Police Statement taken from Officer Rafe Pilgrim,
We were called out to a local park, there had been a report of youths drinking and damaging property. We entered at the main entrance and the other patrol would go in via the smaller southern exit, the only other way out would be over a 12-foot-high iron fence.
As we entered the gates we could see evidence of vandalism, a discarded spray can and some empty alcoholic beverage containers. Then officer Daglish, my patrol partner, reported hearing something, I was on the radio to HQ but he swore he had heard something odd. As we proceeded into the park the fog began to become more present, at first our vision was good, we could see the lights of the houses and even the entrance we had used. But as we walked, the fog became denser.
The strange thing was I had checked the weather reports, I always do, in case we need our waterproofs or should wear thermals. It was summer, the skies were clear, but that fog was so thick. About 100 yards into the park visibility began to reduce significantly. By the time we got halfway to the central point of vision it was down to 5 feet and the only way we could be sure we were travelling was to follow the footpath.
HQ Radio’d, rather, we heard garbled comms, something about the secondary team… I can’t say for sure but the lights on the houses couldn’t be seen, I could barely see Daglish, even with our torches out vision was terrible. Then we both heard the noises, the only way I can describe them, they reminded me of wood being sawed, but as we got closer to the noise coming from the west, it wasn’t wood being sawed, I knew I was hearing bones being sawed.
I know that sounds odd, we found no bones, no blood, no bodies but I remember when I worked as a Saturday boy at a local butchers, and I could hear one of the butcher’s sawing bones. It was just like that. As we walked to the playground area the noise could be easily heard coming from the west, we just dismissed it as some branches rustling.
It was at the playground we… there were no youths, just the playground equipment moving slowly on its own, the creaks and squeaks of old poorly maintained metal. The secondary unit should have been there, they weren’t, the radio should have worked, it didn’t.
Daglish told me he heard something from the south, it could be the other unit, so we ran towards that entry point, within 20 seconds we heard the sawing again, but it was coming from the south instead of the west, we both looked at each other and panicked. We have been trained to go into danger, but that sound, wasn’t danger, it was death. We ran back the way we came, visibility was almost nought now, as we entered the playground there was a pushchair by the benches that wasn’t there before.
In the push chair was small child’s toy, the sawing noise was now moving closer, we both ran, or at least I thought we both ran, as I ran and turned my head back, I saw Daglish was moving towards the push chair, his torch up and his baton out. I carried on running, the retched sawing the only thing I could hear and then quickly I couldn’t see the playground as I hurried for the entrance desperate to leave the fog.
By the time I had reached the northern exit there was another patrol car, they had seen how shocked I was, called for an ambulance and then I… I don’t know what happened to the others, Daglish should have gotten out…but he didn’t.
Officer Pilgrim suspended and sectioned pending full investigation of missing officers.
Officer Daglish, missing since incident, secondary team dispatched, encountered fog and held back at southern entrance, they reported the same fog, but no other artifacts reported by officer Pilgrim.
The Disappearing Fog
The Disappearing Fog resides in parks, graveyards and wooded areas, the only clue is the well-maintained iron fencing around the green space. The truth is that it is an area that holds a long dormant echo of a powerful summoning spell in the area, perhaps a place of power for druids or rune magic that has was tainted with unnatural spell casting or maliciously sabotaged. Whatever the individual history of the site, the powerful spell has left a permeant mark on the earth, tainting it forever. The Fog is not strong enough to break free of its iron prison, the iron fencing prevents it from escaping, however occasionally it will reappear, starving for sacrifices and taking those who fall for its lures.
The lures will be individual to those who enter, it will use familiar sounds or images that hold mild traumatic value but will not drive the victim away but make them want to inspect and remain in the fog. Once it has lured an acceptable victim it will drive others away so it can consume the lured and remain dormant again until it requires another sacrifice to return to its slumber.
The Disappearing Fog only requires a fresh sacrifice every couple of centuries, meaning the locals have superstitions about the area being best avoided at night but with no real evidence to back up the claim in recent memory.
STR – 05
CON – 05
SIZ – 400
DEX – 05
INT – 70
POW – 200
APP – 6
Build – 5
Damage Bonus – 2d6
Hit points – 40
Magic Points – 40
Entering the fog – 1/d6 San Loss
Hearing/seeing traumas of the past – d4/d8
Witnessing the Fog Consuming a Sacrifice – d8/d20
Consume Sacrifice – Once the Fog has lured a suitable victim, they must Succeed a Hard Pow Check or be fully consumed into the Fog. Those who witness this happening will have Cloud Memory cast on them so that the Fog’s dangers remain secret. The process is a grizzly evaporating of the victim, turning them into a bloody fog that then dispense into the dense fog to turn back to its palish haze again.
Weapons – none
Armor – Incorporeal, mundane weapons cannot harm the fog. Enchanted weapons can disrupt and destroy artifacts within the fog.
Magically Enchanted Iron Charms can be used to move through the area safely,
Magic Spells – Cloud Memory, Enthrall Victim, Implant Fear,
Craft – Charm 60%, Intimidate 60%
Combat
The fog cannot be fought conventionally, the fog itself cannot be blown away or move beyond an iron border. Preventing the Fog from feeding for over 400 will cause it to be fatally weakened and no longer be able to manifest its powers to feed on others, effectively destroying it and removing the fog from the area forever.
A career educator, dramatist, and newly minted author. Debuted as part of the Golden Goblin and Shoggoth.net collaboration Kickstarter project “Terrors of OctoberNomicon”. A long-time fan of horror and a constant companion to the void and an avid tabletop wargamer. He regularly streams Call of Cthulhu and Pathfinder @https://www.twitch.tv/danielanddice and will soon be releasing his own Miskatonic Repository scenario for Call of Cthulhu, “Operation Wagey Cage”.
