Beyond the Pale

TM

Written by
CHRISTOPHER R. RICE
and J. EDWARD TREMLETT
Edited by SEAN PUNCH
Illustrated by
BRANDON MOORE

GURPS System Design z STEVE JACKSON Chief Executive Officer z PHILIP REED
GURPS Line Editor z SEAN PUNCH Chief Creative Officer z SAM MITSCHKE
GURPS Project Manager z STEVEN MARSH Chief Operating Officer z SUSAN BUENO
Production Artist z NIKOLA VRTIS Director of Sales z ROSS JEPSON
GURPS FAQ Maintainer z Page Design z PHIL REED and JUSTIN DE WITT
VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO Prepress Checker z NIKOLA VRTIS

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GURPS Horror: Beyond the Pale is copyright © 2020 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved.
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STEVE JACKSON GAMES

Stock #37-1192 Version 1.0 – July 2020 ®
 Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Background Information on Those Involved . . . . . . . . . . 5
Getting the PCs Involved . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Crane’s Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Crime Scenes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Evensong Murders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Claxtons’ House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Backdrop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Davidsons’ House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
About GURPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 The Bledney House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
The Truth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 The Drawn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Strangeness Inside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Confrontation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Initial Investigations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Crime Scene Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Introduction
They say white is pure – but sometimes it’s pure evil. A dis- foresight, preparation, and luck, the investigators might just
turbed mind has reached from our world into a pale realm of banish these foes . . . and save the accused.
pain and horror, and brought something back with it. Now
two households are dead, and the Things that did it remain,
resting before going out to slaughter again. About the Authors
The authorities claim to have the killer. They are wrong. Christopher R. Rice has been published in Pyramid many
A sympathetic detective contacts the PCs for help, for he times. He co-authored GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 19: Incan-
knows – or at least hopes – the suspect couldn’t have done it. tation Magic, with Antoni Ten Monrós, and Dungeon Fantasy
As the investigators sift through clues and dig deeper, they Traps, with Jason “PK” Levine, and wrote additional material
may come to wish things were that simple. for GURPS Monster Hunters 6: Holy Hunters and GURPS
A GURPS Horror investigation for four to six seasoned Thaumatology: Ritual Path Magic. His first solo work was
150- to 200-point characters, Beyond the Pale brings the GURPS Monster Hunters Power-Ups 1. Of course, if he’s not
heroes into contact with dangerous extradimensional beings writing about GURPS, he’s blogging about it; visit his site,
capable of warping flesh and bone with a mere touch, and “Ravens N’ Pennies” (www.ravensnpennies.com), for more
of taking the distorted shape of those loved and lost. With GURPS goodies. From Portsmouth, Virginia, he’s spinning
words of whimsy into gold. He wishes to thank L.A.,
for being the wonderful, amazing, inspiring woman
that she is – not every man gets his muse personi-
G
etting the s PC
fied in the flesh! He also wishes to thank his gaming
group, the Headhunters, for alpha testing; his fam-
nvolved I ily (especially his mother); and Elizabeth “Archangel
The group’s reputation for solving strange and unusual cases Beth” McCoy, his Sith Editrix mentor.
attracts the attention of Detective Fred Smit, who contacts one J. Edward Tremlett, a.k.a. “the Lurker in Lan-
of them via email, asking if they’ve heard of the “Sutcliffe Street sing,” takes his ancient keyboard from its hiding
murders.” An Internet search turns up a half-dozen articles from place and unleashes his words upon the world. His
major Massachusetts newspapers: Three days ago, two near-si- bizarre lifestyle has taken him to such exotic locales
multaneous mass slayings took place on the same block in the as South Korea and Dubai. He was a frequent con-
well-to-do community of Evensong. Later articles say the police tributor to Pyramid in its last two incarnations,
have a suspect in custody, but give no name. was the editor of The Wraith Project, and has seen
Smit asks to meet with the PCs in an unofficial capacity. He print in The End Is Nigh, Worlds of Cthulhu, and the
admits to having a professional dilemma, and needs outside anthology Ride the Star Wind. He’s also partially
help. He can’t offer money, but hopes seeing the right thing done responsible for The Crown of Eternity and Curse of
will be enough. He’d like to get together as soon as possible, and the Pirate King, but he’s not taking all the blame.
asks the group to keep a low profile, offering to meet them at an He’s the author of the fiction blog SPYGOD’s Tales
unremarkable watering hole just outside of Evensong. (spygod-tales.blogspot.com), and lives in Lansing
with two cats and enough Lego bricks to make a
Great Old One. Maybe he already has.

Contents and Introduction 2

 The Evensong
Murders
A sympathetic detective contacts the PCs for help, because who think they can just beat a confession out of the young
he believes in the innocence of the suspect in a multiple mur- man. As the investigators sift through clues and dig deeper,
der. He would like to save the accused from the state police, they may come to wish things could be that simple.

Backdrop
Evensong is a small “enclave” community of 2,000 souls, right-side neighbors. He was wandering their street, covered
three miles north of Saugus on Route 1. The meet-up loca- in blood and looking extremely confused, repeating, “They
tion, Stoebers, is just off the highway, halfway between the made me watch.”
two towns. Smit waits in the back room: a balding, fat-faced The trail of blood led to Bledney’s left-side neighbors,
man in his mid-40’s, with a droopy brown mustache. Look- the Claxtons. The officers at the scene called for backup
ing like he hasn’t slept in a week, he gives the basic facts to respond to the earlier call, and then went inside. They
from memory. found the front door open – and bodies in the foyer. At that
At 10:30 p.m., a 911 call was made from the home of point, they arrested Crane on suspicion and followed the trail
Beau Bledney, local celebrity artist. The call reported an to the front door of the Davidsons. What they found there was
abduction scenario in play, with the caller possibly taken enough to dissuade them from searching further. Backup
as well. An Evensong police car was responding when, at or arrived at 11:30 p.m. and entered Bledney’s home, only to
around 11 p.m., they came across Sam Crane, 25, employed discover that he and his manservant, Bradley Lagueux,
as a gardener and handyman by the Davidsons – Bledney’s were missing.

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The Evensong Murders 3

 Read the following text aloud to the players: Smit nervously plays a recording from Bledney’s manser-
vant for the PCs:
“We found six dead bodies,” Smit explains. “The Davidsons’
daughter, dog, and butler are still missing, along with Bledney “911. What’s your emergency?”
and his help. But the search dogs won’t even step on the grass. “Oh my God. The painting. It took him.”
Something about those three houses just feels bad.” “Sir? I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”
“The painting took him. The white . . . it came for him. It
The Evensong police chief invited the State Police to take
went on forever.”
jurisdiction, owing to their superior resources and the mur-
“Sir, is someone hurt? Are you okay?”
ders’ severity. Sam Crane is their prime suspect, due to his
“Oh my God, they’re . . . it’s . . . oh God help!”
condition when found, not to mention his juvenile record.
(CLICK)
Although that record is sealed, “everybody” knows about the
three murders he participated in 10 years ago. The Stateys The detective can get the PCs certain degrees of access:
also want to reopen the case on the death of Nathaniel Clax- They can see the case files, visit the crime scenes under his
ton’s first wife and that of the Davidsons’ eldest son – both escort, and interview Crane. They mustn’t let the State Police
killed in accidents last year, just six months apart. see them, but Smit can get some locals to help cover. Not all
Smit doesn’t believe Crane did this. True, he has a men- of them, sadly – some of them think Crane’s as guilty as sin.
tal condition that makes him highly susceptible to sugges- Read the following to the players:
tion – hence his record – but he’s harmless as long as he takes
“Don’t let that poor kid suffer all over again,” he practically
his meds. Mrs. Davidson said he’d been a good worker all these
begs. “I don’t care if we never find out who really did this. Just as
years, just a little odd. Plus, there’s a lot that’s simply wrong
long as we can prove he didn’t do it, I’ll call it a win.”
about this case, which Smit doesn’t want to talk about here.

Did you ever notice how in the Bible, whenever God

needed to punish someone . . . he sent an angel? Did you
ever wonder what a creature like that must be like?
– Thomas Daggett, in The Prophecy (1995)

The Truth
Detective Smit really doesn’t want to find the dangerous, pain, and able to read our minds and appear as figures from
otherworldly beings who actually committed the Evensong our memory.
murders . . . but failing to do so leads to even more deaths. Now and again, a suitable mind stares deeply into a pure-
Creatures of pure thought, with little regard for human white surface, only to find the Drawn looking back. They pull
life – other than their amusement at ending it in painful and the observer into their realm – most likely to enjoy their vic-
creative ways – the Drawn live in the White Beyond. In that tim’s suffering. But every so often, the mind is strong enough
pale and endless expanse, they comingle in a tiresome, eter- to make a pact with its captors, allowing them to enjoy our
nal loop, covetous of both our discrete, individual forms and world for a time.
physical sensations. Over the eons, they’ve made a careful That’s what happened in the sleepy community of Even-
study of both, to the extent that they’re masters of flesh and song: Bledney’s attempt at pure white brought the Drawn
here, and a chance meeting with Crane as they set out to play
led to his unfortunate situation. His mental issues made him
unsuitable for their desires, but they cajoled him into watch-
The Strangeness Inside ing in the hopes he’d show something. When he didn’t, even
after watching two households die – seemingly at the hands
The GM should check the investigators’ character of their lost loved ones – and being doused by their blood, the
sheets for disadvantages or quirks that reflect a notable creatures abandoned him in disgust.
neurological or psychological deficiency (Killjoy, Low Then they went to the artist’s hidden studio to “digest.”
Empathy, etc.). The Drawn cannot process the pain Over the last few days, they’ve alternated between watching
from such people, and tend to leave them alone unless Bledney paint with the blood they collected for him, and reliv-
provoked. This information becomes important when ing their victims’ horror and pain. When that ceases to satisfy,
the heroes encounter the creatures. they intend to have more fun with the police, and maybe the
neighbors across the street, until their time expires.

The Evensong Murders 4

 Initial Investigations
If the investigators agree, Smit suggests they check into husband (Victor Davidson, male, age 40), and their two chil-
Tooney’s Motor Lodge, a few doors down from Stoebers; it’s dren (Jerry Davidson, male, age 11, and Kelsey Davidson,
cheap and no one asks questions. Meanwhile, he returns to female, age 14). They lost their oldest son, Victor Jr. (male,
the station to sneak out the copy he made of the case file, age 17), three months ago; he was killed while playing with
and to arrange for the PCs to clandestinely interview the illegally bought lawn darts. They were undergoing family
chief suspect. counseling, and making excellent progress.
Crane lives in a small guesthouse in the back yard – the

Crime Scene Notes prime source of Bledney’s zoning lawsuits. The Davidsons
also had a butler, Thomas Murphy (male, age 43), who’d
The disposition of the bodies fills a major part of the case been with them for 10 years. Smit confides that Crane told
file. There are diagrams and photographs of the crime scenes, him Murphy was trying to get him fired, but Mrs. Davidson
along with the medical examiner’s initial findings. Given the wasn’t interested.
state of the bodies (see Bodies, below), this makes for unset- Nathaniel Claxton (male, age 30) was a trust-fund kid
tling reading. who made good on timely investments. His first wife, Clara
In both houses, all bodies were found in the foyer, mean- (female, age 27), died in a horrible defenestration acci-
ing Crane had to either lure them down there, threaten them dent nine months ago. His new wife, Sevanne Sharnette-
into converging, or overpower them. The victims’ precise dis- Claxton (female, age 35), moved in three months later with
assembly indicates high degrees of strength, skill, and medical her son (Jules, male, age 15) and his prize-winning parakeet,
knowledge on the killer’s part – qualities the young man isn’t Napoleon. Smit admits the police didn’t believe Clara’s death
known to possess. The killings would have required a great was an accident, but had no proof.
deal of speed as well; the medical examiner estimates all times
of death to be between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m.
In both houses, the only blood was in irregular pools just She had opened a door . . . and
inside the front door. The bodies were remarkably bloodless.
The pools weren’t nearly large enough to account for all the
now she was walking with demons.
blood that would have been spilled in each set of murders. – Clive Barker,
Crane’s footprints came from the Davidsons’, led to the Clax-
tons’, and then went out into the road where he was found. The Hellbound Heart
Crane had a key to the Davidsons’, and the front door was
unlocked. However, the Claxtons’ alarm wasn’t triggered,
which meant someone let him in – despite him being soaked
in enough blood to leave a trail from his employers’ home.
Bodies
The bodies are being kept at Evensong’s police station, in
Unfortunately, as the Claxtons’ security cameras are fakes, the basement morgue; they haven’t been moved to State facil-
there’s no visual record. ities yet. The medical examiner literally fled her post mid-au-
Having help makes Crane’s participation in the murders topsy, and won’t return phone calls. She left some notes, but
more likely, but forensic analysis revealed no outsiders in the work is incomplete. In all cases, the estimated time of
either house; Crane’s were the only bloody tracks. Nothing death is between 10:30 p.m., when the 911 call came in, and
was taken or greatly disturbed, both houses’ safes were still around 11:00 p.m., when the police found the first bodies.
locked, and exposed valuables were left alone. If any of the PCs is qualified to perform autopsies, Smit
can get them clearance within a day. Each body takes around
Background Information three hours to autopsy. A successful Diagnosis roll uncovers
the things noted in parentheses. Full chemical analyses take a
on Those Involved week, but reveal nothing relevant.
Beau Bledney (male, age 45) is wealthy and eccentric, Janet Kelnar-Davidson: Health difficult to determine
and a divisive figure in the art world due to his recent for- (lab results eventually indicate generally good health). Cause
ays into “monochromatism”: paintings of one solid field of of death unknown. Body was neatly disassembled postmor-
color. He has worked his way through the color wheel (except tem, with 100 discrete pieces laid to rest, one in the center of
red), and has moved on to combinations. He likes to paint each tile in the house’s foyer. (Other pieces, mostly bones, are
blindfolded, claiming he can “feel the colors” better that way. missing.)
Smit adds that he’s a rude fellow, quite hostile toward his Victor Davidson: Acceptable health. (Signs of early liver
neighbors – bringing unsuccessful lawsuits over noise (Clax- damage, most likely from alcohol.) Cause of death was a com-
tons’) and zoning violations (Davidsons’ and the house across bination of shock and blood loss from having his left side
the street). He lives with his manservant, Bradley Lagueux flayed down to the muscles. He was pinioned to the wall by his
(male, age 54). wrists and shoulders with broken, sharpened human bones.
The Davidsons, who employed Crane as their gardener for (Two radius-ulna pairs, the size of which indicates they were
the last five years, were a wealthy software engineer (Janet taken from an adult male not found at scene. Bones were not
Kelner-Davidson, female, age 39), her would-be novelist sharpened with metal tools, but somehow distorted.)

The Evensong Murders 5

 Jerry Davidson: Decent health. Cause of death was a com- “Eventually, they spoke. Their voices were bad. Listening
bination of shock and blood loss from having his left side to them made my heart hurt.” They ordered him to take them
flayed down to the muscles. He was pinioned to the wall by his to his home. Once inside the Davidsons’, they both changed to
wrists and shoulders with broken, sharpened human bones. look like Victor – one rounding up and killing the father and
(Two fibula-tibia pairs, also taken from an adult male not son, the other going upstairs to look for the wife and daugh-
found at scene, also seemingly distorted into points.) ter. The one who went upstairs came down to deposit Janet’s
Nathaniel Claxton: Health difficult to determine (lab parts on the floor.
results eventually indicate pre-diabetic, overweight). Cause Asking Crane about specific missing persons has disturb-
of death was extreme falling damage, as if he’d hit terminal ing results:
velocity. (Not possible inside the building.) Lack of blood
Thomas Murphy, the butler: “He begged for his life. (That
around corpse should be impossible.
wasn’t smart.)”
Sevanne Sharnette-Claxton: Decent health. Cause of
Kelsey Davidson, the daughter: “I heard her scream,
death was shock and blood loss due to extraction of all major
upstairs. The scream stopped.”
abdominal organs via 35 three-inch holes in the abdomen.
The dog: “It ran away. (One followed it. I heard it bark,
(Punctures came from inside, rather than outside.) Organs
once. Then it whined.)”
completely missing. Only thing in abdominal cavity is a
chewed-up, barely digested bird (Napoleon). Why didn’t he do anything? “It’s like a train wreck, you
Jules Sharnette: Decent health. Cause of death was inter- know. You just watch. They made all the blood go away. Then
nal puncturing of all major organs, including brain. (Punc- they showered me with it and stared some more. (Like they
tures caused by irregularly sized spikes of bone, grown in wanted me to feel something, then got mad when I didn’t.)”
from his own skeleton. There are medical conditions where Then the bizarre pair turned in eerie unison to look at the
this could happen, but not this quickly. While Jules broke his Claxtons’, and told Crane to follow. There, they pretended to
left humerus four months ago, X-rays show no sign of this.) be Clara Claxton to get in. Crane doesn’t want to say what
happened. (“While they were killing them, one of them told
Crane’s Story me ‘Those were for science. These are for fun. Do you under-
stand?’” Asked if he does, he says nothing.)
Talking to Crane means sneaking into the Evensong police The murders done, the creatures soaked him in blood once
station. Smit can have a local distract the State Police, but that more (and became angry), and then walked away. Crane even-
only buys the PCs an hour or two. tually wandered onto the road, which was when the police
The blank-faced young man shackled to a desk in the arrived. They didn’t believe his story, and when they saw the
interrogation room has clearly been subjected to numer- bodies, they blamed him. “Same thing always happens,” he
ous third-degrees. A 2005 Boston telephone book sits in says, shrugging.
the corner; an IQ or Streetwise+4 roll indicates that such (At the end, before the PCs leave: “I asked who they were to
things are used to beat suspects without bruising. If the wear those faces. They said they were Drawn. And I said yes,
PCs treat Crane poorly or talk down to him (using Interro- you are, aren’t you?” He half-smiles, then stops.)
gation counts!), he tells the bare minimum. If they treat him
with respect and/or sympathy, he opens up; such additional
information is in parentheses. The Crime Scenes
Crane says he was out looking at the moon when the “light- To keep away the curious, a police car with two officers is
bulb people” came from Bledney’s house. They were two parked in the Claxtons’ driveway, and another in the David-
white wisps of light, slowly becoming Victor Davidson and sons’, day and night. During the day, crime-scene techs and/
Clara Claxton, only something was wrong. “Their faces were or State Police are also poking around, looking for clues (or at
skin over a basketball. (I think they knew I thought they were least the Davidsons’ dog). At night, it’s just the two cars – and
ghosts, so they became the ghosts I thought they were.)” Smit has fixed things so it’s local police, minimizing the chance
The strange beings approached quickly – “like I was of the PCs being hassled.
prey” – but then stopped short, clearly puzzled. “It was like The three houses were designed by the same architect, who
people are when they know who I am. They smelled it on me, operated under the principle of “reflected residences”: Barring
like a dog. They walked around me, looking up and down. a few additions, the Davidson and Claxton houses are mirror
I couldn’t move.” images, with Bledney’s a centerpiece between them.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name

that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him.
– Revelation 6:8

The Evensong Murders 6

The Claxtons’ House As at the Claxtons’, there’s an off, rotten smell, strongest
in the foyer and TV room. Evidence tags sit on each floor
The decor seems at war with itself: Half consists of taste-
tile in the foyer, and up against both sides of the entrance
ful, well-considered purchases born from tempered wealth;
to the dining room. Two huge, pearl-blue vases frame the
the other is grotesquely focused on parrots, the late Napoleon
doorway. Thomas Murphy, the missing butler – boneless and
in particular. There’s an off, rotten smell. Searching for the
staring – is stuffed into the left-hand one. Between the vases
source uncovers a total of 35 flesh parrots, liquefying in the
is the dried pool of blood, with Crane’s footprints entering
dark corners of the house. The Drawn killed Sevanne by trans-
and leaving.
forming her organs into these grotesque, flightless things,
In the TV room, a large, cushion-looking lump is what
which then chewed their way out of her.
remains of the family’s dog. It was rearranged into a headless,
The riot of evidence tags all over the foyer marks it as the
legless mass and left to suffocate (a Perception or Search roll
place where the Claxtons’ bodies were found. Crane’s foot-
will notice that it’s odd right away).
prints are clearly visible in the dried blood, matching up with
In Kelsey’s upstairs bedroom, the air seems thick and
his story.
moist. Staying there too long leaves an odd coppery taste in
The rest of the house is in order, each room remaining as
the mouth. Crime-scene investigators have complained that
its inhabitants left it. There’s a pair of matching Lamborghinis
they’re getting blood readings everywhere, but not really see-
in the garage, along with a literal ton of unused garden and
ing any blood outside luminol sprays. (Roll against Occult-
lawn tools. The only “unusual” room is the bedroom devoted
ism at ‑2 to determine what happened: The girl’s body wasn’t
entirely to the Claxtons’ parrot, Napoleon, which is filled with
found because the Drawn killed her by aerosolizing her and
numerous shiny toys and gewgaws.
leaving her to float.)

The Davidsons’ House The Bledney House

The house is a testament to one life of high technical
A shrine to its occupant’s genius, the entire house is filled
achievement, another of seemingly wasted potential, and a
with unsold originals and reproductions of his placed works,
terrible loss. Numerous awards – and framed photos of Mrs.
displayed in large, garish frames that deliberately clash with
Davidson receiving them – are balanced against shelves full of
their contents. The other two houses “felt” bad, but this one
books on how to write books and boxes of unsold, self-pub-
feels worse – as if something cosmically horrible had taken
lished novels about a two-gunned vampire time-traveler with
place within its walls.
a talking dog. Photos of the Davidsons’ lost, oldest child out-
number those of their two living ones.

The Evensong Murders 7

 Looking at the massive red painting that goes from the Inside is the hidden studio where Bledney does his import-
floor to the stairway landing reveals nothing unusual until ant work. It holds all the paintings he couldn’t get right, as
the investigators get closer and realize that it isn’t paint, but well as a few that went too far; the white painting is up on the
blood that somehow hasn’t coagulated. (This is what remains wall. Bledney is here, too – blindfolded, painting using blood
of Bledney’s manservant, Bradley Lagueux. The Drawn spread that won’t congeal. He clearly doesn’t care about the dead peo-
him across another painting, somehow keeping him alive ple who supplied the blood; his response to any questions is,
and in agony. A Smell roll notices something is up, while any “My new friends have shown me so much.” Behind the blind-
successful medical skill roll reveals that it’s a lot of blood – a fold, his eyes are gone, sockets covered with flesh. He may or
human’s worth.) The painting is on a track, and slides open to may not be alone; see Confrontation (pp. 9-10).
reveal a concealed room.

The Drawn
Based on Crane’s description – or given the name – the obscure, malevolent creatures of pure thought. Doing so
PCs can make an Occultism roll to research these thankfully reveals their place of origin, as well as their mastery over flesh,
pain, and memory. Most important,
the researchers learn the Drawn
can be here only by linking with
exceptional human minds – vision-
aries and madmen, willing to pro-
long their own agony to allow their
captors free rein in our world, for
a time.
The Drawn are parasites from
a dimension made of pure, blin-
dingly white thought, with no form
or sensation. They visit our world
to enjoy our discrete, individual
forms, and to taste our extreme
sensations – primarily pain.
In their native form – at least as
humans perceive them – the Drawn
appear as wispy, thin humanoids
formed of white light, with hid-
eously swollen hands and heads.
When hunting, however, they
assume the guise of their intended
prey’s lost loved ones. Their stolen
identities are grotesquely imper-
fect, with light-bulb heads and
distorted voices, but usually close
enough to fool their targets. Their
connection to a human host allows
them total mastery over our form.
By touching a victim, they can rear-
range flesh and bone into whatever
their fevered imaginations can
devise . . . keeping their subject
alive through the experience.
While bonded to a human host,
the Drawn are somewhat bound
by our dimension’s laws: They
must walk at a reasonable human
speed, not float about. However,
only magical damage affects them
fully, and is rightly feared; they’ve
been known to quit our dimen-
sion altogether when attacked by
a magician.

The Evensong Murders 8

 The Drawn have one other curious eccentricity: Their desire Secondary Characteristic Modifiers: Will+4 [20]; Basic
to experience the full cornucopia of human emotions means Speed-2.00 [‑40].
they’re much less interested in the neurologically and psycho- Advantages: 360° Vision [25]; Affliction (Advantage, Morph
logically divergent. They don’t harm such people unprovoked, (Improvised Forms, +100%; Mass Conservation, ‑20%),
as they find no reward in it. This shortsightedness on their +1,800%; Based on HT or Will, +40%; Extended Duration,
part can be an exploitable weakness. Permanent, +300%; Malediction 1, +100%; Melee Attack,
Use these statistics, inspired by the Arendians (GURPS Reach C, Cannot Parry, ‑35%)* [231]; Body of Air [36];
Horror, p. 85). Leech 4 (Accessibility, Not certain types of minds, ‑20%;
Doleovore†, +20%; Malediction 1, +100%; Ranged, +40%;
The Drawn Symptoms, Agony, 1/3 HP, +300%) [200]; Mind Probe [20];
Mind Reading [30]; No Vulnerability to Vacuum and Wind-
460 points Based Attacks [20]; Unaging [15].
The Etruscans knew the Drawn as demons of Usil, god of Disadvantages: Callous [‑5]; Disturbing Voice [‑10]; Mute
the Sun; the Aztecs, as the nameless servitors of Tzontemoc, (Accessibility, Only in cloud form, ‑10%) [‑22]; Unhealing
one of the many gods of the Underworld. Franz Bardon (Partial) [‑20]; Vulnerability (Magic‡ ¥2) [‑40].
warned of them in his fragmentary The Golden Book of
Wisdom, describing them as “The Eyes in the Light” and * Lets them rearrange the target’s corporeal body as
exhorting to avoid things of pure, unadulterated white. In On desired with a touch by winning a Quick Contest of Will
the Mysteries, Iamblichus spoke of the “Skull Monks of the against the lower of the victim’s HT or Will. They can use this
lost Isle of Tarn,” who stared at pillars of skulls for days on on themselves, allowing them to look like the loved ones of
end in the hopes of bringing forth “the pale eternals.” Some those they torment!
occult researchers wonder if Claude Roule’s infamous Flesh † GURPS Horror, p. 21.
Beggars alluded to these creatures, but the author denied all ‡ For games that lack magic but have psi, change Magic to
knowledge, right up to his mysterious disappearance in 2003. Psionics.

Outrageous behavior, also known

as the lunatic fringe, is the seed bed of
innovation and creativity.
– Joel Salatin

Confrontation
At some point, the heroes will encounter the real murder- packing to leave their home!) may admit to having witnessed
ers. When that happens – and what happens next – depends an officer react with confusion or joy at someone’s approach,
on how soon they get to the murder scenes. only to die horribly once that person reached them. If the wit-
If the investigators arrive no more than two days after Smit ness was nearby, they might have heard a mostly one-sided
recruited them, the pair of Drawn are in Bledney’s hidden stu- dialogue, followed by a scream. The victims’ deconstructed
dio. Seeing the creatures in their resting state should negate bodies are later discovered at suitably horrific junctures.
their masquerade attempts, but they’ll attempt to capitalize on The Drawn know their limits. They withdraw from a fight
the group’s shock at their appearance. If the PCs try to talk to at the first sign they might be harmed, hoping to attack their
them or the artist, rather than attack, the beings play along, foes from a novel angle. If one is seriously wounded, both flee
hoping to get close enough to touch someone. The Drawn back to the white painting, taking Bledney if they can. If one
won’t leave the neighborhood or their anchor, but if they can is killed, the other runs pell-mell for the stark door to its incor-
get Bledney to depart, they can go as well. Of course, they poreal home, leaving the artist behind.
don’t know how to drive and Bledney has no eyes (and is quite The creatures have a pair of Achilles heels: Bledney and
insane at this point) . . . the painting. Investigators who figure this out might not need
After two days, the Drawn are out hunting the police – in magic – threatening to kill their anchor and/or destroy the
the houses by day, outside by night. Victims are typically con- painting may get the Drawn to leave (use Intimidation for
fused or gladdened by a lost loved one’s appearance, only to this). Destroying both Bledney and the painting forces the
be cruelly rewarded. A neighbor (probably in the middle of monsters to leave, but requires the heroes to sacrifice a life.

The Evensong Murders 9

 Fighting the Drawn supernaturally is the best tactic, assum- immense pain, and most altercations will end with dead PCs.
ing they don’t quickly kill or incapacitate the group’s mages Still, clever heroes could try using area attacks, which pummel
(psis). The first hint of magic (psi) use will have the creatures the creatures’ entire form and injure them normally (p. B380).
fleeing, since they take double injury from it. Even an extradimensional sadist can balk at passing through
Fighting the Drawn physically is a losing proposition – they a fire or be shaken by grenade explosions!
take at most 2 points of injury from any attack, thanks to Injury When a Drawn dies, it explodes into a shower of sparks,
Tolerance (Diffuse). Add this to the fact that they can manip- leaving nothing behind.
ulate flesh with a thought and cause targets to experience

The End
Dispatching or chasing off the Drawn, and halting their lawyer – they beat a confession out of Sam Crane. Institu-
return, are the primary victories. Other, more humane consid- tionalized, he one day vanishes from a pale-white room, but
erations may have to take a distant back seat. (thankfully) does not return.
If the Drawn are destroyed, or leave without him, Bledney The PCs could manufacture a good explanation – perhaps
lapses into catatonia. Medical scans reveal that his eye sock- with Smit’s help – or at least get the kid a good lawyer. With a
ets are gone, as if they’d never existed. He never awakens and little evidence doctoring, there’s no reason this hideous esca-
eventually dies – yet another medical mystery. pade couldn’t be blamed on mysteriously absent actors. What
Utterly destroying the white painting keeps Drawn from happens to Crane next may be out of the heroes’ hands, but at
returning by that route. If it’s even partially intact, another least they’ll have saved a life.
suitable mind could make contact. The PCs might feel That one little victory may be worth everything: The inves-
honor-bound to deal with the resulting mayhem. tigators will never again be able to pass a stark, white surface
Unless they see the Drawn, the State Police are not going without knowing what lurks beyond, waiting for the right kind
to accept stories of murderous, otherworldly beings. Even of broken mind to look too deeply, for too long.
if they do, they still need a scapegoat, and – absent a good

The Evensong Murders 10

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