From publisher blurb:
"Ominous Bells Toll Their Ominous Knells"
The penal settlements of New South Wales were cruel and desperate places, but even in such darkness there existed rare hints of culture and civilisation. One of these was the existence of music, which was performed at surprisingly many occasions -- both civil and military. Military bands, regimental drummers and fifers, and pianos brought out on sailing vessels for the rich; all played an important role in the colony. But while musical accompaniment is a wonderful way to add gravity to a ceremonial military event ... music can also be a part of other, much darker, ritual occasions as well.
Ticket of Leave #15 surveys the phenomenon of musical performance in the early penal settlements, and the ways in which music enriched legitimate ceremonial situations ... and potentially its opportunity for being a major element in the rites of Mythos cults active in the new colonies. Included is historical source material about military and civilian music as performed by European colonists. Also included is a profession template to allow players in your Convicts & Cthulhu campaign to take on the role of "musicians" in the colony -- military, free settler, or even convict. Finally, the source material also describes the far more ancient Aboriginal music that was (and still is) an important part of Aboriginal spiritual belief.
In addition to offering historical source material, this supplement also includes a lengthy scenario which embroils the investigators in a strange set of circumstances that begin with a night of carnage by the waterfront at Sydney. Three members of the town Night Watch (see Ticket of Leave #1) have been found strangled; the murderer also appears to have vandalised the Harbour Bell by attacking it with a hand-axe. Who would commit such strange crimes? And what do they mean? And is there any truth to the rumours that some have heard a strange new convict song sung by certain work gangs who daily work by the harbour? Or rumours that the someone in Sydney hides certain strange bells in a warehouse for mysterious purposes? . . . Can the investigators get to the bottom of the peculiar occurrences before dark plans, already set in motion, finally reach their culmination?