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NODE 7: HARRIS CHEMICAL PLANT

(4121 Minnehaha Ave., Minneapolis, MN)

• Located along Minnehaha Avenue, which runs between downtown Minneapolis and Minnehaha Falls.
• A Milwaukee Road rail line runs behind the chemical plant, servicing other factories and grain silos that run up and down the western side of Minnehaha Avenue.
• A rail spur runs into the Harris loading dock, it’s not unusual for 1-3 tanker cars to be parked there (loading or unloading chemicals).

BACKGROUND

• Founded by Ezra Harris in 1895.
• Ezra Harris died in 1905 and the company was inherited by his son Clarence.
• Clarence died in 1923 without heir and the company was acquired by John Barca. (Clarence was actually poisoned by Tanit cultists specifically so that they could acquire the company.)
• Harris Chemicals has a contract with the federal government to denature alcohol: Although banned by Prohibition, alcohol still has a wide variety of necessary uses in industry. When it became clear that this industrial alcohol was being used to create illegal liquor, the government began denaturing the alcohol — adulterating the alcohol with foul-tasting additives that wouldn’t affect its industrial uses, but made it unpalatable for drinking.
• Under Barca’s direction, some of the denatured alcohol is also adulterated with Tanit parasites. This alcohol is then dropped off at an otherwise abandoned warehouse a few blocks south on Minnehaha Avenue, where Oleg Andersson picks it up and takes it to Node 6: Davis Farm to be renatured and turned into Minnesota 13.
• The secret section of the denaturing plant where the Tanit parasites are added to the alcohol is also being used as a convenient holding facility for kidnapped kids before they are taken to Node 8: Minneapolis Federal Reserve.

SURVEILLANCE

Workers: The plant employs nearly fifty people. It operates twenty-four hours a day in three shifts, although the night shift is a skeleton crew.

Security: There are four security guards on the day shifts (one at the front desk, one at the loading docks, and two on patrol). At night this is increased to six security guards. (This seems like an unusual amount of security for a business like this.)

Loading Dock: There are usually 1-3 tanker cars on the Harris rail spur, which are filled or emptied with special pipes and hoses before being picked up. Trucks arrive throughout the day, loading and unloading barrels.

Secure Denaturing Facility: External surveillance will note a special freight elevator on the loading dock that requires special keys to access. (This freight elevator leads to the denaturing facility.) PCs who gain access to the plant interior (getting hired, posing as inspectors, etc.) will be able to identify the location and public function (denaturing alcohol) of the secure facility.

John Barca: Barca will intermittently stop by the facility. He’ll visit the management offices and then go into the secure denaturing facility (on his way to the Tanit infusion area). Streetwise or Bureaucracy pegs him as out of place (his suit and shoes several tax brackets above anyone else working here). He can be followed back to Node 8: Minneapolis Federal Reserve.

Company-Owned Truck: Harris Chemical Plant has a single company-owned truck, which can be noticed as distinct from the other trucks coming and going from the loading dock. Following this truck will reveal a handful of local deliveries, but also notably:

• Being loaded with barrels of denatured alcohol that’s dropped at an abandoned warehouse a few blocks north. (Oleg Andersson then picks these barrels and takes them to Node 6: Davis Farm.)
• Transporting kidnapped kids (see below).
• Leaving empty to pick up tophet serum from Node 8: Minneapolis Federal Reserve and bringing it back here.

Moving Alex Griffin: During the night shift on Sunday, November 15^th, Alex Griffin is moved to Node 8: Minneapolis Federal Reserve by four Tanit cultists in the company-owned truck. (He’s brought down the secure elevator and loaded into the company truck.)

QUESTIONING WORKERS

Drivers: The Harris drivers can give details about their normal delivery schedule and the secure freight elevator used for processing denatured alcohol.

• They also intermittently pick up crates from Node 8: Minneapolis Federal Reserve, which are sent up the secure freight elevator to the denaturing facility.
• Any Interpersonal 1 / Credit Rating 1: The Harris drivers will reveal that they intermittently drop denatured alcohol at an abandoned warehouse a couple blocks north of the chemical plant. They don’t know, but they suspect what happens to it after they drop it off.

Other Workers: Any Harris worker can tell the PCs about normal plant operations, layout, and the secure denaturing facility.

ENTRANCES / GETTING IN

Front Entrance: On the corner of the building. Leads to the Front Office.

Loading Dock:

• Front Office: A door leads from the Loading Dock to the Front Office.
• Factory Floor: Large doors lead from the Loading Dock to the Factory Floor.
• Freight Elevator: Goes up to the Testing Labs on the 3^rd Floor.
• Secure Elevator: Goes up to the Denaturing Facility on the 4^th Floor.

Windows: 1^st Floor windows are barred (except in the Front Office). Windows on the higher storeys are unbarred (except for the 5^th Floor, which are heavily secured and cannot be opened).

INTERIOR

1st FLOOR

1st FLOOR – LOADING DOCK

• Trucks can drive into the rear loading yard from the street; there’s an entrance gate and an exit gate.
• The rail spur leads directly across Harris Chemical’s yard and into the loading area.
• There are two freight elevators — one leads to testing labs on the 3^rd Floor; a secure freight elevator leads to the Secure Denaturing Facility on the 4^th Floor.
• Large loading doors lead to the Factory Floor.

FRONT OFFICE

• Located on the corner of the building.
• Staff here manages customers and processes shipping documents brought here from the loading docks.
• Stairs lead up to the Management Offices on the 2^nd Floor; and down to the Basement.
• Bureaucracy: There’s plenty of evidence to be found here of John Barca’s ownership of the company, although he seems to take little interest in the day-to-day management, except for the denaturing contracts.

FACTORY FLOOR

On the far side of the loading docks from the Front Office.

• Various vats, pressure vessels, and the like.
• The ceiling is two storeys high with windows primarily on the upper level.
• Stairs lead down into the Basement; and up to the Testing Labs.
• The Management Offices overlook the factory floor; there’s a balcony and also large glass windows. A staircase leads from the offices down to the factory floor.

BASEMENT

• Non-volatile storage.
• PCs can waste a lot of time down here, but there’s little of interest.
• File Cabinets: Digging through these dusty records with Bureaucracy will reveal the factory’s history of ownership (including John Barca’s current ownership). It will also reveal that the 4^th Floor was heavily revamped to accommodate the federal denaturing contracts, and further construction work was done up there following Barca’s acquisition of the company.

2nd FLOOR

MANAGEMENT OFFICES

• These offices overlook the Factory Floor. (There’s a balcony and a glass wall. Stairs lead down from the balcony to the Factory Floor.)
• In the corner of the building directly above the main entrance, there’s a spiral staircase leading up to John Barca’s office (which is on the top floor of a tower). Bureaucracy in Barca’s office both identifies him as the owner of Harris Chemical and reveals that chemical shipments are being made from Node 8: Minneapolis Federal Reserve which he’s personally overseeing (which doesn’t make a lot of sense, although they’re tied to the federal denaturing contracts).

3rd FLOOR

TESTING LABS

• Chemistry reveals that these labs are conducting perfectly mundane testing and development work; exactly what you’d expect from an industrial chemical plant.
• Well-secured doors limit access to the 4^th Floor.

4th FLOOR

SECURE DENATURING FACILITY

• Can be accessed via well-secured stairwells from the 3^rd Floor or via the secure freight elevator from the Loading Docks.
• Evidence Collection / Bureaucracy: John Barca has left detailed instructions on the specific quantity of denatured alcohol which, instead of being directly shipped out, should be redirected to the 5^th Floor. (These instructions explicitly identify John Barca.)
• Entrance to Tanit Infusing Facility: The entrance to the secure facility on the 5^th Floor is hidden, requiring a 1-point spend to find. (Any leveraged clued pertaining to the secure facility — records of the facility, noticing the 5^th Floor windows on the outside of the building, etc. — removes the requirement for the 1-point spend.)

5th FLOOR

TANIT INFUSING FACILITY

• In this special chemistry lab, Tanit parasites — stored in glass bottles containing purplish liquid — are carefully infused into the denatured alcohol.
• Chemistry: Procedural notes here reveal that the Harris Chemical denaturing process has been carefully designed to prepare the alcohol for infusion with the “tophet serum.” (Infusing raw alcohol would apparently “sterilize” the serum.)
• Crates: Labels on empty and half-empty crates indicate that the “tophet serum” is shipped here from Node 8: Minneapolis Federal Reserve.
  • Bureaucracy 1: The markings indicate that the crates were stored in the vault at the Federal Reserve Building.

HOLDING CELL

• Alex Griffin is held in a small, heavily soundproofed cell on the far side of the Tanit Infusing Facility.
• Alex Griffin: Alex was kidnapped from Node 4: Harriet Tubman’s Asylum for Colored Orphans and brought here several days ago. He doesn’t really understand what’s happening, he’s very scared, but he’s just barely managing to keep it together. Any show of human kindness or a suggestion that the PCs are going to take him somewhere safe triggers an emotional breakdown (Reassurance can help pull him back together). Alex notably overheard someone say that he was going to be “taken to the Fed,” although he doesn’t know what that means.

---

NPCs AT HARRIS CHEMICAL

HARRIS CHEMICAL SECURITY: Athletics 5, Mechanical Repair 4, Scuffling 6, Fleeing 4, Weapons 5, Health 8

Alertness Modifier: +1 (Careful Eye)
Stealth Modifier: -1 (Uniforms stand out)
Weapons: .38 revolver (0), Billie Club (-1), Fists (-2)

TANIT CULTISTS: Athletics 5, Firearms 4, Scuffling 6, Weapons 5, Health 8

Alertness Modifier: +1 (three eyes are better than two)
Stealth Modifier: 0
Weapons: dagger (0), fists (-2), small caliber pistols (-1)
Stability Loss: +0, if seeing the eye

Go to Node 8: Minneapolis Federal Reserve

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These revelation lists are a master reference document for Left Hand of Mythos, providing a list of the conclusions the players need to make while pursuing their investigation and all the clues pointing to each of those conclusions (including the locations where those clues are found).

For more information on how to use revelation lists while running an investigation, check out Node-Based Scenario Design and Using Revelation Lists.

REVELATION LIST – NODES

NODE 0: HILL HOUSE

NODE 1: 13 BLACK CATS

• HILL HOUSE: 13 Black Cat Flyers
• HILL HOUSE: Questioning Rachel Hill
• HILL HOUSE: Alicia Corey’s Corpse

NODE 2: MINNESOTA 13 / BOOTLEGGER

• HILL HOUSE: Liquor Bottles
• HILL HOUSE: Questioning Rachel Hill
• WHISKEY DEATH: Liquor Bottle
• 13 BLACK CATS: Questioning Gladys Roy

NODE 3: ALICIA COREY’S BOARDING HOUSE

• HILL HOUSE: Alicia Corey’s Corpse/Purse
• HILL HOUSE/RACHEL: Gladys Invited Rachel to Hill House
• GLADYS: Invited Alicia to Hill House

NODE 4: HARRIET TUBMAN ASYLUM FOR COLORED ORPHANS

• BOARDING HOUSE: Alicia’s Diary
• FATIMA’S SHRINE: Letter from Alicia to Gladys Roy
• FATIMA’S SHRINE: Map of Minneapolis

NODE 5: FATIMA’S SHRINE

• GLADYS: Following Gladys
• BOARDING HOUSE: Alicia’s Diary
• BOARDING HOUSE: Questioning Owners / Return Address

NODE 6: DAVIS FARM

• BOOTLEGGER: Questioning Oleg
• BOOTLEGGER: Bootlegger’s Address Book
• BOOTLEGGER: Following Oleg
• HILL HOUSE/HAND ON STREET: Minnesota 13

NODE 7: HARRIS CHEMICAL PLANT

• ORPHANAGE: Chemical Residue
• ORPHANAGE: Canvassing Neighborhood
• DAVIS FARM: Labels on Chemical Barrels
• DAVIS FARM: Questioning Ellie and Billie Davis
• BOOTLEGGER: Picks Up Denaturalized Alcohol
• KID CANN: Questioning Kid Cann (Hooked up Plant w/Oleg Andersson)
• FATIMA’S SHRINE: Address on Pad of Paper

NODE 8: MINNEAPOLIS FEDERAL RESERVE BANK

• TANIT CULTISTS: Federal Reserve Business Cards
• BARCA: Following/Researching Barca
• HARRIS CHEMICAL: Shipping Crates
• HARRIS CHEMCAL: Questioning Drivers/Alex Washington

REVELATION LIST – NPCs

RACHEL HILL

• See Node 0: Hill House.

OLEG ANDERSSON

• HILL HOUSE: Questioning Rachel Hill
• HILL HOUSE: Questioning Lucretia Gray
• DAVIS FARM: Questioning Ellie/Billie Davis
• KID CANN: Hooked Oleg up with Harris Chemical’s ethanol
• HAND ON THE STREET: Questioning Estranged Son

GLADYS ROY

• HILL HOUSE: Flyers for 13 Black Cats
• HILL HOUSE/RACHEL: Gladys Left Early
• HILL HOUSE/LUCRETIA: Sent the invitations
• FATIMA’S SHRINE: Letter from Alicia to Gladys Roy
• FATIMA’S SHRINE: 13 Black Cat Flyers (Printed Here)

KID CANN

• BOOTLEGGER: Questioning Oleg
• GLADYS: Questioning Gladys
• RESEARCH: Bootlegging

ELLIE DAVIS / BILLIE DAVIS

• See Node 6: Davis Farm.

JOHN BARCA

• HARRIS CHEMICAL: Instructions from John Barca
• HARRIS CHEMICAL: Observing Harris Chemical
• FATIMA’S SHRINE: Map of Minneapolis

REVELATION LIST – MISC.

KIDS ARE BEING KIDNAPPED

• FATIMA’S SHRINE: Letter from Alicia to Gladys Roy
• ORPHANAGE: Missing Kids
• GLADYS: Knows what Alicia reported

TANIT TAINTED ALCOHOL

• HILL HOUSE/RACHEL & GLADYS: They weren’t drinking
• HILL HOUSE & DAVIS FARM: Chemical Analysis of Whiskey
• HARRIS CHEMICAL: Tanit-Infusing Process
• GLADYS: Questioning Gladys (knows liquor was tainted)

Next: Background & General Reference

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DISCUSSING
In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 33D: The Hell Hound at the Door

At the far end of the room there was a small wooden bookshelf containing a dozen assorted volumes. These, of course, caught the particular attention Ranthir, who was also delighted to discover that one of them was a thick tome of spells.

Ranthir was not able to study the spellbook completely, but the illustrations of eyes being burnt away with acid were enough to leave him concerned.

NPC spellbooks are a huge pain in the ass to prep.

I’ve previously shared a tip for improvising NPC spell lists, but when it comes to their spellbooks, there is no shuffling: You mostly just need to commit yourself to the rote task of writing down lists of spells for each level.

I guess there is one potential cheat: Just replicate the caster’s prepared spell list and call it “good enough” for the spellbook, but I generally try to include at least two or three “extra” spells per level. (Partly for the sake of verisimilitude. Partly because it gives me some stuff to play with if the spellcaster should become a recurring characters. See, also, The Principles of RPG Villainy.)

I heartily recommend prepping these spellbooks as handouts. You don’t have to get fancy or anything: But a prepared piece of paper with all the spells listed on it that you can hand to the player at the table is just a great way of making the spellbook a concrete and persistent resource.

Way back in Session 3, we actually saw Ranthir loot Collus’ spellbook:

COLLUS’ SPELLBOOK

0 – acid splash, arcane mark, dancing lights, daze, detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, flare, ghost sound, light, mage hand, mending, message, open/close, prestidigitation, ray of frost, read magic, resistance, touch of fatigue

1^st – animate rope, burning hands, comprehend languages, detect undead, feather fall, floating disk, shield

For a low-level wizard, this was a treasure trove of new spells. Deciphering and copying this spellbook became a significant, long-term project for Ranthir. In every spare moment he could afford— and Ptolus certainly makes it difficult to find a spare moment! — Ranthir bunkered down and studied. You can find references to this in Session 7 of the campaign journal, but it was actually happening quite regularly:

Dominic expended himself in channeling the holy energy of Athor to heal as many of their wounds as he could. Elestra’s battered body was restored entirely and Ranthir was left with only a weariness from the blood he had lost. But the painful wounds to either side of Agnarr’s neck refused to close and, after inspecting them, Dominic concluded that Agnarr would need a full day of rest under his ministrations.

So Dominic settled into Agnarr’s room, praying occasionally and generally tending to his wounds. Ranthir retired to his own bed and set to work copying an additional spell from Collus’ spellbook into his own that would allow him to detect the presence of the undead – he wasn’t sure why, but he had a sneaking suspicion it might come in handy.

Magic being as powerful and versatile as it is, of course, the power unlocked by virtue of an NPC’s spellbook can often be the greatest and most valuable of treasures. In Session 12, for example, there was a direct pay-off for all of Ranthir’s hard work:

Tee led them to the river’s edge and then glowered down at it. Seeing the noxious water again – the edges of the cavern floor corroded and blackened where it met the river – did nothing to distill her fears. She had no interest in trying to wade these waters, no matter how calm the current might be.

Ranthir, however, was able to tentatively offer a possible solution. He had never stopped using the few spare moments in his day to study the spellbook they had wrested from the body of Collus (Toridan Cran’s arcanist), and one of the spells he had deciphered from its contents would allow him to conjure forth a floating disc of pure energy. It was a small disc and would only carry one of them at a time – but it should be a relatively trivial matter for him to ferry them across the river and, when the time came, to ferry them back again.

With the spellbook as a tangible prop (tucked away with the PC’s character sheet) and its study as a project, an NPC’s spellbook becomes a lovely and persistent reminder of everything that the PCs have accomplished — their history made manifest in the present.

I also love to use NPC spellbooks as a delivery mechanism for non-core spells. This might be a spell of my own creation, but more often than not I’m just culling awesome stuff from a variety of supplements. Perusing Vocaetun’s spellbook, for example, gave Ranthir access to a couple new spells:

VOCAETUN’S SPELLBOOK

0—acid splash, arcane mark, assess creature, dancing lights, daze, detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, flare, ghost sound, light, mage hand, mending, message, open/close, ray of frost, read magic, resistance, touch of fatigue

1st—acidic curse, color spray, comprehend languages, endure elements, protection from chaos, protection from law, ray of enfeeblement, reduce person, shield, silent image

2nd—invisibility, minor image, mirror image, obscure object

3rd—displacement, fly.

Assess Creature
Divination
Level: Brd 1, Clr 0, Drd 0, Rng 1, Pal 1, Sor/Wiz 0
Components: S
Casting Time: One standard action
Range: Close (25 feet + 5 feet/two levels)
Target: One creature
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Will negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

With a wave of your hand, you determine the Hit Dice of one creature. This spell is foiled by any type of magical disguise, polymorph or shapechange.

Acidic Curse
Evocation [Acid]
Level: Sor/Wiz1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 feet + 5 feet/two levels)
Target: One creature with eyes
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

You cause a victim’s eyes to fill with acid, inflicting 1d6 points of acid damage and blinding the target for 1d4 rounds. Creatures who suffer no damage from the acid (due to a successful saving throw, an immunity, or a spell granting resistance) are not blind.

Material Component: A bit of ragweed.

Open Game License

Using loot as a vector for delivering original spell content was once quite common in the earliest days of the game, when the core rulebooks featured only a paucity of spells that were “commonly” known. Then, as now, when your players learn the benefits of getting their claws on a spellbook, an encounter with an NPC throwing around strange eldritch arts becomes not only terrifying, but also exciting — redolent with the promise that they’ll soon have the opportunity to loot and learn those arts for themselves.

Campaign Journal: Session 33E – Running the Campaign: Battles at the Door
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index