No Norwegians.
So I think I may have finally worked out how to begin my No Norwegians game. Minnesota is known for its lakes and so this story largely features a lake in it's dark foreboding landscapes, a symbol as it were for the darkness that lies just below the surface.
It begins on a cold and stormy night in Minnesota. Late May. But the night is unseasonably cold. Frost and freezing rain, even snow is reported in parts of the Twin Cities. But it's the winds that stand out. Those howling, destructive winds toppling trees and power lines knocking out half the Metro power grid.
A phone rings, an agent picks it up. it's his old partner from the Bureau. Naveed Olsen, assigned to the FBI anti terror task force tracking Al Shabob recruitment in the cities. At least he was until he was put on administrative leave for misuse of agency funds. His words are full of madness and regret, but they hint at something more… something the agent will soon come to learn. They hang up. There is a silence.
Another phone call. All hands on deck.
The PC’s are called to a very bloody and bizarre murder scene on a Hidden Beach on Twin Lake (a real place). The carnage includes the naked / stripped all sporting bullet wounds, a scorched body with its feet chopped off. There are some odd things that stand out, including a left boot that doesn’t fit any of the bodies. The other scene is the getaway van. The interior was lit up in flames, from the body burned after the vehicle lost control and crashed. The suspects fled from the scene back into the park where they could disappear.
The pc’s either join the manhunt or the investigation. Investigation ID’s the bodies as Norwegian nationals and their US counterparts staying at the nearby Regency Minneapolis. There are few from the trip that are alive, at the hotel and claim ignorance of the whole affair. Testimony has it that they went out to the lake for late night skinny dipping.
Those on the manhunt are searching through the park and nearby areas, a golf course and neighborhoods looking for signs and sightings of the suspects. These agents will stumble upon one of the attackers, as well as the sole survivor. A woman who doesn’t seem bothered by the strange coldsnap...
What’s going on? The victims are all Ithaqua cultists who gathered on this particular lake, when the stars were right to summon an avatar of Ithaqua to impregnate a woman with his spawn. The agents of Cell-K (our doomed DG cell) have been working on this case for a while. And rather than stop the ritual before it started decided to use it as a way to draw out its members, its figurehead the Occult Sorcerer Sten Fritjolf. The game was set.
During the ritual a storm of Icy Rain pours down, and howling winds hit the Twin Cities. They are about to move in then realize, that Fritjolf is not among them. K-Cell hesitates, one man goes back to check out the nearby hotel the targets were staying at. The rest move in. But hesitation was lethal. As they blow away cultists the avatar forms out of the air. The first agent who faces it down panics and fires at it. It simply picks him up on a gust of wind and pulls him into the sky. Only one shoe is left behind. The agents retreat as a huge murder of crows swarms them. They drag another fallen comrade through the park trails to their car. Unfortunately as they take off a swarm of ravens pelts their windows, they crash and their buddy in the back bites it. So they do what anyone else would do. Light him on fire. Then flee the scene.
The agents arrive at this aftermath. One or two agents still at large, though they don't know that. They still need to end Fritjolf before he leaves the country. As these are his coworkers and country men the pc's have to interview him. I'll let on that there is something off about him. That's the main thing, is there will be small inexplicable things that are totally off about survivors. K-Cell's priority though at the end is finding the woman the mother of the wendigo before she is whisked away forever.
There could be a violent scene at the hotel as they try to take out Fritjolf. K-cell may also attempt to go after the “Consort” and Fritjolf at the airport as they attempt to depart the country.
During one of these moments is when I plan to reveal Olsen’s involvement to one of the players. I’m not sure which way will be more disturbing, having them fight him or discover he’s one of the dead bodies. There is also the man with the missing shoe. I can imagine a very Fargo-esque moment where as PC’s are shocked as suddenly a body falls from the sky and lands on the trunk their car. This would involve a SAN check because A. That is f’ed up, B. where did it come from? As soon as they get a look they realize the body is missing a shoe. This guy was at their scene. Roll SAN again. This would also be a pretty quiet, strange moment to introduce this. They would want to know what happened to this guy. Especially our PC who got the call from him.
That’s what I got so far. Let me know what you guys think. I want this to be a single session type scenario. I don’t want things obvious at all, but i want to try to keep it not too convoluted. Essentially this was a DG mission in the vein of burn after reading. And they have to piece it together before DG higher ups arrive to “take over the investigation.”
