Two lights in the woods north of Arkham, moving side by side, as though holding hands.
Bargained he with Fowler strong, A witch of furious mood, That she should take these children young, And slaye them in a wood.
The Children In The Wood, folk song, Arkham variant
Sometimes called the Gagnon Lights or Jack Lights, these entities are flashing fiery spirits usually seen in May in the woods north of Arkham.
They are most often encountered along the path established by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s. This land is Northside of Arkham, running from Apple Lane. The Gagnon Farm, at one time a boarding house and now a private residence, marks what would have been the outer boundary of that land.
At that time the land was publicly owned, acquired by the Federal Government for use as parkland. Over the decades sections of that land have come back into private hands, through fair means or foul, and what was an extensively forested area has become more developed. Private homes and small farms carved out sections of the Trail.
When the Trail was established back in the 1930s a small group of volunteers, the Miskatonic Pioneers, maintained it after the CCC was dissolved. They kept walking trails through the parkland and built a small clubhouse along the route, for people who wanted to walk the trail. That clubhouse offered beds and a communal kitchen for those willing to pay a small fee.
The clubhouse is known to have still stood in the 1980s and 1990s, though the Pioneers wound up the club in the 1960s when its last members decided to call it a day. It is not certain whether the clubhouse remains past the 1990s; nobody was looking after it, and the CCC walking trails are not kept clear.
When encountered, the Gagnon Lights appear at first as dancing lights, off in the distance. If followed or tracked, those who get close enough see the lights as two distinct blobs, moving side-by-side. Imaginative viewers might think the lights are holding hands, or whatever passes for hands.
Animals avoid the lights but sometimes cannot get away quickly enough, or are trapped in their dens. When that happens, their remains can be found, desiccated and drained. SAN 1/1D6.
Wherever the Lights pass, plants either wither or grow in peculiar ways. Mushrooms and fungi flourish where the Lights have been. These fungi glow in the dark with an awful lustre, the same colour of light shed by the Gagnon Lights. SAN 0/1. Fungi grown by the lights die off within two or three months.
While an Occult check might identify the Lights as a kind of ghost or wraith, in fact this is what is left of two children who were attacked using a special method derived from a Colour Out Of Space. Fowler was the instigator, experimenting with a peculiar curse. She used an imperfect embryo of Colour to do it, imprisoning that embryo in a locket which she then gave to the elder of the two Gagnon girls.
The embryo was unable to germinate or return to the stars, but it was more than capable of transforming the two children into something hideous.
The Gagnon Lights
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| STR, CON, SIZ, DEX, INT, POW | 0 |
| HP | n/a |
| Build | -1 |
| Magic Points | 9 |
| Move | 6 pouring / 10 flying |
Attacks per round: 1.
Characteristic Drain: The victim must make an opposed roll against the Lights’ current MP. If the Light wins it drains 1D4 points of one Characteristic from the victim, and costs the victim 1D4 hit points as well. Characteristic drain can be mended by a month’s bed rest for each point drained. Each Characteristic point drained increases the Light’s MP by 1, making the Light a more dangerous opponent with every point it takes. The maximum amount of MP a Light can have is 20.
Means of dealing with the Lights
- Deny it an opportunity to Drain by trapping it in some container, magic circle, or other bond sealed with an Elder Sign. If trapped in this way for a full year the Light will eventually starve and dissipate.
- Allow it to Drain to its maximum of 20, at which point the Light gains enough power to escape to the Stars where it belongs.
The Lights cannot abide silver-backed mirrors. If confronted by such a mirror, a Light moves rapidly away. Those looking into the mirror while it reflects the Light see what seem to be the faces of two frightened children. A Voorish Sign works in exactly the same way; if confronted by someone using the Sign, the Lights retreat.
