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Brandon Paul (order #7526762)

Athirat Rising
An Investigative Occult Roleplaying Scenario Presented By Arcane Footpad 2015
Written By Matthew Ireland
Cover Art By Sam Helyer (helyerart.com)
Logo Originally Created By Francesca Stephens

SYNOPSIS:
A naive and impressionable young man has become attached to Eternity, an eccentric punk and
latest belle of London's underground music scene. Now he's disappeared, Eternity's music has taken
a strange turn towards the otherworldly and Eternity himself has been preaching about the coming
of a mystical force to claim the world for itself. Along with his small cabal of contacts, including a
tattooist who can turn his designs into powerful wards and sigils and an ex-cop hallucinogen dealer.
Eternity plans to build the ultimate instrument to allow his strange god to materialise.

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Contents
Plot Hook:

Eternity:

Christopher and Eternity's Flat:

Mysterious Music:

Gordon Lennox:

10

Lennox's Warehouse:

10

Jason Fielding:

12

Farthest 7:

13

Dr Gethin Willis and UCL

15

Gudrun Henderson:

15

The Dirty Palm:

17

The Extra-Dimensional Synthesiser:

18

The Ritual:

19

Character Reference:

20

Handouts:

21

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This adventure is intended to provide a

single evening's entertainment. The
mystery itself is fairly straight forward and
players will probably become quickly
convinced of Eternity's guilt though it will
take some work to prove it. Fielding will
easily
become
involved
as
any
investigations as if they make any
headway his sentinels will be dispatched to
discourage further investigations. The
other characters will be discovered
organically depending on how the
investigation progresses. Try to keep the
players on a tight timeframe. Don't hurry
them towards the climax unnecessarily but
don't let them dawdle and observe the
NPCs for too long. A good guide is to
provide around 3-5 in-game days from the
start of the investigation to the ritual
performance. This gives ample time for
investigations of the various clues found
by investigating Christopher's flat (which
is assumed to be the first port of call). The
police, the drug cartel, Lennox's homeless
friends and Fielding's Sentinels can all be
used to obstruct, direct or hint to the
players without railroading or expanding
the scenario to present additional
challenges.

distinctive tics, traits and motives to help

present them in a memorable fashion.
Referees should especially not be afraid to
lie (in character of course, mis-describing
scenes is just unkind), there is often an
expectation that NPCs the players interact
with tell the truth all the time even if it
takes a little work to get it out of them.
Most of the characters in this scenario
have something to hide so don't be afraid
to use this and lead your players around a
bit until they learn to be a little more
discerning in their acceptance of
information.
Plot Hook:
In whatever capacity of investigation the
players can be contacted in, they are
contacted by Heather Foster. Heather is a
woman in her late 20s who works as a
teacher in Reading, a town around 30
miles outside of London. She wants them
to look into the disappearance of her
brother Christopher. Christopher is a year
younger than Heather and moved to
London around 5 years previously to
pursue a dream of working in magazine
publishing. They kept in good contact but
6 months previously Christopher started to
become more erratic. He was becoming
involved in a number of alternative culture
movements, centring on body modification
and veganism as methods of selfpurification. His missives on these topics
became
increasingly
dense
and
incomprehensible referencing several
people in his immediate circle, along with
obscure texts from Assyrian and
Babylonian scholarship.

The scenario is presented as a cast of

characters and locations, they are
presented in roughly the order that the
investigating characters might be expected
to encounter them but it is by no means a
prescribed sequence. There are very few
set pieces in this adventure, it is about
interacting with the characters and
interrogating their motives and intentions.
As such, the referee should be prepared to
act the characters distinctly to differentiate
them. If each character is just treated as an
information dispensary as is often the case
with investigative adventures much of the
appeal of the setting will be lost - these
characters are weirdoes, punks and
outcasts and should be portrayed as such.
Each character is provided with some

She has two emails that he sent her within

the last month(Handouts #1 & #2), but he
has been out of contact for 2 weeks now
and when she tried to contact him she was
stonewalled by his flatmate, Eternity. She
is scared of Eternity who she finds
unnerving and more importantly scared of

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his skinhead friends which is why she

wants the investigators' help. Though she
has visited Chris at his London flat
previously she is reluctant to return, even
to investigate her Brother's disappearance
due to Eternity's presence.
Heather
describes her relationship with her brother
as 'close but distant', she did not
understand many of the things that
engaged him and thought he was silly for
becoming deeply invested in alternative
culture.

Christopher is dead, his brain ripped apart

by Eternity's experiments with the effect of
his music in combination with various
psychoactive drugs, some of his own
devising. Obviously Eternity (along with
Lennox and Fielding who both know of
his fate) is keen to keep this information
hidden. He has kept Foster's body in the
basement storage area of their block of
flats.

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Eternity

account let anyone into the flat while he is

there as Athirat's visions have convinced
him that the knowledge of his synthesizer
is a sacred secret that he must guard.
Eternity's mindset has basically become
that of someone who is convinced they are
a prophet, a mix of condescending and
distant. He will open up a little more if
engaged on the subject of his music,
mathematics, or physics especially
quantum theory. Speaking to him for any
length of time especially on a subject he
finds boring (most, particularly if the
discussion doesn't centre on him) is an
exercise in frustration as he tails off midsentence and will abruptly break off or
interrupt and try to shoo the investigator's
away with his hands. If pressed on the
issue of Christopher Foster he will insist
that the younger man left of his own
accord and never came back. He will also
tell them he liked the kid as Christopher
had recruited a new fan in the body
modding scene (which Eternity is also
enamoured with) by the name of Gudrun
Henderson.

Eternity is a mysterious character who

appears to be in his mid 30s though he is
not aging well and looks haggard most of
the time, the effect is enhanced by his thin
frame and sallow skin. His brown hair is
greying though he has streaks of blue dyed
erratically through it. A tattoo of a binding
circle recognisable from a number of
medieval bestiaries covers his chest. He is
secretive about his past before he moved to
London 8 years ago but he has a slight
Manchester accent so he presumably
comes from further north. His birth name
is Dave Johnson but as he changed his
name by deed poll to Eternity, very few
people know this even in official
capacities. He studied Mathematics at
UCL until he dropped out 6 months ago.
Eternity was well known for his eccentric
mannerisms on the course and no-one was
especially surprised when he left, even
though he was obviously highly intelligent
and mathematically adept. His continued
friendship with Dr Willis allows him to
maintain access to the university's
facilities and libraries where he has been
researching Babylonian mythology, sound
and mechanical engineering and music
theory. Several books on these topics can
be found around his room in the shared
flat.

If watched or if the investigators try to

figure out when he isn't home so as to
break into the flat, his daily movements
are typically:
An hour or two in the early morning
(~6am) pacing up and down the stairs of
the block of flats and around the basement.
The other residents are predominantly
students so they recognise strange rituals
as necessary for studying.

Interacting with Eternity should be a

slightly surreal experience for the
investigators. They are likely to attribute
his spaced out mannerisms and slightly
slurred speech to drug abuse initially but
his answers should be coherent and
consistent. He is generally unwilling to
engage in idle chatter as he would much
rather be working on his music at any
given time. The first time Eternity is met is
likely to be as a general approach to
Christopher's living space. He will greet
anyone at the door with a mixture of
disinterest and irritation. He will on no

On any given day he might visit UCL

library or Dr Willis.
Around 2pm he will visit Gordon Lennox
to secure hallucinogenic drugs for his
evening activities.
If it is a weekday other than Wednesday he
will spend the evening (6pm till 10) at
Fielding's tattoo studio. He often gets

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additional small sigils based on his own

scrawling and the Babylonian cuneiform
added to his skin but usually they drink,
discuss their dreams of Athirat and take
hallucinogens until they receive inspiration
for music or art.

- Eternity rents the basement of the block

as well as the flat itself.
- There has been a noise complaint made
against the flat once recently, for playing
music too loudly in the middle of the
night. The music in question is described
as some kind of 'techno screaming' by the
other residents.

On a Wednesday or a weekend he will be

playing a gig at The Dirty Palm (see
below) with Athirat, his band. This usually
starts at 9pm and can last anywhere from 3
to 7 hours.

- The landlord who owns the building

reports that he does not like visiting the
apartment that Eternity rents because it
makes him profoundly uncomfortable. If
pushed for detail, he is vague but mentions
feeling dizzy. He puts it down to the fact
they keep all the windows and curtains
shut all the time.

Christopher & Eternity's Flat

Heather can inform the players that
Christopher found Eternity on an internet
site for finding flatmates. He was intrigued
by Eternity's love of avant-garde music,
which he was starting to develop an
interest in himself. They had been living
together for a little over a year in their
small flat in northeast London. The block
of flats that they live in contains 30 other
residents.

- The three backing musicians from

Eternity's band also live in the building, all
three sharing a one bedroom flat. They are
all three drunkards and can be found at any
time in the Dirty Palm, drinking away their
meagre earnings from the gigs. In any case
they are not cultists, though they all sport
numerous tattoos from Fielding. These are
the source of their passive approach to life,
the sigils inducing lethargy and
dependency.

Canvassing the other residents or the

landlord, who lives in the ground floor flat,
can reveal a couple of salient facts if they
can be convinced to talk:

The flat itself consists of three main

rooms. The door opens directly into the
living room/kitchen dual purpose room. A
small corridor leads to the bathroom with
the two bedrooms on either side. The
entire flat is kept in constant semi darkness
by the thick curtains hanging in front of
every window. These windows are kept
closed (and locked) at all times causing the
flat to be constantly hot and stuffy. The
living room contains three chairs and a
small table, but very little else of interest.
Similarly the kitchen area is largely bare
aside from a few ready meals in the fridge
and a large bag of out-of-date pasta in the
cupboard. The whole flat pulses with an
unfamiliar sensation, causing nausea and

- Eternity is well known in the building, if

only by sight, from his early morning
wandering around the building. Several
residents report that he makes them
uncomfortable as he is often seen
muttering
to
himself
and
his
unconventional appearance doesn't help
matters.
- Christopher by contrast is less well
known by the other tenants. It's known that
Eternity doesn't live alone but the nature of
his companion or their relationship is
unknown by most as Christopher is less
eccentric.

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disorientation. The dark, hot environment

magnifies this effect and anyone needing
to concentrate will be at a severe
disadvantage in the flat. This is a result of
the synthesiser being played so much here
that the space within the flat has started to
buckle and twist, which human
perceptions are not well equipped to deal
with.

a rolled up sleeping mat is propped against

the wall. The desktop computer is linked
up to the synthesiser but also contains a
file containing an incantation invoking the
power of the ancient god Athirat. In a file
beside the computer is his notes and
original copy of the mysterious musical
manuscript (see below)
Eternity also rents the entire basement
storage of the block of flats. The door is
well secured with a large iron padlock. It is
mostly a bare concrete room, with a large
chest freezer and a locker. The freezer
contains several large food items that he
cannot store in his flat and the locker
contains several small bags of pills. Close
examination of the floor around the base of
the freezer will show that the concrete is
cracked. Beneath the freezer lies the body
of Christopher Foster. He was killed, semi
intentionally, by Eternity. He had become
too suspicious of the musician's plans after
overhearing a discussion with Fielding
about the ritual performance. Eternity then
invited him to listen to a new composition
to test the effect of his music in close
proximity. The result ended up causing
Christopher to suffer a fatal heart attack as
the otherworldly music overwhelmed him.
An autopsy of the body will reveal this
cause of death but also note some strange
twisting of the ear canal, caused by the
space-bending music. If the body is
removed then anyone who has been noted
by Eternity or Fielding recently is likely to
receive a visit from Fielding's Sentinels
(see below).

Christopher's room is a fairly typical space

for a young man to inhabit. A double bed
dominates the room, a wardrobe and a
desk rest against the wall. There are a few
clues to be found in this room:
- In the wardrobe, beneath the rack of
cheap shirts and music t-shirts is a shoe
box. Mostly this contains the usual stash of
adult magazines, password protected
memory sticks containing bank details and
a roll of 5 10 notes. However at the base
is a small vial filled with liquid, this has
separated into two layers one rust coloured
and the second oily and black. Taped to
the vial is a business card for Farthest 7
tattoo studio. This is a sample of a failed
batch of Fielding's ink (see below)
- A post-it note on the desk reads
'Ragnarok URGENT!' (See Ragnarok
below)
- A locked desk drawer contains
Christopher's laptop. It is not password
protected. It is cheap and primarily used
for his attempts at freelance article writing
to sell to magazines. These articles have
titles like 'The contagion of conformity in
modern music' and 'Revealing the
conspiracy behind contemporary media'.

Mysterious Music
The original script that Eternity obtained
from UCL's library vaults is a remarkable
artefact in itself. It appears to be printed on
a substance similar to celluloid but opaque.
On both sides there is a script that
resembles cuneiform script used by the
ancient Babylonians appear to have been

Across the hall, Eternity's room is more

uniquely appointed. The opposite wall to
the door is obscured by a small synthesiser
and speaker set up that he uses to compose
his music to be used with the full set up at
the Dirty Palm. This is detailed further in
the next section. There is no bed here, but

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laser etched into both sides of the 5 sheets.

Along with Eternity's fevered and copious
notes this comprises around 2 notebooks
worth of information. The first half is
concerned with Eternity approaching and
working with Dr Gethin Willis on the
translation of the glyphs. Over the course
of a few months he is rewarded with the
knowledge that the writing details a new
form of musical scale that is known as the
'music of Athirat'. Athirat is an ancient
Semitic deity known as the 'mother of the
sea' and associated with fertility among
other things. The narrative given in the
script tells of the anonymous writer falling
asleep near the shore of a great sea and
having the new scale and music coming to
him in his sleep. Try as he might through
his life, even though he could perfectly
summon the sounds of the ethereal music
he heard and knew their values in relation
to other musical concepts he could not
coax any of the instruments at his disposal
into producing quite the tones he needed.
A postscript (presumably written after the
original author's death) tells that he died
unmourned and not even his name was
recorded as he failed to produce anything
from his new theory of music.

The final page of the manuscript relates

Eternity's dreams once he has started
experimenting with the synthesiser and
trying to produce the exact notes. He notes
that an amorphous presence he refers to as
the 'spirit of Athirat' is moving in his mind.
He becomes more and more convinced of
the authenticity of the spirit from his
dreams and this is where he takes up the
clandestine worship of Athirat that he
attempted to press on Christopher before
he went missing. There are notes for a
ritual that came to him in a dream which
Eternity speculates will allow Athirat to
manifest. (The details of the ritual are
below).

There is a large portion of the work related

to mathematics and its relationship to
music and indeed this is how the original
dreamer constructed his new and
remarkable scale. However the notes left
behind are coded in the form of equations
and numerical patterns. The rest of
Eternity's notes are devoted to him using
his extensive grasp of mathematics to
decipher the complex codes and patterns.
One this was achieved he started work on
his unique synthesiser system (see above)
as he theorised that only through computer
generated frequencies could the exact
notes of the scale he had produced be hit
and maintained.

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Gordon Lennox

Lennox does not intend to still be at the

ritual when it is completed, on the off
chance that something does come of it he
is sure it will not be good. There is an
obvious profit to be made distributing
amongst the crowd that will be present
though so he will make an appearance
before hand. He is a coward at heart and if
the investigators can convince him that he
is in danger he may well help them. While
he is open to bribing he won't directly
betray another customer, especially one as
reliable as Eternity. When being
approached, Lennox always appears
nervous, checking every exit with his eyes
repeatedly during conversations, even if he
has others on his side. He will always be
cagey and never ever volunteer more
information than he has to about any topic.
If he is afraid for his own safety or
exceedingly angered he is more than
capable of hiring bruisers and thugs to
defend himself/his clients.

Gordon Lennox is an earnest but nervy

man in his late 20s. Physically small and
very hairy he speaks with an affected
transatlantic accent which he imagines
sounds more sophisticated than his native
London accent despite having never been
further abroad than Wales. Although
university educated, Lennox has forgone
all official connections with formal
academia in favour of a life selling
hallucinogens to students. At one time he
even completed basic training to become a
police officer but decided the pay was not
worth being spat at in the streets. His slight
stutter can make him seem unimposing to
begin with but it does not take long
speaking to him to realise he is a fast
thinker. He is almost incapable of
physically defending himself but uses his
connections (especially Jason Fielding)
and quick wit to extract himself from any
trouble he happens to find himself in.

Lennox's Warehouse

Lennox's involvement in the occult

conspiracy is mostly tangential and
entirely profit orientated. He has
reservations about how much of Eternity's
ramblings about long forgotten deities and
the universal power of music is actually
worth listening to. However, early on in
his 'discoveries' Eternity noted that while
he was under the effects of hallucinogenic
drugs he felt the call of Athirat even
stronger than usual, his dreams were more
vivid and his compositions came more
easily. Lennox
latched on to this
revelation and gently prodded Eternity in
the direction of realising that in fact these
narcotics were key to his peculiar form of
worship. Again, Lennox is sceptical of any
actual benefit - supernatural or otherwise that these drugs are having, but is perfectly
willing to sell them to a customer so
convinced of their utility.

If the players attempt to trace Lennox to a

base of operations they will find he is of
no fixed address officially, living a
lifestyle he optimistically describes as
'itinerant'. However it does not take much
work to follow the couch-surfer's tracks to
an old warehouse in Ealing borough. He
visits the lock-up at least once a week to
collect narcotics to distribute. The drugs
are dropped off by anonymous men
dressed in black with Scottish license
plates on their van. He places money at
apparently random places in the city to be
collected in exchange.
The warehouse is rented through a fake
company called 'Salvo Glazing' and inside
is a hotbed of activity. Several of Lennox's
(also homeless) acquaintances make their
homes here, with large portions of the
building having been converted to more
comfortable living spaces, though the high

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ceiling means most areas always have a

slight chill to them. In return these friends
look after the place, hide anything
untoward if police (or other interested
parties) come snooping around. There are
no clues about the ritual or other occult
happenings to be found here as Lennox
doesn't concern himself with the strange
beliefs of his more eccentric customers,
but there is plenty of opportunity to
improvise
interesting
and
strange
characters among the residents. All of
them are keen to preserve their own
residence here and thus to keep Lennox
happy and safe but if they learn of the
death of the innocent Christopher Foster
they may be persuaded to show some
compassion and help out. There is even
potential for establishing a 'Holmes-ian'
network among the vagrants and homeless
of London if enough time is spent
interacting here. A couple character ideas
are provided below but referees should
feel free to use them or create better ones
as needed:

paranoia got the best of him and he

offended a senior by accusing him of theft.
Blakey can be boisterous but is generally
easy going and keen to help if he can.

Captain Farthing was in the Navy during

his twenties and then a dock-worker until
he retired. He never actually achieved a
rank above able-seaman but the title stuck
as an ironic reference to his ungentlemanly appearance. Covered from
head to foot in intricate (and often lewd)
tattoos, he is an imposing sight. Even in
his late sixties the old sailor has a lithe
build, though doesn't have the stamina for
manual labour anymore. He suffers from
cataracts and can barely see past the end of
his nose. He enjoys making up stories
about how 'weak-willed' men who work
anywhere not related to the sea are.
Blake 'Blakey' Jones is a sheet metalworker in one of the few factories left
running in London who has a roving eye
and a sexist attitude to boot. He is smart
and at one point was on the promotion
ladder at the factory but unfortunately his

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Jason Fielding

origins of these symbols or associations

only acknowledging that they are well
known. From crosses to pentagrams to
proverbs and even swastikas and CND
symbols he works them all into his pieces.
This seemingly random disregard for
symbolic meaning actually serves a
purpose: it allows him to hide the true
purpose of his designs. Fielding is in fact a
sorcerer of some competence, if not raw
power. He channels his magic through
rune-like designs hidden (or not) in his
clients tattoos. The designs can generally
only affect the individual that they are
drawn on to. At the lower end these simply
increase the target's gullibility and
susceptibility to Fielding and his friends
selling them things. A little more sinister is
his propensity for getting particularly
vulnerable individuals to part with large
sums of money and even blood or worse
for sacrificial use. He has in fact used the
wards to completely enslave two hapless
punks who passed out drunk behind his
shop (See below) but it drained him
considerably and he rarely goes out of his
way to do this. It is possible for strongwilled characters to overcome the magic of
the sigils but it can be difficult and
becomes more difficult with each
subsequent tattoo. Many forms of
divination and magic-detection will show
that the tattoos are infused with mysticism
and may even register the individual as a
magic-user, regardless of any other actual
magical ability.

Fielding is a large man, easily 17 stone

(238 lbs) whose style of tattooing is stark
and high-contrast. In fact this describes his
general aesthetic and demeanour. Actively
contrarian, Fielding prides himself on his
controversial opinions and brash manner.
At any opportunity he will expound upon
his obscure beliefs. These he has cobbled
together from a vast number of obscure
and semi obscure occult authors from the
19th and 20th centuries. What this
amounts to is a lot of quotes from Alistair
Crowley and Eliphas Levi, no deep
insights whatsoever and a smug sense of
superiority. He is however incredibly
knowledgeable about the history of art,
with a particular fascination for styles that
revolve around geometric patterns, due to
his love of combining them into sigils and
wards.
His knowledge of his esoteric art comes
from a book called Sacritissium Corpus
(Sacred Body). This was written by an
anonymous student who studied under the
famous anatomist Vesalius. Unlike the
master though, this student had more
exotic desires than merely studying the
human body. Following in the longestablished tradition of physical wards,
they devised a special formulae for
magically charged ink and maps of
locations that are related to specific
disciplines of magic. Fielding has made
copious notes and progress of his own and
his copy of the book is heavily edited,
providing much more information than the
standard copy available in the Medical
school's library. Details of where to find
the book in his shop are below.

Fielding knows almost as much Eternity

about the ritual requirements and the
nature of Eternity's music. He does not
know very much about the nature of the
monstrosity that will be summoned by the
ritual. His own key motivation is pride, he
is obsessed with power and exerting it over
others subtly. This is especially clear from
his methods of practicing magic but also
from his demeanour. Even if exposed as a
magician or as part of Eternity's plan he

He favours designs that incorporate faces,

often grotesquely distorted, and large
blocks of colour. He also likes to use
symbols of religious, spiritual or historical
significance. He holds no regard for the

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will
never
overtly
threaten
the
investigators. Instead he will only use
suggestion and general intimations to try
and scare off intruders. Failing that, he will
simply leave them to the mercy of his
thugs.

Beneath the desk there is a trapdoor that

leads down to the basement level of the
studio. There is also a back door here
which leads into a back alley full of skips
and then onto the main road.
The basement is the most interesting locale
for people seeking evidence of Fielding's
wrongdoing and involvement in occult
occurrences. The far right corner (relative
to the trapdoor) is separated by a right
angled screen taken from a condemned
church. Large etchings of angels raining
fire on the earth during the Apocalypse
adorn the sides. A large pentagram,
around 8 feet across dominates the floor.
This is positioned beneath one of the
tattooist's chair above. As might be
surmised, this chair is the one he uses for
clients who are to be inked with powerimbued tattoos - knowingly or otherwise.
IF the circle is disrupted it will prevent
him from performing any more ritual
inkings but as soon as he notices the circle
is damaged, Fielding will repair it and
increase security. This equates to having
his sentinels awakened at all times and
setting burglar alarms at each door.

Farthest 7
The main entrance into the shop (which
encompasses the bottom floor of a two
storey building, stairs beside the entrance
lead to the upper floor which is a hair
stylists/tanning salon) leads into the
reception area. Behind the desk - which is
always manned by Trevor, Fielding's
gruff-but-fair deaf assistant, who knows
everything about the day to day business
but nothing about the occult significance
of it. He can lip-read - two doors lead to
the tattoo parlours. There are two as a
hold-over from the previous owners but
Fielding is the only tattooist operating on
the premises. Each one is pristinely
maintained with his tattooing materials and
an operating table. In the cupboards of the
rooms can be found the inks that Fielding
has prepared ritually. There are also small
bottles of blood, oil and other ingredients
for mixing with the pigments.

The sentinels are two unfortunate punks

who Fielding has enslaved called Bill and
Fox. They have been his servants for
around 3 years, after he found them both
passed out drunk outside of the office's
back door. Accordingly they are covered
in tattoos from head to foot. The vast
majority of these glyphs and sigils are
intended to restrain the free will and
prevent the pair from resisting orders.
There are however some which grant them
additional power when compared to a
normal human, they have enhanced
strength up to the maximum allowed for a
human character in the system being used
and can cause things they grip to heat up
intensely. This power can be used to melt
locks etc, though it takes a significant
amount of time. In addition they are

Beyond the parlour rooms is Fielding's

personal office. He will never let anyone
in here as long as he's in the building.
CCTV cameras are stationed by both
entrances. The files and cabinets in the
office contain a multitude of records of
clients, transactions and supplies over the
past decade. The computer has a lot of
links to some unsavoury websites but
primarily consists of a store for his
designs. There is however an innocuous
looking file which hides Fielding's notes
on the Sacritissium Corpus. It mainly
covers the ways that cursed blood can be
absorbed into the body through the skin.
There is also a formula for his ritually
prepared inks calling for human blood.

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resistant to extreme temperatures and fire.

If the players are looking to free the two
from Fielding's influence without killing
them, there are two ways of achieving this:
firstly if Fielding dies they will be freed
with no memory of their time enslaved and
secondly if the tattoos on their foreheads
and wrists are completely removed they
will be released. This can be done through
laser removal or simply scouring off the
offending areas of skin, depending on the
attitude of the group. The majority of the
time is spent in a stupor behind the screen
in the basement area, if awakened their
orders are to detain intruders and defend
Fielding and his home. He may also send
them out though due to their appearance
they are best suited for intimidation work
and reconnaissance in punk and alternative
venues across the city.

- Ritually preparing and charging inks for

tattoos
- Sigils and wards of protection
- The ceremony and environment
necessary to imbue the tattoos with the
desired effects
- A small number of other effects that
could be imbued in sigils at the referee's
discretion such as the heat-hands of the
two sentinels. Most of the more exotic
effects are of Fielding's own design though
so do not need to be included if the players
are not wanted to have access to them.

On a shelf built onto the screen several

books on anatomy, art and the occult particularly blood magic and demon
summoning - can be found. Perusing these
can keep an interesting reader occupied for
many days and would be an extremely
enlightening,
not
say
disturbing,
experience. There is an antique copy of the
Sacritissium Corpus but all the rest are
modern cheap reproduction prints.
Highlights of the collection include a
collection of Da Vinci's sketches of the
human body, Vesalius' De Humani
Corporis Fabrica and Eliphas Levi's
Transcendental Magic and the Ars Goetia,
a list of demons apparently seen by King
Solomon. The Sacritissium Corpus or
Sacred Body is a handbook on magically
charging artwork and how to implant
magically charged fluids into the human
body without them losing their potency.
The following general information is
provided and detailed study of the book
would allow a character to become a basic
adept in the ways of Fielding's tattoo
magic:

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Dr Gethin Willis and the UCL Faculty

abrupt but also admires the single-minded

passion of the younger man. As such he is
willing to talk to Eternity but balks at the
prospect of prolonged interaction with the
abrasive punk. The main clues that Willis
can provide relate to the nature of
Eternity's translation project and what it
relates to (see above) though Eternity
refuses to give him a copy to peruse
outside of their meetings. He is sure the
script is authentic and knows it relates to
maths, music and mythology but as the
translation (to his knowledge) is as yet
unfinished doesn't know the full
significance of it and regards it as an
interesting but harmless diversion.

Eternity studied Mathematics at University

College London under a variety of tutors
and lecturers who can all be traced easily
as the standard first year course is the
same for all faculty students. Their
remarks on the man's appearance and
interaction
with
the
course
are
homogenous: he was obviously highly
gifted for mathematics and grasped
concepts easily. However he was anti
social - actively spurning approaches from
other students with spiteful replies to
personal questions - and on the odd
occasion he could be heard talking of
something other than maths or music (they
note his pride at listening almost entirely
to niche local bands) it was his strange and
obscure beliefs in an ancient Babylonian
god called Athirat. He is universally
suspected of being on drugs or to have
been on them previously accounting for
his strange visions of this apparent deity.

Gudrun Henderson
Gudrun is a Norwegian immigrant, well
versed in the traditions and culture of
Heavy Metal from her homeland. She is a
strong proponent of body-modification as
art and has a somewhat surreal appearance
herself having piercings all over her body,
face and ears, with extenders in the lobes.
She has performed some fairly bizarre
body mods for clients including implanting
fake whiskers, horns and eyelid tattoos. In
line with her extreme aesthetic, Gudrun
has a very strong personality, she will not
suffer fools gladly especially those that
take a dim view of her art. She respects
Jason Fielding as an artist but finds him
pompous personally and doesn't approve
of his attitude towards symbolism. In the
past however they have suggested
collaborative works and Fielding secretly
harbours desires to incorporate her more
physically-altering methods into his own
magic. She is unaware of this as yet
though she knows both Eternity's and
Fielding's reputations as occultists.

His connection to Dr Gethin Willis can be

uncovered either by following him during
his daily routines when he visits the
university professor or by asking around at
the university as someone is bound to
recall that his fascination for ancient
Babylonian writing was shared by one
other person on campus. Willis is the polar
opposite of Eternity and the complete
stereotype of an absent-minded professor
of an obscure subject. Tweed jackets with
elbow patches and jeans are his usual
attire, and he is always well groomed but
dated looking. Dr Willis is a lecturer in
History with a focus on Semitic and Near
East language and mythology. His
relationship with Eternity revolves entirely
around his interest in the manuscript that
Eternity has been attempting to translate
and decode. It was he who worked out that
the mathematical elements were equations
though Eternity identified and solved them
himself. He finds Eternity pretentious and

Gudrun encountered Christopher through

the young man's expanding interest in
body modification. They became friends
quickly as she took Christopher on as a

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part time apprentice of sorts, teaching him

how to safely perform piercings. She also
acted as a calming influence, contrasting
with Eternity's often manic and
disconnected manner. The last interaction
that they shared was a panicked phone call
the night before he disappeared. Foster
breathlessly gave an account of a rambling
that he overheard when Eternity returned
home stoned that evening. As far as she
can gather he was talking about 'an
encroaching power... bursting through
from the realm of sound'. Both she and
Christopher wrote it off as just talking
about the effects of good music until he
started mumbling about sacrifices at which
point Christopher panicked, shut himself
in his room and called Gudrun.

which are hung with racks of tools, inks,

prosthetics and reference photos.

Gudrun does have a website link that

Christopher sent her, she may mention it in
passing, especially if the subject of
Eternity's occultism comes up. She
assumed that Christopher was trying to
convert her to his flatmate's beliefs but in
actuality he was trying to alert her to help
him without coming out and saying it. The
website describes Athirat as a great
protector who grants boons to her
followers. It goes on to talk about how her
realm is one of chaos and discord ruled
only by the wailing of constant pipes and
flutes throughout her realm. It is
hypothesised that if she could be
persuaded to release her sacred music and
rampant symphonies in the material realm
and new age of 'peace and melody' and the
absence of all 'unpure' [sic] musical hearts
as they could not contain the wonder of
Athirat's movements.
Ragnarok is Gudrun's body modification
studio. It's located in Brixton and is
located in an ex-brewery. The decor is still
themed on the old premises, a darkened
waiting room with barrel seats contrasts
with the brightly lit and sterilised modding
studio beyond. White-tile covers the walls

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The Dirty Palm

around the venue proclaim 'Athirat Rises'

in bold letters but give little other
information. If asked, Tony will explain
they are advertising a big gig to launch a
'new era' according to Eternity's odd
philosophy. He gives the date when the
Ritual (see below) is to take place but
obviously knows nothing of the
significance of it. He keeps Eternity's
beloved synthesiser in the basement under
lock and key and will not let anyone see it
without Eternity's permission. The lock
could be picked or broken into with
reasonable ease but would require the club
to be empty which it rarely is.

The Dirty Palm is a dive bar located in a

back alley of Brixton. Beneath the
flickering neon sign a large sign in the
shape of a palm tree is weather worn and
cracked. The door is inconspicuous and
leads directly into a basement below the
shops on the main road. The bar consists
of one room, crescent shaped with a bar
running round the inner edge and the stage
in the centre of the outer edge. The
proprietor is a man called Tony Murray. A
short man with black stubble on his head
and face he is a consummate swindler,
always looking to make money in any way
possible. He even charges an entrance fee
to his office if anyone wants to see him!
Several burly bouncers are on site at all
time. As this location serves as a meeting
point for many violent groups of different
creeds they have been instrumental in
preventing the place burning to the ground
on multiple occasions. These groups are
encouraged by Murray himself who can
often be heard spitting bile towards many
minority
groups
and
constructing
conspiracy theories. Any who openly
challenge him will find themselves out on
the curb, or thrown to the mercy of one of
the more hard-line groups of skinheads
that congregate in the bar. Tony is
aggressive in his negotiation and never
parts with information for free. He may
demand information, services, money or
goods in return. He is fond of Eternity
though he thinks the aging punk is
delusional and a bit 'up 'imself'. He
appreciates the devoted following that
Athirat brings to his premises but he
knows nothing of the larger plan that is
unfolding under his nose. He does not take
any drugs himself though he has been
known to traffic in them occasionally.
With the exception of Gudrun, most of the
other London-based characters in the
scenario can be found in the Palm on gignights and many others too. Large Posters

The repeated presence of Eternity's

musical creations in the bar has had a
number of unusual effects on the space.
Tony is largely immune to these effects
having spent so much time in the bar, so
he has subconsciously adjusted to them.
The same is true of Eternity. Time spent in
the bar seems to slow immeasurably. You
can spend what feels like hours in the bar
and emerge to find that only 20 minutes
has passed outside. Tony certainly enjoys
the increased business this has brought
with several rounds of drinks being bought
by customers within minutes of each other.
Anywhere in the room where there is a
join between to surfaces, at a corner or
tabletop for example, it may appear to
ripple and distort often completely
inverting, distorting perceptions of objects
around it as if looking through a curved
glass. These optical irregularities make it
hard to maintain concentration in the room
as the attention is constantly shifting to try
and take in the slight but constantly
perceptible changes in the structures all
around.
Under the influence of any
hallucinogenic drug these effects are
intensified and in addition it is possible to
see the tears in the walls where the very
fabric of reality is starting to thin. Beyond
is darkness with occasional winking points
of light and shifting shadows of different

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shades of black. It should become obvious

when everyone who is hallucinating in the
area reports exactly the same visions that
there is some underlying cause rather than
simply the influence of the drugs.

Depending on the campaign setting this

could function as a black hole, a vent
spewing matter into this universe or a
portal
to
a
separate
dimension/planet/reality. The author is
generally inclined to run it as creating a
black hole but initially just creating small
tears which may cause damage to the room
around but only repeated tampering will
launch a full blown black hole destroying a
large area if not everything. The
construction of the main body of the
synthesiser is very solidly constructed and
reinforced with wards. Pretty much
anything short of a truck being dropped on
it will only dent the casing..

The Extra-dimensional Synthesiser

The synthesiser resembles a large
computer tower connected to a keyboard.
The interesting part consists of the speaker
that stands behind the main unit. This
stands about 6 feet tall and a foot thick. If
dismantled it becomes clear that it does not
contain the necessary mechanics to
actually perform as a speaker. Instead the
interior is covered in sigils. The vibrations
created by this otherworldly construction
are not only perceivable by human ears as
a distortion heavy brand of industrial
techno music but affect the very structures
of space time that they pass through. In
much the same way that play the resonant
frequency of a wine glass can cause it
shatter from the vibration, the symphonic
compositions laid out by the synthesiser
tap into the resonant frequency of reality
itself. The deity-beast that Eternity
professes to worship aims to exploit the
warping that results from use of the
synthesiser to break through the
boundaries of our plane of existence.
Prolonged use in an enclosed space leads
to strange effects on the surrounding
environment (see The Palm). Though
vibrations from the synthesiser are hard to
replicate with traditional recording
equipment, it can be done. Indeed listening
to music made by the monstrous machine
through
headphones
is
positively
dangerous (see Events for details) as the
destructive
sonic forces are more
concentrated while being projected
directly into the enclosed space of the
unfortunate listener's skull.
Prolonged fiddling with the device will
cause it to rip open a dimensional rift.

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The Ritual

effects far more intensely than they

otherwise would. Some of them will start
to become panicked and fearful as they
witness the seams of the room, between
the floorboards or at any corner etc., start
to tear themselves asunder and a void full
of staring eyes revealed behind. The
investigators will also witness these effects
if they are in the room. Eternity's newest
song will be performed at this point; it acts
as a focus for both the ritual itself and for
the disintegrating minds of the unwitting
cultists before him.

The ritual essentially manifests as a

concert given by Eternity and his band.
Athirat, at the Dirty Palm. It must take
place under certain circumstances for the
outer-dimensional beast that Eternity
worships to be able to manifest and tear
through the fabric of reality. Without
interference Eternity will perform the
ritual around a week after the investigators
become involved in the case. This deadline
can be stretched or tightened to suit the
players' progress through the adventure.

Once the song itself has started, the

synthesiser will keep playing unless
physically destroyed, even if Eternity is
killed or incapacitated. The song is 3
minutes of atonal screeching at the climax
of which the beast starts to break through.
If it arrives completely the club will be
torn apart as the beast bursts forth and
proceeds to level the surrounding area,
killing everyone until it runs out of energy
around 24 hours later. It then cuts open
and returns to its own little fold of space
time. The beast resembles a huge rhino
with dozens of horns and spines bursting
from its skin and a large flat face. The skin
itself shimmers like grey oil and ripples
constantly

The 'ceremony' must consist of at least 20

revellers. Each of them must have binding
and warping sigils applied to them. These
are present in the form of tattoos from
Fielding's tattoo pen. Similarly, Lennox's
part in priming the unwitting cultists is by
circulating
a
supply
of
strong
hallucinogenic in the crowd. For the week
preceding the event, Fielding gives free
tickets out with every tattoo. Lennox
however waits until the night of the event
before trying to ply his trade. It only
requires one pill per reveller who is
tattooed for the mental energies of the
audience to be amplified enough.
Approximately 100 individuals will be
present in the basement club for the
performance, of which around 30 will have
been tattooed by Fielding with the relevant
sigils. It will take roughly half an hour of
the gig for Lennox to distribute enough
narcotics among them.

Eternity is infiltrated with a small amount

of the beast's power, functioning as a
conduit. This gives him a supernatural
durability against physical harm. It also
gives him the ability to channel the sonic
powers of the synthesiser into concentrated
bursts of kinetic force which can knock a
full grown adult off their feet or propel an
object the rough size and weight of a
computer monitor across a room.

After this half hour has passed, the

atmosphere will change. At this point the
effect has taken on its own momentum and
even the non-inebriated among the
audience will start to witness the warping

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Character Reference
Eternity - Weird, musical, philosopher and accomplished scholar of esoterica. Some magical
ability when using the synthesiser. Has been in his share of fist fights, though his slightly
malnourished body precludes excessive use of force.
Dr Gethin Willis - Translator of Babylonic cuneiform, academic. Easy going and personable.
Unlikely to be involved in physical confrontation but if he is, he keeps an antique revolver in
his desk.
Christopher Foster - Hapless wannabe punk. Dead.
Heather Foster - Christopher's Sister, lives in Reading outside London. Helpful and
concerned, rebuffed by officials.
Gordon Lennox - Drug Dealer, nervous disposition belies his intelligence and wit. Physically
insubstantial but resources at hand to call in reinforcements.
Tony Murray - Proprietor of The Dirty Palm, greedy and shrewd at business. Gruff and
lacking in people skills when he is not attempting to extract money, holds many bigoted
views. Big and can handle himself in a fight.
Jason Fielding - Tattooist/Body Modder, arrogant and ostentatious. Very knowledgeable on
his select areas of knowledge. Not afraid of a fight but more likely to call in the sentinels to
handle situations.
Gudrun Henderson - Body Modder, totally absorbed in her art and the surrounding culture
and cares for little else. Will fight to defend herself and can fight with a knife if needed.
Bill & Fox - Fielding's Sentinels. Strong and muscled. No independent thought to speak of,
see main description for their magical abilities.

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Handout #1 Email from Chris Foster

Hi Heather
I've been fine thanks, been helping Eternity with his compositions. He must be some kind of
genius, though I don't really get a lot of what he says. Jase says he speaks like a prophet
though so that's got to be impressive. I got a new article written and sent out to the
magazines last night, fingers crossed this works better. Luckily the other guys down at the
palm have helped me get over the disappointment and I'm starting to see things differently.
Even my dreams are improving, much more vivid these day!
How are you, did you get that promotion you were going for?
Chris

Handout #2 Email from Chris Foster

If I'm honest, things are getting a bit harder now, I've not got much money left but I'm close
to a breakthrough. Eternity tells me I am every day. The dreams have got even more intense
though I can never quite remember them. I woke up screaming the other day and found
Eternity was watching me sleep. But I've found a new friend and she's gonna help me, she's
got links to a magazine who can publish me! I need to lay off the trips a bit though, whenever
I listen to Eternity's music it feels like its twisting my ears up and everything starts distorting.
For the love of god, don't tell mum I said that though...
Chris

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