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Character Backgrounds by Chris Malone

I originally designed Left Hand of Mythos as a convention scenario for Gen Con 2017. It rapidly metastasized beyond that purpose and had to be rapidly abridged to fit within the four-hour convention slot.

My compatriot, collaborator, and co-GM at Gen Con that year was Chris Malone. To facilitate convention play, Chris designed four fabulous pregenerated Trail of Cthulhu characters. Following the best practices we had learned during the Cthulhu Masters Tournament, these included fully developed backgrounds for each character, including tightly knit relationships with each other to empower the players to seek strong, powerful roleplaying choices.

We ended up using these same characters for several other sessions at our local tables, including an adaptation of the classic “Edge of Darkness” scenario for Call of Cthulhu, which was restructured to feature the death of Father Rand.

DOWNLOAD THE CHARACTER SHEETS
(PDF)

JAKE CONNOR, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

Age: 29

Jake was born in Minneapolis to a Protestant family of Irish and English immigrants.  The eldest son (his sister Mary is the eldest of the family), expectations were set high for Jake and he constantly struggled to meet the expectations of his parents. While life was never easy for Jake as he was growing up, he never experienced true poverty.  Jake left school early to work a pair of jobs to support the family, and found himself struggling with the monotony of toil without the promise of something greater.  At the onset of The Great War Jake joined the Army in hopes of making a difference.  His parents were furious, and all but disowned him as he headed off to basic training.

Initially trained as an infantryman, Jake showed a flair for writing and photography and was detailed to the press corps where he served primarily as a cameraman, documenting the events of the war.  He was frequently detailed to create propaganda images and write messages to encourage the purchase of war bonds, as well as improve enlistment.  During one such assignments he was matched with Maxwell Bruener, the son of a wealthy young German industrialist who had “enlisted” to help improve recruitment among German-Americans.  A quick friendship was formed, and although they only spent several months together.

Through the detachment of the camera, Jake could distance himself from the horrors of the war and returned home afterwards plagued only by infrequent nightmares and a mild case of claustrophobia.  Upon his return to Minneapolis he worked for a short stint at the Minneapolis Tribune as a beat writer and photographer.  With the onset of prohibition, Jake wrote several scathingly critical anti-Prohbition articles which ultimately cost him his job, but endeared him to certain elements of the Twin Cities underworld.  With these connections beginning to form, Jake found himself able to find work investigating minor offenses in the criminal underworld and solving crimes that people would rather not bring to the police. He now runs a private detective business, making use of his excellent photographic skills to further his business.

Jake’s reputation has taken an odd turn after he solved a missing persons case several years ago.  Two seemingly separate instances of a young man and a young woman disappearing led Jake and his companions to a secretive cult operating within the Freemasons that was engaging in human sacrifice in the name of some esoteric and foul deity.  Jake and company acted quickly and rescue one of those who had disappeared (the other, sadly, was long dead) and bring the perpetrators to justice.  Now the local police come to Jake occasionally with queries or leads into strange or occult cases.

RELATIONSHIPS

Maxwell Bruener — Max and Jake have remained close friends after the war, and frequently spend time together.  Jake doesn’t always understand Max’s philosophical ramblings, and often argues with him over Prohibition (Max is a staunch advocate for the Volstead Act and Prohbition), Jake does appreciate Max’s enthusiasm and kindness.  Max proved himself to Jake during the Freemason investigation, as when the chips were down in the hidden sanctum, Max threw himself into the fray, fighting to stop the murder of an innocent.

Father Gustav Rand — Max introduced Jake to Father Rand some months prior to the Freemason as a good friend.  Unlike the clergy Jake had grown up with and met during the war, Rand showed himself to be a friendly, easy-going sort with a great deal of intelligence and wisdom.  During the Freemason case, Rand provided valuable insight into several clues linking evidence from the victim’s residences to the inner cult at the Masons.  Jake has grown to respect Rand’s input and value his council, even if he is a Papist.

Margaret Pearson — Maggie is Jake’s cousin, come over from Boston to get her doctorate in the Sciences from the University of Minnesota.  Looking to reconnect with his family and get back into their good graces, Jake has taken it upon himself to protect Maggie and ensure that she is not abused.  Against better judgement, Jake asked Maggie to help with examining some of the evidence during the Freemason case.  She was able to identify a unique sedative used during the abductions, and link it to a crucial suspect with access to it.  You find her forensic skills and apt mind invaluable in difficult cases.

MAXWELL BRUENER, DILETTANTE

Age: 35

The son of a rich German manufacturing magnate, Maxwell Bruener grew up in Minneapolis in relative ease and luxury.  His father, Jurig, was an overbearing and demanding man.  He detested Maxwell’s adventurous spirit and gentle heart, and was a strict disciplinarian, often resorting to physical punishment, especially when he was drunk.  Maxwell thrived despite his father’s frequent beatings and denouncements, and spent most of his youth and early adulthood exploring literature, the arts, and sports.

When America formally joined the War Jurig forced Maxwell son to enlist, hoping to either toughen him up and turn his mind to more serious matters or kill him off.  This idea was not kept a secret to Maxwell, as the last letter from his father during training read “come back a man in my own mold, or as a corpse to be buried”.  Despite his father’s insistence to Max’s commanders of fair treatment, Max was seen by elements in his command as a recruitment opportunity.  He had a member of the press corps, Jake Connor, assigned to him to document his time in the Army to drive recruitment of the somewhat reticent German-American population, as well as facilitate war bonds.  Jake and Max became fast friends, and spent many evenings sharing stories and ideas in good company.

Max avoided significant action in the War until he took part in the Third Battle of the Aisne in defense against the German Spring Offensive.  Ten days of shelling, gas attacks, mud, and death almost broke Max’s spirit.  Without Jake’s reassurance and strength, Max is certain he would have either died or come out of the war a much different man.  Max survived the Battle physically untouched, but was scarred by the experience.

In an ironic twist of fate, Max was called back home mid-May following the battle due to the death of his father, whose days of drinking had finally caught up to him.  With the affairs of the estate quickly put into order and business well-managed with little demand from Max, he found himself melancholic and desperate.  Max began filling his time with philanthropy and personal growth.  Home in time for the political machinations around the Volstead act, Max strong supported the temperance movement and the outlaw of liquor, pledging money, support and influence to the cause.  In addition to his altruistic and political engagements, Max began to participate in theosophical societies and delved into philosophical texts, even dabbling into the occult.  These explorations brought him into contact with Father Gustav Rand, a catholic priest who talked of religion in a way that encouraged Max’s exploration, without condemnation or proselytization.

At times Max helps Jake out with his private investigation work as a diversion into more exciting occupation.  Several years ago, you, Jake, Father Rand, and Jake’s cousin Maggie helped him clear a case that was most unusual.  Two seemingly separate instances of a young man and a young woman disappearing led Jake and his companions to a secretive cult operating within the Freemasons that was engaging in human sacrifice in the name of some esoteric and foul deity.  Jake and company acted quickly and rescue one of those who had disappeared (the other, sadly, was long dead) and bring the perpetrators to justice.  During the fray, Max found strength and purpose, charging into the fray and fighting the cultists with vigor.  Now the local police come to Jake occasionally with queries or leads into strange or occult cases.

RELATIONSHIPS

Jake Connor — Jake is Max’s closest friend and confidant.  While Jake is disinterested in Max’s spiritual and philosophical musings, and they disagree vehemently on the matter of Prohibition, Max cannot imagine a better ally.  Max rarely feels more useful or competent than when he is working a case with Jake.

Father Gustav Rand — Father Rand is Max’s intellectual and spiritual mentor, allowing Max to explore the world of the unseen without prescribing his Catholic dogma or suggesting a right way of things, merely saying “I know you’ll come around to the right way of it sooner or later, they all do…”.

Margaret “Maggie” Pearson — Maggie, Jake’s cousin, is like no other woman that Max has met.  Her high-spirited nature, quick wit, and vast knowledge have intimidated Max at times, and she seems to enjoy stumping Max.  Regardless, Max is thoroughly taken with her, and has been spending time perfecting a poem that he plans to deliver to her to begin courting her.

Go to Father Gustav & Maggie

Go to Part 1

PROACTIVE NODES

PROACTIVE 1: HAND ON THE STREET

• Can be seen anywhere (driving by, outside the boarding house, etc.)

PROACTIVE 2: TANIT CULTISTS

• Sent by Barca at any point where PCs have been identified

PROACTIVE 3: WHISKEY DEATH

• Contacted by Fred Watson at any time concerning the death of the one of the cops who had been at the James J. Hill House.

PROACTIVE 1: HAND ON THE STREET

SEEING THE HAND

• Can happen at almost any time that the PCs are walking or driving along the street.
• Shouldn’t be a busy street (the hand doesn’t want to attract a crowd or anything).

TRACKING THE HAND

• Survival: The hand appears to have tracked through some talc powder and telltale traces can be followed back to a nearby apartment (it dropped out of the open window).
• Streetwise: Can find a couple of kids bowling with bicycle rims who, with a little Reassurance, saw the hand drop out of the window.
• Library Use/Simple Search: A day or two later a small item will appear in the Minneapolis Star about a body being found in the area without a left hand.

THE APARTMENT

A single-room apartment with yellowish, nicotine-stained plaster walls.

• A rumpled Murphy’s bed.

Kurt Nordberg lies dead with his head down on a plain wooden table with two chairs that’s shoved up against the wall against a partially open window.

• His left hand is missing.
• A half-empty bottle of Minnesota 13 Whiskey is on the table next to his right hand.

Streetwise: Kurt has a son named Erik. They had a screaming argument two nights ago.

ERIK

• His father was a drunk (that’s what the argument was about).
• His father had been suffering from a muscular dystrophy.
  • GM Note: This is why the full transformation failed and the hand wandered off on its own.
• He knows that his father bought his liquor from a man named Oleg Andersson.

CRAWLING HAND OF TANIT: Athletics 2, Fleeing 6, Scuffling 4, Health 4

Hit Threshold: 4 (tiny, quick moving hand)
Alertness Modifier: +1 (10% eye by volume)
Stealth Modifier: 2 (tiny skittering hand)
Weapons: eye gouge, scratching, unpleasant probing (-3)
Stability Loss: +1

Eye of Tanit: Pupil twists into a curlicue. Stability test (no loss). On failure, establish trance like state. On second failure, can issue a hypnotic compulsion that will last until trance ends. Being controlled has a potential of 4-point Stability loss.

PROACTIVE 2: TANIT CULTISTS

CULTISTS: Dressed in very nice suits.

• Each has an Eye in their left palm.
• They carry Minneapolis Federal Reserve business cards.

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

PROACTIVE 3: WHISKEY DEATH

OFFICER OSCAR LUNDSEN: Stole one of the bottles of whiskey from James J. Hill House and then died while drinking it in his small St. Paul flat later. When he didn’t show up for a shift, a patrol car found his body.

• Left hand is missing.
• Prop: Minnesota 13 Whiskey

Go to Pregenerated Characters

Go to Part 1

EXTERIOR

Architecture: The Minneapolis Federal Reserve is designed in neo-classical style, with pilasters and a colonnade supporting an upper frieze. The Corinthian composite capitals are topped with volutes decorated with acanthus leaves.

• There’s an upper parapet, from which the upper windows (requiring Locksmith, but leading to the Executive Offices and Office Floor) could be accessed.

Occult / Art History: Acanthus leaves are a symbol of immortality and resurrection in Greco-Phoenician art. Curiously, in Christian symbolism its meaning is inverted, representing sin, punishment, and death.

ENTRANCES

MAIN ENTRANCE: The main entrance is up a short flight of stairs. The doors are embossed metal, over a dozen feet high, and weigh nine tons. (They’re counterweighted so that a person can open them. They’re kept open during the day. At night they’re barred from the inside.)

This entrance leads through a doubly-barred foyer and, from there, into the Entrance Lobby.

Day & Night: 2 Fed Security Officers

DELIVERY ENTRANCE: The construction crews working on finishing the interior of the building are using the delivery area to stage their work. At night, the heavy steel security doors are locked and there’s a Fed Security Officer on duty.

The Delivery Entrance provides access to the Counting Rooms & Archives.

INTERIOR

CONSTRUCTION ZONES: There are still numerous areas of the Federal Reserve Building that are under construction. During the day, construction crews are active throughout these areas.

ELEVATOR LOBBIES: Each level of the Federal Reserve Building has an elevator lobby with six elevators. They provide immediate access to the Main Lobby, Banking Room, Archives, and Office Floor. They do NOT go to the Vault or Counting Rooms.

• Director’s Private Elevator: One elevator goes to Barca’s office, although this requires the use of a special security key. (Carried by Barca and also the security shift leader.) This elevator shaft also provides access to the Tophet (but this can only be activated from Barca’s office, see below).

ENTRANCE LOBBY

ENTRANCE LOBBY: A breathtaking chamber tiled in white marble with a bronze ceiling. A grand marble staircase with a massive and intricately cast bronze railing curls up to the Banking Room on the second level. A set of double mahogany doors leads to the elevator lobby.

BANKING LOBBY

A gargantuan chamber; the ceiling supported by huge marble pillars. The floor is polished terrazzo. There are imposing marble desks around the perimeter, including a security station. The center of the room is filled with bankers doing business from within steel-barred cages. Red carpets run

• Day: 4 Fed Security Officers
• Occult: The red carpets are arranged
• Vault Access: The banking cages contain access to the Counting Rooms on the lower level (and, from there, to the Vault).
• Elevator Lobby: At one end of the Banking Room.
• Grand Stairs: To Entrance Lobby.
• Stairs: To Archives & Office Floor.

COUNTING ROOMS

On the lower level, there are multiple rooms dedicated to counting cash (both outgoing and incoming). The machinery for automatically counting coins has recently been installed, along with tallying calculators. There are also large supplies of canvas sacks and currency straps, but no actual cash.

• Leaving: There are stairs leading up from the Counting Room to the Banking Floor. A large corridor leads to the Delivery Entrance.
• Vault Access: You have to pass through the Counting Rooms to reach the Vault.

VAULT

The Vault is a vast, multi-chambered space in its own right. Although the heavy vault door is locked, the Vault itself is empty.

Tophet Entrance: The floor of the innermost chamber of the Vault is decorated with a giant Eye of Horus. This pupil of the Eye can be rotated and then slid to the side, revealing a staircase leading down to the Tophet.

ARCHIVES

The Archives of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve have begun to be transferred from the New York Life Building, but they have not yet begun to be unpacked. So there are empty shelves and filing cabinets, along with a lot of crates neatly stacked here and ready for move-in day.

Mail Room: Mail is also sorted in this area, potentially allowing investigators to figure out which offices in the building are currently occupied.

• Elevator Lobby: Can be accessed here.
• Stairs: Lead up to the Office Floor / Executive Offices.

OFFICE FLOOR / EXECUTIVE OFFICES

These occupy the upper floors of the Federal Reserve Building. Desks and other furniture have been moved in, but only the Executive Offices are occupied (by cultists).

• Elevator Lobby: Accessible here.
• Stairs: Lead down to Archives and the Banking Floor.
• Barca’s Office: Barca’s office is located among the Executive Offices.

BARCA’S OFFICE

The luxurious office you’d expect from the Director of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve. Lush, blood-colored carpet. A huge desk of dark oak.

Architecture / Bureaucracy: Barca has the true plans of the Vault, including the Tophet chamber, in his desk. This includes both the Vault access (fully detailed) and the Private Elevator can access the Tophet (though not exactly how) and broad details of facility (although not the brass pressure chamber, which was constructed separately). Physics notes that there’s some truly bizarre equipment installed in the walls of the globular chamber, although its ultimate purpose is not clear from the blueprints.

Private Elevator: A short back hallway leads from Barca’s office to his private elevator. Calling the elevator requires a special key, which is carried by Barca and also the security shift leader, or Lockpicking.

Secret Elevator: A secret panel next to the elevator contains a switch. If flipped, the private elevator will descend directly to the Tophet.

THE TOPHET

Entry: Both the stairs from the Vault and the secret elevator from Barca’s Office descend into a small entry chamber. A large brass incense bowl depends from the ceiling on thick ropes of silk. (It’s not currently lit unless a ritual is planned for this same night.)

Cell: A small cell is built into the wall of the Entry. (The children are transferred here shortly before the ritual.)

• There’s a stack of neatly folded children’s clothes (used) in the corner of the cell.

Laboratory: A door out of the entry chamber leads to a small chemistry laboratory. This is where the Tophet serum is prepared (see “The Ritual,” below). The investigators can find vials, etc. consistent with the Tophet serum they’ve encountered elsewhere.

Gantry: Another exit leads to a short gantry ending in a pressurized door leading into the Tophet Chamber. The door can only be opened from this side (uh-oh) and a set of controls at the end of the gantry will allow it to be extended out into the Tophet Chamber (providing access to the pressure vessel in the center of the chamber, see below).

THE TOPHET CHAMBER

The Tophet Chamber is a huge, spherical chamber. The inner walls are minutely etched with strange geometric patterns and runes. In the center of the chamber is a Brass Sphere, which appears to simply float in place.

• Physics: The sphere would appear to be held in place by some form of powerful electromagnetic field projected from the walls… which is odd, though, because brass isn’t magnetic. So there must be something more complicated going on with the Sphere.
• Runes – Archaeology / Occult: These appear to be Phoenician runes.

The Brass Sphere: The sphere is a pressure vessel made from brass. Its surface is minutely etched (in a fashion similar to an electrical board; although the PCs won’t be able to draw that comparison). On the top of the sphere is a pressure hatch that seals seamlessly with the brass.

• Chemistry: The etching seems similar to acid-etching, but isn’t. It’s too minutely detailed.
• Chemistry 1 / Physics 1: Examining the sphere with any kind of magnification (or a point spend) reveals a fractal nature (although the character lacks the terminology for this) — a never-ending, spiraling pattern in which the edges of the etching are also marked by even more detailed etching.
• Hatch: Can only be opened from the outside (uh-oh).

Inside the Sphere: The inside of the Sphere is similarly etched, just like the outside.

The Ritual:

• The gantry is extended and a child is placed naked inside the Sphere.
• The Sphere is sealed, the gantry withdrawn, and the pressure door sealed, isolating the chamber.
• The Sphere is electrically powered, reducing sacrificial victims to alchemically charged ash. (This ash could be described as Tanit “spores,” although the analogy only goes so far.)
• The cultists immediately process the ash into active Tophet serum using the facility onsite. (This is time sensitive, as the “spores” can’t survive long without being preserved within the serum.)

STAFF & SECURITY

FED STAFF MEMBERS: Athletics 3, Credit Rating 3, Driving 2, Fleeing 4, Health 2, Scuffling 2, Weapons 2

Weapons: -2 (fists), -1 (improvised weapon)

FED SECURITY OFFICER: Athletics 5, Health 6, Scuffling 6, Sense Trouble 6, Weapons 3

Alertness Modifier: +1
Weapons: -1 (truncheon), +1 (pistol), -2 (fists) 

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

JOHN BARCA

APPEARANCE

• Prop: Photo of John Barca

ROLEPLAYING NOTES

• Behind a thin veneer of sanity is an obsessed lunatic under the thrall of Tanit.
• Convinced he’s doing the best thing for all.
• Obsessive, confident, dismissive.

BACKGROUND

• Barca is a Yale graduate (and member of Skull & Bones). (It’s an open question whether or not he was infected at Yale or at some later date. If at Yale, it seems likely that all of Skull & Bones is Tanit-infested.)
• He was appointed by President Warren Harding to serve on the Federal Reserve Board in Washington in May 1921.
• In May 1923, he resigned to return briefly to private business in St. Paul. Within a few months, however, he was appointed to a joint leadership role at the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.
• He’s the second chairman of the Mineapolis Federal Reserve, advancing into the position after the death of John Rich last year.

CLUES

• Following Barca: Will lead them to the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.
• Library Use – Barca: Easily reveals Barca’s position as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
• Prop: Minneapolis Federal Reserve Business Cards

JOHN BARCA: Athletics 6, Driving 6, Firearms 7, Sense Trouble 10, Fleeing 4, Scuffling 5, Weapons 8, Health 10

Alertness Modifier: +2 (paranoid)
Stealth Modifier: +1 (sneaky)
Weapons: Dagger (+0), Pistol (+0), Fists (-2)
Stability Loss: +0, if seeing the eye
Hypnosis of the Hand: Pupil twists and distorts into a curlicue. Stability test (difficulty 4, no loss): On failure, hand has established a hypnotic state. On second failure, they can issue a hypnotic command that must be followed.

Go to Proactive Nodes

Go to Part 1

NODE 8: MINNEAPOLIS FEDERAL RESERVE

(502 Marquette Ave., Minneapolis, MN)

BACKGROUND:

• 1913: Federal Reserve Act signed by Woodrow Wilson.
• 1914: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis incorporated May 18^th, directors elected over the summer.
• October 1914: John H. Rich is appointed the first Minneapolis Federal Reserve Agent.
• January 1915: Offices established at New York Life Building (2^nd Ave. South & 5^th Street). Vault space for cash rented from nearby banks.
• 1921: Federal Reserve had outgrown its current offices. Site purchased at 5^th Street  & Marquette. Excavation of the site begins by the end of the year.
• During construction of the new building. John H. Rich dies and is replaced by John Barca. By this time, all nine directors of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve are Tanit cultists.
• Designed by Cass Gilbert to feature classical architecture, the new building was also designed to include a secret Tophet sanctuary beneath the vault in which child sacrifices could be used to create tophet serum.
• 1923: Cornerstone of the new Federal Reserve Building is laid. (The cornerstone contains a Tanit reliquary, part of a series of ceremonies which sanctify the building as a holy site.)
• 1924: Primary construction is completed. John Barca and the cultists begin using the Tophet sanctuary create Tanit serum. Officially, the board of directors and various other officers (all cultists) begun using the offices.
• February 1^st, 1925: Historically, the new Federal Reserve Building is occupied. The New York Life Building offices are shut down and vault deposits are centralized in the new building’s state-of-the-art vault.

WHAT THE FED OFFICIALLY DOES

• Economists: Collect and analyze data from across the Midwest to help the federal government monitor the economy and set interest rates.
• Cash Reserve: The Federal Reserve Bank is a bank for banks. When the banks need bank notes or coin, they request them from the Federal Reserve. That cash reserve (consisting of millions of U.S. dollars and other currency instruments) are stored in the Fed’s vaults.

INFILTRATION

Make an Appointment: Whether with John Barca or another member of the Fed staff. Although these are all cultists, official business is being conducted as a cover for their activities.

Charity Event: Dolls for Family Welfare is a charity which, as the name suggests, involves selling dolls to raise funds for charity. On Saturdays through the end of the year, they set up in the lobby of the building, also offering people the opportunity to do a short tour. The small crowds and/or tours offer the opportunity to perhaps slip away into the deeper recesses of the building. (Prop: Dolls for Family Welfare)

Fake Delivery: There are frequent deliveries to the building. These include periodicals and other material for the Archives (which are currently in the process of being transferred from the New York Life Building) and also construction material for the crews still working on finishing the interior features and décor.

Breaking In: If the vault were operational (and full of cash), this would be virtually impossible due to the extreme security measures that would be in place. Fortunately, this is not the case and only a minimal security team is onsite (see below).

Search Warrant & Police Raid: The PCs are working with Fred Watson, so it’s quite plausible that they’ll go to the police with the evidence they have. If they do so, make sure the PCs get an invite to be on the team serving the search warrants and expect a bloody shoot out between cops and cultists. (Fred taking a bullet seems dramatically awesome.) Alternatively, if you want to keep the ball in the PCs’ court, then “jurisdictional issues” can be invoked between the federal government and local law enforcement that will delay the law enforcement response by days or possibly even weeks.

NEW YORK LIFE BUILDING

Core Clue: John Barca spends little or no time at the old offices, conducting all of his business out of the offices in the new Federal Reserve Building. (Basically any investigation into the Fed’s activities at the New York Life Building should lead to some variation of, “This is all just business as usual… but the new building is weird / upper management is being very secretive about it / I keep trying to get transferred over there and apparently only people on a special list are allowed / etc.”)

New York Life Building:10-storey building with lower stories of St. Cloud granite and the upper stories of pressed brick. Built in 1890.

• Lobby: The lobby is simple incredible, featuring a pair of floating, double-helix staircases.
• Federal Reserve first rented offices in 1915. They currently occupy two floors.
• Building contains 250 offices.
• Other tenants include: The National Mutual Life Association, Walter L. Badger Real Estate and Loans, the Tontine Savings Association, Hennepin Commission Co. (a grain and stock company), the Gale Agency (representing various stock companies), and multiple attorneys (including Cross, Hicks, Carleton, & Cross; Weed Munro, Geo. Harold Smith; Edward C. Gale & Walter C. Tiffany; Alvord C. Egelston & George H. White; Booth & Douglas).

RESEARCH

History: Easily pull up the public history of the Federal Reserve and, specifically, the Minneapolis Federal Reserve as described above.

Art History – Newspaper Morgues: Local reporting features photographs of art being moved into the new Federal Reserve Building. Art History indicates that this includes rare examples of Carthaginian sculpture.

Bureaucracy: Obtain copies of the architectural plans for the new Federal Reserve Building.

• Architecture: It appears that an unusual steel alloy was used in the construction of the building; reputedly for tensile strength, although it’s unclear why that would be necessary. (Sourcing this alchemically infused steel could lead to another Tanit cultist operation at your discretion.)
• Architecture: Studying the public plans makes it’s clear that there’s something missing from them — a void directly underneath the Vault for which there are structural supports, but no indication of what’s actually there.
• Architecture 1: There’s also something weird about one of the elevator shafts. It’s designed for a greater height of operation than the other shafts, but there’s no visible reason for it.
• GM Note: Copies of the full, uncensored plans can be found in Barca’s office. At your discretion, copies might also be on file with the construction company (or, alternatively, they’ve been mysteriously destroyed). Cass Gilbert, the architect, would almost certainly have kept personal copies, but he now lives (and keeps his offices) in New York City.

Oral History / Intimidation – Construction Company: Talking to workers can probably shake free whispers about a “secret” area of the site that only certain workers were allowed into.

• Those workers (who were actually Tanit cultists) have all left the company and vanished. The person responsible for hiring them, Carl Mason, left the construction company and, strangely, now works as an economic analyst for the Minneapolis Federal Reserve.

The Cass Gilbert Rabbit Hole: Pursuing Cass Gilbert, the architect who designed the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, on the assumption that he must be part of the conspiracy can turn into a huge rabbit hole. For example:

• He designed the Minnesota Capitol Building (completed in 1905).
• He designed the Woolworth Building in New York City (currently the tallest building in the world). And does that mean that F.W. Woolworth, the founder of the F.W. Woolworth Company, is a Tanit cultist? Are his nationwide five-and-dime stores acting as operational centers for cult cells?
• He is currently designing the U.S. Supreme Court Building (which will be completed in 1935). If they’ve infiltrated the Federal Reserve, how deep has the cult penetrated the U.S. government?
• Where is he now? On a trip to England with his family, where he’s to be granted an audience with the British Royal Family. Can the PCs stop the British Empire from being suborned?

Or, alternatively, this really is just a rabbit hole: Cass Gilbert was just hired to do a job, modifying the building to include the sub-vault space at the instruction of John Barca after the death of John H. Rich. (You could even have him conveniently visiting family in Minnesota — he was raised here — and available for questioning, revealing Barca as the source for the sub-vault modifications.)

IN THE AREA

Streetcars: Streetcar lines run on all sides of the Federal Reserve Building.

Coleman’s Greasing Station: Located directly behind the Federal Reserve Building. (It’s like a service station / gas station.)

Syndicate Building: Built by a syndicate (thus the name) in 1883, the Syndicate Building contains a quarter-million feet of retail space. Assume the investigators can buy almost anything they want here.

Go to Node 8B: Inside the Minneapolis Federal Reserve

Go to Part 1

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