TEXT: Clean Up, Aisle four! 
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  “Clean Up, Aisle Four!”©2004 
  By Michael C. LaBossiere, ontologist@aol.com 
  Call of Cthulhu 
   
  Legal Information 
  This adventure is copyright 2004 by Dr. Michael C. LaBossiere. It may be freely 
  distributed for personal use provided that it is not modified and no fee above the normal 
  cost of distribution is charged for it. Visit my web site at www.opifex.cnchost.com. 
  Call of Cthulhu is Registered Trademark of Chaosium Inc. 
  http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/. Chaosium Inc.  900 Murmansk Street  Suite 5  
  Oakland, CA  94607. 
   
  Introduction 
  This modern day adventure pits the intrepid investigators against an evil plaguing a New 
  England convenience store. An evil other than ancient hot dogs and high gas prices, of course. 
  The adventure is intended to be the first in a short series of adventures centering around a 
  convenience store which will be known collectively as “Convenience Store Cthulhu.”  
  The adventure is also intended as a “starter” adventure and is suitable for new investigators. It 
  does not require that the investigators have any special skills or knowledge and does not pit the 
  investigators against a major mythos threat. 
   
  Keeper’s Background 
  In the ancient days when the earth was young, a cosmic object impacted the atmosphere and 
  rained metal down upon the earth. This alien metal had a variety of bizarre qualities one of which 
  was that it weakened the metaphysical veil between this reality and other realms. 
  One chunk of the strange metal ended up buried in the earth under what is now the 
  Massachusetts town of Weyport. For untold centuries the metal rested there, allowing interaction 
  between our realm and a realm inhabited by nightmarish creatures. Fortunately, the area was not 
  inhabited for many years. When the first humans arrived in the area, they eventually encountered 
  the creatures that were able to visit our room. Realizing that these horrid beings were limited to a 
  certain area, these people wisely avoided the region and passed on this warning to others. 
  In 1623 a band of Englishmen were given a charter to form a colony. Unfortunately for them, 
  they chose to establish their initial settlement in the area that was influenced by the strange 
  metal. Disaster was almost averted when one of the natives of the region noticed the smoke from 
  the settlement and bravely entered the area to warn them. The leader of the settlement dismissed 
  his warning as the mere ramblings of a savage. With sadness in his heart, the brave man left the 
  area after making one last plea. 
  Things went reasonably well at the settlement until one night predators from the other realm 
  became aware of the presence of the settlers. Caught by surprise, the settlers were quickly 
  slaughtered and devoured; leaving behind an empty settlement that seemed like the inhabitants 
  had just stepped out. When the next ship arrived, they found the empty settlement. Suspecting 
  that hostile natives had killed the first settlers, the second group sent the women to an established 
  colony and, after arming themselves, the men set out in search of revenge. Unable to find anyone 
  on which to take their revenge, they returned to the empty settlement and decided to start a few 
  fires at night in the hopes of luring in those responsible for the lost settlers. Unfortunately for 
  
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  them, they succeeded: the creatures were drawn back to the settlement to slaughter the men. A 
  small scouting party from the established colony went to the settlement and found it abandoned 
  once again. They decided it was best to simply leave the area alone and departed, leaving the 
  rough buildings to fall into decay. 
  Shortly after this, Mi-Go scouts detected the presence of the metal in the area. The Mi Go had 
  various uses for the strange metal and actively sought it. Having dealt with such areas before, the 
  Mi-Go were prepared. They arrived in the area during the day, knowing that the sunlight 
  prevented the creatures from entering into earth’s realm. The Mi-Go buried devices within the 
  earth to disrupt the emanations of the alien metal, thus preventing the creatures from entering 
  into the realm of earth. Thus protected, the Mi-Go mined out most of the metal and then departed 
  the area. 
  In 1697 Charles Wey, a down on his luck English adventurer, learned of the failed settlement 
  and managed to talk his way into the ownership of the charter for the area. He found the ruins of 
  the previous settlement as well as the excavations of the Mi-Go. Despite the area’s bad 
  reputation, he was eventually able to persuade enough people to move to the area, thus creating a 
  viable colony. The colony eventually grew and became what is now the town of Weyport. 
  While the Mi-Go devices remained and kept the dwellers of the other reality from entering the 
  realm of earth, under certain conditions, such as violent lightning storms at night, people would 
  occasionally see flickering and dim visions of the creatures of the other realm. These sightings 
  gave the area a reputation for being haunted, which actually helped its tourist industry. 
  However, this all changed when Cheryl Pik, owner of the Zipp N’ Pik chain of convenience 
  stores, bought the town’s gas station and had it modernized. During construction one of the Mi-
  Go devices was unearthed and taken by one of the workers, thus enabling the veil to be parted in 
  that area.  Eventually the convenience store was completed and opened.  
  Nothing happened for the first twenty-seven days. Then, one night creatures from the other 
  realm crossed, quite by accident, into the convenience store area. Ever hungry, they attacked, 
  killed and consumed all they encountered and then returned entirely to their realm as the solar 
  radiation caused the veil between realms to rise again. In the morning, the day shift arrived to 
  find the store empty. They called the police who discovered that in addition to the night shift 
  several other people were missing-their cars were abandoned in the lot, one of them with the 
  nozzle from a gas pump still in its tank. 
   
  Getting the Investigators Involved 
  There are a variety of ways to get the investigators involved with the mystery. The least 
  complex is to set it up so that one of the missing people is a friend or relative of on of the 
  investigators. In this case, the investigator will learn of the disappearance and decide to take 
  matters into his/her own hands, bringing along any companions. 
  A second option is that if the adventure is not the first one for the investigators, they could be 
  drawn in because of past experiences that have given them an interest in such things. 
  A third option, one with some humor potential, is to have the investigators working for a 
  reality TV show that investigates strange events. This can provide an interesting mechanism for 
  an ongoing campaign and allows for a mix of serious events, hoaxes and things that turn out to 
  be nothing. 
  A fourth option is that the investigators could be hired by Zipp N’Pik to get things sorted out. 
  In this case the investigators would need suitable backgrounds and occupations so that their role 
  makes sense. This could also provide a framework for an ongoing campaign: the investigators 
  
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  are freelance troubleshoots (“find the trouble and shoot it”) who take care of special and unusual 
  situations. 
  A fifth and humorous option is to set it up so that  the brother of one of the investigators is 
  married to Cheryl Pik, the owner of the famous Zipp N’ Pik chain of convenience stores that 
  blight the landscape of the East Coast of America. The Keeper will need to set up two aspects of 
  the investigator’s history. First, s/he has been a bit of a failure in employment and desperately 
  needs a job, plus s/he owes Pik a great deal of money. The reason for the failure can be worked 
  out by the Keeper and player. It could be that the investigator is too moral for corporate work, 
  that s/he is always interested in something else, or that s/he is just really incompetent.  Second, 
  Cheryl Pik has a burning desire to have bad things happen to the investigator due to a variety of 
  past incidents. It is up to the Keeper and player as to whether the actions were intentional or 
  accidental (this makes it funnier). For example, at Pik’s wedding the investigator, seeming to be 
  in a drunken stupor, staggered up to the wedding cake, threw up on it and then passed out into it. 
  This might have been the result of heavy drinking or perhaps the investigator was accidentally 
  exposed to something poisonous. As another example, the investigator was playing with Pik’s 
  pet Chihuahua on Thanksgiving. The game involved using a board in the backyard as a seesaw to 
  lift the dog up and down. Unfortunately, a frozen turkey fell of the picnic table and onto the 
  board, thus catapulting the dog into the open turkey fryer. At about that time, Pik came out of the 
  house and said “that smells great! I can hardly wait to eat!”  Thus, when Ms. Pik learns of the 
  disappearances at the Weyport store, she will decide to send her in law to manage the store in the 
  hopes that something bad will happen. 
  A sixth and least desirable option is to simply have the investigators stumble into the situation. 
   
  Weyport 
  This small coastal town is a sleepy place most of the year, waking up to a brisk pace during the 
  summer tourist season and slowly settling back to a somnolent state after the fall foliage has been 
  entombed within the icy shroud of the New England winter.  
  Weyport is a typical coastal New England Town. It is in reasonably good economic shape and 
  has a living downtown with a variety of shops, most of which are aimed at the tourists. The town 
  is a short distance away from larger towns (some of which are infested with Wal Marts)  and is 
  not far from Boston, thus enabling the investigators to acquire almost anything they might need. 
   
  Investigation 
  The following details the information the investigators can dig up through their research. 
   
  Wendy Carson 
  Wendy Carson, a writer for the Bangor Daily News (published in Bangor, ME) happened to be 
  visiting her college friend Angela West, when the people vanished. She filed the story and 
  decided to stick around-she hopes that the story will amount to something big and make her 
  career.  Other newspapers will run much shorter blurbs reporting that some people have gone 
  missing in Weyport.  
  Wendy might be able to aid the investigators and she will certainly attempt to milk them for 
  information should she learn that they investigating the matter. If she thinks they are rival 
  reporters, she will be polite but will insist that the story belongs to her and that she does not 
  appreciate that their “muscling in” on her story. She is included as an NPC, below. 
  Her original newspaper article is as follows: 
  
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  Convenience Store Mystery 
  According to several local sources, the Weyport Zipp N’ Pik store has become the landlocked 
  equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle: when the store’s morning shift arrived, they found the store 
  empty and called the police. When the police arrived, they quickly determined that all of the cars 
  were missing their drivers and passengers. Police are currently investigating the matter. While 
  the police have yet to release an official statement, reliable sources have reported that there may 
  be as many as twelve people missing. The source also indicated that the police have the security 
  video from the store, but have yet to comment publicly on them. 
  The local authorities claim that the situation is under control and that tourists should not be 
  deterred from visiting Weyport because of this mystery.  
   
  History 
  There are numerous mundane history texts that report the basic details of the region. However, 
  the investigators can turn up Vanished Villages, by Ira Cabot Wiener, published in 1962. This 
  work includes the following about the history of the town: 
   
  A little known fact about the scenic Massachusetts town of Weyport is that it is built over the 
  ruins of a failed settlement. In 1623 a band of Englishmen were given a charter to form a colony. 
  Unfortunately for them, they chose to establish their initial settlement in the area that was 
  reported as being shunned by the native tribes. According to some of the legends, the area was 
  said to be plagued by ghosts. Interestingly, these ghosts were said to be particularly vicious and 
  there were tales of them killing both humans and animals. Undeterred by such tales, the settlers 
  established rough shelters and set up crude fortifications.  
  When the next ship arrived, they found the settlement completely empty. According to a 
  surviving document from the times, the second wave of settlers reported that it seemed as if the 
  settlers had simply walked away with every intent of returning. No sign of fighting or violence 
  was found, but the suspicious English believed that hostile natives had killed the first settlers. 
  The settlers sent the women to an established colony up the coast and, after arming themselves, 
  the men set out in search of revenge.  They were never heard from again. A small scouting party 
  from the established colony went to the settlement and found signs that the men had been there, 
  but found it abandoned once again. They decided it was best to simply leave the area alone and 
  departed, leaving the rough buildings to fall into decay. 
  In 1697 Charles Wey, a down on his luck English adventurer, learned of the failed settlement 
  and managed to talk his way into the ownership of the charter for the area. He found the ruins of 
  the previous settlement and also reported finding “mysterious pits” dug in the ground. Despite 
  the area’s bad reputation, he was eventually able to persuade enough people to move to the area, 
  thus creating a viable colony. The colony eventually grew and became what is now the town of 
  Weyport. 
  While Weyport is not particularly well known as a haunted place, there are numerous reports 
  of strange sightings in the area. Not surprisingly, most of them are said to have taken place 
  during storms. Some claim that the apparitions are the ghosts of the lost settlers. 
   
  Mabel Wey 
  Sixty five year old Mabel Wey is the town’s self appointed historian and holds her position by 
  strength of personality and the fact that she is a descendent of Charles Wey. She, along with he 
  
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  rather bored granddaughter Sarah Sewell, run the town’s small historical center. The center and 
  gift shop is open all week during tourist season, but only 1-4 Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 
  during the off season.  
  Mabel Wey is an expert on the history of the town and can present all of it in great detail. She 
  is somewhat reluctant to talk about the vanished settlement and ghost sightings because she is 
  worried that people will connect them to the recent disappearances and that this would be bad for 
  the town. However, she is a decent person and does not want anyone to get hurt. 
  If the investigators are able to convince her that they are honestly trying to help, she will tell 
  them about the vanished settlement and the fact that the natives regarded the place as haunted 
  (basically, the same information in Wiener’s book. She can however, add the following 
  information. First, people have reported seeing ghosts in the town for years but every reputable 
  sighting has been made during a lightning storm. The sightings are said to be very brief and the 
  shape seems indistinct, but usually about the size of a human. People have attempted to take 
  pictures, but they have ended up merely showing, at best, indistinct blurs on the film. Mabel has 
  a few photos on hand which are, in fact, genuine photos of the creatures that have been taken to 
  be ghosts. Second, the ghosts have never harmed anyone in town, although as a religious woman, 
  she worries that they might be evil spirits because “good souls always go to heaven.” Third, if 
  the investigators ask about the “mysterious pits” that Wiener mentions, she will say that she has 
  read of them in the few surviving scraps of Charle’s writing. Because of their condition, she 
  won’t allow them to be removed from their special storage case. However, she has a copy she 
  will show them. It says, roughly, that he discovered many “well dug” pits in the area with “sharp, 
  clean sides” as if they had been dug with a single shovel thrust. He also reports seeing strange 
  tracks that “were not good to look at” but that he felt that the area was safe now.   
   
  Police 
  Weyport has a police chief, John Robinson, and four police officers (Dan Marsh, Julie Roberts, 
  Brent Smith and Robert Parker). There are several police auxiliaries who work during the tourist 
  season, mostly directing traffic on busy days and for events. 
  The police are, not surprisingly, reluctant to release additional information about the case. This 
  is partially due to the fact that the investigation is ongoing, partially due to their sensitivity to the 
  importance of tourism to the town, and partially due to the nagging doubt that this is some sort of 
  odd hoax or some sort of reality TV event. 
  If the investigators are able to earn the confidence of the chief or one of the officers (or gain 
  access via some other means) they can gain access to the following information: 
  First, there are nine people believed to be missing. None of them have any serious police 
  records. The police investigation has not turned up any unusual connections between them and 
  no one seems to have any real motivation to wish them harm. 
   
  The Missing 
  Name 
  Age, Gender 
  Home 
  Notes 
  Andrews, Ronald 
  37, male 
  Boston, Mass 
  Owner, Ford Explorer. 
  Vehicle found with door open 
  and fuel pump in tank. 
  Andrews, Ann 
  27,female 
  Boston, Mass 
  Married to Ronald Andrews 
  Brown, George 
  19, male 
  Weyport, Mass 
  Driving brother’s Toyota 
  Tundra 
  
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  Clark, Ralph 
  47, male 
  Columbus, Ohio 
  Owner, Gremlin. Arrested for 
  possession of marijuana in 
  1981.  
  Charles, Kevin 
  34, male 
  Thomasville, 
  Georgia 
  Owner, Ford F150. 
  Felder, Carrie 
  45, female 
  Columbus, Ohio 
  Reported as traveling with 
  Ralph Clark 
  Hoskins, William 
  46, Male 
  Durham, New 
  Hampshire 
  Owner, Honda Civic. Arrested 
  for drunk and disorderly in 
  1998. 
  Thibodaux, Timmy 
  21, male 
  Weyport, Mass 
  Employee. 
  Wainwright, Robert 
  22, male 
  Weyport, Mass 
  Employee. 
   
  Second, the police found no overt signs of violence in the store or vehicles. A careful 
  examination using standard forensic techniques revealed nothing unusual. 
  Third, the police have the security tapes. There are a few unusual things about the tapes. First, 
  as night begins to fall the tapes show signs of distortion. If examined by an expert, it will be 
  found that it is most likely due to the effect of some sort of electromagnetic field or radiation. 
  The effect grows stronger as the sun goes down, reaches a plateau during the hours of darkness, 
  and then returns to normal as daylight returns. Second, while the majority of the tape is so 
  distorted a careful observer will (like someone trying to watch scrambled porn on cable) be able 
  to get a faint impression of what was recorded. The general impression will be that there seem to 
  be some images of people moving around as well as some unusual blurred shapes on the film. 
  There will be about one second of film that is less distorted than the rest. This bit shows what 
  appears to be Robert Wainwright hanging in midair with a distorted blur over him. Based on the 
  way his body is positioned, it looks like he is being held by something around one leg, both arms 
  and his upper torso. The investigators might think to have the tapes computer enhanced. Doing 
  this will clear up some of the distortion, but no amount of enhancement will result in anything 
  like a clear image. 
  The police have some theories. One theory is that this is some sort of bizarre hoax and that the 
  tapes have been deliberately doctored. Another theory is that this is part of some stupid reality 
  TV show in which a town gets a prank played on it by a band of juvenile idiots. The third theory 
  is that something truly awful has happened in the store, be it caused by human agents or 
  something more unusual.  
   
  The Store 
  The store will initially be closed when the investigators arrive in town. If they go there during 
  the day, they will find nothing unusual. If they go there at night, refer to the Action section 
  below.  
  The store is a standard convenience store. There are gasoline pumps in the front, a glass front 
  with a sliding door, and a main area with a cashier’s station and shelves of convenience store 
  stuff. In the back of the store are the bathrooms, a utility closet, a storage area and a small 
  employee break room. The store is new, so it is in good shape. Naturally, the hot dogs and other 
  items have been shipped in from the warehouses in which they are suitable aged to convenience 
  store standards.  
   
  
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  Action 
  The following provides a guide for running the action of the adventure. 
   
  Carson 
  When the investigators arrive in Weyport Carson will have been staking out the convenience 
  store since the day after the incident. Out of a very reasonable fear, she will not enter the store-
  that is, she won’t enter it until she is worried that another reporter might go into the store and get 
  a great story. 
  If Carson believes that the investigators are rival reporters, she will sneak into the convenience 
  store at night and most likely end up dead. If the Keeper wants to jump right into the action, she 
  could call the investigators from the store, reporting that strange things are happening and that 
  she has concealed herself in the utilities closet. In this case, if the investigators chose to try to 
  rescue her, they will encounter three lashing phantoms in the store. If they do decide to leave her 
  to her fate, that fate is left to the Keeper. 
   
  The Ghost Pursuers 
  If the investigators have been brought into the adventure using the reality TV show option, 
  they will be assigned to spend the night in the store (paying a nice fee to the Zipp N’ Pik 
  company). The Keeper can pick the name of the series, perhaps something like “Ghost Pursuit” 
  or something equally silly.  
  In this case, the investigators will set up for the night’s shooting during the day and then arrive 
  for the action at night. See In the Store below for the events. 
  If this option is not being used by the investigators, the Keeper can have an NPC team from a 
  reality TV show arrive to do an episode about the store. At the Keeper’s discretion, they can end 
  up in dire danger and need to be rescued by the investigators, end up simply vanishing in the 
  store, or (letting their discretion be the greater part of their valor) they might simply decide to 
  make up a story, film some outside shots and then go home. 
   
  Working for a Living 
  If the investigators have been brought in because one of their number must work in the store, 
  the investigator will end up in the store at night as part of his/her job. Things will be fine, albeit 
  boring, until night comes. Then the lashing phantoms will arrive for more than cigarettes and 
  beer.  
   
  Outside Action 
  The Mi-Go device was removed from an area that is located roughly under the center of the 
  store. As such, the lashing phantoms can interface earth’s realm for about fifty feet around the 
  store centering on the store’s center. As such, if someone can make it out of the area they will be 
  safe from the phantoms. 
  The phantoms tend to end up in the store because it is in an area in which the metal’s effect is 
  the strongest, thus making it easier for them to spot their prey. 
  During the day, the area is safe from the phantoms. Once night has fallen, the phantoms will be 
  able to sense things in the area and will investigate and attack any living thing they encounter. If 
  the investigators are there, they will be attacked by lashing phantoms (one phantom for every 
  two investigators should be suitable). The phantoms will attack until they each have a meal or 
  until they are badly wounded (at 50% of their hit points) and then they will leave. If a phantom 
  
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  gets a kill, it will take its meal with it-when it leaves the area what it has consumed will come 
  with it. 
  If no one is in the area, observers might catch glimpses of the phantoms entering the area in 
  search of another meal (after the previous feast the creatures check the area when they hunt) but 
  the phantoms will move on in search of something to eat.  
   
  In the Store 
  If the investigators are in the store at night, it is likely that they will be attacked. The Keeper 
  might wish to have the first night be uneventful or, even better, have only a few harmless 
  denizens of the other realm show up to give the investigators a start and perhaps lull them into a 
  false sense of security. These denizens superficially resemble the lashing phantoms but lack the 
  tentacles and are harmless-they feed on their realm’s equivalent of plankton. 
  When the lashing phantoms arrive they will “swim” through the area, cautiously checking 
  things out (much like sharks and other predators). They will probably “bump” the investigators a 
  few times to make sure they are edible and then will strike. In terms of their numbers, one 
  phantom for every two investigators should be suitable-unless the investigators are very well or 
  very poorly armed. 
   
  A Lucky Break 
  When the investigators are being attacked in the store, the Keeper should have it so that one of 
  the microwaves in the store is either on or is turned on during the battle. The radiation emitted by 
  the oven will disrupt the interface, banishing any lashing phantoms within five feet of the oven. 
  So, investigators can use the oven to protect themselves. There are three ovens in the store and 
  plenty of extension cords so clever investigators could use them to escape from the store. 
   
  Solutions? 
  One option is to try to kill the phantoms. There are many, many lashing phantoms in their 
  realm so killing them all is probably not a viable option. However, killing enough of them (for 
  example, killing all that show up for three nights) will deter others from entering the area, at least 
  for a while. Of course, others will blunder into the area in weeks or months, thus starting the 
  problem all over again. 
  Another option is to seal the area off and keeping people out of danger. The degree of 
  effectiveness will depend on the means used. Naturally, the Zipp N’ Pik company will not be 
  pleased to have the store sealed off and neither will the townspeople. 
  A third option is to set up microwave generators to keep the creatures away. The radiation can 
  be kept at safe levels and the generators would be fairly simply to construct by someone with the 
  relevant skills. Zipp N’ Pik executives will be willing to accept this option since the radiation 
  levels will be within the legal limits. 
   
  Conclusion 
  The adventure concludes when the investigators deal with the situation, perish or give up. If the 
  investigators succeed in dealing with the situation, they should be awarded a 1D4 sanity points as 
  a reward. It is likely that they will also earn the gratitude of the townspeople and the Zipp N’ Pik 
  Corporation (insofar as corporations show gratitude). If the investigators perish, it is time to roll 
  up new characters. If the investigators give up, the area will continue to be plagued with the 
  
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  lashing phantoms and it is very likely that new deaths will occur. In this case the cowardly 
  weasels should receive a 1D3 sanity point loss.  
   
  NPCS  
  The following details the NPCs for the adventure. 
   
  Wendy Carson, Young Reporter 
  STR: 12 CON:11 SIZ: 13 INT:12 POW:12 DEX:12 APP: 13 EDU: 13 SAN: 60 HP: 12 
  DB: None 
  Important Skills: Bargain 15%, Dodge 24%, Drive Auto 32%, Fast Talk 47%, First Aid 39%, 
  History 30%, Library Use 43%, French 13%, Persuade 22%, Psychology 10%, Spot Hidden 
  31%, Shotgun 42% 
  Description: As noted above, Wendy is a young reporter for the Bangor Daily News. As a young 
  reporter fresh from the University of Maine, she generally gets sent to cover local events such as 
  lobster, clam or blueberry festivals. She is already sick of writing cutesy things about claims, so 
  she is hoping this mystery will be her ticket to the big time-the Portland Press Herald or even the 
  New York Times. 
  Wendy has dark blonde hair and blue eyes. She is a bit heavyset and tries to workout as often 
  as possible because she thinks people will open up to her more if they find her attractive ( she is, 
  of course, completely right). She is quite ambitious and this, combined with her youth, makes her 
  willing to take some serious risks if need be. 
  While her main focus is on getting a career making story, she is reasonably moral and will act 
  accordingly. She hunted with her brothers and father, so she is familiar with a shotgun. If things 
  seem to be taking a turn towards the weird and the dangerous, she will go to a Wal Mart and buy 
  a 20 gauge pump shotgun and a box of shells. 
   
  John Robnson, Police Chief 
  STR: 13 Con: 13 SIZ: 14 INT: 13 POW: 12 DEX: 12 APP: 11 EDU: 13 SAN: 60 HP: 14 
  Important Skills: Fast Talk 39%, First Aid 38%, Hand Gun 59%, Night Stick 50%, Law 32%, 
  Listen 39%, Drive Automobile 50%, Spot Hidden 56%, Shot Gun 54% 
  DB: +1D4 
  Weapons: 12 Gauge Shotgun Damage: 4D6/2D6/1D6 Range: 10/20/50 Shots: 8, 
  9mm Semiautomatic Damage: 1D10 Base Range 20 yards, 15 shots, Night Stick: 1D8+DB 
  Description: John is the police chief of Weyport. He grew up in Boston, but found that he 
  preferred the small town life and took the job two years ago. 
  John is slightly above average in size, has brown eyes and thinning brown hair. He is a fairly 
  no-nonsense sort of person and will look upon and claims about ghosts, aliens or other weirdness 
  with a great deal of skepticism. He also likes to keep things “by the book” and will not be very 
  tolerant of any “cowboy antics” the investigators might be contemplating. However, he is not a 
  stupid man and will not maintain his skepticism in the face of reasonable evidence. If the 
  investigators show that they have a better grasp on the situation than he does, he will be willing 
  to work with the investigators to protect his town. 
   
  Mythos Beings 
  The following details the new monster for the adventure. 
   
  
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  Lashing Phantoms 
  Lashing Phantoms are native to a dimensional reality that is coextensive with our own. They 
  are one of the top predators in what amounts to the seas of the world they inhabit, which parallels 
  the earth in many respects. They are man-sized creatures. The body of a lashing phantom looks 
  somewhat like a blend between that of a slug and a gar. Extending from both ends of the body 
  are four long tentacles, two on each end. Instead of a normal head, a lashing phantom has three 
  lamprey-like mouths on its underbody. Each mouth is surrounded by a ring of gelatinous globes 
  that function both as eyes and ears for the lashing phantom. The senses of a lashing phantom are 
  quite acute and enable them to easily find their prey. 
  Lashing phantoms are both curious and voracious-when they encounter something new, they 
  will eagerly investigate it and then quickly try to eat it, should it prove edible. They attack by 
  lashing at their prey with tentacles and follow this up with biting.  
  Under normal conditions, the inhabitants of our reality and that of the lashing phantoms’ reality 
  are unaware of the “nearby” presence of each other. Under unusual circumstances, lashing 
  phantoms can interact with this world. In most cases these interactions are very limited; a human 
  might, for example, have a vague feeling of being watched, catch a glimpse of strange movement 
  out of the corner of her eye, or feel a faint touch-like that of a feather dipped in slime. Under 
  truly odd circumstances lashing phantoms can almost fully interact with our world. In such cases 
  the lashing phantom remains partially in its reality which enables it to swim (thus appearing to 
  fly in our reality) and also gives it a phantom-like appearance. Objects and effects in the realm of 
  earth affect lashing phantoms so that they cannot, for example, pass though solid objects such as 
  walls. If they consume something on earth, it becomes part of them and thus goes back with 
  them. If a lashing phantom is killed or captured it will remain on earth unless the conditions that 
  enabled it to interact with the realm of earth come to an end. For example, if a lashing phantom 
  is killed in this adventure it will remain until sunrise or until it is taken out of the area (unless 
  someone volunteers to eat it). 
  The interface between the realities also makes the lashing phantom seem to be composed of 
  various sized sparkling fragments and to fade in and out, never completing losing all 
  transparency. In fact, a lashing phantom interacting with our reality will seem oddly beautiful-
  right up until the moment it starts tearing savagely into its chosen meal. When seen in this way, 
  there is no sanity loss for viewing them. The usual nature of the light created by their interface 
  with earth’s reality results in photographic images of these creatures being very distorted. For the 
  most part, normal cameras will merely show indistinct blurs. A person with the relevant skills 
  could construct either a special lens filter or a modification to film (or software) to enable the 
  light to be captured properly.  
  The veil between the two realities is generally fully intact. However, certain types of very 
  unusual radiation can cause the veil to become thin or even part it. The most common cause of 
  such effects is a rare ore that has very unusual properties and seems to partially exist in both 
  realities. The Mi-Go have found various uses for this unusual ore and often seek it. Because of 
  their encounters with lashing phantoms and other creatures of their reality, the Mi-Go have found 
  ways to deal with them. 
   
   
   
   
   
  
  Clean Up, Aisle four! 
  Page 11 of 12 
  Lashing Phantoms, Hunters from Beyond 
   
  Char. 
  rolls 
  averages 
  STR 
  3D6 
  10-11 
  CON 
  3D6 
  10-11 
  SIZ 
  2D6+6 
  13 
  INT 
  1D6 
  3 
  POW 
  3D6 
  10-11 
  DEX 
  3D6 
  10-11 
  Move 
  10 
  HP  
   
  Av. Damage Bonus: None 
  Weapons: Tentacle 60% 1D6+DB, Bite 40% 1D4 
  Armor: None 
  Spells: None 
  Sanity Loss: 0/1D8 Sanity points to fully see a Lashing Phantom.  
  
  Clean Up, Aisle four! 
  Page 12 of 12 
   
  Handouts 
   
  Handout #1 
  Bangor Daily News 
  Convenience Store Mystery 
  -Wendy Carson 
  According to several local sources, the Weyport Zipp N’ Pik store has become the landlocked 
  equivalent of the Bermuda Triangle: when the store’s morning shift arrived, they found the store 
  empty and called the police. When the police arrived, they quickly determined that all of the cars 
  were missing their drivers and passengers. Police are currently investigating the matter. While 
  the police have yet to release an official statement, reliable sources have reported that there may 
  be as many as twelve people missing. The source also indicated that the police have the security 
  video from the store, but have yet to comment publicly on them. 
  The local authorities claim that the situation is under control and that tourists should not be 
  deterred from visiting Weyport because of this mystery.  
   
  Handout #2 
  Vanished Villages, by Ira Cabot Wiener, published in 1962 
  A little known fact about the scenic Massachusetts town of Weyport is that it is built over the 
  ruins of a failed settlement. In 1623 a band of Englishmen were given a charter to form a colony. 
  Unfortunately for them, they chose to establish their initial settlement in the area that was 
  reported as being shunned by the native tribes. According to some of the legends, the area was 
  said to be plagued by ghosts. Interestingly, these ghosts were said to be particularly vicious and 
  there were tales of them killing both humans and animals. Undeterred by such tales, the settlers 
  established rough shelters and set up crude fortifications.  
  When the next ship arrived, they found the settlement completely empty. According to a 
  surviving document from the times, the second wave of settlers reported that it seemed as if the 
  settlers had simply walked away with every intent of returning. No sign of fighting or violence 
  was found, but the suspicious English believed that hostile natives had killed the first settlers. 
  The settlers sent the women to an established colony up the coast and, after arming themselves, 
  the men set out in search of revenge.  They were never heard from again. A small scouting party 
  from the established colony went to the settlement and found signs that the men had been there, 
  but found it abandoned once again. They decided it was best to simply leave the area alone and 
  departed, leaving the rough buildings to fall into decay. 
  In 1697 Charles Wey, a down on his luck English adventurer, learned of the failed settlement 
  and managed to talk his way into the ownership of the charter for the area. He found the ruins of 
  the previous settlement and also reported finding “mysterious pits” dug in the ground. Despite 
  the area’s bad reputation, he was eventually able to persuade enough people to move to the area, 
  thus creating a viable colony. The colony eventually grew and became what is now the town of 
  Weyport. 
  While Weyport is not particularly well known as a haunted place, there are numerous reports 
  of strange sightings in the area. Not surprisingly, most of them are said to have taken place 
  during storms. Some claim that the apparitions are the ghosts of the lost settlers. 
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Call of Cthulhu (CoC) (BRP) [multi]/Adventures/1920s/CoC - 1920s - Adv - Convenience Store Cthulhu 1 - Clean Up, Aisle Four! (.pdf