Headhunter
A very, very rough draft of an outline of a vague idea for a Cortex: Supernatural adventure
Opening scene:
The PC's are going about their typically non-hunting activities (shopping, checking the tabloids, etc.) when the adventure begins. Once they've stepped out into the street for whatever reason Victim #3's car comes careening along, slamming into a light pole (in a rural area) or a parked car (in a more urban area). The PC's will be able to see from their vantage point that the driver has slumped forward with his head resting sideways on the steering wheel, causing the car horn to blare continuously.
If/when the PC's take a closer look they'll also spot the Wakani bird fluttering about inside the vehicle automatically. Spotting the nasty nature of the man's death requires an Alertness check from where they currently stand though.
Should they approach and open the car door for a closer look three things happen back to back.
1) The Wakani bird immediately darts out, flies swiftly into the sky and disappears in the direction of the Neighboring Town where all the action will be taking place. Anyone with ESP has a chance to perceive the unusual nature of that Wakani bird at this time.
2) They can see, without any Alertness check, the decidedly icky nature of the man's demise. Victim #3 has suffered a particularly gruesome death from a Tsentsak tossed into him by our BBG (Big Bad Guy). Bloody vomit splattered all throughout the vehicle, etc. Lay it on as horribly as you think your players can handle.
3) Any PC with ESP or any other ability to see into the spirit world has the chance to spot the Tsentsak (in the form of a slightly glowing, putrid-green snake) slither out of the man's belly, down to the street and away.
Checking the man's ID or the car's glove compartment immediately reveals Victim #3's identity as well as his home address in the Neighboring Town. If they don't root around for clues the police come along directly and discover these things themselves just as quickly. However, getting such information from a police officer, who isn't going to discuss an ongoing investigation, much less one so bizarre, will be quite formidable. Nevertheless, this might present the opportunity for them to learn that the Neighboring Town has suffered two identical deaths in as many days, back to back. The CDC is already on the scene over there and the police department here is sure to call them in on this case as well.
A little more difficult to learn will be that those two victims were also decapitated as some point prior to being discovered.
Background:
Our BBG's niece came to live in America, immigrating from Ecuador three years ago to pursue a college education. Involved in a long distance relationship with a young second generation immigrant from Ecuador in the Neighboring Town, she visited him recently while on break from her studies. There she gained the unfortunate attention of a group of drunken Rednecks who decided to gang rape what they assumed was a Mexican immigrant. The young lady died as a result, the Rednecks panicked and fled. She was discovered within a day, tossed in a ditch along the highway like garbage and the Niece’s Boyfriend took it upon himself to inform the only living relative he was aware of...the BBG down in Ecuador.
Having become a Bewitching Shaman rather early in life and later participating in the Cenepa War in the infantry (for Ecuador against Peru, 1995), our BBG has become something of an amalgam of Shuar shaman and Jivaro Indian warrior. Two entirely different lifestyles that wouldn't normally have much in common. As such he's not as prone to the discrete, secretive, behind the scenes cursing (and killing) common among other Shuar bewitching shaman. Rather, he's entirely comfortable with personal violence and even an eager admirer of the blood-vengeance mystique of the old Jivaro warriors.
Our BBG has since flown into the States, determined the identities of her killers by tormenting the Niece's Boyfriend and has set out to partake of some good old fashioned blood vengeance. To whit, he's already slain two of the five men and taken their heads as well (to prevent any possibly acts of retaliation by their spirits.)
After killing the first two men the remaining three have since met to discuss their fear that someone was out to get them. The Bully of the group was quick to throw his weight around, refusing to flee as the other two wanted to do and thoroughly intimidating the one man. The other required a sound beating but fled anyway. Unbeknownst to him BBG was already outside the home, lurking in the shadows, when he fled to his car. BBG then sent his Wakani bird darting into the vehicle to terrorize the man when he got in, then hit him with an extremely deadly Tsentsak. Unfortunately the man panicked and drove off with the Wakani bird trapped inside the car with him. Since he had been terrorized by the Wakani bird successfully, the Tsentsak hit him pretty hard and he began dying halfway to the town the PC's encounter him in, croaking only moments before the crash.
The BBG has already been in contact with the Dead Niece’s Boyfriend, forcing him to translate for him (BBG doesn't speak English, only Spanish and his native tongue of Quechua). The Dead Niece’s Boyfriend is absolutely terrified of the BBG, knowing full well the evil he's capable of and having witnessed the nightmarish deaths of at least one of three dead Rednecks. Once the PC's catch up to him, he won't clue the PC's in or help them locate the BBG unless he's absolutely convinced they have a shot at taking him down (which he just isn't likely to believe) and is thoroughly intimidated/persuaded into it on top of that. He can however be used to lead them to the BBG indirectly though, as he necessarily meets with the BBG often. The BBG is currently living out of a shack the Dead Niece’s Boyfriend owns on the edge of town.
Act I:
Investigations in Neighboring Town by the PC's reveal the group of men that Victim #3 was known to associate regularly with. Further inquiring regarding them as a group reveals that they tend to run together and have a pretty nasty reputation. No indication yet at this point for the PC's to tie to the Dead Niece, the Dead Niece’s Boyfriend or the BBG.
Tracking down the surviving two Rednecks, the PC's will find them together, huddled in a bar (trying to stay public). Confronting them or even talking to them leads to a violent confrontation. They're both terrified and paranoid, so the Bully responds to that with aggression against just about anything that confronts him.
Act I should cover the PC's tracking down clues from Victim #3, reports of similar deaths in the Neighboring Town, discovering that Victim #3 is commonly associated with the other Rednecks and tracking that group down.
Act II:
During or after the PC's confrontation with the Rednecks, they spot the Dead Niece’s Boyfriend in the area (reconnoitering the Rednecks location for the BBG). He spooks easily, especially since he's seen the PC's interact with the Rednecks. He bolts if they so much as look his way. After leading the PC's on a merry chase they may (should, really) catch up with him. And of course aren't likely to get much out of him, which will likely lead them to believe he's directly involved with the mysterious deaths. While they likely won't get anything about the BBG from the Dead Niece’s Boyfriend, the PC's should have the opportunity to discover his hatred for the Rednecks and what it stems from. Their abuse and murder of his girlfriend (again probably cementing his guilt in their minds).
If they hold and interrogate the Dead Niece’s Boyfriend there's always the slight chance they'll find out about the BBG through him, however slight a chance that might be. Otherwise there's nothing more to learn from him, leaving them with the options of keeping him prisoner or letting him loose. If they let him loose, he'll immediately head for the old shack to inform the BBG, giving the PC's the opportunity to tail him there and bump into that bit of trouble themselves. If they hold onto him long enough, eventually the BBG will come looking for him and again the PC's run nose first into him.
They should manage to discover the shack in the process of all this. There they find all they need to know to reveal that this is where the killer is lairing. The heads of Victim's #1 and #2 are here, at least one in the process of being shrunk. They can find the bloodied implement(s) that the BBG used to collect the heads of his victims as well as the assorted paraphernalia of the Shuar shaman, namely lots of green tobacco juice, all the ingredients for whipping up Natema and probably a few doses of that already prepared. They also find a letter, written in Spanish by the Niece's Boyfriend, informing the BBG of what happened to the Niece and mentioning (very unwisely, as it happens) that he has suspicions concerning who is responsible.
On top of all that they also discover the freshly mutilated corpse of the Niece’s Boyfriend who stumbled into the same Anamuk that the PC's are about to stir up. The one that the BBG left to guard the shack. A nice puma who'll quickly introduce himself as soon as they touch anything in the place.
Following their presumed survival of that encounter our BBG shows up, with the head of Victim #4 in one hand (having taken him out while our heroes were poking around in the shed). He's naturally surprised to find people poking through his things and responds by dropping the head, tossing a Tsentsak into somebody and then running away. Since our BBG is in a lot better shape that our more civilized American PC's he'll probably get away in the chase scene that follows.
Act III:
ith the Niece’s Boyfriend dead and the BBG having given them the slip, the only remaining course of action in catching the BBG is to either stakeout the last Redneck and wait for him to make a move or actually protect the insufferable bastard themselves, letting him come to them. Whichever, the BBG doesn't wait more than an hour to come for the last Redneck and our PC's have a final showdown with him then.
Attempting to convince the BBG to forgo his vengeance through diplomacy is an extremely tough sell. His culture is steeped in blood vengeance and the PC's will have a long roe to hoe convincing him to put that aside. The very idea will strike him as completely ludicrous.
Trying to take on the BBG by force won't be easy either. BBG isn't your typically wimpy, strike from the shadows bewitching shaman. He's a war veteran, a proud Jivaro warrior and a decidedly sick, twisted, sadistic freak besides. He's one tough customer in his own right, Shuar magic aside, as should be witnessed by his choice of taking heads where most shamans would never dream of acting so hands on.
Attempts to counter the BBG's Shuar magic will prove quite difficult to those not familiar with it. The Niece’s Boyfriend will have known a little about it secondhand. But the Shuar magic requires one to be gifted with a Tsentsak from another shaman to become a shaman in the first place and wield that magic, so they're probably out of luck there. Barring the ability to essentially recreate Shuar magic all on their own they'll have to come up with something particular clever to counter it. They can attempt to counter with their own brand of magic, should they have such at their disposal, of course. But since the two magics are of an entirely different origin that may not be especially effective.
Wrap Up:
Should the PC's fail to stop the BBG from taking the life of the last Redneck (or for that matter, should they decide maybe killing the despicable piece of human waste ain't such a bad thing) the BBG is done and done. He won't especially care about the PC's after that, no matter that they tried to prevent him from having his vengeance. Unless they've otherwise managed to earn his animosity he'll tip his hat and hitchhike to the nearest airport to head home to Ecuador, leaving five dead Rednecks and their heads behind.