Eyeless astronomers and screaming milkmen

We rolled up the core of our Call of Cthulhu-heeding superchums last night and they got rolling on their first investigation.

Noe rolled up Swoosie Staines, daughter of a murdered mother and outstanding-in-her-graveyard parapsychologist. A thoroughly modern gal, she knew the others from her time in Paris earlier in the decade and shared their love of music (she’s the violinist in the jam sessions they have during their meetups) .

Ben rolled up Tony “ Crazy Legs” Balta, a middling boxer on the Eastern Seaboard circuit. Tony was hosting the others in his apartment in Arkham, generous fella that he is, for one of their semi-regular long weekends of motorcycle touring, fascinatingly deep late night symposia and impromptu recitals (Tony contributes the harmonica).

Rolland came up with Pleasant Hannibal Clemens (Clements?) reporter for the Hartford Courant. He and Tony share an interest in Egyptology, motorcycles and trying to pay the bill faster than the other. Pleasant Hannibal (two first names) brought his Glockenspiel up from Hartford.

Tony provides the obvious brawn, while Swoosie is READY TO BELIEVE and has the machines that go widdley-wee and PH brings his journalistic shrewdness.

When their long-weekend retreat was disrupted by an escaped self-mutilating lunatic, they followed up and have uncovered a series of bizarre and increasingly dangerous events in Arkham’s squalid Southside. They’ve got a few leads to follow up on next session: a milkman who had a hysterical breakdown; the Sanitarium that holds the auto-enucleating madman; and a sneaking suspicion about recent improvements made by the town council to the street one which both of these events occurred.

I found this scenario online and for some reason chose this one rather than the normal starting point of haunted house-investigation-gone-wrong because it was unusual, and a good detective-y scenario with lots of pretty handouts. I’ve got to remember to print them out in colour… really helps the blood smears pop. So far it’s going pretty well; it’s a creepy start that hopefully carries through to a satisfyingly harrowing conclusion.