An Ode for the Lost

Details

Scenario opening illustration

Pages: 27

Author: Noah Lloyd

Artists: Jabari Weathers, Alex Mayo

Editor(s): Dixie Cochran, Jill Spivey, Adam Alexander, Mike Mason

Setting: Harlem, New York, and the Dreamlands, December 1927

Appears in: Harlem Unbound, 2nd ed.

Summary

After a lecture by Harlem intellectual Alain Locke, the investigators and other attendees develop a strange connection to the Dreamlands. When Locke himself turns up missing, the investigators must dream themselves to the city of Ulthar, rescue the lost professor, and stop the Dreamlands from impinging on the waking world.

Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only

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Synopsis

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The scenario opens with the investigators among the guests at a private lecture by Alain Locke, a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Locke has in his possession a strange mask that was collected in Nigeria by explorer Jackson Elias. Due to its influence, everyone at the lecture develops the ability to travel into the Dreamlands, including the investigators. As they determine this strange connection through their inquiries, the investigators learn that Locke is now trapped in the Dreamlands. They travel there to find him only to find that the city of Ulthar has fallen under the rule of the despotic Elder Hierophant and his army of moon-beasts. The investigators may befriend Jackson Elias's dream persona, which has outlived his waking-world body, and hunt down the artifact he found, known as the Mask of Dreaming, which Locke has hidden. Only then can they save Locke and prevent the Elder Hierophant from using its power to allow the Dreamlands to overtake and conquer the waking world.

References

Player Handouts:

• An Invitation
• The Mask of Dreaming
• Letter to Hughes

Locations:

• Hampton's apartment
• The Thwaites' apartment
• West 135th Street Branch of the YMCA
• Dreamlands
  • Ulthar
    • Tavern
    • Burgomaster's home
    • Black Galley
    • Pautrin's Mask Shop
    • Temple of the Elder Ones

Creatures:

• Atlach-Nacha
• Cats of Ulthar
• Elder Ones
• Moonbeasts
• Zoogs
• Elder Hierophant

Organizations

• Orisha

Spells

• Cloud Memory
• Call Nyarlathotep

Tomes and Artifacts

• Mask of Dreaming
• Model of the Temple of the Elder Ones