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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Fenris-77" data-source="post: 9761687" data-attributes="member: 6993955">And He Commenced a Great BurningA System-Agnostic Victorian Cthulhu AdventureIngredients: Loosed Change – Half a Hand – Cattle Wrangler – Fire Brigade – Positive Impact – Image of SuccessSet-upYour group have been fruitlessly pursuing cultist Edmund O’Malley for weeks. Your Inquiry Office is plastered with maps of London, possible sightings, and notes about the Cauldron of Change. You know he has the relic, you know he plans a terrible ritual of transformation, but when and where?Friday morning you catch a break. O’Malley was involved in a robbery at a cattle yard in London’s East End. Five white bulls have been stolen, possibly for the ritual. To the hackney!Adventure ElementsThe Cattle Wrangler. James Burke: tall, active Scots cattle trader, owns a small stockyard. The bulls were stolen in the early hours and two of his workers killed. One, before he died, described a strange tattoo that covered half of one of the perpetrators’ left hands. (O’Malley has such a tattoo). Witnesses say the bulls were driven into a warren of buildings by the Thames.The Burning. While the investigators are at the stockyard, O’Malley has loosed fire on Whitechapel. Bells begin to ring, faint shouts are heard, and plumes of smoke rise up from several places in the warren. While stroking the Cauldron of Change a vision came to Edmund, of him richly dressed and ruling a rebuilt London. This image has fired his murderous zeal and his dreams have shown him the way. Fire is just the beginning.The Warren. 10 blocks of narrow alleys, tenements, and rotting warehouses next to the Thames. The streets are choked with people fleeing the fires. The investigators may need help to search it quickly.The Ritual. The Black Book of Czernobog describes a ritual wherein the Cauldron of Change is negatively charged by the blood of certain animals and a great burnt offering of some kind. Then, a long chant in the foul elder tongue primes a wicked spell that will mutate human forms into hybrid elder things under the caster’s control.The Fire Brigade. London firefighters have moved into the warren to combat the flames and are unknowingly working their way toward the site of the ritual. When they are close enough O’Malley will unleash the spell and transform them into elder hybrids that will form the core of an army with which he hopes to conquer London.Adventure ProcedureThe Hunt. The investigators will have to brave the flames and delve into the warren to find O’Malley. From their notes they know that they have about an hour until the ritual is complete. Time is of the essence.Set a number of successes needed to locate the ritual. Help will speed the hunt, but also put the helpers at risk. Complicate these Hunt scenes as follows:Terror-stricken residents. Will clutch at the investigators, demand things of them, shout incoherently, and generally be in the worst place at the worst time. On a d6 roll of 4+ complicate a scene with bystanders.O’Malley’s minions. He has gang of East-End toughs in his employ, with orders to kill or slow the investigators if at all possible. Not terribly bright, but vicious. Armed with clubs and knives. On a d6 roll of 4+ complicate a scene with minions.Spreading flames. Wooden building burst into flames, debris rain down into alleyways. The fire is dangerous and will get in the way. On a d6 roll of 5+ complicate a scene with fire. The Ritual. In a musty river-front basement O’Malley, protected by a handful of his minions, is sacrificing white bulls and draining their blood into the Cauldron of Change. This blood builds up the negative charge necessary to power the spell of transformation. He will likely only have a single bull left to sacrifice when the investigators arrive. Outside, the crackle of fire is not quite loud enough to drown out the approaching shouts of the fire brigade, who seem closer every minute.O’Malley and the minions are all wearing identical purple robes, but O’Malley can be identified by his tattooed half hand.Investigators can slow the ritual by taking positive actions to impact the negative ritual charge. Holy blessings or spells of countering and the like. A success buys another round before the ritual is complete.The GM should use a clock or similar timing mechanic to set a number of rounds until the ritual is complete. The investigators have to bypass the minions and kill or incapacitate O’Malley before the timer runs out.</blockquote>

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