Warning: This site is a character/player's perspective on the campaign Eternal Lies and contains SPOILERS.
PRIVATE CASE FILE
MISSION:
1. DISCOVER THE WHEREABOUTS AND ACTIVITIES OF
MR WALTER WINSTON DURING THE MONTH OF AUGUST, 1924.
2. ASSESS ANY CURRENT DANGERS OR THREATS
TO SURVIVING FAMILY OR FRIENDS.
CONTACT:
MRS JANET WINSTON-ROGERS
WIDOW AND HEIRESS
DAUGHTER OF THE P.O.I.
DATE OF CONTRACT:
OCTOBER 31, 1934
PERSON OF INTEREST:
MR WALTER WINSTON
DECEASED JULY 1934
PHARMACEUTICAL MAGNATE
OCCULT ENTHUSIAST
INTERVIEW WITH MRS WINSTON-ROGERS:
MRS WINSTON-ROGERS IS LOOKING FOR INFORMATION
REGARDING THE ACTIVITY OF HER FATHER,
MR WALTER WINSTON,
IN THE PERIOD LEADING UP TO AND INCLUDING AUGUST, 1924.
Leading up to an incident in 1924, her father became increasingly interested in folklore and then occult studies. He travelled often (to destinations unknown) and began holding private meetings at their family home, with persons unknown to Mrs W-R and her mother (deceased). They are described as being 5 or 6 in number, one a male in a wheelchair, possibly two other men and two women. One of these is likely to be Douglas Henslowe (more below).
Mr Winston’s mindframe changed during this timeframe, and he spoke of battling something, became obsessed with it. What little he spoke of referred to being “on the trail of bad people”, and he would sometimes be away for months at a time. Mr Winston travelled often in 1924, “most of that year”, leading up to the incident, or was at least away from home, his destination unknown.
Following an unknown incident in August 1924, Mr Winston returned home a changed man. He gave up his hobby and burned all related materials including books, notes, and travel documents. Mr Winston became a troubled shut-in. He ignored (but, strangely, kept) a number of letters from a Douglas Henlowe (enclosed), which refer to an incident in August, 1924 which may possibly have led to the deaths of their companions.
When he returned in 1924, he was a changed man once more. This time there were no more secret meetings, but he did see a psychologist (at his own home, mostly);. He was unwell physically and mentally, was paranoid, ate little, and seemed to fear everything. Mr Winston never spoke to his family of his travels, so they are unaware of what he feared. He would only say that “nothing mattered anymore”.
Mr Winston lived until July 1934 and became deceased of natural causes. Mrs W-R does not suspect anything to the contrary.
SHE WISHES TO KNOW WHAT OCCURRED,
& WHETHER THERE REMAINS ANY DANGER TO HER OR OTHERS.
The Incident (1924):
What we “know”:
Walter Winston (deceased), Douglas Henslowe (patient at Joy Grove Sanitarium), Vincent Stack “the fixer” (deceased), Katherine Clark (decased), and F.C. Kullman (deceased) collectively formed a group to track down and stop a specific cult.
This cult referred to themselves as Echavarria’s people, if anything. Mostly they partied, sex and drugs (plenty of both), but Echavarria - their leader - also promised them power.
Ramon Echavarria planned to summon Golgarath, the Fisher from outside. They also spoke of The Liar from Beyond and it is unclear to me whether these are two beings or one with two names. Several of the major cult members became enraged over Echavarria's lies (his true intentions about how/what/who he really intended to "summon" - this detail remains vague).
Edgar Job (one of the few surviving members, from whom much of this information was obtained) was a member of the “cult”, but never cared much about the power – he mostly wanted the sex and drugs and parties. He claims to have basically been high continually from 1923 (when George Avery introduced him to Echavarria) through August 1924 (“the incident”).
According to both Mr Henslowe and Mr Job, a creature was summoned that night, described by Mr Job as having long arms and no head but lots of mouths. Mr Job says whatever they summoned it was not what they were promised, nor what Echavarria expected.
According to Mr Job, just before the Fisher turned up, Echavarria put a spell on several of them, including himself. He was screaming and scared, but did manage to get away. Some died from gunshots or stab wounds, Mr Stack in particular took out several of the cultists, and Mr Henslowe as well. Additionally, the creature “began tearing people apart”.
Mr Henslowe ran and survived. Katherine Clark and FC Kullman were specifically mentioned as dead. We know Mr Winston has now passed. We are told Mr Stack killed Echavarria (whose body was identified by a member of his household staff), and was in turn killed by Edgar Job. Mr Job (who also got away) doesn’t know if anyone else survived.
Based on the patient files from Joy Grove Sanitarium, the incident may have occurred on August 13th, 1924. (Update – date verified)
Additional Information:
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There were celebrities associated with the Cult. Richard Spend who died the night of the Incident. Olivia Clarendon, who had attended some of the Cult’s parties, but then (at least she claims) cut off ties to the group.
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There was another central member to the Cult: Samson Trammel. Mr Trammel was described by Acuna as a third member of a triumvirate along with Ayers (in Ethiopia) and Echavarria (deceased). He has been described as a deviant, but also a high-ranking, mysterious, and wealthy member of the local “society”.
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There was disparity among the members of the triumvirate. Ayers became upset with Echavarria over “lies” about his true intentions. Their argument, however, did not seem to last long. The story goes that the “lies” which were told resulted in Ayers being invited into some “inner circle” of The Liar From Beyond.
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Nectar. The Cult procured or harvested a substance known on the street as Nectar, which they distributed for profit. We also know they partook of a honey-like substance at their sex parties, and that this substance might be itself linked to the perverse sexual acts which the cult performed for ritualistic reasons. We assume, for the time being, these two substances are the same, in a whole or diluted state. (verified)
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The Summoning. According to at least one Cult member, what they intended to summon (or lied about intending to summon) is not what appeared that night. The name The Fisher has been associated both with the intended summoning and the actual summoning. We have only seen “the mouths” appear physically upon a person, at this time (on Tshombe and Ayers) – but the descriptions about what appeared that night would seem to indicate the mouth appeared as an entity unto itself.
(update redacted) -
Something was dug up from the site of the Incident. We don’t know when, but it was apparent when we visited in 1934, so perhaps recently. There is much new construction going on in the vicinity, so this could merely have been a survey of sorts of the land, but we suspect perhaps something was left behind. (MYSTERY UNSOLVED)
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We now have the name of the supervising policeman at the scene in 1924. His name is Walter Kriss.
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George Ayers was not in attendance at The Incident as he was in Ethiopia.
We learned that Trammel continued the cultivation of Nectar, its production as well as distribution, and the cult's activities to that end in Los Angeles. Hence, the case continues. Our mission is no longer one of investigation into the 1924 incident, but the modern day activity of this and related cults, the drug Nectar, and the occult connections.