There are monsters beneath the earth. You cannot fight them. You cannot run from them. And they are closer than you think.
In a forgotten corner of Northern England, between the rolling hills and tranquil dales nestles a village plagued by terrible secrets and subterranean horrors.
Every 119 years the village of Manesty is torn apart, its inhabitants massacred. It happened in 1697. It happened in 1816. Now it’s 1935 and horrific events have been set in motion. Swimming through the soil beneath the village are loathsome creatures waiting, impatiently, to rise above the earth and reclaim the land they believe is theirs and kill anyone who stands in their way, including the Investigators.
However, as with all the best Mythos adventures, not all is as it seems. The Investigators must uncover the mystery that has killed many and doomed others in the tiny village while struggling to keep their lives and the last vestiges of their sanity intact.
The Friday Group continues their investigation by delving into this matter. Even if means averting the apocalypse, will it be worth the cost?
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:53:17 — 79.3MB)
Subscribe: RSS
Yes. When I get home from london(where i am going to see welcome to nightvale) i am going to devour this!
Oh man, oh man.
Ah man, I had no idea this was that set of scenarios, I playtested 2 of them! They had no overarcing plot connection when we tested them out, this is an awesome way to connect them up!
so has it really been the same date in the frame story every time? snowing Ross on that was beautiful.
I really dislike human/animal sacrifice in Mythos stories ’cause it doesn’t seem transgressive enough. humanity isn’t supposed to matter! killing a person should be as mystically potent as it is…in real life. I much prefer the Red Tower style, where the cows are being ‘sacrificed’ not because it gives you their magix, but just because EVEN MYTHOS GOTTA EAT.
on the other hand, possibly my favorite horror trope, the one that most makes my skin crawl and alienates me from my flesh sack, is when people are dying or mutating slowly and can’t understand what’s happening to them and are capable of asking pathetic questions about it while it’s going on. “it didn’t hurt when my hands fell off,” unf, yes, I twitched.
This one is my favorite scenario out of that collection and the AP did not disappoint. But I do like bodyhorror I have to admit.
@crawlkill
The sacrifice of the animal was the twins doing it wrong. As I read it. They did not have the right knife or ritual, just the dance. It is how they handeled the knowledge they got from radio dad. The sacrifice served as training and at best worked to feed the worms. The real ritual had a willing sacrifice being freed from it’s human skin. Seemed fittingly meaningless to me.
Also the worms seem to be a good bit down the mythos totem pole. Just more monstrous than humans, yet probably still insignificant in the cosmic scheme of things.
yeeeah, but they apparently needed to destroy the town to sing somebody down (a great line, by the way). that implies human life has value. eh.
I did have this wonderful moment of insane insight when Caleb said Ross’ character would see the hated sky, that the incomprehensible/irrational horror endgame for these creatures would be the “kill the sky” and render Earth (and the whole universe? does that even mean anything?) a limitless husk of earth, free to burrow without that void hanging overhead ever, in any direction
That sky thought is a pretty good endgame.
The worms were breeding with / hatching in humans too. Which gives some value to humans indeed. The individual human is pretty meaningless though, to the extend of just rebuilding a village once the old one is spend. Even without a continuiation in inhabitants.
I think it works that human life has meaning for things that were once human, they think the gods would want sacrifice because that’s what the gods of earth have often demanded. If they are right or not might never become clear. Also for me part of the mythos are these rules and rites that seem to make no sense: “when the stars are right” is a famous line but what the exact meaning is never clear and that’s fine. Same with the seemingly arbitrary limit in this scenario, 119 years.
Super creepy and downright scary stuff her, especially as read by Caleb and acted out in the final part by the players. Listening to a podcast while working alone at the hospital might not have been such a great idea…
Minor pronunciation critique in what was a very enjoyable AP: I’m pretty sure the ‘w’ in Keswick is silent.
Very much looking forward to the final scenario, and the group’s post-mortem thoughts on the framing device used in The Final Revelation.
Worth listening to for the Magneto joke alone.
What the what
That was creepy as shit. Great build and the whole “you hate the sky now” shtick was incredible. This and St. Margarets are two of my favourite horror scenarios now.
I did enjoy this scenario immensely (and not only because of the Magento joke). Like some of the other scenarios, this one seems to combine two existing mythos ideas together (subterranean creatures like the Cthonians, and the horror of a tainted family heritage) in a way that reinvigorates both of them. And I did feel like this scenario gave the investigators some good agency in how they navigated the various locations. Very cool.
Graham Walmsley, the author of this scenario, wrote a book about remixing the Mythos like this. It is called Stealing Cthulhu and Dance in the Blood is a pretty good proof of concept.
Worth a read too.
Biest: Ah ha! Now it clicks! I’ve been meaning to read that book. Thanks for reminding me. I didn’t realize these were by the same guy.
This is my favorite scenario from that collection; just READING it is creepy and makes me squirm. It was a blast to listen to.
Remixing the Mythos- this one also had the feel of the Red Hook wriggling worm folks, I forget what they’re called.
I was disgusted and repulsed by the events and reactions in this scenario- so nice job, guys.
Out of all of these (still have to listen to the last one), this one story & the AP is by far my favorite. Only future recommendation I’d say without spoiling it, is that for the radio (unless it was done in the AP) is that it is prerecorded and played for the players. Caleb is a master here with spots where the madness just creeps in slowly (with the again? moment), plenty of WTHell moments and as Tom put it, an ever-echoing paraphrased for cleaner text whisper of DAAAAAMMMMNN. Stability loss all around.
Sten guns also for everyone & great job all!