We weren’t going to get the tire fixed before the next day, but this nice, elderly couple took us in. Name of Jeremy and Rebecca if I remember right.
When I got out of a much-needed hot shower, Rebecca greeted me with a quilt and a pillow. I wrapped myself up on the couch, and lay my head on the pillow. The quilt wasn’t very colorful, like many are, just a checkerboard of pink and grey, but it was warm and comfortable. I felt like I just gave myself to it.I found myself back where I came up, I know I was thirteen, because my ma’s funeral had just been a week ago. As usual, I was runnin’ from my pa, not that he ever deserved to be called that. As always, he was shit-faced drunk.
I was high tailin’ for the woods, I could sometimes lose him in there. All of sudden, right at the wood line, there was this huge tree stump I’d never seen before. It must have been three feet across.
Just like that, the thing melted into slime, black with streaks of dark green, and rose up way over my head. A huge mouth split side to side, drooling more of that gunk, and a huge eye opened up right above that.
I panicked. I turned back. There, right up close to me, was that mean, ol’ bastard. He was dead, but standing, with his skin all melting. Flies were swarming his exposed muscles, and maggots were eatin’ his eyes.
‘Bout three in the morning, I woke up screaming.
The old couple’s bedroom door opened, and Jeremy walked out, real casual. He asked if I was okay, and offered me a glass of water.
Still, just before that, I swear I thought I heard the two of them laughing, real soft.
–Lt. Colonel Bennet Blake, USAF (RET.), drunk, at a bar in Waxahachie, Texas.
A couple in their late sixties, Jeremy and Rebecca Wainwright, had discovered a little Mythos knowledge. As they discovered more, they learned how to contact the mi-go, which they did.
Always interested in further experimentation on humans, and learning of Rebecca’s fondness for making quilts as well as what they are for, the mi-go asked her to make one for special use.
Jeremy, a retired brain surgeon, extracted 1″ squares of brain tissue, approximately one millimeter thick, from people kidnapped by the mi-go, which were then enchanted. Meanwhile, Rebecca prepared cotton squares and batting for the quilt. Jeremy enchanted these as well.
Rebecca then made the quilt, 10 feet per side and a checkerboard of pink and grey, centering each square of brain tissue within each square of fabric, and held in place by the batting. As she worked, she wove enchantment into it.
Any human who wraps themself in the quilt and curls up comfortably may spend 4 magic points to activate the blanket, at which point they drift into a deep sleep. Then, they must make a contested POW roll vs the blanket’s POW of 80. If they succeed, they gain 1D4+1 pleasant memories stored in the blanket; a failure results in only one pleasant memory. (For memories, see the Postive or Negative Memories listed below. Keepers should feel free to generate their own list or add to the ones below.)
If an investigator critically fails, they experience 6 traumatic memories. The investigator immediately awakens, losing 1D4/2D4 points of Sanity and behaving in some manner related to one of the memories, for 1D10 minutes. If this investigator goes insane in the future, they experiences one of the six, and behave in a manner appropriate to that memory.
An investigator who rolls a success, especially a critical success, when using the Blanket, tends to be drawn toward the Dreamlands, in whatever manner the Keeper decides.
Anyone suffering a critical failure will also be tend to be drawn toward the Dreamlands. However, rather than walking the stairs, they will be thrust in through an unpleasant manner, and into an unfortunate location and situation.
Either way, they will experience 1D10 days in the Dreamlands, though only 1D10 minutes pass in the waking world.
An investigator may use the Blanket any number of times until they roll a critical failure, after which it no longer has any effect on them.
Suggested Positive Memories
- Walking or lying in a field of lush grass and flowers, on a pleasant Spring day.
- Being intimate with a loved one.
- Enjoying a fine meal with friends.
- Engaging in an enjoyable, creative endeavor.
- Watching a sporting event.
- Sitting by a campfire.
- Reading a good book.
- Enjoying a beverage.
- Watching a sunset/sunrise.
- Listening to music.
- Shopping for practical and/or fun items.
- A casual “Sunday drive” in a rural area.
- Fishing in a still lake.
- Operating a pontoon boat/rowboat/canoe in a still lake.
- Playing catch with a friend or child.
Suggested Negative Memories
- Being shot or stabbed.
- Being mugged and beaten.
- Catching spouse/lover with another person.
- Being hit by a car.
- Being mauled by a bear, cougar, or other wild animal.
- Seeing a beloved pet run over.
- Being at the hospital bedside of a loved one slowly dying of an incurable disease.
- Being at the funeral of a loved one.
- Being fired and losing everything they own.
- Being told by their doctor they have an incurable disease.
- Seeing a buddy killed in combat, in a particularly graphic manner. (Be aware if any of your players are combat veterans.)
- Being an avid reader, bird watcher, etc., and losing their eyesight.
- Drowning, though not to death.
- Being electrocuted, though not to death.
- Being on fire, though not to death.
- Being severely injured and bleeding, trapped in a vehicle after a serious accident.
- Choking on food, to the point of passing out.
- Being arrested for shoplifting in a crowded store, while many people watch.
- Falling and breaking several bones.
- Being on an upper floor of a burning building, with no way out but jumping out a window.
- Failing to save someone from drowning.
- Losing a hand or arm in an industrial accident.
- Having a chemical experiment go awry and being blinded by the resulting explosion.
My name is CthulhuBob Lovely, I live in my childhood hometown of Columbus, Ohio, and have a son and two daughters. I volunteer at MisCon, which occurs each year on Memorial Day Weekend in Missoula, Montana and help out at other shows.
In my younger years I had seen H.P. Lovecraft’s books in the collection of my older brother, Brian, who is also responsible for introducing me to Monty Python, Star Wars and many other things geek.
I began running and playing Dungeons and Dragons in 1977 at the age of 15, and Call of Cthulhu since its original publication in 1981.
I believe geekery and gaming can have positive effects on math, reading and writing, and social interaction skills, as well as family togetherness. I have three published stories online at
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/bios/lovely_bob_bio.html
