From publisher blurb:
“The beach was a prisoner in a hueless vault for hours at a time, as if something of the night were welling into other hours.”
The seaside town of Busselton, Western Australia, is synonymous with sand, sea, and relaxation, but when the Protagonists arrive on New Years’ Eve 1982, the atmosphere in the resort town is anything but relaxed. Over the past week, Busselton has been plagued by curious and increasingly disturbing events — events that soon take a deadly turn. Who is behind these senseless events … and just how far are they willing to go?
This scenario draws on two distinct sources for its horrors -- some are from Lovecraft's conception of cosmic horror (also known as the Cthulhu Mythos); other terrifying forces are manifestations of spirit entities from Indigenous Australian Songlines (sometimes called the Dreamtime). The collision of these two vast yet sleeping reservoirs of supernatural energy has the potential to explode. Can the Protagonists understand the true nature of what is transpiring, and remove the smoldering embers of supernatural manifestation before it is too late? Or is Busselton destined to become the battleground for a conflict which might just wipe the town off the map entirely?
"Dead Flowers" is a substantial supernatural investigation/sandbox scenario set in 1980s in and around the small Western Australian seaside holiday town of Busselton (about four hours drive south of Perth). Players take on the roles of ordinary people who have travelled to Busselton for their own personal reasons, seeking a relaxing New Years break -- and maybe some excitement marvelling at the new innovation of NYE fireworks. But even before the old year has rung out its last hours, terrible events shake the sleepy township, rendering most of the local authorities unable to control the situation. The acting mayor calls for volunteers to step up and lead the investigation into the dark crimes that have become suddenly common around town. People like the Protagonists . . .
The scenario can be played with access to just the open-source Cthulhu Eternal Cold War SRD, which (for your convenience) we've bundled with the scenario. The adventure also comes with isolated digital versions of all props and maps, to make it easier to run on a VTT of your preference.
This is the second in our "Australian Aeons" line of self-contained scenarios set in different eras of Australian history, each infused with Lovecraftian hints of cosmic horror.