The Horrors

What you should know

Horrors are living stories. They are tales told around campfires, monsters used to frighten children, and legends whispered in darkness.
  Each Horror has a Legend; the story that gave the Horror life. That story isn't always the version you (or your character) knows, and sometimes the story changes with each retelling. You can't always know for sure which version of the story you're in, even if you recognize the tale's pattern. You may even encounter some Legends that are new or you can't recognize.
  A Horror's Legend will give you hints about its strengths and weaknesses and can tell you how it might act, but you can't truly defeat a Horror until you find its Bane. A Horror's Bane is the one thing that can finish the story according to Legend and defeat the Horror - or at least until the story gets told again. Bullets and knives and lightning bolts will work perfectly fine to drive most Horrors away, but they don't always stop the Horror from quickly coming back.

The Foil

Sometimes, that Bane is another spirit that's intrinsically part of the Horror's Legend. When the Bane of a Horror is a creature within the Horror's Legend, they are also known as a Foil. A Foil doesn't have to be good because it's meant to defeat or contain the Horror, but it's not necessarily evil, either. A Foil is a part of the Legend, and can be a precursor to the Horror showing up or even remain after the Horror is defeated. Apollo scholars debate whether a Horror that returns after being stopped by its Foil is the same Horror, or a new version of the same Legend.

When a Horror first appears, it manifests out of nothing. Before a Horror manifests, there aren't hints or clues unless it's a part of the Horror's Legend. A manifested Horror can be flesh and blood, a spirit, or something else. When you finish a Horror's story, it will fade away and return to nothing, leaving behind victims and damage in its wake.
  There isn't logic or a pattern for when or how a Horror manifests, but the walls of Olympia were built and are defended to this day to keep most dangerous Horrors outside of the city. Inside the city, Horrors are quickly dispatched by the Gatewardens, who are trained experts and have been dealing with them since before Olympia's founding.
 

What your character should know

If you ask the average person on the street what 'The Horrors' were, they'd be able to tell you the history lesson they learned in school about creatures that destroyed the world.
  If you asked people to explain what Horrors are, you'd get blank stares, shrugs, or tall tales of monsters passed from generation to generation.
  Nobody today truly knows what the Horrors that broke humanity actually were. At some point in Olympia's past, that information was lost. We do not know if those Horrors still exist today, but they have not been seen since the Arks opened, over three hundred years ago.
  If you asked people to tell you the stories of Horrors that are around today, they'd tell you to buy a round of beers, grab a chair, and listen to stories of fiction bleeding into fact. The leading magical theories speculate that these creatures are a form of natural spirit that have fed on the nightmares of humanity or perhaps magic itself gaining a rudimentary sapience, but try explaining that to the Horror while it's clawing at your face.
  What follows are the last remaining fragments of information that we have left of the original Horrors and first hand accounts from Horrors today.

The Jabberwocky

The reason that most people don't leave the city is not because they're not allowed. It's because they're not foolish enough to leave. Most who leave never return. Some hardy few make their living traveling between the outside and the city, but these are tough folk who have braved the wilds and live to tell the tale. It's the vanishing rare folk that make the mistake of traveling the wilds and aren't up to the challenge. These folk rarely ever survive to make it back to the city. In 315, the creature known as the Jabberwocky prowled the walls of Olympia, and even came so close that it could be targeted by the wall's guns before being driven off. Before the alert was raised, a lone survivor was sent back to the city, as if in warning. This is his story.
  "Be-be-beware–" Simon Burkette muttered as he rocked back and forth, his eyes staring at nothing. "Be-be-beware–"
  "How long has he been like this?" Ranger Devin Greenvald asked, kneeling down to look at the victim.
  "Beware– Beware– Beware–" he continued to mutter.
  "Since he was found in the woods by the patrol," Ranger Rachel Heart replied. "He screamed when the patrol found him, but he's been like this since. We've tried talking to him, but he isn't responding." "What do you think he saw?" Greenvald asked, looking up to his coworker.
  "Hard to tell. There's all manner of horrors in the wilds–" she started to reply, but was interrupted by Simon snatching Greenvald by the collar.
  "'TWAS BRILLIG AND THE SLITHY TOVES!" he shouted in Greenvald's face, his hands curling to pull the ranger closer. "Did gyre and gimbal in the wabe–" His eyes vibrated with an intense madness and his knuckles were white with tension.
  "Get–off–me–" Devin stated as he tried to pull Burkette's hands off of his shirt. Rachael rushed over to assist.
  "All mimsy were the borogroves," Simon continued in a hushed whisper. The words were nonsense, but his face said that he was trying to explain something vitally important, if only the ranger would listen. "And the mome wraths outgrabe."
  "The man's gone mad," Rachel opined, pulling one of Simon's hands off of Devin. For as weak as he was when he came in, adrenaline made Simon's hands that much stronger.
  The rangers finally pulled Simon's hands off of Devin's collar and pulled them behind his back. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!" Simon yelled, his eyes bloodshot and scared. Rachel held the settler's wrists and manacled them together.
  "Do you think it's nonsense, or do you think the Horror is real?" Devin asked as he fixed his shirt collar. "That Jabberwock."
  "Beware– Beware– Beware–" replied Simon, held in place by Rachael as he settled back into his catatonic state.
  "There were seventeen in the party that left with him," Rachel replied thoughtfully, holding the man. "We'd better sound the alert. I think the only reason he's alive is because the creature's Legend required it to warn us.
  "Beware– Beware– Beware–" he whispered madly, his body rocking back and forth.

The Last Words

The following item is a video cassette recording of a young child, playing among brightly colored toys on a rug over a cement floor. The video tape was recovered during exploration #2832 of the Olympia Ark. On the recording, the camera is handheld and unsteady as the likely young babysitter coos and chats with the child, shifting focus as they play. The video is grainy, with lines, scratches, artifacts, and audio distortions throughout. The poor quality of the recording is due to fire damage to the original case and magnetic tape, but this segment was recovered and restored by Dr. Oakes, professor and research scholar at the History Department of the University of Apollo. In the background, a news program describes the Ark program, the transcript of which is below. It's unknown when the tape was recorded, or when the news program was first aired, but the video was presumed to be recorded post Ark closure. In the lower right hand corner of the video, a yellow digital clock counts up from 14:52:21 with the date 4/11/56. The missing segments, marked [...] below, are places where the news program is undecipherable due to damage.
 

[ BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION ]

  Woman: […] news today, President Calvin Ellis met with [...] advisors to discuss the [...] known as 'The Horrors'. [...] address the nation. We [...] now to President Ellis.

  Man: [...] American people. I have [...] my advisors, and I wish [...] better news. All attempts at diplomacy [...] the Horrors have failed. All attempts [...] have failed.

  Man (continues): In response, my advisors and I [...] a plan to save [...] we can. It is my hope that [...] will preserve humanity. [...] years ago, these Horrors [...] released upon the world. These [...] evils hunger for [...], and humanity continues [...] pay the price in lives, [...] destruction, unlike [...] humanity has seen before.

  Man (continues): It is my hope, [...] humanity can be saved. We [...] know why [...] seek our destruction, only [...]. Citizens have been [...] to a safe location where [...] hope [...] rebuild.

  Man (continues): May [...] have mercy on us all.

  [ END TRANSCRIPTION ]

  This portion of the tape ends there. The rest of the tape that could be recovered contains episodes of Cheers.

When it Stops Being a Game

The following item is a video cassette recording of a group of four young men playing a ball game on a large asphalt open air arena. Analysis has determined that the video is in the evening, approximately an hour before sunset, and given that the men are wearing t-shirts, it's believed to be sometime during the summer. The physical cassette tape was recovered during Olympia Vault expedition #2832, and appears to be of good quality with no significant damage. However, the video that was recorded is severely corrupted. The screen constantly shifts and changes colors, typically into a monochrome purple-gray, with large sections of the screen corrupted with distortions. For a few moments at a time the video will be clear enough to tell what is going on, but it will be completely the wrong color. The scene appears to be overlaid on top of itself multiple times, creating a ghosting and banding effect that rotates as the video plays. The audio is strangely crystal clear given the video distortions. Video research specialists at the University of Apollo are unable to determine the cause of the corruption. There is no digital clock on this video recording.
 

[ BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION ]

  Voice 1: Get it! Get it!

  [squeaking]

  Voice 2: Pass it to me! Pass it to me!

  [thunk, chains rattling]

  Multiple: Awww

  [mixed cheering and groaning as the men circle around each other]

  Voice 3: All right, two out of three. Got me?

  Voice 4: You ready? Everyone ready?

  [loud thump followed by a high pitched ringing, squeaks, another thump]

  Voice 2: Get the ball!

  [an extremely loud roaring sound that starts soft, peaks, and then fades]

  Voice 1: Woah! What was that?

  Voice 3: Holy shit!

  Voice 4: Did you see that?

  Voice 2: What even was that?

  Voice 1: Son of a bitch! Get the camera!

  [ The video clears momentarily as one of the men grabs the camera and points it at an unknown city skyline. In the remote distance, the entire top of a building is shattered and explodes in a ball of flame. ]

  Voice 4: Are– are we under attack?

  Voice 2: Holy shit. Is it terrorists?

  Voice 3: Was that a missile?

  Voice 1: It….it blew up.

  [ A faint roaring can be heard, as if from the explosion, with the sharp clatter of rocks falling. Immediately after, there is the faint sound of horns and whistles sounding, honking like startled geese. ]

  Voice 1: I have to get home. I've got a– I've got a family. My sister. My nephew.

  Voice 3: Yeah, same. Traffic is going to be nuts.

  Voice 4: Nope, I'm out of here. I'm not sticking around for this.

  [ pause ]

  Voice 2: Is– is that a guy? Flying?

  [ The video continues for a few seconds longer with the horns and whistles in the distance still making noise, but the video is not clear, and the recording suddenly comes to a stop. The rest of the tape is static and visual snow ]

Interview with a Survivor

The following item is a transcript of an interview with Dennis Mueller, PHD student of archaeological studies at the University of Apollo. Mr. Mueller was the sole survivor of expedition #2832. The original recording was made using a personal cassette recorder by Gatewatch Security and is in good condition, though due to it being an older recording made with early recording equipment, it contains a light hissing throughout and is not very high definition. Readers should be advised that the following transcript can be disturbing and contains graphic descriptions of the attack on the expedition.
 

[ BEGIN TRANSCRIPTION ]
  Interviewer: Mr. Mueller, can you please state your full name for the record?
  Mueller: D-dennis Mueller.
  Interviewer: Thank you, Mr. Mueller. I realize that this must be difficult for you, but we are trying to capture as much information as possible. Anything you might remember can help. I want to reiterate that you are not in trouble, and this is not an investigation into you. We are simply trying to understand what happened.
  [pause]
  Interviewer: Can you please verbally acknowledge that? We're recording this, you see, and the machine can't hear you nod.
  Mueller: Y-yes. I understand.
  Interviewer: Thank you, Mr. Mueller. Let's start from the beginning. Can you describe what happened? In your own words, please.
  Mueller: [audible gulp] Y-yes. It-wasn't-supposed-to-be-that-dangerous-I-
  Interviewer: [interrupts] Slower, Mr. Mueller. You're safe now. You're not in trouble. Please. You're our only witness.
  Mueller: [audible sigh] Okay. Okay. I understand.
  Interviewer: Let's begin again, hmm?
  Mueller: Okay. It- [audible sigh] The expedition was meant to be a safe trip into the Olympia Ark. There have been other expeditions before, and this was our final senior project. We - Sarah, Alex, Navine, Eddy, Mark - were the second group to go down this year with Professor Cheng. She was our advisor.
  Interviewer: That's Sarah Newsom, Alex Winter, Navine Kumar, Edward Longfellow, Mark Roberts, and Professor Maria Cheng?
  Mueller: Yes.
  Interviewer: Sorry for interrupting. Please continue.
  Mueller: We were exploring the Ark. It was the first time any of us had been down there, and it was exciting to see what was built with LOSTech. There was a lot of fire damage, but we had expected that. We'd gone down to the third level when Eddy found a metal panel that was loose. There was some kind of maintenance tunnel behind it, with a ladder down. The tunnel was lined with this big, puffy, pink material that seemed like it had protected it from the fire. Professor Cheng had thought the bottom level was blocked off by a section that had collapsed, so it was really exciting, you know?
  [pause]
  Mueller: [long sigh] We found more fire damage below. Professor Cheng told us that we had to stick close and be careful because we didn't know how stable some of the tunnels were. It looked like the section we were in had been some kind of apartment building that had half sunk into a swamp, with mud everywhere. There was a lot of stuff, including some melted tapes that I picked up. I guess we had gotten pretty loud, yelling back and forth in our excitement about all the things we were finding.
  [long pause]
  Interviewer: Mr. Mueller?
  [pause]
  Mueller: I don't want to continue any more.
  Interviewer: Mr. Mueller, your story will help any future expeditions that go down there.
  Mueller: There was a rat.
  Interviewer: A rat?
  Mueller: It– It was a huge rat of unusual size. Easily as big as one of our backpacks. It came out of the vent and attacked Alex first. It jumped on his back. We all screamed and tried to pull it off of him, but as soon as we tried to grab it, the rat caught on fire.
  Interviewer: It did what?
  Mueller: I swear! None of us had fire - only our flashlights. The rat went up in flames on its own. Alex was screaming. I didn't know what to do. Eddy hit it with his flashlight and knocked it off into the mud. Next thing I know, more rats are coming out of the vents. I– I got scared. I ran as fast as I could up the ladder. I left everyone behind– I– [sobbing]
  Interviewer: Mr. Mueller, you're safe now. You did the right thing.
  Mueller: [sobbing, yelling] I didn't! I ran away like a coward. I– Maybe I could have saved– [sobbing, chair scraping]
  Interviewer: Thank you, Mr. Mueller. You've been very helpful. I think that will be all.
  Mueller: [sobbing]
  [ END TRANSCRIPTION ]