Starry Darkness

TIMELINE
1835: a prosperous merchant builds the 'Corbitt' house, but immediately falls ill and sells it to a Mr. Walter Corbitt, esquire. 1843: Egypt, Professor Enoch Bowen, archaeologist and student of the occult, found the Shining Trapezohedron in the Labyrinth of Kish. 1844: May Professor Enoch Bowen ceases his excavations of NephrenKa's tomb upon finding the Shining Trapezohedron, and returns to Providence. Bowen founds the Starry Wisdom sect, buying the old Free-Will Church for its headquarters. This cult used the crystal to summon the Haunter, to whom they made blood sacrifices of infants and children. 1846: Disappearances begin in Providence that rumors link to the Starry Wisdom Church. The Haunter had decided to allow its links to this realm to grow through these rituals, so that it might find the most suitable host for its essence. It told its followers it awaited the proper time and place to come forth in the shape of man. 1849: establishment in Boston of Chapel of Contemplation & Church of Our Lord Granter of Secrets 1850: Walter Corbitt joins the Church of Starry Wisdom 1852: Walter Corbitt is sued by neighbors, who petition to force him to leave the area "in consequence of his surious [sic] habits an unauspicious demeanor." The Starry Wisdoms power grew as Bowen received direct guidance from the Haunter. In return for the blood sacrifices, the Haunter gave the cultists information by means of which they obtained various artifacts and numerous dread tomes. They collected copies of the Necronomicon, Unaussprechlichen Kulten, Liber Ivonis, Cultes de Goules, De Vermis Mysteriis, Pnakotic Manuscripts, and the Book of Dzyan. 1863: A branch in Townshend, Vermont, opened under the leadership of Dr. Raymond Flagg. At this point, the Starry Wisdom Cult in Providence had over 200 members. 1865: Enoch Bowen dies. Aseneth Bowen, a relative of Enoch, took over the central sect. 1866 Evidently Corbitt wins the lawsuit. His obituary in 1866 states that he still lived in the same place. It also states that a second lawsuit was being waged to prevent Corbitt from being buried in his basement, as provided by his will. Executor of Walter Corbitt's will was Reverend Michael Thomas (age 25), pastor of the Chapel of Contemplation & Church of Our Lord Granter of Secrets.

1868: The Reverend Samuel Shadrach Solomon Akeley, father of Abednego Akeley, dies. Abednego succeeds him as reverend, but begins preaching the doctrines of the Starry Wisdom cult to his flock after travels through southern New England [ie. After a period of study in Providence and possibly Boston]. The affiliation of his church in Townshend is transferred from the traditional Protestant parent-body to that of the Starry Wisdom sect. Controversy and scandal follow. 1869: A group of Irish vandalize the Starry Wisdom Church in Providence, apparently in retaliation for their perceived involvement in kidnapping a fellow. 1871: Abednego Akeley dies at the age of 39 and his church (ostensibly) closes. Many of the congregation move to Providence. [In fact the activity of the cult here has simply been moved underground, now taking place in secret on hilltops and in the basement of Akeleys church, Our Lord of Celestial Providence.] A branch of the Starry Wisdom sect in Chicago known as the Celestial Providence sect is disbanded by the Great Chicago Fire. 1877: May The Starry Wisdom cult in Providence is disbanded after threats from the locals. The cultists leave town by year's end. Aseneth Bowen was commanded by the Haunter to leave the Shining Trapezohedron in the church for safekeeping. Empowered by the Haunter, Aseneth wove a spell casting an aura of dread and fear over the building. The crystal was left in the church, along with tomes of eldritch evil. No one in the neighborhood dared to explore the church. c. 1880: Ghost stories centering around the former Starry Wisdom Church begin around this time. A Yorkshire branch of the cult arises, possibly founded by Dr. Raymond Flagg. Between 1880 and 1890: A Starry Wisdom cult flourishes in Yorkshire, England. 1890: By this time, the Yorkshire Starry Wisdom cult has fallen apart. 1893: The spell around the original church prevented anyone from entering the building until a reporter from the Providence Telegram, Edwin M. Lillibridge, possessed of great force of will, made his way into the building to investigate stories of the church being haunted. He found the crystal and accidentally summoned the Haunter. The Haunter killed Lillibridge in a failed attempt to merge with the hapless human. 1895: An edition of De Vermis Mysteriis is supposedly published by Starry Wisdom Press, but no copies have been found.

1909: Starry Wisdom Press allegedly releases a version of Unaussprechlichen Kulten as well, but no copies are ever found. 1912 Secret raid on and Chapel of Contemplation & Church of Our Lord Granter of Secrets occasioned by affidavits swearing that members of the church were responsible for the disappearances of neighborhood children. Chapel is closed. During the raid, three policemen and seventeen cult members were killed by gunplay or fire. Autopsy reports are singularly undetailed and uninformative, as though the coroner had not actually performed examinations. Though 54 members of the church were arrested, all but eight were released. The records hint of illegal intervention in the proceedings by important local official, offering an explanation of shy stories of the battle - the biggest criminal action in the city's history - never appeared in print. Pastor Michael Thomas (age 71) was arrested and sentenced to 40 years in prison on five counts of second-degree murder. 1917 Pastor Michael Thomas (age 76) escaped from prison and fled the state. 1920: Aleister Crowley's (flawed) English translation of the Black Book of the Skull is published by Starry Wisdom Press. Early 1920s: A branch of the Starry Wisdom Cult is established in Arkham. 1920s: A Los Angeles-area branch of the Starry Wisdom Cult reaches the peak of its popularity, lasting through the 1930s. (Keeper's Compendium, Herber et al (G))

PLOT BACKGROUND
Rev. Michael Thomas escaped from prison in 1917 by making a copper dagger out of stolen pipes and summoning a dimensional shambler. With the help of covert members of the Starry Wisdom sect in Providence, Chicago and Vermont, under the pseudonym Pastor Malachi, he establishes an Evangelical church in Arkham and re-establishes the Starry Wisdom chapel in Townshend in another guise. A second priest (name?) is an ordained Protestant minister and leads the Arkham sect Michael Thomas is careful about travelling much in Massachusetts. The evangelical sect that appears in Townshend seems to be an independent evangelical sect called the Celestial Providence Church [Our Lord of Celestial Wisdom]. The church appears to be provisionally Protestant but is in fact a revival of the Starry Wisdom sect, teaching the tenets of that creed in a coded form. The sect is led by a 79 year-old (in 1920) cleric called Pastor Malachi (aka Rev. Michael Thomas ). The minister of the main church in Townshend (name?) expresses his concerns to his counterpart in Brattleboro. The two begin a correspondence. The former begins to investigate the church, the history of Michael Thomas, the history of Abednego Akeleys church in Townshend and links to stories of witchcraft and strange creatures in the hills. The second clergyman also keeps a journal of his correspondence and thoughts. The first clergyman

becomes more convinced of the danger as he approaches the truth and witnesses, first hand the footprints, voices, standing stones in the hills as well as the true identity of Pastor Malachi. The second clergyman may have been publishing rants about the sect for a while and then becomes silent as he realizes the nature of what hes up against. The tone of correspondence changes abruptly as the first clergyman appears to have undergone some kind of (Paul on the road to Damascus) conversion experience. He claims to have fallen off the back of a truck and seen the face of God. He has been replaced by an Old One and is now preaching the benign or benevolent nature of the new sect. This is very controversial. The second clergyman is sent to investigate. The first clergyman is now in a wheelchair and pushed around by a slightly sinister personal assistant (and appears to have some new friends). The second disappears? The second clergyman travels (with the investigators?) to Townshend to investigate. He disappears. (Enter the investigators?) Perhaps the investigators interview the clergyman in Brattleboro about the stories and his concerns. He tells them he is just about to leave for Townshend and that he will meet them there. He never arrives. His car is found abandoned in woods between Newfane and Townshend. OR Clergyman 2 visits clergyman 1 to discover the transformation. He also investigates the village and the hills. He leaves to return to Brattleboro, but never makes it. His car is stopped in front of a fallen tree, and a number of his personal possessions are missing. Unknown to the cultists, he left his journal at the inn he stayed at (The Old Brick House Tavern?) by mistake. The journal was found by the owner? Or is still in the room?

Pastor Malachi begins to preach in Townshend. He seems to have paperwork indicating that he is a protestant minister but it is forged. He preaches what appears to be esoteric or spiritualist evangelical Christianity. The existing minister speaks out about this as a false teaching and he sends an assistant to investigate the new minister. The minister can find no record of Malachi's religious education or history. He witnesses services taking place at the old chapel. Later he witnesses a group heading into the hills. He is later found on top of a nearby mountain, frozen to death. The minister strikes up a correspondence with a minister in Brattleboro and soon there are stories in the Brattleboro papers about this reliious rivalry and claims that they are in league with Satan. There may be hints about their coded doctrines: ascension into the heavens for the faithful, gifts of great secrets and powers from the Celestial Lord, visits from 'Angels' etc. The two ministers vow to do something about the new sect and are in the process of appealing for help from the Church. Suddenly the Townshend Minister goes quiet and then sends a message that he has had a stroke. He also relates a profound religious experience that transformed his life. An angel

appeared to him and revealed the truth. Saying that there was a place in the Heavens for him if he stopped preaching against the new sect. He now wants to support this new sect. He has converted to the new sect and has/is handing the church to the new sect. He invites the other minister to Townshend to speak to him and for a great revelation. The minister is at once outraged and confused. He departs for Townshend at the earliest opportunity. He finds the village minister in a darkened room in his house, attended by a 'doctor'. His speech and movement appear to be affected and he is confined to a wheelchair and cannot abide bright light. The minister says that the angels say that he will be taken into the Heavens soon. He also attends a service held by Pastor Malachi. The minister is there too. The Pastor appears to have miraculous powers. Among other things he summons the spirits of people who have supposedly 'ascended to the Heavens' and has them speak from inside a wooden box. Although their voices are strange, they seem to be recognised by others and relate incredible tales of being carried by wondrous beings called the Outer Ones to a fantastic city of light in the mountains. And then travelling through the cosmos to other worlds. Soon after the minister is invited to a special ceremony in the hills. He accepts. He disappears. (He has been taken to the Outpost and his brain removed). This minister has kept a journal of his experiences - where is it? The other minister's house? Or did he keep it somewhere else (in his car?) for safekeeping? There are now newspaper stories about the disappearance of the minister. The police may have looked for him but found nothing. If interviewed the other minister says that he had a conversion experience and then disappeared. Perhaps he was taken by the angels? He hopes to join them soon. He tries to recruit the investigators. Hook: In Battlesboro there are stories of a controversial new evangelical sect in Townshend. The local minister claims they are in league with the devil. Remarkably the minister has had a conversion experience. A minister from Battlesboro who went to visit him has now disappeared. A story like this might reach as far as New York. There may also have been other leads to Vermont (a receipt for paint in the chapel). Church records (what specificall would mention that?) in the Chapel that mention the Free-Church in Providence and Akeley's church in Townshend. The local investigation may have been interfered with. The evidence in the Chapel of Contemplation could be from old correspondence - letters, envelopes, postmarks, perhaps paperwork from 'wired' money?

KEY CHARACTERS

One of the leaders in Townshend is a farmer called Walter Brown Mr. Noyes is a senior cultist Folklorist Henry Akeley is present in his house on the side of the hill and is already gathering information about the strange creatures of the area. He has a recording made in 1915 near the mouth of a cave of buzzing and human voices.

KEY EVENTS
Let the investigators find footprints Let the investigators hear the voices Let the investigators find standing stones in the hills At the climax, let the investigators witness a ritual in the woods Let the investigators explore the old Akeley church and discover brain canisters and communication equipment that goes with it. Perhaps there can be a showdown with Pastor Malachi, who is of course a sorcerer.

APPENDIX:
TRANSCRIPT OF HENRY AKELEYS RECORDING
(Indistinguishable Sounds) (A Cultivated Male Human Voice) is the Lord of the Wood, even to and the gifts of the men of Leng so from the wells of night to the gulfs of space, and from the gulfs of space to the wells of night, ever the praises of Great Cthulhu, of Tsathoggua, and of Him Who is not to be Named. Ever Their praises, and abundance to the Black Goat of the Woods. Ia! Shub-Niggurath! The Goat with a Thousand Young! (A Buzzing Imitation of Human Speech) Ia! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young! (Human Voice) And it has come to pass that the Lord of the Woods, being seven and nine, down the onyx steps (tri)butes to Him in the Gulf, Azathoth, He of Whom Thou has taught us marv(els) on the wings of night out beyond space, out beyond th to That whereof Yuggoth is the youngest child, rolling alone in black aether at the rim (Buzzing Voice) go out among men and find the ways thereof, that He in the Gulf may know. To Nyarlathotep, Mighty Messenger, must all things be told.

And He shall put on the semblance of men, the waxen mask and the robe that hides, and come down from the world of Seven Suns to mock (Human Voice) (Nyarl)athotep, Great Messenger, bringer of strange joy to Yuggoth through the void, Father of the Million Favoured Ones, Stalker among (Speech Cut Off by End of Record)

PROVIDENCE

The Church of Starry Wisdom

Access: Cellar door Steeple: windowless Free-Will Baptist Church Church (1871)) 352 Atwells Avenue Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cthulhuwho1/3810830018/in/photostream/ (in reality St. John's Roman Catholic

VERMONT
The Church of Starry Wisdom sect has a major branch in the village Townshend, Vermont. Many of the locals here are descended from those who fled from Providence in 1877 and the surnames Bowen and Flagg, as well as the first names Enoch, Raymond and Aseneth. The cult more-or-less controls the village and the surrounding area. It worships Nyarlathotep in the form of the Haunter in the Dark as well as serving his Celestial Host the Mi-Go who similarly worship The Haunter and have a large mining colony in the mountains near here. They have a significant collection of mythos and occult texts, a body of esoteric knowledge passed down from encounters with the Haunter in Providence, and a few artifacts gifted by the Mi-Go. Collectively they also have a significant armory of conventional weapons. The cult has a superficial appearance of being an ordinary church but like some other rural churches in Vermont has some queer customs. The sect focuses around the granting of esoteric secrets from Our Lord and has a hierarchical structure of an outer flock and a series of inner circles. Perhaps the greatest secret granted to initiates is the secret of immortality. Using esoteric knowledge passed through the generations a few select initiated known as Wizards have achieved a kind of prolonged life a mummification process which actually more resembles a living death. Other initiates are rewarded for their life of service with The Celestial Rapture or joining the stars. This involves being taken away by the Mi-Go to have their brains removed and placed in metal canisters which keep the brain alive more-or-less indefinitely and which can survive the journey through space to the planet Yuggoth or the Mi-Go colony on the moon. In fact, unknown to the cult members, the Mi-Go, being quite indifferent to humanity, are quite neglectful and the majority of these Chosen people are either incinerated or after being placed in brain canisters are abandoned in storage rooms in the Mi-Go colony. Enough Celestial Voyagers return however with stories of their travels to inspire the faithful.

TOWNSHEND, VERMONT THE CHURCH OF OUR LORD OF CELESTIAL WISDOM

Established by Abednego AkeleyAt first glance this appears to be an ordinary village church. However, close inspection reveals that the cross above the altar on the stained glass windows is a shining star, those windows also bear a curious three-lobed eye symbol and images of people being borne away by unusual, many-limbed angels. The basement contains a number of mythos texts including Latin and English versions of The Book of Eibon and De Vermis Mysteriis and German and English versions of Unaussprechlichen Kulten, plus occult books such as Aleister Crowley's (flawed) English translation of the Black Book of the Skull. Also in the basement are two brain cylinders containing the immortal souls of initiates who have returned from the Heavens (names and details). On certain occasions they are brought up to the altar and attached to the Speaking Device which allows them to tell tales of their wonderful journeys and the sights they have seen (the Mi-Go colony in Vermont, the Moon, Outer Space and Yuggoth). These minds are now quite unhinged. They also suffer from claustrophobia and a profound longing to return to the stars. (What will they say if re-attached ?). These minds also possess a significant degree of cthulhu mythos knowledge. (Is there a device here that allows them to see?)

Thoughts