Cannich Scots

Also known as part two of the Shadows of Yog-Sothoth segment in our Call of Cthulhu campaign. Arriving in Scotland, our three intrepid investigators take the train to Inverness then hire a car and drive to the nearby small town of Cannich. They know that the cultists behind the Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight are up to no good here on the shores of Loch Mullardoch.

They lodge at the only hotel in town and cautiously scope the place. Violet (Cate's character) decides that everyone is a cultist until proven innocent: the guy who runs the place; the barmaid; and three men staying there, one of whom is English. [GM note: she isn't far wrong!] Playing the part of cheery, innocuous Americans, they strike up conversations with everyone regardless. It turns out that one of the three guests is an archaeologist from Edinburgh University called Andrew Kennedy. He tells them he is leaving tomorrow and after some cajoling he admits that he has been involved in an impromptu dig on the shores of the loch with Henry Hancock and his friend Adam Chisholm. They have not long returned from an expedition to Africa which Kennedy says ended in some tragedy or other (he doesn't know the details). Hancock has purchased a large house in the area, but both men have disappeared after some initial findings at the Loch. The locals are saying that Chisholm has returned to Africa, but Kennedy is spooked. He doesn't believe Chisholm would leave without Hancock and thinks something nefarious has happened - hence his imminent departure. Smart man. The characters offer to drive him to Inverness the next morning so he can catch the train, and in return he passes them some notes in Hancock's hand about local legends involving an ancient Pictish temple and a Roman expedition during which the centurion uses a magic sword to chop a golden disc into three parts. He explains this is what piqued their interest, mainly because there is no archaeological evidence for any Roman involvement in this part of what was once Caledonia. Violet muses about Hancock's name - maybe they have mutual family connections? It later transpires she is right; Hancock is a cousin on her father's side. [GM's note: pure coincidence! He happens to have the same family name as her own as established in a previous scenario. I just took advantage of the chance happening.]

The second guest is a supply teacher from the borders, here to take over from the recently retired schoolmaster (who is also the town's medic). They strike up a conversation that doesn't really go anywhere. "Cultist!" decides Violet. The characters do, though, make a note to talk to the former teacher.

The third guest is an English guy called Tommy Hayes. He says he is taking a break from work to travel around the Scottish highlands, but Scott (played by Thomas) tells his friends that this guy looks far too physically capable and is packing some sort of pistol, which is completely illegal in this country. The characters themselves have wangled shotgun licenses from their police connections in London, but proper firearms are another thing. Tommy realizes that have spotted some of his weaponry and comes clean when Violet mentions her family name. Tommy is an officer with Special Branch and is here to look for a serial killer and cannibal who goes by the stage pseudonym of 'Belphegor'. Violet decides this has to be another cultist and theorises that he has taken the name of some sort of magician or is one himself. They tell Tommy that they are going to call on Hancock to see what is going on here. He tells them to be careful; since Belphegor fled to this area, a young baby has gone missing - probably not a coincidence.

After taking Kennedy to Inverness the next morning, they return to Cannich and go to check out Hancock's house. They get the feeling from some African artefacts that Hancock and Chisholm encountered something nasty and Mythos-related while in Africa. It looks as though they came across similar happenings here in Scotland, though, because they find Hancock's mutilated body stuffed into a crawl space behind some wooden panelling; he was clearly tortured to death. There are also signs that many rooms in the house have been searched. They have the obligatory encounter in the basement when Hancock's ghost tries to scare them away, but Isobel (Beth's character) drives him off. [01 on a Power roll!] They reckon he is protecting something and give the basement a through going-over, finding one segment of the golden disc mentioned in Hancock's notes. It is part of the sun disk they saw in previous visions; an artistic representation of the same thing adorned an altar panel at the Silver Twilight 's Boston headquarters.

[End of first session in Cannich. There was a lot of roleplaying in the town hotel, followed by the now traditional creepy house investigation.]