The Unknown Ones

In the Autumn of 1972 a group of physicists, biologist, mathematicians and artists came together to do the impossible. They had plans to manifest matter by sheer will alone. After three years the men and women participating in the project declared it an utter failure. They abandoned their research and all parties went back to their respective disciplines, with strict directives never to disclose the nature of the secret project they had been a part of. The facility, a century old theater house, was abandoned and Anomalous Research Department of the U.S. government sealed the facility until use of it was needed. The property sat on the books as a government facility for over twenty-five years until, during the Bush administration, an internal auditor discovered the abandoned theater. The building was put up for auction and purchased by a property developer with plans to convert the theater to condos.

The Instrument: The Brass Jawed Golem

Toward the end or the 1690's the creations known as golem were not longer being used by their masters. The High Rabbis, who once utilized the hulks of dirt and sand for numerous tasks, had heard the wide-spread accounts of the golems turning on their creators. Or had themselves been punished for their misuse. Regardless of the reason the golem was in decline in Europe. A maddeningly brilliant alchemist, Fogdan Demoldov, also used a golem for menial tasks in his work. Demoldov always found the golem to be simple and unpredictable. Before meeting a most unfortunate end, Demoldov went to work on what would become his legacy. He set out to create a golem that was sentient. To achieve his goal, he created a computer of sorts. The device would rapidly cycle through commands in the interior of the golem's mouth. Traditionally a golem was controlled by placing parchment in the mouth of the creature. This computer bypassed the process. The alchemist fashioned each command to be what he saw as being sentient "Live" "Think" "Intuit" "Learn". He used the lower half of decorative brass mask to house the unpious piece of mechanical genius. The inner workings of the device were staggering. It appeared not to follow rules that applied in this world. A cylindrical gear appeared to make a figure-eight when placed in the device. Acute angles appeared obtuse and the whole interior of the thing seemed to be vastly larger than the housing would allow. When the device was completed it was placed on the deactivated golem. The brass jaw whirred softly when it made contact with the still earth of the creation. Demoldov was enraged by the apparent lack of life. The golem sat with its half crumbled face, still as the soil it was made from. The mad alchemist went feverishly back to his notes and books, leaving the unmoving thing to sit. After some time the discourage creator entered the laboratory with plans to salvage what he could from the failed experiment.



To his astonishment, he found the seven-foot behemoth reading one of the many books in the lab. It's face had completely reformed and in the black holes that represented the eyes a dim amber glow emanated. The golem worked for about a year for his creator. Demoldov had set his sights on a new goal. To cheat death. This new aim prompted the mad alchemist to delve deeper into the darker side of his craft. He set his sights on the Necronomicon, and all of it's evil.

Spring Heeled Jack

In the Mid 1800's Great Britain's population was exploding. Villages turned into towns, and towns to cities. The demand for resources was great. As the Cities grew the spirits of the forest stopped talking to man. Seeing only his greed and shortsightedness. Most of the fairy folk, content with their thousands of years of dominion over the forests and the fields, chose to step away into nothing. The world was changing, the new magic was called science. Most of the creatures of nature understood it was now the time of man. The goblins would no longer make deals with drunkards. The fairies would no longer light the way home, for those lost in the woods. The queen witches would no longer gather any covens of young women and teach their secrets. Some Fairy Folk, before fading away into the earth, entered the cities and towns, curious of these strangers inheriting the earth. They peered in windows and watched from the shadows. Reports of ghosts walking the streets of London were common in the 1800's. One such ghost was not a ghost at all. He was a Faun, still young, only three hundred or so. The faun had watched man take and take from the earth, without giving any back. His forest bordered London and he had seen the city spread like spilled lamp oil, spoiling the soil it sat upon. As his kin left this plane and entered back to the womb of the earth, he wanted to stay a bit longer before he going. The faun told them he longed to see the good in man before he took his leave. His brethren believed the lie, and left him to it. In 1837 the faun entered London by cover of night. the first of many victims were the destitute on the fringe of the city. Soon greed drove him to venture deeper into London. The Faun found a sinister joy in the extinguishing of human life. Soon reports of a strange man who could leap as high as a house began to come in. The man was described as a devilish figure with black clawed fingers and eyes that glowed like lit pipe tobacco.



A popular publication dubbed this ghoul "Spring Heeled Jack". He terrorized the citizens of London and surrounding area from 1837 - 1904. In early 1904 Jack was stalking a group of soldiers just outside the city. As he waited he started to hear a voice from behind him. Jack was taken aback by the voice. It was speaking his native language, words he had not heard or spoken in over 50 years. He turned to see a robin sitting on a branch. As the robin continued to speak, jack squinted to hear, straining to make out the words. He was certain he knew the words but he could no longer understand. The robin stopped briefly as though surprised by Jack's confusion. Angered by the bird's taunting Jack grabbed for the small bird. Like a kick in the chest he fell back, astonished by the sight of his own hand. A soft pink five-fingered hand. Jack lived out the rest of his days as a human, in an insane asylum in London.

It would appear, as Jack discovered, that not all magic had left the world.

Spring Heeled Jack is an actual Folklore Character. For more information click here.

Bio-mechanical Suit

Biomimicry is a new field of research. In the near future the ideas and tested design of nature will be implemented into new areas, including body armour. This suit is the direct result of looking to nature for guidance. It's actually a genetically engineered parasitic fish, a cephalopod, with hundreds of other organisms integrated into its DNA. Since it is technically a fish, the "host" is able to breath under water. The outer layers of the suit are similar to a clam shell, light-weight, thin but about one hundred times stronger. In tests the suit was able to withstand 9mm gunfire, often the bullets actually deflected off the suit due to the smooth curved shapes. The rows of spiked protruding from the chest are direct lines to the hosts lungs, these act as the gills while underwater, and also supercharge the hosts own lung capacity. The outer skin can change colour for camouflage, like an octopus. The fish is a parasite, but the engineering has created benefits to the union. The host shares blood with the suit, during this process a chemical cocktail is also produced that mimics the human body's own defenses, this keeps the host in peak form for combat. The suit also feeds off the host, but only dead skin cells and other waste. All the different aspects of the suit leave the host with a flexible, strong and resilient armour solution.

The union of fish and Host is not easy, the host must approach the fish in the water and be "chosen" by the fish. It will swim towards the host and attach itself. Once the union is done the fish will only link with that one host. In early attempts the union was forced, using an array of different methods, but this left the hosts dead or severely disabled. the fish is a fully functioning organism. It breeds naturally and only mature fish are allows to be used for service. The benefits of the suit have caused some problems with addiction to the super-human abilities that come with wearing the suit. With addiction comes dealers. Most black market suits are of poor genetic quality. This is because the lower quality specimens have a lower chance of rejection with a host. Unfortunately these fish don't produce the correct balance of chemicals and usually cause paranoia, rage, dementia and other psychological problems. As a fail-safe in the initial engineering of the fish, these poor genetic specimens are red in pigment, and cannot change colour.