Mayday Plays - Doomed to Repeat, Ep. 32 - "The Road To Innsmouth" | Delta Green

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

The investigators follow a tenuous trail into the past, visiting Pastor Ezekial Wallace—a reclusive old man clinging to eerie artwork and half-remembered truths about Innsmouth. His haunted recollections deepen the mystery, confirming something ancient and malignant. Later, the team seeks answers from George Cole, a volatile psych patient who was once a citizen of Innsmouth. Cora takes the lead, attempting to soothe the savage man and unlock the secrets buried in his fractured mind. With each unsettling clue, the path narrows—Innsmouth looms closer, cloaked in fog and waiting. In this episode, we continue our playthrough of the scenario “Escape From Innsmouth” by Kevin A. Ross and others, and published by Chaosium. TRIGGER AND CONTENT WARNINGS: Language, Madness, Implied Sexual Violence, Spirituality, Death, PTSD. Published by arrangement with the Delta Green Partnership. The intellectual property known as Delta Green is a trademark and copyright owned by the Delta Green Partnership, who has licensed its use here. The contents of this podcast are © Mayday Roleplay, excepting those elements that are components of the Delta Green intellectual property. CAST OF CHARACTERS • Lev (they/them) - Cora Loquillo (she/they) • Amanda (she/her) - Arthur Clark (he/him) • Caleb (he/him) - Kennedy Newell (he/him) • Eli (any/all) - Dr. Theodore Rooke (he/him) • Zakiya (she/they) - Freddie Thurman (she/they) • Sergio (he/him) - The Handler MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS • Post Sound Supervision: Sergio Crego, Eli Hauschel • Mixed: Eli Hauschel • Original Music: Aaron A. Pabst • Soundstripe (soundstripe.com) • Epidemic Sound (epidemicsound.com/) • Soundly (getsoundly.com/) DELTA GREEN LINKS • Delta Green (http://deltagreen.com/) MAYDAY ROLEPLAY LINKS • Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/maydayrp) • Ko-Fi (https://ko-fi.com/maydayrp) • Mayday website (https://www.maydayroleplay.com/) • Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/@Maydayrp)

Doomed to Repeat is a Delta Green actual play podcast with violent themes and adult language. Listener discretion is advised. Hello and welcome to episode 32 of our Delta Green actual play series, Doomed to Repeat. I'm Sergio, your handler. It's the end of May and in June, I'll be getting married. I'm very excited and want to thank Eli, Lev, and the rest of the May Day team for picking up my slack while I'm away celebrating. With all that said, episodes of Doomed to Repeat will continue releasing in a bi-weekly schedule.

The rest of May Day has a fun Thirsty Sword Lesbians one-shot planned for June, and Amanda is still battling her way through Baldur's Gate 3 live every Wednesday on YouTube. You can catch all of our content there or listen wherever you harvest your podcasts. If you enjoy what we do here be sure to like and subscribe, spread the word and leave a comment. It really helps us get seen by other Delta Green fans. We continue our playthrough of Escape from Innsmouth by Kevin A. Ross and others. Published by Chaosium. Let's get into it. So, you were all brought into an investigation by the US Treasury Department over the local town of Innsmouth, which you are all somewhat familiar with. They claim that there's lots of illegal and illicit activity, and they mentioned a couple of leads that made them believe this.

The briefing boiled down to they need the group to assist Cora to find photographic proof or to take photographic proof of what is happening in that town. With that information in tow, you guys took a night to get ready and then the next day you went straight to Arkham, specifically to the Miskatonic University, where you learned about the established Innsmouth history from the local history books. In an attempt to learn about the city's history a little bit more directly, Kennedy was able to find the only newspaper source that exists from Innsmouth. It's known as the Innsmouth Courier which ran until the late 1800s. When you eventually learned from the history books that Innsmouth is known for having some strange jewelry that was on display at the Miskatonic exhibit, some of you went to go examine it. Sure enough it was a Tahitian influenced necklace that seemed to be made of a strange white gold,

which is unusual for the design of that area. The party, while at the library, witnessed a young student escorted out by security as he raved and ranted, which the librarian assured you was a common occurrence and not something to worry yourself with. But you did decide to worry yourself. You worked together to weave your way into the restricted section where you found many occult books with strange names. While looking through them you ran across a Dr. Armitage who is a friendly professor who once he learned what you were researching, specifically Innsmouth, he recommended that the party speak with a Dr. Ezekiel Wallace, who is supposedly

the pastor of a local church, Asbury M.E. Church. He explained that when Wallace was younger, he was a missionary and he also had some experience within Innsmouth that may lend to some use to you. Seeking further answers though, not satisfied with what was found, Dr. Rook dove into the different tomes that existed here, hoping to find some kind of pattern or connection. And a pattern was in fact found. There seemed to be this through line, a tale about amphibian-like men, referred to as Deep Ones, who live below the waves of across the world. It is implied that it is a civilization as old, if not older than mankind, that worships strange gods, one of them possibly the old pagan Mesopotamian god known as Dagon. The conclusions and the subsequent sanity loss that Dr. Rook suffered was entirely their own. The rest of you dragged Rook out of the library and decided to call it a day.

It is Tuesday, November 8th, 1927, and with a new day dawning, the group assembles to continue with their investigation of Innsmouth. What would you like to do first? Well, Arthur's gonna go ahead and present everyone with coffees again and kind of wait patiently with their briefcase, hats and everything. So Arthur is ready. I assume we're meeting in,

I think we said we were staying at Freddie's home. Yeah, so we are, this probably just the one living room with a bunch of people in a bunch of blankets. There's a couch, but like, I don't have like, what? Three guest bedrooms. So yeah, we're having a meeting in the living room. Freddie is like leaned against the fireplace, smoking a cigarette and just says,

I know what I need to do today. There's someone downtown, I need to speak with my boss who might know what's going on with Brian, but there's a bunch of people we gotta speak to. I don't know if we wanna split up. Well, I need to see the pastor, Dr. Wallace. That's the person I wanna see. Are you okay?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine. It's a little warm. A lot of, a lot of peep, a lot of bodies in one place, just fine. Okay. I'll remind everyone it is getting close to the end of autumn, and it is quite cold outside. Dr. Rook, I also wanna say,

I should have said this in the beginning of our session, but I would like you to add 10% to your unnatural score for the resounding amount of sanity that you lost. And the fact that you were looking at a bunch of books few humans have ever looked at. So you can increase your natural score to 10. Hell yeah, cool. It's better than outside. Outside would probably be nice. Like to be outside. But yeah, I gotta go see Wallace.

That's the man I'd like to see on the top of the day. Okay. I'm really only here to take pictures, so I'll go where I'm needed. I don't have that much of a stake one way or the other besides the pictures. Although I am pretty interested in the fish people. Yes, uh, uh, fish, uh, is that what we're gonna be calling them? Just fish people?

Book called them the Deep Ones if we want to be specific. We'll call them the Deep Ones. They didn't really pick that name. I don't know if they can talk. I guess they might have. How do you think that even works? Do you think they use guilt? We don't really need to be speculating on these kinds of things, guys.

It's just from books, you know, myths. And the myths scared the shit out of you yesterday, though. Was caught off guard. That's it. But you caught us all off guard. We can just go out on the town and talk to two people. That could be. That's a full day. See what happens.

I kind of just want to see what's going down, like where he disappeared. But that would be going to the docks. And she looks both at Cora and Kennedy. That might be, y'all seem to have the most expertise to what's going on down there. We can go down to the docks. If we add the docks together it's fine. Okay people and then docks. Wallace first? Yeah I think we should just make sure that once we've got everything nailed off our list we go into Innsmouth. I don't want to go in with any loose ends because there's no guarantee.

Righto. I will go ahead and meet you at the car and I can happily drive everyone. Everyone files out of the apartment or the home and makes their way to the black sedan that was given to you by the U.S. Treasury. And the first place you want to stop, sounds like, is the Asbury Emi Church. You pull up, it's about 9.30, when you get here in Arkham. It is a modest church, but seems to be like a Presbyterian, something rather innocuous and friendly.

And the church doors seemed to be open. Are we all attending church today, or is it just me? I can go in there if you need some know-how, some support. I mean, I can go alone if that's the general consensus. That's not a problem. I think that the last time you did something alone, you started screaming, so...

Yeah. Maybe together. I think we're going to need all the prayers we can get, so let's just call this a group project. Madam Fridig, may I escort you in? Oh, sure. And locks arms with you and walks into the church. Inside, it's about as handsome as it looks on the outside. And though there are a couple of parishioners praying in the aisles,

lighting candles, the only form of authority you can see is a younger looking priest closer to the pulpit. He's got kind of curly red hair. Is he praying? Is he doing anything? He looks to be kind of getting materials ready. He's laying kind of curly red hair. Is he, is he, is he praying? Is he doing anything? He looks to be kind of getting materials ready. He's laying things out. Seems to be a little bit busy, but not necessarily distracted. I think Theo's gonna quietly shuffle over there

and gently from behind them go, excuse me? Good morning to you. How can I help you? Hi, hi, good morning. I hate to bother you, but I'm in need of looking for a Dr. Wallace. I believe he's the pastor here at this establishment. Oh, you wish to speak with Pastor Wallace? Well, he is in his home in the back of the church. I could go check if you'd like. Yeah, it would be, yeah, I have something I would like to discuss with him really briefly.

Could I ask what this pertains to? My name is Dr. Theodore Rook from Harvard University. I'm an anthropologist. I have some questions, I believe, a colleague of mine recommended us about the town of Innsmouth. Pointed me in the direction of the pastor. So I just wanted to follow up on a lead, if possible.

The kind of soft, friendly smile that is on this pastor's face just kind of slowly fades at the mention of Innsmouth and says, yes, one moment, and he steps away. It's only a couple of beats before he returns and says, Dr. Wallace is willing to see you. He's a little feeble, but he should be fine. He's usually spry in the morning. If you'll follow me. Ah, thank you. He leads you all through the back of the church, outside to a kind of courtyard where there

appears to be a small, single home. Opening the doors, you see a somewhat dimly lit home. Within is a kind of living room where there is a fireplace, a very modest kitchen, and by the fireplace, sitting in a rocking chair is an older gentleman dressed like a pastor. And he doesn't quite acknowledge you yet, but he does kind of wave his hands for you to enter. And the previous pastor smiles and closes the door behind you. I think Theo is going to take the most close seat next to him at the fire and try to reach out a hand. Dr. Wallace, Pastor, it's good to meet you. My name is Theodore Rook.

I don't know if your colleague told you, but I wanted to... We are looking to find information about Innsmouth and I was told you were the person to kind of talk about, talk to. Innsmouth, Innsmouth, and he kind of repeats the word a few times and begins to turn his head towards you and kind of takes you in. He seems to be in his, you know, mid-60s, but there's something fragile about him. Maybe the years have not been well or kind to him. But once he notices that there's a few of you, he kind of leans past his chair and takes you all in. Yes, I spent some time in Innsmouth.

The church originally was founded in Innsmouth. Terrible, terrible story of that place. And he kind of seems to lose his train of thought and stares back at the fire. Seems to be trouble there. You ran into some trouble while you were building the church out there? Is that what you're saying? I didn't really find too much trouble myself. The Asbury Church has been around for many generations.

The strangest stories I've heard came from my pastor. His name was Eugene Hart, Father Hart. He's told me many things. What are you looking for in particular? We're just trying to get the general feel of the town. We're about to do some critical research there about what's going on ultimately. We've heard rumors. Ince Mouth has always been a means of speculation in both academics and by word of mouth, but any enlightenment you could share about its people or its history only helps benefit us when we when we make contact with the town

sometime in the next day or so. The only thing worth knowing about Innsmouth is that you should avoid it at all costs. You see it's had a very troubled history. At the turn of the century, there was a kind of revolt amongst the people. If you'd believe it, they kicked out Father Hart and the Asbury Church, said they didn't need the Bible's God anymore. They had found a new one, an older one. My God, pardon the expression. That seems unusual. Indeed. Hold on.

There's papers here somewhere and he starts to kind of get up. It looks like it's been a little while since he's even attempted this. Sir, sir. Here. Allow me. He'll put a hand on your arm, Clark. And you can feel how kind of fragile he is and he gets up and I was able to keep a couple of

copies of the Innsmouth Courier that Father Hart took. I believe it was in the 1840s there was this this kind of insurrection that the town had. They decided to kick out the church and the courier's editor, a man named John Lawrence. Ah yes, here it is, and he's able to find a very old yellowed newspaper. The man, John Lawrence, he had his, he had his opinions about the leaders of town. I said that they were taking advantage of people, that they were up to no good. Speaking out against the leader, Obed Marsh, Father Hart didn't see it specifically, but he knows once he moved to Arkham that the courier was shut down and no one ever saw John Lawrence again. Do you know anything else, Father?

Esoteric Order of Dagon. After this civil war that occurred in Innsmouth, the followers of Marsh's new religion, this esoteric order, seemed to take over. They now ran the town. No church or religious organization was ever able to make a foothold there again. He looks you all up and down, almost as if he's, like, sizing you all up and down, almost as if he's sizing you up. There is one other thing, but I don't think you need to see that.

That makes it so much more enticing. Oh, please. I've learned from speaking with Father Hard that sometimes there are truths not worth knowing, and you shouldn't bother yourself. I'm telling you the best thing you can do is avoid Innsmouth. Well you see sir, we're here on government business and it's mostly to see if Innsmouth is paying taxes and I don't want to bore you up with all that nonsense, but anything you can tell us. Because if you're telling me that this institution is going behind and using their funds against United States interest,

well, I have to, in my duty as an American, to follow through with these. We're just trying to collect as much knowledge as we can, Doctor. Anything you know, and even if you think it's's irrelevant would help us in the long run. I'd like one of you to make a persuasion check. What's your charisma? My persuadus 50. Mine is a 20. I'm going for it.

Ooh, a 30. Hell yeah. Dr. Wallace looks at you and kind of lets out a smile and says, in my time as a missionary, I met many soldiers and I've come to appreciate their dedication to duty. Very well, follow me. And he leads you into the back room, what you suppose is his bedroom. As soon as he said soldier and duty,

you're gonna, Arthur, soldier slumped. Yeah, even Rook gets a little nervous when he says Soldier. But he follows him. Stacked against the wall there is a big kind of canvas drape. And Dr. Wallace walks over, kind of tugs on it, and it seems like he can't even muster the strength to pull

this drape over. I'll lean in and get the curtain for him. Without much effort, Kennedy, you're able to pull the drape and a good amount of dust kind of filters into the air. You can see it through the the rays of light that coming through the window. There are several would look to be oil portraits, oil paintings of different kinds, various sizes and various degrees of degradation. Most of them seem to be depictions of Christian saints, the Mother Mary, Jesus, some biblical depictions.

But the father points to two oil paintings in the back and he says if someone wouldn't mind sliding these out. Yeah, Arthur's gonna go ahead and skip forward and just slide out where he's directed. Clark, you pull out the first oil painting. It seems to be a depiction of a family from the 19th century. No clear indication as to who the artist is, but what is depicted is a family posed in a formal style, mother sitting in a chair, the father standing over, and a small girl beside them. Ah, and some family right here. You say that at the initial kind of understanding

what's going on, but then you look closer at their faces. Most of them, in fact all of them, share an odd bulgy eyed aspect. The woman seated in the chair wears this floor length white gown and her face is hidden behind a thick veil. And yet seems the most different, the most bloated of them all.

The young child has these slightly large eyes, her skin a bit stretched out in this kind of strange, almost fish-like grimace. The father letting off just enough of a smile that you can see a row of razor sharp teeth. Maybe I was a little liberal with the word handsome with that one. It's like they've taken on water. This seems strange even for my understanding of the world. Is this the stair they talk about? Yeah, it's been a fluke.

They look like a... you've seen them on the circus axe. Like freaks. Yes. That's a little cruel, isn't it? It's Clark's thought, not mine. Unfortunately young lady, it is wholly true. The people of Innsmouth for some reason suffer some kind of terrible malady. It's been generations now.

It gets worse, unfortunately, and he puts a shaky finger to the last portrait. Alright, let's just grab this one here. I'm gonna pull it. Clark, so you pull the last, this one larger and its frame rather ornate in this kind of faded gold filigree all along the edges. What you see is a rather frightening portrait of a man or what is supposed to be a man standing before the doors of what must be a church in a hideous travesty of a man or vaguely fish like

frog like Anthropoid unlike anything you've ever seen before Dressed in voluminous robes of sea green and blue on his misshapen head he wears a gold crown around his neck, these large white gold plated necklaces, similar in design to the one you saw at the exhibit. Most terribly, he holds in his scaly arms, webbed, a small human child, infant. Both the child and the frog's man head are both illuminated by glowing halos, similar in the manner of Renaissance artists, the way they depict people like Jesus. It is even worse than the previous portrait, as it portrays what must be what you read about,

Dr. Rook, these deep ones. I'm going to ask everyone for seeing this to make a sanity check, please. Deep ones. I'm gonna ask everyone for seeing this to make a sanity check, please. Pass with a 27. 95 over 75. Pass with a 19. I pass with a 40. Oh wow, I succeed with a 17.

Rook, explain to me how you're able to succeed on this sanity check, especially after all that you've learned. It's just denial. It's just, it's utter, just constant denial. It's just it's utter just constant denial it can't this can't be true this has to be a Outlandish character curves of something explainable and it's it's it's it has to be that It's just you know, this can't be real Cora

You will lose one point of sanity cool Cool. As this tale of the Deep Ones and the corroborating evidence that seems to be mounting is just starting to creep you out a little bit. Yeah, Cora has a pretty high metric for weird shit, but usually that weird shit involves people in some capacity. This is wholly new to them. This thing's like a prophet. I mean, I heard the stories on the ships and every sailor has some tale, but I never thought

they'd go as far as faking paintings. These don't look fake. Of course it's fake. This can't be real. You read a book yesterday about this. Yeah, I read a book. Somebody just accounting something. That's one book.

I got it. I have to say, like, look at the other paintings. You can see, like, babies with wings. It's folk tale. I believe this is a depiction of Obed Marsh, the original man who, I believe, brought the curse to this town. Did you say how Father Hart passed? He passed in this home, in that very bed, in fact, and he gestures over to a very modest bed. Do you think he's still here?

Do I think that Father Hart is still here? In spirit. Spiritually, yes. Could he... would he want to talk to us? Maybe tell us more about his experiences? My faith teaches me that once we move on, there is no communicating with the past. Alright, alright, alright. Yes, yes, yes. Sorry, I understand. That is your belief.

I appreciate that. He seems too old to really be offended and just kind of doters on. There is one last thing. Father Hart did have a journal. It seems I haven't met anyone in some time who's taken any kind of interest in Innsmouth. I have no use for it. If you want it, you can have it. Father, I did have one question.

Mr. Marsh, where is he? May I ask where he is buried? Oh, well, you would find Mr. Marsh buried in his ancestral home of Innsmouth. I believe Father Hart said there were at least two or three graveyards in Innsmouth with the families of all the leaders. If no one's going to reach for it, I'll be sure to take the journal. And from, you know, a little side table right next to his bed, he pulls out a very old journal. Was there any instances of...

It's fine if you don't remember or if Father Hart never told you, but was there bouts where Obed would go missing? Or maybe he went missing one notable time and then showed up as a fish? Obed Marsh in his younger years often traveled far to the east taking sail. And Father Hart said that there was a point in the mid 1800s when he returned with a great bounty, a great treasure he said he had found. It's what allowed him to buy and build the Marsh Refinery, made his family quite wealthy and powerful. Where he got these things, I'm not entirely sure, but that is when he would leave. Did they ever mention what he found, treasure? Was it this ore everyone's been talking about, the gold?

One can assume so. He explained that there were many strange trinkets, necklaces and jewelry of some kind, something like that. And he points to the tiara depicted in the painting. And that's what we found at the exhibit. Same thing that's around his neck. How big was Mr. Marsh? He appears to be human sized but much more bloated and large.

Again, less human and much more amphibian like. He looks like a cross between a frog and a fish. So his neck's pretty thick. His neck is incredibly thick, his arms incredibly long, his legs almost kind of half bent in a kind of crouched posture, his belly and back bulbous and round, standing at about 5'10", but completely misshapen.

Padre, could I, and I'll pull out my little camera, could I take your picture next to these? Oh, I haven't had a photo taken of me in quite some time. That would be lovely. We'll do two photos then, one just of you and one with the photos. How about that? Or with the paintings, how about that? He looks at them and says, I wouldn't want to be standing next to those.

He seems wholly disgusted by them. Okay, that's fine. Is it all right if I take a photo of them, though? Please. Do you have any items from your legion that you want to hold with you? I have my Bible, and he reaches for an old leather-bound book, and he eventually finds himself back at his rocking chair by the fire, and he poses finds himself back at his rocking chair by the fire and he poses for you.

Coral kneel down and kind of like mess with the set, like however you mess with the settings on an old camera. Throw it. Yeah, basically. Yeah, there's less messing around and more just trying to get as much light into the room as possible. You open the windows, you set him kind of Rembrandt style close to a window so that he is being hit by the soft morning light. And you're able to you feel the comfort that you can get a decent photo of him.

Yeah, I'll take I'll take a photo of him kind of like long ways to get his full like torso and a little bit of headspace. And then I'll I'll say thank you very much. And then I'll move the paintings into his spot where he was, and take a photo of both of them as well. Unless you have anything more to ask of me, I wish you all luck. I know I've suggested you don't visit Innsmouth, but judging by your go-get-em attitude, I have a feeling that's exactly where you're headed eventually. Yeah, I think so.

Most likely, Father, yeah. Well, I'll be praying for you. Thank you, Father. I certainly appreciate it. Thank you I think so. Most likely, Father, yeah. Well, I'll be praying for you. Thank you, Father. I certainly appreciate it. Thank you for your time. If I might make a suggestion, if you go, don't stay overnight. It's easier to hide things in the dark, easier to disappear. Good advice. The group eventually makes its way outside and you find yourself in the small garden in the back of the church. I just want to clear up. Were we supposed to visit a hospital?

Was I insane for thinking so? You are insane and you will be put into the Danvers State Hospital. Fuck yes. Also, very quick question, Sergio. Falcon Point, is that technically within Innsmouth, or is that far enough away that we can GTFO? I'm not sure if Clark knows the answer to that, but there is a fisherman literally standing next to you.

He's holding a fish. He just keeps one strapped right next to the revolver. There's actually a revolver hidden in the fish. Mr. Mr. Newell. Oh, please don't call me that. How would you like to be addressed? Kennedy's my name. Mr. Kennedy.

Falcon Point. You've been there, correct? Or do you know any place we can lodge there? I'm aware of Falcon Point, you've been there, correct? Or do you know any place we could lodge there? I'm aware of Falcon Point. It's a little bit out of Finsmith's small, small little community. Well, I only ask because the father kind of brought up some interesting points. Maybe we don't want to be there overnight. Oh, is that what you got from that? I got that we need to be there overnight. How else are we going to find what's going on in there, Arthur? I just thought we were taking some photos and...

We are taking photos of illicit felonious activity, right? So if the good priest says it happens at night, guess where we need to be? At night. Yeah. You might actually get some action here, Arthur. On photos hard to take in the dark? Not with light. Well, we'll just carry around those extras we talked about buying, right?

Torches or the headlights of the car might do too. So we go to talk to Victor and then head to the docks. Sure, but Arthur, if you were thinking maybe the exit plan is Falcon Point, we might be able to pull that off. Yeah, yes, I'm not a coward. I just wanted you to know that. I'll keep that in mind, Arthur. Thanks. I'll meet you at the car. You all hop into the vehicle and where are you heading first? Sergio, if we were like to open the main menu and go to objectives

and look at all of the ones that say not Innsmouth, what would that list look like? Certainly visiting Danvers is one of them. Visiting the other historical society, which you know is in Newburyport, is another option. Okay, so those two at least. Someone else wanted to go to Newbury, right? Theo, if that's it, right? Wanted to read more scary books, didn't you? Probably, yeah. There's more information than sure, yeah.

Dr. Rook, you do recall that in the historical texts, there is mention that both the Miskatonic Museum and the Newbury Historical Society both have examples of quote unquote Innsmouth jewelry. It's worth going, if we don't want to go to Newbury, Danvers seeing what George Cole can talk about. You know, if he's maybe just saw the truth, then we could get a really good statement out of him.

You all know that Danvers is basically about an hour's drive south- southwest of Arkham. Then we should see Danvers first, and if we have enough time, then maybe we can go to Newport. At this point, it's about 11 in the day. You begin making your way through the countryside to Danvers, Massachusetts. Eventually, you do get into town around noon. I don't know about the rest of you, but I definitely have a rumble in the old candy here. Can we... is anyone okay if we stop off and get some food? I was gonna say, I could eat, I could eat.

You said a rumble in the old what? Yes, I heard it. In the old candy. I meant to say candy. I like rumble in the old what? Yes, I heard it. In the old candy. I meant to say candy. I like rumbling the candy, though. I don't know what it means, but it's good. Is that regional?

Yeah, what region are you from? Everywhere, nowhere. You said you had a bear in New York. I just imagined you were from New York. Yes, but upstate New York. You talking about Canada? I thought I was gagey. I thought you were gagey too, this man.

I just want to know where the candy rumbles, man. Clark, it's right around the time that you see a diner restaurant that you can pull off. Thank God. Thank you. And I'm just gonna pull that in, close, get out the car and just walk in. You have a lovely lunch at a diner where no fish is being served. And you get back on your way. Within a few moments after lunch, you are in Danvers. And you pull up to the Danvers Massachusetts State Hospital for the insane. This is a very brutalist cement building, very serious in nature, and it looks like there are a few paddy wagons with the universal sign for medical aid on the side, parked outside.

Okay, we don't have covers or anything, do we? We're just going to be in here? Do we need covers? I've found if you walk real confident into the main room, usually they don't have covers or anything, do we? We're just gonna be in here. Do we need covers? I've found if you walk real confident into the main room, usually they don't say much. That works just about anywhere. Helps if you have a ladder or something, too. I mean, I still have my business card, that could help.

Oh, that's right. Arthur, you're like a federal agent or something, aren't you? Indeed I am. Go ahead and take the hint, then. I, the anthem. I shall, thank you, yes. And I'm gonna tighten up and walk forward. Clark, you move forward with the team following you close behind.

Walking into the institution, you immediately get the sense that this is a sad place, a place in which folks are hidden away as opposed to healed. There are individuals with straitjackets, kind of crumpled on the floor in the hallways. There are those you can hear the distant sound of moaning and wailing and crying. This is not modern medicine, at least our version of modern medicine. This is a place where sometimes the best thing to do was just to lock somebody in a hole and never talk about them again. Waiting at the front is a kind of uptight looking woman with her hair all up in a bun. She notices the group immediately and stands up behind her desk and says,

Can I help you? Good afternoon. I'm a federal agent. I'm going to hand it over a little quickly. She looks at your card. A federal agent? Yes, ma'am. We are, we actually have some questions with one of your patients.

Which patient is that? George Cole. George Cole? You all want to speak to George Cole? If you could, please. And what is this pertaining to? He hasn't had a visitor in years. His hometown.

You're from his hometown? No. Then what is it? Make yourself clear. Please forgive me for being a little blunt, but the hometown is the investigation. I cannot tell you the whole parameters. I gave you my card for a reason.

You could speak to my supervisor. But at the moment, we cannot divulge anything that could give away evidence. Well, this is wholly unusual, but I suppose I can ask the the supervising doctor on staff if this is something we can do. You see, George is a bit of a dangerous patient. We don't normally let him out of his room. One moment and she kind of walks away. You get the sense that if they say no, they're going to not budge from it.

But a doctor eventually comes and I'd like one person to either make a bureaucracy role or a charisma times five role to convince them that this is worth their time. You are leading Clark, so maybe you make that role. I have a 40 bureaucracy. Does anyone have a higher charisma though or something that roll. I have a 40 in bureaucracy. Does anyone have a higher charisma, though, or something like that? I have a 60 in charisma. I think because of this situation,

I'm going to ask Clark to roll, and Clark, you can have plus 20% because Rook was helping you. OK, so if I got a 75, what? My plus 20 puts me exactly out of 75. What does that mean? Uh, yeah, then you succeed. Beats it, beats it, yeah. The doctor on site, Dr. Wolfgram introduces himself and listening to your story finds

it wholly unusual but does acknowledge your authority. And he says, well, I think I can make a little bit of time for you to speak with the man, but if he gets riled up, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave he sometimes when he gets riled up He's like that for days sir says absolutely your We want your health and your staff to be totally safe. We don't mean any harm in anyway, all right Well, if you just wanted for a little time then follow me and he starts leading you down the halls. Pretty talented there, Arthur. You almost had to bring out the red pen. You better certainly hope I never bring out the red pen.

Or the stamp. As you are led down the hall, you are forced to step over patients, many of them tied up, many of them strapped to wheelchairs, some of them having clearly soiled themselves. Cora just kind of loops their arm into Freddy's and just like stays a little closer. Are you all right? Mm-hmm. Just seems cruel.

I understand. They like hug you a little closer, but keep it, keep going. With the combination of so many unhappy, unhealthy people, I understand. They like hug you a little closer, but keep it, keep going. With the combination of so many unhappy, unhealthy people, there's an atmosphere here. But you are led to a cell, and through a thick steel door with a small slit for a window, you can see what appears to be an aging, wholly defeated man in a wheelchair, facing the window across from him, his back to the door. The doctor explains that on the other side is George Cole. He recommends that you keep away from him because he is a biter. He also mentions that George has not really spoken

or said a word in a number of years, so he kind of wishes you the best of luck in an ironic joking sense. But the door is unlocked. Go ahead and walk in. Follow Clark in. It is a small cramped room, most of you still closer to the entrance than the other side. But who is leading the attempt to communicate to Cole? I might try something if everyone's okay with that. Go for it.

I think Cora having heard he's a biter kind of gives him like a an arm's length kind of birth as she comes in but is gonna go and stand in front of the window and pull out her camera again. Um hello Mr. Cole. As you make your way around him, you can see his face now better. His shoulders are slunk, his chest is slightly caved in from seemingly always being in the same position.

His mouth open and just a little bit of dribble is now floating just past his chin, his eyes in a kind of distant glaze. He doesn't even look at you when you come around and say his name. floating just past his chin, his eyes in a kind of distant glaze. He doesn't even look at you when you come around and say his name. My name's Cora. Um, I've been taking pictures of people for a long time. Um, I've never taken a picture of someone in a place like this though.

And sometimes when I take pictures, we can see family members, friends who have passed, people who are staying with you and keeping you safe. Would it be all right if I did that for you? It seems like you are trying to get a rise out of him. You're trying to get him to communicate in some way, I assume? Yeah, I think Cora's just trying to get some kind of like, base human connection, really. If you would like to attempt a psychotherapy roll, you can try to get him to break from his silence. Yeah, I'll try it. Let's- let's see.

While this is going on, can I reposition so that I'm between the two of them just in case something goes haywire? I think you can basically get up right behind George Cole, but I don't know if you can get in between them. But you're close. I got a 16, which is under my 40. You speak softly to him, maybe softer than anyone has in years since he's been thrown into this institute. And almost as if kind of breaking from a spell, his eyes twitch and then he looks in your direction. You, you're beautiful. Like my Margaret.

Who is Margaret? The woman I was supposed to be with till the day I died. Where is she now? Who knows what they did with her? And he kind of looks away a little bit, lost in thought. Who? Who was it that did something to her? Those, those cursed Innsmouth folk.

I understand. And I'm gonna try and head him off as soon as he starts to get, like, amped. I hear you. They know I saw too much, so they threw me in here. But I'll get out. I'll get back to my Margaret. Mr. Cole, can I take your picture first, and then I have some information to share with

you? My friends and I might have things to share. He gives a kind of half-hearted nod and just kind of looks in your direction. I'm going to close the distance and pull out a handkerchief and really gently wipe his chin and try and just touch him in a kind way and just clean him up a little bit for his photo, kind of straighten his shirt, help him position himself, and then I'll get down.

Kind of beneath the window sill, so all the lights hitting him and my shadow isn't. I'll take another photo. You're able to take a photo of George Cole in a more refined and respectable state than he has probably been in years. You take the photo and he seems to be kind of waking out of this living dream that he was in where he's now

Acknowledging the other members of the group and just seems to be a little bit more spry I appreciate you let me take your picture. Maybe when I have it developed I can bring you a copy What I want is for you to bring me my Margaret Bring her here so she can take me out of here. That's Something interesting we we might be going, Twinsmith. Soon. His eyes kind of widen at the name. Why?

Why would you go back there? Well, what if we're looking for Margaret? You think you can save her? You can bring her to me? I'm not sure. I don't... I don't know for sure. She's not in town. You'll have to go deep. Deep under the water. That's where they took her. Okay, under the water. It was that night. That last night before they took me away, I went to the refinery.

I was trying to receive from some forgotten papers I'd left behind, and that's when I saw it. Some movement in some darkened houses along the northern shore of the harbor. I was curious, so I went to go investigate, and that's when I saw it. A group of men, they were huddled together. But when I got closer, it wasn't men. Not all of them. Not all of them were men. Some were... Some were the scaly devils. Those scaly water devils. And they had her. They had my Margaret tied up. I watched them. I watched them drag her into the water. Those... those scaly water devils! And he is starting to get a little agitated.

I'm gonna reach out and try to take his hand. I will need a secondary psychotherapy roll to calm him. I'm moving behind Cora now. Kennedy is prepared behind the subject. I'm moving to the door. 62 over 40. Where once George Cole was shaking in fear, telling you his tale, suddenly there is this kind of laser focus, and he leaps at you screaming, the scaly water devils and he seems to be

going right for your neck. If Freddie and Newell would like to do something, they can attempt to pin him or stop him. I am going to try and boot him into the chest against the back wall there, and then put myself in between the two of them. I'm just pulling Cora back. Okay, both of you make unarmed combat rolls to see if you succeed.

I have a success with a 23 under 60. Success with a 61 under 70. In unison, Freddie, you pull Cora up and away. Kennedy, you're able to push him back down. He is suddenly very spry and, again, screaming over and over, the scaly water devils. As he is doing this, the doctor who had brought you in, suddenly, oh, not again, look what you've done!

Now look what you've done, all of you out! And he's yelling for you all to leave. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. While I still have him, Kennedy gets down close to him. Where, where was it, Devil's Reef? Where, how deep, into the waters, where were the waters? With his left hand, he grabs your arm that is still on him and he looks you in the eyes pulls you close and says deep Deeper than you've ever been

Yeah, Kennedy's gonna throw him back and get back towards the door trying to usher everybody back look out for the water devils And you hear the door the the metal door clunk. And behind now only a muffled scream from the man. I think everyone needs a round of sanity checks for hearing his strange tale. Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

Yes. Whew. Ah, there it is. Fail with a 74. Big fail with an 85. Success with a 23. Success with a 41. Same. Literally success with a 41. Those of you who succeed are not going to lose any sanity.

Those of you that fail will lose a point of sanity. Dr. Rook, I will say that if you lose this sanity without attempting to resist it, your disorder will kick in. Yeah, I'd like to resist it. That's a good idea. Please succeed on a sanity check and you'll be able to. 35, under 40, 1. Yeah!

Roll a d4 and you're gonna lose that much in willpower as you fight. As you fight these intrusive thoughts of believing what this man is saying. Only one point of willpower loss. The rest of you, I'd like all of you, everyone, to roll a d4 and you may add that to your unnatural skill. Ooh. Hey. Four for Cora and Freddie.

Yeah. I got a four. Rolling very well today. Clark, what'd you get? A three. The evidence is mounting up. Something is going on in Innsmouth that is wholly unnatural and you are beginning to believe more and more that it just might be these deep ones.

Eventually, you are escorted to the front area and the doctor insists that you leave at your earliest convenience. Doctor, thank you very much for all your assistance today. It was much appreciated. Doctor, thank you very much for all the- oh, your assistance today. It was much appreciated. Your outstretched arm, Clark, is left completely unshaken as he just turns in a huff and walks back down the way. Arthur's gonna kind of do like the tiniest little middle finger of just wanting to- because he's that pissed that he did that, mm? And then if any- if anyone sees it... Yeah, I can't see that. We're looking at you.

I apologize, I did not mean to be obscene in front of a fair company. Do you think they're just going to leave him in there to scream on his own? Yeah, I think they are. They took that woman. It's like the book said, right? That they were trying to change us That they were trying to change us, they were trying to breed us, they took that woman, they took her into the water.

Yeah. They're making people into these things. I mean, I thought they were stories. You hear about places like Devil's Reef. I thought these were jokes, but things you tell on boats because you're too bored to jerk off. Whoa.

I'm s- I- I- Forgive me y'all. I- I just... It's very overwhelming. This... I'm having a hard time. Like, I am aware that it's- I'm keeping an open mind, but this is still a lot to take. What stories, if you can, just give me some context so I feel like I can understand a little bit more.

Everyone talks about mermaids, sirens, the waters. I mean the entire town has a stair named after it. It hasn't been in contact with the entire eastern coast for decades. It doesn't make sense for, I mean we're in the middle of a purity movement. To see a town reject the only church that sets up there is... bold. Like, burn down your buildings bold. I mean, the government doesn't just want martial law for nothing.

It must be a cult. That's it. That's I'm going with that 100% and cults are not paying their taxes there. Sure, it's a cult. It's to these things. These fucking scaly shits. Well, these scaly shits are going to be dealing with the Treasury Department in the United States. So let's heave ho and go. A good game has agents at every level.

There's these fish fuckers straight from the water, then there's whoever they're converting to Innsmouth ballooning. And that can't be where they stop. I mean, people got to go to work. They got to move during the day Not to freak everybody out, but I don't think that's the end of the agents We're seeing just don't put all your eggs in one basket or all your caviar rather Do we we all know how to swim

Yeah Yes, I how to swim? Yeah. Yes. I didn't pack my swimming galoshes or... Are you seriously suggesting that we're just going to go out in November, out into the middle of the water? You can stay on shore if you like,

but I think we ought to invest in something to take us out to the water. Wait, you have your boat, right? Can't we just... I'm a longshoreman. I don't own shit. They hire me to take boats out, take boats in, drop things off of boats onto docks, but they don't pay you enough to buy your own ship.

You've got connections, though. Maybe more than any of us have. Maybe. And if Zadok is in Innsmouth like I thought he was, then he would have taken his boat. What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do?

What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do?

What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? What do we have to do? there's got to be some sort of clamors or something out there. Supplies we can borrow.

Cora, may I have a request? Sure. Can you take some photos of the facility? Yes, I can do that. And I'll back up and try and get the whole facility in the viewfinder and take one. Yeah, I think that's easy enough to do to get a nice wide shot. It's a bright sunny day. It's now pushing close to one o'clock in the afternoon. The Historical Society had the jewels, correct? They had more jewels, yeah.

I think we need to check that out just in case. Sure. On the way out, I think I'm just gonna walk quickly by Cora and ask, are you okay? He didn't grab you, right? You're fine? No, you pulled me out of the way in time. Good. You could have let him bite me. That's disgusting.

What if you turned into a mer creature that he... It couldn't work. It wouldn't work. You wouldn't want to kiss a little fishy mouth. I can swim, but I don't like it like that. It's not that serious, no. The two of you returned to your vehicle to continue your investigation. I think this is a great place to bring the session to a close.

We'll find out what you discover in Newburyport next session. you