TICKETS FOR A PRAYER WHEEL
SECOND TICKET
Patrolling the Earth

A jungle patrol including the players, is sent to set up a three-man listening post in the mountains west of Hué near the northernmost terminus of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in South Vietnam.  The area in question has been cleared of its montagnard natives by the US Special Forces and presently has no human inhabitants.  The patrol bivouacs in a remote mountain area.  The night watch characters see and hear nothing save perhaps a scuffling in the bushes nearby.  The characters wake to the sickening sight of a number of men whose bodies are missing eyes and genitals, removed with surgical precision.  They appear to have bled to death silently. (Sanity checks will be mandatory here, as per the rules.)  Any electrical devices will have stopped running during the period in question, including a radio; the effect is similar to that of EMP. 

The missing parts were removed by cultists of the Mi Go, or Fungi from Yuggoth.  They are responsible for similar mutilations in North America.  The organs are necessary for the cultists to summon the fungi to aid them; or so the cultists think. In actuality, the human cultists are the pawns of the fungi, who institute mutilation and horrible acts to ensure that their worshippers can never again be accepted by human society at large.  They must work to make themselves look innocent, though, and the mutilations of cattle in America and of humans in Vietnam act as a psychological bond between the worshippers and the fungi.  The initiate, having done the deed, can not go back on his oath of loyalty to the cult.  To do so would be to admit that he or she had committed a crime.  In Vietnamese society, such acts transfer Confucian loyalty from parents and elders to leaders in the Cult.  Ho's ability to transfer loyalty from traditional authorities to himself was the main reason for his success as a revolutionary leader. 

If the players Spot Hidden and Track immediately after finding the bodies, they discover a naked Viet child, about eight years old, body covered with filth and head and shoulders crawling with huge blue flies.  The child's mouth, should the head and face be exposed, is full of human eyes--this requires a SAN check also. Her teeth are filed, the only ornament on her and a sure clue that she is a Tcho-Tcho.  The patrol of cultists that follows to carry the severed muscle tissue will be spotted only if the players make a series of critical successes, and move at incredible speed. 

The action begins in earnest as the investigators move to a remote hilltop firebase near the border between Vietnam and Laos, and near the tribal boundary that separates the peaceful Pacoh from the Phoung.  In between are the Trung-Cho or Tcho-Tcho, about which the less said the better.  A jungle patrol in the empty land between ends when characters awaken to find mutilated corpses littering the campsite-eyes chewed out with superhuman precision.  Quick work may catch the culprit, whose nature will boggle the mind. 

THE ASSIGNMENT

The sergeant gets orders to take the investigators' squad out for a mission.  The helicopter will drop them near the Lao border.  They will sweep west for three days, avoiding known VC routes, until they reach a spot overlooking the Ho Chi Minh Trail as it enters South Vietnam.  There they are to set up a listening post and return to a pickup zone south of the area.  Three referee's characters are sent along for the extra firepower and to man the post if there are not enough players(eight) to make a whole squad. 

The problem with this assignment is that the investigators are in an area that Schwärmer had promised the Tcho-Tchos no humans would disturb.  The Pacoh, the original montagnard inhabitants, have fled south.  The cannibal cultists scout this area for meat, and the investigators are trailed by a hunting pack. 

THE FIRST DAY

The helicopter flight is eventful.  Wild Bill the Mannequin-Fucker, their pilot, seems to be writing his name in the air with the Huey. He plays loud rock music-we suggest the Small Faces or Iron Butterfly.  He eventually lets the squad out on a clear hillside with the remains of log buildings.  He wishes them good luck and adds that Hortense does too.  The investigators may feel good if they've forgotten that "Hortense" is the mannequin glued to the front of the chopper.   The hillside is a ruined Pacoh village, with a few small personal items(plastic rings, broken cooking pots, rags of the hand-woven montagnard cloth) and endless waste and potsherds.  There is nothing interesting, but try to delay the players.  Delay and suspense are essential. 

They march off west-northwest into the jungle.  It is clear and open at this altitude.  There are many wild animals-deer, pigs, monkeys, and endless birds screeching in the trees.  They go over streams in flood from the monsoon-make DEXx 5 rolls to avoid slipping and falling into cold water.  There are bugs and mosquitoes everywhere.  Using mosquito repellent helps.  Otherwise roll Luck.  Losers lose 1 pt of damage from mosquito bites and the resultant scratching and welts.  A truly fiendish Keeper may introduce mosquitoes with Lassa Fever or HIV from the eighth Tickets, but there's no need. 

Night comes soon.  Let the players role-play the squabbles over who sleeps where and who stands watch.    Make them tell you where everyone is sleeping in the campsite and where the watchmen are.  There is no sign of danger as the players go to sleep. 

This changes.  As the night wears on, have watchmen make CONx5 rolls to stay awake.  The insects stop making noises, and radios and electrical devices stop.  Watches run backward.  If they fail, they fall asleep-maybe you can give them a dream here.  They wake to find a buddy dead, his eyes and genitals removed with more than surgical precision.  The radio works again; as does everything else.  Everyone looking at the body needs a SAN check for "be surprised by horribly mangled corpse."  If there are enough players that there were no referee's characters present, then choose an investigator for the honor.  Let the player return as another character, of course; a new trooper just rotated in is ideal, in the next ticket.  If the man who died was a player character, any who knew him from the first ticket also lose SAN for "see good friend or close relative die".  Not too many investigators should go insane from this, as it is early yet in the game.  Enough should by the end of this ticket that the players fear what they face. 

The second day and night are like the first.  The investigators may try to use chemicals to stay awake.  There is a problem with this.  Coffee keeps them awake, but if they drink enough to keep them awake after a whole day of marching over mountains, then they run the risk of amphetamine psychosis.  For every three(or so)  cups or every dose of stimulants used, make a CONx 5 roll.  Every repeat of the dosage means another roll, perhaps with a lowered multiplier.  If the investigator fails the roll, he loses ID3 SAN.  Sleep will restore 2 SAN per hour of sleep, but sleep can restore only SAN lost through amphetamine psychosis, not SAN lost to Cthulhu Mythos entities.  When everyone is asleep, the murder and mutilation will begin again. 

The first time someone gets killed, give the investigators a chance to find the fly girl.  If they Spot Hidden and Track successfully, they see her fleeing at the speed of a bicycle through the jungle.  If either alone succeeds, they find her track but not her.  A critical Spot Hidden also sees her.  They can try to chase her.  She will slow to let them stay in sight of her until she has lured a few investigators far from their patrol, whereupon she will flash past them and leave them to the Tcho-Tcho cannibal cultists.  These will attack only when they outnumber the investigators two or more to one, and there are only five of them.  They have knives of black glass and spears with metal points.  They are under the influence of shzor-shong, the psychedelic mushroom described below, which they swallow as soon as the girl alerts them to the need for battle.  They will fight madly until all are killed.  It would be better not to let the investigators find the cultists on the first night. 

If the girl is killed, the cultists will send her brother after the investigators.  If he too is killed, the cultists step in to do the dirty work themselves.  Let the person attacked and the sleeping watchstander each get a POW x1roll to notice the cultists.  Although trained in silent maneuver all their lives, they are no match for the girl and her brother. 

If the girl or boy are taken prisoner, they will never speak.  Their sanity is long gone and they are tools of the evil plot.  Shock therapy or some kind of esoteric drug treatment might make them able to speak and interact, but there is no time for such activity.  Witchcraft or crystal healing may also help, but such matters are really outside the scope of this adventure.  The Keeper may do as he pleases.  The boy and girl know nothing.  They are Tcho-Tchos, raised in a backwater mountain village, and relentlessly warped to serve the ends of the cannibal cult. 

OUT OF THE JUNGLE

The investigators may call for MedEvac at some point. If the Keeper decides that the players have had enough, there is an LZ area nearby-or an area that a little blasting will flatten.  They go back to base.  If not, then the radio does not work, or the metallic voices of the fungi answer.  When the listening post is finally established, they will take it over anyway.  If the players call for MedEvac, the fungi may interfere with the communications again and drop napalm.  The Keeper should tailor the end of this to the amount of resources left in the squad.  A napalm attack when most of the party are already dead or insane serves no purpose.  On the other hand, if the investigators have taken care of the botfly kids and their cultists, then a little interference might be just the thing.  Make sure to heighten dread as much as possible, without making the game into a frustrating mouse maze. 

Eventually they return to the firebase.  If the players have been stupid or reckless, many will be dead or insane.  This is not the reason for this ticket, and the Keeper doesn't have to kill most of the squad to make his point.  The reason for the ticket is to introduce the investigators to the horrors and give them a chance to fight back.  If the Keeper wishes to award SAN here, the defeat of the botfly kids is worth 1D6 SAN, the cultists 2 SAN each. 

Character Construction for Vietnamese Locals

TYPICAL VIETNAMESE 
SIZ is rolled on 1D6+4; EDU on 3D6, POW is 2D6+6.  Peasants have EDU of 2D4, while the upper classes roll EDU on 3D6.  All Vietnamese get Speak Vietnamese free, and Read/Write it at base chance(EDUx5).  They get Vietnam skill at INTx5 or EDUx%, whichever is higher.  They must buy Speak English at full price, as well as French and Chinese, the two most commonly spoken foreign languages.   A character from a minority gets his native tongue free too.  Nungs and metis characters roll SIZ as 2D6+6, as Europeans do. 

Skills per  Profession

Vietnamese Soldier(ARVN) 
Camouflage 
Climb 
Fast Talk 
Electrical Repair 
First Aid 
Hide 
Listen 
Operate Heavy Machinery 
Speak English 
Spot Hidden 
Sneak 
Rifle Attack 

VC (Viet Cong) 
Camouflage 
Climb 
First Aid 
Hide 
Track 
Listen 
Spot Hidden 
Sneak 
Any Attack 
Martial Arts 
Dodge 

Singsong Girl
Bargain 
Credit Rating 
Fast Talk 
Speak English 
Massage 
Pharmacy 
Psychoanalysis 
Sing 

Montagnard Tribesman 
Climb 
Crossbow Attack 
Dodge 
Hide 
Jump 
Listen 
Occult 
Oratory 
Sneak 
Spot Hidden 
Swim 
Throw 
Track 
Pharmacy 
Rifle Attack 

Entertainer (USO-type) 
Bargain 
Credit Rating 
Drive Automobile 
Fast Talk 
Oratory 
Photography 
Psychology 
Psychoanalysis 
Sing 
Play Instrument 

Other likely occupations, especially for new investigators, are Journalist, Missionary, Doctor, Clergy, and of course Soldier.  Most of the investigators should be the last named, although interesting games could be had with the others. 

COVER-UP

If the Keeper thinks that the investigators are covering too much ground too soon, he can always take advantage of the fact that Schwärmer is watching them.  The investigators , especially the reporter, can be called on the carpet and threatened with military discipline, if soldiers, or expulsion from the warzone, if civilians such as the reporter or a nurse.  The officer who cautions them will not be Schwärmer unless the referee deems it necessary to use him.  Pernell would do as well, although he would act with his usual vague, inattentive manner.  Mr. Shiny might reprimand the players, if he's around. 

ALBERT SHINY, WAR HERO 

It is apparent that the redoubtable Mr. Shiny had a long and various career before he comes to work for Rothmersholm in the 1990s.  He has been a Sumerian godking, an Arab prophet, and a Chinese mandarin, and in Tickets he will dust off his long-unused commission in the Iraqi army and do his part to fight Communism.  He can appear at any time; use him to his best advantage. 

Shiny will tell the players that the Iraqi government sent him to fight Communism.  The aware player will recognize at some point that Iraq, dominated in 1969 by the Baath socialist party, had no more interest in fighting the Vietnam war than it had in damming the Pacific.  Shiny does not know this, ignorant as he is of many things human.  Allow his accent to thicken as he tried to lie his way out of this one.  If the players allow him to collect the thoughts scattered through his brain tissue, he will say that it is his duty as a free man and a Muslim to fight Communism.  This flimsy fib will be the total of his cleverness for that talk, and he will return to whatever topic he is currently attacking.  He may bring his friend Mr. Squishy along. 

MR. SQUISHY

The Mythos is full of strange things.  Shiny is one; his companion Mr. Squishy is another.  Squishy appears as an Oriental in bulky clothing.  Outdoors, his face is heavily smeared with sunscreen.  Indoors, it is covered with exotic makeup, or even "mud pack" facial creme. Squishy speaks English slowly and with a slight hissing speech impediment.  He poses as a colonel in the Japanese Air Force.  He has good reason to wish to hide his face.  It's a mask.  He is a fungus from Yuggoth, expertly assuming human shape.  He has stopped at the cannibal fortress and drawn power from the mystic stone to alter his form. 

Squishy will aver that his government has sent him to learn how to fight Communism in Asia.  Investigators doubting that Vietnam is the place to do this will meet with his disdain.  Democracy is always right.  Did not the Japanese Emperor himself say so? 

Squishy avoids conflict, combat, or confrontation.  He is unwilling to push his disguise. 

STATISTICS

Colonel Albert Shiny, Iraqi National Army 
STR  18  DEX 17  INT 13 
CON 14  APP 9  POW 18 
SIZ 18  SAN  0  EDU 20 
HP 16 
Move 10 
Damage Bonus 1D6 
Crush 100%,2D6,  Rhino Fist 2D3+2D6 
Spell: Dominate 
Skills: Arabic 20%, Archaeology 10%, Bargain 15%, Biology 65%, Chemistry 25%, Choose Tasty Victim 90%, Climb 75%, Credit Rating 45%, Cthulhu Mythos 12%, Demotic Egyptian 10%, Elder Thing 65%, Electrical Repair 10%, Electronics 10%(early period only), English 60%, Hide 90%, History 35%, Law 10%, Library Use 35%, Listen 75%,  Military 1%, Oratory 30%, Physics 20%, Psychology 15%, Sneak 70%, Spanish 30%, Sumerian 5%, Track 75% 

Mr. Squishy ("Colonel Tetsu Yakitori") 
STR 10  DEX 14 INT 16 
CON  11 APP  7 POW 13 
SIZ 10  SAN  0  EDU 40,000 
HP 11 
Skills: English 70%, Vietnamese 80%, Chinese 50%, Japanese 15%, Cthuhlu Mythos 20%, Pistol 10%, Mining 10% 
Spells:  Call Elder Thing, Voorish Sign, Dread Curse of Azathoth, Contact Nyarlathotep 

The Botfly Girl
STR  7  DEX 19 INT 11 
CON 16  APP 5 POW 18 
SIZ 5  SAN 0  EDU 0 
HP 10 
Sneak 95%, Camouflage 75%, Dodge 75%, Climb 50%, Hide 85%, Jump 45%, Listen 60%, Spot Hidden 75%, Track 90% 
Move 12 
Bite 80%  She will attack a waking target only in utter desperation. 
Her brother's statistics are just like hers.