Shadows Over Scotland

Details

Front Cover

Publisher: Cubicle 7

Product Code: 7353

Publishing Year: 2011

Pages: 288

Cover Price: $26.99

Author(s): Stuart Boon

Artist(s): Jon Hodgson (cover), Paul Bourne (layout), Jan Pospisil, Andy Hepworth, Eric Lofgren, Scott Neil, Nicole Cardiff, Pat Loboyko

Setting(s): 1920s

Format(s): Hardcover and PDF

Contents

Mysterious, wild and beautiful, Scotland in the 1920s is home to horrors modern and ancient, man-made and star-born. From the rolling pastoral Lowlands to the snow-capped peaks of the Highlands and the seaweed-choked Western Isles, creatures and cultures have taken root in Scotland whose maddening, corrupting influence can be felt far and wide. Fiendish things haunt the hive-like alleys and wynds of old Edinburgh, while Glasgow’s streets whisper with rumours of dark terrors in the shipyard shadows on the snaking, poisonous Clyde. And in the isles, murmurs on fishing boats and ferries speak of far older things, of sites of power and standing stones, awakenings and stirrings in forgotten places. Something terrifying lurks in the night, casting dark shadows over Scotland.

In addition to 7 scenarios (see below), Shadows Over Scotland is very much intended to be a resource for Keepers. There is a wealth of information for creating Scottish scenarios here, including:

• an Introduction to 1920s Scotland, incorporating:
  • Scotland in the 1920s
  • A Keeper's History of Scotland
  • A Mythos Timeline
  • The Lingo of 1920s Scotland
  • Notable Figures of 1920s Scotland

• three regional sections--The Lowlands, The Highlands, and The Islands, which include sections on:
  • Geography
  • Culture & People
  • Flora & Fauna
  • Climate
  • Mythos & Scenario Seeds
  • Cities in Detail
  • People & Places of Note

• and six completely new scenarios:
  • Death and Horror Incorporated - A string of nightmarish incidents in Glasgow’s East End leads investigators to Glasgow Cathedral, HM Duke Street Prison, the Royal Infirmary, and the Necropolis—all situated within a mile of each other—to uncover a dark nexus of evil.
  • The Hand of Abyzou - When an old friend ends up in an Edinburgh asylum raving about witchcraft and the end of the world, investigators must uncover the mystery of the ‘Sleepers’ and venture into Edinburgh’s catacombs to face an ancient terror that must never wake.
  • Uisge Beatha ("The Water of Life") - A new young laird from America gets more than he bargained for when he visits the ancient whiskey distillery on his land. The investigators receive a frosty reception from the locals, and discover there truly is ‘something in the water.’
  • Heed the Kraken's Call - Determined to plumb the depths of Loch Ness, Norway’s celebrated naval explorer Erik Øland arrives in Inverness bound for the world’s deepest loch. But when his purpose-built ship, The Kraken, is set alight in the Moray Firth that same evening and Øland is found murdered in his hotel room, investigators are called in to look into the mystery.
  • The Forbidden Isle - With plans of turning the island into a luxurious playground for Britain’s rich and famous, Sir George Bullough invites the investigators to the Western Isle of Rúm to discover why neighbouring islanders refuse to set foot on ‘The Forbidden Isle’ and what nameless horror has claimed the island for its home.
  • Star Seed - Archaeologist John McNamara invites the investigators to Skara Brae to confer on a strange artefact he’s discovered. If he’s right, there might have been a very, very good reason why the settlement was abandoned so suddenly millennia ago. Worse than that, it would appear the stars are aligning once more and that the same ‘reason’ might well be returning from the depths of timeless space.

• in addition to known Mythos cultures and creatures, the book introduces a large number of unique Mythos entities, such as:
  • ‘Old Maggie’, the Crone of Appin Hill
  • The Thing in the Clyde
  • Sawney Bean
  • The Blue Men of the Minch
  • Bishop Warlock
  • The Floating Horror of Glen Affric
  • ... and others too horrible to mention!

For each region, three 'Cities in Detail' are provided with further discussion of locations, personalities, and Mythos elements. These are:

   Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews for the Lowlands;
   Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William for the Highlands;
   Kirkwall, Portree, and Stornoway for the Islands

• History of the region: with sections on Prehistory, Roman Era, Dark Ages, Saxon Age, Middle Ages, Early modern Era, Modern Age
• Geography of the region
• Specific locales: including a longer section on the City of Bath
• Legends and Customs: with discussions of Alfred's Tower, The Dragon of Aller, The Doones, Faeries, Gorm, King Arthur, Ley Lines, Priddy Monuments, Screaming Skull of Chilton Cantelo, Swine King, Wassailing, Wedding of Stanton Drew, Witchcraft
• Three Full Length Scenarios
• Adventure Seeds: six short (one page) ideas which could be developed into scenarios
• Appendices: short discussion on cider, magic tomes and spells, and regional personalities

Scenarios: Death And Horror Incorporated, The Hand Of Abyzou, Uisge Beatha ('The Water of Life'), Heed The Kraken's Call, The Forbidden Isle, Star Seed

Additional: Introduction, History of Mythos in Scotland, , Index

Front Cover Text

Cthulhu Brittanica

Shadows Over Scotland

A Scotland Sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu by Stuart Boon

Back Cover Text

Mysterious, wild and beautiful, Scotland in the 1920s is home to horrors modern and ancient, man-made and star-born. From the rolling pastoral Lowlands to the snow-capped peaks of the Highlands and the seaweed-choked Western Isles, creatures and cultures have taken root in Scotland whose maddening, corrupting influence can be felt far and wide. Fiendish things haunt the hive-like alleys and wynds of old Edinburgh, while Glasgow’s streets whisper with rumours of dark terrors in the shipyard shadows on the snaking, poisonous Clyde. And in the isles, murmurs on fishing boats and ferries speak of far older things, of sites of power and standing stones, awakenings and stirrings in forgotten places. Something terrifying lurks in the night, casting dark shadows over Scotland.

Shadows over Scotland is a massive new hardback sourcebook for Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game covering Scotland in the 1920s. It features:

• three comprehensive sections detailing the Lowlands, Highlands and Islands;
• individual sections on history, folklore, language and life in 1920s Scotland;
• a complete mythos timeline;
• detailed coverage of nine cities and their various inhabitants;
• and, six sinister adventures complete with extensive handouts.

Comments / Trivia

Despite the fact that the back cover of this book claims that it contains four complete adventures, it actually only contains three (plus some adventure seeds).

"written by a Somerset-born author proud of his county and its rich folklore"

Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only

Players should not read any further.

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