TEXT: 1
  Tickets-of-Leave are small 
  self-contai ned addi ti ons 
  to the Convicts & Cthulhu 
  setti ng for Lovecraftian 
  roleplaying in the early 
  penal colonies of Australia. 
  Each includes a selection 
  of game elements which 
  c a n  e i t h e r  b e  u s e d 
  collecti vely as a thumbnail 
  sketch of a mini-scenario, 
  or can be used in isolation 
  to p rov i de p i e c es t ha t 
  enhance a scenario of your 
  own invention.
  CREDITS
  Ticket-of-Leave #4  is written by Geoff 
  Gillan & Dean Engelhardt; artwork 
  on pages 11 and 13 by Reuben Dodd. 
  Copyright © 2017. The PDF is Published 
  by Cthulhu Reborn Publishing .
  (w w w. c t h u l h u r e b o r n. c o m)
  The Convicts & Cthulhu setting 
  is published by Cthulhu Reborn 
  Publishing and is available via 
  RPGNow and DrivethruRPG as a 
  “Pay-What-You-Want” title.
  Call of Cthulhu is a registered 
  trademark of Chaosium Inc., and is 
  used here with permission.
  ( w w w . c h a o s i u m . c o m )
  The Vanishing Ensign
  4
  Introduction
  This Convicts & Cthulhu Ticket of Leave aims to 
  provide the Keeper with a framework to motivate 
  investigator travels out into the more remote outlying 
  parts of the penal colony of New South Wales. It is 
  inspired by a real historical event – the comprehensive 
  muster of all troops and ordnance ordered by 
  Governor Bligh in 1807 – using this as the basis for 
  a campaign frame in which a group of investors are 
  compelled to travel from one grimy NSW Corps 
  outpost to the next. Also included is an outline sketch 
  for an investigative scenario based around these 
  events, called “The Vanishing Ensign.” The scenario 
  sketch features three possible conclusions, allowing 
  the Keeper to choose whichever outcome best suits 
  his or her campaign.
  For maximum historical accuracy, this material 
  assumes that events take place during the tenure 
  of Governor Bligh, although in reality the colony’s 
  governors were perpetually worried about the poor 
  military resources at their disposal, and numerous 
  smaller musters were ordered both prior and 
  subsequent to Bligh’s muster of 1807. This means the 
  Keeper can readily re-use this material for any other 
  period within the Convicts & Cthulhu era as desired. 
  
  2
  Historical Context: 
  Bligh’s Muster of 1807
  One of the most prevalent concerns written about 
  by early Governors in the records of the Australian 
  penal colonies was the chronic lack of resources 
  available to properly run the settlements. In a 
  military sense, the colonies were allocated far fewer 
  troops than what would sensibly be required to 
  maintain order across such a large population of 
  convicts. And those few men – most of whom were 
  barely better than the criminals they guarded – were 
  so poorly equipped that the notion that the military 
  force could stave off the arrival of the much-feared 
  French was almost laughable.
  Although this constant problem plagued all 
  Governor’s from the time of the First Fleet’s arrival 
  until well after the period covered by Convicts & 
  Cthulhu, one of those Governors – the irascible 
  Bligh – took a unique approach to tackling it. 
  Figuring that a detailed an accurate tabulation of all 
  the poorly- provisioned military outposts in New 
  South Wales would definitively prove exactly how 
  thinly spread his military force was for the job of 
  guarding the NSW Colony, Bligh commissioned a 
  colony-wide muster. Based on this he made loud 
  and blustering arguments to the Colonial Office 
  requesting more men and more equipment. While 
  Bligh’s was not the only such demands made in the 
  colony’s early history, his were certainly among the 
  most incendiary.
  Bligh’s muster took place between January and 
  March of 1807, and those charged with collating the 
  data were ordered that it should cover the entirety 
  of the NSW Corps as well as a review of all the 
  ordnance in the Colony (gun batteries, powder, 
  powder magazines, etc.). In practice this required 
  an enormous amount of travelling around both 
  the settled and far-flung corners of the colony – 
  since NSW Corps forces were stationed in many 
  barracks, outposts, remote gun batteries, and other 
  out-of-the-way places.
  After the muster was complete, Governor William 
  Bligh wrote to Lord Windham at the Colonial Office 
  in London to appraiseapprise him of the state of 
  the military in New South Wales. He included two 
  pertinent enclosures – one a muster of the dispensation 
  of officers and troops; the other a report on the state 
  of the ordnance. Both were highly damning.
  In practice, Bligh’s grand tabulation of the 
  inadequacies of the colony’s military forces was 
  received by the Colonial Office in London with 
  about the same disdain they had shown to all 
  previous requests for resources. This is to say, it 
  was ignored entirely. However, the tabulation 
  documents created by the muster itself – some 
  parts of which are reproduced through this Ticket 
  of Leave – provides an intriguing resource for 
  Keepers wishing more detail on the dispensation of 
  the NSW Corps in the colony.
  The Grand Muster 
  Campaign Frame
  Bligh’s Great Muster provides Keepers with an 
  ideal vehicle for sending a group of investigators 
  out into any number of far-flung parts of the New 
  South Wales colony, simply by roping them into the 
  collection of data. Obvious candidates for inclusion 
  in such a mission would be investigators that are 
  officers or soldiers of the NSW Corps, civilians or 
  naval personnel working for Government House, 
  or convicts assigned to the above. However, even 
  if investigators are not already attached to the Gov-
  ernment, they can easily be cashiered into service 
  by Government House, typically by the Governor’s 
  secretary (see the Government House entry in 
  Convicts & Cthulhu, page 35—36).
  The muster group needs at least one NSW Corps 
  officer as a leader and a clerk of some kind. If there 
  are obvious investigators to fill these roles, then 
  the Keeper should slot them into those duties. If 
  there is no relevant investigator for one of these 
  positions, the Keeper should make use of one of the 
  NPCs described in the nearby box. Because these 
  two roles will jointly provide the “leadership” of the 
  muster group it is probably undesirable for both of 
  them to be filled by NPCs (although an experienced 
  Keeper could probably run an entertaining game in 
  which the investigators powerlessly rail against the 
  arbitrary and ill-informed orders of their superiors).
  Called to the Muster
  Investigators are called to Government House and 
  told by the Governor’s secretary they must under-
  take a muster of all military personnel and inspec-
  tion of ordnance throughout the entire colony. If the 
  timeline of the original (historical) muster is adhered 
  to, this will likely be in January, which is very hot. 
  
  3
  The investigators are introduced to any NPC leaders 
  at this meeting, if such are needed. Furthermore, 
  if no investigators are convicts the party might 
  reasonably be allocated an NPC convict or two, or 
  at least a couple of soldiers, to do their dirty work 
  (use the generic statistics found on pages 93—94 of 
  Convicts & Cthulhu).
  Undertaking the Survey
  Once the mustering party has received its 
  commission, there are a range of activities which 
  need to be undertaken either collectively or in 
  smaller groups. Depending on the composition of 
  the team and the Keeper’s whims, tasks can either 
  be arbitrarily dropped on investigators or they can 
  be allowed to pick and choose the order in which 
  they are attempted. Whichever way the survey is 
  performed it represents a huge amount of effort … 
  and by decree of the Governor the team only has six 
  to eight weeks to complete its information gathering.
  There are three main types of activities that form 
  part of the survey:
  • Searching records and communicating 
  with satellite colonies;
  • Visiting locations close to Sydney and 
  Parramatta; and
  • Visiting NSW Corps outpost locations 
  which are located further afield. 
  Lieutenant Richard Fitch, age 26, 
  NSW Corps Officer
  STR 50 
   CON 60 SIZ 45 
  DEX 65  
  INT 50 
  APP 45  POW 60  EDU 35 SAN 55 
  Hit Points: 10
  Damage Bonus:  none Build: 0 Move: 9 Magic Points: 12
  Brawl 
  40% (20/8), damage 1D3 + Damage Bonus
  Carbine 
  55%(27/11), damage 1D10+4 [range 70 yards;  
   
   
  1 shot per 4 rounds]
  Dodge  
  40% (20/8)
  Skills: Credit Rating 75%, Insight 55%, Intimidate 65%, 
  Listen 35%, Stealth 60%, Spot Hidden 55%.
  Fitch is a striving young man from a prosperous 
  middle-class English family. He is tall, fair-haired 
  and conventionally handsome except from some 
  recent and persistent boils. Fitch is delighted to 
  be in charge of this duty: he wants nothing more 
  than to come to the Governor’s attention. He has 
  misread the political situation of the Colony entirely 
  and is backing the Governor to be ascendant over 
  the military and business factions. He is a bully to 
  those under him and obsequious to those above. He 
  prefers to lead from well behind and can usually 
  be found swanning in the officer’s mess while his 
  underlings – the investigators – do all the work. No 
  matter what, he will fail to credit them in any way.
  (Optional) NPC Leaders for the Muster Party
  Ensign Charles Rogers, age 33, 
  Naval Ensign and Government 
  Clerk
  STR 60 
   CON 45 SIZ 65 
  DEX 50  INT 80 
  APP 50  POW 35  EDU 70 SAN 65 
  Hit Points: 11
  Damage Bonus:  +1D4 Build: 1 Move: 7 
  Magic Points: 7
  Brawl 
   
  30% (15/6), damage 1D3 + Damage Bonus
  Flintlock Pistol 
  40% (20/8), damage 1D6+1 [range 10 yards;  
   
   
  1 shot per 4 rounds]
  Sword 
   
  50% (25/10), damage 1D8+1 + Damage Bonus
  Dodge  
   
  35% (17/7)
  Skills: Accounting 70%, Appraise 45%, Charm/Bootlick 
  45%, Credit Rating 60%, Insight 55%, Sleight of Hand 
  60%, Spot Hidden 75%.
  Rodgers is 33, silent and particular, with an 
  uneasy manner with fellow humans. Rodgers was 
  recently Purser on a convict vessel and applied 
  for, and was accepted for, transfer to Government 
  service, sensing more opportunity in the colony 
  than regular shipboard service. He works out of 
  Government House and wishes to do an exact job. 
  He is usually disinterested in those around him and 
  will only speak to correct someone’s mistake. He is 
  impatient with fools.
  
  4
  Each of these types of investigator “missions” is de-
  scribed briefly below, along with some ideas about 
  the kinds of scenario opportunities that could be 
  unlocked through such research and travel.
  Searching Correspondence 
  and Records
  One of the things that must be established for an 
  accurate muster is the list of NSW Corps men 
  who, for different reasons, are not currently in 
  their normal postings. Some are on furlough (a 
  leave of absence from service), some are currently 
  incarcerated because of misdemeanours, some are 
  currently in the hospital, and some are presently 
  overseas on some form of government business. 
  It will be the task of the muster party to scour all 
  records at Government House in an attempt to 
  establish which officers or regular NSW Corps men 
  fall into these categories (since they will otherwise 
  be missed during the count). 
  In an era in which paper records are the only form 
  that exist, and relevant details are scattered across 
  musty ledgers maintained by several different 
  officials, this process is much more laborious than 
  it seems. Furthermore it will likely involve many 
  trips backwards and forwards between Government 
  House, the offices of the colony’s magistrates, the 
  Naval Officer in charge of the port, the colony’s 
  surgeons, and any other colonial officials the 
  Keeper wants to name. The task will also involve an 
  inordinate amount of deciphering poor handwriting.
  In addition to scouring the records kept at New 
  South Wales, there is an expectation that the 
  muster party will also correspond with officials in 
  satellite colonies to inquire about the disposition of 
  any NSW Corps men stationed at such places. At a 
  minimum they are to:
  • write to the commandant in Norfolk Island, 
  and 
  • write to the commandant at Port Dalrymple 
  (a small settlement on the north coast of 
  Tasmania, then Van Diemen’s Land).
  Letters 
  can 
  be 
  sent 
  with 
  the 
  Government 
  correspondence 
  dispatches. 
  More 
  enterprising 
  investigators can seek out a ship in Sydney Harbour 
  going to either location and entrust their letters to the 
  Captain. In all cases, however, the muster party would 
  be well advised to send correspondence early in the 
  survey period – since delivering a letter to such remote 
  locations is likely to take 2—3 weeks (each way).
  Five ways in which scenarios could be 
  spawned from research and letter writing 
  (examples only; the enterprising Keeper is 
  invited to expand on this list):
  1. scans or cross-referencing of the official 
  records might disclose some strange 
  anomaly which points to Mythos activity 
  at a certain place, or the actions of an 
  individual with cult affiliations;
  2. records of admissions to the hospital might 
  include some strange – unbelievable – 
  details that warrant validation first-hand;
  3. reading through the record of recent 
  letters between the colony and the 
  tiny outpost at Port Dalrymple make it 
  clear that one of the local Magistrates 
  is deliberately hiding information about 
  special cargoes of items shipped from 
  this remote place back to Port Jackson;
  4. with the colony records being usually 
  exhaustive, a gap in the records reveals 
  that someone has been tampering with 
  the official record – perhaps to hide 
  having made off with some goods, or 
  even a whole ship; 
  5. a collection of correspondence that falls 
  into the investigators’ hands after some-
  one’s death reveals a series of curious 
  postscripts in code, that are in fact an 
  entire Mythos text.
  q11111111111r
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  5
  Visiting Sites Near Sydney
  The muster party is expected to personally visit 
  each NSW Corps barracks and request a muster 
  (basically, a head count) which is then backed up 
  by any records for those absent. These requests are 
  likely to be met with grumbling resistance, only 
  overcome when the investigators display their let-
  ter of authority from the Governor.
  In addition to inspecting the troops, the muster 
  party is also charged with checking all ordnance, 
  which means checking fortifications for structural 
  issues, making sure the gun powder in its magazine 
  can be used, and firing the guns and inspecting 
  them for rust or other deterioration.
  Close to Sydney, the muster party is most likely to 
  visit the following locations:
  • Sydney Barracks of the NSW Corps 
  (Convicts & Cthulhu, page 39–40) – to inspect 
  the muster of troops, check records and also 
  inspect the gun emplacement attached to 
  the barracks;
  • Government House (C&C, page 35–36) – to 
  inspect the force of soldiers stationed there 
  as the Governor’s personal guard;
  • Sydney Hospital (C&C, page 42) – to count 
  NSW Corps officers and men currently 
  incapacitated, as well as surgeons;
  • South Head (C&C, page 53) – to inspect the 
  gun emplacement there;
  • Dawes Point (C&C, page 42) – to inspect 
  the gun emplacement there (whose guns 
  have the notorious reputation of flying apart 
  when fired);
  • Georges Head (a location slightly north of the 
  South Head pyramid) – to inspect the newly-
  built gun emplacement (which, despite being 
  only a few years old, is in terrible repair with 
  a damp powder magazine); and
  • Fort Philip on Windmill Hill (C&C, 
  page  42) – to inspect the painfully-slow 
  progress that is being made on the 
  settlement’s only stone fort.
  Visiting Sites Near 
  Parramatta
  As with the settlement at Sydney, the muster group 
  will be required to visit all places in and around Par-
  ramatta township where NSW Corps are stationed or 
  gun emplacements have been positioned. Travel be-
  tween Sydney and Parramatta can be achieved either 
  by road or by boat. In the former case, Government 
  House will agree to issuing the muster party with one 
  coach or wagon. If travelling via ferry boat the group 
  will need to fund its own transport. As described on 
  page 44 of Convicts & Cthulhu, the journey via either 
  method takes a little over half a day.
  Undertaking the survey of the Parramatta region 
  will include at least a trip to the following places:
  • Parramatta Barracks of the NSW Corps 
  (C&C, page 47) – to inspect the muster of 
  troops and check records;
  • Gun Emplacement in the Parramatta Town 
  Square – to inspect the ordnance;
  • Cabramatta Farm / Prospect Hill (C&C, page 
  54) – this region to the west of Parramatta is pri-
  marily farmland but it also houses a gun battery 
  manned by 5 full-time soldiers. This is close to 
  the eastern-most extent of the settled regions, 
  and the eerie Blue Mountains – from whose 
  slopes some colonists fear that native tribes will 
  attack – are clearly visible from here.
  The Perils of Damp 
  Gunpowder
  One of the frequent problems highlighted in the 
  final report prepared by the historical muster was 
  that many of the colony’s stores of gunpowder were 
  perpetually too damp to fire. English gunpowder 
  at this time was mostly saltpetre combined with 
  smaller parts sulphur and charcoal. Without a proper 
  gunpowder mill, any attempts to dry out gunpowder 
  usually require some kind of fire or at least a stove of 
  some kind, and are tricky at best. Such attempts have 
  been known to result in spontaneous explosion. If the 
  investigators ever attempt to remediate the problems 
  of damp gunpowder themselves – or are nearby when 
  someone else tries to do so – the Keeper is justified in 
  calling for a skill roll or simply a Luck roll to avoid being 
  caught in a spontaneous blast.
  
  6
  Five ways in which scenarios could arise out 
  of visits to sites around Sydney or Parramatta:
  1. An attempted test firing for a cannon fails; 
  on closer inspection the blame for this 
  embarrassing failure is laid upon a strange 
  sticky bundle of inexplicable substance 
  that someone (or something) has lodged 
  deep inside the gun’s workings. Questions 
  are asked: who put this bizarre package in 
  such a curious location, and why? 
  2. Cross-checking the records from a 
  barracks with the results of the muster 
  highlight some strange discrepancy; there 
  are a handful of men who were present 
  according to the records but nobody 
  sighted them on the day of the muster. 
  Although everyone claims to remember 
  these phantom men very well, every 
  person who is questioned remembers 
  their basic description to be vastly 
  different to anybody else’s depiction.
  3. Off-the-record 
  discussions 
  in 
  the 
  barracks 
  highlights 
  some 
  concerns 
  among the men that there is a certain 
  group of men who are absent from the 
  roll call each morning following a full 
  moon, with no explanation offered. 
  Although this has been brought to the 
  attention of the superior officer, no 
  action has been taken – although now 
  the officer seems to number among the 
  men who do not attend roll call after the 
  moon is full.
  4. A guard post is revealed to be regularly 
  left abandoned at certain hours of the 
  night. Strange lights in the sky are 
  reported coinciding with this time and 
  one elderly (not very credible) convict 
  believes he saw a giant creature winging 
  down from the stars. 
  5. One of the NSW Corps officers the 
  party interviews is obviously mad (there 
  are a surprising number of historical 
  precedents for this), and believes a 
  supernatural entity visits him in his 
  dreams. His soldiers have been ignoring 
  his lunacy, but the muster party needs to 
  find enough information to either clear 
  him or remove him from his position. 
  How do they investigate someone’s 
  dream visitations?
  q11111111111111111111111111r
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  7
  Visiting Outlying 
  Places: Coal River and 
  Hawkesbury
  Perhaps the most time-consuming aspect of the 
  Governor’s muster is the requirement to travel to 
  the remotest outlying regions of the New South 
  Wales colony, including the secondary penal camp 
  at Coal River and the inland river settlements along 
  the Hawkesbury River. Other, more sparsely settled 
  regions, such as the area surrounding Botany Bay 
  might also be included in the list of sites to visit 
  should the Keeper wish it so.
  Travel to any of these more remote places will 
  almost certainly require a voyage by sea: to facilitate 
  the muster the Governor has made available a 
  small ship, the cutter Guinevere. Captain Spillman 
  is its master and commander. He is dutiful enough 
  when being watched, but will take advantage of the 
  trips to do a little smuggling that the investigators 
  may wish to impede or profit by, as they wish.
  Details of the settlements at Coal River and in 
  other outlying regions can be found in Convicts & 
  Cthulhu, although much of the drama associated 
  with fulfilling the Governor’s orders in these wild 
  outland regions will involve encounters that hap-
  pen away from “civilisation.” The Keeper is free 
  to populate the unexplored bush country with all 
  manner of natural or Cthulhu Mythos threats. 
  Few white folks have ever set foot in some of 
  these territories, so the possibility of previously 
  unknown terrors is more than credible. Also, the 
  sheer remoteness of some of these locations make 
  them attractive places for strange cults to set up 
  larger-scale operations, away from the prying eyes 
  of townships and farms. Even apart from the un-
  natural threats that may be encountered in the 
  unexplored woodland country, investigators who 
  venture even slightly off the beaten track, or who 
  wander too far from settlements, may easily run 
  across indigenous groups who have little experi-
  ence with European people. The reaction of such 
  Aboriginal groups can vary from hostile (especially 
  if the group has recently been savaged by white set-
  tlers), through to sympathetic (if the investigators 
  seem to be in trouble). 
  The extent of the remote regions to which the mus-
  ter party must travel can be expanded to meet the 
  Keeper’s wishes, perhaps dooming the investiga-
  tors to dangerous travels up and down the entire 
  length of the colony. At the very minimum, the 
  group would need to visit:
  • Coal River Prison Settlement (C&C, page 
  51—52) – to inspect the muster of troops 
  and check records;
  • The chain of small farm settlements 
  scattered up the Hawkesbury to Richmond 
  Hill (C&C, page 54) – to take stock of the 
  defensive arrangements and NSW Corps 
  deployments 
  surrounding 
  the 
  sparsely 
  populated farming region.
  
  8
  Five examples of scenarios that might begin with 
  visits to outlying or remote parts of the colony:
  1. A freak gust of wind drives the party’s ship 
  or boat ashore with such ferocity that it is 
  temporarily damaged; the place in which 
  they find themselves temporarily stranded 
  seems 
  well-populated 
  by 
  Aboriginal 
  people. But this indigenous group does 
  not seem to live a traditional life, rather 
  it has come under the unwholesome 
  power of an eccentric European who has 
  introduced them to some unorthodox 
  forms of worship.
  2. Travelling inland from one of the 
  settlements – perhaps as a “short cut” – 
  the party strays into territory which the 
  local Aboriginal peoples shun. In truth 
  they have good reason to stay clear, since 
  the very land itself is haunted by one of 
  the malevolent spirits spoken about in the 
  stories of Alcheringa.
  3. Visiting the farmstead of a free settler 
  family on the furthest outer reaches of 
  settlement, the muster party find the 
  normally stoic graziers in a state of abject 
  fear. Just days ago a strange stone fell from 
  the heavens, and the land beyond the 
  now-foetid billabong seems to have taken 
  on a decidedly unnatural glow. The local 
  NSW Corps troops decided just yesterday 
  morning to venture into the unwelcoming 
  place to allay their fears … but not a soul 
  has yet emerged from the glowing fog-
  shrouded waterhole.
  4. The muster party learns the NSW Corps 
  stationed in a very remote area is almost 
  entirely out of useable gunpowder right at 
  the worst possible moment – when they 
  come under attack from what initially 
  seems to be an Aboriginal raiding party, 
  but turns out to be something much worse. 
  5. The opposite of scarcity is occurring at 
  one remote location. This place has an as-
  tounding stock of stores and ammunition. 
  It seems the area might be a new staging 
  ground for a bunch of smugglers working 
  from the nearby coast – perhaps even a 
  non-British vessel. It’s possible that these 
  criminals are associates of the Jenks Gang 
  described in Ticket of Leave #3.
  Wrapping Up the Muster
  Eventually the muster party will either run out of 
  places to visit, or run out of time. In either case 
  they will be obliged to return to Sydney and begin 
  tabulating the data they have gathered. Of course, 
  the bringing together of all the different disparate 
  items of knowledge that they have unearthed 
  along the way may allow them to discover a much 
  larger, more significant truth about the state of the 
  colony. This discovery might be a suitable occasion 
  to propel the investigators into one final sanity-
  wrenching scenario which pits them against the 
  forces of the Cthulhu Mythos, or one of its foul 
  cults, in a high-stakes fight to the death.
  Scenario Outline: 
  The Vanishing Ensign
  The Vanishing Ensign is a mystery adventure which 
  uses the “Grand Muster Campaign Frame” described 
  above. Keepers are encouraged to pick and choose 
  the specific locations where the main scenario 
  events unfold, using the descriptions of likely muster 
  locations provided. In reality, the locations where 
  clues are unearthed are largely interchangeable – 
  investigators will only deduce the true significance 
  of the mystery once they have visited several 
  locations and begun to observe a peculiar trend in 
  the information they have been gathering.
  This scenario would make a good introductory 
  adventure to begin a longer series of encounters 
  and scenarios using the “Grand Muster Campaign 
  Frame.” By extending their travels around New 
  South Wales the Keeper can showcase the full 
  extent of the colony, and all the horrors it conceals.
  Keeper's Introduction
  As the muster party travels around from location to 
  location, their information gathering very quickly 
  uncovers a most singular and unexplained thing. 
  In every location they visit, the official records list 
  a person by the name of “Ensign Ernest Dobley” 
  – and yet nobody they speak with seems to know 
  who he is, nor indeed does anybody claim to have 
  seen him recently.
  The mysterious Ensign Dobley seems to have 
  arrived about a month apart in each location and 
  q11111111111r
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  s44444444444t
  
  9
  is described as quiet, nondescript, secretive, and 
  mysterious. This strange phenomenon threatens 
  to make the census inaccurate, something the 
  Governor is unlikely to look fondly upon. Even 
  worse, unless the muster party can produce some 
  kind of credible explanation as to how such an 
  extraordinary pattern could in fact be true, there 
  is every chance that the Governor will believe his 
  commissioned party has been either fraudulent 
  or incompetent in executing their duty. The 
  consequences of attracting that kind of attention 
  do not bear thinking, thus the investigators have 
  an excellent reason for getting to the bottom of the 
  enigma of Ensign Dobley. 
  The notes that follow provide some suggestions 
  for introducing the mysterious phenomenon and 
  providing avenues for the investigators to explore 
  it. Rather than providing a single Mythos-based 
  explanation, this scenario outline provides the 
  Keeper with a choice of three different explanations 
  behind the weird situation.
  As noted above, the scenario places few restrictions 
  on where the investigators uncover traces of the 
  phantom Dobley – the Keeper can either pick 
  locations that he or she wishes to feature, or can 
  leave the choice up to the investigators. Note that 
  even if the Keeper chooses to use the first optional 
  Mythos explanation (in which Dobley is a hybrid 
  Deep One), there are no practical limits to the kinds 
  of locations that the investigation may take place. 
  Realistically, any location to which the muster 
  group is likely to travel is close enough to a river 
  or coastline that it could be somewhere credibly 
  frequented by such an individual.
  The Investigations
  The sections below describe the clues that the 
  investigators will unearth at each of the various 
  different locations where traces of Dobley exist.
  At the First Location
  The muster party likely first becomes aware 
  of the mysterious situation while they are 
  making initial researches at Government House 
  (although the Keeper can unveil the same clues at 
  a different location, if needed). Based on a scan 
  of the official records the survey group orders a 
  muster. Ensign Dobley, while being on the books, 
  is not present at the muster, nor indeed can he 
  be located anywhere on site. No transfer notice 
  records his movement elsewhere.
  Asking around about the mysterious Dobley reveals 
  only basic information about him – he had no 
  especial friends and the few people who remember 
  him describe a quiet, unassuming man bland to the 
  point of being nondescript. Some remember him as 
  being prone to occasionally wandering off alone.
  The Ensign’s only noticeable (or indeed memorable) 
  quirk, aside from the previous behaviour, is a 
  curious obsession – over and over he would 
  ask every new person he encountered whether 
  they knew anything about someone called “Job 
  Thrasher.” Nobody ever responded in the positive, 
  at least not publicly. If investigators look into “Job 
  Thrasher” see the box nearby.
  Who is “Job Thrasher”?
  As well as looking for information about the 
  vanishing Ensign Dobley, investigators are likely 
  to want to learn more about the mysterious “Job 
  Thrasher” who seems to be the object of his fascination.
  Who and what Job Thrasher is, depends on which 
  of the three Mythos “solutions” the Keeper has selected 
  (see below): each option includes a section noting the 
  specific facts relevant to that solution. For all solutions, 
  however, Thrasher is a convict. Those who remember 
  him describe him as a man of about fifty years, scruffy, 
  and with a red birthmark on his right cheek.
  In general, the investigators have a few logical 
  avenues they could follow in attempting to find out 
  more about “Job Thrasher”:
  • 
  Convict Ship Records (see Convicts & Cthulhu, 
  page 32): Consulting the official records, 
  investigators can learn that a convict named “Job 
  Thrasher” came to Australia with the Second Fleet 
  in 1789 on board the Neptune. He comes from 
  Kent and was convicted of fraud and forgery.
  • 
  Church and Burial Records: If investigators 
  think to check the colony’s register of deaths and 
  burials they will be rewarded with the discovery 
  that Job Thrasher died one year ago and was buried 
  in a small burial ground on the outskirts of Sydney.
  • 
  Visiting Thrasher’s Grave: A small stone denotes 
  Thrasher’s burial here, one year before the time of 
  the scenario. Perceptive investigators will spot that 
  the grave has been dug up and then resettled again. 
  Digging up the coffin will reveal a secret, the nature of 
  which depends on the solution chosen (see below).
  
  10
  Regarding the apparent vanishing of Ensign, nobody 
  can provide any elaboration. His soldiering seems 
  indifferent at best; certainly not memorable. No-one 
  has any explanation as to how he has managed to 
  disappear. The only reason he has not been missed 
  on the previous muster, is that none have been 
  formally held in the six weeks since his arrival. 
  His record at Government House suggests he 
  is only recently arrived in the colony, and was a 
  conscript from Kent in England.
  At the Second Location
  Once the investigators move to another location 
  they will find the same anomaly: Dobley is listed as 
  part of the complement of soldiers but again is not 
  present. Asking around unearths the same basic 
  facts as previously learned in terms of his habits 
  and behaviour. Once again, no-one has noticed 
  that he has (apparently) slipped away somewhere. 
  Regardless of whether the investigators are asking 
  at a large barracks or a small battery (with a 
  complement of a half dozen), the story is the same – 
  he seems to have gone off with no-one noticing. 
  Subsequent Locations
  Eventually, investigators will probably begin 
  actively looking for Dobley whenever they travel to 
  a new location – and they will not be disappointed. 
  Wherever they go looking for him, they find traces 
  that he has been there. And at each place, the 
  situation is the same as above.
  The three possible Mythos “solutions” (see below) 
  each incorporate some additional clues that the 
  Keeper can provide to the investigators as pieces 
  of the puzzle that they unearth by either speaking 
  with those who remember Dobley, or through 
  finding other evidence of his activities.
  The Final Location
  The Keeper can choose how long the investigators 
  must follow Dobley’s trail before they finally track 
  him down. The location of the encounter with the 
  Vanishing Ensign – likely to be the grand finale for 
  the scenario – can either be chosen ahead of time, or 
  the Keeper can simply arrange for the investigators 
  to stumble upon him whenever the pursuit stops 
  being fun and engaging for the players. Alternatively 
  the Keeper might wish to hold back the encounter 
  until his or her players have solved some difficult 
  element of the puzzle, making the final encounter a 
  reward for industrious or clever problem-solving.
  However it is triggered, the encounter with Dobley 
  will play out according to the “Denouement” 
  description in the particular Mythos “solution” the 
  Keeper has chosen.
  Three Possible Mythos 
  Solutions
  Three options are presented as possible Mythos-based 
  “solutions” to the mystery of the Vanishing Ensign.
  Option One: Dobley is a 
  Deep One Hybrid
  If using this option, the truth behind the mysterious 
  events is that Ernest Dobley and his erstwhile 
  colleague both bore the taint of the Deep Ones.
  Dobley’s Secret: The Ensign avoided staying too 
  long in any one place since his unusual physical 
  appearance had a habit of attracting unwanted 
  attention. His various vanishings were all timed to 
  conceal phases when his sudden metamorphoses 
  warped his appearance in more drastic ways. 
  Dobley does, however, have a latent ability to make 
  people forget him, perhaps some kind of psychic 
  power (see below). When the investigators finally 
  track him down, he will likely try to use it to make 
  them forget he ever existed.
  Unique Clues:
  • At 
  the 
  penultimate 
  scenario 
  location, 
  someone remembers that Dobley had a 
  strangely “fishy” look to his appearance 
  (which the Keeper can expand to fully-blown 
  “Innsmouth Look” if he or she wishes).
  • Recollections of Dobley’s activities often 
  include him moping around bodies of water.
  • Some people describe Dobley as apparently 
  being under intense strain at times, sweating 
  and shaking.
  • Occasionally he could be seen crouched 
  down near the water’s edge, apparently 
  straining as though listening to something 
  others could not hear.
  
  11
  Job Thrasher: Thrasher was also a hybrid. A settler 
  in the final scenario location recalls that Thrasher 
  and Dobley were friends. Thrasher was an assigned 
  convict who worked for the settler in question, and 
  the man still has a notebook formerly owned by the 
  convict. This contains drafts of letters by Thrasher 
  and addressed to Dobley, explaining the latter’s 
  condition and how he must ultimately go into the 
  sea, where his brothers and sisters will guide him. 
  Digging up Thrasher’s grave shows that the convict 
  died a violent death when his head was knocked 
  in. Investigators will also find evidence that they 
  are not the first people to exhume Thrasher’s 
  body  – apparently someone already dug up the 
  dead convict, searching for something. In truth, 
  they failed in this mission: inside Thrasher’s gut a 
  fetish to Mother Hydra is still lodged. Fooling with 
  it can summon her (probably unwanted) attention.
  Denouement: When found, Dobley is on sick 
  leave, far gone down the road of Deep One 
  metamorphosis. Dobley killed Thrasher not 
  wanting to accept what Thrasher was telling him 
  and out of fear of being exposed. When confronted 
  he flees to the nearest water. A whole colony of 
  Deep Ones awaits him eagerly.
  Ensign Ernest Dobley as a Deep 
  One Hybrid
  STR 80 
   CON 70 SIZ 25 
  DEX 50  INT 50 
  APP 30  POW 85  EDU 45 SAN 25 
  Hit Points: 9
  Damage Bonus:  none Build: 0 Move: 8* Magic Points: 17
  * Can also swim at Move 8
  Brawl 
   
  45% (22/9), damage 1D3 + Damage Bonus
  Knife 
   
  45% (22/9), damage 1D6 + Damage Bonus
  Dodge  
   
  35% (17/7)
  Armour: None
  Skills: Credit Rating 20%, Insight 45%, Jump 45%, Listen 
  60%, Spot Hidden 45%, Swim 80%.
  Sanity Loss: 0/1D4 Sanity Points to see Dobley’s disgusting 
  fishy features; if his innate Melt Into Background ability 
  (see below) causes someone to forget the encounter, 
  any lost Sanity Points are regained..
  SPECIAL POWERS
  Deep Lungs: can remain underwater for twice as long as 
  a normal human
  Melt Into Background: Dobley has a unique ability to 
  cause those meeting him to forget the encounter. This 
  functions like the spell Cloud Memory (see page 250 of 
  Call of Cthulhu, 7th Edition). If Dobley wishes to be 
  forgotten he needs only sacrifice 1D6 Magic Points and 
  2 Sanity Points to invoke the power against any number 
  of onlookers. Whichever of his targets has the highest 
  POW characteristic must make an opposed POW vs. 
  POW roll with Dobley. If he gains a superior result, all 
  observers will forget ever meeting him (and regain any 
  Sanity Points lost to his hideous appearance). If both 
  parties obtain the same type of result, onlookers will 
  still remember meeting Dobley although the details of 
  the encounter will be very fuzzy in their minds.
  Mother Hydra's Fetish
  This four-inch carved statuette depicts a foul fish-human 
  hybrid, carved in an unidentifiable green soapy stone. 
  The fetish is unpleasant to the touch, seeming to subtly 
  squirm in the holder’s grasp (despite never visibly 
  moving). If an individual holds the statuette for longer 
  than five minutes, its innate unnatural force will attempt 
  to infiltrate his or her mind. The holder must make a 
  series of opposed POW rolls against the statuette’s POW 
  of 75; the first failure causes a vision of a vast green 
  undersea realm, teeming with attractive members of the 
  opposite sex; the second failure compels the holder of 
  the statuette to travel to the nearest coastal region. 
  If the fetish successfully causes its bearer to reach the sea, 
  one final opposed POW roll is allowed – success by the 
  afflicted individual allows him or her a moment of clarity 
  where the enormity of the horror of Mother Dagon is a 
  sufficient shock to break the connection (causing a loss of 
  2/2D6 Sanity Points but allowing the holder to drop the 
  fetish). If this final roll fails, however, the bearer of the 
  fetish is compelled to walk into the briny depths loudly 
  chanting an invocation entreating Mother Hydra to rise 
  from the waves (and involuntarily sacrificing 3 Magic 
  Points). Whether the great Mother chooses to heed the 
  call is left as a question for the Keeper to decide.
  If Mother Hydra is successfully summoned via the fet-
  ish, use the statistics provided on page 286–7 of Call of 
  Cthulhu, 7th Edition.
  
  12
  Option Two: Dobley is a 
  Ghost
  If using this option, the truth behind the mysterious 
  events is that Ernest Dobley has previously been 
  killed by the black-hearted Thrasher, yet lives on as 
  a ghost desperate to avenge the murder.
  Dobley’s Secret: The records of Dobley’s 
  attendance at various locations are actually 
  forgeries created by Thrasher to cover up for his 
  murder. In reality the body of Ensign Dobley lies 
  in the grave bearing Thrasher’s name. Despite 
  this, some of the eyewitness accounts of sightings 
  of Dobley actually post-date his death – these are 
  attempts by the ghost of the dead Ensign to draw 
  attention to the horrific crime.
  Unique Clues:
  • Close inspection of the various official 
  documents recording Ensign Dobley’s service 
  over the past year reveal that they have been 
  tampered with, likely by a skilled forger.
  • Eyewitness accounts of Dobley always describe 
  encounters at night, and their depictions of the 
  man point to certain spectral qualities. Nobody 
  has ever seen Dobley speak, and one old 
  convict – who everyone thinks is mad, drunk, 
  or both – claims to have seen Dobley become 
  transparent and vanish on the spot.
  • Records of barracks musters and work 
  assignments only show Dobley as attending 
  for night duty.
  • A soldier who recalls Dobley’s arrival in the 
  colony remembers that he had with him a 
  purse of gold coins.
  • Asking about convicts matching Thrasher’s 
  description reveals that someone meeting 
  his appearance was seen at every location 
  where Dobley is recorded to have been, at 
  about the same time.
  • Asking about Thrasher in locations close 
  to the burial field (where he himself is 
  supposedly buried) will reveal a soldier 
  who can remember the filthy convict lurking 
  around the area, usually at night. This 
  eyewitness account dates from well after 
  the time when Thrasher was supposedly 
  dead and buried.
  Job Thrasher: Thrasher murdered Dobley over 
  his savings, a purse of gold sent him by his mother. 
  Thrasher has hidden this crime by faking his own 
  death and burying Dobley’s corpse in the grave that 
  is supposedly his. However his guilt and paranoia 
  are rising. He is traveling around faking Dobley’s 
  appearance in the hope of throwing officials off the 
  trail. He is planning on taking a merchant ship to a 
  South Seas island and has bribed an unscrupulous 
  captain to take him from the final port or river 
  stop. Dobley’s ghost, however, has other ideas and 
  is dogging Thrasher’s footsteps, hence the actual 
  appearance of a spectral “Dobley” in many of the 
  place the investigators have searched.
  Denouement: At the end, the ghost will lead the 
  investigators to the place where his body is buried, 
  in Job Thrasher’s grave. Dobley’s body still wears 
  the red coat of the NSW Regiment. Dobley’s 
  ghost will also lead the investigators to wherever 
  Thrasher is hiding, waiting for his smuggler friends. 
  For an action climax, the Keeper can arrange it 
  such that the smugglers attack the investigators as 
  they attempt to get Thrasher to safety, not out of 
  any loyalty but for his stolen coins.
  Job Thrasher & The Ghostly Ensign
  The Keeper can use the generic statistics for 
  “Typical Convict” on page 93 of Convicts & Cthulhu 
  for the murderous Thrasher.
  For the ghostly form of Ensign Dobley, use the 
  general powers of Ghosts described on page 332–333 
  of Call of Cthulhu, 7th Edition. Dobley’s INT is 50 
  and his POW is 85 – no other characteristics apply. 
  The Keeper can decide whether the ghost of Dobley 
  has powers to directly influence the physical world 
  (e.g., cause items to fly across the room). 
  The Cursed Gold
  The small purse of gold that was the motivation for 
  Thrasher’s foul murder of Dobley has, as a result 
  of that black-hearted act, become the centre of a 
  curse. Whoever carries this item feels occasional 
  unexplained chills, and seems to have terrible luck. 
  In fact the individual suffers the same effects as if 
  he or she had been the victim of a casting of the 
  “Evil Eye” spell (see page 258 of Call of Cthulhu, 
  7th Edition). The principal effect is that all Luck 
  rolls for the carrying character are halved, with no 
  option to spend Luck to supplement other rolls.
  
  13
  Option Three: Dobley is 
  the Victim of Foul Sorcery
  If using this option, the truth behind the mysterious 
  events is that Ernest Dobley is a mindless puppet 
  under the control of Thrasher, who is a powerful 
  Mythos sorcerer.
  Dobley’s Secret: Dobley is an important ingredient 
  in a large-scale Mythos ritual being performed by 
  the disgusting convict Job Thrasher (who has faked 
  his own death to avoid attention from rival cultists). 
  The Ensign’s role is to mindlessly trace out a 
  huge path spanning the whole colony which, once 
  completed, will cause Yog-Sothoth to manifest.
  Unique Clues:
  • Eyewitness descriptions of Dobley should 
  be adjusted to highlight the shabbiness of 
  his uniform (his spare uniform is actually 
  worn by a dummy buried in the grave that is 
  supposedly Thrasher’s, see below).
  • At a remote scenario location (e.g., Prospect 
  Hill in the far wilds west of Parramatta), 
  someone recalls a curious event which links 
  Dobley and Thrasher – the Ensign was given 
  the task to supervise a team of six convicts 
  sent out into the wilderness to log trees. Job 
  Thrasher was one of the men in this convict 
  party. Despite being a clear day, the convicts 
  reportedly met an untimely end when lightning 
  struck a tree causing a flash fire which killed 
  them all. Ensign Dobley survived the disaster 
  but was never the same afterwards.
  • If investigators manage to track down the 
  location of the supposed lightning strike they 
  discover no evidence of any such occurrence; 
  instead they find magickal symbols carved 
  into several of the trees. 
  • Investigators questioning convicts about Job 
  Thrasher will discover that he is greatly feared; 
  even his name invokes terror among convicts.
  • At another remote convict location (e.g., Coal 
  River), investigators find one convict – now 
  missing an arm and a leg – that will say more 
  about Thrasher, accusing him of madness 
  and sorcery. He warns the convicts to stay 
  away from him at all costs.
  • Clues should eventually allow investigators 
  to track down Thrasher’s base of operations 
  at a regional farm location; there is nominally 
  serving as an assigned convict labourer but 
  in reality he has slain the settler family and 
  runs the farm himself. 
  Job Thrasher: Job Thrasher is really an ancient 
  and terrible Mythos sorcerer who has faked his 
  own death. A dummy effigy, a crude copy of Dobley 
  lies in Thrasher’s “grave”. Thrasher has turned 
  Dobley into his sorcerous puppet and has him 
  tracing steps around the colony as part of a mighty 
  spell Job Thrasher is planning. Part of the spell 
  is a permanent type of Cloud Memory effect (see 
  spell description on page 250 of Call of Cthulhu, 7th 
  Edition), making Dobley hard to recall and able to 
  easily avoid notice. The ultimate goal of the ritual 
  spell is to summon Yog-Sothoth who Thrasher 
  believes will grant him immortality.
  Denouement: There are two likely outcomes – 
  either the investigators track down Thrasher in 
  his farmhouse before the ritual is complete, or the 
  witless Dobley completes his arcane transit across 
  the colony and the door to Yog-Sothoth is opened.
  In the former case, the denouement is likely to 
  feature a showdown at the farmstead that Thrasher 
  has occupied. His lair is protected by Mythos 
  guards – he has at least a Shantak in the barn 
  (see page 306 of Call of Cthulhu, 7th Edition for 
  
  14
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  statistics). If pressed, or if he fears someone is close 
  to unravelling the mystery of Ensign Dobley he can 
  also summon a Hunting Horror (see page 299 of 
  Call of Cthulhu, 7th Edition).
  If Thrasher’s terrible plan comes to fruition and the 
  summoning of Yog-Sothoth succeeds, the Keeper 
  can use the statistics for the Outer God provided 
  on page 331 of Call of Cthulhu, 7th Edition. Few are 
  likely to survive such an encounter with body and 
  mind intact. Whether or not Yog-Sothoth grants 
  Thrasher the immortality he desires is left as a 
  decision for the Keeper.
  Another way of derailing the plans of the sorcerer 
  would be to somehow interrupt the shuffling 
  cross-country journeys of Ensign Dobley before 
  they are complete. If Dobley is caught the spell 
  which keeps his senses dulled can be reversed or 
  if he is killed, it is ended.  The dummy of Dobley 
  serves as a focus the spell; destroying it will 
  end the spell and reverse its effect such that it 
  rebounds on Job Thrasher.
  Job Thrasher, Mythos Sorcerer
  STR 40 
   CON 70 SIZ 80 DEX 45  INT 65 
  APP 35 
   POW 90  EDU 50 SAN 0 
  Hit Points: 15
  Damage Bonus:  none Build: 0 Move: 6 Magic Points: 18
  Brawl 
   
  80% (20/8), damage 1D3 + Damage Bonus
  Fowling Piece 
  40% (20/8),  damage 4D6/2D6/1D6   
   
             [2 barrels; Range 10/20/50 yards; 3 rounds to 
   
              reload each barrel; Malfunction 95+]
  Axe 
   
  80% (20/8), damage 1D8 + Damage Bonus
  Dodge  
   
  25% (12/5)
  Skills: Appraise 35%, Art/Craft (Wood Carving), 
  Charm/Bootlick 65%, Credit Rating 10%, Cthulhu 
  Mythos 8%, Insight 75%, Intimidate 40%, Natural 
  World 45%, Navigate 65%, Occult 75%, Stealth 60%, 
  Spot Hidden 55%.
  Spells: Call Yog-Sothoth (variant, see below), Cause 
  Blindness, Cloud Memory, Enthrall Victim (variant, see 
  below), Fist of Yog-Sothoth, Melt Flesh.
  Thrasher's Wizardry
  The strange influence that Thrasher has over the 
  (currently-mindless) Ensign Dobley is created by a 
  variant version of the “Enthrall Victim” spell (see 
  page 258 of Call of Cthulhu, 7th Edition). Thrasher’s 
  much more powerful magic requires several weeks 
  of preparation, the sacrifice of 10 points of POW 
  and the preparation of a ritual focus – in this 
  case the dummy hidden in the grave. If the caster 
  succeeds in overcoming the victim’s POW, the 
  poor unfortunate becomes a zombie-like slave who 
  will mindlessly follow the last verbal instruction 
  given by the caster. The influence lasts 3D6 weeks, 
  although the enthralled victim can attempt a 
  fresh opposed POW roll each day that he has not 
  heard the voice of the caster – success breaks the 
  spell. If the ritual focus is destroyed, the spell’s 
  effects are reversed with the original spell-caster 
  becoming enthralled to his victim for the balance 
  of time remaining. Thrasher is using the mindless 
  Dobley to enact an important ritual component of 
  the unique spell he knows to summon Yog-Sothoth: 
  rather than requiring a stone tower, this version 
  requires a long and convoluted journey across a 
  large area, during which the outlines of a tower are 
  symbolically “drawn” across the countryside.
   References
  The historical details of Governor Bligh's muster of 1807, 
  as well as the tabular figures compiled by this muster 
  are both available in the Historical Records of Australia,  
  Vol 6, pp. 130–132. 
  Scanned PDF versions of the original historical records 
  can be obtained for free via the excellent online resource 
  known as the Internet Archive (archive.org). This 
  repository collects a vast array of different historical and 
  contemporary publications, as well as video and audio 
  files which are free of copyright. The Internet Archive 
  is a purely non-commercial operation, whose operation 
  is funded by donations—if you value free, politically-
  unbiased, online archiving of material for current and 
  future researchers, you may wish to consider donating 
  (as we have) to keep this amazing resource alive and free.
  The graphical depictions of the muster returns included 
  here are recreations which agree with the raw data from 
  the originals, but present them in an original format.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Call of Cthulhu (CoC) (BRP) [multi]/7th edition/Convicts & Cthulhu/CoC 7e - Convicts & Cthulhu - Ticket of Leave #04 - The Vanishing Ensign.pdf