TEXT: 1
  Tickets-of-Leave are small 
  self-contai ned addi ti ons 
  to the Convicts & Cthulhu 
  setti ng for Lovecraftian 
  roleplaying in the early 
  penal colonies of Australia. 
  Each includes a selection 
  of game elements which 
  c a n  e i t h e r  b e  u s e d 
  collecti vely as a thumbnail 
  sketch of a mini-scenario, 
  or can be used in isolation 
  to p rov i de p i e c es t ha t 
  enhance a scenario of your 
  own invention.
  CREDITS
  Ticket-of-Leave #8  is written by 
  Geoff Gillan with Dean Engelhardt; 
  original artwork by Reuben Dodd. 
  Copyright © 2017. Published by 
  Cthulhu Reborn Publishing .
  (w w w. c t h u l h u r e b o r n. c o m)
  The Convicts & Cthulhu setting 
  is published by Cthulhu Reborn 
  Publishing and is available via 
  RPGNow and DrivethruRPG as a 
  “Pay-What-You-Want” title.
  This PDF uses trademarks and/or copyrights 
  owned by Chaosium Inc/Moon Design 
  Publications LLC, which are used under 
  Chaosium Inc’s Fan Material Policy. We are 
  expressly prohibited from charging you to use 
  or access this content. This PDF is not published, 
  endorsed, or specifically approved by Chaosium 
  Inc. For more information about Chaosium Inc’s 
  products, please visit www.chaosium.com.
  8
  Introduction
  When most people think of the term ‘convict’ in the 
  context of the early penal settlements of Australia, 
  they automatically picture lower-class rabble from 
  English, Scottish or Irish society transported to the 
  colonies for some kind of petty offense. And the vast 
  majority of convicts sent to New South Wales and 
  later Australian colonies were exactly that type of 
  person, drawn from Britain’s criminal or labouring 
  classes. But those weren’t the only type of convicts 
  that arrived on Antipodean shores: some convicts 
  were actually gentlemen (or, occasionally, ladies) 
  from more socially ‘respectable’ backgrounds who 
  had ended up on the wrong side of a magistrate’s 
  sentence. Sometimes these individuals were guilty 
  of criminal acts, but unable to use their wealth and 
  status to dodge the penalties for their actions. But 
  more frequently these gentlemen and ladies received 
  their sentences more because of who they were rather 
  than what they had done. This is after all, an age when 
  being a member of the wrong social reform movement 
  (such as those set up to lobby for Irish self-rule) or 
  simply having the wrong politics or ancestry, might 
  result in a criminal charge. And then of course there 
  were men of influence who dared to cross swords with 
  other gentlemen who wielded even greater influence 
  than they – such stoushes could easily end with the 
  loser being found guilty of some trumped-up criminal 
  charge and bundled off to the colonies as punishment.
  While the plight of such so-called ‘Gentleman 
  Convicts’ was theoretically no better than any other 
  prisoner, in practice their personal wealth meant 
  they expected – and usually received -- treatment 
  considerably better and more advantageous than 
  most. This Ticket of Leave supplement looks at the 
  Gentlemen Convicts of the early convict era, providing 
  some historical examples as well as a lengthy scenario 
  sketch. The latter sees the investigators drawn into 
  the strange supernatural mystery surrounding a 
  society of Gentlemen Convicts whose members have 
  inadvertently run afoul of a particularly disgusting 
  and relentless Cthulhu Mythos threat.
  Gentlemen Convicts
  
  2
  Gentlemen Convicts
  “Persons who have been in a higher situation in life, 
  have tickets of leave given to them, by which they may 
  have liberty to provide for themselves, and are exempt 
  from all compulsory labour.” 
  — From Great Britain House of Commons: 
  Select Committee on Transportation, 
  1812, page 12. http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/
  Record/1887951 
  The Convicts & Cthulhu setting takes place relatively 
  early in the history of the penal colonies, predating 
  many of the reforms which later sought to systematise 
  the convict system. In this era, there are very few 
  rules and safeguards to protect the vulnerable. 
  Equally, this freedom means that any convict who 
  came from a recognisably privileged background 
  may benefit extensively from their former status back 
  in Britain. In particular, such “Gentlemen Convicts” 
  are routinely given a ‘ticket of leave’ immediately 
  upon their arrival in the Colonies and allowed to 
  assume all the perks that entails. This means that 
  well-to-do convicts are exempt from performing 
  forced labour on road or other work gangs. It also 
  means, however, that the Government is not obliged 
  to support such convicts from the Government 
  Stores, the assumption being that such high-status 
  persons should have no problem in earning some 
  kind of income for themselves. 
  In order to earn money to pay for their own food and 
  lodging, Gentlemen Convicts are obliged to take up 
  some form of employment. This is most commonly 
  clerical work, with the convict either being assigned 
  to a friendly master or directly working for the 
  Government. Such convicts have many of the same 
  freedoms and privileges as free settlers (although are 
  still technically convicts).
  The pedigree of well-off convicts is usually 
  established in one of two ways: by formal 
  introduction, or by direct wealth. In the former case, 
  it is not uncommon for Gentleman Convicts to carry 
  letters out with them on their voyage from Britain, 
  often addressed to the Governor or some other 
  senior official and authored by a wealthy patron or 
  ally back home. Such introductions unlock privileges 
  that no labourer or criminal convict could ever hope 
  to secure. But even those who do not carry such a 
  letter of patronage, may still earn such a position of 
  privilege by a far more direct method: buying it. Rich 
  convicts can use their wealth in Britain to secure 
  certain advantages such as a more favourable berth 
  on the convict ship carrying them out to Australia. 
  If they somehow manage to smuggle some of their 
  wealth, or other portable items of property, all the 
  way to the Colonies, these chattels can readily be 
  exchanged for privileges, including grants of land in 
  New South Wales (or later Van Diemen’s Land).
  The Crimes of Nobility
  Unlike most convicts in the early penal settlements, 
  the crimes of the Gentlemen Convicts are rarely 
  just simple theft or street violence. Rather, such 
  individuals are more likely to be perpetrators of 
  forgery or other forms of embezzlement. However, 
  it is also common for such convicts to have been 
  involved in crimes of ideology-inspired violence and 
  in many cases organised political dissent.
  The Gentlemen Convicts – and in particular those 
  who had been convicted as political criminals – like to 
  organise themselves into common groups or informal 
  societies. The best historical example in the Convicts & 
  Cthulhu era was that small group known as the Scottish 
  Martyrs (see nearby box). However, this is just the 
  most obvious and conspicuous of organisations: there 
  are likely to be many other more shadowy associations 
  of well-to-do and politically-motivated convicts in 
  New South Wales and other colonies.
  A Note on Gender
  While this Ticket of Leave is entitled “Gentlemen 
  Convicts” there is no reason to assume that women of 
  wealth and status did not also benefit in similar ways in 
  the Colonies. There is sadly little surviving documentary 
  evidence of the lives of high-status women convicts 
  and their personal histories – and for this reason the 
  historical examples of “Gentlemen Convicts” cited 
  below comprises only men. For the purposes of a 
  Convicts & Cthulhu game, however, the Keeper should 
  work with the presumption that female convict NPCs 
  (or investigators) who arrive in the Colony with letters of 
  introduction or a stash of valuable possessions can readily 
  obtain the same benefits as their male counterparts.
  
  3
  Five Notable Gentlemen 
  Convicts
  Some brief biographical sketches are given below for 
  five prominent individuals who fall into the category 
  of Gentlemen Convicts. These individuals may 
  be directly useful as NPCs in a Keeper’s Convicts 
  & Cthulhu campaign, or might simply inspire the 
  creation of other similar individuals. As per the note 
  on page 2, the historical examples are all men – 
  likely an artefact of the haphazard and inconsistent 
  historical record kept about the lives of women in 
  this era. In all probability, there were examples 
  of wealthy women convicts who similar achieved 
  privilege because of their (former) wealth: it’s just 
  that their stories haven’t survived. 
  Because of the significant privileges afforded 
  to Gentlemen Convicts (at least compared to 
  normal convicts) players may be tempted to play 
  an investigator drawn from this unique stratum of 
  colonial society. The biographies below may help 
  players in fleshing out the background to such a 
  wealthy convict investigator. 
  Thomas Muir (1765-1799)
  Muir was a Scottish political reformer and key 
  member of the ‘Scottish Martyrs’ (see nearby). 
  A graduate of the University of Edinburgh and 
  a lawyer, as well as a devoutly religious man, he 
  was influenced by the philosophies of the French 
  Revolution. He was a member of the Glasgow 
  Friends of the Constitution of the People, and it 
  was in this capacity he read out an inflammatory 
  statement from the United Irishmen of Dublin, a 
  like-minded group from Ireland, and for this act he 
  was arrested. He fled to Paris and did not appear 
  for his trial. He was declared outlaw in England 
  and determined to go to America. On his trip there 
  he unwisely dropped in to see friends in Scotland 
  where he was arrested, tried and sentenced to 
  14 years transportation. 
  Muir arrived in Sydney in 1794 and bought a small 
  farm on Sydney Cove (which features in fictional 
  form in the scenario seed included in this PDF). 
  In 1796, he connived to escape the colony on an 
  American ship Otter and transferred to a Spanish 
  gunboat, where he arrived in Spanish California. 
  He eventually sailed for Spain, but with Britain 
  at war with Spain he was caught in battle with a 
  British squadron where he lost his left eye; while 
  unfortunate this meant the British authorities did 
  The Scottish Martyrs
  The Scottish Martyrs were part of a radical 
  democratic movement, which found inspiration from 
  the (then-recent) French Revolution. They were 
  largely from wealthy families, although the movement 
  itself comprised members from all classes. Most 
  were transported for crimes of sedition. The British 
  Government was criticised for the harshness of their 
  transportation sentences, although it should be noted 
  these were wartime actions, when the fear of French 
  invasion was strong and the sting of the recent loss of 
  the American colonies sharp. 
  Some of the Scottish Martyrs were supported by 
  subscriptions from political allies back home, which were 
  raised to ensure they were able to live in some comfort 
  in the hope they would continue their political activities. 
  These gentlemen continued to meddle in Colonial politics 
  including being early advocates of a republic.
  
  4
  not recognise him when they later captured him. 
  Through the intercession of the French foreign 
  minister Tallyrand he arrived in Paris in 1797. He 
  died there two years later, weakened by his wounds 
  and unheeded by his allies. Muir is today considered 
  today one of the fathers of Scottish democracy. 
  Sources: 
  http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/muir-
  thomas-2488  and for a very detailed look at 
  Muir’s life https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/
  muir_thomas
  Thomas Fyshe Palmer 
  (1747-1802)
  Palmer was a Unitarian Minister and political 
  reformer. He was educated at Cambridge and 
  ordained in the Anglican Church, before leaving and 
  joining the Unitarians, in which capacity he preached 
  in Scotland. He arranged for the printing and 
  distribution of a political pamphlet on Parliamentary 
  reform, for which he was arrested and sentenced 
  to 7 years transportation for “seditious practice.” 
  Palmer was accused of incitement to mutiny on his 
  voyage to Sydney and confined in grim conditions 
  for the rest of the voyage. 
  He started a farm in NSW and went into the 
  shipbuilding business with two free settlers, 
  one of the pioneering enterprises of early 
  Colonial mercantilism. He was a close friend of 
  explorer George Bass. He was noted for writing 
  sympathetically of the Aborigines in the Hawkesbury 
  during their conflicts with the NSW Corps and 
  white settlers. He was critical of Governor John 
  Hunter and his anonymous pamphlets published in 
  Britain managed to get Hunter into trouble with the 
  Colonial Office. When Palmer’s sentence expired he 
  sailed for England. However, the ship was wrecked 
  on the Spanish island of Guam, where Palmer died. 
  The Catholic Spanish refused him burial and his 
  remains were taken by an American ship to Boston, 
  where a plaque to him was placed (though this has 
  since been lost). 
  Palmer was a notably cultured convict, successful 
  entrepreneur, and friend of scientists and surgeons. 
  He was also known for his great friendship with the 
  Aboriginal peoples of the area, with whom he lived 
  for a time. He was disliked by the NSW Corps and 
  Governor Hunter who considered him their enemy.
  Sources: http://uudb.org/articles/thomasfyshepalmer.html
  Maurice Margarot (1745-1815)
  Maurice Margarot was a Scottish Martyr (see box), 
  but a contentious figure to contemporaries and 
  historians alike, who still argue about his motives. 
  The son of a wine merchant, he was living in France 
  during the French Revolution and returned to 
  England to become a key member of the radical 
  London Corresponding Society. His notoriety as 
  a radical speaker led to his being charged with 
  sedition and sentenced to transportation for 14 
  years, a judgement whose injustice he continued 
  to propound for the rest of his life. As early as the 
  voyage out he was suspected of informing on his 
  former colleagues to the Captain, in an attempt to 
  curry favour with the colonial authorities. He was 
  also suspected of being a spy for Hunter and later for 
  Governor King, informing on radicals and others in 
  the colony who trusted him. However, at the same 
  time he was clearly complicit in gathering about him 
  various disaffected ‘gentlemen’ including some of the 
  United Irishmen who were behind the Vinegar Hill 
  uprising in 1804 (see Convicts & Cthulhu, page 11). 
  Margarot was also critical of the authorities, going 
  so far as to send secret letters to the Colonial Office 
  informing on Governor King himself! (Thus, he was 
  in the unique position of informing for and about 
  King at the same time). King wanted to get rid of 
  him, but so feared his spying was too worried about 
  what Margarot was reporting to the Colonial Office 
  to risk it. In the end, it was his support of the Irish 
  in the Irish uprising as well as his enmity with the 
  NSW Corps that brought about his undoing. He was 
  arrested and despite the Governor wishing to be 
  lenient, the officers wanted him harshly dealt with 
  for colluding with the Irish. 
  Margarot was re-transported following the Vinegar 
  Hill uprising first to Norfolk Island, then Van 
  Diemen’s Land, and subsequently to hard labour 
  in Newcastle.  Margarot’s spying did not mean he 
  abandoned his revolutionary principles: he somehow 
  managed to reconcile his espionage with ambitious 
  plans to overthrow the Government in Britain and/or 
  establish a Government-backed expansion of farming 
  in New South Wales to make it a rival to America. 
  He returned to England in 1811 and was an influential 
  witness for the 1812 parliamentary committee on 
  transportation. He died in London in 1815. 
  Sources: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/margarot-
  maurice-2431
  
  5
  Sir Henry Browne Hayes 
  (1762-1832)
  Henry Hayes came from a wealthy family in Ireland. 
  He was a sheriff in his native Cork and Captain in the 
  militia, during which he was responsible for arresting 
  those who were later transported to Botany Bay. He 
  was knighted in 1790 for these services. A widower 
  with several children, in 1797 he kidnapped a Quaker 
  heiress, Mary Pike, and tried to force her to marry 
  him. She escaped and was he was outlawed. He went 
  into hiding for a while and then in 1800 believed it safe 
  to reveal himself. He was so confident he would be 
  acquitted he offered himself up to trial. He was found 
  guilty and sentenced to death, which was commuted 
  to transportation for life. 
  Hayes sailed for Sydney in 1802 and paid well for 
  a privileged position on the ship (though this cabin 
  came into dispute with the ship’s surgeon whom 
  he assaulted, leading to Hayes being jailed for six 
  months upon his arrival in Sydney). In Sydney, he fell 
  in with Maurice Margarot (see above) and others and 
  was suspected of being involved in the Castle Hill 
  (aka Vinegar Hill) uprising in 1804 for which, despite 
  lack of concrete evidence, he was re-transported to 
  Van Diemen’s Land. He received a land grant in 1805 
  there and returned to Sydney in 1808. 
  In Sydney, Hayes made his home in Vaucluse House 
  in South Head on Cadigal land, which still stands 
  today. However, in 1808 Hayes was sentenced to 
  Newcastle Coal Mines for his sympathies with 
  Bligh, though he returned in 1809 to face a charge 
  of mocking the rebel administration. Hayes was 
  pardoned by Bligh, which was honoured by the 
  subsequent Governor, Macquarie. He sailed back to 
  Ireland in 1812 and survived shipwreck, to settle in 
  Cork until his death in 1832. 
  Hayes is noted as starting the first Masonic Lodge 
  in Sydney in 1803, though was imprisoned for it, as 
  it was in defiance of an order from Governor King. 
  He was known as an irascible fellow who tended to 
  solve problems with his fists, and who lived in high 
  style despite his status as a convict. 
  Sources: For a lively account of Hayes’ life see: http://
  www.sirhenrybrownehayes.com/foreword.html 
  and also http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hayes-
  sir-henry-browne-2172 
  John Grant (1776-?)
  One of Australia’s earliest poets, Grant was also a 
  political agitator. He fired a gun at a family solicitor 
  who was standing in the way of his attempts to woo 
  the daughter of Lord Dudley and Ward, and for this 
  crime was sentenced to death. His sister successful 
  petitioned the daughters of King George III and his 
  sentence was commuted to transportation for life. 
  He arrived in New South Wales in 1804 and while 
  he struggled with being a convict was kindly treated. 
  He fell in, however, with Henry Browne Hayes 
  (see above) and in 1805 wrote a pamphlet attacking 
  Governor King. For this he was re-transported to 
  Norfolk Island where he was treated harshly. He 
  tried to escape and was outwardly critical of the 
  commandant, Captain Piper. For these offenses, he 
  was placed in solitary confinement by being marooned 
  on a nearby uninhabited island. He was retrieved after 
  four months, but his physical and mental health had 
  been shattered. He was sent back to Sydney in 1808 
  and worked as a chaplain in Newcastle. Governor 
  Macquarie pardoned him in 1811 and he departed for 
  England. Details of his death are unknown. 
  Grant’s letters and dairies were only recently 
  uncovered and are now in the Australian National 
  Archives, where they provide a valuable resource 
  on the period 1804–11. 
  Sources: 
  http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/grant-
  john-2118  and also the book This Beauteous 
  and Wicked Place: Letters and Journals of John 
  Grant, Gentleman Convict, National Library of 
  Australia (2000, Yvonne Cramer, (ed.))
  
  6
  Scenario Seed: 
  The Gentleman Stalker
  The following scenario seed looks at a supernatural 
  mystery involving that class of convicts known as 
  the Gentlemen Convicts. It centres upon an informal 
  ‘secret society’ of such convicts that meets from time 
  to carouse and talk about grand plans to overthrow 
  order in the colony (and then carouse some more). 
  Despite this society having almost no connections with 
  the occult or the dark arts, it appears to have attracted 
  the attention of a subtle but deadly supernatural 
  foe. Members of the society are being killed off at 
  an alarming rate, and in gruesome fashion. Nobody 
  knows why. Can the investigators get to the bottom 
  of the mystery of the gentleman stalker … or is the 
  society doomed to be wiped out by the merciless and 
  relentless hand of the Cthulhu Mythos? 
  The scenario can be run at any time within the 
  Convicts & Cthulhu era after 1794. Keepers who 
  are particularly assiduous about historical accuracy 
  might need to plan some minor changes if the 
  scenario is being run prior to 1807 (one of the key 
  locations – George Cribbs’ slaughter yard in the 
  Rocks – did not historically get established until 
  1807; but any other earlier generic butcher’s yard 
  can be substituted if needed).
  Keeper's Introduction
  At the centre of this adventure is the dilettante 
  ‘secret society’ of Gentlemen Convicts which 
  variously goes by the names “Hogg’s Hogs” (after 
  Thomas Hogg who is its longest-serving member), 
  “The Staves of Thyrsus” (after symbols associated 
  with the Greek god Dionysius), and more prosaically 
  “The Enlightened Brothers”. Despite their pompous 
  names, this dilettante group of free-thinking 
  Gentleman Convicts exists primarily as a social club 
  of mildly seditious nature. In recent days, however, 
  a mysterious figure has begun to haunt members of 
  this secret society, tracking down its members in 
  secluded places and killing one of their number in a 
  manner most terrifying. The rank-and-file members 
  of the society have no explanation for the stalking or 
  the slaying … but they want both to stop. Fast. And 
  they are willing to pay a group of investigators to 
  get to the bottom of the mystery before the shadowy 
  murderer picks off more victims.
  In truth, the origins of the disturbing murders lay 
  in an occult ritual gone wrong. While almost none 
  of the Enlightened Brothers has any use or interest 
  in matters supernatural, two of their number are 
  secret dabblers. Sarum Greensleigh, a minor 
  English noble who was only recently sworn-in as 
  a member, has some (imperfect) knowledge of the 
  Cthulhu Mythos and of ritual magic – learned from 
  time spent practicing with a coven of Yog-Sothoth 
  worshippers back in England. When first he joined 
  the secret society, he listened intently to the group’s 
  soapbox ranting (usually greased by rum) about 
  how they would remake the Colony when finally 
  they seized control. Such conversations never 
  went any further than booze-laden pontification, 
  but after Greensleigh had earned the trust of the 
  Enlightened Brothers he revealed to them his belief 
  in powers of otherworldly origin and his status as 
  a ritual sorcerer. Via such powers, he fervently 
  believed, the group might achieve its ambitions of 
  power – not through violence or even by political 
  means, but by magic.
  The rest of the society laughed at him. All except for 
  young Francis Walton, who believed him enough to 
  approach him several days later to ask for proof of 
  his occult wisdom.
  Master and Disciple
  Some months previously, Greensleigh had been 
  sent from England a crate of books and among 
  them was a forbidden tome, which spoke of Yog-
  Sothoth and how he might reward his followers. 
  The would-be sorcerer showed this grimoire to 
  Walton, and the younger man was drawn into the 
  dark and terrible secrets it held. [The Keeper is 
  welcome to choose whatever Mythos Tome he or she 
  would like to introduce to their campaign; if using 
  Mythos Option C, however, see page 18.]
  Greensleigh and Walton together delved deeper into 
  how they might placate the dark god Yog-Sothoth 
  and profit by it. Eventually the two concluded that 
  they needed to conduct a magical ceremony – which, 
  according to the tome, required the participation 
  of three or more “men of pure blood.” Walton was 
  keen to go back to the Enlightened Brothers to ask 
  for their involvement, but for Greensleigh the sting 
  and embarrassment of the earlier rebuffing was still 
  too fresh. Besides, he argued, Thomas Hogg – a 
  fervent church-goer – would never agree. Not to be 
  denied their goal, the pair concocted a cunning plan. 
  
  7
  In another chapter of the musty tome Walton read 
  about the preparation of “magickal proxies”, effigies 
  into which a fragment of a person’s life essence might 
  be temporarily stored. Such proxies may serve as 
  substitute participants in the conduct of ritual magic.
  So it was that Greensleigh and Walton set about 
  making a set of ritual proxies – each consisting of 
  a clay bottle, loosely shaped to resemble one of 
  the members of the Enlightened Brothers. Into 
  each proxy, a small quantity of the corresponding 
  person’s blood was placed – the bond which imbued 
  them with a part of the person’s essence. Collecting 
  these small bloody samples without the knowledge 
  or consent of the targeted Brothers was not an easy 
  task. But thanks to a series of small ‘mishaps and 
  accidents’ arranged by Greensleigh and Walton, 
  the task was completed in just a few short weeks. 
  All in all the pair created six such bottles – enough, 
  they hoped, to cover off on the spell requirement 
  (figuring that not all of those in the secret society 
  were necessary of “pure blood”).
  Armed with the proxy bottles, and also another 
  magickal “artefact” – an ancient-looking brazier 
  carved with strange sigils – the pair were ready to 
  cast their ritual. The ceremony called for a large 
  quantity of sacrificial ‘material’ – flesh, living or 
  dead. Fortunately, through innocent inquiries 
  amongst the Brothers, Greensleigh had been placed 
  in touch with a limitless source of such matter in the 
  form of the slaughter-yard of a butcher in The Rocks 
  named George Cribb. Sneaking into the miasma-
  filled yard late one night, and standing before the 
  charnel pit into which countless animal parts had 
  been discarded, the pair conducted their ritual.
  The Man in the Blue Coat
  Whether because their cobbled-together ritual was 
  flawed, or simply because the ‘stars weren’t right’, 
  the attempt by Greensleigh and Walton to summon 
  Yog-Sothoth was a failure. But the ceremony wasn’t 
  completely ineffectual – rather than calling the 
  attention of an Outer God, the ritual cast by the 
  pair brought something completely different to the 
  charnel pit in George Cribb’s slaughter yard. It rose 
  up from the decaying flesh of the animals, binding the 
  disparate horns, skins and sinews into a disgusting 
  man-like form. The terrifying supernatural thing 
  looked superficially something like an old-fashioned 
  
  8
  gentleman in 18th Century attire – wearing a parody 
  of an old style blue coat, and a tricorn hat. The 
  sight was enough to drive Walton mad and sent 
  Greensleigh fleeing into the night.
  The next morning, Walton was arrested by the 
  NSW Corps soldiers that found him raving mad on 
  the streets of Sydney. They took him to the Sydney 
  gaol and locked up so he could not harm himself. 
  Greensleigh tried to resume his normal life, but it 
  was not long before he began to see – always at the 
  periphery of his vision – a mysterious blue-coated 
  effigy stalking him wherever he went. A terrifying 
  silhouette with a tricorn hat and a periwig. Every 
  attempt that Greensleigh made to confront the 
  figure failed utterly – trying to get closer to the figure 
  always resulted in its inexplicable disappearance.
  At first Greensleigh put his visions down to nerves, 
  but then he started speaking with other members 
  of the Enlightened Brothers, who had also seen 
  the distinctive figure. One of the members, 
  Woodhouse, claimed that he saw it up close, and 
  it had no human face at all but something like the 
  skeletal face of a dead animal, and its cloak was not 
  cloth but skin. And it smelled of the abattoir. The 
  next night Woodhouse was found dead at his farm, 
  a look of stark terror on his face and his ‘liver and 
  lights’ (entrails) removed, yet nowhere on the scene. 
  The authorities put the vicious attack down to wild 
  dogs, but Greensleigh fears most fervently that the 
  murder was committed by whatever supernatural 
  hunter he and Walton called into being in the 
  charnel pit. In this supposition, he is quite correct.
  Drop Like A Hot Potato
  A desperate man, Greensleigh has gone back to his 
  imperfect knowledge of the supernatural and his 
  one Mythos tome. Based on the former he believes 
  that the soul of the hunter may somehow have been 
  bound to the brazier that was used as the focus of 
  their ritual. He believes that he has found another 
  spell which can restrain the creature to only being 
  able to attack whoever currently owns the brazier. 
  Armed with this sketchy knowledge, the sorcerer 
  has cobbled together a plan – if he can find a group 
  of patsies to take ownership of the brazier, then he 
  can cast his spell to ensure that the beast attacks 
  them instead of him. It is to this role as ‘patsies’ that 
  falls to the investigators.
  But Greensleigh is not entirely confident in the 
  efficacy of his spell-casting – especially after the 
  misfire last time – so he has concocted a back-
  up plan. As well as ensuring the brazier passes 
  ownership to the investigators, he plans to set them 
  on a mission to figure out how the supernatural 
  hunter might be stopped before it claims him and 
  his fellow society members. Hopefully, he figures, 
  one of these two plans will save his skin. Of course, 
  to enhance his chances of survival he also plans 
  to go into hiding as soon as he has tasked the 
  investigators with their mission.
  Involving the Investigators
  There are two main methods of involving the 
  investigators in the affairs of Greensleigh and the 
  (dwindling) society of Gentlemen Convicts. The first 
  method is for one or more of the investigators to be a 
  minor member of the Enlightened Brothers themselves. 
  Obviously, the news that members of their society are 
  being cruelly hunted-down will be of concern and 
  might prompt the investigator (and his associates) to 
  begin looking into the matter on their own initiative. 
  Should this happen they will very quickly be noticed by 
  Greensleigh who sees their willingness to investigate 
  as the ideal vehicle for his plan.
  On the other hand, even if none of the investigators 
  is a member of the Enlightened Brothers there is a 
  good chance that previous adventures in the colony 
  will have marked them out as individuals with a 
  unique talent for solving mysteries. This will also 
  appeal to Greensleigh, who ideally wants to engage 
  a team that is not just a lightning-rod for the hunter 
  but also a capable crew which might unravel and 
  defeat whatever supernatural secret lies at the 
  heart of the mystery.
  In either case, the approach from Greensleigh will 
  play out in much the same way. He will arrange to 
  meet with the investigators in a private room at the 
  back of a pub or similar place (perhaps The Black 
  Swan from Convicts & Cthulhu). He will spin a tale 
  which is loosely inspired by truth, but is mostly lies. 
  He begins by confessing that he belongs to a secret 
  society called the “Enlightened Brothers” that dabbles 
  in the supernatural, “though my fellow members 
  will deny their association with the dark forces.” 
  Because of their occult leanings, the society seems 
  to have become the target for a most uncommon 
  enemy. Many society members claim to have been 
  
  9
  stalked by a mysterious gentleman in a blue cloak and 
  tricorn hat. Some believe that this strange individual 
  has cast some kind of curse upon the group, a wild 
  claim partially substantiated by the recent madness 
  of society member Francis Walton. It is also given 
  weight by the discovery recently of the mangled 
  body of Anthony Woodhouse – who Greensleigh will 
  confirm to be one of the society’s members.
  Because he fears for the safety of his friends (or so 
  he says), he is willing to share with the investigators 
  the names of those he knows to be society members. 
  They are:
  • Anthony Woodhouse, now dead.
  • Francis Walton, now mad and held in the 
  Sydney Gaol for his own protection.
  • George Barland, a merchant.
  • William Chaffey, an English gentleman artist.
  • John McCarty, an Irish gentleman.
  • Thomas Hogg, a Scottish radical.
  • Dr Ignatius Lyle, a doctor.
  With the exception of Woodhouse and Walton, 
  Greensleigh believes that the remainder of the 
  members are still alive and living in various places 
  around the colony.
  Shortly after Walton went mad, Greensleigh says 
  that he took a visit to his farm to investigate. On that 
  trip, he found a weird brazier and several strange 
  clay bottles carved to look like men. These have the 
  appearance of occult artefacts, and the frightened 
  convict fears that perhaps some of his fellow society 
  members may have called upon some dark force 
  using these ritual implements. He gives the brazier 
  and bottles to the investigators and tells them to 
  guard them closely and make sure no member of 
  the Enlightened Brothers steals them away.
  After spinning his tale, Greensleigh, throws himself 
  on the mercy of the investigators. He is afeared for his 
  life and wishes most earnestly that the investigators 
  should find out who is behind the curse and stopping 
  it before the mysterious man in blue claims them 
  all. He points out that he and the other Gentlemen 
  Convicts are all wealthy men, and the players may 
  be well rewarded for any successful effort. 
  Greensleigh ends the meeting by saying that if the 
  investigators need to speak with him again, he will 
  return to the same public house at noon each day 
  (although, as described below, he actually has no 
  intention of making himself easy to find except when 
  he has additional ‘clues’ to nudge them towards an 
  encounter with the Man in the Blue Coat).
  The True Nature         
  of the Threat
  The exact nature of The Man in the Blue Coat – his 
  connection to the Cthulhu Mythos, his motivations, 
  and the means by which he can be stopped – all 
  depend on which of the three Mythos options the 
  Keeper has chosen to use (see page 17). The 
  sections which detail the different versions of the 
  strange but horrific figure also include some hints 
  as to why the supernatural creature has taken on 
  such an unusual form – the Keeper may want to 
  review those notes in order to drop clues throughout 
  the investigative part of the scenario. The option 
  description sections also describe how the big final 
  confrontation scene between the investigators and 
  the horror is likely to play out.
  Flow of the Adventure
  The scenario will unfold as the intersection of 
  several different strands of events and encounters.
  Interviews: The most obvious of these is the 
  series of encounters the investigators will initiate 
  themselves as they look into the wild rumours 
  surrounding the death of Woodhouse, the madness 
  of Walton, and the stories about curses and spectral 
  stalkers. Because they have few other places to turn, 
  most of the investigation will involve tracking down 
  the members of the secret society and interviewing 
  them. These men live in a variety of places around 
  the colony – some quite remote from Sydney – so 
  the task of finding them will necessarily involve 
  some travel.
  Dark Dreams: A second parallel series of events, 
  which the Keeper can make major or minor as 
  he or she wishes, are the horrible dreams that 
  will begin to plague the investigators. While in 
  possession of the brazier used in the summoning 
  ritual, they nightly suffer horrid dreams of a terrible 
  effigy rising from a charnel pit of bone and offal 
  and stalking the night. These night terrors may 
  (optionally) be worth a minor sanity check – but 
  
  10
  otherwise they cause no harm. They should serve 
  as a constant reminder, however, that something 
  supernatural is still at large.
  The Murders: Every second night after the 
  investigators are engaged by Greensleigh, another 
  society member is killed by the Man in the Blue 
  Coat. The table nearby summarises the order and 
  manner of these slayings. With the exception of 
  Walton – who is killed in his gaol cell – the other 
  murders take place in or near the victims’ homes 
  or farms. Because some of these are in remote 
  places the deaths may not immediately be noticed 
  and news of the brutal slayings will take some time 
  to travel. If the investigators (or any other NPC) 
  happens to be at the site of one of the slayings 
  they too will be indiscriminately attacked also. 
  However, those who flee are not pursued by the 
  thing (see The Thing from the Bone Pit description 
  on page 19). In each case, once it has murdered 
  its appointed victim, the thing departs silently.
  Additional ‘Clues’ From Greensleigh: Sarum 
  Greensleigh represents a wild card that the Keeper 
  can use to either direct or confuse the investigators 
  depending on how well they are proceeding. In the 
  first few days of the scenario he lays low – casting 
  his spell (which fails) and hoping that his plan to 
  redirect the attentions of the stalker onto the bearers 
  of the brazier will work. After news emerges of 
  more Enlightened Brothers being killed, he will 
  deduce that this plan has failed. Always inventive, 
  Greensleigh will concoct alternative theories 
  and plans, at the Keeper’s discretion. Perhaps he 
  decides that somehow the Man in Blue is bound 
  to the tome used in the ritual: by inventing another 
  lie (e.g., his discovery of the tome on Walton’s 
  farmstead) he can give the book to the investigators 
  “to help in their investigation.” If things are getting 
  truly desperate, the convict sorcerer might even 
  decide that the only way to stop the stalker is to 
  arrange for the investigators to visit the charnel 
  yard, the site of the original ceremony (perhaps at 
  night). To arrange such an eventuality Greensleigh 
  might pass on a “new piece of information” that 
  he has learned: that in his last days as a sane man 
  Walton was desperate to meet a man named George 
  Cribb, somewhere in The Rocks.
  Contact between Greensleigh and the investigators 
  will always happen because he has initiated a meeting. 
  Despite having promised to make himself available 
  daily at the public house, any investigators that attempt 
  such a rendezvous will be sorely disappointed. In fact, 
  except when feeding bogus information or ‘cursed’ 
  artefacts to the investigators he spends his time in 
  hiding, out on Muir’s Farm (see page 17). 
  The 'Man in Blue' Killings
  Day
  Victim
  Manner of Death
  Day before 
  scenario starts
  Anthony Woodhouse
  Torn apart; authorities believe by wild dogs
  Day 2
  Francis Walton
  Brutally murdered while in his gaol cell (no surviving witnesses); his 
  guard is also killed. Authorities blame Aboriginals.
  Day 4
  John McCarty
  Torn apart along with his mistress and servants; apparently shot his 
  assailant to no avail.
  Day 6
  William Chaffey
  Slashed brutally in his home; apparently fired a musket at his assailant; 
  found amid a pile of animal bones.
  Day 8
  Dr Ignatius Lyle
  Foully mutilated in the farmhouse he is using as a hideaway.
  Day 10
  Thomas Hogg
  Attacked and slaughtered in his home; bravely throws himself on his 
  assailant to allow his servant girl Annie to escape the horrific beast.
  Day 12
  George Barland
  Killed at home along with his whole family; the final murder.
  
  11
  Investigating the         
  Secret Society
  A significant proportion of the adventure will be spent 
  with the investigators tracking down and interviewing 
  members of the Enlightened Brothers, trying to piece 
  together details of the murders and their glimpses 
  of the horrific stalker. This will be complicated the 
  periodic elimination of society members.
  Anthony Woodhouse 
  (deceased)
  Woodhouse is already dead at the start of the 
  scenario. Regardless there are details that 
  investigators can glean from asking his neighbours, 
  local authorities, and others that knew him.
  • Woodhouse had a home in Parramatta, near 
  the military barracks.
  • The local Parramatta constable believes 
  Woodhouse was killed by wild native dogs.
  • Although no townsperson saw a man in a blue 
  coat, a slovenly Corporal at the Parramatta 
  barracks did claim to see what he thought was 
  a naval officer hanging around town the night 
  of the crime. (Naval officers traditionally 
  dressed in blue uniforms.) The man was 
  going to go and fight this man for daring to 
  follow him, but fell down drunk before he 
  could get there. He has wild theories about 
  Navy officers that support mad suppositions 
  of why one might have been there.
  • Searching the dead man’s house: It is an 
  orderly farmhouse with three servants, all who 
  were out drinking the night of his death. (As 
  a convict, he has no other convicts assigned 
  to him, but being wealthy could afford to hire 
  workers). No sign of occult activity can be 
  found in the house, nor sign of forced entry.
  • Terrible 
  odour: 
  regardless 
  of 
  whether 
  the investigators visit immediately after 
  Woodhouse’s death or a week later, the smell of 
  the abattoir remains hanging around the place.
  • Two tiny details which might be noticed in 
  the house (with the relevant skill roll): 
  - A small bandage with a spot of blood from 
  an injury lies in the fireplace.
  - A few small animal bones are scattered 
  around the room in which he died; if 
  examined these turn out to be from young 
  pigs and goats.
  Francis Walton (lunatic)
  At the start of the scenario, Walton is incarcerated 
  (and catatonic) in the small gaol near the military 
  barracks in Sydney. He is the second to be murdered 
  by the Man in Blue, killed in his cell.
  • The sudden madness of Walton is not seen as 
  particularly remarkable by anyone; so many 
  people go mad in New South Wales that it is 
  hardly worth inquiring much about.
  
  12
  • Either before or after his murder, Walton’s 
  house can be searched – it is a small cottage in 
  the outer fringes of Sydney on the Parramatta 
  road. His belongings include many books, 
  some of which are occult in nature (although 
  the really valuable ones are gone).
  • Observant investigators visiting Walton’s 
  home can (with a relevant skill roll) see that 
  the place has clearly already been searched 
  by someone else (Greensleigh).
  • One small detail in Walton’s home that might 
  be noticed (with the relevant skill roll):
  - There is a small bandage with a blood 
  spot, as from a minor injury among some 
  litter at the back of the house.
  • Walton’s murder: On the night Walton is killed, 
  he is murdered in his cell. The guard on duty 
  is likewise killed. The local officials blame 
  Aboriginals, though haven’t anything beyond 
  prejudice and ignorance to support their 
  theories.
  • If investigators search his gaol cell (either 
  before or after he has been killed) they find 
  only a few possessions – a comb, some soap 
  and a quill but no ink.
  - Observant investigators may (with an 
  easy skill roll) notice that the lunatic has 
  apparently been scratching on the walls of 
  his prison cell with bloodied fingernails 
  ‘The bone against the bone’ over and over. 
  Since he is mad, no-one has taken much 
  notice of this.
  John McCarty (drunkard)
  McCartry is a cantankerous and argumentative 
  Irishman who lives on a farm in the lower Hawkesbury 
  with his mistress Mary Marsott, a free settler woman 
  who has two assigned convicts. He is rarely sober. 
  McCarty was transported as the result of a failed duel, 
  and the sentence has not blunted his volatile nature. 
  Indeed, he will challenge anyone to a duel whom he 
  does not like or thinks is getting above themselves.
  The two assigned convicts are Charles Sarris, a 
  listless pickpocket aged 59 that has been given 
  responsibilities to do yard work and Sophia Boyle, 
  a bustling milliner transported for theft aged 21, 
  assigned to do domestic chores. Mary appears to do 
  most of the farm work (they have a few cows and 
  pigs and some crops). She is very loyal to McCarty
  Interviewing McCarty:
  • Flattery will work wonders on McCarty, he 
  is particularly vain about his ancestors.
  • If asked about any weirdness or supernatural 
  practices among the Enlightened Brothers he 
  will scoff but then relate the rather peculiar 
  beliefs of one member – Sarum Greensleigh – 
  who had some wild ideas about “great and secret 
  powers”. He confides that Greensleigh begged 
  him not to say anything about such matters, “but 
  where is the harm in a little talk, right?”
  • If asked about Walton, he says that he saw the 
  man not long before he went mad. Walton had 
  come up to the Hawkesbury farm to help with 
  putting up a fence, an act of kindness that was 
  somewhat marred by clumsiness – the young 
  man accidentally ended up stabbing McCarty 
  in the hand with a nail by accident. Walton was 
  apologetic which the Irishman claims warranted 
  only a light thrashing by way of reply.
  • McCarty’s murder: The night McCarty is killed 
  so too are Mary and the servants, all torn apart. 
  An abattoir smell hangs around. A discharged 
  duelling pistol lies by McCarty’s dead hand but 
  no sign of where the ball went, even though the 
  room was closed-up. Some fragments of animal 
  bone can be found near the pistol.
  William Chaffey 
  (terrified)
  Chaffey is an English Gentleman of artistic skills and 
  sensibilities, a man of sensitive disposition. As such 
  the madness of Walton and death of Woodhouse 
  (and perhaps others) have thoroughly unnerved 
  him. He lives in a small house in the Rocks. He 
  carries a loaded rifle around with him, though he 
  barely knows how to use it, and pessimistically 
  believes that all of the Brotherhood is doomed.
  Chaffey lives alone in his house, having dismissed 
  his servants, since he does not believe they should 
  suffer his fate.
  
  13
  Interviewing Chaffey:
  • Generally, Chaffey is not much of a witness 
  nor a reliable source of information. He 
  struggles to name the others in the group or 
  where they met or anything about them. This 
  is not obfuscation but terror.
  • If asked, he will admit that he believes the 
  group dabbled in things man was not meant 
  to know and have called forth dark powers 
  against them.
  • Chaffey has seen a man in a blue coat near 
  his property and believes this is an omen that 
  he is next to be killed (depending on when 
  the investigators interview him, he may be 
  right).
  • Out of fear, Chaffey approached the local 
  nightwatchman about his stalker and only 
  been laughed at.
  Crimes of the Gentlemen
  One source of basic information about the convicts 
  named by Greensleigh as members of the Enlightened 
  Brothers is the Colony’s official records of transported 
  convicts. Investigators who make a visit to Government 
  House (and who succeed in some basic skill rolls) can 
  readily find details of the crimes for which the Gentlemen 
  Convicts were convicted. They are as follows:
  • 
  Anthony Woodhouse aged 33, English 
  gentleman transported for killing his wife. 
  • 
  Francis Walton, aged 27, Minor Anglo-Irish 
  noble who forged his father’s signature.
  • 
  George 
  Barland, 
  aged 
  40, 
  merchant 
  transported for theft. 
  • 
  William Chaffey, age 31, English gentleman 
  artist transported for threatening a judge.
  • 
  John McCarty, age 43, Irish gentleman 
  transported for a failed duel.
  • 
  Thomas Hogg, aged 51, Scottish radical 
  transported for sedition. 
  • 
  Dr Ignatius Lyle, aged 39. English doctor 
  transported for murder.
  • 
  Sarum Greensleigh, aged 59, minor English 
  noble and occult dabbler, transported for 
  forgery and slander. 
  • Searching Chaffey’s house (either before or 
  after his death):
  - Any search reveals a lot of sketches and 
  some paintings and some letters to a 
  lady friend in London. The sketches and 
  paintings are in the Romantic style and 
  rather trite.
  - A lucky or thorough search can (with the 
  right skill roll) unearth a more interesting 
  series of recent pen and ink sketches  – 
  pieces which recount dreams that have 
  plagued the young artist. The Man in the 
  Blue Coat features in each of these. In one, 
  a victim can be seen thrusting a weapon of 
  bone in the heart of the Blue Coated thing, 
  apparently destroying it.
  • Chaffey’s murder: On the night of his death he 
  is killed in his home, the rifle discharged and 
  a scatter of animal bone in the centre of the 
  room. Like the others, he has been slashed.
  Dr Ignatius Lyle  
  (amateur investigator)
  Ignatius Lyle is an English doctor who was 
  transported on a charge of murder (which he still 
  vehemently denies). He has a sharp and analytical 
  mind and after the second death has occurred, 
  takes it upon himself to investigate the mystery. As 
  they travel around to conduct their own sleuthing, 
  the investigators may cross paths with this amateur 
  detective. Whether this ends up with him being 
  cast as a suspect (for seeming to be in all the most 
  suspicious locations when terribly things happen) 
  or a potential ally will depend on the Keeper and 
  players. If Lyle does team up with the investigators 
  for a while he proves to be a skilled and learned 
  companion, very calm and with a dry wit.
  Almost immediately after beginning his detective 
  work, Lyle will take a special interest in tracking 
  down Greensleigh – a figure who suspiciously 
  seems to spend much of his time in hiding. In fact, 
  the only people he ever seems to speak with are 
  the investigators (which immediately makes them 
  questionable in Lyle’s eyes). Depending on how the 
  scenario unfolds Lyle may take it upon himself to 
  search both Walton’s and Greensleigh’s houses.
  Dr Lyle lives alone in Kirribilli, in a large house 
  situated little north of Thomas Muir’s old farm 
  
  14
  (where, unbeknownst to him Greensleigh is 
  currently hiding out – see page 17).
  Interviewing Lyle:
  • If investigators ask what Lyle thinks is going 
  on: he has a theory that Greensleigh had 
  angered some kind of Hellfire-Club-style 
  group of nobles back in London and perhaps 
  betrayed their secrets. Someone in Sydney 
  with connections to that group believes that 
  Greensleigh has spread these same secrets 
  to his new group, the Enlightened Brothers. 
  Now, a convict or other blackguard has taken 
  up the task of murdering the Enlightened 
  Brothers, and is assuming this terrifying 
  guise as a warning to others.
  • If asked about the secret society’s “occult 
  leanings”: Lyle dismisses any such suggestions, 
  noting that it was only Greensleigh who had 
  any interest in such poppycock. And even 
  that man’s occultism was, in Lyle’s opinion, 
  little more than ‘pernicious rot he amused 
  himself with and which we tolerated’.
  • If asked whether he has recently been victim 
  of any small cuts or similar, Lyle will initially 
  respond in the negative and then some 
  moments later recall one insignificant case: 
  some weeks ago, Walton pricked him with a 
  needle in a bizarre accident when a needle 
  got stuck in Lyle’s hat.
  • Lyle’s murder: On the night of his death, he 
  is foully mutilated, as though someone took 
  umbrage to his theories.
  Thomas Hogg (paternal and 
  assured)
  Hogg is a deeply religious elder Scotsman, and 
  a philosophical thinker. Unlike most of the other 
  members of the Enlightened Brothers, Hogg doesn’t 
  consider himself to be in any danger from the 
  Man in the Blue Coat. He lives in an old house in 
  central Sydney, not far from Government House. It 
  is dangerously decrepit. He shares the house with 
  a servant Annie Beddows aged 20, a ticket of leave 
  convict who has been in the colony since her teens. 
  She tends to his domestic needs but there is no 
  relationship between them except a fatherly affection.
  Interviewing Hogg:
  • If asked about occult practices (or the odd 
  beliefs of Greensleigh and his “lackey” Walton): 
  Hogg is extremely angry at Greensleigh and 
  Walton for what he sees as Satanic practice.
  • If asked about the madness of Walton and 
  the series of murders: he believes Walton 
  was always insane anyway and the murders 
  are a falling out amongst a bunch of would-be 
  gentlemen who have shown themselves to be 
  corruptible rogues.
  • Particularly observant investigators may 
  (with a relevant skill roll) spot the fact that 
  Hogg has a dried cut on his hand. If asked 
  about it, he say the injury seems to have 
  happened in his sleep. He blames the rough 
  wooden slats of the bed he sleeps on.
  • Hogg’s murder: On the night that he is 
  murdered Hogg flings himself at his attacker 
  and yells for Annie to flee. This enables her 
  to survive, but by the time she summons 
  soldiers from Government House the 
  Scotsman is already dead.
  • Annie’s account: if asked about her ordeal 
  with the Man in the Blue Coat, the servant 
  describes the assailant as no man, but a 
  monster with a bone face and claws. She says 
  that although it seemed like a man in a coat, 
  the attire was not made of cloth at all but 
  some kind of loathsome leathery skin.
  
  15
  Investigating Greensleigh               
  (liar extraordinaire)
  Although initially the ‘employer’ of the 
  investigators, Sarum Greensleigh is likely to 
  eventually become their prime suspect. This will 
  probably lead to some digging into the man’s 
  background in search of clues.
  Greensleigh, aged 59, is a minor English noble 
  who was transported for forgery and slander. 
  Normally he lives on his own farm in Kirribilli. 
  Investigators seeking him out will be directed to 
  this place, but upon arriving will find it empty and 
  apparently unlived in for some days. This is because 
  the would-be sorcerer is currently hiding out in a 
  neighbouring farm – a property previously owned 
  by the historical figure Thomas Muir (see page 
  3), and still called by most “Muir’s Farm”. 
  [If the scenario is set very early in the Convicts & 
  Cthulhu era he may instead be a guest of Muir who 
  still lives in the property].
  • 
  Investigators speaking with Greensleigh’s 
  neighbours, will learn that most people 
  consider him to be a generally pleasant 
  individual. A few found him initially 
  contemptuous of his neighbours and his 
  surroundings but these days nobody really 
  has much to say against him.
  • 
  Should any investigators have contacts with 
  the Aboriginal Cammeraygal people that live 
  in the area adjacent to Greensleigh’s farm, it 
  will be very easy to find someone who has seen 
  the rich convict lurking outside at night with 
  a lantern in hand. Most recently he seems to 
  have spent a lot of time moving belongings 
  from his own farmstead to the empty farm that 
  used to belong to that other rich man, Muir.
  As noted in the interview notes for the other 
  Enlightened Brothers, there is one glaring fact that 
  will cast doubt on Greensleigh’s initial story – despite 
  his characterisation of the society as an intrinsically 
  occult organisation no other member can recall any 
  mention of the supernatural … except by Sarum 
  Greensleigh. Some of the people the investigators 
  interview will also remember the man’s relentless 
  attempts to recruit people to his odd belief system, 
  and later stray inquiries in search of acquiring 
  unusual commodities like blood and bone.
  There are a number of  ways in which 
  investigators might track Greensleigh back to his 
  hiding place:
  1. 
  By waiting until he makes contact with them 
  to drop some additional ‘clues’ – and then 
  tailing him back to Thomas Muir’s farm.
  2. By hearing the account of local Aboriginal 
  peoples (see above).
  3. By  talking to local farmers and assigned 
  convicts about Greenslieigh’s activities (see 
  above) as they are adamant Greensleigh is 
  still living thereabouts, since some people 
  have seen him, though he refuses to speak. 
  Perhaps he has gone to ground somewhere?
  4. By talking to any local Sydney business, pub 
  or merchants, where Greensleigh has had 
  dealings. They can show a promissory note 
  which the gentleman convict has recently 
  provided as payment. It is written on a scrap 
  of torn parchment with a family watermark 
  and the name Thomas M— the rest torn off. 
  (Greensleigh has used paper from Muir’s 
  old desk – Keepers should note he would 
  not be so foolish as to pay investigators this 
  way, preferring beautiful, untraceable rum.
  5. Among Greensleigh’s papers is a sketch of 
  the exterior and interior of a farmhouse. 
  Research would have to be done among the 
  Land Grants register in Government House 
  to identify it as Muir’s farm.  
  6. By waiting until all other members of the 
  Enlightened Brothers have been slain; after 
  this occurs the Man in Blue will make a 
  very conspicuous bee-line to the location 
  of the one surviving member – Greensleigh. 
  To assist in tracking down its final prey, 
  strange lights will appear in the sky above 
  Muir’s farm … leaving the investigators just 
  enough time to race to the place before the 
  supernatural horror claims its last victim.
  
  16
  George Barland (link to 
  the butcher)
  Barland is an affable merchant with a wife and three 
  young children, all born in the Colony. He lives in the 
  Rocks near George Cribb’s butcher shop (and indeed 
  it was he who introduced Greensleigh to Cribb’s 
  establishment, see below). He is an emancipist but 
  has no love Bligh or Macarthur. Barland is ready 
  with a rum and a cosy chair for anyone who drops 
  by: he genuinely likes to extend his circle of contacts.
  Interviewing Barland:
  • If asked about occult practices in the 
  Brotherhood: he says that only Greensleigh 
  seemed to take that sort of thing seriously. 
  Barland is embarrassed about Greensleigh’s 
  occult leanings, but ‘likes to keep an open 
  mind’. He has a good memory and can clearly 
  recall that the occultist asked him once 
  about the possibility of obtaining specialty 
  occult books from book dealers back in 
  London. He can even remember that there 
  was a particular author – someone who had 
  penned a grimoire that Greensleigh said was 
  important to his work here in the colony.
  • If asked about Greensleigh: Barland also 
  recalls that Greensleigh approached him 
  in search of a ready supply of fresh bones – 
  intended for the dogs that the latter kept 
  on his farm. The merchant has never been 
  to Greensleigh’s farm but took this request 
  on face value and put him in touch with a 
  butcher that works nearby in the Rocks, a 
  man named George Cribb.
  • If asked about the murders: he believes the 
  crimes are committed by someone who has 
  a vendetta against the Enlightened Brothers. 
  He is sufficiently worried about his own 
  safety that he has arranged for a pair of 
  convicts (who sometimes smuggle for him) to 
  stand guard outside his house at night.
  • Barland’s murder: On the night Barland is 
  murdered, he, the convicts and his whole family 
  are killed by the Man in the Blue Coat. This is 
  the last  of the periodic killings and moves the 
  scenario into the inevitable final showdown 
  between Greensleigh and the hunter.
  Other Potential 
  Complications
  If the Keeper wants to introduce additional intrigue 
  into the investigation, other affiliations of the 
  NPCs might cast doubt upon their loyalties or even 
  introduce other suspects. Some examples:
  • Hogg is part of the Scottish radicals; 
  • McCarty is one of the United Irishmen 
  though he keeps this secret from the others 
  except Hogg; 
  • Chaffey and Dr Lyle are Freemasons (though 
  not illegal, Freemasonry is somewhat 
  frowned upon the Government).
  Investigating the Man in 
  the Blue Coat
  Investigators may take it upon themselves to go 
  scouring the streets of Sydney or Parramatta in the 
  hope of tracking down the mysterious Man in Blue. 
  Most such plans are doomed to failure, however 
  more well-informed plans might have better luck:
  • The Charnel Pit: if investigators somehow 
  learn of the significance of the charnel pit 
  in George Cribb’s slaughter yard, they can 
  use that knowledge to their advantage. Each 
  night that the Man in the Blue Coat murders, 
  it rises from out of the decaying flesh of that 
  pit – and after each killing, it returns silently 
  to the same location to dissolve back into its 
  component parts. 
  • Using Greensleigh’s Tome: The Mythos 
  volume 
  which 
  was 
  originally 
  used 
  to 
  (accidentally) call up this mysterious entity 
  may conceivably contain important knowledge 
  that would allow someone to predict its 
  movements. It might also contain magickal 
  incantations that allow a sorcerer to discern the 
  location of the summoned beast. Particularly 
  scholarly investigators – a rarity in Convicts 
  & Cthulhu – may be able to find such wisdom 
  in time to use it against the beast. Even more 
  brazen (foolhardy) plans may call for recreating 
  the original ritual that Greensleigh and Walton 
  used to create the Man in Blue: the Keeper 
  will need to use his or her own judgement as 
  
  17
  to what such supernatural dabbling might raise 
  up from the bone pit.
  • Finding the Man in Blue’s weakness: as 
  noted in the game statistics for The Man in 
  the Blue Coat, it is mostly invulnerable to 
  physical weapons but has one key weakness – 
  weapons made from animal bone. There are 
  numerous ways that investigators may be 
  tipped off to this:
  - Via a written passage in Greensleigh’s Tome;
  - Via the mad bloody scrawls left by Francis 
  Walton on his gaol cell wall;
  - Via the dream sketches of William Chaffey;
  - Via an insane insight received by an 
  investigator that undergoes a bout of 
  madness.
  Key Locations
  In addition to the homes and farms of the Enlightened 
  Brothers, there are a few other locations which may 
  be significant to the scenario.
  Thomas Muir’s Farm
  Muir’s farm is a small and slightly dilapidated 
  cottage with a single outbuilding. The cottage has 
  not been occupied since Thomas Muir left it. It has 
  an abandoned feeling, but not entirely run down: 
  certainly the farming land is now overgrown and the 
  outbuilding in some need of repair. Greensleigh is 
  currently living in the cottage. He has a few wooden 
  crates and grain sacks of food, rum and books to 
  tide him over. By night his lantern light can be seen 
  flickering through the bush intermittently, but for 
  the most part he tries to keep it covered.
  The Bone Pit in the Rocks 
  (George Cribb’s slaughter-yard)
  George Cribb is a butcher who works in The Rocks 
  where he runs a private butchery business. [He is 
  a real historical figure.] The main feature of Cribb’s 
  establishment is its large slaughterhouse. The back 
  yard of the Rocks allotment has been reserved 
  as a charnel pit: a large pit has been dug in the 
  underlying sandstone, into which has been thrown 
  the discarded remnants – bones, horns, limbs, and 
  other debris – from the thousands of animals that 
  have been slaughtered.
  As noted elsewhere, this location has been granted 
  special occult significance by virtue of Greensleigh’s 
  decision to conduct his attempted summoning here. 
  The charnel pit holds the ‘raw materials’ from which 
  the Man in the Blue Coat rises every second night.
  Mythos Options
  Three alternative Mythos-related mysteries are 
  offered. Keepers can decide which they will employ. 
  Each will have some effect on the way the early parts 
  of the adventure – as well as its grand finale – play out.
  Option A: The Hunter 
  From The Past
  If using this option, ‘The Man in the Blue Coat’ is 
  actually a supernatural being whose form is based 
  on a figure drawn from the personal history of 
  two members of the Enlightened Brothers – Hogg 
  and Greensleigh. Decades ago, the two each spent 
  time in pre-Revolutionary Paris where both were 
  (independently) acquaintances of a man named 
  Harland Drake. When the Revolution swept through 
  France, Drake fell afoul of some of the more violent 
  figures among the revolutionaries. As powerful 
  men in Britain, both Hogg and Greensleigh had 
  opportunities to rescue their former friend – but 
  neither exercised them, and consequently Drake 
  met his end on the guillotine. 
  When the attempt to summon Yog-Sothoth 
  failed miserably, it instead called forth a terrible 
  source of negative power and fused it with 
  Drake’s psychic hatred hovering around the two 
  Gentlemen Convicts. Thus was the Man in the 
  Blue Coat created. The thing now seeks to destroy 
  all those associated with Hogg and Greensleigh. 
  It specifically hunts those who took part in the 
  ceremony but any others it determines are ‘allies’ 
  will also be destroyed. This may come to include 
  the investigators.
  
  18
  Additional Clues: 
  • There is a passage in Greensleigh’s Mythos 
  tome warning that summonations will draw 
  any ‘past evils unredeemed’
  • If prompted, either Greensleigh or Hogg can 
  tell them Drake’s tale.
  • If either Hogg or Greensleigh ever sees the 
  form of The Man in Blue – or even hears 
  a detailed description of its appearance – 
  they may not be able to suppress a physical 
  reaction, 
  since 
  both 
  will 
  immediately 
  recognise its similarity to Drake.
  • Hogg keeps a diary whose entries reveal 
  the whole sorry saga, and a description 
  of Drake’s outfit. It explicitly includes his 
  personal worries that past sin may come back 
  to haunt its author.
  Denouement: Once all the society is dead the 
  ‘Man in Blue’ will vanish. An intentional mea culpa 
  will confuse the thing enough to drive it back its 
  bone pit for 24 hours, but it will then reform and 
  return. Some conspicuous act of appeasement 
  to the reputation of Drake may permanently call 
  off the thing (a letter to the French placed on a 
  merchant ship heading to Europe, perhaps). In this 
  case the creature will fall into a stinking rubble on 
  component animal pieces and be seen no more.
  Option B: Dreams of 
  Freedom Dying
  If using this option, ‘The Man in the Blue Coat’ is 
  actually a creature of the Dreamlands, dumped into 
  this reality by the spell gone wrong and seeking to 
  revenge itself on its summoners and use them to return 
  to its home. To do this it is taking their eyes, attempting 
  to use them to see its way back into the Dreamlands. 
  The thing was born of the nightmares of those denied 
  freedom or those whose rebellions and revolutions 
  ended in terrible violence. It inhabits a dire corner 
  of the Dreamlands where violence and doom are the 
  prevailing mood and mad mobs and tyrants feud.
  Additional Clues: 
  • All those living around the Charnel Pit in the 
  Rocks are all having the same dream of the 
  Thing rising from the Pit. 
  • Anyone with insane insight or some other 
  kind of revelation learns the Pit is also its 
  gateway to home, though it does not know it. 
  • The murderous thing takes the eyes of its 
  victims, in addition to its other mutilations.
  • Greensleigh’s Mythos tome contains a spell 
  that uses eyes as a way of detecting the gate to 
  the Dreamlands from the Pit and can reverse 
  it. The creature is inarticulately trying to 
  emulate this spell and failing.
  • Chaffey’s art works include Dreamscapes and 
  the Pit as well, with a gate leading out of it.
  Denouement: Investigators must use the book to 
  cast a spell on their own eyes, or alternately some 
  other Occult means of learning the Dreamlands 
  gate is in the Bone Pit. They can reverse the spell 
  and open the Pit and suck the monster back in and 
  out of this reality. Equally, defeating it in combat 
  banishes it back to the Dreamlands. If Keepers 
  wish to use this to commence a series of Dreamland 
  adventures, it could be that the Pit constitutes a 
  physical gate that enters into the Underworld.
  Option C: The Bone 
  Book of the Patriarch
  If using this option, the malignant force that is 
  driving the supernatural manifestations is actually 
  bound into the pages of the Mythos tome owned by 
  Greensleigh. The Man in the Blue Coat is merely 
  a tool created by this supernatural power to enact 
  its will in the physical world. The book is The 
  Bone Book of the Patriarch, the product of a mad 
  heretical cult from the late middle ages. By some 
  unknown means it fetched up in Revolutionary 
  France and was brought to London for safekeeping, 
  whereupon it was found and “appropriated” by 
  Gentleman thief Sarum Greensleigh. 
  While the Book of the Patriarch is an immensely 
  powerful magickal artefact, it is in truth little more 
  than a massive trap; it exists to entice hapless 
  dabblers into casting its spells. The spells are 
  designed to seem – on paper at least – to be exactly 
  what the would-be sorcerer most needs. But in 
  reality, their ritual incantations will only ever result 
  in one outcome: the summoning of The Man in the 
  Blue Coat. This strange being is the book’s hunter, 
  
  19
  a being whose sole mission is to create as much 
  carnage as possible. The terror and misery created 
  by such actions are siphoned back into the Book, 
  sustaining its existence.
  Additional Clues: 
  • If using this option, the Book is not in 
  Greensleigh’s possession but is found 
  among Walton’s effects (probably after he 
  has been killed).
  • Greensleigh resists speaking of the Book to 
  investigators at all, fearing (rightly) that he 
  has been duped by it and dreading any further 
  hold it might have over him. After four deaths 
  have occurred, however, he will relent and 
  desperately contact the investigators to share 
  his suspicions and fears.
  • Investigators who are skilled in History or 
  Occult knowledge may (with the appropriate 
  rolls) be able to determine some aspects of 
  the Book’s curious past as a relic.
  • An old letter in Greensleigh’s house that he 
  has now abandoned mentions the Book and 
  a rumour that it is a trap: Greensleigh has 
  written ‘nonsense!’ in the margin.
  Denouement: Once the Book is in the hands of 
  the investigators it calls to them: they hear voices 
  in their sleep and on a failed roll against their 
  Willpower (POW for BRP-based games) feel 
  compelled to conduct a Summon Thing in the Pit 
  spell. Use the spell in Greensleigh’s write up below, 
  or adapt a ‘Summon Servitor’ type spell, adding 
  requirements for bone and other body parts and 
  the blood of more than three summoners. If they 
  are successful the Thing will stalk and kill them one 
  by one until it is destroyed. If the book is destroyed 
  the Thing will also be destroyed forever.
  Statistics
  Game statistics for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition are 
  shown below.
  Sarum Greensleigh
  UntrUthfUl EmployEr and ConviCtEd 
  minor noblE, agEd 59 
  STR 40 
   CON 40 SIZ 60 DEX 60  INT 90 
  APP 70  POW 80  EDU 85 SAN 15 
  Hit Points: 10
  Damage Bonus:  none Build:0 Move: 8 Magic Points: 16
  Brawl 
   
  50% (25/10), damage 1D3 + Damage Bonus
  Chiv 
   
  50% (25/10), damage 1D4 + Damage Bonus
  Dodge  
   
  40% (20/8)
  Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 15%, Credit Rating 45%, 
  Insight 65%, Occult 40%, Stealth 55%.
  Spells: Summon Thing from the Bone Pit: The spell 
  requires a joint ritual with at least three summoners or 
  50 Magic Points and blood from each person taking 
  part in the ritual. The ritual requires bones of at least 
  two large animals or a human from which the creature is 
  constituted. The thing is summoned within 8 hours of the 
  ritual’s completion. The Thing is only believed to be under 
  the power of the Summoner, in fact it obeys the strange 
  and unfathomable will of the powers that created it.
  The Man in the Blue Coat
  (aka The Thing from the 
  Bone Pit)
  This loathsome creature rises every second night 
  from the bone pit in George Cribb’s slaughteryard, 
  whose detritus provides its body and clothes. Its 
  clothing appears to be a blue cloak, suit and tricorn 
  hat. These are not cloth but the skin and hair of 
  dead animals slaughtered in the nearby yard and 
  disposed of in the pit. The thing’s face is that of 
  a cow skull, its blank eye sockets unlivened by 
  anything like animation. It has long claws on each 
  hand which it uses to attack and to remove organs 
  when desired. It does not speak but can emit a 
  screech like dying animals.
  STR 100  CON 80 SIZ 90 DEX 50  INT 25 
  POW 65   
  Hit Points: 17
  Damage Bonus:  +1D6 Build: 2 Move: 8 Magic Points: 13
  
  20
  ATTACKS
  Attacks per round: 2
  Claw 
  60% (30/15), damage 1D8 + Damage Bonus
  Dodge  
  40% (20/8)
  Armour: The thing is invulnerable to all weapons except 
  those made of animal bone.
  Skills: Stealth 60%.
  Sanity Loss: 2/1D8 Sanity Points to see the Man in Blue. 
  Witnessing the gruesome results of its brutal and bloody 
  dismemberment of a victim costs 1/1D3 Sanity Points. 
  SPECIAL POWERS
  Track Summoners: The Thing has an infallible ability to 
  track any individual who has taken part in a ritual to 
  summon it. 
  Supernatural Movement: The Thing can move instanta-
  neously from the Bone Pit to the vicinity of one target and 
  back per night. The Book describes its movement powers 
  as greater than this, but the Songlines of the Aboriginal 
  people hamper this power considerably.  (A successful 
  skill roll in Occult or Aboriginal Lore identifies this).
  Further Source Material
  There are several other places where Keeper can 
  find further historical information about Gentlemen 
  convicts. Note also that each thumbnail biographical 
  sketch of real-life Gentlemen Convicts also includes 
  links to more detailed histories.
  Books
  J B Hirst, Convict Society and Its Enemies, 
  Allen & Unwin, 1983.  
  Tony Moore, Death or Liberty: Rebels and 
  radicals transported to Australia 1788-1868, 
  Pier 9, 2010. 
  Online Resources
  Great Britain House of Commons: Select 
  Committee on Transportation, 1812. National 
  Library of Australia, http://catalogue.nla.gov.
  au/Record/1887951 
  Thomas Fyshe Palmer and William Skirving, 
  The Trial of the Rev. Thomas Fyshe Palmer, 
  https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.324
  37000164703;view=1up;seq=7 
  The Life of George Cribb in the years 1807-1828, 
  Illawarra Historical Society, Mar/Apr 2004. 
  http://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?arti
  cle=2217&context=ihsbulletin 
  Virtual Sydney Rocks Guidebook: George Cribb 
  http://virtualsydneyrocks.com/GuideBook-
  Pages/theBigDig/BigDig_People/George-
  Cribb.htm 
  The Dirt on the Rocks: http://thedirton.therocks.
  com/2010/03/cumberland-street-archaeologi-
  cal-site.html 
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Call of Cthulhu (CoC) (BRP) [multi]/7th edition/Convicts & Cthulhu/CoC 7e - Convicts & Cthulhu - Ticket of Leave #08 - Gentlemen Convicts.pdf