One of the players, a doctor, is contacted by Charlotte Langley. She is having disturbing dreams at night and wishes the doctor to prescribe something to stop them.
Charlotte is twenty-three and rather attractive. She has had dreams ever since she was about thirteen. They have almost always been the same - blood, matted fur and a longing to run free through dark, damp forests. Charlotte has no idea where the dreams originate.
Then, about a week ago the dreams started to intensify. They became stronger, more possessive. She has been waking in a dreadful fright every night since. Could the doctor do something about it?
Charlotte is a werewolf. She first contracted the disease when she was bitten by an infected dog at thirteen. Since then, the disease has been slowly maturing. She will shortly develop the full symptoms and turn into a terrifying werewolf and murder several innocent people. Charlotte will have no memory of the incident.
Contrary to popular legend, the disease does not always manifest itself at full moon. However, it does follow the lunar cycle, repeating itself every 28 days.
Curing Charlotte would be a considerable accolade, if any of the player's peers would believe it. A silver bullet will kill Charlotte, but can the doctor justify using one when he might be able to cure her?
Possibilities
1 If the doctor does not suspect Charlotte, he should be guided into believing that she is a clairvoyant. If Charlotte's dreams can predict these terrible murders then perhaps she can be used to solve the crimes.
2 The doctor watches over her while she sleeps, and is present when the physical change of girl to beast takes place. The doctor has only a few moments to act before the werewolf wakes. This could prove complicated if the doctor had grown attached to Charlotte.
3 Charlotte is an unwitting Dreamer in the Dreamlands, and is a werewolf there. During the hours of the disease's climax a terrible, unstoppable beast stalks the streets of Dylath-Leen. Silver is rare in Dylath-Leen and nobody has thought to waste it upon the beast.
There is a physical change as well - in her bed Charlotte turns into a werewolf, but never awakens. She wakes weak and in human form, feeling as if she has just run a marathon. There are several nights of this (each lasting up to eight weeks in the Dreamlands) before the disease subsides. Until next month.
In this case, the dreams may have been taking place over a period of months and Charlotte has only just decided to see a doctor.She does not know of the Dreamlands.
Copyright (c) 1990 Steve Hatherley.
Steve Hatherley is the creator of Tales of Terror, and has written for both Chaosium and Pagan Publishing. He also has a number of other websites, including www.great-murder-mystery-games.com and www.mylowerbackpain.com.
Steve lives in Yorkshire, England.
Click here to see Steve's other Tales of Terror.