Wooden Death

Details

Secrets of Kenya

Pages: 21

Author(s): David Conyers

Artist(s): Paul Carrick, David Conyers

Setting: 1920s

Appears in: Secrets of Kenya

Summary

Investigators receive a letter from a government official stationed in a trading post in Kenya. He wants to hire them as consultants in a case regarding strange lights in the sky, disappearing cattle and a wooden finger.

Links

• Secrets of Kenya review on Orcsnest.com

Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only

Players should not read any further.

Synopsis

Mr. Cloud, the government official is, in fact, an agent of the Mi-go. His role is to recruit humans to investigate the Great Old One known as the God of the Red Flux in behalf of the aliens.

Once investigators meet Mr. Cloud, he tries to capture them using a laced tea or, if it fails, by force. Captured investigators have their stomachs surgically removed and used as leverage to convince them to go to the Valley of the Red Flux and bring information about the Old One and its craft back to the Mi-go. Investigators must accept the bargain or die of starvation in a few days.

In the Valley, PCs will find the Red Flux and its craft, M'bwa and the Tree-Men. M'bwa is responsible for guarding his master and the craft, and for capturing humans to be transformed into Tree-Men, and anyone trying to step in the craft will have to deal with him. Entering the craft takes the investigators to an alien world with a plethora of objects that may be of interest to the Mi-go. Also, an Outer God.

References

Player Handouts:

• Mr. Cloud's letter;
• Newspaper article;
• Map showing the location of the Valley of the Red Flux.

Locations: Western Kenya.

Creatures: Mi-go; Tree-Men of M'bwa; M'bwa; God of the Red Flux; Many-thing.

Tomes and Artifacts:

Comments

The author suggests Donald Wandrei's tale The Tree-Men of M'bwa, H. P. Lovecraft's The Whisper in the Darkness and the author's own False Containment for deeper background and inspiration.

The following data is included for use in this scenario but may also be useful somewhere else:

• Description of Mi-go armor, armaments, spells and skills. Also statistics for 10 Mi-go;
• Map depicting the Valley of the Red Flux;
• Statistics for the various stages of human transformation into Tree-Men;
• A complete description with statistics for M'bwa, the God of the Red Flux and the Many-thing.

Keeper Comments

This is a highly lethal scenario. Keepers should expect lots of sanity loss and fatal encounters. A TPK is possible, if not very likely.