within the hoary pages of Prinn's blasphemous De Vermis Mysteriis, a copy of
which exists in the California's Huntington Library, near Pasadena. Through.
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Nightmares Unraveled in Six Scenarios By
Gary Sumpter John Almack Glyn White Brian Courtemanche Brian Sammons David Conyers
cover painting Rick Sardinha interior illustrations David Lee Ingersoll and David Grilla layout Meghan McLean Chaosium is Charlie Krank, Lynn Willis, Dustin Wright, William Jones, Fergie, Meghan McLean, Nick Nacario, and a few curious others.
That night we lay hid in the woods, enduring these terrors Beyond our ken, and saw not the cause of the uproar. For the stars had dowsed their fire, the sky was unlit With clustered radiance; mists had darkened the heavens, And the moon, at the dead of night, was prisoned in cloud.
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- Virgil, The Aeneid.
Terrors From Beyond is published by Chaosium Inc.
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Terrors From Beyond is copyright as a whole ©2009 by Chaosium Inc.; all rights reserved. Authors and artists otherwise retain copyright for their respective contributions. Call of Cthulhu® is the registered trademark of Chaosium Inc.
Similarities between characters in Terrors From Beyond and persons living or dead are strictly coincidental. H. P. Lovecraft’s works are copyright ©1963, 1964, 1965 by August Derleth and may be quoted for purposes of illustration. Any material concerning Shudde-M’ell and the Cthonians, and all other inventions of Brian Lumley as portrayed in his books, specifically The Burrowers Beneath, are used with his kind permission. Cover painting copyright ©2009 Rick Sardinha. The reproduction of material from within this book for the purposes of personal or corporate profit, by photographic, electronic, or other methods of retrieval, is prohibited. Address questions and comments concerning this book to Chaosium Inc. 22568 Mission Boulevard #423 Hayward CA 94541-5116 Chaosium publication 23113. Published in March 2009. ISBN 10: 1-56882-287-1 ISBN 13: 978-1-56882-287-7 Printed in Canada.
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TERRORS FROM BEYOND
Contents Ghost Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 by Gary Sumpter
Method to Madness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 by John Almack
Death by Misadventure . . . . . . . . . . 36
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by Glyn White
Grave Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
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by Brian Courtemanche
The Dig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
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by Brian Sammons
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The Burning Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 by David Conyers
Player Handouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
TERRORS FROM BEYOND
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TERRORS FROM BEYOND
Ghost Light by Gary Sumpter I prophesy disaster and then I count the cost . . . I shine but, shining, dying, I know that I am almost lost. – Peter Hammill, A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers
Game Master Information
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Perched on a bleak and inhospitable rock off the coast of Scotland, the Hallowsay Light has guided sailors for over seventy years. Now its beacon has gone inexplicably dark, imperiling the ships that ply the waters of the North Atlantic. The news has reached the lighthouse tender Helios, already steaming toward the island of Hallowsay for its fortnightly relief of the station. A search party, made up of three volunteers from the crew of the Helios and a relief keeper, is sent to investigate. What awaits them are horrors from another dimension.
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To avoid confusion, “keeper” or “keepers” in this scenario refer exclusively to those who attend the lighthouse. The phrase “Game Master” applies otherwise. Lighthouse keepers, in their isolated towers, are among the loneliest of creatures. Long hours of solitude and routine, punctuated only by infrequent contact with civilization, shackle the body and fetter the spirit of all but the most ingenious of men. Dr. Neil Fordyce is such a man: where his fellows chase solitary peace in music or handicrafts, Fordyce finds solace in knowledge and theorization. His mind wanders where his body cannot follow. From ancient myths and philosophical theories devoured during those long and tedious hours, Dr. Fordyce chanced upon a reference to the Hidden World, a dimension that appeared to offer a respite from unmitigated routine. The method by which one might enter the Hidden World was said to lie within the hoary pages of Prinn’s blasphemous De Vermis Mysteriis, a copy of which exists in the California’s Huntington Library, near Pasadena. Through deceit Dr. Fordyce obtained a typewritten copy of passages from it, providing the formula for manufacturing a drug that opened a door to the Hidden World. It also contains specific precautions to be taken prior to its use. Fordyce’s typescript, while discussing the procedures themselves, unfortunately omitted Prinn’s warnings. Oblivious to the necessity of the precautions, Fordyce used the drug and attracted the attention of one of the creatures that infest the Hidden World, a ny’ghan grii, and gave it entrance to this dimension. Recognizing his terrible error, Fordyce cast the formula and the remaining pellets of the drug into the fire – but it was too late. He and his fellow keepers were hunted down and killed by the creature; these sacrifices further pried open the gate between this world and the dimension of the ny’ghan grii, allowing more entities to manifest. New sacrifices, in the form of the player characters, allow even more ny’ghan grii to break through.
GHOST LIGHT
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