard, the five of them head south over bad roads and around abandoned farms and fields until they reach the hills. Hillard directs them up a rocky draw, where they find a cave entrance. When Ivy, Zeke and Oz attempt to approach however, they are hit with an unnatural blast of hot wind emerging from the entrance. Zeke is battered and tumbles halfway down the draw, but Ivy and Oz are able to grab onto the rock and haul themselves inside, battered but now out of the wind. 

Inside the cave the pair find the body of what looks like Rev Kornfield, laid out naked on a slab of stone. Except the body has a reptilian cloaca instead of genitalia. And it also appears to be alive, but in some form of hibernation of statis. Oz attempts to touch the slab and use clairvoyance to get a picture of what happens here, but oddly finds he cannot force himself to do so. Ivy however gets a foreboding sense of the presence of Yig, the father of snakes. And draws the conclusion that this thing on the slab is somehow responsible or tied to the Rev, Kornfield's 'miraculous' powers. She take a rope and with great strength of will is able to lasso the body around the neck. She hauls it our of the cave, and the rest of the team gathers around to discuss what to do next. Zeke is somewhat reluctant at first to destroy the body, but in the end agrees. Ivy slits it's throat with surgical precision, then they toss the remains back in the cave and dynamite the entrance shut. 

The team heads back to town and, after dropping Hillard back at the lumber yard, head towards the burned church where they'd spotted the Reverend and Sherriff as they drove into town. Hiding nearby with the listening device, they overhear a heated debate. But this time it is the Reverend who is upset, raving and ranting and insisting they head out right away to the pilgrimage site as something is wrong. The Sherriff meanwhile tries to calm him down, saying they can leave in the morning as it is now getting dark. 

The party slips away and returns to the hotel for the night. It's decided Zeke will still go on the pilgrimage, and the rest of the team will head separately to the cave site as well. But when Zeke gets to the church that morning, the Sherriff informs him and the other new faithful that the pilgrimage is cancelled for the day as he and the Reverend have some things to do. At which the two, along with a few burly men, climb into the Sheriffs Model T and head south out of town. When Zeke reports this the the rest of the team, they make a quick decision to catch the next train out of town. figuring they've done and learned all they need to given their mission brief. And that things are likely to get very hot once the Reverend discovers what happened to the cave and body ... 

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 ...