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A No Security 1930s Horror Scenario

Caleb StokesWritten by

Ean Moody

Art by

A Hebanon Games P
http://www.hebanongames.com/

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THE RED TOWER

INTRODUCTION

Te Red ower is a complex supernatural mystery setin the Chicago meatpacking district during the tumul-tuous months aer the all o Al Capone. Four-to-sixplayers play members o various urban actions thatdiscover a monstrous threat worming its way throughcitys heart. Tematically, the adventure conronts thecharacters prejudices involving politics and class witha terror antithetical to lie itsel. It can be completed inone or two sessions, depending on the level o detailemployed by the GM and the style o play.

Tis adventure starts with an overall description othe setting and plot or the GMs use. Inormation theplayers can reveal through roleplaying can be ound inthe gameplay section.

1931: Chicago, IL

wo years into the recession and it seems not evenillicit economies can survive. Al Capone has beenarrested, and the big sh is dragging huge sections ohis underworld inrastructure down with him. Nittiis attempting to solidiy power with the remainingmembers o the amily, but in the tense months ollow-ing Capones indictment, a new successor is ar romcertain.

With every lowlie in town desperate to clamor higherup the pecking order, the politics o the city are ol-lowing suit. Te mobs decapitation took a number ocorrupt ocials down as well, and power vacuums inthe bureaucracy have civil servants on both the stateand ederal levels trying to become the next Eliot Ness.Te reasury Departments Bureau o Investigation iscleaning out the last o Capones operation, hoping tosqueeze one last big bust out o the Capone ledgers.

INTRODUCTION

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Te FDA, galvanized by recent scandals involvingunregulated remedies, has reorganized and is attempt-ing to boost its PR by re-slaying its rst dragon: theChicago Meatpacking Industry. Finally, with the policeocials on Capones payroll out o the job, theresnally room or a good cop to advance in the depart-ment.

Te regular olksall they ever do is suer. Te bread-lines are longer than ever. Tat recovery they keeptalking about is nowhere in sight. Te immigrants keepcoming, and the locals keep feecing them until theyget conned in turn. Where everyone else sees nothingbut misery and doom, the socialists see an opportuni-ty. Te soil o Chicagos slums is ripe or revolution; itneeds only those willing to ertilize it. And or some,the Reds are actually starting to make some sense.Teyre certainly getting all the right people angry.

Yet beneath the city in turmoil, something very oldlurks. Something worse. Waiting. Eating. A ew oChicagos unluckiest are about to discover just howmuch harder times can get.

GM INFORMATION

Te Wayward Son

Andrew Chambliss, heir to an American ood process-ing empire and a ortune in French agricultural hold-

ings, wanted nothing to do with the amily business.Its not that he ound it distasteul; rankly, the hulla-baloo about worker exploitation ell as dead to hisears as the braying o the cattle in his athers yards. Putsimply, the whole business was beneath him. His wasan intellect molded by the nest tutors money couldbuy and orged in the most exclusive European univer-sities. His destiny lay in academia, much to his athersobvious disappointment.

In the late 1900s, when one o athers business ac-

quaintances managed to buy the ruins o a lost civili-zation rom the South Americans or pennies on theacre, Andrew practically packed his bags overnight. Henally had his chance to distinguish himsel as a mano science, and his ather would be rid o his insuer-able embarrassment o a son or a time. Who knew?Father Chambliss wondered i the harsh jungle expedi-tion might not nally exorcise the boys bookish natureand return him ready to take over the amily business.

Te Well of SoulsTe guides had been lowering the last o his team intothe sacricial well when the rope snapped. One o themen died instantly, but the other screamed or whatseemed like hours in the shadowy dark o the stone pit,both legs shattered. Andrew tried his best to ignore thecries as the indigenous dealt with their own. He busiedhimsel with the strange passages shooting o in everydirection. Why ashion tunnels in the bowels o theearth or a mound o estering sacrices? He ordered

the servants still on the surace back to camp or moreline; there were plenty o passages and enough lampsto keep them occupied exploring until the other hal oexpedition returned.

Important Dates for the Setting1894: Edward Herbert Tompson purchases theMayan ruins o Chichen Itza or American Explora-tion.1906: Upton Sinclairs novel The Jungle scandalizesRoosevelt into ood regulation.1930: Te Communist Party o the USA begins ac-tively recruiting rom the downtrodden o the GreatDepression.1930: Te Food, Drug, and Insecticide Organizationshortens name to FDA.1930-31: Muckracking journalists begin advocatingor prescription-only drugs and consumer productoversight

1931: Al Capone is convicted o income tax evasionand sentenced to 11 years.1932: Frank Nitti begins to solidiy his control overthe Chicago crime amilies.1919-1933: Te Volestead Act, prohibiting the saleo alcohol, is in eect.

THE RED TOWER - No Security

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A Forgotten Hell

Tey knew something was wrong when they returnedto camp to nd the dead Indians body missing. Sus-picions o some sort o prank vanished as they heardthe screams o the injured man echoing in the distanttunnels.

Tey began picking them o one by one, skeletalgures scarcely distinguishable rom the mounds ohuman bones that clogged the stone arteries runningunderneath the jungle. Tey were starved, dessicatedthings, older than the very dirt which caked them.Long eons had passed since theyd eaten anythingbeyond the odd allen animal. Te ecstatic hoots otheir easts echoed through the passages as the ex-pedition would inevitably leave another one o theirnumber behind, feeing deeper into the nightmare.

Aer a ew hours, only Chambliss and his appointedmanservant, Borkowski, survived. Te big Pole hadslain one o the things with a shovel and now woreits corpse as some sort o misguided camoufage ortrophy. Tough equally lost to madness, the young heirretreated to his mind, using the only remaining lampto study the odd carvings that seemed to dully glow onthe walls. Tey were in a orm o pictograph similar tosomething hed been orced to transcribe or a proes-

sor in graduate school. Tey beckoned the pair to somecenter, and Andrew ollowed, rushing towards hisdeath with an ecstatic joy never beore imagined in hisdull days o parlor talk.

Ascending the Trone

Borkowski ought like one o them now, his mindcompletely gone and replaced with the same sickeninganimal guile and bloodied teeth as the things huntingthem through the bone-clogged caves. Each monsterseemed atter now, somehow sleeker and aster withthe greases o their companions. Te pair o men madetheir last stand in the ruins themselves, completely en-closed within the lightless pyramid they had ascendedinto. Te inky insides seemed to teem with membra-nous, alien lie. ranslucent sacs spewed orth inexpli-cable artiacts, oul odors, and whispers.

As Borkowski clubbed one to death with a stone,Andrew spent what were surely his last momentsrantically reading the pictographs his fame had illu-minated. He screamed a dead language in the throeso maddening terror, ailing to be distracted rom hisugue even as the creature screamed the lost tongueback to him. He remained undeterred even as his voice

reached inhuman volumes, shaking the very stoneso the ruin apart. As the roo collapsed and tropicalsunlight fooded the cursed chamber, a shriek as old asmillennia tore through the air and was gone.

Te creatures retreated away rom the two batteredmen, heads bowed. Whatever presence had lived inbecomethe ruin, the piercing rays o light had givenit a death delayed to the tune o centuries. As Borkow-ski gibbered soly to himsel and cradled his manywounds, Andrew Chambliss laughed. Hed killed a god

and would now take its place.

Homecoming

Te two survivors rom the doomed expedition toSouth America sparked a brie wildre o specula-tion amongst Chicagos upper classes. Te citys uppercrust wanted to hear tales o mysterious savages andEl Dorado. When Chambliss and his amed manser-vant never maniested at the auspicious parties held

in honor o their return, ame quickly curdled intoinamy.

When Cotton Chambliss died suddenly o a mysteri-ous illness, public opinion all but doomed the Cham-bliss ortune at the hands o its eccentric heir. However,Andrew wasted no time consolidating his company.His lay-o o workers proved to be prodigious, evenby Chicago meat-baron standards. His new, indus-trialized production model was rumored to be state-o-the-art, so much so that all construction work and

modications done to the packing plant were carriedout at night and under strict guard. Te company evenceased trade on the markets, presumably restructuringor a big debut. All o Chicagos upper-crust held itsbreath in anticipation.

And kept holding it. For years. For decades. Peoplescoed. Tey pretended they knew it would turn outlike this all the time. Tey moved on. Tey orgot. Teydied.

GM INFORMATION

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But Chambliss Meatpacking Plant remains, proudlysticking out o the city like an inoperable tumor.Obvious, yet unnoticeable, it remains operational inways beyond human understanding, and the madheir resides over a kingdom altogether more con-cerned with slaughter than all its competition com-bined.

Te Business Model

Borkowski and his mad progeny maintain theremainders o Chambliss Meatpacking, buyingdiseased and lame cattle with the liquidated ortuneand what little they can scam rom the locals. Whenthe herds arrive, theyre unneled straight romthe stockcars into the Cattle unnels, supposedlyheading towards the actory or processing.

But there is no slaughterhouse at the ChamblissMeatpacking anymore, or at least not in the tradi-tional sense. Like the temple the doomed expeditionmade its nal stand in, the red brick o the planthas been completely sealed to contain the malignantspirit o Andrew Chambliss, elevated by dark magicinto an incorporeal god. Te tunnels beneath theactory were what Chambliss spent huge swaths ohis ortune improving beore entering his un-death.Tey sprawl in a seemingly endless tangle o light-

less, conusing passages through which terried steerstampede endlessly, starving and terried.

When the animals are exhausted by rothing terroror trampled, then the Cham-Vi Juntan creep in. Tepestilent creatures eed on the near dead, growingat o a wealth o meat their orebears in the sacricialwell could never dream o. Meanwhile, the horror andpain elt in the animals death throes echo through thelabyrinth towards Chamblisss gigantic mausoleum,

sustaining the immortality o the presence trappedthere with pure blood and death.

In short, Chambliss Meatpacking is no longer a busi-ness so much as an ecosystem. An insane cult obrainwashed immigrants buys and eeds cattle intothe tunnels. Once there, the maze o passages secretlyinesting the city choke, cripple, and kill the panickedsteer. Teir mass deaths eed the dark energy requiredby Chamblisss new existence.

Finally, the Cham-Vi Juntan east and live amongst de-cade-old piles o rotten meat and oal, drunk o theparasitic bounty o their new masterand protectinghim rom any human unlucky enough to all into his

diseased, stone veins.

NPC ListClyde Hannity leader o the local meatpackers union

Franklin Pearson Editor-in-chie oThe Workerandsocialist

Eddy Chapa missing journalist or The Worker

Special Agent Alexander Whittemer in charge oCapone case ollow-up

Dr. Philbert Cannes chie chemist in charge o FDAinspection

Paulie Roach Alegretti missing mobster andormer Capone associate

Guissippi Te Hen Gallo upstart mobster lookingto rise

Cyryl Borkowski patriarch and head o the Borkowsklending scheme

Henryk Borkowski giant oreman o the Chamblissstockyard crew

Jacek Borkowskiboy that runs messages rom Cham-bliss Meatpacking to the tunnels in the Paulies Pool-room

Isabella Borkowski girl that runs messages rom Paulies Poolroom to the Stockyards

Lydia Carmody current resident o the ormer Chambliss estate

Andrew Chambliss reclusive heir and owner o the

Chambliss meatpacking actory

Cham-Vi Juntan nightmare creatures easting withinthe cattle tunnels


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Te Monsters: Andrew Chambliss

What Andrew Chambliss discovered in the jungle wasa orm o death magic that attracted the same ghoulishbeasts who came to wipe out his companions. He mas-tered it. He studied it until it dominated his thoughts.Ten he used it to launch himsel into godhood.

Andrews business plan was one o sel-destruc-tion. He sold o and reduced the amilys holdings toa minimum, selling literally everything not directlyuseul to the meatpacking business. Te goal was toprovide the Chambliss meatpacking plant with anoperating und that would last as long as possible.Borkowski, the other mad survivor o the doomedexpedition, would run the day-to-day necessities, hismind long ago too damaged to resist his masters new

powers. Te Poles descendants, brainwashed into theirathers mad religion, continue to und and operate theChambliss actorys secret operation

In 1907, when arrangements were made, Chamblisshad himsel sealed inside the red brick building thatonce housed his athers business. Te actory had longhollowed out a series o tunnels beneath the site orthe transer o cattle, and these Andrew prepared usingthe dark rituals he learned. Te tunnels became hisnew circulatory system, the bricks and mortar his new

fesh. Slowly, Andrew Chambliss killed himsel usingthe secret arts, his soul expanding to ll the pervertedcathedral hed built to his new immortality.

Over the decades, the Borkowski amily has edcountless scores o sick, terried animals into thetunnels, leaving them to starve and perish in agony.Te siphoned lie energy rom living things now eedswhatever Chambliss has become, ueling the buildingsimpenetrable glamour, his eyeless perception, and theinvisible knives he uses to slaughter those who betrayhis cult.

But it isnt only abstract death that eeds Chamblissstestament to madness. Te creatures rom beneath thejungle eventually sensed the power o their new deathgod, and they have come to east on his leovers.

Te Monsters: Cham-VI Juntan

Not much is known about the carrion beasts that hauntChamblisss stock tunnels; they are so reclusive anddeadly as to have avoided even the attention o myth.Tough equipped with powerul jaws and claws ttingthat o wild animals, the creatures express enough in-

telligence to avoid detection, strategize, and, o course,nd more ood sources. It is unsure i the beasts areimmortal, i they turn other creatures into themselves,or i they propagate throughout the centuries withinbreeding. Whatever the case, they can always beound where the death magic Chambliss discoveredin the jungle is practiced. Te constant, steady supplyo rotting meat necessary to maintain the spell insurestheir symbiosis, and they act as a de acto immunesystem or whatever dark soul dares to launch itsel to

godhood.

Te deadly expedition in South America ran into eons-starved, desiccated versions o these creatures. Evenhaving long ago eaten the last bones o the ancientsacrices, the skeletal creatures could revive them-selves long enough to kill. Only Chamblisss quickstudy o the orbidden magic contained in the carvingssaved him, or perhaps the creatures merely recognizedanother monsterone capable o providing the pre-cious meat.

Upon completion o the deadly rites, the Cham-ViJuntan migrated to their new master, trickling north-ward along the dark pathways humanity rather not see.In Chamblisss new sanctum, they could east endlesslyBy 31, the creatures have grown at o years o rancidcow fesh. Tey are now bloated and covered in oulexcretions o all sorts, even going so ar as to take oncharacteristics o the dead cows. Te ood has revivedthem o their senses enough to reveal the dark whis-perings o their new master.

However, despite their ability to ollow basic orders,they remain territorial, predatory beasts. Tey are noless quick and deadly or their new size. Tey wonthesitate to kill intruders and add more fesh to thepiles. While unprepared or the threat o modern re-arms, the Cham-Vi Juntan are armed with their veryood source; they hide amongst the piles o esteringdead and wield discarded horns and ribs like knives.

GM INFORMATION

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GAMEPLAY INFORMA-

TION

Character Selection

Ultimately, the only responsibility a players charactershas is to be un toplay as and un toplay with. What-ever concept a group agrees will serve that purposeshould work ne. However, it should be noted that thisscenario makes two assumptions: horror games aremore un or players when the characters are scared,and characters get scared when their mundane realitygets upset. I characters are to t in with the setting o1931 Chicago, they might consider joining with oneo the our actions already tied into the plot: socialist,blue collar, government, and criminal. Here are some

suggested character concepts that work well with thisadventure.

Reporters or The Workersent to track downtheir missing co-worker, Eddy Chapa

Pro-union thugs tasked with putting enough oa scare into the socialist to stop their infamma-tory rhetoric

Bureau o Investigation Agents (early FBI) can-vassing the Meatpacking District or associates

o Capone mentioned in his ledger FDA chemists and investigators cooperating

with the reasury Department to leverageslaughterhouse owners

Chicago cops seeking to assist/disrupt theederal investigations

Soldiers in Guissipi Gallos crew out looking orthe missing capo, Paulie Alegretti

Mobsters in the employ or Frank Nitti sent totake down Gallos upstart crew

Members o a protection racket hired to break

up the socialist, pro-union rallies taking placein the district


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Plot Hooks

Te question implicit in The Red Toweris how hor-ric do things get beore people abandon petty dier-ences and band together or survival? Since all theactions described in the scenario are at odds, it mayseem dicult to get players together and involved in

the same plot. Below are some tips or GM on how toget even the most conrontational PCs headed in theright direction.

Socialist: Eddy Chapa, one oThe Workers bestmuckrackers, has gone missing in the midst o under-cover investigation. Its possible that he has just allenout o contact in order to maintain his cover, but Eddyis the papers most dedicated writer, even garneringsome mainstream re-prints. Employees o the paper

are dispatched to try and nd him.

Blue-Collar: For those players wishing to play the ev-eryman, one o the major set-pieces in the scenario is aConsumer Rights Rally. Blue-collar workers with leistpolitical leanings attend to support the cause. An-ti-progressive hardliners earing what the Communistsmight do to their beloved Union would just as likely bein attendance, jeering at the speakers.

Government: Bureau o Investigation agents (precur-

sors to the FBI) are in the area rounding up the smallsh le behind in Capones ledger. Te meatpackingdistrict paid the boss a lot o protection money, and theeds will be canvassing the slaughterhouses or personso interest to question. Te newly reorganized FDA isassisting, pressuring the owners with surprise inspec-tions and trying to establish a reputation. Tese teamscould work together as a single unit or separately. Bothwill be interested in attending the consumer rightsrally. Aer all, between the product complaints and theslaughterhouse owners seeking to break the demon-stration, it proves to be a target-rich environment.

Criminal: Guissipi Gallo is raving or the blood oPaulie Alegritti; the mobster went missing weeks agoand is suspected o turning rat. Tough a small timer,Te Hen Gallo seems to have got it in his head thathes taking over Chicago. He wont accept such dis-

respect so early in his reign. He dispatches hal hiscrew to nd Alegritti while the rest o his boys

throw in with the established Union leaders; the Redsare stirring up trouble and need to be knocked down apeg beore the dues start drying up.

Each action has a number o places where it makessense or their characters to start investigating Te GMcan start the game with each player receiving orders

rom the respective NPCs located there. Conversely, iit seems like it will be exceptionally dicult to get thePCs interacting, the game could start in media res atthe Consumer Rights Rally (location 0), an event inwhich the whole neighborhood will have a stake.

SPELLS

NPCs in The Red Towerutilize dark magic. Some othese spells are available to PCs that suciently under-

stand their instructions. For casting these rites, GMsare encouraged to utilize whatever magic mechanicstheir system avors, or they might treat casting thespell as a simple skill check. Regardless o how it is putinto practice in the system, here are the eects o theavailable spells ound in The Red Tower.

Perceptive Glamour

Tis spell is only available to the powerul sorcerer

Andrew Chambliss and only in use on the ChamblissMeatpacking Plant. In short, the massive red brickbuilding dominating the middle o the district is seenbut not noticed. No one knows anything about it, ewhave any desire to learn more, and ewer still are ableto learn more. All paths o trac bend away rom thebuilding and no one thinks to questions it. Onlookersthat manage to notice the building constantly have theperception o being at the back and are almost alwayscontent with the assumption that there must be anentrance on the other side.

SPELLS

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Sharp Breeze

As it is ueled by powerul death magic and requires atotem o the victim, this spell can only be preormedon members o the Borkowski amily. In a sign oloyalty, all Borkowski children give their baby teeth totheir dark master. Tese teeth are stored by Chambliss

in his sickening inner chamber, providing a magicallink to his servants. His consciousness sees their everyaction, and i displeased, may take retribution.

o an onlooker, the traitorous Borkowki will seem toreeze and go silent. Ten, with a violent spasm, thevictim will levitate a ew inches o the ground beorebeginning to bleed rom a number o mysterious cuts.Despite the assistance o any bystanders, those caughtin the spell are slashed hundreds time by some invis-

ible blade, unable to even scream as their vital bloodvessels are sliced open. Te victim bleeds out or a ewshort moments beore collapsing into a pool o his orher own blood, dead as they hit the ground. Need-less to say, witnessing this kind o attack is extremelystressul.

Summon Cham-Vi Juntan

Tis spell is used by the child messengers o the Bor-

kowskis to contact the devilish creatures living un-derneath the city. Te spell is very simple and can belearned rom a set o notes the children have set intheir shoebox (clue 7.e) at Paulies Poolroom (loca-tion 7). Tose casting the spell must be underground,chant a ew simple phrases, and cut their le hand,letting the blood seep into the dirt. Tis wound causesminor damage and gets aggravated, no matter howsmall or what was used to make the cut. Shortly aerthe spells completion, a Cham-Vi Juntan will arrive.However, the creatures are not stupid. Unless the

summoner has orders rom Chambliss or dead meatas an oering, the would-be magician will only end upgetting attacked.

Banishment

Tis spell can be learned in the course o play (Clue11.a). I used inside Te Red ower (location 13),it can destroy the immortal presence o AndrewChambliss once and or all. Te ritual is complex andrequires a number o props in addition to complex

chanting. Players wishing to attempt the spell willneed to collect a chicken oot, salt, candles, and spe-cic blends o incense beore the ritual can be done.Te rite takes a number o uninterrupted minutes tocomplete. Once nished, an earthly scream announcesthe spirits demise as the tombin this case, ChamblissMeatpacking Plantis torn asunder by unseen orces.

Becoming the Godhead

Tis spell can also be learned in the course o play(Clue 9.a). Tough similar to banishment in that itdestroys Andrew Chambliss i perormed in his sanc-tuary(location 13), the spell is simpler and moredangerous. Te ritual only requires concentratedchanting or a number o moments. However, com-pleting the rite essentially recreates the cause o Cham-blisss own madness. Characters casting this spell willbecome unrepentantly evil and insane, determined tobuild themselves a temple so that they might be im-mortalized with death magic and rotting fesh.


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Location and Clues FlowchartSome clues in Te Red ower only provide players with information or a scary moment, but others can lead charactersanother location. Tis chart color codes each location to the clues found there and points to where each can lead. Use tpage as a playmat to keep track of where players stand in the story.

Location and Clues Flowchart

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LOCATIONS AND NPCs

0. CONSUMER RIGHS RALLY

Te Rally is being held on the loading docks o anabandoned warehouse. Te crumbling brick and

boarded-up windows have been covered with postersor Socialist party candidates in the next election.Volunteers man the ront gates passing out soup andsandwiches to men on the way home rom their shisin the slaughterhouses (come or the ood; stay orthe revolution). A ull days ticket o speakers is linedup, would-be insurrectionists headlining or a galleryo atrocities: girls blinded by a line o mascara, boyspoisoned by lead toys, widows o husbands killed bysnake-oil remedies. Depending on the speaker, thecrowd wavers between scornul indierence and righ-teous indignation.

0.a. Clue: Socialist Questioning

Members o the socialist party ask anyone who willlisten about the whereabouts o Eddy Chapa. Teamed muckraker has been missing or weeks inpursuit o what he called the next Jungle, an ambi-tious undercover operation meant to expose urthercorruption in the citys livestock industry. Workers inthe stockyards will merely be asked i theyve seen aman tting his description. Criminal and Governmentagents may well be accused o murdering or arrestinghim. Regardless, PCs will be aware o Eddy Chapasdisappearance as a possible line o inquiry.

0.b. Clue: Government Questioning

FDA and Bureau agents will be casually mingling withthe crowd, trying to nd the whereabouts o certainpersons listed in Capones ledgers as working in theMeatpacking District. Paulie Roach Alegretti is

chie among their concerns, and agents will ask all theblue-collar attendees where they work and with whom.Te largely-immigrant population remains extremelydistrustul o the eds, but theyll at least reveal wherethey are employed. Nobody seems to have seen theman they are most interested in: Paulie Te RoachAlegretti,

With the proper skill, PCs working or the govern-ment may notice that no one at the Rally works or thelarge red actory in the East. Faded letters painted onthe brick declare it the Chambliss Meatpacking Plant(Location 1, p.10). Nobody seems to work thereor knows anyone who works there, though some o thePolish immigrants mention the name Borkowski in

broken English beore spitting in the dirt.

0.c. Clue: Criminal Agitators

Clyde Hannity, head o the predominantly white Meat-packers Union, dislikes the Socialist agenda intensely.Te party makes the same promises o workers rightsas his organization without charging a dime in dues,and they even let Blacks join their ranks. Hannityhas used his mob ties to call in a group o agitators toharass and intimidate speakers at the Rally.

Perceptive characters notice that these cat-callers areunusually well-dressed to be stockyard men. Teir con-stant jeers and cries o Weve already got us a Union,ya Bolshevik sissy! are enough to arouse suspicion othe local Union HQ.

Any mention o Franco Roach Alegretti overheard bythese men is likely to arouse their interest. Tey mightvery well tail the person in question to see i they knowwhere the mobster is hiding.

1. CHAMBLISS MEAPACKING

Chambliss Meatpacking looms huge over the actoriesand stockyards o the district. Tough not the biggestbuilding in the area, it seems to be visible rom nearlyanywhere in the neighborhood. But visibility isnt thesame as actually being seen. Tose staring up at themassive edice oen nd the sun orcing them to lookor the shade, or a sudden gust o wind blowing grit

into their eyes. Te ew determined enough to stare atthe red brick building nd it even more inuriating toget to. All roads seem to cut away rom it, and everyside seems closed o with litter, ences and under-brush. PCs always seem to be on the backside o thebuilding, the entrance apparently hundreds o yardsaway across a dizzying tangle o side streets. In act,characters trying to nd a way into the building shouldnd the act disconcerting and stressul. As i in abad dream, no amount o speed or navigation


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gets them any closer to their destination. Tis is theeect o the Perceptive Glamour Chambliss has cast onthe building (see SPELLS, p.7).

1.a. Clue: No Doors/ No Windows

Characters that circumnavigate the entire acility willnd that there are, in act, no entrances to the building.Every door, window, and loading dock has been sealedo in brickor many decades judging by the coloro the mortar. Tis is a stressul realization; it makesno sense or even an abandoned building to be sealedso completely. Te only entrance to the place must beunderground, and this realization eectively breaks thePerceptive Glamour (see SPELLS, p.7)

1.b. Clue: Follow Jacek Borkowski

Jacek Borkowskiloiters around the outside o thebuilding, closer to the ence than anyone else. Jacekis a young boy covered in lth and tattered clothes.Hes oen throwing rocks at stray dogs or just deject-edly kicking at the dust in vacant lots. Hes impossiblylaconic, meeting every question posed to him withsilence or a lie.

Perceptive investigators notice Jacek slip away down ahidden path in the underbrush and through the barbedwire ence guarding the building. Tose stealthy

enough to ollow unseen can witness a strange ritual.Jacek runs to the westernmost corner o the buildingand places both hands and head against the lodestone,as i the normally spastic young boy has been put intime out. Ten, aer a number o minutes, he backsaway rom the wall just as a brickalling seeminglyrom nowheresmacks against the mud where heonce stood. Te boy then grabs the brick and runs o.

Characters shadowing Jacek will nd he leads them toPaulies Poolroom (Location 7, p.14)

1.c. Clue: Te Brick

Te brick that ell rom the roo is covered on all sidesby strange script. It is scrawled in a gummy, blackmaterial. Each character is remarkably ornate picto-graph, depicting something that can only be describedas abstract. Tough there is no way to make out what

the script says, an academic character or someonesuciently invested in research can discover

some o the characters have Mayan overtones.

2. THE WORKER OFFICES (Socialist HQ)

Te Oces oThe Workerare really just a series othree low-rent apartments with holes knocked throughthe shared walls. Franklin Pearson lives and worksthere. His commitment to the socialist cause is total;he eels that the Depression has placed the Americanpublic mere weeks away rom revolution and is deter-mined to get the scoop when it happens. Tis delusioneeds into another: the idea that The Workerhas anykind o serious readership that would give a damnabout the disappearance o Eddy Chapa. Still, Eddywas a riend and a pretty good reporter. His co-work-ers want to make sure he is okay, and Franklin wantseverybody searching or him aer helping out at the

Consumer Rights Rally.

2.a. Clue: Eddy Chapas Address Book

Eddys desk contains his address book. Besides his ownapartment, none o the addresses are labeled. Playersnd it open on the last page; the reshness o the inkseems to indicate these are his latest entries. Relevantaddresses the investigators can glean rom the book areas ollows.

Eddys own apartment (Location 3, p.11) A house outside o town (Location 9, p.17) A house located in the Meatpacking Districts

slums (Location 11, p.18) Te Municipal Building (Location 5, p.12)

3. EDDY CHAPAS APARMEN

Eddy Chapa rented out a room in slum house on theoutskirts o the Stockyards. When players arrive, theycan see that the door is just barely on its hinges aerbeing kicked in. Eddys downtrodden neighbors havelittle to say about the break-in, but they are equallyunlikely to complain i anyone enters to investigate.

3.a. Clue: Ransacked belongings

Eddys meager possessions have been destroyed. Temattress lies gutted, the urniture reduced to kindling,and all the books shredded. Muddy boot prints dot thefoor, and big holes in the wall denote the rage o the

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intruders. Characters with any kind o orensic skillscan notice that the damage was done with some sort olarge hammer rather than hands and eet.

3.b. Clue: Hidden Notes

Tose perceptive or clever enough might notice thatthere is no bathroom in Eddys two tiny rooms. Downthe hall sits the community restroom used by all therenters, and a quick search reveals a older hiddenbehind the toilet. Inside are Eddys notes on his inves-tigation.

A series o call numbers at the local library(Location 8, p.16)

A brochure written in Polish and English,advertising cheap property rental. It includes amailing address (Location 10, p.17)

A number o interview transcripts and transla-tions detailing how immigrant workers in themeatpacking district were scammed o all theirpossessions in a predatory lending scheme ledby Henryk Borkowski. When rent would shootup without warning, each amily was greetedby a charity organization called ChamblissCharities. Te charity, owned by the ChamblissMeatpacking Plant, was just another loan indisguise. Eventually, the poor amilies wouldhave all their property seized and were le to

starve in the streets. Notes made in Chapashome remind him to research the Chamblissholdings at the Municipal Building (Location5, p.12)

4. UNION HEADQUARDERS (Blue-Collar

HQ)

Clyde Hannityis the elected leader o the Meatpack-ers Local 215. He can oen be ound in the Headquar-ters building, which is really more o a clubhouse thana unctioning union oce. Te members o the 215 areuniormly white, and nearly all are mid-level man-agement in the slaughterhouses and railyards. Teseoremen have grown at o years o corruption, deep inthe pockets o both the owners and the mob. Tey longago sole their manipulative power over an uneducated,poverty-stricken workorce to the highest bidders.

Clyde Hannity likes the status quo and ears the changepromised by the Socialists. With the hard times seem-ingly without end, too many o his work crews aremumbling about air wages and human rights. Heintends to call in services or all those years o protec-tion money hes paid up on. Clyde can be ound in theUnion Hall, organizing agitators to heckle at the rally

and drinking illegal hooch with a group o bruisersready to break up the gathering the second they eel itgets out o hand.

4.a. Clue: Due Records

Anyone with access to the Unions back oce cansneak a look at the organizations records. Te Local215 has a well-documented presence in the city, and itappears as i every cannery, slaughterhouse, cattle yard,and rail station has members in the Unioneveryone

except Chambliss Meatpacking.

4.b. Clue: Brute Squad ruck

Out back is a big fatbed, waiting in case the boysneed to get over to the rally and bust it up. In addi-tion to bats and other improvised weapons, the cab islled with copies oThe Worker, an issue eaturing acover story by Eddy Chapa. Tere are also a numbero socialist armbands and crude imitations o protestsigns. It appears the brute squad intends to discredit

the group as dangerous anarchists aer their drunkenattack on the rally.

4.c. Clue: Complaints about the Borokowskilending scheme

Te message board in the Hall is overfowing withpush-pinned notes long ignored. Tose that actuallytake time to read the messages will nd that a numbero pleas in hal-understood English beg or help withthe Borkowskis and something called Chambliss

Charities. One particular note even claims to knowwhere these thieves live(Location 11, p.18).


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5. MUNICIPAL BUILDING (Government

HQ)

Located downtown, this recently reurbished ocebuilding is a ar cry rom the dirt streets and stencho the Meatpacking District. Te Great Depression

seems very ar away rom the marble foor and artdeco design o the lobby. In temporary oces upstairs,Special Agent Alexander Whittemerand Dr. Phil-bert Cannesare spearheading investigations in thearea.

Agent Whittemer is directing his agents to look or acapo named Paulie Roach Alegritti. Te capo wentmissing beore he could be swept up in the arrests, andwithout his testimony it will be impossible to prosecutethe otherwise legitimate businessmen listed in the

ledger. Wittemer suggests checking out the socialistRally to see i the mobster has laid low with a job in theactories.

Dr. Cannes is assisting Whittemer reluctantly; he hatesburdening his inspection crews with useless G-men.But the FDA provides a way into to every warehouse,stockyard, and actory in the District that might behiding Alegretti. Dr. Cannes will eel better about thedeception i his teams can uncover some big code vio-lations to eed to the press. Te good doctor wants thenewly reorganized FDA to get some good press, and hecan think o no better way than to renew the outragethe ounded the department: health violations in thenotoriously corrupt Chicago Meatpacking DIstrict. Heurges his chemists to nd any inraction they can tooer the press and suggests attending the ConsumerRights Rally as a motivational exercise.

5.a. Clue: Capones Records

Capones records list Alegritti as the chokepoint or

most protection money being unneled out o theMeatpacking District. Te only money the Roachreceived that didnt unnel back to the big boss was thecapos cut. Part o this cut went to something calledP.Ps Room. Asking around could reveal this to bePaulies Poolroom (Location 7, p.14).

One other mobster was gathering money in the area(Guissipi the Hen Gallo) but it appears he was

airly small time. Tere is no inormation in the

ledger than hints at his wherebouts, but leaning on theright gangster might reveal his shop on the Boardwalk(Location 6, p.14)

Finally, it appears every business operating in thedistrict was paying money to Capone. Te only dis-crepancy is a blotted out name in the ledger with no

nancial annotations next to it. Te only legible partare ss sticking out rom the scratched out word. Across-reerence o buildings in the area can reveal thatChambliss Meatpacking Plant is all that ts(Location 1, p.10)

5.b. Clue: Chamblisss Meatpacking Records

Investigators with the wherewithal to check the city taxrecords will nd that, alarmingly, Chambliss Meat-packing has not paid income tax since 1907. Tere are

other tax records, paid on time and as early as possibleevery year, but the company claims not to have doneanything except spend money or nearly two decades.Even that spending is odd, as records claim only twoexpenditures: something called Chambliss Charities(Location 11, p.18), and the purchase o livestock.

Any characters that discover this inormation will beperplexed by the sheer enormity o the oversight. Teabsence o an audit all these years is, quite simply,magical.

5.c. Borkowskis Property

Cross-reerencing the address listed or ChamblissCharities reveals a house listed to one Cyryl Borkow-ski. Cyryl also owns the deeds on a number o resi-dential properties scattered throughout the district.Curiously, none o these houses are claimed as rentalproperties, but no attempt has ever been made to sellthem either.

5.d. Clue: Bill of Sale for Chambliss EstateLooking up the Chambliss name in property recordswill show that in 1906 the amily sold o a number odiversied business interests, keeping only the meat-packing plant. Te last thing to be sold was a large res-idential property located outside the city, sold to oneSachs Carmody. Te le containing the Bill o Sale isled under Chambliss Estate. It appears as i AndrewChambliss hasnt lived in his ancestral home or almosttwo decades (Location 9, p.17).

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5.e. Clue: FDA Inspection Records

Calling the headquarters in Washington can reveala startling truth: Chambliss Meatpacking has neverbeen inspected. Ever. Since the inception o the agency,the acilities havent been checked or health, labor,or building codes. Chambliss Meatpacking isnt evenlisted as a product provider in any o the FDA les.

Discovering this inormation can be stressul or anyresearcher. How can a gigantic building, in plain sighto everyone or miles around, never have received asingle bit o scrutiny or all those years?

6. BOARDWALK (Criminal HQ)

Guissippi The Hen Gallo was always a small-timehood. His participation in the operations running in

the Meatpacking District had more to do with geogra-phy than any degree o skill. Paulie Roach Alegrettiwas spread too thin by how much ground his goonshad to cover making collections, so Gallo got to pickup the scraps. In the golden days, Gallo kept his mouthshut and paid his dues, inuriated by his subserviencebut not quite dumb enough to think he could survivedoing something about it.

With Capone gone, Gallos ineriority complex has

become a ull-blown delusion o grandeur. Hes ooledhimsel into thinking the other capos are going to lookto him or leadership, and hes got enough manpowerto make a nuisance. From his hideout rom the back oa shooting gallery game booth, Te Hen tries to solidi-y his power. First order o business: hes convinced therest o the amily that the missing capo, Paulie Alegret-ti, has turned into a witness or the prosecution. Hessent a ew members o the gang out to nd the missingmobster while he stays behind to tend to business.

6.a. Clue: Orders to meet Clyde HannityTe leader o the local Meatpackers Union paid pro-tection money to Alegretti in the old days. With theCapone case upsetting things, Gallo has snatched thecontract rom underneath his old mentor. Te Hen isordering all his underlings to report to Clyde Hannityat the Consumer Rights Rally(Location 0). Whiletheyre breaking up the red protest, theyre to look orany signs o Alegretti at the rally.

6.b. Clue: Marda Alegretti

Marda, Alegrettis beleaguered wie, is being heldcaptive by Gallo. While not restrained, the poorwoman looks pretty bad; deep bags hang under hereyes, her hair is razzled, and shes never out o somegangsters sight. Shes as urious with Gallo as she isscared. She insists she doesnt know anything aboutAlegrettis whereabouts. He never involved her in hisaairs, and their marriage was a sham. She insists hestayed out all hours o the night and day, even aer theCapone heat orced him to shut down his poolroom.A cray character might iner rom this that PauliesPoolroom isnt as closed as it seems(Location 7, p.14).

7. PAULIES POOLROOM

Paulie Roach Alegretti laundered his moneythrough a low-rent basement poolroom located alongone o the main thoroughares between the stockyardsand the meatpacker neighborhoods. For a number oyears, he used the operation to provide working menbathtub whiskey and illegal gambling. As it was listedon the Capone ledgers, the business was closed soonaer the arrests began. Law enorcement assumed themobsters had skipped townincorrectly.

Jacek Borkowski can be ollowed to this location, orhe might pop in at the GMs discretion. Ever sincethe mobsters demise, the mad Poles have been usingthe location to communicate with their undergroundcounter-parts: the Cham-Vi Juntan. In return, the madghouls erry their masters business orders to the Bor-kowskis via the child messengers

7.a. Clue: False Panel

Its not hard to pry open the boards blocking the pool-rooms door, but all characters nd is a large basementwith outlines on the foor where the three billiardstables would have stood. Perceptive characters noticethat these outlines dont make much sense; the placecould have easily t more tables i it would have ar-ranged them dierently. Careul investigation revealsthe space remained open or the alse panel leading tothe speakeasy in back.


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7.b. Clue: Speakeasy Massacre

Te Speakeasy was never much: a long hallway, ablacked-out basement window, three small roomsor drinking and gambling. Te ourth room, whichoriginally housed the boiler or the now-abandonedbuilding upstairs, was converted into a dance foor.Tat is, until Capone went down. Alegretti apparentlysaw the opportunity to ll the gap in the market andturned the closed poolroom into a distillery. In theweeks since the mobsters disappearance, the distilleryhas leaked, leaving an inch o stagnant booze rottingthe dance foor. Investigators are immediately met withthe stench o yeast, mildewed hops, and something arworse.

In the hallway, bloody handprints and drag markscoat the wallpaper, trailing in the rst room on the

le. Inside, a dead mobster is collapsed in the cornerbehind an overturned poker table. Hes been deador weeks. One had holds a nearly spent Tompsonmachine gun; the other clutches the grey intestinesloosed rom a savage, animal gash across his belly.Tose brave enough to rife through a dead manspockets nd the ID o Paulie Alegretti

7.c. Clue: Footstep in Dust

Alegretti appears to have died almost a month ago.

Aside rom his bloodstains, it appears that the speak-easy has been abandoned since then. At the end o thehall, there are two sets o ootprints in the accumulateddust. Both enter through the basement window andare child-sized. One pair leads into the last room (thesame one the blood trail originates rom), whereas theother stops at a small shoebox. Te pair leading intothe room is Jaceks route to the underground rom theChambliss Meatpacking Plant; the shoebox ootprintsare Isabellas tracks rom the shoebox to the Stockyards(Location 10, p.17).

7.d. Clue: unnel Breakthrough

Te last room in the hallway has had the foor torn upand replaced with a ladder leading into a dirt tunnel.Characters with criminal backgrounds will understandthat these escape tunnels are standard practice orurban bootlegging operations.

However, the passage intersects with a much largertunnel aer a short distance. Tis is where Alegrettibroke into Te Cattle unnels and met his doom (Lo-cation 11, p.18)

Characters with a light source notice huge, inhumanootprints in the dirt.

7.e. Clue: Shoebox of Spell Notes (SummonCham-Vi Juntan) and Receipts

In the shoebox located in the corner o the hallway,there are two sets o the documents. Te rst, writtenon ancient paper and with a crude understanding ophonetics, relay the instructions or Summoning amember o the Cham-Vi Juntan. Characters that passa test or understanding the instruction can perormthe spell i they are willing to pay the cost in their own

blood (see SPELLS, p.7). However, charactersunprepared or the sight o the ghastly creature andwithout anything to oer (dead meat or the brick romClue 1.c, p.11) will soon nd themselves in con-fict with the creature.

Te box also contains hundreds o haphazardly orga-nized receipts. All the slips come rom the Stockyardsand date back decades. It appears that ChamblissMeatpacking has been buying cattle all this time.Financially adept or otherwise academically inclinedcharacters notice that the receipts make little senserom a business standpoint. Te amount o cattle pur-chased and the haphazard intervals could not sustaina major meatpacking business. However, there is armore cattle purchased than could ever be justied orpersonal or amily consumtion. Te grade o the meatis also rock-bottom; many o the animals were sold at adiscount on account o being diseased or lame.

7.f. Clue: Following Jacek Borkowski

I Jacek was ollowed rom Chambliss Meatpacking(Location 1, p.10) and stealthy characters con-tinue to make their checks, investigators can witnessJaceks job or the Borkowski amily. Aer enteringthe abandoned poolroom through the basementwindow, Jacek goes into the tunnel entrance. Once heclimbs down the ladder, the boy perorms the ritual tosummon the Cham-Vi Juntan (see SPELLS, p.7).

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Te creatures arrival is announced only by its laboredbreathing. It will stick to the shadows. Jacek putsdown the brick (Clue 1.c, p.11) and sees it quicklysnatched away by a bloated, clawed hand. Te handthen inches rom the shadows, placing a scrap o crudeleather with 50 head. wo weeks, scrawled in somedisgusting ink. Jacek, who is obviously shaken despite

the routine o the experience, hurriedly deposits thescrap o leather on the shoebox beore scrambling backto his post by Chambliss Meatpacking.

7.g Clue: Following Isabella Borkowski

I players hide themselves and stake out the ruinedspeakeasy, they can glimpse the other Borkowskichild at work. Isabella Borkowski will eventually slipin through the basement window, deposit the latestreceipt into the shoebox, and leave with the scrap o

leather on top. Following the little girl leads back to theStockyards (Location 10, p.17).

7.h. Clue: Interrogating Either Child

I either child is approached or detects a tail, they willdo absolutely everything in their power to get away.Characters that catch one o the Borkowski childrencan question them eectively, provided they have theskill. Both kids will be very reluctant to reveal anyinormation about the amily, but ear o their captors

can loosen their tongues about the lending scheme, thecreatures underneath their eet, and why they love (orhave been brainwashed to think they do) Mr. Cham-bliss so much. Still, both children will be absolutelyterried and nearly panicked at the thought o retalia-tion rom the boss, especially i questioned near thetunnel entrance.

At the game masters discretion, Chambliss should castSharp Breeze (see SPELLS, p.7) on his traitoroussubjects. Seeing the Borkowski child levitated and bled

out by invisible blades should shatter the minds o allbut the most hardy characters.

8. HE PUBLIC LIBRARY

Tough containing no vital NPCs, no one should everneglect the power o research. Tere are a numbero useul clues that can be gleaned rom researchingChambliss at the local library. Note that investigators

already in possession o clue 3.b. Hidden Notes,p.12 need not make any checks to discover theollowing inormation.

8.a. Clue: Chambliss Expedition Records

Notes rom the university and newspaper reports canpiece together some o what happened on the Cham-bliss expedition in 1905. Andrew, against the wisheso his ather, continued his anthropological studiesby mounting a study o ruins located on the SouthAmerican land purchased by a amily riend. Tere areaccounts o the expedition reporting back or resupplyonce. Tey reported nothing but the most predict-able nds. A ew weeks later, over hal the expeditionmembers were dead aer a disastrous descent intoa sacricial well. Te only survivors that saw whathappened were Andrew Chambliss and his hired

man, Cyryl Borkowski. Tey reported that they nearlytwenty men died in a climbing accident.

8.b. Clue: Chambliss Newspaper Clippings

Clippings compiled and organized by Eddy Chapadetail Andrew Chamblisss decline upon his returnto Chicago. A number o news stories mention themysterious, laconic new demeanor o the handsomeyoung heir upon his return. Others discuss his atherssuddenly ailing health and the amilys sudden seclu-

sion. Te majority o the articles are rom the businesssection and concern the companys mass sell-o oinrastructure and extensive, secretive constructionprojects. Shortly aer the last editorial theorizing as tohow the meatpackers might be restructuring, all newsabout the amily alls silent.

8.c. Clue: Sister Novak

Characters looking into the above clues will be askedby librarians i they should call or Sister Novak. Te

clerks recognize the inormation Eddy Chapa hadbeen looking over and assume that any investigatorspouring over the same text must also work or hispaper. Eddy was using the services o Sister Novak totranslate the Slavic languages spoken by many o hisinterview subjects.

Sister Novak volunteers at the library on a regular basisand can easily be ound during operation hours.Shell happily talk about what she discussed with


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Mr. Chapa and his interview subjects; she is concernedor everyones well-being. Sister Novak can reveal theentire predatory lending scheme run by Cyryl Bor-kowski (Clue 3.b, p.12). Suciently persuasivecharacters can convince the Sister to reveal somethingshe le out o her translation to the reporter. A ewo the victims had gured out where the Borkowski

amily lived (Location 11, p.18) but did not wishit revealed because o superstitious ears that the amilywould curse them.

9. HE FORMER CHAMBLISS ESAE

Lydia Carmody is an upper-crust widow living inthe mansion outside o town ormerly owned by theChambliss amily. Her husband, Sachs Carmody,bought the home or their amily at a substantial

discount in 1906. Sachs has been dead or a numbero years and Lydia will be thrilled to have to havecompany, even the suspicious, investigative type.However, Lydia is an old-money snob with easily o-ended sensibilities. Characters in her home would bewise to indulge in small talk and behave i they dontwant her calling the police.

9.a. Clue: Hidden Attic

Lydia will reveal what little she can remember about

the previous occupants. Tough her husband had allthe dealings with the amily, she recalls how the housewas laid out when she rst bought it and can leadcharacters to Andrew Chamblisss old rooms. Percep-tive players can notice that the copper ceiling is oddlyshaped in one corner o the room, thus discovering thehidden attic in the mansion.

9.b. Clue: Death Magic (Become the God-head)

Above Andrews rooms hides the stifingly hot, darkattic where he perormed his dark magic upon return-ing rom South America. Te raers are uniormlycarved with insane, indecipherable symbols, and oddgurations map themselves to the foor in dull bluepaint. Dusty tomes and unreadable scribbling layscattered about, organized into nests by decades wortho squirrels and other vermin. Oddly though, all the

animals are dead. Every pigeon, squirrel, rat, moth,and roach lies dead and mummied, curled in

concentric patterns around the only untouched man-uscript in the place. Seeing this strange sight damagesthe calm o all but the hardiest souls.

Te spell requires no more than a simple chant, repeat-ed a number o times. However, its eect is the sameas when Chambliss rst uttered the words in the ruins

o the temple. Any character casting the spell in thepresence o the Cham-Vi Juntan will become their newmaster, taking Chamblisss place and losing their mindin the process (see SPELLS, p.7)

10. HE SOCKYARDS

Te Stockyards are rented out by every major slaugh-terhouse and meatpacking operation in the city. Cattleare unloaded rom the rail yards, then organized into

the proper corral beore heading to their nal destina-tion. Finding the area o the massive complex dedicat-ed to Chambliss will be dicult without at least someprior knowledge.

Te Borkowskis operate near the edge o the yards,an inopportune placement or getting their cattle toprocessing. Surprisingly, they have a cattle tunnel: aspecially constructed underground chute that unnelsanimals towards their killing foor in the district.Henryk Borkowski can be ound directing the work

o the male amily members around the cattle tunnel.Hes a gigantic, middle-aged man with an inscrutableexpression. He constantly carries a bloody sledge-hammer he uses to euthanize cattle too sick to walkamong other things.

10.a. Clue: Borkowski Behavior

In addition to being related, the work crew at theChambliss yard act very strangely. Socially attunedcharacters can notice that its more than the act many

o them dont speak the language: the men seem in-stantly suspicious o any passerby, theyre unnecessar-ily cruel to the animals, and each seems communicatealmost entirely in subtle gestures and looks. Some othe work crew are ar too old to be working, and othersare unusually young. A ew have twitches or mumbleinaudibly to themselves. All is not right with the Bor-kowskis

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10.b. Clue: Sick Cattle

Te cattle being taken rom the trains by the Cham-bliss crew are barely alive. Te majority o the animalsare undersized, stringy, and starved. A ew hobbleorward on three legs or bleed rom open wounds. Noood inspector or armer would ever deem these dis-eased creatures t or consumption, and no owner inhis right mind would ever invest in such sickly meat.

10.c. Clue: unnel Entrance

Te entrance to the Cattle unnel is unusually secure:the doors are heavily reinorced and estooned withlocks. It would be oolish to leave an entrance into amajor actory unguarded, but these doors appear tokeep things inside.

Te Borkowskis, especially the imposing Henryk, will

discourage any investigators rom investigating the op-eration. However, any players that overpower, sneak, orrush into the open chute will quickly nd themselveslocked inside (Location 12, p.19). Te laughs othe Borkowskis will be the only explanation as to why.

11. HE BORKOWSKI HOUSE

Te Borkowski House looks no dierent than the tene-ment properties they rent to Irish, Russian, and Polishimmigrants come to work in the Meatpacking District.It is perhaps even less well-maintained, with tilingalling o the roo and an unkempt lawn. Te housesnondescript appearance might be why the amilyso easily scams the poor workers with their lendingscheme; by all outward appearance, they are merelyanother amily struggling to get by.

A collection o wives and daughters maintain the

homestead while the men work in the Stockyards.Te undisputed master o the house is ancient CyrylBorkowski, who rules the home rom his bed onthe second foor. Cyryl will order the amily to denyentry to any and all visitors. All attempts to gain entrywill be met with orce. Fanatical older women attackintruders with knives i they dare enter uninvited. I anincursion comes at night, any able-bodied Borkowskimen join in on the attack.

11.a. Clue: Cyryls Room and Spellbook(Banishment)

Cyryl Borkowski, no longer the mountainous man thatought o horrors in the jungle, rots bed-ridden in anupstairs room. Te second he sees anyone that is not ohis amily open the door to his room, he will open re

with the revolver kept on his night stand. Te rst vebullets are or any ool standing in the doorrame; thelast is or himsel.

I Cyryls suicide isnt enough to induce terror in theplayers, his notes might do the job. In a journal behindCyryls pillow, the mad man documented the past twodecades in a pidgin o Polish and English. Characterscapable o reading the documents can get an outlineo the terrors Cyryl ought in the South Americantunnels. Tey can read descriptions o his constant

nightmares rom those days, his ears that the monsterswould devour the world. Eventually, they can discov-er that Chambliss earned Cyryls lie-long loyalty bypromising to keep the monsters contained, locked intoslavery so long as Cyryl ollowed his orders. Finally,characters with enough time can suer throughreading about the years o indoctrination, depravity,and murder Borkowski subjected his amily to in orderto create Chamblisss mad cult.

However, it appears that the ormer servant did notcompletely trust his dark master. On the last page,Cyryl relays instructions or a spell to banish Cham-bliss, to be used i he ever ell under the infuence othe beasts (see SPELLS, p.7). Oddly enough, thespells instructions are written in multiple languages,as i Cyryl were very concerned or the documentsreadability upon his death.

11.b. Clue: unnel Entrance

An entrance to the tunnel system beneath the city can

be ound in the houses basement. Te path was dug bythe amily themselves and is extremely claustrophobic,but it will eventually lead characters to the system ocattle tunnels.

11.c. Clue: Eddy Chapas Body

Eddy Chapa has been beaten to death with sledge-hammers and esters in the Borkowskis basementnext to a number o other corpses. It seems that


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Chapa was killed or his investigations, but the otherbodies are harder to identiy. Characters with theright social connections or amiliar with Sister Novak(clue 8.c.) can identiy a ew victims o the Borkows-ki lending scheme that wouldnt let it go. Te corpsesappear to be arranged next to the tunnel entrance likesome sort o psychotic oering.

11.d. Clue: Financial Records

A thorough search o the house reveals years uponyears o nancial records. Cyryl and his spawn havekept the Chambliss Meatpacking Company existingon paper or years. Tey also own the rental propertiesand the Chambliss Charities ront organization thattightened the nancial noose around their victims.Passable accountants realize that the money accrued inthe lending scheme was meant to o-set the dwindling

money le behind by the Chambliss sell-o. Disturb-ingly, nearly every penny went towards the operationor purchasing more cattle; the Borkowskis spent theirentire lives in abject poverty.

12. HE CALE UNNELS

aken by itsel, the near total darkness o the cattletunnels would be enough to drive a man mad. But theew glimmers o light provided make things so much

worse.

Intersections seem to split into innite, identicaloptions. Echoes conuse the ears at the same time achoking stink lls the air. Man-made corridors canexpand into awe-inspiring caverns beore suddenlydwindling down to narrow slits in the earth. Entirepassages are clogged to the ceiling with the rotten,poisonous remains o dead cattle, buzzing with fies.Others only rattle with a carpet o bones.

Every passage pulses with eerie blue light radiating othe grotesque symbols painted on the walls. Tougheach design seems to point towards some centrallocation, using them to navigate the labyrinth is inuri-atingly dicult.

Navigating the Tunnels

ravelling through Te Cattle unnels should be likenavigating a nightmare. Each tunnel courses withthe magical energy o a million sacrices and hiddenthreats. Getting through will not be easy.

When players move through the tunnels, the GMshould conduct the game in turns and tell everyonehow many successul movement tokens are requiredbeore reaching the center hinted at by the glowingblue runes (Location 13, p.19). At the end o eachturn, the GM should consult the ollowing table, eitherpicking what comes next or rolling a d10 at random.

At this point, there are a number o options. Tingscould be as simple as making the characters roll somesort o Navigation skill or each turn and providing

tokens or success. For a longer game, GMs might onlyallow players to move towards the center on repeatednumbers. For example, the second time a 2 is rolledwould count or a movement token. o really challengethe group, require that players roll all their successulturns in a row, starting over each time the group is ledastray.

Regardless o how the threats are arranged, any con-rontations with the Cham-Vi Juntan should be as psy-chologically damaging as they are deadly. GMs should

adjust other threats and impediments according tohow challenging they wish the game to be.

13. HE RED OWER

Characters that reach the center o the maze will bealarmed to nd an oddly beautiul sight: a massive, cir-cular basin with an ornately carved dome up top. Here,all the runes scrawled in blue phosphorescent paintconverge, meeting in a nexus o our blood stained

pillars with chains attached. Te chains themselveshum with the same eerie azure glow as they danglerom a hole some twenty eet upwards.

I the characters have somehow avoided contact withthe Cham-Vi Juntan, they will not be able to continueto do so. Te creatures will deend this inner sanctumto the death, and desperate adventures must choosebetween ghting their way back into the tunnels orattempting to climb the chains to saety.

LOCATIONS AND NPCs

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Tose that fee upwards wont be pursued, but they willnally nd themselves inside the Chambliss Meat-packing Plant. Te once busy killing foor and canneryhas been completely cleared out; even players withaccess to a light source will nd inky darkness cloyingto them in the cavernous space. Te interior has been

converted into some sickening cross between a tomband womb. Sickly, grey fesh clings to every suracewith an almost ungal consistency, black veins languid-ly pumping some viscous fuid into strange organs.Pustules o fesh pop open with a etid hiss whencharacters go past, oering up strange artiacts that aresimultaneously alive and rotting: ashen lumps in theshape o aces, miniature caskets made o bone, perectheart-shaped lockets that bleed pitch when opened.Whispers ll the darkness, and characters constantlyeel something skittering across their skin.

Staying sane inside Chamblisss living monument is amoment-by-moment struggle. Retreat is not an option;Cham-Vi Juntan guard the only exit. At this point,players must either deeat Chambliss, become him,go incurably mad, or ace the ravenous hunger o thecreatures below.

d10 Random Encounters1: Te tunnel is completely empty and without threat.Gain a token.2: Strange sounds (chittering, a baby crying, wet slaps,etc) lead characters astray, losing a token.3. Characters come across a tunnel clogged with mounds

o dead cows. I they do not cross, they lose a successultoken. I they do climb over the piles, they are attacked bya Cham-Vi Juntan hidden amongst the carcasses. Tosethat survive or escape gain a token.4. Characters discover the remains o a man who appearsto have been eaten alive. While horriying to behold, hishand encloses a useul item. Gain a token.5. A series o dizzying intersections bewilders the travel-ers. Players must either all lose a successul turn or makea skill check. Anyone ailing the check becomes separatedrom the party. No tokens can be gained, even or suc-cessul checks.

6. Characters come across a tunnel clogged with moundso dead cows. I they do not cross, they lose a token. Ithey do climb over the piles, they nd that the stackedcorpses nearly reach the ceiling. Characters must make acheck to squirm through beore succumbing to disgust,wretched stench or clouds o fies. Failed checks result initems lost in haste, damage, panic, or suocation.7. Te tunnel is carpeted in skeletons. Falling could causesevere puncture wounds. Te clatter o the dry bonesaccompanying every ootstep is maddeningly loud. Whileit may or may not attract unwanted attention, the noise isenough to damage any characters composure.8. Stampede! Driven mad by starvation, thirst, andterror, a herd o cows barrel down the tunnel in a pan-icked sprint. Characters should make checks to sense thedanger and fee rom it. Tose caught in the stampedesuer severe damage. Everyone loses a token.9. Tis tunnel goes so deep it touches on the water table.An underwater river is eroding the foor into precari-ous ledges. raversing the area is extremely dangerous.I players turn back, they will lose a token. Tose thatrisk the crossing can gain two tokens at once, but ailedchecks send characters into the current to be swept away

and drowned.10. Characters come across a massive antechamberwhere the dozens o Cham-Vi Juntan are easting. It is achallenge just to remain sane aer seeing such a horric,disgusting sight, and now players must decide what todo about it. Going back costs a token, whereas orgingahead can earn three tokens. Getting through the eastingground requires a number o checks in order to avoiddetection. Tose discovered by the Cham-Vi Juntanmust either try to lose them in the tunnels or engage in anearly hopeless combat with the monsters


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ENDGAME

Tere are ew victory scenarios in The Red Tower;the game is meant to present groups with a conusingweb o human intrigue that leads them into an incom-prehensible terror. However, there are a ew ways to

survive the ordeal and deeat the monsters esteringunderneath Chicago.

Characters that ound the Banishment spell locatedin Cyryl Borkowskis room (Clue 11.a, p.18) mayuse the spell to destroy Chamblisss presence onceinside the Meatpacking Plant. Te ritual will taketime, and players not involved with the casting willlikely have to deend a nal onslaught o the Cham-ViJuntan as they scramble up the chains to deend theirgod. I successul, the spell causes horric gales to tear

through the interior o the plant, winds so strong theypunch holes through the bricks and start a collapse.Te Cham-Vi Juntan will fee in terror, and any surviv-ing characters must make checks to escape collapsingchunks o the ceiling and walls.

Similarly, characters that have discovered the Becomethe Godhead spell in Chamblisss old home (clue 9.b)can save themselves rom the dark magic and night-mare creatures by doing what Andrew Chambliss did

in 1906: taking over. Again, any characters not in-volved in the casting will have to deend against a nalattack rom the Cham-Vi Juntan. I the caster is suc-cessul, Andrew Chamblisss ghostly presence quietlydissipates and the Cham-Vi Juntan stop their assault,bowing to the caster beore slinking into the darkness.Physical death can be avoided by this route, but theperson in charge o the spell will have become incur-ably insane, obsessed with killing themselves to erect anew temple o fesh elsewhere. In a sense, this solutionmerely deers the hellish ecosystem o the Cham-Vi

Juntan to another time and place.

Finally, characters always have the option o blowingthe damn place up. Whether breached rom the insidewith explosives or rom outside with heavy machinery,Chamblisss ghost cant survive the cleansing presenceo sunlight. Destroying the Meatpacking Plant will endthe dark god, but how the Cham-Vi Juntan will react

to this brute victory is uncertain. It is up to the GMwhether they quietly slink back into the shadows or goon a kill-crazy rampage through the city streets.

I all the characters fee or die, the status quo will

continue in Chicago until the Borkowskis money driesup. With the cattle unavailable, who knows what newdepravities Chambliss and his minions will concoct toeed their insatiable hunger or death?

ENDGAME

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