Athirat Rising (7526762)

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Brandon Paul (order #7526762)

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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: 4

Eternity: 6

Christopher and Eternity's Flat: 7

Mysterious Music: 8

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.

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

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 self-purification. 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.

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

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.

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

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 mid-sentence 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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.

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


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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.

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'.

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

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).

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


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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.

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.

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).


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Gordon Lennox

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 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.

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.

Lennox's Warehouse

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:

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 un-gentlemanly 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 metal-worker 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

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.


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Jason Fielding

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 long-established 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.

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

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 strong-willed 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 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


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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.

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.

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.

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 power-imbued 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.

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


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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.

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:

- 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.


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Dr Gethin Willis and the UCL Faculty

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

which are hung with racks of tools, inks, prosthetics and reference photos.


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The Dirty Palm

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 gig-nights and many others too. Large Posters

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 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.

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.

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..


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The Ritual

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.


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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


Athirat Rising (7526762)

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Transcript of Athirat Rising (7526762)