Explore The Legacy Of Evil

Legacy Of Evil

 Part One

OBLIVION :Food Of The Gods

 

     The Evolved Mangler now filled with the power of Oblivion had opened his eyes at last to an entirely new set of data. After spending decades searching for the seat of emotions in the flesh he had become fully aware of the existence of actual spiritual realms and the twisted entities that dwell within them. Formerly fully accepting only the existence of the material plane that our senses can readily observe he realized that emotion might be tied to more than the simple constructs of living meat that he considered all humans to be.  He had now observed first hand the torture and mutilation of actual souls completely separated from their bodies but still fully aware and in agony.  

 

     Previously he had prolonged the life of human bodies with the use of proprietary chemical compounds like Necromuten 7, Nemothiasade and Vasculade, but to see such raw emotions in “ghosts” for lack of a better term, was intellectually satisfying. So much so for a moment he thought, was this satisfaction a glimmer of what “emotion” must feel like? Perhaps this exposure to Oblivion would be the turning point in his research.

 

     He then had a flash of inspiration – if his exposure to Oblivion had such an effect on him, perhaps creating a much larger set of potential subjects filled with this “unearthly” energy would give him the materials to finally reach his goal.  But how best to “infect” a larger pool of subjects with these energies? Some quick research into the vast data base of the BOX, and some consultation with the many agents of Oblivion that seemed intent upon fulfilling his every whim quickly fleshed out his musings into a full fledged plan.

 

     He would create food and beverages pulsing with the energies of Oblivion, feed them to an unsuspecting public, observe the physical and mental changes they would cause in the consumers, abduct the most promising subjects and continue into the final phase of his life’s work!

 

     From his time hiding out in the sewers he remembered the shady Mann’s Meat Packing Plant that had operated near his hidden lair. They had been using human meat in their decidedly unhygienic unlicensed cannery both to cut costs and to supply a small but dedicated following of cannibals that craved such delicacies. So he sent his new minions to find those behind this venture, collect them and their ghastly equipment and bring it back to the BOX. He would then use this SLAUGHTERHOUSE to butcher the captured Cryptids still held at the BOX after adding additional flavorings from Oblivion and infused with some binding and stabilizing chemicals from NECROTECH Labs.  This product would be labeled AMBROSIA.

 

     He read with interest the secret files kept locked up in the BOX of the hidden lair of Langston Wellington Hughes, a vast fallout shelter known as THE HIVE where advanced scientific research had evolved the inhabitants into human insect hybrids.  He then sent his “staff” to acquire supplies, insect hybrid subjects and HIVE scientists and bring them to the BOX.  His raid was successful but many of his minions perished in the attempt and he was unable to capture Wellington Hughes himself.  He however had what he needed to complete this second project, the extraction of Royal Jelly from the subjects and then infused it with the essence of Oblivion and stabilized it with the pharmaceuticals from NECROTECH. He would call this product NECTAR and made preparations for its distribution.

 

     Looking through the files of NECROTECH the Mangler discovered a small town called Harkness where some of the first Zombie Rampage samples were tested.  He noted with interest its proximity to the town of Whyshburg the supposed location of a supernatural entity called the Collector.  This was ideal.  Let the games begin…….

 

 

 

Legacy Of Evil

Part Two

The Forgotten Town Of Harkness

 

Chapter 1 – The Path To Harkness

 

     Twenty two miles Southwest of downtown Whyshburg lies the forgotten town of Harkness.

The best way to get there is by boat, unless you want to explore almost 30 miles of twisting and confusing dirt and gravel roads past abandoned cars, deep forests and collapsing barns.  Rent a sturdy motorboat at the docks with 3-4 cans of extra gas and follow the Monongahela River past pine barrens clogged with thorn-covered undergrowth until the waterway begins to dissipate into an insect-filled primeval wetland called Gluckman’s Marsh.  Choose the deepest of the meandering tributaries, the one marked with old railroad ties studded with haphazard iron spikes until you arrive at what looks to be a rickety half sunken dock.  Be careful when you step out of the boat as the wood is rotten and it is easy to dislodge a board or slip on the velvety moss and fall into the stinking bog shimmering with the iridescent sheen of dumped toxic chemicals.  

 

     If you want to head into town take the more trodden path past the decayed carnival equipment on the right. If your goal is the old Harkness place head to the smaller darker path to the left that almost disappears once you enter the old growth forest that surrounds the estate.

 

 

Chapter 2 – The Harkness House

 

     Following the Civil war, wealthy landowner Jebidiah Harkness found an unusual stone foundation deep in the woods at the edge of Gluckman’s Marsh and built a large manor house there. One by one, his family went mad or died horrible deaths as an unknown evil began to awaken. More than one child of the Harkness family was born with unnameable deformities, and locked in the attic away from the eyes of man. Fifty two years ago the last known Harkness died, and the house was abandoned to the swamps.

 

 

Chapter 3 – Enter The Bostwicks

 

     In 1985 several dozen members of the Bostwick family were run out of Whyshburg in the dead of night by a vigilante group known as the Brotherhood of Rhomb. They took the left path and found shelter in the once grandiose but now profoundly decayed Harkness House.  After they patched up the worst of the gaping holes in the ceiling (of the rooms that still had a roof) they made their way down the right path into the almost completely abandoned town of Harkness.  To call it a town wasn’t really accurate, it was more of a collection of rusty shacks and a few barn-like structures.  There were still people there, the descendants of the families who once tended the wealthy Harkness clan, and they welcomed the newcomers.  The Boswicks, although of an unsavory and criminal nature, were certainly industrious, having come from a long line of stone carvers and set about repairing the mansion and expanding the town. The original settlers, Gluckmans, Pites, and a few Broussards energised by the new arrivals rose to the challenge of improving Harkness as a feeling of excitement and possibilities filled the air.

     The Old Towners as they were called were all good with the New Towners but refused to ever come near the Harkness House.  They remembered the creeping horrors that had come from there but the Bostwicks adapted to their new home well, very glad to have escaped the shadow of the mountain and their ancient feud with the Gumptons from long ago.

 

 

Chapter 4 – Something Stirs Below

 

     In 2001 Harkness was doing pretty well for a small town far removed from the normal hustle and bustle of city life. They had a general store, a gas station, a post office and a small community of retired circus performers that had created a compound there.  But that was when whatever had long lain dormant beneath the Harkness House began to stir.  Things began to stalk the dark woods around the house, strange dreams left the townspeople exhausted and unusual insect-like creatures crawled on the rusted screen doors of the cabins nearest the marsh.  Considering the true nature of the thing below they might all have been lost if not for the Bostwicks.  

     No stranger to supernatural horrors, they reached out to an obscure government agency known as M-12.  After a few tense weeks of terrifying phenomena and a handful of violent deaths  everything returned to normal.  M-12 however did build a laboratory of sorts at the edge of town from several shipping containers and maintained a staff of scientists there for several years to observe and study the surrounding area just in case additional problems were to arise. They departed a few years later, but kept the facility there just in case.

 

 

Chapter 5 – Necrotech

 

     In 2006 a company called Necrotech moved into the facility and upgraded it extensively.  Apparently a branch of a pharmaceutical company, they spent months studying the town and the entire area for miles around.  Some say they were searching for additional samples of the unusual insects that had been seen in 2001, but no one knew for sure.  

 

     In 2009 Harkness was used to test out a delicious new energy drink called Zombie Rampage that was created by Necrotech.  Everyone in town loved all the outside attention and soon became addicted to the tasty beverage.  That was until its psychoactive properties caused some of the residents to become extremely violent and a number of homicides rocked the small town, especially the Bostwicks who still lived in the Harkness House.  It seems that many of them had become increasingly inbred and had also developed some of the mutations originally experienced by the Harkness Family. Necrotech hushed up the scandal but deep damage was done to Harkness.  Many people left, and those who remained sunk into despair and depravity.

 

 

 

Chapter 6 – Food Of The Gods

 

     2026 was shaping up to be an interesting time for the accused town.  An influx of survivors from the nearby city of Whyshburg fleeing multiple supernatural incursions began to expand the population as many were too destitute and traumatized to move on to more affluent cities further from the chaos.  The Boswicks were very bitter towards these new transplants, remembering being kicked out by them decades earlier, but largely ignored these refugees, preferring to stay holed up in the old Harkness House as they degenerated more and more from the evil that dwelled beneath it.  On many nights screams, unholy howls and explosions from the city of Whyshburg echoed through the darkness.  By day oily clouds all but blotted out the sun, and some reported strange creatures with leathery wings soaring far above. Shipments of food and needed supplies all but stopped and the townspeople were beginning to panic as possible starvation was on the horizon.  Then one day several large trucks emblazoned with “Mann’s Meats” drove through the center of town and stopped at the old Necrotech facility.  In an amazing twist of fate they had arrived just in time with truckloads of new food products called Nectar and Ambrosia, delicious food and drink loaded with protein and nutrients! Apparently the town had been chosen to test market these much needed items and not a moment too soon.  Some of the residents were very wary of this unexpected delivery, remembering the Zombie Rampage disaster of 2009 but most of them were eager to accept this unexpected delight!  I am about to head over to the banquet right now, why don’t you join me!