A Peculiar Pentad

A Peculiar Pentad
A CALL OF CTHULHU® Supplement

Design: Jeff Grubb, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jeff Quick,

John D. Rateliff, and Thomas M. Reid
Creative Director: Stan!
Editing and Typesetting: R. Hyrum Savage
Cover and Interior Art: Aaron Acevedo

The names, descriptions, and depictions applied to this supplement are derived from works
copyrighted by and include trademarks owned by Chaosium, Inc., and may not be used or reused
without its permission.

All characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses

thereof are trademarks owned by Super Genius Games.
This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any
reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without
the express written permission of Super Genius Games.

Call of Cthulhu® is a registered trademark of Chaosium, Inc.

This product is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is
purely coincidental.

©2009 SUPER GENIUS GAMES.

All rights reserved. Made in the U.S.A.

Visit our website at

www.supergeniusgames.com

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Call of Cthulhu
 A Peculiar Pentad
Introduction

What is This Book?

By Stan!

Every book has a story, especially books within and about the Lovecraftian
Mythos. In the case of A Peculiar Pentad, that story goes back to the very first
brainstorming session we ever had for Super Genius Games.
We were talking about how often, in Call of Cthulhu scenarios, the
investigators run across an obscure shop run by someone with knowledge
that is helpful in their current case but, once plundered for this specific
treasure, was never heard of or referenced again. Really, we were joking about
how plentiful these “obscure shops” are in the composite world created by all
these adventures.
It would be useful, we realized, for anyone attempting to run anything
longer than a one-off scenario—from a short series of linked adventures to
an ongoing campaign—to have a handful of businesses for the investigators
to visit. Places that it would be useful to visit more than once, and where
there was added benefit to be gained by becoming a regular customer.
From that germ came the idea for the book you now hold—a collection
of occult-related businesses and their often mysterious owners.
It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who You Know
If, as a Keeper, you’re endeavoring to create a setting that feels like it
fits into the world created by H.P. Lovecraft and the other architects of
the Cthulhu Mythos, then it’s important for the dark, forgotten corners or
your cities to hide a small collection of unassuming, unimpressive shops
and businesses that deal in curiosities and services that will be useful to
the investigators. They will need places to go to research ancient items,
rare texts, long-dead languages, and creatures that no respectable academic
sources would deign acknowledge. They will need to know the places where
people “like them” go to meet one another, trade or sell information, and
occasionally even make pacts to join forces in the fight against the things
man was not meant to know.

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 Introduction
Within A Peculiar Pentad, the Keeper will find five such locales—shops
and their proprietors that can be resources for the investigators … or their
adversaries. Each specializes in a broad type of supernatural or Mythos-
related material and information, and they can easily be used in place of the
generic “occult bookstore” or “herbalist shop,” that a given adventure calls
for.
What’s more, these are the kind of places the investigators can come
back to in the future—places where they can develop connections with the
staff and build relationships they will have confidence in. This not only gives
the investigators a place they can feel safe in, within a world where every
stranger and every new location is suspect, it also gives the Keeper a way to
introduce information and items that the investigators will trust and perhaps
even accept at face value.
Profit and SAN Loss
It is important for the Keeper to bear in mind, though, that these shops
and their staffs are more than simply aid stations waiting around for the
investigators to come in and take advantage of their resources. In order to
use them to full advantage and for the investigators to take them seriously,
they must feel like places that belong in the world of the Mythos.
Each location’s write-up contains information about the proprietor, the
history of the shop, and the general attitude of the people found within.
These are merely starting places, however, and the Keeper should feel free
to make modifications so that the details meld seamlessly into his or her
particular story and setting. When making changes, keep the following
things in mind.
These are businesses—Although the reason for including them in a story
might be to impart particular bits of information, from their perspective the
owner and workers are there to keep themselves gainfully employed and
hopefully turn a decent profit. In other words, they will run their businesses
like businesses. They have been there for some time before the investigators
arrive on the scene and, presumably, they plan to be there long after the
investigators leave. Bear this in mind when deciding how the staff reacts to
anything the investigators do, particularly if those actions are outlandish.
The owners are knowledgeable—By simple rights of the information
they hold, the people running these shops are much more than ordinary
citizens. They are people who know some of the truths behind the Mythos,
Indeed, they may at one time have been investigators, too. This means they

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A Peculiar Pentad
will be more likely to see through hastily concocted cover stories and to
figure out what sorts of secrets the investigators may be hiding. This doesn’t
make them precognitive (necessarily) or grant them access to information
they shouldn’t have—it simply means that they think the way investigators
do and are willing to make leaps of reasoning that mundane citizens aren’t.
Trust must be earned—Just because the shop owners may have similar
backgrounds to the investigators doesn’t mean they are automatically willing
to take them into full confidence. As in any area of life, that sort of trust
must be earned. It might be a good idea for the Keeper to introduce the
shops and their proprietors into the storyline a significant period of time
before their true expertise is needed. This will give the investigators time
to get to know and build a rapport with the people in the shop that can
be used as leverage to gain their help later on. Given time, these shops can
become not merely places to find useful merchandise and information, but
the homes of trusted friends.
Find It In The Yellow (Sign) Pages
The shops described in this book are, by their very nature, located off
the beaten path. So the first question the Keeper must answer is how the
investigators find them in the first place. Many adventures may have specific
advice in that regard, but in case no such information is available, here are a
few approaches that may lead the investigators to the right doors.
Rumors and Innuendo
If the investigators have no connections or other leads and are just
blindly searching for a shop that will provide the obscure services they need,
the Keeper should feel no compunction to let them find immediate success.
After all, the point is that these shops are unique, half-forgotten, hard to
find places. They’re generally located in old buildings along side streets, or
perhaps even in shadowy alleyways. Finding any one of them can constitute
a mini-investigation all on its own.
The owners of more mainstream shops can begin to point the way,
saying things like “I think there used to be a store on the south side of town” or
“I heard there’s a guy on Aphid Street that has what you’re looking for” or similar
suggestions. Of course, they’ll also say things like “but I think he went out of
business fifteen years ago” or “I heard the shop burned to the ground in ‘87” or “I
always thought that was just a rumor.” When added together, these snippets
should point the way to the shop (or at least its general location).

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 Introduction
The Shop Around the Corner
If the Keeper wants finding the shop to be easier, it could just happen
to be located in the very neighborhood in which the investigators work—a
shop that they have walked past on a daily basis but never really noticed
before. That could certainly lend the shop a very creepy air, however it might
make the investigators more likely to distrust the shop’s owner and wares.
Alternatively, the investigators may have been aware of the shop for quite
some time, but never known about its connection to the Mythos. (Such
things are generally kept under wraps.) It’s only when times get especially
tough that the store owner takes a risk and reveals his or her secret to the
group.
If this stretches credulity too much because of its improbable convenience
or unmitigated luck, the section below may be more suitable.
Recommendations
If the investigators have any reliable allies, acquaintances, or employers,
they could get tips about the location and content of these shops from those
sources. Given how suspicious they are likely to be of a convenient shop
that just happens to have the sorts of things they need, having the source be
someone they already trust is a good way to get them past any hesitancy.
Direct Advertising
If the investigators have garnered any kind of reputation for themselves
in the world of occultism—being connected with previous high-profile cases,
working for or with big-name “ghost-hunters” or other celebrities, or simply
being related to famous occultists from the past—the shops might actively
court their patronage. The investigators could receive flyers or newsletters in
the mail or calls about newly arrived merchandise.
If that sort of overt commercialism doesn’t work, then the shops could
instead come to the investigators to ask for their help in a particular matter.
Perhaps a customer of the store has gone missing, or a mysterious artifact
has inexplicably appeared on the counter and the shop owner wants to hire
someone to look deeper into the matter.
Once a direct connection is made, it will be easier for the investigators
to consider turning to the shop or its proprietor when related matters crop
up in the future.

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A Peculiar Pentad
Customer Service
Once the investigators find one of the shops detailed in the upcoming
pages, the next question is how they are treated. As discussed above, the
proprietors are savvy people with their own hard-earned experience with the
supernatural. They are not going to simply open up and tell their secrets to
every new face that comes in knowing how to pronounce “Nyarlathotep.”
The individual write-ups will discuss how each shop owner deals with
customers, but in general the Keeper may want to bear in mind the following
general rules of interaction.
First Time Visitor
The very first time new customers come into the shop, the proprietor is
going to put on his or her best “normal” front. That is, the customers will be
treated as though there is nothing unusual going on. (Well, nothing more
unusual than the store’s stock in trade would require.) None of the private
or secret merchandise will be mentioned, let along available.
Even if the investigators raise the subject or start throwing around
broader hints that they are “in the know,” the proprietor will simply say “I
have no idea what you’re talking about” or “someone must be having a joke with
you” or “there is no such thing here.” And if the investigators press the matter,
the proprietor may ask them to leave the premises.
In any case, after that first encounter the proprietor will likely do some
small bit of research on the investigators and determine how he or she wants
to treat them if they come back a second time.
Returning Shopper
If the investigators return to the shop, the reception they get will be
based a great deal on how well their initial visit went. If they made a good
impression on the proprietor, then he or she will make a show of vaguely
remembering the investigators from before. This opens the possibility for
the two sides to begin to develop closer relations.
Although the “private collection” will still likely be denied, the proprietor
may begin to admit some knowledge of at least rumors surrounding such
things. This is the real test for the investigators. If they can converse in an
appropriate way on the subject and prove themselves to be reliably discreet,
the proprietor may consider taking them further into his or her confidence.
Presuming that goes well, a single item from the “private collection” may be
made available.

Call of Cthulhu -6-

 Introduction
Regular Customer
Once the investigators have come back several times and passed whatever
litmus tests the proprietor has for them, they will be considered regular
customers. All but the most highly secretive items and services in the shop
will be open to them, though these privileges may be withdrawn if a high
level of discretion is not respected.
At this point, the proprietor will be a trusted resource for the investigators.
He or she now becomes a good source for other, wider-ranging information—
including introductions to proprietors of other Mythos-related shops.
Patron or Partner
If the proprietor and the investigators continue to work more and more
closely together, eventually it may be that they cease to be “customers” at all
and are invited in to be part of the business. At this stage, there is nothing
in the shop, the storeroom, or the accounting ledgers that is off limits to
the investigators. Of course, for that access, they now have much greater
responsibilities to the shop and its proprietor.
In addition, they no longer are restricted merely to the stock in the store.
The investigators can now use the shop and its resources to search out and
special order items from suppliers and other related businesses. And, in fact,
it is now very likely that other groups of investigators will come to them
looking for information or supplies. (This may, in fact, be how the shop’s
proprietor got into the business in the first place.)
Location, Location, Location
The last remaining question is one of location—where are these shops
located in the world the Keeper is creating with his or her campaign?
Although each entry has a default location for the shop in question, these
are easily modified to suit the situation’s needs.
It may be that the Keeper wants to put each shop in a different section of
the city, or in different cities entirely. Where they end up may be a function
of where the adventure to which they will be most useful takes place, so they
end up spread across the region, the country, or even the world.
Alternatively, the Keeper may want to construct an “occult quarter” of a
single city—a neighborhood that is known for being home to palm readers,
apothecaries, and bookstores specializing in obscure and profane subjects.
An example of this kind of area can be found below in Pentagon Place.

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A Peculiar Pentad
Pentagon Place
Less than a quarter or a neighborhood, Pentagon Place is more aptly
described as a block or even a glorified alleyway. Although the buildings are
among the oldest in the city, none of them appear on any list of historic sites
and no tour busses go anywhere near this spot.
Pentagon Place gets its name from the fact that the cul-de-sac is laid out
in a roughly pentagonal shape. Four of the sides are the crumbling facades
of mid-nineteenth-century buildings that seem to lean in slightly, as though
they were bending over to shield the alley with their bodies. The fifth side
exits onto Humbolt Avenue, but the arching of the buildings make it so that
no vehicles other than motorcycles can get through.
The ground is still paved in the original cobblestones, but growing from
what was once the center of the road is a twisted, knobby oak tree—stunted
for its species, it still has grown to about twenty-feet in height. The tree’s
leaves brush against the surrounding buildings, and its canopy acts as a sort
of roof for Pentagon Place, keeping the light and the elements out and
lending the place an air similar to that of a dark, dank basement.
History
When it was first built, and long before it acquired the name Pentagon
Place, this cul-de-sac was in a well-off part of the city. The buildings were
intended as single-family town homes for successful industrialists who
spent their weekends and summers at their mansions in the surrounding
countryside. Facing all the buildings inward created a sense of privacy and
seclusion even in the midst of the city.
The original owners all shared another connection, besides unspeakable
wealth—they all belonged to a specific secret society, one whose members
took part in blasphemous, profane, and perverted rituals to honor dark gods
in hopes of currying favor and even greater riches. To these men, such acts
were mere playacting. They no more believed their riches were divinely
granted than they did that monsters walked the world. Unfortunately for
them, both were true.
On a portentous date their club was performing an actual magical
ritual when a group of investigators broke in and disrupted the affair. Many
members of the club were killed (some by the investigators, but most by
the shapeless horror that they had been summoning), but even those who
weren’t, found their lives ruined by the scandal when the club’s membership
roster was made public.

Call of Cthulhu -8-

 Introduction
The families in the cul-de-sac found their fortunes crumbling and
one by one they put their town homes up for sale. But their very public
disgrace, in conjunction with fears about what horrors might lurk in the
buildings’ basements, resulted in an absolute dearth of buyers. In the end,
they abandoned the houses, which stood empty for some decades.
Around the turn of the century, though, those interested in the
supernatural discovered the site and began buying up the property. Soon the
cul-de-sac was thriving again, but this time with businesses and residents
who reveled in the macabre history of the place, and proclaimed the site to
be Pentagon Place.
In the intervening years, this place and its denizens have been at the heart
of the city’s broader occult community, and the surrounding community has
suffered for it. No one of any means wants to live within a dozen blocks of
Pentagon Place, though few in the city actually remember why—they just
know that it is a “bad neighborhood.”
Current Day
Today, Pentagon Place is in the heart of one of the worst sections of the
city. That the surrounding blocks are overridden by poverty, pestilence, and
violence only makes the eerie calm within the cul-de-sac that much more
unnerving. Even the thugs and gangsters want no part of this alley, which
is considered by some to be haunted and by others to be cursed. Some even
consider it a myth altogether, but there are few among that number who are
brave enough to actually go looking for it.
As a result, the denizens of Pentagon Place are left to go about their
business unscathed by the urban blight surrounding them. Indeed, when
people who live in the cul-de-sac has to go out into the nearby neighborhood,
they have taken to wearing plain, woolen robes with the hood pulled up—in
effect their “gang colors”—hiding their identities and warning any predators
that this person is under the protection of supernatural powers.
Game Uses
Pentagon Place is where the investigators will find shops dealing with
authentic occult materials. Finding it may be difficult. Indeed, at first the
existence of Pentagon Place may seem more legend than fact. And even
once found, the dangers in the surrounding neighborhood will make every
trip there something of an adventure.

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 A Peculiar Pentad
Besides the shops detailed in this book, the investigators might find
any number of other occult businesses and services. The residents will, to a
man, woman, and child, all have some background in the supernatural. And
even the sewers below the cul-de-sac may contain things of interest (from a
subterranean path into the alley to an ancient shrine to some forgotten god
or a thriving community of snake men or deep ones).
Keepers can modify Pentagon Place to suit the needs of their
campaigns—making it a marketplace of the supernatural (like a Mythos
version of Harry Potter’s “Diagon Alley”) or filling it mostly with charlatans
and just one or two individuals or shops that actually have true knowledge
of the supernatural and the Cthulhu Mythos.

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 A Peculiar Pentad
Chapter One

The Biblioporium

D own an alley off Thurwood Avenue (between Jasper and Cornwall

Streets), a small wooden sign hangs from a wrought-iron bracket projecting
from the brick wall on the right side. The sign reads, “Biblioporium,” and
beneath that, “Fine Books and Stationary Supplies — Dr. Alfred Granger,
Proprietor.” In smaller letters, the very bottom reads, “Est. 1891.” The sign
swings over a narrow set of flagstone steps that run parallel to the wall and
descend into an arched vestibule resting below the level of the alley.
The stout wooden door has been painted forest green and sports a single
cut glass window with a snowflake design. There is a hasp for a padlock at
about chest level, and another keyhole for a deadbolt a bit lower. The curved
handle has a thumb latch that no longer works properly. A small wooden sign
hangs on a hook screwed into the door. One side reads, “Open, Please Enter,”
while the reverse says, “Sorry, We’re Closed.” Pushing the door open rings a
small brass bell anchored to the frame overhead.
Inside, the odor of pipe tobacco, a mixture of cherry and almond scents,
fills the place. A plush but worn red carpet covers the floors, stained darker
in the doorway. Large bookshelves constructed of rich, dark wood line
every wall from floor to ceiling and create rows in the middle. An L-shaped
counter sits to the right of the door, resting atop a glass display case
containing numerous rare and wondrous writing implements — old pens,
inkwells, nib cutters, and so forth.

Open For Business

The Biblioporium deals in rare books, buying and selling old and valuable
tomes. Volumes of every imaginable subject fill the shelves, all meticulously
sorted and categorized. The proprietor, Dr. Alfred Granger, takes
impeccable care of every book that passes through his doorway, repairing
and cleaning them when necessary. He goes to great lengths to preserve
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A Peculiar Pentad
Different Eras
It should not be difficult for a Keeper to modify the Biblioporium for
use in either a Gaslight or Modern CoC game.
Gaslight
To utilize this locale in the Gaslight era, not much must be changed.
Dr. Granger should simply appear as a younger form of himself, freshly
returned from his wanderings throughout the British Empire in order
to open his shop. Some of his physical statistics should be altered to
reflect a younger man in better health, but otherwise, his skills and
knowledge can remain the same. He will, if anything, be even more
involved in the activities of the Scrutinors.
Modern
Conversely, to utilize the Biblioporium in a modern setting, simply
make Dr. Alfred Granger the great-nephew of the original founder
of the bookstore, apprenticed to the elder Granger at a young age to
help run the place. Some details of the current proprietor must be
changed (where he went to school, etc.), but otherwise, the statistics
and knowledge — as well as the association with The Scrutinors — can
remain intact.
Alternatively, the proprietor of the bookstore might only claim to
be the grandson of the original Alfred Granger, but could, in fact, be
the original owner. Perhaps he discovered some means of elongating
his lifespan during his travels. It is possible he stumbled upon some
tome that granted him uncanny longevity, or perhaps he vanished
for a number of years and returned decades later under mysterious
circumstances without having aged at all while he was absent.
In either case, the bookstore itself could (and probably should) have
a few more modern conveniences. A high-tech alarm system and better
locks are in order, as is a fire extinguishing system that will not damage
the books (such as a gaseous suppression system). The contents of the
store most likely are stored on a computer, with the files being heavily
encrypted.
very old and/or damaged manuscripts and has multiple copies of more
than a few prized works in his collection (not including those in his private
trove or those he has donated to the local university).
Dr. Granger purchases any books offered to him, even mundane volumes
not otherwise worth much, so long as they are in reasonable shape. Some

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 chapter one The Biblioporium
of these he donates to the local library or to the neighborhood children
(but only to those who actually show an interest in reading). He is very
careful to authenticate rare tomes, as well as to ascertain that they are not
stolen property.
The books available for purchase in his store include volumes in multiple
languages and from nearly every period of history. There are rumors that
Dr. Granger has even acquired a few scrolls salvaged from the library at
Alexandria, though when asked about this, he only chuckles and mutters,
“Now that would be quite a find!” and will say nothing more. Only the
most common books actually sit in the open. He keeps rarer volumes in
locked cases (or hidden away in a separate vault — see below). If he does
not have a particular title in his collection, he usually has contacts he
can use to get it, assuming a customer is willing to pay and have a little
patience.
Dr. Granger also deals in fine writing papers and stationary, as well as
top-notch writing instruments. He buys and sells all manner of classic pens
and accessories, and even deals in a few special writing devices that have
historic significance. Much of these wares are available at the counter near
the entrance, where he perches upon a high stool, pouring over some book or
other.
Dr. Granger himself is a stoop-shouldered fellow with a bit of a limping
shuffle to his gait. His round head features a fringe of thin white hair
surrounding a shiny bald pate, accompanied by a thicker mutton-chop
beard and mustache. His nose is long and somewhat bulbous on the
end, where a pair of half-round reading glasses perch, when they are not
dangling from their chain around his neck. His eyes fluctuate in color
between pale green and sea blue, depending on the light, highlighted with
flecks of gold. They peer out from under thick, bushy eyebrows that seem
perpetually drawn together in a pensive frown. He regularly dresses in a
cardigan sweater and smokes a pipe (though never when he’s examining a
book for fear of damaging the tome with cinders or ashes).

Special Customers
Though the bookstore can certainly be a fascinating locale to visit
solely on the merits of its fine collection of rare and valuable antique
books and accessories, the real value of the place comes from its catering
to special customers. Dr. Granger conducts no advertising of his special
services, nor will he ever volunteer such information to strangers whom he
has never previously met, but for those who know what they are looking

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A Peculiar Pentad
for and have a connection or can prove the necessity of their research, the
Biblioporium can be a treasure trove of Mythos-related goods.
A second room exists in the back of the store, behind a bookcase that
masks a secret entrance. Known as the Vault to Dr. Granger and his
closest associates, it contains the truly remarkable—and often dangerous—
textual works of the world that he has collected. These volumes include a
significant portion of what the Scrutinors (see below) gathered over the
years from such far-flung places as Egypt, Turkey, and India.
The chamber is plain, consisting of smooth stone walls and simple,
unremarkable furniture. Behind the floor, ceiling, and four walls lies three
inches of steel sheeting. The room is neither ventilated nor wired for
electricity. The door leading in from behind the bookcase is also made of
steel and can be locked like a combination safe. In essence, without the
knowledge of the combination, it would take several days of chipping,
cutting, and drilling for an intruder to break through into the chamber
from the outside.
The tomes and scrolls themselves are housed in special cases that are
both hermetically sealed and heat-resistant. The cases are locked, and Dr.
Granger has one set of keys. Other sets belong to high-ranking members
of the Scrutinors living in other regions of the world. Each case is further
protected by a magical seal that resists both magical attacks (compare the
attack against 18 MAGIC POINTS on the RESISTANCE TABLE) and physical
attacks (ignore the first 20 POINTS OF DAMAGE). The cases may have other
enchantments as the Keeper sees fit (for example, anyone tampering with
a case without first uttering a special chant suddenly finds himself lost in
the woods of Ontario, Canada with no recollection of the bookstore or his
reason for visiting it).
A set of four chairs surround a small circular table in the center of the
room. A single lantern encased in a special shade that prevents harmful
paper-damaging rays from shining upon very old and delicate pages hangs
over the table. There is no ready explanation for what powers the light,
for it has no fuel or flame and no wires or battery. In the center of the
table sits a box containing thin lambskin gloves. No visitor may handle
any of the precious tomes without first shutting the door to the vault and
donning a pair of the gloves.
No one visits the vault unaccompanied by Dr. Granger, and such
occasions must be scheduled ahead of time, occurring during non-business
hours. Granger never even admits to the existence of the vault unless he
absolutely trusts those inquiring after information, and such trust may

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 chapter one The Biblioporium
only be built up over considerable time, through extensive background
checks and tests of merit. Most often, new visitors arrive with formal
recommendation from other Scrutinors, though on occasion, folk bringing
rare tomes as an offering for inclusion in the collection may also be
considered for admittance.

Dr. Alfred Granger

Age 62, Bookstore Owner
STR 7 CON 11 SIZ 12 INT 16 POW 17
DEX 9 APP 10 EDU 23 SAN 85 HP 12
Damage Bonus: none
Weapons: .32 revolver
Key Skills: Anthropology 40%, Arabic 35%, Art 65%, Bargain 45%,
Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Dodge 18%, English 99%, Greek 60%, Handgun
25%, Hebrew 50%, History 75%, Latin 70%, Library Use 60%, Occult
45%
Quote: “Ooh, now that is quite the find!”

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A Peculiar Pentad
Alfred Granger was born in the closing days of the American Civil War
in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His father Myron was a cobbler who had served
in the Army of the Potomac. His mother Rebecca did hospice work at the
military hospital and the prison. Alfred demonstrated a remarkable interest
in reading and writing at a young age and came to love books. He attended
school at the University of Pennsylvania when he was fifteen, receiving a
classical education by eighteen. He then traveled to England and spent
some time at Oxford, where he earned his doctorate in multiple languages.
He eventually left England to spend several years roaming Africa, the
Middle East, and India in search of ancient texts. Granger returned to
America in 1891, a well traveled man, and opened his bookstore.
Though Granger does not speak of it to strangers, his sojourns through
the British colonies were not simply the lone wanderings of a book-hunter.
While at Oxford, he joined a secretive society known as The Scrutinors. The
Scrutinors were highly interested in the research of ancient legends, myths,
and fables throughout the world, and several members, including Granger,
formed an expedition at the behest of Her Majesty’s government to travel
to Khartoum to investigate some “strange” archaeological findings reported
by General Charles George Gordon. While there, he and the other society
members got caught up in the Siege of Khartoum and barely escaped ahead
of the Mahdi’s army. Granger and the other Scrutinors scoured other parts
of the British Empire for several years afterward, investigating additional
oddities from local legends and myths.
The good doctor has spent a lifetime investigating all manner of
weird phenomena, grim legends, and mysterious occurrences throughout
the Middle East and is a virtual walking card catalog of ancient texts,
references, and theories related to his studies. This is not to say that he has
deciphered every text and put all the pieces together. He has very little true
inkling of what his collection means. Clearly, such knowledge would have
driven him mad long ago. But he knows that the body of knowledge exists,
and if convinced, can put anyone on the right path to ferreting out specific
bits of that knowledge. This sort of idiot-savant approach to the Mythos
is no accident. The Scrutinors at least peripherally understood the dangers
of working too closely with such material and laid out specific plans to
keep any single member from gleaning too much. In Dr. Granger’s case, it
became obvious during his time at Oxford that the man loved the concept
of books themselves, often even more than their actual contents. He was a
perfect choice to become the caretaker and organizer of the volumes while
distancing himself from their dangers.

Call of Cthulhu - 16 -
 chapter one The Biblioporium
Alfred Granger is still a member of The Scrutinors and uses his bookstore
as a front to support the society’s activities. He occasionally houses meetings
there, stores invaluable documents and pertinent texts relating to their
activities, and funnels funds to society expeditions around the world.
Dr. Granger never married and has no family. He remained a bachelor
deliberately, as he never wanted the risk of threats against loved ones
hanging over his head while serving as the caretaker of the secret library. He
does have a few distant cousins, but he has not met them in many years and
would not recognize them currently. Threats against said cousins would not
unduly sway him to give in to enemies; the necessity of keeping so much
dangerous reading material away from villains far outweighs any personal
grief he might experience.

Goods and Services

In addition to the normal array of fine books, stationary, and writing
implements available for sale, the Biblioporium can serve as an invaluable
resource for knowledge, both mundane and cryptic. Investigators seeking
information on a vast variety of topics can visit Dr. Granger. He offers
translation services for several languages, can point the way to additional
information on literature, customs, and the general mood and feel of
numerous foreign countries (particularly those in the Middle East and the
subcontinent), and usually has for sale or can find a dealer who possesses
just about any edition of any book imaginable.
Dr. Granger also provides insight into those special topics that
investigators might be delving into, including strange myths, legends,
fables, and unexplained phenomena. He may offer up a few vague tidbits
or anecdotal, “I heard or read somewhere . . .” type stories about just
about anything, but he rarely volunteers the full knowledge at his disposal
without taking thorough precautions, first. For those he trusts (members of
the Scrutinors, other valuable allies), Alfred Granger is willing to perform
extensive research, or aid those in their own research.
Specifically, Granger can provide access to just about any ancient
magical text, including Mythos-related tomes, to the right people. Rather
than include an exhaustive list of what the good doctor has stored in his
vault, the Keeper can pick and choose titles (or create new ones) to suit
the needs of the campaign or adventure. In other words, if you want the
players to gain access to something, Granger has it, or he can get it. It’s just
a question of how persuasive they are, how much he trusts them, and how
much they’re willing to pay for the privilege.

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Call of Cthulhu
A Peculiar Pentad
Unless the players are fellow members of the Scrutinors, Granger
expects hefty recompense for his services. This can and often does take
the form of large sums of money (always cash), but it can also come in the
form of new additions to the library, services rendered on his behalf, or
both. However it gets tallied, the fees the players accrue should total in the
thousands of dollars.
Also, no one gets instant access to the vault, no matter how much
Granger may trust them or how precious their payment. He always vets
their reasons for seeking the knowledge, performs background checks, and
(when necessary) tracks down the needed resource. This delay can take
anywhere from several days to several weeks, depending on the veracity
of the characters’ explanations, their reputations, and the danger-level of
the knowledge sought. Granger does some of the legwork himself, but
he may also have a couple of “stout young lads” who can discreetly follow
prospective customers, deliver messages, telegrams, etc., or just hang about
in case there’s trouble.

Adventure Hooks
The following is a brief list of possible ways to use the Biblioporium as a
hook in an investigation. Some of these can be mixed and matched with
others for more complex mysteries.

• The investigators stumble upon some old book at a crime scene, and
either someone with knowledge of the bookstore suggests they visit
there for more information, or the book itself in some way guides them
there. After some hesitation, Dr. Granger reveals that he sold the book
to an NPC investigator who had been researching a mysterious cult.
• The investigators find Dr. Alfred Granger’s name and address in the
pocket of a murder victim in a distant land and decide to look him
up for more information. They eventually discover that the victim is
a member of the Scrutinors and was hot on the trail of some tomb
raiders when the society lost contact with him.
• A member of the Scrutinors in some distant land hires the investigators
to deliver or pick up a very important package from the Biblioporium.
Along the way, mysterious assailants attempt to steal the package from
them. The package is, of course, a rare, possibly magical book.

Call of Cthulhu - 18 -
 chapter one The Biblioporium
• Dr. Granger hires the investigators to track down a missing book dealer.
Alternatively, he hires them to track down the man who is to be his
successor at running the establishment.
• A fire breaks out in the building where the bookstore is located. Upon
further investigation, it becomes clear that the fire was deliberately set
as a diversion to aid in breaking into the store. Alternatively, the fire
was set by someone intent on destroying the bookstore. Dr. Granger
needs help in tracking down the arsonist(s) and in protecting the
Biblioporium from future attacks.
• Dr. Granger stops showing up for work one morning and no one seems
to know where he is. The investigators must find him in order to
continue their own work.

About the Author

Thomas M. Reid has been designing and editing game material
professionally for over fifteen years. He grew up reading ghost stories,
Three Investigators, and Hardy Boys mysteries under the covers at night
with a flashlight any chance he could. He lives on a quarter-acre cat ranch
in the Hill Country of Texas with his lovely wife Teresa and his three sons.
Thomas loves books almost as much as Dr. Alfred Granger, and he vows
that his next house will have a vault, too.

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Call of Cthulhu
 A Peculiar Pentad
Chapter Two

Fixx’s Fixxit

F ixx’s Fixxit is a narrow two-story storefront crammed between two larger,

more impressive brownstone structures. It has a single large dingy window,
turned almost reflective from the outside due to the buildup of grime.
The window reads in impressive gold letters “Fixx’s Fixxit”, and beneath it
“Fine Watch, Clock, and Mechanical Repair”. In the window’s lower right are
the store hours (1 PM to 8 PM, Daily except for Sunday)) and the words
“Simon Fixx, Prop.”. Beneath that, in a looser hand, are the words “Ring
for Service” and an arrow pointing to a button next to the door (half-pane
glass, similarly dingy).
If the shop is closed the front of the building will be secured with an iron
grating that rolls into place from one side.

Open For Business

Upon ringing, the door unlatches with an electric buzz. Entering Fixx’s
lair the investigators discovers a tiny front shop with a waist-high counter
running almost across the width of the room. The walls are dominated by
clocks - pendulum clocks, ship clocks, chime clocks, wall clocks, mission
clocks, Willard (“banjo”) clocks, and a few cuckoo clocks. Most sound on
the hour, some on the fifteen minutes, and others are set to seasons, tides,
and astrological bodies. The room is filled with an omnipresent clattering
of timepieces.
Most of the space behind the counter is made up of wall of shelving
displaying mantle clocks, bracket clocks, carriage clocks, and dial clocks. A
fabric curtain at one end of the shelves hides a larger space behind the sales
room.

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 chapter two Fixx'ss Fixxit
Fixx
Different Eras
It should not be difficult for a Keeper to modify Fixx’s Fixxit for use in
either a Gaslight or Modern CoC game.

Gaslight
Fixx’s Fixxit in the gaslight era is very similar to that of its Roaring
Twenties incarnation. Most of the changes are cosmetic only. The
door has a mechanical lock and a bell instead of an electric buzzer.
The shop itself is equipped with flickering gaslights among the myriad
clockworks. His music box plays “Queen of My Heart” (Alfred Cellier,
1886, from the comic opera “Dorothy”).

Modern
Fixx’s Fixxit makes more changes for the Modern Age. Fixx also
does computer repair, and the shelves in the front area are filled with
relics of the past – TRS-80s (“trash-80s”), Mac SEs, Commodores,
Intellivisions, and Atari STs. The back room is similar arrayed with old
disk drives, discarded floppies and tape drives, cracked and sputtering
monitors, and fractured Dvorak and QWERTY keyboards, as well as
those using Cyrillic and Hebrew alphabets. Instead of the Innsbruck
clock, there is a collection of 1980s standup video games and Bally
pinball machines.
Simon himself keeps a bleeding edge laptop on his workbench, a
previous-generation desktop on the front counter, and small micro in
his bedroom instead of a music box (this small machine contains his
poetry). He maintains all three machines with a secure wi-fi hub. His
shop has a website, and though it is rarely updated, he is known and
valued among collectors of mechanical and electronic antiques.
Simon believes that the brain canister and electric gun are of
extraterrene origins, but has not connected them to the Mi-Go.

Behind the counter the investigators will encounter Mr. Fixx, a smiling
dwarf, (3’ 2”) usually dressed in shirtsleeves and pants, wearing a custom-
fitted leather smock. He will always be at the counter (to press the button
and allow admission). He will be standing on a stool in order to look
customers in the eye, and has several other stepping stools in the room to
let him reach the clocks.

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Call of Cthulhu
A Peculiar Pentad
Fixx is good natured and curious. His clientèle consists of mundane
repairs as well as referrals from other repair shops for matters beyond
their ken. His reputation is that of an individual who can identify or repair
anything, and specializes in “mystery clocks” – those clocks whose function
or method of reading are not immediately apparent.
The curtained area leads to a larger area that runs for the rest of the
block’s length, backing on an alley behind the storefronts. Fixx will allow
others in the “back room” as he calls it, if he trusts them.
Fix has purchased the space behind a neighboring building and had the
walls knocked out, so his warehouse and repair area is about twice the width
of his counter area, and two stories high. A locked skylight illuminates
the warehouse in the center of the room. The back wall consists of a large
roll-up metal door, and a truck or other vehicle can be backed into the
warehouse (and from the space made for such a vehicle and the oil stains
on the floor, this is a regular occurrence).
The walls of the repair and warehouse area are jammed with shelves,
some containing current jobs, others bits and pieces salvaged from other
clockwork. Nearest to the front counter is a small workbench for precise
watch cleaning and repair, with a set of neat drawers containing tools and
lenses. Any precise work will be done at this bench, under powerful lights.
Beneath the workbench is a small safe that contains valuables, such as
golden watch chains and fobs, jeweled mechanisms, and other precious
materials, along with $300 in cash. Any fine timepieces he is working on
are protected by the haphazard nature of his filling system, which makes
it difficult for anyone but Fixx to separate the dross items from the truly
valuable.
As in the front counter area, the walls of this area are lined with shelves,
with a pair of ladders on rollers allowing the owner to reach the upper
shelves. Here are clocks and other items, though none seem to be operating.
The walls are filled with stopped clocks, miscellaneous clock mechanisms,
and bins filled with clock and watch making materials. There are astrolabes,
orreries, the fragments of a platform clock that had until recently hung at a
local train station, a collection of five long case “grandfather” clocks, music
boxes, a sundial (used as a work table), and an large inoperative medieval
town clock from Innsbruck, completely with knights and dragons that
run on small tracks. In one corner is a gypsy fortune telling machine that
works intermittently (usually right after Fixx declares that its cogs have
seized up) and a partially-assembled chess-playing clockwork (The Maelzel
and Walker engines, he will tell you, were frauds, but his design will prove

Call of Cthulhu - 22 -
 chapter two Fixx's Fixxit
superior to either’s legendary capabilities). He keeps a welding kit and
torch by the garage door.
The bins along the walls are filled with all manner of clockworks salvaged
from previous projects, including boxes of pendulums, escapements, springs,
flywheels, chimes, balances, tourbillons, mainsprings, and dials. They do
not seem to have any particular order, but Simon Fixx knows if he has
something in stock or not.
Fixx lives in a small apartment directly above the counter area, accessed
from the warehouse behind by a narrow staircase. His quarters are spartan,
and the only thing of value he keeps here is a music box that has a ballerina
spinning to the tune “Funny Face” (by Ira Gershwin, 1927, or “A Pretty Girl
is like a Melody” by Ziegfield Follies, 1919).
Fixx does not leave his shop under normal circumstances. If he needs a
large item picked up or delivered, he has a standing relationship with Drud
Brothers, a local hauling firm.
All exterior doors and windows are rigged with loud electrical alarms in
case of a break-in (ELECTRICAL REPAIR to disable).

Special Customers
Simon Fixx is a genius at mechanical repair with a reputation among
other individuals interested in watches, clockwork, and mechanical repair.
Individuals who find a mechanical or electrical device that they cannot
understand (or worse yet, have broken) may be referred to him after trying
more traditional venues.
Simon also has a reputation on the street as willing to pay good money
for interesting, unique, or otherwise “previously-owned” merchandise. His
morality in hot clocks is flexible, but has a reputation for his honesty – he
has never been caught with obviously stolen goods, nor has he ever been
pinched for grassing on a confederate.
Simon’s good reputation also comes from his willingness to accept non-
monetary rewards, which may extend to “keeping the old parts” or having
the customer work a simple trade of services. Often this consists of simple
tasks such as moving large objects in the warehouse from one side to the
other, or accompanying the Drud Brothers on a pickup or delivery. The cost
is often minuscule compared to the service Fixx renders, and many believe
that he demands such services only in that it allows him to boss around
larger people.
Simon is knowledgeable in his field, and knows a great deal about
clockwork mechanisms, electrical equipment, and machinery, and can
provide that information at reasonable prices.

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Call of Cthulhu
A Peculiar Pentad
Simon can and does provide weapons to those he finds trustworthy and
whom can pay. After all, he says, a gun is just another mechanism – it just
makes a different noise when it operates. Most of his stock is salvaged from
earlier wars, but is in excellent condition. He will ask if the buyer has the
proper paperwork, but will not demand to see it, feeling that an individual’s
word is his bond. In particular he will say things like “I cannot sell you this
weapon unless you tell me that you are fully qualified and permitted to
handle it”, and let the investigators make the correct conclusions.
Simon claims to have no dynamite on the premises, but indicates that
arrangements can be made for a small fee (triple normal cost). Under the
arrangement, the Drud Brothers will make the delivery in two days (if
checked, the Druds have relatives working in construction).
Simon keeps a 12-guage, double-barreled sawed off shotgun under
the front counter and a smaller .32 automatic pistol at his workbench for
self-protection. Should he be robbed, his reputation is such that the local
police nd less savory types (including the ubiquitous Drud Brothers) will be
seeking retribution.
Simon’s shop does have a basement, but its entrance is a trapdoor
concealed beneath the mechanical chess-player. The clockwork chess-player
is weighted to pivot out of the way to reveal the trapdoor, which has an
iron ladder leading into the depths. This was the original foundation of the
structure, and is an unfinished basement that smells of wet earth. It is here
that Simon keeps the bulk of his valuables (in another safe), several cases
of weapons, and some particularly interesting objects. Simon Fixx will not
access the lower level when there are customers in the shop except under
the most dire emergency, and during business hours the chess-player keeps
the location hidden with an internal locking device that bolts it in place
(SPOT HIDDEN –20% to locate, MECHANICAL REPAIR or LOCKSMITHING to
disable).
It his here that Simon also keeps his strangest devices. First is a Mi-Go
brain canister that was brought to him (empty) several years ago. The device
is a shiny cylinder of unknown metal, about a foot high and slightly less in
diameter. The front of the device is set with three sockets in a triangle. The
top of the device pops open, to reveal a nest of fine wires that would hold
an orb about eight inches across.
The device is used by the Mi-Go to carry brains (human and otherwise)
with them. The sockets may be hooked up to particular electrical devices
that allow the brain to sense and speak. Simon has figured out that it relies
on electricity and probably radio, but has not made the discovery that it

Call of Cthulhu - 24 -
 chapter two Fixx's Fixxit
would contain a human brain. He believes that it may be some form of
esoteric electrical battery.
Simon also has a Mi-Go electric gun, which he refers to as a “carved
scarab” and keeps in the basement safe. Designed for use by the Mi-Go, he
has managed to jury-rig it to fire, with indifferent odd (1-2 on a d6). The
device has a range of 30 feet, inflicts 1d10 damage and immobilizes the
victim for the same number of rounds. The target must also match his or
her hit points against the damage done on the RESISTANCE TABLE or die of
heart failure. Simon will use the device only if forced to, worried about its
reliability.

Goods and Services

Fixx’s Fixxit deals primarily with the repair and resale of watches, clocks,
music boxes, and other mechanical devices. He provides additional services
for individuals whom he has worked with before and who can pay.
Typical Items Price
Men’s Wristwatch $5.95
Women’s Wristwatch $7.95
Men’s Gold Pocket Watch $32.50
Wall Clock $15.00
Mantle Clock $15.00
Accurate Clock (ship’s chronometer) $25.90
Guns As in the CoC Rulebook, takes
one day for delivery (He has
to bring them up from the
basement)
Dynamite and other illegal weapons Twice normal cost, delivered in to
two days to another location.

Purchases: Simon Fixx will buy items off the investigators, in particular

items of a unique nature or those whose previous owners may be hunting
for them. He is particularly interested in Mi-Go items similar to the
“Esoteric Battery” and “Carved Scarab”.
Prices vary, but Simon has access to about $300 in his workbench safe
and another $600 in the basement safe.
Repairs: Simon Fixx will repair an item for 10% of its cost. Repairs take
about week, though he can be induced to expedite matters to overnight if
paid triple asking price.

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Call of Cthulhu
A Peculiar Pentad
Unique items (such that would require a skill check to confirm) will cost
from between $10-50, depending on their complexity. Simon is limited by
the technological level of his age – he will be confounded by transistors if
they suddenly show up in the 1920s, but will be able to understand their
basic functions.
Information: Simon Fixx is glad to provide the benefits of his knowledge
for a price. A good general price would be about $5 per skill roll, $10 if you
are also buying his silence.

SIMON FIXX
Age 43, Repairman
STR 11 CON 15 SIZ 6 INT 18 POW 16
DEX 16 APP 9 EDU 12 SAN 40 HP 11
Damage Bonus: +0
Weapons: Shotgun (12-gauge, 2B, sawed off ) 50% Pistol (.32 automatic)
40%
Key Skills: Accounting 30%, Astronomy 40%, Craft (clockwork)
90%, Dodge 67%, Electrical Repair 78%, Hide 50%, Locksmith 60%,
Mechanical Repair 95%, Operate Heavy Machinery 40%, (Modern
Version – replace Craft Clockwork with Computer Repair 90% and
Electronics 90%))
Quote: “Never seen one quite like that before. Not to say it can’t be repaired.
Should take a week.”
Simon Fixx is the diminutive owner of Fixx’s Fixxit. He is a middle-aged
man affected by the genetic condition of skeletal dysplasia (“dwarfism”).
He is 3’, 2” tall, with exaggerated facial features. He has dark hair, usually
mussed (he runs his fingers through it while he’s thinking), and bright
brown eyes.
In manner, Simon is usually good-natured and friendly with customers.
If he senses that an individual is uncomfortable with his stature, he will
push the matter, often with small jokes (“Perhaps we can see “eye to eye” on
this” or “You seem a little low”) to get a rise out of them. If the matter does
not come up he is the soul of professionalism.
Simon will also flirt with any female investigators above APP 15. He is a
romantic at heart, but once presented with a problem, is all business.
Simon rarely leaves his shop, and if pressed, will plead that he suffers
from agoraphobia. In reality, he has made a world where he is quite
comfortable within the walls of the shop.

Call of Cthulhu - 26 -
 chapter two Fixx's Fixxit

Adventure Hooks
Simon Fixx can be used as a general support character for individuals
seeking repairs, understanding, or grey-market weapons. He can also be
used more directly in adventures.

The Full Case

• Simon has learned of the existence of another brain case, this one
apparently still sealed.

• It is up for sale at a nearby auction. The investigators may either bid on it,
or may seek to acquire it through other means.

• Should Simon acquire the full brain case, he will suffer a serious SAN
loss, feeding into what he is building in the basement.

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Call of Cthulhu
A Peculiar Pentad
The Thing in the Basement
• In addition to his other secrets in the basement, Simon is building an
exoskeleton there and his ultimate goal is to strike back at the tall
people who have denied him a full life.

• The suit is too small even for his diminutive size, but if he discovers how
the brain canister works, he can make it operate.

• His first victim will be the back-alley doctor who transplants his brain.
Then he will go after the investigators who know about the case.
Mi-Go Hunting
• Mi-Go are usually very good at cleaning up after themselves, but lost
track of both the empty brain canister and electric gun in Simon’s
possession. The underground safe has kept it that way.

• Removing the electric gun has tripped a tracer, and the Mi-Go are
investigating.

• Simon needs protection – he feels the shop is being cased for a robbery
– a shadowy shape has been up on the roof, peering in through the
skylight.

Looking After Business

• Despite all attempts, Simon has been called away from his shop, perhaps
on a matter for the investigators.

• He agrees to go, but only if the investigators will themselves mind the
store. He is expecting only a few customers, but wants someone present
while he is gone.

• In addition to giving the investigators a chance to look around, a rival

(or perhaps the Drud Brothers) see this as a chance to smash and grab.

About the Author

Jeff Grubb is an author and game designer with numerous credits,
including 14 novels and over 30 short stories. He is one of the co-founders
of the Dragonlance campaign setting and a co-creator of the Forgotten
Realms campaign setting. He currently builds worlds for computer game
companies, including Guild Wars. He lives in Seattle with his wife Kate
and two cats.

Call of Cthulhu - 28 -
 A Peculiar Pentad
Chapter Three

Healing Herbs

If you’re looking for the best variety of spices, the freshest herbs, and even
a medicinal powder, Healing Herbs is the shop to go to. No out-of-the-
way forgotten business, the shop is centrally located and does a thriving
business.

Open For Business

Situated on a busy city street, the shop “Healing Herbs” looks inviting. Large
tubs of rosemary and lavender flank the entrance, lending their scents to
those wafting from the shop. Fresh flowers and dried bunches of herbs
decorate the window, masking most of the light, making the shop dim,
aromatic, and inviting.
Inside, near the door, culinary herbs abound, bunches hang from
hooks on the walls and ceiling. Neat shelves offer herbs and seeds in
glass jars and wax paper packets. As one goes deeper into the shop, the
herb changes from the familiar to the exotic. The air grows mustier with
heavy scents. Behind glass cases displaying less common herbs, essential
for Chinese herbal remedies and bear both English and Chinese names:
Ginseng, ligusticum walichii, rauwolfia serpentine, rhododendron
tsinhaiense, and dozens more. One glass case includes animal bones, fur,
and body pieces such as shark fin, tiger penis, rhinoceros horn, and bear bile.
The walls are thickly lined with unlabeled apothecary drawers.
The store does a brisk business selling herbs for both culinary and
medicinal purposes. Housewives and chefs buy fresh and dried herbs:
parsley, oregano, ginger, and more. Many others seek herbal remedies
that promote good digestion, flawless skin, or sexual prowess and order
tisanes, tonics, or powders for their individual issues. These transactions
are handled discretely and regular customers are simply handled neatly
wrapped packages of their medicines without any commentary.
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A Peculiar Pentad
Different Eras
Modifying Healing Herbs for different locations and eras is very easy
and requires little to no work.

Gaslight
Add offerings of then-legal, but rather questionable, drugs such as
laudanum, morphine, and even opium. You can add some extra depth
to Zhang’s back story in a British setting by having his family involved
in the Opium Wars or in an American setting by giving him contacts
among the Chinese workers building the railways.

Modern
Many of the exotic herbs offered in the back of the shop are restricted
or illegal in the modern world. For instance, no shop in the United
States will sell rhinoceros horn openly. If you want to keep the shop an
open and welcoming place, remove these and replace them with tisanes
for weight loss and herbal supplements for the health of pregnant
women. If you wish to give the place a more sinister air, you can choose
to have the proprietors still sell them, illegally, to customers.
During normal business hours, there are 1d6–2 customers in the shop.
One of the two shop owners will be in the store (01–75% Zhijian ,
76–100% Raimonda). Zhijian is a Chinese man with a shaven head except
tor a long braided queue down to his waist. He wears garments with a
Chinese look to them: a patterned cotton shirt with a Mandarin collar and
loose cotton pants. He welcomes visitors with a shy smile and a small bow,
leaving them to explore the shop at their leisure. Raimonda is a tall woman
who wears clothes to emphasize her generous cleavage. She will loudly
welcome all customers and questions them about their needs, but rarely
gives them opportunity to answer as she thrusts herbs at them, “Here, smell
this?” and “Oh, taste these” while commenting on how she perceives them
. For instance, she might say the following to a male customer: “Oh, you’re
too skinny, you need more pasta! Doesn’t your wife feed you? And oregano,
lots of oregano. Some garlic will help put color in your cheeks! But if
you want to put some color in your wife’s cheeks and a smile on her face,
I recommend some ginseng in your tea. It’s a key ingredient for a happy
marriage!”
The shop services an important person in the area. If set in London,
“Healing Herbs” provides herbs for the Queen’s physician. If set in New

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chapter three Healing Herbs
York, a noted rail baron orders “male potency” enhancements from the
shop. If in a small town, the shop provides the police chief ’s wife with her
slimming tonic. Having such a tie to a powerful patron ensure that the
shop operates unmolested and any “strange events” that happen around the
shop (as they so often do when adventurers are involved.)

Special Customers
The proprietors are committed to the concept of goodness and desire to
thwart all that is evil. If the investigators convince them that their aims are
worthy and good, Zhijian and Raimonda will do whatever they can to help
them, including providing them with special services and elixirs.
Most of the public knows only the first floor shop. Behind a beaded
curtain is a storage room and workshop with even more dried herbs,
distilling equipment, and more. A threadbare rug covers a hatch into the
cellars which provide more storage, and two additional areas: a mushroom
farm and a second hatch that leads down into an old, dry section of the city
sewers. If investigators have proven their good intentions to the couple,
they will be shown the hatch as an easy way to entry and leave the shop
unobserved.
The proprietors live in the two stories above the shop. Thus, they can
be available at any hour of the day or night. In addition to a large kitchen
perpetually well-stocked and with something always on the stove to eat,
generous living areas, the Zhangs have three spare bedrooms that they can
offer the sick, injured, or pursued.

Zhang Zhijian
Zhang Zhijian, Age 40, Herbalist/Shop Keeper
STR 10 CON 12 SIZ 9 INT 14 POW 13
DEX 10 APP 11 EDU 13 SAN 65 HP 10
Damage Bonus: +0
Weapons: Fist/Punch 90%, Head Butt 30%, Kick 50%, or Grapple 50%
Key Skills: Bargain 30%, Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Dodge 25%, Listen 60%,
Martial Arts 85%, Medicine 75%, Occult 60%, Other Language (English,
Cantonese) 50% each, Own Language (Mandarin) 65%s
Quote: “How may I serve?”
Zhijian is quiet and self-effacing, preferring to blend into the
background and only come forward if a customer has a question or need.
He grew up in China and emigrated to make a better life for himself. Here,
his life became infinitely more interesting and chaotic.

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A Peculiar Pentad

Raimonda Zinicola Zhang

Raimonda Zinicola Zhang, Age 35, Herbalist/Shop Keeper
STR 13 CON 15 SIZ 14 INT 13 POW 12
DEX 11 APP 14 EDU 13 SAN 60 HP 15
Damage Bonus: +1d4
Weapons: Butcher Knife 35%, 1d6
Key Skills: Bargain 50%, Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Dodge 40%, Medicine
75%, Occult 40%, Other Language (Arabic, English, French, Latin,
Spanish) 50% each, Own Language (Italian) 65%, Persuade 50%, Spot
Hidden 60%
Quote: “It’s a good thing you come here! I got what you need.”

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chapter three Healing Herbs
Raimonda is a beautiful, tall, full-figured woman. A few strands of
silver make her black hair seem even darker. She dresses in bright, flamboyant
clothes. When speaking, she’s expressive, both with her voice and with her
hands. She grew up in southern Italy, on the mainland near Sicily. She’s
especially fond of Italians or those who speak her native language.

The Proprietors Together

The proprietors of the shop are an odd couple. This Chinese man and Italian
woman are both immigrants to the country. They met during naturalization/
citizenship classes and took English classes together. The instructors
organized seating by last names and they found themselves constantly paired
up in class work. At first disliking each other, then learning to rely on and
respect each other, and finally falling in love and suffering because they knew
the other could never love someone so different from themselves.
When their linguistics teacher disappeared under mysterious
circumstances, the pair investigated and saved him from a dark cult that
kidnapped him to translate a vile tome. Their brush with the Mythos spurred
Zhijian and Raimonda to declare their love for one another. Now, ten years
later, they run “Healing Herbs” together. Generally, one of them will be in the
front of the shop while the other goes to suppliers, prepares tisanes in back, or
works in their large herb garden located outside the city.
`Individually, they are competent and good at what they do. Together,
they share a special bond that makes their herbalism, Mythos, and occult
knowledge cumulative. They can act as one. However, such genius does
have its price. If a problem requires them to work on it together, the quiet,
friendly individuals turn into a wild couple, shouting, contradicting, and name
calling. Sparks fly and any bystanders are drawn in and required to take sides.
Raimonda slips into speaking Italian and Zhijian speaks rapidly in Mandarin,
neither quite understanding each other’s words, but both quite willing to carry
on the argument!

The Couple
When working together, certain skills increase and their personalities change.
Damage Bonus: If fighting together and to protect each other, each of
them gains an additional +1d3. If in their shop, the damage bonus increases to
+1d6 as they maneuver around and uses the resources available.
Key Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 25%, Dodge 60%, Medicine 99%, Occult
99%
Quote: “What business is it of yours? Only I can talk that way to him/her!”

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A Peculiar Pentad
Together, the couple has gone far beyond the bounds of ordinary
herbalism. They can brew poisons targeting specific foes and elixirs giving
the imbiber extraordinary powers. All of the special goods and services
listed below stem from their joint work.

Goods and Services

This shop sells many herbs and herbal remedies with no game effects. Any
common herb or mild treatment can be purchased at a reasonable cost,
ranging from a penny to a dollar. The proprietors are good, reliable people
intended to be a resource or even friend to the player characters.
The proprietors are a great source of information on medicine, alternative
medicine, Eastern (Zhijian) and European (Raimonda) folklore/occultism,
and even Mythos.
Of much greater interest to adventurers are the special services that
they can be called upon to offer: Discrete treatment for medical problems
(injuries, combat wounds, mundane and eldritch diseases), poisons and
weapons against unusual foes such as werewolves and vampires, and magical
elixirs that can enhance some skills. These things cost more than money.
Often, the cost literally includes blood, sweat, or tears. Their most exotic
and useful concoctions delve into how ailments can be draw from the body
or how knowledge or power can be distilled from the body.
Note: Herbal creations require fresh ingredients and do not last
indefinitely. In addition, often multiple doses of the same tincture have no
additional effect.
General Herbal Weapons and Defenses
Upon special request, Healing Herbs offers some supplies useful to
adventurers.
Forgetfulness Potion: Similar in effect to the cloud memory spell, this
brew blocks the drinker’s ability to remember a recent event. To successfully
use the potion on a target, a successful PSYCHOLOGY or PSYCHOANALYSIS
check must be made. The brew can achieve a lesser effect, diminishing or
increasing the importance of the recent event with a PERSUADE check. Only
one check can be attempted per potion. A drinker can only be effected
by one Forgetfulness Potion per day. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era:
$5/$15/$100.
Healing Elixir: Each day, an investigator can benefit from a single dose.
A Healing Elixir restores 1d4+1 hit points. A second dose the same day has
no effect. A third dose taken the same day causes 1d4+1 damage instead.
Shelf Life: 1 month. Cost by Era: $10/$25/$100.

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chapter three Healing Herbs
Mind’s Ease: Once per month, an investigator can benefit from a single
dose. Mind’s Ease restores 1d4+1 SANITY points and has a 5% chance to
cure one temporary or permanent insanity (roll randomly if multiple types
of insanity affect the drinker). Additional doses the same month have no
effect. Shelf Life: 1 month. Cost by Era: $20/$50/$500.
Pepper Bomb: A generally useful weapon made to irritate and
burn, a type of natural-ingredient tear gas that affects a 2 yard radius.
Each creature in the area takes 1d4 points of damage and must roll a
CONSTITUTION check or be incapacitate and able to take no action other
than move for 1 round. Shelf Life: 6 months. Cost by Era: $10/$25/$50.
Smoke Bomb: This packet of ingredients must be thrown into a fire to
ignite and provide a thick covering of smoke sufficient to fill a 15 ft. by 15
ft. room. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era: $2/$5/$25.
Space-Mead: A magical drink that allows a human to journey through
space. Upon drinking, the imbiber pays MAGIC POINTS and SANITY points
as described in the brew space-mead spell. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era:
$25/$50/$250.
Defense Against Types of Creatures
Brews specifically tailored to creatures have greater effect. If a sample of
skin, fur, or blood can be obtained from the specific individual creature and
included in the brew, the damage doubles.
Ghostly Essence Incense: As a generically useful tool against ghosts,
this herb-infused incense grants non-ghosts a +2 bonus to their POW
to resist ghosts’ attacks. One stick of incense will burn for 1 hour and its
scent provides protection in a radius of 10 feet, protecting all within the
area. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era: $5/$10/$20.
Skeleton Splinter: This paste features flint and shale flakes blessed
by a Buddhist monk. Applied to a weapon, it increases the chance for a
successful blow to shatter a skeleton by 20%. The weapon coating works for
1d3 successful blows before having to be reapplied. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost
by Era: $1/$2/$10.
Vampire Burn: This light liquid is dispensed through an atomizer,
making a fine mist of the combination of garlic oil, holy water, and other
ingredients. The attack is made as a DEX X 5 check. The concoction causes a
vampire great discomfort, inflicting 1d8 points of damage with a direct hit
and even 1d2 points of damage on a miss. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era:
$2/$4/$10.

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A Peculiar Pentad
Werewolf Bane: An oil made from wolf ’s bane and silver, a vial of this
can be thrown at a werewolf to cause 1d6+1 points of damage the first
round and 1d4 points of damage the second. Alternatively, werewolf bane
can be imbibed after a werewolf attack, but before transformation to cure
lycanthropy. Shelf Life: 1 lunar month (28 days). Cost by Era: $2/$4/$10.
Werewolf Bane Ointment: A lotion that can be spread on an
adventurer’s skin and clothing. Any werewolf that scratches or bites the
adventure takes 1d6+1 points of damage per successful attack. Shelf Life: 1
lunar month (28 days). Cost by Era: $4/$6/$10.
Wraith Resistance: This potion grants the imbiber a +2 bonus to the
target’s CON to oppose a wraith’s POW attack for 24 hours. Shelf Life: 1
year. Cost by Era: $5/$10/$20.
Zombie Salt: This paste features sea salt blessed by a voodoo priest
or priestess. Applied to a weapon, it creates a 20% chance to deactivate a
zombie. The weapon coating works for 1d3 successful blows before having to
be reapplied. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era: $1/$2/$10.
Leech Therapy
The Zhangs experimented with specially breed leeches and fed them
therapeutic herbs. The creatures have the ability to suck away CTHULHU
MYTHOS points and restore 1d6 points of sanity per point of CTHULHU
MYTHOS drained. However, the Zhangs do not know that such therapy has
a 1% cumulative chance (leeches start at 10%) to transform the leech into a
weak Formless Spawn who attacks anyone present.
Skill Enhancements
Like demands like, and the cost for these potions is beyond money. The
buyer must be willing to sacrifice 10 skill points (from 1 skill) for 1 month.
Skill Enhancements: Each of these draughts must be made as a special
order, taking one day to prepare. It will increase one skill chosen at the time
of creation (except for CTHULHU MYTHOS) by 10% for one full day. Only
one Skill Enhancement potion may be active on a person at a time. Drinking
a second Skill Enhancement potion replaces the benefits of the first. Shelf
Life: 1 day. Cost by Era: $5, $25, $500 plus 10 skill points (see above).

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chapter three Healing Herbs
Spell Elixirs
Useful as a one-time spell casting alternative, an elixir must be special
ordered at Healing Herbs at least one day in advance. The drinker must pay
the casting cost upon imbibing. Each of these spell elixirs carry with it a
special cost paid to Healing Herbs upon purchase: A vial of blood from the
buyer and the loss of 10 skill points for 1 month.
Bind Loup-Garou: As the spell. Shelf Life: 1 lunar month. Cost by
Era: $25, $50, $500 plus special.
Bless Blade: As the spell. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era: $25, $50,
$500 plus special.
Bless Crop: As the spell. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era: $5, $10, $100
plus special.
Cure Blindness: As the spell. Shelf Life: 1 week. Cost by Era: $5, $10,
$100 plus special.
Dream Vision: As the spell. Shelf Life: 1 week. Cost by Era: $5, $10,
$100 plus special.
Elder Sign: As the spell. Shelf Life: 1 month. Cost by Era: $25, $50,
$500 plus special.
Find Gate: As the spell. Shelf Life: 1 month. Cost by Era: $25, $50,
$500 plus special.
Healing: As the spell. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era: $5, $10, $100
plus special.
Ward the Eye: As the spell. Shelf Life: 1 year. Cost by Era: $25, $50,
$500 plus special.
Spells – Permanent Knowledge
More power, more risk, and a higher cost. The price of these potions is
the permanent loss of 10 skill points (may be distributed among multiple
skills), 2 points of CTHULHU MYTHOS, or one spell. In return, the client
can permanently learn one spell listed above in Spell Elixir. Casting spells
learned in this manner cost one less SANITY point than usual.

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A Peculiar Pentad
Adventure Hooks
Many adventures can originate with the Healing Herb shop.

• The proprietors notice a strange illness among many of their customers.

The symptoms point to living people slowly being turned into zombies.
All of the remedies attempted thus far have been unsuccessful. The
Zhangs want the investigators to determine the cause and put a stop to
it.

• Cultists have broken into the shop and stolen a Find the Gate spell elixir
being prepared for Dr. Thomas Hardcastle who has disappeared.

• A rash of werewolf attacks happened at last month’s full moon. The

proprietors fear a recurrence. Their supplies of remedies have dwindled
and they need werewolf blood to create more.

• A strange old man bought an assortment of ingredients from the shop on

two different days, from each of the proprietors. Over dinner, the couple
talks about the week’s events and what needs to be restocked. Comparing
notes, they discover that the man purchased supplies needed for a
Summon/Bind Nightgaunt spell. The Zhangs want the investigators to
trace the old man and stop him.

About the Author

Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel lives near Seattle, Washington with her husband,
Andy Collins, and cats, Elvis and Puck. She recently left her job of nine
years at Wizards of the Coast where she was an Events Manager, Editor,
Managing Editor, Game Designer, and Freelance Manager. Her recent
publication credits include Expedition to the Demonweb Pits, Scourge of
the Howling Horde, Races of the Dragon, and even a few entries in the
Wizards Presents: Classes and Races preview book for Forth Edition
D&D. Currently, she’s seeking the perfect-for-her job.

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 A Peculiar Pentad
Chapter Four

Hu` bert’s Fine Arts

A fashionable establishment on a quiet street, Húbert’s Fine Arts

stands out from its surroundings and unobtrusively draws attention to
itself, bestowing a touch of elegance upon its more reserved neighbors.
The three-story brownstone has a blocked-off half-flight of steps down
(leading to a bricked-up basement entry) and an inviting half-flight up
with elegant Art Deco wrought-iron rails. Behind the carved and polished
wooden door with its diamond pane of cut glass the hallway opens out
into small galleries on either side. The lighting is bright but indirect, the
decor simple but effective, the overall effect soothing and welcoming. You
feel an impulse to speak in a hushed voice as you step forward to meet the
owner and view the exhibits.

Open For Business

Húbert’s Fine Arts is well known throughout the city and beyond as
purveyors of specialty items, both paintings and sculptures, mainly
focusing on artists of the last century or so. Húbert specializes in the work
of artists with local or regional ties, especially those with rather outré
reputations shunned by more staid establishments, such as Richard Upton
Pickman and Robert Harrison Blake (and their British counterparts, such
as S. H. Sime). Húbert also has a thriving sideline in post-Columbian
primitives, and currently has items on display ranging from a Polynesian
rongo-rongo stick brought back by an Innsmouth whaler to small stones
bearing Native American petroglyphs, including a wide variety of small
idols from around the world.
Roauld Húbert (he pronounces it ‘Roe-all’d HOO-bear’) the proprietor
is suavity itself, never at a loss, ever ready to put a prospective client at
his or her ease with a bon mot or little story about his Harvard days, or

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A Peculiar Pentad
time in London or Paris. Many who have stopped by “just to have a look”
have found themselves giving their delivery address on the way out for
some little something they decided they just had to pick up. His assistant,
Claire, is acknowledged to be “a pretty little thing” and “smart as a button”
but “too quiet” for most. There are vague reports that some kind of janitor
or general factotum hangs about the place, but no one specifically recalls
seeing him.
Húbert has a genius for locating hard-to-find items for private collectors,
and conversely is rumored to have helped some hard-up distinguished
families quietly dispose of rather disreputable collections inherited from
family patriarchs. One wag even dubbed him an ‘asylum chaser’, since a
commitment by someone of good family to a private sanitarium is often
followed by a discreet inquiry from Húbert as to whether the unfortunate’s
executor or next-of-kin might have just inherited any art objects he or she
might need help disposing of.

Special Customers
Húbert’s offers an excellent place for Investigators who find themselves
at a loss how to interpret some clue relating to a Mythos painting or
object d’art that has fallen into their hands to find out more about the
artist or artifact. While Húbert himself actually knows relatively little
about art (his role is to run the gallery and please clients, both of which
he does with considerable flair), his silent partner, Claire Fordham, is very
knowledgeable on the subject. Claire can usually identify the painter at a
glance, as well as the school of art to which the piece belongs, the period
of composition (to within a few years), any unique features of the painting
itself, and whatever other facts about the art and artist the Keeper cares to
convey to the players.
Behind the facade of the gallery’s respectability, Húbert’s also acts as
a sort of high-class fence (Claire knows nothing about this side of the
business, although it would not shock her to learn of it). Húbert asks few
questions regarding the provenance of items offered to him for purchase,
and cares nothing about the uses to which they might be put once they
have left his hands. He has, over the years, cultivated a list of private
collectors who specialize in Mythos-related art and keep him on retainer
to snatch up such items as soon as (or, if possible, before) they come onto
the market. And while he will not go so far as to commission the theft of a
particular item, he has cultivated excellent sources of information in both
high and low society and quickly learns of any such burglaries. He can

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chapter four Hubert'ss Fine Arts
Hubert
Different Eras
Húbert’s Fine Arts is easily adaptable to different eras, since in every
age there are Mythos paintings and carvings, and the transfer of them
from one aficionado to another will be a lucrative if potentially risky
business.

Gaslight
The chief adaptation required for using Húbert’s Fine Arts in a late
nineteenth century setting is that the names of artists the studio
carries will need to be changed. Pre-Raphaelites rather than Post-
Impressionists will dominate the main gallery, with Beardsley and Sime
serving as the daring contemporaries in place of Pickman and Blake.
Biographical details of the gallery’s residents will also need adjusting:
Húbert and Claire’s liaison is much more scandalous in a Victorian era,
and he will accordingly take more precautions against exposure. Claire’s
husband will have been injured (probably with a personality-changing
head wound) in one of the many colonial wars of the era, and Old
Charlie’s traumatic experiences will have come from an early military
experiment with powered balloons rather than a fully-developed
dirigible.

Modern
In the modern era, Húbert’s will be self-consciously retro, in a newly-
renovated building in a transitional neighborhood. Some sculptural
items (for example, the fantastically rare rongo-rongo stick) will be
labeled as replicas in order to circumvent laws banning the sale of
cultural artifacts. One of the prize displays will be a full-size First
Emperor terra cotta figure of an ancient Chinese cultist.
The second gallery will feature carvings by Clark Ashton Smith,
miniature ‘pre-Tang’ statuary by Lord Dunsany, paintings by Sime,
and the like. A prized Pickton (the only one still on public display
anywhere) and a set of five Blakes still daunt those who enter the third
gallery, which has now frankly become a Grand Guignol of horrors.
Claire and Húbert will make no attempt to hide their liaison; both
Claire’s husband and Old Charlie are the scarated survivors of a black
ops military mission that ran afoul of Mythos entities.

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A Peculiar Pentad
thus, for a consideration, offer a shrewd guess to Investigators about such
an item’s current whereabouts, although he will not betray one of his long-
term clients in this manner.
If the Investigators themselves are the thieves in question, their first
contact with Húbert might be a discreetly worded offer to help them
dispose of any little trifles such as might have recently come into their
possession.

The Lay of the Land

The ground floor of Húbert’s Fine Arts, and the only area open to the
public, consists of four galleries: the main gallery running along the front
of the house, the smaller second and third galleries towards the back, and
the ‘Solid Objects’ display room on the left side of the entry hall. The
main gallery is filled with a wide and ever-changing variety of paintings,
mainly Post-Impressionists, talented regional artists of the preceding
generation whose stock is just now beginning to rise, and an eclectic array
of others. The second gallery is devoted to stranger fare, including many
experimental paintings by artists such as Roger Fry and C. Lavin, naïf
Shaker art, and pieces which simply took Hubert’s fancy for one reason
or another. The third gallery features gruesome but brilliant work by
Pickman and others, some of which include Mythos themes (–1d2 SAN
on a failed SAN check to anyone who gives them more than a cursory
glance). The ‘Solid Objects’ room is devoted to small statuary, carvings of
all kinds, modern-day primitives, and the like; a few of these items can
also have Mythos significance, at the Keeper’s discretion (–1d3 SAN on a
failed SAN check; the maximum loss is automatic for anyone who touches
or picks up such a piece, who also gains +1 CTHULHU MYTHOS in the
process).
The floor above is purportedly divided into two apartments, one for
Húbert himself and the other for Miss Fordham, his associate. In fact,
both Claire and Roauld live together in his rooms (as is evident from
anyone examining the area in question), while what would have been her
room is an artist’s studio. Anyone knowledgeable in contemporary art will
recognize at once that both the finished pieces on its walls and the canvas
currently in progress on the easel are the distinctive work of the highly
collectable artist ‘C. Lavin’, about whom nothing is known aside from the
work itself. The mysterious Lavin is in fact Claire herself (Lavin being her
maiden name); Húbert feels the paintings would be taken less seriously
if they were known to be the work of a female artist. The hallmark of C.

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chapter four Hubert's Fine Arts
Lavin’s work is the combination of two artists’ styles into a single piece—
for example, a Picasso painted by Van Gogh, or a Sargent by Sime, or a
Pickman subject given a Seurat pointillist treatment. The results is both
unsettling and, often, weirdly beautiful.
The basement is dark and claustrophobic, since all the basement
windows have been bricked up; the only natural light entering is a faint
purple glimmer from little bits of thick, opaque manganese glass set in
the sidewalk above. It is accessible only by a system of two doors, one at
the top and the other at the bottom of the stairs leading down from the
main level, only one of which can open at a time (that is, opening one
door automatically locks the other, which will unlock once the first door is
closed. This unusual arrangement was rigged up by this area’s only resident/
occupant, Old Charlie, an extreme agoraphobiac who serves as Húbert’s
art restorer. Charlie’s workshop is dimly lit by a single overhanging bulb
directly above the worktable or easel upon which rests his current project.
‘
Charlie has an uncanny knack of being able to piece back together torn
canvas, reassemble shattered artifacts, and in general turn badly damaged
items into much more saleable fully restored works of art. His den appears
at first both entirely chaotic and a fire hazard of the first order, since glue
pots and mugs of old coffee often simmer on hot-plates not far from open
cans of turpentine, but Charlie always knows exactly where everything in
his room is and can lay his hands on anything in the clutter at once.

Roauld Hubert
ROAULD HÚBERT (Ronnie Hubert). Age 34. Art Dealer
STR 9 CON 8 SIZ 13 INT 14 POW 16
DEX 13 APP 13 EDU 14 SAN 50 HP 11
Damage Bonus: none
Weapons: Handgun 50% (9mm automatic, d10 damage, 2 shots per
round)
Key Skills: Bargain 80%, Conceal 30%, Credit Rating 70%, Dodge 76%,
Fast Talk 80%, Law 40%, Other Language (French) 5%, Psychology 70%
Mental Afflictions: Prone to occasional acute fits of obsessive
possessiveness (see ‘Adventure Hooks’ below), mild megalomania
Quotes: “Although naivë in technique, this artist’s application of swirling
swaths of black is undeniably effective” (to a patron) and “I’d be only too pleased
to assist in any little way I can—but, of course, it’s going to cost you” (to an
Investigator).

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A Peculiar Pentad
A slight, dapper little man with elegant manners, always willing to
welcome new potential customers to his gallery, Húbert extrudes a
cosmopolitan polish. A shrewd businessman with enormous self-confidence,
he is never at a loss with a ready answer to any awkward question, all in a
pleasant voice with an unplaceable accent (he created it himself ).
Only the gallery’s two other residents know that Húbert’s real name is
Ronald Hubert [pronounced ‘HEW-bert’], a self-made man who never
attended an Ivy League school but who vastly enjoys the persona he has
invented for himself. Hubert is a master of creating a mood and getting
people to do what he wants —which usually means buying his wares, but also
buying into the version of himself that he chooses to present to the world.
Even if confronted with evidence of his true background, he will not break
character, insisting grandly that that might be who he was, but not who he
now is.
Claire Fordham
Claire Fordham (‘C. Lavin’). Age 31. Artist and Silent Partner
STR 8 CON 9 SIZ 11 INT 15 POW 14
DEX 13 APP 15 EDU 13 SAN 70 HP 10
Damage Bonus: none
Weapons: none
Key Skills: Art (painting) 95%, Credit Rating 50%, Cthulhu Mythos 5%,
Drive Auto 40%, History (art history) 70%, Other Language (French) 30%,
Psychoanalysis 90%
Mental Affliction: Periodic depression
Quote: “ You know, when you goggle like that, your jowls make you look exactly
like a pelican.”
Claire has the unusual gift of never speaking unless she has something
to say, whereupon she speaks her mind with devastating bluntness. Most
visitors treat her as a sort of shop girl, never realizing that she’s Húbert’s full
partner, co-owner of the store, and the artistic expertise behind the gallery.
Fewer still know that she is not ‘Miss Fordham’ but Mrs. Fordham; although
she and Húbert have a de facto common law marriage, Claire’s husband (Lt.
Archie Fordham III) is still alive, committed to a private sanitarium since his
permanent breakdown following The Great War. Claire visits him weekly.
Although he never speaks and only rarely acknowledges her presence, she
is (correctly) convinced by her extensive reading on the subject that only
continued contact with her keeps him from sliding into full catatonia.

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chapter four Hubert's Fine Arts
Claire’s second secret is that she is a talented artist, whose work (under
the name ‘C. Lavin’) is highly sought after. Well-educated (she has a degree
from Bryn Mawr), she met her husband through volunteer work during the
War. Since his mental collapse, she has read all the literature available on the
subject, and developed an ability, more often than not, to say just the right
thing to calm someone suffering acute mental distress (PSYCHOANALYSIS
90%)—for example, her husband, or Old Charlie. Or, if she so chooses,

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A Peculiar Pentad
just the wrong thing—for example, to upset an Investigator with a phobia.
Finally, diligent research by Investigators with excellent LIBRARY USE results
might uncover the fact that she is from Fall River, Massachusetts, the home
of Lizzie Borden, who is in fact a distant cousin; this is a red herring of no
significance.
Old Charlie
Old Charlie (Charles Ruston). Age 43 (looks sixtyish). Art Restorer
(Former Airman)
STR 12 CON 11 SIZ 17 INT 10 POW 9 DEX
17 APP 9 EDU 10 SAN 20 HP 14
Damage Bonus: +1d4
Weapons: improvised weapon 75% (two-by-four, crate, pallet knife; 1d6+db
damage), throw turpentine 70% (temporarily blinds target who fails to Dodge)
and set it alight 75%.
Key Skills: Craft (art restoration) 65%, Cthulhu Mythos 10%, Electrical
Repair 40%, Martial Arts (brawling; doubles damage from improvised
weapon) 75%, Mechanical Repair 40%, Operate Heavy Machinery (airship
engine) 40%, Other Language (French) 10%, Other Language (German) 20%,
Throw 70%
Mental Afflictions: Alcoholic, extreme agoraphobia
Quote: “Uhn.”
Hulking but emaciated, Old Charlie is a broken wreck of a man. Once a
proud member of America’s fledgling airship corps, he was aboard the U.S.S.
Shenandoah when it broke in two in tornado-strength winds over Ohio.
Although fourteen men plummeted to their deaths, amazingly enough twenty-
nine others survived by clinging to the remnants of the sundered dirigible.
Charlie was one of the seven survivors from the bow section, which shot up
to 10,000 feet. He insists to this day that the ship was actually torn apart by
tentacular air-beasts, which then pulled the crew one by one from the perches
to which they were so desperately clinging. Since then he has a horror of being
in contact with the open air, claiming that having once been cheated of their
prey they are now ever-searching for him to pull him to a nameless doom in
the sky. Any attempt to extract him from his lair, or expose him to the outside,
provokes a manic burst of violent resistance like unto that of a drowning man.
Other than that, Charlie is harmless. A man of few words, he is completely
loyal to Claire, whose husband was an old friend during the War; he knows
that without her providing him shelter (and a steady supply of illicit alcohol)
he would be long dead—or worse.

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chapter four Hubert's Fine Arts
Charlie is withdrawn to the extent of not being able to deal with daily
life, but he can still walk, eat what is set before him, and dress himself if
prompted. If anything happens to Claire, he will immediately become
aware of it and wander away like a sleepwalker from his high-class private
sanitarium seeking her. If she is dead, he will hunt down and silently strangle
those responsible one by one, never attacking until an intended victim is
alone (and, preferably, helpless). Fordham’s strength and constitution are
effectively doubled while he is in the grip of this revenge mania.
Pater the Cat, Age 4. Resident Cat
STR 4 CON 11 SIZ 2 POW 8

Adventure Hooks
Many adventures can originate at the shop.

• In a Cthulhoid universe, it is entirely possible that Old Charlie’s ravings

are nothing less than the awful truth. Curious Investigators researching
tentacular airbeasts will soon come across collaboration of Old Charlie’s
account in the Joyce-Armstrong Fragment, an account dropped from
the sky over Sussex by an intrepid pilot who had gone hunting such
horrors and fallen prey to them. It was Joyce-Armstrong’s theory that
such monsters inhabited localized areas and never descended to ground
level; the accuracy or otherwise of these guesses is the Keeper’s to decide
(for more on these malign creatures, see ‘The Horror of the Heights’ by
Conan Doyle [1913]).

• While touring the gallery, one unlucky Investigator who fails a POW
check begins to imagine that there is someone in the next room. The
other person is only glimpsed out of the corner of the eye, and no
other Investigator notices it. This shadowy presence seems to follow
the Investigator home, and over the next few days seems to become
more substantial than the Investigator himself (doormen open the door
for the figure, not the character; fellow Investigators find themselves
forgetting to include the affected character in their plans). Revisiting the
gallery shows that the figure in one painting has come to bear a marked
resemblence to the Investigator. If the link is not broken, the Investigator
is eventually absorbed into the painting and his place in the real world
taken by the painted image.

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A Peculiar Pentad
• The painting Old Charlie is currently restoring, a Dreamland scene by
an unknown pupil of Pickman’s, when properly restored will actually
form a gate, allowing a ZOOG to slip over into the Waking World. The
murderous little beast slits the sleeping Charlie’s throat but, before it can
cause more mischief, is killed and partially eaten by Pater the Cat. Both
Claire and Húbert recognize that Charlie’s death has a Mythos element
and summon the Investigators to deal with it. If they delay, or fail to
resolve the problem promptly, 1d12 zoogs emerge the following night to
wreak mayhem upon the premises.

About the Author

John D. Rateliff has edited or co-edited such titles as Night Below, Return
to the Tomb of Horror, the Third Edition Player’s Handbook, and d20 Call of
Cthulhu. An independent scholar, he recently published The History of The
Hobbit, the complete manuscript of one of J. R. R. Tolkien’s most famous
works. Only one of his three cats shares its name with a Great Old One.

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 A Peculiar Pentad
Chapter Five

The Sleipnir Club

I n the fashionable part of New York City, this metropolitan social club
provides its members a respite from the busy city life. Formally considered
a “second-tier” social club due to its recent founding and poor pedigree, the
Sleipnir Club has nonetheless become a hobnob spot for celebrities and
social climbers, particularly those with ties to the occultic world. Perhaps its
outre status increases its appeal to the jaded socialite.
Despite the club’s increasingly renowned clientele, it was founded as a
club for expatriates from the “old country,” generally consisting of Russian
and European immigrants. Most of the original members are artists and
dancers who meet at the club to discuss life in the new world. European
occult practitioners in the city meet here as well, and discuss more than
cuisine and geneaology.
The building is a four-story Italianate brownstone, a mere 20 feet wide
but very deep, wedged between two taller tower buildings. The overhanging
eaves from its flat roof bear uncharacteristic gargoyles in shapes of equines
and fire.
Naturally, a club member must accompany guests, and formalwear is
required for entry. The doorman typically opens only one of the 3-foot wide
oaken double doors to admit patrons into a tall foyer so often described as
“elegant,” the word begins to lose meaning. Dark oak paneling, marbled
pillars, chandeliers, and a plush red carpet greet guests, sometimes along
with a thin, balding man in his 50s, impeccably dressed, checking coats and
greeting guests personally.
Inside, the place smells of leather and faint spices. Conversation is
respectfully quiet in most areas, and the accoutrements of the club muffle
conversations, particularly in the sitting room, although outbursts of passion
are common enough to be unsurprising. The sitting room contains a radio,
though most members frown on its use.

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A Peculiar Pentad
The dining room runs the width of the first floor, and is twice as long.
The chef specializes in flavorful, but little-requested eastern European fare.
The sitting room smells faintly of liquor and scotch.
The club offers a small variety of amenities for gentlemen, and
scandalously, select memberships to ladies of “repute and character.”
The establishment’s name is meant to be a bit of a dodge. Although the
mythological name indicates the presence of occult information, the Norse
mythos are rarely associated with the club’s central in-group. Anyone who
arrives with Wotan on the lips quickly marks himself as an outsider. Of
course, Germanic and Scandinavian pagan practitioners can be found
among the high-backed leather chairs, but are dutifully circumspect.
Still, assuming investigators can locate a member to vouch for them and
avoid brazenly gauche behavior, they can find a wealth of occult sources
and personalities who meet on neutral ground to dine and talk shop.

Open For Business

Although its existence is no secret, the Sleipnir Club does not advertise,
and remains invisible to the majority of the public. Most in the know
think of it as a place for the eccentric upper class to meet privately. Other
suspicious types (and some who have been denied membership) believe
that bizarre rituals occur within the walls, everything ranging from seances
to human sacrifices.
Though an aura of mystery is good for business, this last assertion is
quite false. For the most part, the Sleipnir Club is almost disappointingly
“normal.”
Despite unsavory rumors, it is an unspoken club rule that no ceremonies
or practices are held on premises, and that facilities are maintained
in as ecumenical a manner as possible. This is partly to keep the area
spiritually untainted, but pragmatically, it keeps small cults from setting
up camp, allows rival groups to be civil in the same location, and deflects
governmental intervention in the case of some members’ less socially
acceptable practices. This rule keeps the location free for socialization
rather than business.
Instead, members and their guests may find a number of mundane,
useful services. Amenties at the club include a four-star dining room, a
steam room, an on-site barber shop, a sizeable library of classics and some
popular books of the day, a well-stocked bar in the sitting room, meeting
facilities, and 24 guestrooms for members and guests to stay overnight.

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 chapter five The Sleipnir Club
Different Eras
The Sleipnir Club is easily adaptable to different eras.

Gaslight
In the gaslight setting, the Sleipnir Club is located in London, and has
only just opened, or is in the process of opening as the investigators
learn of it. Everything is new, and none of the regulars have cemented
relationships. Lonek is in the process of calling in favors to establish
the organization, and is looking for investors.

Modern
Thanks to the traditional nature of metropolitan clubs, the Sleipnir
Club’s appearance changes little in modern times. The club will also
have added modern exercise amenities for members only, including
two squash courts. They also have an enviable wine selection built up.
Although the club provides free wireless access, cell phones and sundry
impolite technological behavior are not permitted inside.
Guests must be accompanied by a member for the first four visits.
Afterward, guests who act responsibly may visit the dining room and stay
in the guest rooms on a member’s good graces. Prices are markedly higher
for guests, so anyone frequenting the club may wish to find references and
attempt to join.
The dining room contains large round tables that seat 12. Meals are
cordial affairs. Private seating is not available, a deliberate mix of members
and guests, although the staff takes pains to separate those with obvious
grievances.
During other times of the day the sitting room is an enjoyable place
for conversation. This lush room, stocked with high-backed leather chairs,
elegant chaise lounges, and low benches, is served by a well-stocked bar
and light fare from a short-order kitchen. Smoking is not only permitted,
but encouraged. The room continually emits the low hum of quiet
conversation, and many secrets pass beneath the dim chandeliers. Though
the club may be normal, its patrons are anything but.
Several times a year, the club invites a prominent historian or theologian
with various occult ties to speak at the club, and the question-and-answer
sessions afterward are typically lively.

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A Peculiar Pentad
Perhaps the single atypical offering of the club is gracious ameneties for
sanity restoration. The club is not an asylum – the permanently insane are
shuffled off to appropriate venues. However, a handful of longer-term residents
at the club are under the care of Lonek Rosenbluth, the club’s majordomo, who
also serves as an onsite psychologist. Those who can afford the extended stay
and demonstrate need of his services may use the Sleipnir Club as a safe place
to recover sanity for weeks or months. However, continued interaction with club
members could threaten nearly anyone’s sanity, so these unfortunates usually
remain in their guest rooms, except for meals.
Club regulars include:
• Tadeas Bialy is the Czech head chef, responsible for the kitchen and devising
the daily menu. He is an excellent chef, and good natured, though easily
offended if his food is criticized.
• Vasiliy Kozlov tends bar in the evenings in the sitting room. He would prefer
his customers drink vodka, a refined drink for writers and thinkers
• Nick Dimitriou is a Greek kid whose father was a renowned painter, and
founding member before recently passing away. Nick works as a busboy in the
dining room. He doesn’t know what to make of this place.
• Arnold Grantham is a recent convert to theosophy, and will steer any
conversation toward a religion’s or mythology’s common roots, and their roles as
evolutions toward consciousness.
• Doctor Archibald Kane is a practicing pagan, but feels his medical practice
would be ruined if this were revealed to his high society patients. Nonetheless,
he does like the pagan society, and fits in well at the club.

Special Customers
In a building full of people devoted to secret knowledge, there is surprisingly
little mystery to the place itself. Newcomers are sometimes disappointed to
learn there are no secret passages, sacrificial altars, or “real” libraries sequestered
within the walls. Members are welcome to examine the layout of the building,
and any interested party can find the building’s floor plan properly registered at
city hall.
The people inside the club are the main attraction. If the club regulars
don’t know about occult happenings in the region, then they know who does.
Information on occult individuals and groups, who is genuine and who is a
charlatan, where to find precious or unorthodx commodities, all these answers
may be found here. The trick is finding the right person to ask.
In most cases, that right person is Lonek Rosenbluth.

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 chapter five The Sleipnir Club
Lonek Rosenbluth
Lonek Rosenbluth, Age 54, majordomo of the Sleipnir Club
STR 9 CON 14 SIZ 10 INT 17 POW 10
DEX 15 APP 10 EDU 17 SAN 37 HP 12
Damage Bonus: +0
Weapons: none.
Key Skills: Accounting 32%, Art: Sculpting 35%, Bargain 47%, Credit
Rating 55%, Cthulhu Mythos 62%, Fast Talk 45%, Handgun 40%, Library
Use 47%, Polish 80%, English 75%, Russian 25%, French 25%, Persuade
72%, Psychoanalysis 64%
Phobia: Agoraphobia
Quote: “Some of us came here because our art brought us here. More of us
because our art was the reason we were driven out from the old country.”

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A Polish Jewish immigrant, Lokek has been with the club from the
beginning, eleven years ago. Jovial and accomodating, Lonek still has a
faint Polish accent, but an excellent command of English. Evidence exists
that Lonek technically started the Sleipnir Club, Ronald Kamen has been
recognized as its founder and president, and is recognized as such on all
official documents and popular report. Kamen is rarely seen on premises, and
Lonek brushes off questions about it. Their relationship is professional, but
the men are not commonly seen together.
Lonek seems undisturbed by lack of recognition as a founder. He
maintains a proprietary role at the club, lives onsite, and refers to himself as
the club’s majordomo. He seems to enjoy a life of conversation, philosophy,
and tending to members’ needs in the comfort of his surroundings. He
thinks of the Sleipnir Club as his home.
A sculptor in his youth, Lonek traveled extensively, and often unofficially.
Most of his witty, breezy travel stories involve stowing away or talking
his way onto conveyances to exotic locales around the globe, and wistful
reminiscences of women he romanced along the way.
In truth, Lonek was an investigator for several years, much like the player
characters. He witnessed many horrors and gained a considerable body of
occult tomes and artifacts, some stored in the club’s library. In conversation,
he glosses over darker experiences and brutal truths, instead telling stories of
colorful escapades and beautiful women.
Only the persistent can batter through Lonek’s pleasant defenses.
Investigators must impress on him that they are not merely curious, but in
need of information. Lonek is quite cagey, sizing up potential inquirers with
offhanded questions about their parents, professions, and travels. He well
knows the most dangerous investigators frequent certain hotspots around
the globe.
Once an honest investigator has gained his trust, Lonek becomes a wealth
of knowledge about occultism and practicioners in the area. However, he has
his price: information. Lonek (generally) equates information with safety
and so he collects and trades it. Investigators who want information from
him must give Lonek things he doesn’t already know... a tricky propostion
for one so well versed. Thus, investigators come to Lonek for information,
and usually find themselves leaving to uncover some unrelated mystery to
trade for Lonek’s.
This is because, although genuinely pleasant and helpful, Lonek is trapped
inside the club. Lonek is as sane as a man can be with a terrifying wealth
of Cthulhu knowledge in his head, which is to say, not very. He maintains

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 chapter five The Sleipnir Club
a veneer of well-being by regimenting his day, focusing on helping others,
meditating, and never leaving the Sleipnir Club due to a crippling case of
agoraphobia. Although a few people know this odd fact about him, no one
suspects its severity. When asked, he waves away concerns, claiming to be too
busy to “go traipsing about with all the work to be done here.”
To compensate, he has an impressive network of friends, contacts, and
busines associates to bring him the things he needs. By shrewd design, his
life at the Sleipnir Club is predictable and safe. In fact, the club is a cage of
sanity Lonek has built for himself, to protect his tortured mind.
This requires him to send others to collect new information for him, a
task he gladly presses upon investigators who show themselves trustworthy.
On their return, he shares his knowledge as he sees fit. However, if Lonek
is cagey in revealing normal occult information, he is parsimonious about
sharing CTHULHU MYTHOS, loathe to share the madness with others, and
partly in denial. At all costs, he is committed to providing a sane resting place
for others, and chiefly, himself.
Lonek has one secret he has kept from everyone, except Ronald. Soon after
establishing the Sleipnir Club, with Ronald’s help, Lonek smuggled a genuine
old country golem out of Prague to New York. The machinations required to
extract the golem from its resting place in Prague were extraordinary. Though
they were friends for many years before, Lonek strained Ronald’s finances and
patience with the exploit, and their interactions have been strained since
The golem is now housed inside a hollow column in the club’s foyer, ready
to be activated in dire emergency. Lonek knows that a golem would be small
help against a return of the Old Ones, but in his travels, he has witnessed the
impressive power of a true golem in protection against unspeakable creatures.
He swore that when he settled down, he would take pains to keep one near
him should his sanctuary suffer incursion. He does not visit it, but he knows
how to quickly activate it with a command word if he needs it.
Yet there is another secret Lonek keeps even from himself. His long
acquaintance with horror plagues him in nightmares. He rarely remembers
them, but they drive his subconsious mind. On any given night, there is a
10% chance that Lonek will sleepwalk around the club. As though guided by
unseen forces, when the club is most silent, he approaches the column where
the golem is kept. With closed eyes and unerring hands, he carves the clay
of the golem, reshaping it with the tentacles of a sea creature on its face and
dragon-like wings folded over its back. No one knows that his fevered dreams
compel him to sculpt the likeness of his nightmares, even as his conscious
mind works furiously to repress it.

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Goods and Services
The Sleipnir Club provides excellent dining and lively company to members
and their guests in a fashionable part of town. It can be, literally, a safe
house to Investigators, or just a place to meet an informant. Because of the
constant traffic and notoriety, it is difficult to be secretive, providing the
anonymity of a public space. As with most clubs, rooms are available to
members and their guests.
Membership is by invitation only, and potential members must be
sponsored by at least three current members. Yearly dues for membership are
$400, which provides free access to all of the club’s amenities, two free weeks
of guest stay, and a discount on other expenses at the club.
Although not a licensed psychotherapist, Lonek has a fair amount of
practice through time spent under other psychologists’ care, helping others,
and self-therapy. He will gladly use his psychoanalysis skill to assist an
investigator teetering on madness, assuming the investigator can pay for
the stay at club prices.
Prices listed are for members/guests. If there is no slash ,then the listed
price is the only price.

Item Price
Breakfast and Lunch up to $1
Dinner typically between $1 and $2.
Towel fees for steam room free/.05
Haircut .30/.50
Shave .15/.25
Rooms $1 night, $5 week/$2 night, $10 week
Drinks range from .25 to $1

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 chapter five The Sleipnir Club
Adventure Hooks
The Sleipnir club can provide any number of “meet a stranger in a tavern”
jumping off points for investigations. Once investigators become more
acquainted with the staff and regulars, they can get drawn into other
occurrences:

• The collection of old country artists who meet at the Sleipnir Club
begin to have disturbing dreams of strange hieroglyphs carved onto
the walls of the club, a green slime trickling in under the doors, and a
hulking giant with a tentacled face and dragon wings emerging from
the foyer, trapping everyone inside. Though versed in the mystic arts,
none of them knows what these symbols mean -- except Lonek, who is
curiously quiet on the topic.

• A hunched old rabbi asks the investigators for help in recovering a

stolen golem from Prague. He fingers the respectable Lonek as the
thief.

• The library contains a collection of “popular” occult books. More rarified

tomes may also lie among the stacks. Perhaps they are hidden there,
or perhaps they have been placed there by others who wish them to be
found.

• Lonek makes a point of knowing everyone who comes through the

club. But when a mysterious stranger appears, his normal sources are
no help. He needs trustworthy outsiders, with plausible deniability, to
research this new person, and discover his or her agenda. He’s willing
to trade precious knowledge in exchange for information about this
person.

• The police got a tip that a child was abducted by “some crazy cultist
down at the Sleeper Club” and now they’re nosing around, asking
uncomfortable questions. In fact, there is a child, a runaway, hiding out
inside the club. Who the child is running away from is more troubling
than either of these other facts.

About the Author

Jeff Quick lives in Philadelphia of all places. He writes for a living, but also
runs a nonprofit bottled water company, Unda Water, giving proceeds to
water-starved areas of the world. Find out more at undawater.com.

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