Tribe's Adventure Blog

The Rise and Fall of the New Dr Macabre

Scenario Summary
Nature and Purpose of the Scenario
Although this scenario can be set in any 'Campaign City' it is intended as the first part of a larger three-part Australian scenario. The purpose is to expose characters to an Australian setting, granting them a legitimate reason to travel to the Land Down Under and explore its culture and landscape.

While the scenario is aimed at established teams of heroes living and operating in a 'Campaign City' it is possible that new teams could be formed to combat the threat posed by the return of the Janus Key. It is also possible that the three-part Australian scenario could be used to establish a team of heroes in Australia. Most likely, however, it will be an entertaining foray into a foreign country for an established group of American characters.

Summary of Events
The Janus Key is discovered in the 'Campaign City' fifteen years after its former owner, Dr Macabre, died in a Seattle hospital. It is taken by a young Australian tourist, Rory Morgan, and at her touch several demons around the city are awakened and set out to destroy the artefact which holds them to Earth.

A couple of bumbling thieves complicate the situation by carjacking Rory's cab and the heroes are brought in to the scenario after hearing about a car chase on a police bulletin. The heroes arrive just as the demons strike and the cab crashes, knocking Rory into one of the thieves. The Janus Key splits into two fragments, attaching itself to the two humans.

The heroes find themselves protecting Rory and her family from demons, while also trying to keep the thieves from escaping.

A further complication presents itself in the form of an innocent bystander. One of the heroes' loved ones (DNPC) arrives and is petrified during the brawl which requires the heroes to urgently find a way to reverse the process.

They draw on the expertise of a visiting scholar in demonology while also tracking down the thieves involved in the carjacking. After realising the criminals, who belong to the Blank Canvas Crime Gang, have nothing to do with the demons, the heroes are approached by Esmé Eccles, the former confidant of Dr Macabre who explains the situation and ensures the heroes that the only way to cure their friend is to use the Janus Key.

Eccles determines that the Key was stolen by Rory but it turns out that she has already left for Australia. As all seems lost, more demons appear in the city drawing the heroes to an abandoned warehouse where the remnants of the Blank Canvas Crime Gang are hiding. The thief who now possesses the Janus Key fragment reveals himself as the new Dr Macabre and begins opening portals to free his employer and various other criminals who are being held in police custody.

The demons fight the criminals and the heroes arrive to find a scene of absolute chaos.

At the end of the scene, the new Dr Macabre is defeated, the demons are banished, but the Janus Key fragment slips through the fingers of the heroes leaving them still without a way to cure their loved one.

Unless they head to Australia...

What Has Gone Before?
Dr Macabre never quite made the A-List of Super-Villains despite being active for more than two decades, and when he died of colon cancer in 1993, no one paid particular attention to his passing. He had spent the previous eight years in prison and had never really succeeded in moving with the times despite having in his possession a powerful artefact capable of traversing time and space: the Janus Key. His personal belongings were misplaced at the hospital and the odd assortment of magical devices he had collected throughout his misspent career was also found to be missing. An inquiry was ordered but nothing was discovered.

Paul Lund had been an assistant curator at Northwestern Museum of Natural History in Oregon during the 1960s, and it was while in this role that he first came into contact with the Janus Key. He took on the mantle of Dr Macabre and set about world domination, never getting much further than an occasion scrap with Meteor Man or some other superhero. The public was never terrified of Lund or his Janus Key, although the public knew very little of the artefact's true lineage and power. In fact, Lund knew relatively little about the device either, and never did manage to tap into much of its potential.

The public was also ignorant of Lund's private life, for although he became obsessed with the collection of magical artefacts, he maintained a close relationship with another former assistant at the Northwestern Museum: Esmé Eccles. They became sporadic lovers and the strong-minded Esmé was forced to weather his frequent bouts of insanity and obsession. Their love somehow managed to survive and Esmé was at his side when he died, although no one was aware of their connection. She had become a nurse after working at the museum through college, and spent most of her working life in hospitals along the north-western coast of the United States. When Lund was arrested and sent to prison in Seattle, she managed to transfer to a Seattle hospital. Eight years later she held his hand as he died.

It was Esmé Eccles who cleared away Lund's personal effects and it was Esmé who took possession of the Janus Key which manifested itself on the night of Lund's death. She knew about its power and the way it manipulated those who came into contact with it, so she gathered it up secretly in a sheet and carried it away to her apartment where she hid it securely in the basement. After several months Esmé moved away from Seattle and after hours of deliberation she brought the Janus Key with her.

For fifteen years the Janus Key has lain dormant in the Campaign City, hidden in the floorboards of Esmé Eccles' third storey apartment. And even though she never touched the artefact since leaving Lund's bedside at the hospital its presence had taken a toll on her health. At sixty years old, Esmé Eccles has been confined to a wheelchair and no longer has the strength to perform most everyday tasks. She lives in her apartment and has a young nurse visit her every day. Her body seems to be aging rapidly and functions like that of a ninety year old. She knows that the Janus Key is about to claim her life just as it had done to Paul Lund.

Dr Macabre's legacy was not great, but as well as once possessing the Janus Key, he was also responsible for the summoning of several demonic creatures: some of which were never properly banished. These creatures have also lain mostly dormant for the past fifteen years, only able to move during the darkest nights of every year. The demons are drawn to the Key and plan to destroy it so that they can be free once more to return to their own dimension.