I, Governor
Saturday, 23 February: 2-6 pm: Trail of Cthulhu: I, Governor (or The Unpleasant Profession of Upton Sinclair)
NB: We did not finish this adventure.
- GM: Bill White
- Don Corcoran: Robert Heinlein
- Me: Dorothy Parker
- Ami Silber: Jack Parsons
- Karin: Paul S. Taylor
It was Monday, August 27, 1934. The next day were the State and Local Primaries. Upton Sinclair was hopeful to be the Democratic candidate for governor. He was holding a political rally at the Rose Bowl.
There was a brief pause for consideration of just why the PCs were there. Heinlein was employed as a writer for Sinclair's campaign newsletter, EPIC News. Parker knew the Sinclairs and their campaign manager, as well as Frank Scully from the Authors League for Sinclair, and it made sense that she'd at least want to see what Upton Sinclair had to say. Taylor also knew the Sinclair's campaign manager, and he was trying to understand the root causes of poverty so that he could shape public policies to help those in need. This was certainly a reason to come to the rally of the man who inspired EPIC clubs. (*) Taylor's wife was a distant cousin of Parsons. Parsons also knew Heinlein, a fellow sf enthusiast. So, he had the connections to have reason to attend the rally.
(*) For those as ignorant as I am about this time and place in history, EPIC = End Poverty In California.
Our heroes noticed that the crowd was made up mostly of fringe groups; very few traditional Democrats were in attendance. There were Theosophists and Rosicrucians, if I read my notes correctly. There were those with class resentment.
There were some men from Caltech. I believe they were also members of the Utopian Society, citing the principle of Production for Use! They were doing something that Heinlein, and perhaps the other two men, realized was creating an electromagnetic image as a form of deconstruction. This was _not_ a matter of simple reproduction, as in film.
Thinking about this shook Heinlein deeply. In mechanical terms, he blew a Sanity check, and his Insanity score rose from 1 to 2. Heinlein took notes rapidly, with intense focus, and then tore the paper he'd written on out of his notebook and ate it.
Sister Aimee Semple McPherson, founder of the Foursquare Church, sang. The GM gave us a quick explanation of who she was and also mentioned the incident of her disappearance in 1926. She reappeared a few days later, claiming that she had escaped from kidnappers. There were many skeptical of these claims, some believing that she had made up the story of her abduction to hide a tryst.
Upton Sinclair's speech was a bombshell. My notes are vague, but I think he talked about creating communities that sounded very Socialist, if not outright Communist. Heinlein noticed that Sinclair's demeanor changed as he ended his speech. He looked smug, as if he'd been playing a role and was pleased he had pulled it off. It was as if a different mind were looking out from his eyes.
Heinlein wrote a positive article about Sinclair. He did mention that, as the candidate finished, "it was as if a different mind were looking out from his eyes", but we all agreed that this would be ignored by most readers. And the GM showed us the calendar for 1934 and a track showing public opinion of Upton Sinclair.
To many people's surprise, Upton Sinclair won the primary. He was now the Democratic candidate for the 1934 election!
Parsons: Might be a hard sell
Heinlein: All good ideas are
Parsons: Well, at least I don't have to make a decision -- I'm only 19!
At least some of the PCs attended a Dinner with the Candidate. I think this included Parker, Heinlein, and Taylor, but not Parsons, although I am fairly sure that Taylor or Heinlein filled him in on what happened.
Parker warned Sinclair that the papers would call him a Communist. (Lisa had not read the wikipedia entry on Upton Sinclair.) Sinclair noted that they'd been saying that for years.
His wife, Mary Craig, told everyone to call her Craig. She admitted that there had been a lot of stress, and that she'd been having bad dreams. She showed them a book by Edward Derby. Parker read some of it aloud and concluded that the book could easily be the cause of those nightmares. The dreadful prose alone would do it! Either Heinlein or Taylor got ahold of the book. Whichever one it was took it home and privately burned it. In Cthulhu Dark, this is the sort of thing that can help decrease one's Insanity.
My notes say something about a camera and ask "small enough to fit in rocket?" They also note that Raphael Notty was an architect, a bigwig among the Utopians. He was the architect behind the houses of the stars in Hollywood, and currently working on a special project, I think the house of Clark Gable. The Utopians clearly had some connection to Upton Sinclair, and so did Notty.
Parker had a very bad dream. She was in the desert, and there was a strange procession, involving a king. She didn't want to look at him, but I'm not sure she was able not to do so. And I think she heard the name Pearl Hat Tony in the dream.
Heinlein's article appeared on the 30th, according to my notes. Public opinion went up and down, reaching a high of 8 and a low of 3, as various papers spoke for against Sinclair My notes mention Mental Radio and a third party candidate, but I don't know what any of that meant.
At this point, we were trying to figure out what to have our characters do so that we wouldn't be waiting for the GM to deliver the next piece of plot. I decided to take a bathroom break to see if that inspired me. And, as is often the case in an RPG, that trick worked.
Given what I knew about Dorothy Parker's marriages and when we were, chronologically, it occurred to me that she could have lunch with Mary Craig and sound her out about how things were going, domestically. She talked about her nightmares and Craig's, and she carefully probed about whether Upton were being in any way abusive.
Craig assured her that Upton had not been abusive, merely very focused on the campaign. Nevertheless, she did admit that he was very driven, that he sometimes seemed to be almost a different person, and that she did sometimes fear that he might try to harm her. Parker advised her to keep an emergency overnight bag packed, just in case. Sure, it was sounding like he might just be focused on the campaign, but it never hurt to be prepared.
Taylor wrote and published a critique on the economics of the Sinclair campaign. He was contacted by campaign staff. They were taking his concerns _quite_ seriously, and co-opted him to help the campaign work on the economics.
The four PCs decided to go to one of the Monday meetings of the Utopian Society. They listened to the explanation of how dues worked, and decided that it would be most cost effective to pay for a month's worth of meetings. Mr. Reed, a man in his mid-50s, was in charge and welcomed the new pilgrims. There was iced tea and cookies, and, we noted, given the time period, smoking. Raphael Notty's connection to the society was mentioned. A writer named L. Ron Hubbard was also a Utopian.
The group learned the Level 1 Principle of the Utopian Society: Cooperation, Not Competition! The GM explained that we could roll to gain Sanity, i.e., to lower Insanity, when acting from any of the principles the PCs had learned from the Utopian Society.
The day after the meeting, Parker tried to find out more about Pearl Hat Tony. She found a book in an antique shop run by Billy Haines. The book collected southwestern folktales, including one about Pearl Hat Tony. It was a fairly grim tale, but I don't recall the details.
Meanwhile, the group had a very important decision to make.
Heinlein: Whether or not we're going back to the Utopian Society on Monday?
Parker: Well, we've _paid_ for the whole month!
We agreed that this made as good an excuse as any, especially given the Great Depression.
They took a look at Clark Gable's house, which had been or was being redone by Raphael Notty. There were South American gargoyle statues, and Egyptian influences as well. My notes say: "Expansive Intelligence or Coherent Design". I don't know what that means.
I think the group also went to look at Notty's house, which Notty had also designed. It was at 66 Devil's Gate Canyon Road in Altadena, and there were statues or pictures of Tezcatlipoca.
Heinlein wrote an article titled "Cooperation: Fact or Fiction?" Papers slammed Upton Sinclair, though not as many as before. Some had fallen silent. But, Republicans weren't the only ones who didn't like Sinclair. The Democrats were not happy about his Communist leanings, while the Communists regarded Sinclair's defection to the Democrats as a betrayal.
Parker: The Democrats, Republicans, and Communists all don't like him. The man must be doing _something_ right.
We wondered, both in and out of character, how Sinclair had gotten the nomination in the first place. The GM explained that there had been a strong appeal to the grassroots, that this had been the first real modern media campaign.
The group returned to the Utopian Society the following Monday. They made the journey to Level 2: From Pilgrim to Novice. The Level 2 Principle was: Principal: Production for Use, Not Profit! Parker wasn't sure about that one, but Heinlein gave away an article he wrote. I forget the details, but it seemed to make sense in context.
Heinlein also talked to Richards S. Otto, engineer, fellow member of the Utopian Society, and campaign manager for Upton Sinclair. Otto said something about there being a game on multiple levels. He showed Heinlein a book he had picked up when he was in China several years ago (Otto's father was an importer). The book was called something like _Cryptical Book_. I think it was all or part of the _Seven Cryptic Books of Hsan_. He explained that the Black One With A Thousand Faces was opposing Sinclair, and said something about a Grey something with twelve faces.
As was mentioned above, Heinlein was working for the campaign as a writer for its newspaper, EPIC News. He listened to Otto and read part of the Cryptical Book in translation.
Heinlein: Do you have a typewriter, Otto?
Otto: Yes.
Heinlein: Can I borrow it?
Otto: Oh, sure.
Heinlein's player: I type and hand him my resignation.
Meanwhile, CC Teague, aka Charles Coughlin Teague, aka a Lt. Governor Candidate, if my notes are to be believed, or possibly the head of Sunkist, hired Clem Whittaker and Leon Baxter. Together, these two were Campaigns, Inc.! They tried to sway public opinion against Sinclair. Parker interviewed one of them, probably Teague, and probably concluded that Sinclair had excellent taste in enemies.
By now, it was Wednesday, 12 September, 1934. Clark Gable invited Parker to come out with him to celebrate the work on his new house. At first, the GM brushed quickly over the evening and described Gable and Parker in Gable's car, with a drunken Gable driving. This led to an accident, a drunken car crash, resulting in Gable's death. We agreed that the other PCs would probably be drawn to the scene.
Then, the GM backed up and described the evening in a little more detail. Think of it as a flashback, as Parker is explaining to her friends what happened.
Gable took her to Cafe Troccadero, and they celebrated with much wine and some food. Someone, I think Jean Harlow, fresh faced and still somewhat innocent, mentioned an upcoming Halloween party, but Gable made a not unkind button-it motion, and she did. Parker's curiosity was piqued, but she learned nothing more at that time. Eventually, she left with Gable, both of them in high spirits.
Parker (as flashback ends) ...And that's how we came to be in the car and he came to be dead.
GM (agreeing) And that's how you came to be in the car and he came to be dead.
People gathered around, including someone from the L. A. Times. Then, Raphael Notty made his way through the gathering crowd.
Notty (examining Gable): This man is not dead. He's only hurt.
And, indeed, Gable was now clearly not dead. Yet, Parker knew that he had been.
Parker (looking up at Notty): Pearl Hat Tony.
And, a moment later, I realized how right she was, and decided that she had just figured out what I had just figured out.
The Awful Realization: Raphael Notty Pearl Hat Tony Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep often takes human form (in various CoC scenarios, at least) and merely scrambles the letters in his name. Sure, Dorothy Parker probably did not know anything about the mythos the way a Seasoned Investigator in any of the Cthulhu games would, but she had just had an insane insight, and her Insanity score was creeping perilously high.
It is not strange that it took me so long to figure this out. Rather, it is strange that I figured it out at all in the course of a mere four hour session. I think part of this is that I've read a lot of Call of Cthulhu scenarios, and a few of them do include Nyarlathotep doing this, so I was familiar with the concept. Heck, I even made up my own name for a human guise, a 1920s jazz musician named Panther LeRoy, which does not work nearly so well. And, at some point, my mind just made the leap and Got It. It is possible that Bill did something to draw my attention to this, but if so, he did it subtly enough that I did not catch him at it.
By Thursday, Sinclair, who'd been out of town, had returned. My notes mention Jean Bosquet, but say nothing more about him at this point.
Sinclair had two main opponents at this point. One was Merriam. The only thing he had going for him was that he wasn't Upton Sinclair. Well, there was also a sense that Big Business owed him, as he called out the National Guard during a strike.
Then, there was Haight, whom the GM described as "a moderate Republican in an era where that meant something". He was looking to claim mainstream Democrats who were suspicious of Sinclair. My notes have someone saying that he was "only somewhat to the right of Roosevelt".
Meanwhile, the four friends went to the next Monday meeting of the Utopian Society and became Level 3 Initiates. The principle for this level was: Equability of Exchange, Not Materialistic Accumulation!
Someone (strictly OOC): Level 3? That gives us a feat!
Some time after this meeting, Parker started asking around about the big Halloween party she'd heard tell of. Someone, probably Jean Harlow, told her. the party would be at Griffith Park, in the Griffith Observatory. The Stars Were Right. She also said something about glass and the two halves of a broken mirror. My notes say "The man comes out of the desert. Our cup runneth." And, I blew an Insanity roll.
This meant that Parker's Insanity was now 6. As we use only d6s in Cthulhu Dark, this is the equivalent of 0 Sanity in Call of Cthulhu. The character will be taken out of play, but the player should decide exactly how this happens. I thought about this, and remembered that Dorothy Parker had attempted suicide several times during her life. In this timeline, well, one of those attempts had succeeded. She wrote down everything she knew about Pearl Hat Tony, Raphael Notty, and everything else that was going on, so that her friends could find it, and either hung herself or slit her wrists. I'm not sure which I picked, or even if I specified a method. She died on October 18, 1834.
Fortunately, Bill had extra character sheets. I took the one for Upton Sinclair's campaign manager, Richard Otto.
On October 19, Jean Bosquet contacted Heinlein. Bosquet was off his current beat, and on the Sinclair campaign. He asked Heinlein to go a bit undercover and interview some hobos, iirc. It made sense at the time. Heinlein started to work.
Heinlein: And the Black God of a thousand faces is bankrolling Sinclair.
Someone: Yes.
Heinlein: It was so much easier when it was just Carnegie and Gould.
Taylor investigated Notty's history. Notty appeared on the scene five or six years ago. He trained at Sorbonne. He designed a gallery in Pasadena using Southwest American Indian design elements.
Heinlein, I think accompanied by Taylor and Parsons, interviewed hobos and migrant workers. Some of these talked about Mad Owl Hazard and about the Gypsy King (*), who was named Pearl Hat Tony. They showed our heroes Hobo Signs of Protection, some of which seemed to correspond to signs mentioned in Otto's Cryptic Book as being necessary in the casting of certain spells.
(*) For those who don't already know, the term "gypsy" is an ethnic slur. I'm using the term when dealing with either dialogue or cases where someone or something was too clearly referred to with that adjective. Everywhere else, I'm going to try to use Rom, which is what Josh thinks is the correct term for the people in California. I'm not assuming that anyone at the table was as aware of this as we should have been. I was not, despite having enough connections that I should have.
My notes mention the Sons of the Bird (and yes, I got the reference to "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag") and that Big Jim Tully was reporting on the stars in Hollywood.
Don: We'll talk to the gypsies so Bill can use another accent.
I think some of the Rom told them that Mad Owl Hazard was one of the Sons of the Bird, and that Pearl Hat Tony leads the Sons of the Bird. As they started to leave the camp, Our Heroes were approached by a Rom boy named Baldo.
Baldo: They are not gypsies. They hunt gypsies. Gypsies defied an unholy king from an early age, which is why no gypsy will camp beside still water and no gypsy will have a mirror in their wagon. My grandmother knows more
His grandmother said that the Man of Pearls was called Nyabuwalukorku. He was killed. She mentifsoned the Great Birds and the Sons of the Bird. The Thief of a Hundred Million Sacrifices sang a song to make sleep fall on the king, the Man of Pearls. When the song wavered, the king awoke, and he sent out the Sons of the Bird, the Baksheeshee, which, OOC, I figured were Byakhee.
Taylor's Insanity reached 5, so he did the perfectly logical thing. He smashed the mirrors on their car. Heinlein didn't protest.
By 23 October 1934, only the Hearst papers were blasting Sinclair. Public opinion for him was now 5 on the 0 to 9 scale. Jack Parson went to watch some rocket experiments. He found that he in turn was watched by three hobos. One approached him.
Hobo: What of Pearl Hat Tony?
Parsons: What _about_ Pearl Hat Tony?
Hobo: The Bird is cruel.
Parsons: Soup?
The bum accepted the offering. Another hobo joined him.
Hobo 1: Welcome, Shambling Shelby.
Shelby: Greetings, Unspeakable Ed.
Shelby: What of Pearl Hat Tony?
Ed: Only by blood does he speak now, but soon his voice will soar on the wind.
Shelby: The Bird is cruel. (covers his face)
Parsons spooned out soup for Shelby and tried to find out more.
Shelby: Humans are the body of the city of angels.
Ed: ...you will have new life. Soup?
Parsons refilled Ed's bowl.
Shelby: In the fullness of the moon, he will be restored.
Ed: Before Samhain he must be restored -- as above, so below.
Parsons: Who's Pearl Hat Tony?
Shelby: The name is the same.
Ed: It's two halves of the same mirror.
They also mentioned a woman: The Woman is a charlatan, but it matters not. Her temple will be consecrated to the Man of Pearls.
The GM noted that October 22, 1934 would be the next full moon. We all knew that the City of Angels was Los Angeles. The Temple of Angels was the Foursquare Angelus Temple. And, Aimee Semple McPhee had to be the woman who was the charlatan, although her being a charlatan didn't matter.
Parsons, Taylor, Heinlein, and Otto went to the next Monday meeting of the Utopian Society. The first three achieved Level 4: The Hermit. Presumably, Otto had already done so. This was the final level, so the timing worked out well OOC. The new principle was: Principal: Economic Vision, Not Market Forces!
Then, the four men were invited to Raphael Notty's house for a special screening. He wanted their opinions on some improvements he was making to the initiation for the Utopian Society.
The film was definitely odd. There were only five actors.
Hero: Clark Gable Heroine: Dorothy Parker (I have no idea how that happened and neglected to ask.) Villain: Wallace Beery -- character actor (Long John Silver) (I think that means he'd played LJS previously) Lackey: Ted Healy Femme Fatale: Jean Harlow 1st Reel (Bill rolled a 17 on d20. I have no idea what that signified.) Title Card: THE FAMILIARS 2nd Reel Title Card: ANTARKTOS: Barrel shaped costumes bestrewn with tentacles for Villain, Lackey, and Femme Fatale 3rd Reel Exterior: OUTER SPACE Title Card: AZATHOTH Someone turned the projector to mute the effect the film was having on the PCs' sanity. The GM noted that smashing projector would take 3 successes. 4th Reel FARMSTEAD Title Card: CONTINUITY The worst of secrets locked away. This reel was strangely calming. The first success to smash the projector. 5th Reel EXTERIOR -- HILLS -- DAY Title Card: HOMECOMING The second success to smash the projector. 6th Reel EXTERIOR -- OPEN SEA Title Card: THE PORT A ship flew a white sail with a black ankh. There was a fire sigil in the ankh. No Sanity test was required. On the flip side, the roll to finish smashing the machine was a failure. 7th Reel ARROYO Title Card: THE COURTYARD Cannibalism. I'm not sure of further details, as the third success at this point resulted in destroying the film. I have no more idea than you do about what was going on in the film or what it meant.
Notty: You fools! You fools! I reveal to you the secrets of the universe, and you cast them aside?
Parsons (I think): We'd prefer not to know those kinds of secrets!
Notty: It is my destiny! First, California, and then, the world!
The PCs fled and escaped Notty's home. And, at this point, it was time to break. So, the scenario ended.
To be continued...?
I very much want a copy of this scenario, and one of "All Along the Watchtower" as well. "I, Governor" was originally written for Trail of Cthulhu. But, it ran smoothly in Cthulhu Dark, and I now have a better idea for how that can run. Basically, it's the same as any of the Cthulhu games, but streamlined. Roll 1d6 for anything a human can do. Roll a second d6 if it is something your character can do particularly well. E.g., Heinlein and Parker would roll a second die for anything to do with writing. You can also roll the Insanity die, but if it's the highest of the three, your Insanity score increments. Look at the highest number. That determines how well you do. 1 = You barely make it. 6 = You are awesome.
This is very broad, but given the GM _wants_ the players to solve mysteries and have a good chance of making it to the climax, that's really all one needs. Oh, and if one tries to fight a monster, one dies. Players are told this up front. The equivalent of Hit Points, as usual in a Cthulhu game, is In/Sanity. The thing to watch is how often you call for Insanity rolls and how quickly the PCs are going insane. Do they have a chance to lower their Insanity by destroying evidence of the mythos and thwarting it? If you want them to have a chance of surviving once the Insanity starts getting up there, they need to.
Saturday evening, Josh and I attempted to run a filk circle in the con suite. It was a success if one measures that by us not having to sing to each other for the two hours allotted for the filksing. We never had fewer than three people, but I think we never had more than five. We could have gone longer than two hours, but by then, folks had other things they wanted to do. Also, doing the filksing in the con suite is a mixed bag. Other people feel free to talk over us, which is understandable. Many events are held in the con suite, and folks going to the con suite, but not to those events, are used to ignoring them.
