Lost Pets

by Warpmind de InzanE

**KEEPER INFORMATION**

On the east side of Oslo, there is an old subway track, unused for decades, that was never sealed off. About five years ago, a major flood washed through this particular tunnel. Unfortunately (depending on point of view), this incident caused the deaths of a resident band of cthonians. Furthermore, the water contained radioactive particles, affecting the small nest of eggs present.

About six months ago, three eggs hatched from this nest, and the three hatchlings, while strong enough to survive, had suffered some strange mutation from the exposure to radiation. This mutation has had no visible effects, but their telepathic abilities have been damaged; they cannot contact other cthonians around the world, though they can communicate with each other... and just about any mammal smaller than a German Shepherd.

One month ago, small animals started vanishing in the Oslo area, then further out... and further yet. By June 1st, pretty much all small mammals were mysteriously gone from the entire Scandinavian peninsula, and rumors started to spread. As the investigation begins, one or more of the investigators has managed to acquire Player Handout 1.

LOCAL COMPLICATIONS

Where language is concerned, 99% of the population speak Norwegian fluently (the last percentage being mainly third world immigrants), about 60% are sufficiently familiar with English, about 30% speak German and 15% speak Spanish. About 5% speak another language, be it Japanese, Turkish, Swahili or whatever the Keeper decides.

If so desired, the Keeper may roll for all of these for each NPC the investigators attempt to question, but a nice touch would be to have the investigators ask the NPCs in each language they want to speak in.

Do note that at the hotel, barring the cleaning and kitchen staff, are generally competent to speak English and Spanish or English and German, or, if the die rules so, all three languages equally well. Roll the D10 for this, and if 1-4, the employee in question speaks English and German, if 5-8, the employee speaks English and Spanish, and if 9-10, all three. The concierge is fluent in all three languages.

THE HOTEL

If asked about the pet disappearances, the concierge will smile and say she recalls something about someone mumbling something about subway maps, and will then go on to give directions to the headquarter of Oslo Sporveier. The female bartender, if asked about the pet disappearances, will burst into tears over her missing kitten, Shaman. The female bartender works shifts from 1500 hours to 2100 hours. One member of the staff, if asked about the disappearances will get a frightened look in his eyes and mumble something about "Graboids"; a reference to the "Tremors" movies. (80's American monster movies - fun.)

OSLO SPORVEIER HEADQUARTER

The clerk is disinterested, pretty much hates his job, and goes through a capital-sized bout of depressions. Still, he performs his job with as few complications as possible, so that it won't add to his grim temper. If asked, he will provide a map of the subway tunnels in the city, including unused ones, but this map is not to leave the premises.

However, this map is rarely requested, so searching for it will take the rest of the day, so the investigators will have to return the next day. The clerk will, of course, be helpful to the investigators, and, if requested, he will photocopy the map for the standard fee of $15.00, unless a Fast Talk roll is successfully made, or the necessary official identification is produced.

If the investigators discuss searching the tunnels for the missing pets, the clerk has a 75% chance of overhearing it, and happens to know about a tunnel where a man went missing last winter; when they found him, he was, according to the news, drained of all body fluids. The clerk will upon request team up with the investigators and help them find the tunnel and subsequently fight the cthonians.

(Note: If the clerk follows the investigators on their hunt, he will automatically go insane at the sight of the cthonians, and then be killed by them, unless the investigators manage to save him.)

STREETS

When wandering around the city, it is easy to notice that while there are birds around, there are no mammals in the streets; no cats, no dogs, not even a rat is to be seen.

The investigators may wander freely around, but if they carry weapons, they may be stopped by a police officer any time and recieve a large fine, as well as have their weapons confiscated. Concealed weapons will not cause police officers to stop the investigators, unless the concealed weapons are accidentally revealed, for instance by the jacket blowing open or something. Some investigators might have an international gun permit due to their professional occupation; perhaps a private investigator or an Interpol agent?

When chatting with bypassers, some of the older locals have a 68% chance of remembering an old, unused subway track in the east of the city, but there's only a 22% chance they will recall its exact location.

SUBWAY TUNNEL

On the east side of Oslo, there is an old, run-down subway track; it has not been in use for almost fifty years, but the tunnel was never filled, and has only received occasional maintenance over the years, to prevent it from collapsing.

If the investigators decide to enter the tunnel, they will have to walk for about 150 yards in poor light before they reach a hole in the tunnel wall, outside which several dried-up animal bodies lie. If the investigators go through the hole right away, they will find themselves treading on a carpet of animal corpses, long dead, and all drained. This will cause a sanity loss of 0/1D4 if the investigators have the necessary light to see what they just stepped on.

If the investigators go any further, they will discover several tunnels underneath the subway system, most of which wind up in a dead end. Only one tunnel does not - further down there is a small lair where three young cthonians live, attempting to telepathically contact any of their kin, but only succeeding in pulling smaller mammals.

These cthonians apparently have some sort of dysfunction, rendering them unable to contact other cthonians; or perhaps it is caused by them being somewhat surrounded by water. Nevertheless, no adult cthonians have arrived, and these young cthonians have recently grown to 1st instar, constantly crying out telepathically, and by those means gathering food in the form of small mammals. The cthonians have these stats:

Over the last week, all the smaller animals have disappeared from a large part of Scandinavia. At first, this was thought to be a cruel prank against pet owners, but as all almost mammalian life forms smaller than an average German Shepherd has vanished without a trace, something sinister appears to be going on. The disappearances are steadily increasing, and seem to be spreading even as far south as Germany. The disappearances were first detected in Oslo, Norway, and seem to go out in a circular pattern from there. The cause: unknown. The whereabouts of all these animals: unknown. A spokesman for the police stated yesterday that "it is as though these creatures have gone to another world, for all we know." Pet owners in all of Europe are asking themselves what is going on, and when will it end.