Dan- Journalist, "Alexandre Jenkins"; working on a "serial murder" case for the New York Times, he discovered some evidence that shows that the man who originally confessed of the crimes may not actually be guilty in spite of positive ID from several witnesses and other overwhelming evidence. The man is reportedly raving mad and the authorities aren't letting the papers speak to him. He has been found guilty and sentenced to the electric chair. He will be put to death in 30 days. Unable to help the man, the journalist had taken a few days off to visit family in Massachusetts. At the beginning of the campaign, he had started having disturbing dreams about the case and decided to head back to New York by overnight bus for one more try in convincing the authorities to at least stay the execution.

Robert- Professor Primbridge (his name for now), a Professor of Archeology and Anthropology at Miskatonic University in Arkham. A group of local historians had found a secret cache of ancient tomes in a house in Dean's Corner, MA. Knowing that these books were ancient and potentially dangerous, they contacted Professor Armitage at M.U. to retrieve the books. Unable to go himself, Pr. Armitage asked Primbridge to go get them. Having picked up the books, he is now on his way back to Arkham via bus. Primbridge is the only "legacy" character in the campaign; i.e. he is the only one to carry over from the last campaign. He has knowledge of the Mythos and knows of its dangers to humanity.

Ray- Treasure Hunter / "Egyptologist", "George Alexander"; Having recently returned to England from Egypt, he learned of the disappearance of twin statuettes of Anubis from the London Museum of Antiquities. Learning through various channels that one of them was in a strange old town called Innsmouth, MA, he made his way there and acquired it. With his eyes on the reward, he was on his way on the same bus as the others to Boston to book passage to England when the game began.

Mike- Journalist/Reporter for a "rag", National Enquirer- type "newspaper", "Derrick"; reports on strange happenings and occult matters. Having received some strange reports from the small town of Dunwhich, MA, he has completed his assignment there (remarkably not finding much) and is on his way back to New York, also on the overnight bus.

Rick- Canadian Mountie (on "vacation"/leave), "William Christian"; Having worked on a serial murder case a few years ago, he was never quite convinced that they had the correct suspect. The man had turned himself in, confessed, and then went raving mad. The man was tried, convicted, and hung for the crimes. The mountie's partner disappeared about the time the man confessed and (despite much searching) has never turned up. The recent conviction of the serial killer in New York caught his attention because of similarities in the modus operandi. Then, looking at a rare photo of the killer from the New York Times, he is shocked to see that the killer looks remarkably like his old Mountie partner! Taking leave for a few weeks, he decides to go to New York to see if he can question the man (or at least get a better look at him).

Josh- Pilot of Colonial Air Transport, "Jason Hayes"; Having picked up a salvage part from a downed private aircraft in Massachusetts, he is on his way back to Boston via bus to have it installed on his airplane (which is temporarily out of commission).

Busdriver, Joe- NPC

Old Man, Not named- NPC

Susan and Mark Haversham- Recently married, on way to Boston to visit Susan's mother- NPCs

The group is all on an old overnight bus on its way to Arkham. The bus had just passed Dunwhich at 9:15 p.m. The weather was particularly bad with heavy cloud cover and a good deal of cold rain and gusty wind.

Taking a detour due to a washed out bridge, the bus blows a tire several miles out of Dunwhich (where they had picked up the last passenger; Mike's Journalist). The bus careens off the road and down a steep hillside, crashing into a large tree only a few feet from a sheer drop to the Miskatonic river a hundred feet below. Mark Haversham is killed in the crash and his wife is injured and in shock (and unconscious most of the time). The Old Man wanders away shortly after the wreck.

The group helps the wounded as best as they can while Joe, the Busdriver, takes the only electric torch and sets out in the increasing rain after stating: "There's a house 'bout a mile back.. I'll go up there and see if I can get some help. Be back in an hour or so." The Treasure Hunter discovers that his statuette of Anubis is missing (and finds some small, strange bloody "footprints" on the bus' floor near the body of Mark Haversham). After waiting for several hours with no further sign of Joe or help, they collect what items they can that would be helpful and set off for the house as well. They only have an occasional flash from a camera to help them make their way.

Once on the road begin to make better time toward the house. Several flashes show what looks like a large, black dog pacing them on the side of the road. They hear strange noises and howls in the woods around them. The professor discovers that the leather satchel that contains the 3 books he is carrying has grown strangely warm...

Making their way to the abandoned and ruined house, things happen in quick succession. First, they discover the corpse of Joe, the Busdriver, swinging from a light fixture. He has been eviscerated. He is hanging by the metal light fixture itself, the heavy iron bar wrapped tightly around his neck. They take the still-lit electric torch from his hands, discovering in the process that he is still quite warm.

Finding a hearth in another room, they gather old boards from the walls and floor and build a small, smoky fire. Freeman's journalist closes the door to the hallway after something dark ran by the open door and down the hall. Right after that, something rips open the wall and steps into the room. It is Joe's corpse. The group opens fire on it with little apparent effect. It slams the Mountie through the wall and continues into the room. The hail of gunfire eventually downs it (as is the Treasure Hunter who is severely wounded by friendly fire). The whole time, the Professor has been attempting to read the book as well as cast a spell that would cause the fire to blaze up. He cannot read this dialect of Latin, but does manage to make the fire blaze fiercely.

Just as he succeeds in this, the door slams open and a large shape walks into the room. It is Anubis! This horrifying visage is at least 7 1/2 feet tall and is apparently the statuette come to life and grown a great deal larger. It ignores all others and makes it way to the professor. It extends its hand and demands the book. It does so in Ancient Egyptian, and though no one understands the words, the intent is obvious: give the book over or everyone dies. The professor, who is calmly holding the books over the fire, tells it that he will give it the book if it will leave without harming anyone. It agrees with a nod and the professor gives it the book. It smiles a wicked smile and turns and walks from the room. There is a bright flash from Mike's reporter's camera that halts it at the open door. It turns around, grabs the camera, and crushes it. Then it turns back and leaves the room.

The group renders first aid to the injured and makes agrees to cover up the happenings by placing Joe's body on the bus and setting the bus on fire. They will say that they barely got out in time before the bus went up in flames. As Susan (the NPC) was never really conscious and the old man is missing (the only loose end in their cover-up), they will say they didn't leave the site of the crash. This way there will be no investigation of the house (which is riddled with bullet holes and blood). How they explain or cover-up Ray's character's bullet wound hasn't been addressed yet.

Last modified 09/26/03