Salazar's Unreliable Sources

Implant Thought Complex Ritual. Study time: days; 1D10 SAN. Activation: an hour; varying POW, 1D6 SAN This ritual acts as a permanent version of Infallible Suggestion. The operator chants mantras in a forgotten language and invokes the name of Tsathoggua while repeatedly writing the intended command, all in a dimly lit room filled with incense fumes. The operator can choose to invest any amount of POW into the chosen phrase. Once the ritual is completed, one specific instance of the phrase chosen by the operator is enchanted to implant a predetermined  thought or command in the mind of targets. If an operator knows the ritual and has access to an already enchanted phrase, they can replicate it for only 1 POW, regardless of what the original operator sacrificed. When someone encounters a phrase enchanted by the ritual, they have to roll an opposed POWx5 test against the POW invested by the original operator. Upon a success, nothing happens, though encountering a different instance ...

Helen's Dress This yellow satin dress is embellished with art deco motifs and strange golden patterns. Used in the filming of The Fall of Troy,  an allegedly "cursed" movie from Weimar-era Germany, it is sought after by many collectors of the weird and occult. History The Fall of Troy  was first conceived in 1928 by Wolfgang Koenig, a wealthy socialite whose father had worked with Heinrich Schliemann on the Hissalrik dig. Koenig grew up among plundered relics of the classical world and obsessive pseudo-archaeologists, and became somewhat of an amateur historian himself. His 1928 concept of the film was a relatively faithful retelling of the Iliad, a task already accomplished four years prior by Manfred Noa's epic Helena. That didn't stop Koenig from trying to make something even grander, an unrealistic prospect even with the obscene amount of money he was willing to throw at it. Koenig realized a script and a few early props extremely derivative of Noa's versi...

  Las Vegas, Nevada. March 18, 2005. Since dr. Fincher was not properly inducted into the conspiracy, Agent JACE opts to take him along while he observes the Casavecchia estate so that he can learn tradecraft on the field. The family lives on a large compound in the hills outside Las Vegas. Fincher recognizes that most buildings on the grounds are modeled after early Italian Renaissance architecture, and many structures are useless or vestigial: a servant house and a stone barn, for example. The main house is shaped like a horseshoe, with a young olive tree and a well in the heart of the courtyard. Fincher opts to go and look up property records and floor plans at city hall, while JACE stays to watch over the compound. JACE can't shake the feeling he too is being watched, from above. Meanwhile, JACK is studying his copy of the  De Mulieribus . Most of the later portion of the book is unchanged, if not for certain peculiar choices in translation. The first part, covering goddes...

I've been running a sandbox scenario focused on the player Agents figuring out which items up for sale at an auction may be Unnatural and sabotaging the event so that they do not fall into the wrong hands. Here is a detailed writeup of one of the artifacts, assuming it is revealed to be Unnatural. There were six other artifacts in the scenario, three of which I will publish in this fashion. The other three were simply too specific to the context of my campaign. An operation report for the scenario will be coming "soon" (in the Arc Dream Publishing sense of the word). The Falconer's Glove A leather falconry glove associated with the cult of Mars-Nodens, retrieved from a late-Roman / early-medieval temple of the god. Surprisingly well-preserved for an artifact made out of leather. It allows the wearer to summon a Night Terror and bind it to their will.  History The glove dates to the 5th century AD, around the collapse of Roman control on the British isles. It was creat...

  Las Vegas, Nevada. March 17, 2005. Agent JACK and Dr. Fincher head to Munroe's office for their meeting. The office is on the third floor of a small building next to Munroe's casino, the Sonora, an over-the-top cowboy themed establishment filled to the brim with plastic cacti and tumbleweeds. The two enter the office and are welcomed by Munroe. The collector is vaguely familiar with Gardner (Agent JACK), being competitors in the same business. JACK claims to have brought Fincher along as an 'expert in the matter', hoping that the two could help Munroe get his stuff back in exchange for information. The agents say they have some leads on Munroe's missing items, and can help him find them if given leads as to who may have organized the robbery. Initially, Munroe doesn’t take them seriously, but JACK convinces him he may know something about the theft without letting too much slip. The collector agrees to share some information about the other parties involved in the...

  Las Vegas, Nevada. March 15, 2005.     Agent JACE receives a hidden invitation to a meeting in a motel in Henderson. That evening, JACE convenes with Agent BERNARD, who promotes him to cell leader of J-Cell now that JUNE is gone. He explains he will also have to establish contact with the leaders of I-Cell and K-Cell, who have recently cut off contact. It is a trying time for the group, and A-Cell is on the lookout for agents they can rely on. Before that comes the mission. BERNARD briefs JACE on the details: recently, art collector Winston Munroe purchased six extremely valuable items at the auction of the Krauss family estate. In transport to his residence in Las Vegas, the van carrying the items was stolen. Traffic Cameras show that a ghostly figure veiled in red was present for the robbery, but no witnesses report its presence. The Agents are to investigate the appearance of the mysterious figure and determine if it is Unnatural, as well as identify any links to Mun...