Synopsis
When Mr. Armitage unexpectedly shows up wounded at Dr. Nannetti’s house carrying a newspaper clipping of an accidental shooting at a ranch in Oswego County, NY, he manages to convince the investigators that a pack of werewolves are causing trouble in the little rancher community of Redfield. Frequent disappearances and even more frequent cattle mutilations have caused a lot of tension between ranchers but also between the ranchers and the nearby Mohawk and Iroquois reservation.
The investigators decide to stage a small expedition to Redfield and investigate. After two days of hard driving they finally arrive and find the small community to be friendly and open. When the following day Mr. Simons’ dog Barry is brutally murdered, things take a turn for the worse.
Visiting with Mr. McClain and his son on their ranch, they are invited to spend the night. They accept and are treated to a delicious meal and interesting conversation. At night, the ranch is attacked by two man/wolf hybrids, one of which the investigators manage to kill, but not without Mr. McClain getting lost in the fight and the next day being found decapitated some distance from the ranch.
When the sheriff is called in he treats the investigators as suspects and interrogates them seperately. He concludes that their story doesn’t add up and when Sir O’Reilly gets lippy, he locks him away in the local jail. The sheriff then takes Mr. McClain’s son and heads out to the ranch to do some more research in what happens.
When the investigators are later warned that Mr. McClain’s son is dead, they suspect the sheriff of being dirty and they free Sir O’Reilly from the jail and head out to the ranch only to find the corpse of Mr. McClain’s son and the sheriff inside the ranch shooting at them. They return fire and manage to take the ranch only to be beset by more werewolves at nightfall.
The investigators survive the night, but not without taking heavy damage. They don’t trust anyone in Redfield and decide to grab their things and return to Arkham. Mr. Armitage, not keen on giving up, especially when everyone agrees they haven’t gotten to the bottom of things, decides to stay behind and try to finish up what they started, but the rest is ready to throw in the towel and head home.
The Wounded Mr. Armitage Returns
After leaving without a word or a trace from Mr. Simons’ shop on Pickman street several months previous, Dr. Nannetti finds him wounded on her doorstep in the middle of the night. It’s February 15th, 1924. Dr. Nannetti contacts Sir O’Reilly, who in turn contacts Mr. Mason and Mr. Simons. Once Dr. Nannetti has done all she can for Mr. Armitage, the men move him to Mr. Simons’ shop for him to recuperate and so that Dr. Nannetti can get some much needed sleep.
Mr. Armitage had what looked like claw marks made by a bear all over his back and he had lost a lot of blood. His clothing was dirty and he was severely dehydrated and fatigued. In his pocket, he held a small newspaper clipping:
When Mr. Armitage comes to the following day, he claims that he was attacked by a werewolf around the little town of Redfield in Oswego county, New York. A quick estimate puts Redfield 400 miles and two days travel by car away from Arkham. He claims that there is a tribe of werewolf responsible for a string of cattle mutilations in the area and that it’s causing tension between the ranchers and a nearby tribe of Mohawk/Iroquois indians. The ranchers blame the indians, while the indians claim the harsh winter causes the wolves in the area to be more bold. Mr. Armitage also claims that many people have disappeared around Redfield over the last few years, never to be seen again. He wants everyone to join him in going back to find the pack and eradicate them.
The Nameless
While Mr. Mason mulls over his decision to join the expedition to Redfield, he decides to sharpen his aim at Arkham Arms, the local rifle range. There he spots a man with an eyepatch, whom he immediately recognises as the man who had been present in the adjascent room during the interrogation of Whisper at the Arkham assylum. Getting a better look at him, he also comes to the shocking realisation that this is the man that gave a passionate sermon at his church on the evening before going to Ross’ Corners to resurrect Mr. Armitage from the dead.
The man introduces himself as Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Killian and speaks with an English accent. He explains that the Nameless have “soldiers” and “observers” (scholars), Mr. Armitage being one, and Mr. Arlington being the other. He explains that ever since Mr. Armitage’s return, he’s been working harder and putting himself in more danger than normally and that he’s getting worried about him and is worried that at this pace he’ll do something stupid and won’t be able to continue doing all the good that he is by getting himself killed. He agrees with Mr. Mason that the good author will keep an eye on Mr. Armitage, and that he can contact Lt. Col. Killian through the Roven, Siegel & Gale lawfirm in New York.
Before departing, Lt. Col. Killian claims that the Nameless have been part of the eradication of two werewolf tribes, one of which the feared Hokkendire tribe of werewolves around the Schwarzwald of southern Germany. That they are dangerous and lethal and precautions will have to be made.
A Field Trip
The investigators decide to have dinner in order to discuss the possibility of going to Oswego county and investigating the goings-on around Redfield. Mr. Armitage was not present during the dinner as he was acquiring silver bullets, and Dr. Nannetti mentioned she found it odd how fast he was recupperating from his wounds. Some general research results regarding the Iroquois-Mohawk tribe of native Americans and legends of lycanthropy. The idea is proposed to organise an exploratory field trip, so that Sir O’Reilly might get some time from the university and funding for the undertaking. Dr. Nannetti has sometime off scheduled anyway and both Mr. Mason as Mr. Simons are self-employed.
Disappearances and Cattle Mutilations
Mr. Mason decides to visit his old friend Mr. Carter in New York City so that he may make use of the New York Times library of newspapers to find more on Oswego county as the Miskatonic University library records don’t have nearly the variety of local newspapers. He finds that around Redfield and the Battlecreek reservation, more than fourty people have disappeared since 1915. Some of them are found months or years later, hidden in a ditch, horribly mutilated, but most of them aren’t found at all. Apart from the disappearances, there are frequent reports of cattle mutilations.
Among all the different newspaper clippings, Mr. Mason finds an article on the Battlecreek Mohawk tribe suing J. T. McClain for infringing upon their land, owed to them by the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887. Some of his cattle apparently ended up grazing on native lands. The case was presided over by Justice of the Peace Howard Juliard and the two representatives of the tribe were Jon Chahutay and Autumn Tskany.
Arrival in Redfield
After almost two days of travel, the investigators finally reach Redfield. Lost, they are found by sheriff Michael Horse, who leads them the rest of the way through the dark. The small town sports a modest hotel run by Ms. Bethany Jones, who extends lodgings for the night. Ms. Jones won’t allow Mr. Simons’ dog Barry to stay in-doors but allows for him to stay in the shed out back.
Sir O’Reilly, Mr. Armitage and Mr. Simons decide to go to the local bar, run by a man named Stumpy, and mingle with some of the jovial locals. A local ranch hand by the name of Red stands out as the spokesperson for the group of cowboys drinking liquor at the bar as if they’ve never heard of the prohibition.
Barry’s Death
The following morning, Dr. Nannetti decides to try and inspect the body of the Indian man who was shot on McClain’s ranch.
When Mr. Simons retrieves his dog from the shed, he finds the place a mess and poor Barry has been murdered. According to Dr. Nannetti his death was caused by a blunt object. Scratches are found on the outside of the shed door as well as redish-brown fur not belonging to Barry. While the investigators are inspecting the corpse of Barry, Red, the local comes walking by and offers his help.
Mr. Simons decides to bury the corpse in a small patch of woods nearby.
Getting Acquainted
During the next several hours, the investigators get acquainted with several of the townsfolk.
Homer, a mechanic living on the edge of the village, considered a bit strange.
John S. Carter, minister.
Willem and Jill Vanderbilt, general goods store owners.
George “Georgie” Willaims, general goods store help.
Victor Lodz, largest and most influential land owner.
Thandie, Victor Lodz’ maid.
Kyle and Grace Dorian, Redfield dinner owners.
William Kilroy, III, mayor of Redfield.
McClain
When the investigators ride out to Otto Mills, the ranch belonging to Mr. McClain, without Mr. Armitage who has disappeared. A few miles out of from the ranch, they are joined by a young man on horseback who introduces himself as Junior, Mr. McClain’s son. The investigators are invited for supper and to spend the night at the ranch and they happily accept.
Mr. McClain talked about the situation around Redfield, how all land was being bought up by Mr. Lodz and that there were only five land owners left. That Mr. Lodz had the mayor in his pocket and how the both of them had been trying to strong-arm him into selling his land.
At night, they were all awoken by howling of wolves and scratching at the doors to the ranch. Several gunshots were heard and when the investigators came down to inspect, Mr. Armitage came running up and into the house. He ordered all the shutters to be closed. From inside, Mr. Mason spotted two large man/wolf hybrids skulking around the house.
In the ensuing fire fight, one of the wolfmen was shot and killed and Mr. McClain, who went out to confront the threat wasn’t seen again. The shot wolfman turned into a Mohawk indian before the eyes of the investigators, unsettling them deeply. Mr. Simons temporarily lost his faculties and hid in the deepest corner he could find.
The following day, Mr. McClain’s body is found three hundred yards away from the house, in a ditch, decapitated and disembowled. His head was never found. Upon finding Mr. McClain’s body, they also met Mr. Peter Kingston, better known as Artemis around Redfield, a good friend of Mr. McClain and a hunter and tracker around those parts. He claimed to have been attracted by the gunfire coming from the ranch and came to check out the disturbance.
The Sheriff
Sheriff Horse is called in and comes to take statements from everyone. Mr. Armitage keeps clear of the ranch and isn’t questioned. The sheriff was not convinced of the stories the individual investigators were telling and decided to imprison Sir O’Reilly, charging him with various infractions, including insulting a law enforcement officer, carrying firearms across state lines without a permit, obstructing a criminal investigation, and more.
The sheriff decides to disable the cars of the investigators so that they can’t make a run for it and then accompanies Mr. McClain Junior to the ranch. Several hours later, Artemis comes to Redfield to inform that Mr. McClain Junior is dead. The investigator, together with Artemis’ help release Sir O’Reilly from the prison and head out to the ranch. They find Mr. McClain Junior dead in front of the ranch and Mr. Armitage close by. The sheriff is in the ranch and shoots at the investigators.
The investigators managed to overpower the sheriff and unfortunately have to shoot him. Recovering from their own wounds they decide to spend the night at the ranch and are once again set upon by werewolves. They are aided by Artemis and managed to kill the werewolves, but not without taking heavy casualties themselves.
Departure
Almost all of them wounded, the investigators make their way back to redfield in the morning. Halfway through the trip, Mr. Armitage jumps out of the car and isn’t seen again. The rest arrives safely in Redfield, gathers their things and head back to Arkham.
Trying to explain their obvious injuries, the investigators come up with a story of a car accident close to Redfield, in which the injuries were sustained and Barry was unfortunately killed. While Sir O’Reilly gets many get-well letters from faculty members and students, and Mr. Mason is showered with flowers and cards from fans, it’s obvious to anyone that they’re hiding something.
Several days later, each of the investigators gets two newspaper clippings in the mail. One is headlined “Dozen Die in Farmhouse Blaze!” and the other “Lone Arsonist Responsible for Fiery Massacre”.
The day that Sir O’Reilly and Mr. Mason are discharged from St. Mary’s Hospital, a man comes to visit, introducing himself as Howard Julliard, Justice of the Peace for Oswego county. He grills the two investigators thoroughly on the goings-on at Redfield and the ranch at Otto Mills and accepts the flimsy cover story. As he walks out, he turns around, tips his hat and says; “The one thing I could never stomach in Redfield were those damned werewolves.”
