Mayday Plays - Doomed to Repeat, Ep. 33 - "Welcome to Innsmouth" | Delta Green

Episode Date: June 13, 2025

The time for secondhand stories is over. With their leads running dry, the investigators finally set foot in Innsmouth—a rotting harbor town swaddled in fog and legends. What begins as a cursory stroll in their sedan soon twists into something far more unsettling. At a crumbling flophouse, they trace the last known movements of Kennedy’s old shipmate, Zadok Allen. A suspiciously timed flat tire strands them there just long enough for Dr. Rooke to cross paths with Constable Birch—a man with eyes too wide and lips too flat to be entirely human. Then, led by a town drunk named Bilaki, who swears he knows Zadok, the team finally stops at The Garden Bar & Grill. Here, Freddy follows whispers of hidden tunnels beneath the streets. But something in the air is wrong—like the town itself is watching. Whether they leave on foot, by car, or at all, Innsmouth will not let them go unchanged. 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, Gore, 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)

Doom to Repeat is a Delta Green actual play podcast with violent themes and adult language. Listener discretion is advised. Hello and welcome to episode 33 of our Delta Green actual play series, Doomed to Repeat. I'm Sergio, your handler. As of this episode's release, Mayday has wrapped the second chapter of Vegas by Night, our Vampire the Masquerade chronicle. You can catch the full series now on YouTube or listen wherever you harvest your podcasts. Vegas by night was our bi-weekly live show and starting this July, we'll

return to live streaming every other Saturday with inevitable a doomed Arthurian Western from soul Muppet publishinglishing, the publishers of Orbital Blues. We're already very excitedly picking out our costumes for that one. With Inevitable, we'll be shifting our format slightly to make space for ad reads. But don't worry, our hope is to keep our Patreon at patreon.com forward slash madeARP stocked with ad-free episodes and behind the screen content for those who want to support us directly. If you enjoy what we do here, be sure to like and subscribe and leave a comment. It really helps us get seen by other listeners.

We continue our playthrough of Escape from Innsmouth by Kevin A. Ross and others published by Chaosium. Let's get into it. We return after your disturbing interview with a former agent sent, much like you, to once spy on Innsmouth. You've all clamored into the sedan and are heading north. It is a little bit of a longer drive to Newbury Port. You're basically going to have to cross the distance between Arkham and Newbury Port, and in the middle is Innsmouth. We'll say it's about two and a half hour drive. middle is Innsmouth. We'll say it's about two and a half hour drive. As you go, you pass the road that you know that if you were to make a right, you would head east

towards the town of Innsmouth. As you drive by, you can see the the sandy area of the Salt Marsh located north of Innsmouth, and past it is the sloping hills that descend ever more into and close to the ocean but they are mostly obscured by this kind of marine layer that creeps up onto the land and then makes its way close to the ground covering most of the marsh in this fog. It's quite an eerie scene, and seeing it from such a distance, it seems strange that just this one place seems constantly in a state like this. But you're able to make it past and to Newburyport, a town very similar to Arkham, modern in design, full of people and life. Eventually you pull up to the Newbury Historical Society, it's a kind of granite building in the federalist style of that time.

And sure enough, there does appear to be some exhibits that are currently ongoing, some folks coming in and out of the gallery. Yeah, I'll just start making my way in. I'm going to follow right after. You all make your way in and you just start kind of enjoying the exhibit, walking through. Much of it is mostly interests Dr. Rook as it shows a lot of the local tribes that lived in and around the area and some other kind of historical accoutrement that exists from the colonial days, etc. Eventually, you do find a small exhibit room where, on a kind of pedestal behind glass, is a rather beautiful tiara made of a familiar white gold alloy.

The tiara is oddly proportioned. Now that you can see it, it almost looks like when someone takes wet sand and builds a castle out of it. There are these oddly shaped lumpy spires that are around the tiara, elliptical, and the tiara is way too large for a human head. It is of a truly unique workmanship and style and there are geometric designs and marine-like motifs around the ring. As you are studying it, taking it in, you hear a voice behind you, a woman's voice say, rather beautiful isn't it? And behind you is a older woman, seems to be with her nose perpetually up in the air and she's looking at you all.

Yes, yes it is. It's quite astonishing. We believe it is East Indian or Indo-Chinese in origin and she kind of walks closer and stands beside you admiring it. She has a clipboard in her hand. What makes you think that? Well, from the little bit of information we've been able to find, the Marsh family have been asking for it back for years, and they were the ones that informed us about it.

How come you guys don't want to bequeath it back to the Marsh family? Is it something that they've required themselves? Well, as the legend tells, Obed Marsh was the man that retrieved this from the Far East, where exactly he took to his grave. But we feel that something like this, as unique as this, belongs in a museum,

not in the clutches of some rich family. What do you think the purpose of this tiara was for? Was it for ceremonial purposes? Depiction of royalty? Her already narrow eyes narrow even further as she's looking at it, and then eventually she turns to you and says, it was most likely a part of some heathenistic religion,

a religious affair of theirs. Do you know which one? I'm not familiar with their strange ways there. I don't know anything about it. No, I just know that it's most likely part of some, for some kind of ritual ceremony. I don't know. This backed by information

or is this just speculation based on personal bias? Sorry, I'm a anthropologist, Dr. Theodore Rook. I'm studying in this mouth, so I'm looking for citational sources and more accurate information than just general hearsay. Freddie adds, he's from Harvard, and that's it. That's all it is in the end. She looks you up and down, Dr. Rook, kind of sizing you up as if she could see the size of your brain and how intelligent you may or might not be.

And she says, well, I've never been to the town myself, but one hears stories. I believe the Esoteric Order of Dagon is what they call themselves there, these pagans, these heathens. There is also the matter of the Martin Family Journal, which we also keep on sight, has a few interesting things to say. Is that something one can review? If one asks nicely, perhaps. I didn't catch your name. My name is Miss Tilton.

Miss Tilton. As a general scholar to scholar, it would be incredible to my research if I could take a gander at that journal. I would like you, Dr. Rook, to either make a bureaucracy or a anthropology role as you are maybe throwing your knowledge around to try to impress her. I will do the anthropology. Success for the 40.

She says, very well, it is open for anyone to read as it's part of the library collection and she leads you to that part of the exhibit. Sure enough, there is an old journal that seems to belong to a man named Captain John Frederick Martin, a man who lived and worked in the 1830s. You suspect it's going to take probably an hour or two to read this. If you commit to that, I'd just like to know what everyone else is doing in the meantime.

Well, they're reading. I'm going to definitely what everyone else is doing in the meantime. Well, they're reading. I'm gonna definitely keep looking at the crown and also any other of The jewelry just to see if I if there's any extra clues I'm missing also to kind of evaluate the value because I want to see like I'm gonna ask more like the weight of the gold of this and that because that's where I'm see, like, I'm gonna ask more like, the weight of the gold, this and that, cause that's where I'm gonna be like, this is unique, this is some- mm-mm. I mean, I guess, if you're looking for value, I would allow an accounting role to try to make a guess. Yes! 28 success, yes.

Uh, yeah, combined with Miss Tilton's comment about the fact that the Marsh family has, on more than one occasion, offered a large sum of money for this and the fact that it does appear to be some kind of white gold alloy you estimated in the thousands maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars especially with the fact that it seems to have some kind of ancient East Indian or Indo Chinese origin who knows how old it could be. Whoa, Nellie. And studying the designs, you can see similar symbology that maybe Dr. Rook had seen in some of those books. This imagery of these amphibian-like creatures and all of them kind

of meeting at the center where there is this much larger amphibian-like creature. Is there any depiction of one of the creatures either in pain or backing away from something that could indicate a weakness? No, there does not appear to be any indication of that. Damn! Dr. Rook, you begin reading this journal. There is a companion kind of cheat guide that explains what most of it is about. And you get the gist after about an hour or two of reading that Captain John Frederick Martin was from Innsmouth, was one of the founding families of Innsmouth, and like Obed Marsh often went out to sea.

It seemed like it was Innsmouth's main trade, was this kind of trading between ports. In his travels, Frederick Martin found an ancient stone ruin that he had found thrown up on the ocean's depths near Cape Horn, which is not actually very far from here. Martin brought the disassembled ruin back to Innsmouth with him, and he explains that before he could reassemble this bizarre archaeological treasure, he began suffering from a raging fever. The final entry in the kind of the cheat guide explains that Captain Martin died of a raging fever not long after his final entry. His family left largely to ruin, no mention as to what happened to these strange ancient stones he had found. And there's images of the ruins?

There is a crude drawing by Martin that seems to depict about four separate stones, each one of them slightly curved, and drawn in such a way as to insinuate that they maybe if put together would form an arch of some kind. I think Theo is going to take out a notebook of theirs that they might have and try to trace just a cursory image of those stones or notable impressions of it just to keep it. Dr. Rook, you do recall that earlier this morning you did receive a journal, Father Hart's journal. Oh yeah. Shit, I might as well read that too and see if there's anything that's crossed with the Martin's journal.

To see if there's anything that I can get that's the same. You read Dr. Hart's journal and there are a couple of reference points that are worth noting. One of them is that Dr. Hart explains in 1846, there was a riot that was led by some of the folks in town led by some of the folks in town who believe that Obed Marsh was attempting to instill a strange pagan religion that was upsetting people. Dr. Hart explains that Obed Marsh was in fact arrested and put in jail, but then there was a terrible riot that freed him, and fearing for his life, Father Heart left. But not before witnessing people being dragged to Devil's Reef in what he assumed were most likely human sacrifices. This, for you, constitutes another sanity check, please. At least he's around.

He's just fucking, throat-loking all of our sanity. It's for all the times I've said I don't read. This is balanced, I don't read in this game. Oh wow, 14. You will only lose one point of sanity on that success, and you can roll a D4 and add that much to your unnatural score. I'm at 17... I got a 4. I'm at 17% of unnatural. Oh, damn.

You realize it's getting later in the day when the sun is starting to come directly through the glass in this exhibit hall. It's now pushing close to 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Yeah, I'll go ahead and try to find where everybody else went for the last hour. What has everyone been doing this last hour? Can I ask Miss Tilton a question, actually? So I think that Kennedy sort of marches up after having

like gotten far too close to the crown glass and like probably done this stupid museum goer thing of like got fingerprints on the outside or whatever it is he just doesn't know how to behave in these situations but he saunters up in his hands in his pockets and he stands next to her and goes, so ends with, you know, a lot of stories around that place and a little uncivilized. You ever have trouble with people coming around from there, you know, asking by way of Marsh or, you know, you ever had trouble with people trying to break into this place? We keep security on site all the time.

I believe there has been one or two incidents, but nothing stands out as a consistent problem. The Marsh family, although insistent, are still the upper crust of the local society. I have no assumption that they would attempt something as foul as trying to steal from a museum? Yeah, you never know, though. I mean, some people can get fanatical when it comes to these ancient artifacts, and they think they have claim over even though it came from somewhere else built by somebody else, you know. We all think that we own a lot more than we do, right? But this, just to be clear, this is a regular museum.

There's no cameras, there's no guard, this is a room with people in it. Yeah? This is a 1927 museum, so no, there are no cameras. There are security guards that seem to kind of patrol the grounds. Beyond that, no, there's no advanced security system. You do see some bars on some of the doors and I'm sure every room has locks. That's about as advanced as it gets. I think at some point Cora is going to like do a not very thorough lap of the museum

and then go find Kennedy probably. Can I ask you a personal question? Sure. How often do you dream of the sea? Not often, but sometimes. Usually when I'm on it, I think it's the way the waves hit you while you're sleeping.

What's it like? Are they nice dreams? Are they indifferent dreams? Are they indifferent dreams? Are they safe dreams? Are they... They're... they're better dreams. I sleep better when I'm on the ocean. Or at least I did and still started hearing that they're breeding women down there. I usually sleep better on the ocean. That's good. That's good to know.

Why are you asking this? I, um... Freddie's been mad at me for a really long time. Yeah, I noticed you two were a lot closer than I thought this gig was asking for. Otherwise I was gonna ask if we should all be holding hands and kissing or... We haven't... we don't kiss... we didn't kiss. Of course not. No, not at all. I had a dream about the ocean, which is pretty rare for me.

pretty rare for me I'd been to Innsmouth for a seance with the Averill family do you know them Cynthia I don't anyway it was it was it wasn't a good vision to have when I was there but that doesn't. It was like I was compelled to go into the water and dive down, even until I couldn't breathe. And just before I died or woke up Whatever. There was this... thing. A structure. A spire. I didn't see it very clearly, but it was... deep and cold and dark.

I don't know why I'm telling you this. You are the one who knows the most about the ocean. And it just felt... bad. I who knows the most about the ocean, and it just felt... bad. I've known the most about the ocean, and I mean, no one knows anything about that place. Listen, this dream, did it... did it feel like yours? Or did it feel like somebody else has given to you? It felt like mine, but it felt sickly, heavy, like every step was weighed down by bricks.

I don't know, it's silly, it's a dream. And then I woke up and I was scared, and I told Freddie not to go to the docks and... To stay away from the water. That doesn't matter. That's not the important part. The important part is the dream. I don't know why I'm...

You care about her. You don't want to see something bad happen to her. You don't want her to mourn you if something bad happens to you. She can be mad at me as long as she's alive to be mad, you know? Listen, none of that is promised. Nothing that we do is ever promised and not even dreams we think will come true. I can't tell you what's going to happen to you or Freddie.

I can't tell you what's out there in the ocean. I can't tell you what's going to happen to us when we step foot across that borderline into Innsmouth. But when I was in France, there came a time in every forward advance that you ran up against the borderline, where you came to a standstill. And for days, you'd be waiting for the next move. And eventually, no matter what you did, that standstill would come to a head, and a decision would have to be made.

And there was a path that had to be pushed, and you didn't always have a say in what that path was. What we're in, what that dream might be, what all of this information falling on us might feel like, is that standstill in the trenches and eventually no matter what we do we have to push for the other side. Just because we have to doesn't mean we can't have a say in how we do it. I say personally whatever is going on between you two, which no one's going to tell the government,

but just make it as filled with love and care as you can before dreams are had. And if the water calls for us, go down hand in hand. It's a lot easier than alone. You sound like my brother sometimes She's still With he wasn't in France, but he was over there with you Not with you, but no he was with me in one way or another Hell he could be now with your spooky little powers

Maybe sometimes I'll take a sometime sometimes I'll take a picture. See who's watching your back, too. Maybe a group photo before we all go in. That might be fun. Keep your head up, and I promise if there's anything I can do to make sure that the two of you make it out, I'm gonna do it. Will you take your own advice, too? Ah, yeah. The world doesn't end after the war.

Sometimes it feels like it though. With the better part of the day spent researching and driving around town, the sun is still up but you know that it will be descending shortly as we are in the winter months. Are we fucking doing this tonight? We roll up midnight? Fuck yeah. Is there any other? I was going to say, do we have to? Was there another stop we needed to do?

Just the little like incidental preparations we were talking about, like extra lights, camera gear, diving gear, possibly organizing a ship, unless we'd like to do that while we're in at the docks. Don't forget harpoons. Do you think we could get harpoons at the first national grocery store? If we don't go to a Harbor Freight,

I'm gonna fucking kill someone. I mean, if we're at a fishing town, that means there would be repair shops and mechanic, and there'd be like hardware and... It's better that we go in at night, because at least then we can experience it and then get out for the day maybe. I don't know.

We do a little drive by late at night. We see what we need to take some pictures, take whatever we learn and the dead bodies we keep and go hang out in Falcon Point. Oh, okay, okay. We can go do recon at night. We drive north to south. Oh, okay, okay. We can go do a recon at night. We drive north to south. It'll be so calm.

It'll be easy, right? As if you will let us drive through the whole town. Doesn't it, like, it feels tense how easy it sounds right now. I think what we're doing is just, we're buffering until shit hits the fan. That's what we're doing. We're just adding a buffer. Yeah, we're just layering on each new piece of information until there's no, there's a point of no return.

Well, unless there are objections, you are able to collect whatever gear it is you need. If there's anything that stands out to you, please let me know now. We'll say that Korra has all of the camera equipment that is required. Do we have all the development chemicals and all that good stuff too? Yeah, I won't necessarily say that you keep that on you. It's probably within the car as it's, you know, big glass jugs and stuff like that. But yeah. Do we have any safe swim safety equipment, like any life vests?

Is there something that could be? You don't currently, but if you want to take the time to procure it, I would say that it's definitely feasible. If we're talking about straight up dive, like deep diving gear, we're talking about old school, like giant steel helmets and big heavy suits. Probably find it in either Newbury Port or Arkham, but otherwise, you know, the basics would be like snorkel gear and goggles, things like that.

We're talking suits like this in the Delta Green chat right here, because this is like 1924 or something like that, I think. Yeah, I am referring to that kind of suit. I think that something like this, which is relatively rare, will require some kind of reconnaissance role. You guys tell me what skill you could use to procure something like this, and I'll let you know if that seems reasonable. Could I use something like a piloting sailing or maybe a science meteorology,

like my knowledge of sailing itself, or maybe even like craft mechanic to see, like if I know a guy or at least I know where we can purchase or I think craft mechanic makes sense you know what to ask for and you know who would probably have this kind of stuff so yeah go ahead okay I've got a 40 percent and I have an 18 under 40. You are sure enough able to head to a Newbury port where there is a small contingency of naval boats and soldiers, Navy men, and sure enough there is some men that are practicing diving etc. and there happens to be an extra

suit. It does cost Clark a pretty penny to rent it, but they do rent it to you. You said we have life jackets, right? I know we don't have like something to immediately shoot people up to the surface, but if I could lasso a life jacket around these motherfuckers so they can't go too deep too fast. Is there wax canvas?

Could we get some wax canvas? Cause if we can have air in that, that can actually like a trick. Yeah, like a buoy, like a kind of quick. So you're kind of pulling a jaws where you want to attach something to it that has air, which makes it slow down and more difficult. Yeah, sure. I think you could spend the evening fashioning something like that. That would work in that direction. Yes. And I just want a straight up life preserver.

Like, even if we're not on a boat, I want a life preserver. Should we try like fashioning a boat then? Try and find locating a boat? What do we think? Or should we wait until we get into Innsmouth for that? Let's wait till we get there. I would rather not go in the water if we don't have to. I would say that I would have made sure we picked up some extra ammunition though.

Yeah, I'll say that you guys have extra ammunition. I won't be checking to see if you've run out yet. After all of this picking up of items, etc., I'm going to say that the sun has set by this point. Well, before we go in, should we get a supper? Sure. before we go in, should we get a supper? Sure, maybe we could drive out to Falcon Point and see if we can get a room and we can eat there before we head in.

Yeah. In doing so, you have to either drive around or through Innsmouth. We might as well just get it over with. Well, at least we have a game plan of what we're doing. Afterwards, yeah. Yes, at least we have a game plan of what we're doing. Afterwards, yeah. Yes. So we're... I'm just gonna go ahead and keep going through inz... We're just gonna go through.

North to south, baby. Before we go in, let's talk about the hotspots, what we want to accomplish today. Do we want to go see the grocery store? Can we look in on Zadok? Can we check out the refinery? You wanted to see Victor, right? Yeah, I want to talk to him. Honestly, depending on how bad things go, if we can just have a point to meet up at, if Falcon points too far away, that'd be helpful. He might know how Brian disappeared, maybe if he saw something strange too. You make a nice evening drive south from Newbury Port heading towards Innsmouth. The territory

changes from the urban landscape to a more rural marshland. There is the famous salt marshes north of Innsmouth, where as far as the eye can see are these kind of small rolling hills of sand. And eventually cloud cover comes, and before you know it, you find yourself descending into thicker and thicker fog. It is difficult to see the surrounding marshes around you. And the road becomes less modern. The asphalt turns to broken cobblestone. Heading south into Innsmouth,

you find yourself on a road called Federal Street. Breaking through the fog, these buildings, homes, one or two sparse at first, but you can see further up ahead of you more. Some of these homes have lights on in them. Some of these homes are completely boarded up, dilapidated, decrepit, as if no one has lived in them in generations. But before you know it, you find yourself in the town of Innsmouth. The way that you are coming in, you can see that to your right or to the west, the town

slopes up a hill. To your left or to east, it slopes down to the ocean. There is a rounded bay that is choked with sand. You can see that it doesn't appear to be very deep and is in fact rather shallow close to the shoreline. Probably one of the reasons why ports of Innsmouth fell out of favor with a lot of fishermen's and traders. You can see that wrapping around the outside perimeter of the bay is land. There seems to be some land and built around it are docks. Far on the

distance you can see silhouetted in the foggy moonlight what appears to be a lighthouse that is not on. I'm gonna ask Kennedy to make a alertness roll as you drive. I have a critical success with a 55 under 80. The others are kind of just keeping their eyes open, paying attention for the first sign of life, but you notice a slightly larger structure than the other homes. And as you slowly drive by it,

as Clark has slowed down to a safe driving speed, you notice what appears to be a renovated home, maybe once a mansion, that on the old picket fence around the perimeter, there is a wooden sign. You're able to make out old Warren's house and under it, poor house. And there does appear to be some lights on in this home. Could we stop the car, Arthur?

Mm-hmm. This is just gonna be a quick pit stop, everybody. I think this is where Zadok moved. Would you like some assistance or shall I just keep the car running? Yeah, yeah, you're all welcome to come in or whatever, but I mean, if he's here, I want to go see him. He could get us a boat too.

OK. This is a friend of yours. Yeah, we used to run around on fishing boats when I first got out of the army. And he was my favorite to work with because we never talked. I think maybe we knew each other three years. We said more than 10 words to each other. I'd like to see him again. And he moved here. Plus, it'll be it'll be good to see how the poor live in this side of town outside of Marsh, right? Probably. Good look at the handsmith's stair up close.

Yeah, yeah. And I think that Kennedy will like rack a new magazine into his 45, place it into his chest holster, pull his jacket close and fix his beanie and then get out a little quicker than he normally would, almost not really waiting for the others as he starts to round up the entrance. He looks back once when he realizes they're not with him and waits for him to catch up. Sergio, if I saw him rack that gun, I'm going to definitely make sure I bring my briefcase with me. OK, you have your briefcase and red pen. The party gets out of the vehicle. Do you leave it running or do you turn it off, Clark?

Oh, I have the keys. Getting out the most obvious thing that stands out to everyone, that as far as the eye can see, there is not a single soul on the street, not a single carriage or vehicle. Every vehicle that you have passed, the few that you have seen appear to be about at the turn of the century, 1910, 1920s styles, your vehicle stands out as a modern new car, but you step out and you walk onto the property of the old Warren's house. This home looks like it's needed a paint job for a while, but there does appear to be lights on and the front doors look at least slightly ajar. You can

hear a little bit of commotion inside, what sounds like a group of people inside. Now, when you meet Zadok, he's a little crotchety. He's a lot older than he should be for a Mariner, but we don't get paid enough to make a living. So he hasn't really had much for retirement. So just keep that in mind when you talk to him. A bitter sailor. how will we adjust? Yeah, yeah, it's good.

That's very good. That's very good. You step in and you find yourself in a kind of waiting hall, but you can hear that there is normal commotion coming from a much larger room. And when you poke your heads in, you can see that there's a dining hall. And sure enough, it is around supper time and you can see that there is a open cafeteria

serving food to what appears to be about 10, 15 individuals, seemingly the poor of Innsmouth who are getting their free meal for the day. It looks like it's some kind of soup with a piece of bread. About half of them are eating and about the other half are getting their meals But none of them really seem to be paying you any attention at the moment Um, do I notice anyone just sort of standing around watching this proceeding like someone I could clock a staff or or maybe someone who's just not focused on eating or anything like that there does appear to be a

Younger woman on the other side of the cafeteria who is serving these folks focused on eating or anything like that? There does appear to be a younger woman on the other side of the cafeteria who is serving these folks. Okay. And I don't recognize Zadak in this room, do I? You don't see Zadak at all, no. Okay, so I'm gonna cross the room pretty confidently acting like I belong there

and walk straight up to that woman, get off to the side so she can continue to do her work But I'd like to try and grab her attention Yeah, I mean the most obvious ways to pretty much join the line and sure enough when you Get to her she lifts the ladle, but notices that you don't have a bowl of soup to pour it into Hi, excuse me It's old Z still here. Is that a gallon you know old Z? And he moved here not too long ago, but he's from Cloudchester.

I'm sorry. I Just kind of knew to this and I don't know everyone's names here. Zadok Alan? It doesn't sound familiar. No. Is there somebody older from here I could talk to? Zadok said he was coming through and then this was going to be the place he was staying. So I'm sure maybe he passed through, maybe he made enough money, he got a place to stay somewhere. Well, there's not really anyone on staff here. I come and I bring food for the poor. But many of the folks who live here have been here for a while. Maybe some of them might know. Could you point somebody out for me?

She points to kind of an older, hunched-looking woman next to you, and then she points to someone else sitting on a table not far from you. I don't know if any of these folks, you might want to talk to them. Sure, yeah. And I think he's just going to pivot straight to that old woman there, and then try and get her attention.

Actually, he'll see if he can grab a plate and get a serving from the woman real quick. Yeah, if you if you grab one real quickly, she serves it to you and doesn't seem to have an issue with it. I'll take that bowl over to that old woman and sort of come up to her and say, do you mind if I talk to you real quick, miss? I'll give you another serving, maybe. I've got nothing to say. Neither do I. Well, you're doing a whole lot of talking for nothing. And the sooner that we get to the moment that we don't have to talk, the better. She kind of eyes your soup and says, what do you want to know?

Well, this is yours if you can tell me where old Zaddick lives. Old Z? She's sitting with a couple of other folks and most of them stop pouring the soup into their mouth and kind of look up and look in your direction and they look at her and she says, Oh, uh, Old Zadak, he-he-he left, uh, I-I think he's moved on to a different town. Oh, is that why it just put the devil and four other people right next to you? What's going on? Another gentleman speaks up and says, We don't know nothing about Zadok. We want nothing to do with him. Oh, you picked up your heads. All right.

You know something and you're going to tell me. Another one speaks up and says, we know that he was trouble that he deserved what he got. What'd he get? Another person. Shut up. Shut your mouth. I'm going to go straight up that that guy. And I think that Kennedy's getting bigger the second that he's starting to get information. So he takes those big, you know, shit kicker boots over to the gentleman and points straight in his face.

What did he get? You tell me right now. I don't know, he just disappeared one day. Zadok talked a lot. He threw his opinion around, and everybody knows you don't throw your opinion around in this town. Well, he had to be saying something in some way. So give me opinion around and everybody knows you don't throw your opinion around in this town.

Well, he had to be saying something in some way. So give me something and I'll leave you all alone and I'll stop spreading my opinion so I don't bring trouble on this house. Listen, man, we don't know what you're looking for, but we don't have much more than that. He was here one day and the next day he wasn't. Like I said, probably because he was opening his mouth too much and he looks around. Everyone's like their eyes wide staring at this man. He just he just like to get into trouble. That's all. I think Kennedy's going to slam the bowl down in front of this gentleman, and not that it sloshes on the table some, but does give him the food and looks to the others in the threshold like he's coming down from the high of almost finding his friend

and this sort of defeated hero complex as he comes back to reality and starts to walk back through to the threshold. Arthur was leaning up against kind of keeping Kennedy in his eyesight, just laterally, just to make sure that no one is going to try to jump in from behind or just to make sure like he's surveying the area. Clark you're kind of just keeping your distance and you smell before you hear a man. Excuse me do you have something to drink? And you look to your left and there's this kind of pot-bellied, frumpy looking drunkard.

His beard has grown out, his hair is kind of bushy and kept under an old moldy cap. What's his eyes look like? They're quite bloodshot. Are they like larger than normal? No, they do appear relatively normal. He looks you up and down, he's like, you know, licking his lips. I could sure go for a drink if you have something, mister. You appear relatively normal. He looks you up and down, is like licking his lips. I could sure go for a drink if you have something, mister. Unfortunately, I don't have any, but I'm happy to have a drink with you, sir.

You'd buy me a drink? Yeah. Excellent, we go to the garden inn and he starts walking out of the building. I'm going to the garden inn with him. Quick friends. We'll be right behind you. Yeah, let's chase this down.

They don't know anything about Zadok. He was just talking. I'm sorry. Well, we'll find him. As you are walking to the car, this man says, I heard you say something about Zadok. I know Zadok. Yeah?

You get me a drink, I tell you about Zadok. I won't get you drunk as you'll take if you can tell us where old Z is. Can I take a ride in your fancy car? Yeah, we'll sit together. In the back. Okay. Human intelligence, that's like a way I can... Is that a way I can kind of check to see if this guy is kind of faking being drunk?

Yeah, I think if you rolled well enough. Yeah, you could maybe tell if he was Faking being drunk go ahead and make an human intelligence role. Could I ask does anyone have a alertness higher than let's say 50% Yes, I do Clark you're a little distracted with your human intelligence role. So go ahead and make that I got success, but it's a 55 That's a critical success. The man is in between being drunk. His accent seems authentic in the sense that it doesn't seem to break or it doesn't seem to be some kind of play.

It's vaguely Eastern European. He does seem eager to get a drink and probably, you know, in the bouts of recovering from his last drunken stupor. So he's desperate to get back to where he was. As you're all climbing into the car, Kennedy, you notice it as you're kind of making your way around. At first there's a hissing sound, and that hissing sound fades, and that's when you realize

you look down and the front tire has been slashed. They got our car. The tire's out. Is it so much that, like, all four of them have been slashed? Or is it just the front two? Is it just the one? From what you can tell, it appears as only the front driver's side tire has been slashed. Alright. Arthur, if you can bring me the spare, I think I can fix this. But, I mean, it may be a few folks. One moment.

Yes. New cars don't last very long in Innsmouth. This happens a lot out here. You see the other jalopies around? Yeah. I suggest we walk. Don't worry it'll be fine as long as we keep to ourselves. If you want that drink you're gonna sit here and watch us change a spare tire. Ugh, fine, fine. Freddie reaches in their bag. I mean, we might have something to keep you busy till we get there. And it's a flask. Oh, please! I would love a drink.

It's like, probably, it's the end of the day, so it's maybe the last 20% in there. But you're welcome to hold it in the meantime. And tosses it to him. Yeah, he immediately unscrews it and just kind of holds it above his head and tries to drink as much of it as can. Big gulps down his throat. It's gonna take a solid 15-20 minutes to change this tire. What is everyone doing in the meantime? I actually want to search around the car.

I want to see if I find footprints. Yeah, please make a search role Can rook just casually walk a little bit further down the the street from the car like to the street corner or something like that Just to see where if there is anybody else besides this one guy that's with us Yes, you certainly can if you want to head further south. There is a Kind of an intersection. Yeah, I got a nine, Sergio. Walking around the vehicle, you do see there does appear to be a set of footprints that goes away from the vehicle in the direction of the intersection that Dr. Rook is walking towards. Dr. Rook, don't walk too far.

Rook, you continue walking a couple of paces away from the vehicle, just trying to see past the persistent fog. And you make it to the corner and you're looking around. Give me an alertness check just to take in your surroundings. That's a fail with a 60. I mean, the fog is so thick and you think you can make out the other side of the street where the road continues, and you can see that there's a road that bisects it, but no one here. And as you turn, suddenly there is a person standing inches from you, a rather large man,

and you are forced to kind of stumble back in shock. Give me a sanity check. A failure will determine whether you keep your mouth closed or not. That is a fail with an 82. You will yell out in shock, which will get the attention of the others. What you see before you is a larger gentleman dressed in what appears to be very old constable attire, the button-down black collared shirt and you can see now he's got kind of a Bobby's hat and he

seems to be carrying a large nightstick with him. However as he steps out of the shadows you can see these large flat lips that stretch across his face. His skin is pockmarked and full of these kind of dry spots where skin is clearly flaking off, his eyes wide and bulbous, unblinking as he comes out of the shadows looking at you with this kind of resting fish face. You are startled by him, but he says nothing to you. He kind of looks you up and down

and he looks in the direction of your allies. What do you do? I will scramble to my feet. I think I'm taking steps away from him. Just with handkerchief, just patting and slowly walking away. with handkerchief just patting and slowly walking away. Don't even know who to say his voice except just walking back away.

Well, the rest of you did hear him kind of cry out in shock. So you are noticing that Dr. Rook is walking back towards you, his back to you, as it seems like a shadow is emerging from the darkness. I'm gonna get closer. Yeah, I'm closing the distance between the professor and this big old dude. Freddie has has their gun in their hand, but it's not out.

Sir, can we help you? And I mean that as we cannot please stay where the fuck you are. The strange foreign man that has been drinking all of your liquor kind of looks in the direction says, oh, shit, it's ropes. And he kind of leaps into the back of your black sedan. Hey, what the fuck? I'm trying to fix a tire here. Fat shit. Sergio, this I'm going to take my briefcase.

I'm going to open my briefcase and go ahead and pull out my sawed off shotgun. As you are walking backwards, Dr. Rook, this man who begins shaking his stick says, new in town. And he has this kind of gruff, gravelly, wet sounding voice. We're just passing through. Passing through, eh?

Yeah, just passing through. I got a flat tire, but we'll be on our way in just a moment. Flat tire? I hate it when that happens. Yeah, yeah, it's a real kick in the balls. Um... Yeah, yeah, it's a real kick in the balls. Well, if you've got a flat tire, it's a little late to be fixing it. Why don't you stay in town? There's a nice hotel just behind me. I mean, that sounds like really cool, but we already have some reservations in Falcon's

Point, so we're just getting on our way. As you are speaking you can hear him breathing and it's this labored kind of like congested breathing he says. Well as long as you're passing through don't cause any trouble and you'll be just fine. What in dream of trouble? Trouble's not in my vocabulary. What's your name? Um, I'm-I'm Doctor Rook. Rook. I never forget a face, Rook.

Good luck with that flat tire. Thank you. Neither-neither will I. I didn't catch your name. The name's Ropes. Elliot Ropes. I'm one of the constables here in Innsmouth, and I don't like trouble. And he kind of looks in the direction of everyone else. What did bring trouble to your

doorstep ever? You seem like someone who doesn't like it. And I respect that. We'll just be a few more moments and we'll be out of your gills, your hair. We'll just be a few more moments and we'll be out of your gills, your hair. Um... He, he, you know, takes a look at the group of you and then makes his way to the opposite side of the street, kind of by the poor house opposite to where you parked, and just seems to kind of lean himself up against the post there and just watches you all in silence. Who is that? We can tell you on the road.

I'm grabbing the keys and I'm going back into the car. Kennedy, how are we doing with that tire? I mean, I think we're just about done unless the voice in the sky says we're not. It is just about the time that you put the last lug nut on and tighten it. In unison, you all jump in and the car turns on and you begin driving away. Anyone who looks back can see Constable Ropes watching you, his large bulbous eyes staring

unblinkingly and eventually disappearing into the fog behind you. Can I turn to the fat European? Holy shit, that was a close one! Why are you hiding? If you knew ropes you know I am hiding. He's a son of a bitch. He likes to beat anyone who's out on the street for any good reason. Clark's gonna turn around like half in as he's driving you're like was he always looking did he always look like was he like that did he always look like that? As long as I've seen him yes he

looked like that but that's what everybody eventually looks like. You'll see, there's other people that look less freakish than him, but inevitably they all start to look like him. So why stay? At this point, I'm too poor to leave, and it's hard to get drink outside of Innsmouth. To work in town, are you a layabout?

I wouldn't call myself layabout, but I do happen to lay on the ground a lot when I am drunk, yes. Hmm. You don't have a job. Barely anyone in town has a job. Just rich people like Marsh and Martin, they have jobs. It's all very... What's the American word for family that gives you a job and does nice things for you? Nepotism. Nepotism, yes, exactly. A lot of nepotism going around Old Innsmouth.

You ever see Marsh? I've seen some of the Marsh, yes, there's a few of them. Who do you see the most? I see mostly some of the younger ones. Jacob, he runs the refinery. I think there is some girls, one named Barbara. Some of the younger ones, Jacob, he runs the refinery. I think there is some girls, one named Barbara. I know that there's older ones,

but I haven't seen some of them as well. They spend a lot of time in the, oh, we'll pass it soon. Do you know Margaret? Margaret, no, no Margaret. Not necessarily a marsh, just a person. Sometimes I'm too drunk to remember names. Is there a Barnabas Marsh? There's supposed to be a Barnabas Marsh,

but nobody seen him in years. He stays up at the Marsh Manor and he points in the westerly direction of town. You said you knew Zadok. Yes, I knew Zadok. We were drinking buddies. But like they say back in the poor house, Zadok didn't like what was happening in town, so he speak up.

And we all learned that when you speak up in Innsmouth, you go bye-bye. He gestures towards the harbor. Water. Like Margaret. These people you said all end up looking all bloated like that. Even the people that are, forgive my words, but poor like you, they change just as fast.

It seems like... Look, I don't know why it happens or for what reason. I just know that the people who've been here a long time turn into creepy looking fish people. Even the drunken layabouts. No people. Even the drunken layabouts? No, no, not drunken layabouts. I have good, strong Polish genes in me. Okay. My apologies.

You continue to drive down Federal Street and the town seems to change from a more residential district to a slightly more upper class district, better houses, more federal-style homes, large with pillars, etc. As you drive on though, you get to kind of this nexus on Federal Street where you pass on your right-hand side an old, dilapidated, what looks to be Baptist Church. You maybe recognize Freddie as a Baptist Church.

Passing on the left, you see the Christ Church cemetery across from the Baptist church. Driving onwards, you eventually come to a large building that looks like it's a Masonic hall. It is federal in style with pillars, almost looks like a library or a museum. But the Masonic hall's logo and symbology has been seemingly torn off years ago. A faded remnant of the symbol of the Masonic Hall remains.

But in its stead, instead of it saying Masonic Hall, it says in big block letters, Esoteric Order of Dagon. And as you drive by, you see that there are a few individuals robed, hoods up, in these kind of dark blue robes, with some sea green filigree on it, making their way into the open lit doors of this hall. Are we seeing this? Can we take a photo? It won't show up, it's too dark. In the morning, we can come back.

What if we set up the lights? Do you think it'd draw too much attention? That would draw a lot of attention. And given Mr. Rope's back there, I don't know if that's what we want right this minute. Maybe we just attend. Maybe if one of us sits in the back of the pews. You want to attend the esoteric Order of Dagon?

You crazy man! What happens in there? Lots of weird chanting and sounds. I even hear people scream once or twice. I don't know, I never go in. Do you see the same people walk out? Do they walk out the way they walked in? All I know is I see robed people walk in almost every other night and the robed people walk out.

As you continue, unless someone actively stops, you get to a juncture where it looks like it was once a kind of town square, but all of the buildings in the surrounding area are dilapidated and run down. I think Theo would be looking out the window. Theo, go ahead and give me a alertness roll. Yeah, Cora's also keeping an eye out, just in case. Okay, you can also make a roll. Ooh, a six. Oh yeah, big fail, 71.

Theo, you're kind of on guard now. You didn't like the fact that you got surprised by that constable earlier, so you've got your eyes out. You notice as you pass the intersection, you look behind and you can see that there is a two-story building, and on it, it says Innsmouth Courier newspaper, an old, faded lettering.

That's the old newspaper thing, right? The courier, the passer had some clippings from it. Yeah, there's that editor that was putting out information that went against the town. John Lawrence. Yeah. Yeah. You think maybe he's still around? Or do you think they got him like Zadok? Well, he hasn't been seen, according to Wallace, so...

But there might still be something in the building. Hey uh, I don't know your name. Who are you? My name is Belaki. Belaki. You know John Lawrence? Is he still around? Have I seen a man named John Lawrence? Never heard of the guy. Who runs up the paper? What paper? There's no newspaper here. So that place is just empty. It's run down.

Might be records at least. 40s weren't that long ago. 1840s were, you know, 50, 60 years ago. Yeah, it's not bad. It's my grandpa. It sounds like we either sneak somebody into this esoteric meeting or we try to sneak in. Definitely sneak in into the news building though. That feels safer. Kennedy's starting to realize we're sitting a lot in front of this drunk.

He looks at the lock and then looks to the others. Maybe we should drop off our friend here and buy him a drink first. He's just up this way and he points further down the road. That sounds a fantastic idea. As you continue, your car's kind of bumping through the broken cobblestone streets where grass and other things are growing and separating it. As I explained, when you look to your right or to the west, the terrain goes up. You can see that there is a river up ahead of you that is flowing down towards the harbor, and there is the occasional waterfall. Sure enough as you pull up to what appears to be a bridge there is a waterfall about a

hundred feet away from the bridge. This is if you recall the Manic Set or Maniquette River. Unless there's any protests you continue past the old bridge that creaks and rocks a little bit as you drive you wonder when was the last time it was maintained but on the other side you eventually come to a five-pointed intersection that appears to be a new downtown area for Innsmouth here there does appear to be lights on in certain places there appears to be the Marsh Refining Office. You see a store called Billingham Seafood. You also see the Gilman House Hotel, a slightly run down but still kept up hotel that does

have its lights on. You also see across from you the First National Grocer. You begin to drive past the First National Grocer, you begin to drive past the First National Grocer. And at the end of the block is a what looks to be renovated home. And on the outside, it says the Garden Cafe. And Belaakie very eagerly says, right here, right here, best drinks in town. Really the only place to get drinks in town. in town, really the only place to get drinks in town. Arthur's gonna go ahead and park appropriately. I'm gonna kind of look at Kennedy,

like do we want to keep him or send him out? It just depends on whether we want to get a drink, but I do think we should pay the man if we're not gonna get a drink from him, unless that goes against your code of ethics. I was gonna say, I do need to talk to Victor, period. I can walk him in and make sure he's set up. Oh, you know Victor?

Yeah, yeah, we work together. Oh, great, maybe he give us discount, give us more drink. I will surely ask. Wait, sir, is the car okay to be parked here? You tell me. I'll stay out here and have a smoke or something. I'll just stay with the car

because I'm not going inside. This will be quick, and Freddie starts to, like, usher him into the restaurant. I'll go with you. Okay. Balaki jumps out with you guys and eagerly follows you in. Inside, you are met with a musty, smoky, once a refined or nicer eating establishment. There's an old phonograph that is playing some music in the corner that is warbly. On the far end there is a bar where there is a single barkeep that you do recognize as Victor Obrecht.

Otherwise the place seems pretty empty. The man on the other end who you recognize Victor, is kind of just wiping an old mug, and his eyes immediately dart to you when you walk in. Victor, nice to see you. I came in with this wonderful gentleman. It's me! Villaki is his name. We wanted to set him up right for the night, if you can.

Victor looks him up and down and says, I know, I know Villellocki very well. Well, he's been incredibly helpful on some business I have in town. I was actually hoping to talk to you about. And who's this lovely lady? And he looks at Cora. Cora, I'm friends with Freddie. We're just passing through and I didn't want them to have to come in and escort it. Victor kind of looks around, he starts pouring you some drinks. Balak is asking for the hard stuff, so he's getting shots.

And Victor kind of looks at you, Freddie, and says, you got a early delivery for me or something? No, actually trying to figure out what's going on with Innsmouth as a whole, really, but I wanted to ask about Brian. Brian. Brian who? Brian Burnham.

He went missing a couple of days ago, maybe a week at this point. He also supposed to work for you. They said that he got caught up in some sort of altercation at the grocery store. Now, what are you doing here asking about Brian? What does that matter to you? Me and a couple of friends have extreme interest

in figuring out what's going on in Innsmouth. Why people keep disappearing, I guess. It's not really my concern, but I do know Brian and this is the one thing I can do to be helpful. Well, you're right. It's not your concern. And if you're smart, you get out of town quick. And he's really kind of looking past you and looking through the windows.

Seems to be on edge. Can I tell, is there a special specific way he's looking or just like vigilance? He's kind of looking in the direction that you came with the vehicle, kind of back in the direction of the center of town. Look, is this about ropes or something? Is there something maybe I can help you with? I know it's weird. I want to help.

I'm just not sure how. Look, you're lucky that there's nobody in here right now, but you need to get the hell out of Innsmouth as soon as possible. I've survived because I keep my head down and I don't leave this damn restaurant at night. I suggest you get back in your car and you just get on your way. I don't know what I can provide to you to help you. What do you want to know?

If you've seen Brian or if you've seen anyone do anything weird at all, we're not going to tie your name to it. I promise you that. We're in and out. We're not even staying in town. Make a persuasion check for me, please. Come on, baby. That is a... Bless the Lord, pass with a 36 under 50. Yes.

Victor leans in close and he says, The problem is, is even if you want to leave town, very few can. And before he starts to explain, I'm going to cut outside with the other three of you. You're all sitting in the cars, the car idler. If they were just going in really quick, I would have kept it running. Kennedy, you're outside smoking a cigarette and you hear it.

Whistling. This whistling that is coming from somewhere in the fog. I'm definitely looking in the direction of where it's coming from. At first, Kennedy's first instinct is to whistle back because he remembers being on the French lines. That was something you did, carry tunes with other people. And so he gets maybe a few notes out before he realizes where he is and tamps out the cigarette and looks in the direction. Inside, Victor leans in and says, look, if you're asking about Brian, yeah, I've seen him. He ran the grocery store up until a week ago when, I don't't know there was some kind of commotion there. I think he got in trouble. He was commiserating with somebody. They threw him into the jail. I haven't seen him since. But you know for a fact he's there. Last I heard. Why would they

throw him in jail for complaining? It wasn't complaining. It was commiserating. I think he was talking to a local girl or something. What do you okay maybe I don't understand commiserating. What does commiserating mean? It's like loitering. It's a way to a local girl or something. Wait, what do you, okay, maybe I don't understand commiserating. What does commiserating mean? It's like loitering. It's a way to catch people being weird outside without saying, hey, you're weird. Right, right, yes, yes, I knew that.

I mean, was it at night? Was that why Mr. Ope's was? I don't know the exact time. I just know that I heard a commotion. It was towards the end of the day. The constables, they come in here a lot of times and get a drink and I overheard one of them they mentioned that they had thrown him in the cell to teach him a

lesson said that he was getting what was coming to him do you know what he's commiserating about I don't know if he was commiserating with a girl probably had a probably had the hots for her I don't know there was a girl that goes in there a lot, a Ruth, a Ruth Billingham. She's always coming in and out of the grocer. I figured they had the hots for each other. Maybe it was her. Heading back outside, emerging from the shadows appears to be another constable, this one

short and stout. As he emerges, you also notice similar, familiar bulging eyes, distended skin, most of his hair has seemed to have fallen out and only a few straggles remain mopped sloppily over his head but he stops and he looks at you looks at the idling car and he looks at the diner or at the restaurant and he seems to be trying to make up his mind. And he starts making a beeline towards the restaurant. Honk the horn. Gotta give him a warning.

You do that and as he's about to go for the door, he stops and he turns around and he starts walking to the window. Kennedy, we'll say that you're closer to like the hood of the car. Yeah. He basically becomes somewhat parallel that you're closer to like the hood of the car. Yeah. He basically becomes somewhat parallel to you as he walks into the car and he taps on the glass

with his billy club and asks you to roll it down. Evening officer. I should cite you for disturbing the peace. There's no honking after seven. Apologies, I accidentally slipped on that. Let me see your driver's license. I hand it over. He looks at you Kennedy with these, you know

These large eyelids that kind of go over his eyes and he says you too. Let me see your ID Sure. Yeah What were you whistling back there? And I'll start searching into my wallet for my ID and if I can if I have some like GI's Identification I'll throw that into I. Oh, just an old sea shanty my grandpappy taught me. Yeah? He snatches the IDs from you and starts looking at it.

You know, every shanty's got a story behind it. Does that one have one? Yeah. What's it to ya? You know, just love a good story. I work to see myself. If you want a good story, go to Miskatonic University where they got plenty of stories there. How about you get back in your car and you get on your way? I'm finishing my smoke and I gesture up. You want one?

Not if I'm gonna charge you for loitering, if you drop that cigarette. You could try for sure. Back inside, what are you guys doing after you hear the horn honk? Cora's gonna go to the window and just try to peek out, like flat back against the wall and then just peek out to see what's going on outside.

Yeah sure enough you see some squat looking man in constable clothing harassing the others in the car. Ah another of the intimate finest. Victor looks past you and is like that's Birch, old Nathan Birch, he's a wily little bastard. if you're trying to do something in town what you need to do is lay low and don't get their Attention you don't be driving into town with a big brand new car. That's outside of my control I have one more question and I'm out of your hair the caves the the real the smugglers caves Those are real right isn't there an entrance that's supposed to be around here. He kind of pauses Surprised by this question and he says they say that there's caves to the north here? He kind of pauses, surprised by this question, and he says,

they say that there's caves to the north on the northern end of the shore. Yeah, I mean, I don't know anybody who's gotten in them in years. Probably a death trap by this point, but theoretically, yeah, they probably still exist. Great. Thank you. Just out of the panic, they like tap his face twice and then start heading out. I owe you one everything everything give him whatever he wants for the night. That's I'll settle it later referring to Belaki as You go Belaki says thank you till next time my friends and he downs another shot Do we wait inside before birch to leave or do we just go out?

No, I think we should just go you stumble out into the night and this Birch is pointing his nightstick at Kennedy. Really seems to be Kennedy trying to goad you. You've dealt with, you know, zealous cops before and immediately notices the two stumbling out of the bar. Alright, boys, let's get out of here. We, uh, our, our, our, our, our reservations, you know? Forgot my purse, I found it. We're ready.

Silly, silly. Yeah, let's get out of here. Ladies, yes. Best to be on your way. No public intoxication allowed after seven. May I have my ID back, sir? Clark, yeah, you can have your ID back. And he looks at Newell's card. Newell, nice to meet you. And he hands your card back.

Good to meet you as well, sir. And I throw down my smoke in front of his boots and I'll boot it. Just a hair off of his. I said no loitering and he goes to strike you. You feel this solid wood crack against your back, Kennedy. You're going to take six points of damage. What? Okay. Most of it cracks against your head.

Because you've taken so much, I need to ask you to make a Constitution times five rule or you might be stunned. Got it. The two of you who are still outside of the car see this. You hear Kennedy cry out in pain and stumble forward. Kennedy, do you succeed on that roll? I do, with a 49 under 70. Even though it hurts like a bitch, you are a trained soldier and you're able to at least keep your bearing.

The other two are, the rest of you are shocked at this act. You see Birch kind of like get into a position ready to continue. He's got a big smile on his face. I dare you. I dare you. Do you do anything Arthur? Can't he get in the car? Can he get back in the car? Everyone in the car? Freddy's got their hand in their back pocket and they are staring this officer down. Can I have my ID back?

He tosses it on the ground next to the cigarette. And I'm sort of mopping up the blood off the back of my neck and I'll reach down. I'll pick up that ID. Pick up the cigarette too. And he stops about halfway through, his hand still on the ID. His eyes trail back up to him. Then back down and he'll do it. He'll pick up the cigarette too. Good boy.

You all have a safe night. Safe journey. Be seeing you, Birch. The rest of you pile in and you can see the warm blood rolling down the back of his neck. I'm gonna pull my handkerchief out immediately. I'll take it and start. Thank you. Holding it on the back of Kennedy's head. And do you drive on? Oh absolutely. Boom. Again this squat figure watches you drive off, seemingly dissatisfied because you didn't take his bait. But as you drive off seemingly dissatisfied because you didn't take his bait. But as you continue, you eventually reach the other side of town. Here there are homes, these less stately,

less wealthy than the other side of town. This seems to be the poor side of town. One by one you pass them, some with their lights on. You even see the occasional face in a window watching you pass. And eventually the town seems to let you go, separating, the buildings becoming less and less frequent, until you find yourself in countryside, in farmland, and little by little that fog dissipates. And little by little you feel like you have escaped Innsmouth for now. As to how you are going to continue, we'll find out in the next session. Ooh, tense. Yeah, that was fun.

Damn guys, that was good. I love this game so much. Let's go. you