A violent robbery has occurred at the local bank. After killing 4 staff and 1 policeman, the robbers evaded the police and seemingly disappeared. They escaped with £950,000 in cash and also emptied several safe deposit boxes. Among the objects stolen was a small bluish crystal, said to have occult significance. It was owned by Harold Darlington, the wealthy head of a local Masonic order, who is offering a reward for its return.

n interesting fact is that the robbers were reported not to have faces! The police have not been able to trace the robbers’ identities, but are organising a huge search to find the criminals. Due to the robbery’s violence, it is nationwide news, and is a popular point of gossip.

Possibilities

1 The robbery was carried out by a group of hardened gangsters. The robbery was the result of weeks of careful planning, but came apart when one of the staff attempted to wrestle a gun off one of the robbers. The bank clerk was shot in the head and killed instantly, and the robber freaked out and started killing people at random. The robbers fled, and have likely already left the country. However, the robber who started shooting has escaped and is hiding in the sewers, and has been left paranoid and violently insane after his group abandoned him.

The theft of the crystal is coincidental. It has no magic properties. The reports of the men having no faces are the results of the robbers wearing masks over their faces, to hide their identity.

2 The robbery was planned by a cabal of sorcerers, who heard about the crystal, and believed it to have magical powers. To carry out the robbery, they summoned a group of demons to act as muscle while they took the crystal. They also decided to take the money for the sheer hell of it. However, the policeman started firing at the demons and the demons began massacring the people in the bank. Realising what happened, the sorcerers teleported out of the bank and banished the demons.

The police are saying the victims were shot, to hide the fact they were all torn apart and bitten to pieces. The description of the men as faceless is the attempt of the only surviving clerk to mentally block out the image of the demons.

3 The robbery was carried out by the Faceless Men, the modern day cult of the Great Old One Yegg-Ha, the faceless one. In Roman times, Yegg-Ha threatened ancient Britain until he was destroyed by a band of Roman Legionaries. They broke him into pieces and scattered him across the countryside. The bluish crystal is a fragment of Yegg-Ha, and his cult hope to use it to revive their god.

Harold Darlington is a descendant of the Roman soldiers who fought Yegg-Ha, and is charged with protecting the crystal. The Faceless Ones specialise in violent crime to fund their activities, and took the money to invest in various criminal enterprises. They are violent by nature, and executed people out of habit. The faceless appearance is the result of a spell called “Mask of Yegg-Ha” that makes the face featureless, and both obscures their identity and acts as a form of worship to Yegg-Ha.

© Paul Hebron

The annual International Mystical and Paranormal Society Convention is to be held soon. This year the special guest is Dr Janos Voerlocke, a well-known and often-maligned occult scholar, who has not failed to please convention audiences in the past. Dr Voerlocke claims that he has discovered something that will change the world and intends to reveal his secret at the convention. 

Possibilities

1 Dr Voerlocke reveals a strange black polygonal-shaped object about the size of a human head. He explains that he found the object sealed in a block of lead covered with dire warnings in hieroglyphs while in Egypt. After he melted the lead, he discovered the block contained the artifact in question. The artifact is not just a piece of carved black rock, but a prison for a demon. At this point, Voerlocke pushes the polygon open and a Hound of Tindalos screams forth. The Hound is in a foul temper and eager to take revenge on those who imprisoned it.

2 Voerlocke has captured a deep one, whom he summoned with a spell from the Ponape Scripture. The deep one is covered and croaking loudly as the cage is wheeled onto the stage. Voelocke makes a short speech and pulls the sheet off. Moments later, five men rush the stage, brandishing guns. The men are deep ones who haven't fully changed and are here to rescue their kin.

3 Dr Voerlocke has run up large debts to some shady characters - and they have persuaded him to act as a decoy to pay off some of the debt. After a long speech, Voerlocke reveals what he claims to be a unicorn skull. The skull is merely a doctored horse skull - a fact obvious to anyone studying it for more than a moment. While the long speech was going on, Voerlocke's shady compatriots were robbing the guests' rooms, holding up the hotel manager and clearing out the safe.

© Kevin Kaier

Mr Sebastien was a strange man. He was noted for holding conversations with himself, even going as far as answering. He professed to be a stage magician, a conjurer and a master of prestidigitation, but he wasn’t terribly good. Even small children went unimpressed.

Image credit

Possibilities

1 Mr Sebastien believed himself capable of great things, so tried his hand at a little demonic conjuration. Taking a room in a hotel, he carefully locked the door. Then making sure the windows were sealed and using his only aid, a pack of ordinary playing cards, set about conjuring a demon.

Of course, Mr Sebastien was not very good at magic and forgot to take basic protective measures. The conjuration was a success, he managed to manifest a rather nasty demon. However, having no protection, its first victim was Mr Sebastien. It now lurks within the deck of cards.

2 Mr Sebastien, tired of all the jibes over his lack of talent, conceived a brilliant trick. A small hotel room was hired, he locked himself in, he took a rare slow-acting poison and while dying, cast his cards around the room. His final trick then was to leave a mystery.

3 An autopsy is conducted only to discover that the corpse is nothing more than an empty husk. Mr Sebastien, whoever or whatever he was, entered that hotel room that evening and did not emerge alive. At least not ‘alive’ in any sense that we might know it.

©Andrew Parfitt

The characters visit a video store containing obscure films on VHS and DVD. The VHS films are of particular interest because they are bootlegs of unreleased films, director’s cuts, work prints and documentaries. One film, called “Document of the Damned,” stands out.

Image credit

One detailed scene depicts a ritual for summoning demons. It includes a bizarre and convincing monster.

Possibilities

1 The scene is an accurate simulation of the rituals required to summon and bind a dimensional shambler. Anyone studying the film carefully can learn the spells over time.

2 The scene is actual footage of the rituals required to summon and bind a dimensional shambler being performed, although the spells can’t be learned through viewing the film due to its editing.

3 The film contains no actual content related to the Cthulhu mythos. The film’s value to general occultists is also questionable.

© Brian Woodman