The Whitechapel Golem - Part II...

Welcome to Whitechapel

“The Jewish poor are independent and self-supporting, and keep up the ceremonies of their nation under the most adverse circumstances...”

-Walter Thornbury, Old and New London, 1878

Wandering in and out of the East End of London is certainly not for the faint-hearted. In the Gaslight era, the region was a slum, ranged along the length of Whitechapel Road, and penetrating back into the alleys on either side. A signature feature of the area was the manufacturing of clothing and draperies and the brewing of ales and beers. The predominantly Jewish tailoring community made clothes for their wealthy patrons in the west of the city, but those same items of apparel returned to the markets of Whitechapel and Spitalfields to be recycled or turned into rags for paper. This fabric reclamation mentality gave rise to the famous Petticoat Lane, a place where, in the 1700s, clothes were recycled for the poor and men could dip into a bag for a shilling a go to retrieve a random wig discarded by the wealthy.

Whitechapel Road is lined on either side with houses owned by the moderately well-off; however, behind this facade there lurks a den of iniquity which used the benign street frontage as a mask to obscure random acts of violence, deceit and abuse. Some alleys contained infamous rookeries, semi-permanent ramshackle houses occupied by far too many itinerant tenants, often formed into thieving collectives of the Oliver Twist variety. Prostitutes wandered the streets and used “dosses” – interior spaces paid for by the night, or hour - to accommodate their clients. These dosses were also the last resort of the homeless, who bargained for their usage each day in order to avoid freezing on the streets overnight. St. Botolph’s church in Mitre Square was known locally as the “Prostitutes’ Church” because they would circle around it looking for clients. In 1888, the area was cleared of their activity for awhile during the rampage of a certain “Jack” who preyed upon them...although, it must be said, he wasn’t the only one.

When deciding to visit this part of the city, Investigators should be well-prepared. The main thoroughfare along Whitechapel Road is lit by gaslights during the nights, but the side streets and alleys are not so furnished. Cutpurses and thugs roam the shadows looking for easy marks, and these criminals might be as young as six-years-old as often as they are of a more mature vintage. Well-dressed men will be cat-called by whores and well-dressed ladies will find themselves the targets of even less salubrious attention if unaccompanied. It’s wise to know where the police stations are and to carry a weapon of some kind...along with the wherewithal to use it.

The Jewish community here represents the genteel poor of the region. Jewish families emigrated here from Holland, Russia and Spain during the previous centuries and have formed their own enclave. Most Jewish households are those which line Whitechapel Road and are multi-storey buildings opening directly onto the street. There are many synagogues here as well, and they too face directly onto Whitechapel Road. The Russian Vapour Baths at 86 Brick Lane was a centre of Jewish social and religious life, as Jewish men gathered here on Friday evenings after work before attending religious ceremonies prior to the Sabbath. Finally, there are a number of burying grounds in the area which cater exclusively to the needs of the Jewish community.

The Ghost’s Afoot!

It should be fairly obvious to the party by this time that something peculiar is going on and that it falls fairly comfortably within their bailiwick. There are any number of leads that they may wish to pursue and the Keeper should let them organise their day as they see fit. If they’ve noticed that the younger members of the Jewish community are the only ones who seem to sense a sort of unease in the district, they may wish to follow up on this with some discreet questioning; the police can walk the players through the last few weeks of criminal activity, none of which directly seems to involve the Jews (although Rabbi Maylott has been asked to move along a few times, in the middle of several loud, public tirades). They may wish to visit David Cohen at his workshop or they may wish to examine the scene of Abraham van der Vat’s murder – let them find their own way forward.

The Crime Scene

The van der Vat establishment is closed for business and the party will need a policeman or some other authority figure (David Cohen, for example) accompanying them in order to gain access. Within the dusty, fabric-bolt festooned workspace they will find a double rank of treadle sewing machines on one side and several large cutting tables on the other. Mannequins stand in the corners and sticks of tailor’s chalk swing from strings attached to the rafters. To one side is a large door before which stand a trio of steps: through this door was Abraham’s inner sanctum and counting room, where he kept his strong-box and his accounts. Mrs van der Vat sits weeping on a three-legged stool near this door attended by her three daughters – Antje, Helga and Bertha: she submits to David’s commiserations if he is accompanying the party; she angrily turns from any police officers, or Tom Bamford, and pretends not to be able to speak English, berating them in furious Dutch. The daughters will acknowledge the investigators and direct them silently into the office.

(A side note here: there are a number of full-length mirrors in the workshop, on frames and attached to the walls. All of these have been draped with fabric, in line with Jewish traditions associated with death and mourning. An Occult Roll will highlight this for any curious Investigators, otherwise one of the van der Vat daughters, or David, can enlighten the querist.)

Inside the office, there is a scattering of papers and a chair turned on its side on the floor. The furniture of the roll-top desk is in complete disarray with ink staining the woodwork. Bolts of fabric normally standing upright in the corners of the room lie tumbled all around. In the centre of the cramped space is an open strongbox (contents removed) and a few drops of blood. In the wall over the desk is a narrow and heavily barred window which, if tried, only opens inwards a few inches. The glass has been whitewashed to allow light to pass through but no visual access from outside. The door has a solid lock built into the handle and – now broken – a very sturdy padlock for extra security. No matter how long the party searches here, they find no secret doors or panels and no floorboards which can be easily (or otherwise) lifted – there’s not even a chimney or air vent. Those who check will see that the bottom edge of the single door clears the floorboards by a good inch...

Some Investigators may decide that something spectral is occurring and might decide to use whatever means they see fit to determine the presence of ghosts or other similar phenomena: whatever they use will absolutely fail – it’s possible that they “ain’t afraid o’ no ghosts”, but there are none here to be afraid of.

The Cohen Residence

The party may wish to visit David Cohen, as the organiser of the Whitechapel Confederation of Tailors and Drapers, to discuss the death of Abraham van der Vat and the issues surrounding the Mills. When last we saw David, he had been biffed on the head by a cobblestone, so the Keeper must remember to reincorporate this injury into the follow-up meeting.

The Cohen residence is a small, tidy but shabby, terrace house – two up, two down – facing onto Whitechapel Road. David lives here alone with his aged mother. He explains to anyone interested, that his father died from tuberculosis many years ago, and that his brothers have moved out to find their own way: one has become a foreman at a mill in Newcastle up north, while the other left for South Africa to make his fortune on the goldfields. David’s mother is merely a querulous voice emanating from a back room during the party’s visit, but he is very solicitous of her needs and displays himself as the dutiful son.

David is happy to discuss all things “shmatta” (that is, “clothes”, in Yiddish) and acknowledges Rabbi Maylott’s concerns regarding the changes to the mill operations; however, he is practical enough to recognise that Lord Batwick has the right to make money as he sees fit. He is keen to try and find a solution that benefits everybody, and he has been assured that Lord Batwick has the same goals. If anyone suggests that Abraham van der Vat was murdered as a result of the dispute, David is incredulous. No-one, he is sure, would go to such outrageous lengths.

While discussing issues, a knock comes at the door and David opens it in answer. Outside, is a bespectacled youth whom David greets warmly as “Benjamin”. The lad has come calling on behalf of his father, Rabbi Maylott, seeking after Ruth. David sternly assures the lad that he would not meet Ruth improperly, without both the rabbi’s consent and a chaperone, and therefore it’s unlikely that she would be at his house. Benjamin freely acknowledges this state of affairs, and goes on to ask if David had heard about van der Vat’s death. David reassures the youth that everything that can be done about that is being done and that he should not dwell on the matter. Benjamin nods ruefully and makes his exit.

Investigators who witness this exchange are allowed to make a Psychology Roll. Benjamin seemed not only to know that Ruth would be unlikely to be at David’s house, and that the excuse was therefore a sketchy one used as a pretext for something else. It would seem that Benjamin wanted actually to discuss the murder with David and, that being the case, it would seem that he knows something about it: has he perhaps got a guilty conscience?

If any party member follows Benjamin to confront him on this matter, the lad pales, breaks into a sweat and pleads unwell, fleeing the interrogation and escaping back to his father’s house. The party may chew this morsel over...

A Second Death!

That night, while inspecting his workshop floor, Shlomo Carvajal is attacked. Next morning when his employees show up for work, they are surprised to find the factory doors shut and locked. One of them breaks a window to peer inside and, as a result of what he sees, the police are called. Shlomo is found lying on the wooden floor between the pattern-cutting tables: his eyes are wide with shock but his mouth is shut, apparently bound by something so tightly that it dislocated his jaw. He lies on his back staring upwards to the louvered skylights: all of his limbs have been wrenched off, twisted away from his torso and, apparently, all at the same time, as if he’d been quartered by horses in the medieval fashion. The limbs have been flung in four random directions and can be located nearby. Like van der Vat, he displays many joint dislocations and ligature marks, although, while van der Vat seems to have been squeezed to death, Carvajal has obviously been torn asunder. Like van der Vat too, there is no evidence of a break-in and no clear notion of how someone could have gained access.

As with the previous death, the police take charge of the crime scene and remove the body for examination; as before, if the Investigators developed a good rapport with the Medical Examiner, they may go with the corpse and be in at the autopsy. A number of reporters appear outside the Carvajal workshop and make themselves fairly intrusive by way of questioning and photography; if the party is known for its “dabbling in the mysterious” they may be identified as the ‘ghostbusters in residence’ and will be acknowledged as such in the press.

The Rabbi Weighs In...

This is just too good for Rabbi Maylott to leave alone. If the party wanders back to Whitechapel Road, they will find a large crowd of agitated locals cluttering up the footpath outside of the rabbi’s home. He is standing in his doorway, talking loudly about how this death is just further evidence of the unholy taint of sin which is reeking through the district. He points fingers not only at the police for not being able to apprehend the culprit in these crimes (as they were unable to do with the Ripper murders), but also at the Confederation of Whitechapel Tailors and Drapers for colluding in the corruption of fabrics being brought into the workshops. He claims that these deaths are sent by God as punishment and will not end until all shatnez material is identified and removed from the workshops and the mills. As can be seen, Rabbi Maylott is a man who likes to have his cake and eat it too.

Standing by the rabbi, with her arms crossed and a determined set to her jaw, is Ruth, who obviously disagrees with everything that he is saying. Standing behind them in the doorway is Benjamin, looking shaken and pale: when Maylott begins to speak of the murders as being sent by God as a punishment, he visibly quails and flees deeper into the house, causing Ruth to pursue him anxiously. Once more the party may feel that Benjamin is harbouring something that needs revealing...

A Late Newsflash!

That evening the late editions of the newspapers are alive with reports about the grisly death; some of these touch upon the Investigators’ involvement in the case and draw long bows to the supernatural. Most however, claim that the murders are a continuation of the police ineptitude that allowed the Ripper to escape justice in 1888. From now on, co-operation from the Metropolitan Police is grudging and hard-won.

Some close readers of the various news articles will notice that there is a discrepancy between the reports as to how many individuals were employed by Carvajal and how many were present at the discovery of the body that morning. As well, there is something dodgy about one of the photographs...

Mayhem in the Night!

As night falls over the district the players may wish to patrol the neighbourhood and to try and capture the mysterious “Ghost”. If they have made favourable in-roads with the local constabulary, the police may allow the group to accompany their patrolmen on their beats – certainly these officers will not rebuff any individual requests to accompany them on their rounds, regardless of whether their superiors may feel indisposed towards allowing it officially. Thomas Bamford is eager to undertake a patrol, bringing-in some of his workers from the mills to assist, and even David will gird his loins and step up. However these vigilantes gather and organise themselves, they will be in for a busy night!

First and foremost, the Keeper will have to maintain a few things in mind. David, as a Jew, cannot see the golem at all, although he will sense its brooding presence, which varies in intensity. The same is also true of any party members who are Jewish. If the creature hasn’t yet broken free of Benjamin’s loose control, it will be unable to harm David – Benjamin is saving him until last out of respect for his sister’s feelings. Therefore, wherever David is, that’s the safest place to be.

Conversely, Thomas Bamford is next on the golem’s ‘hit list’, so wherever he is, there is bound to be trouble. However the party decides to deploy itself into the night, Bamford chooses to take his men and head northwards towards Brick Lane; he says that he will move counter-clockwise past the Russian Vapour Baths at 86 Brick Lane and then work his way back around to the Pavilion Theatre, there to await the rest of the vigilantes. If some party members choose to accompany him, they can do so.

Needless to say, Thomas doesn’t get that far. As he reaches the old Huguenot Chapel at the corner of Fournier Street and Brick Lane, spiralling lengths of fabric swing down from above and drag him sharply upwards, anchoring him to the sundial that crowns the entrance of that building, twenty feet above the street. Those accompanying him will see him jerk upwards into the pea-soup fog and hear his horrible choking as they scramble to assist. All too soon his body falls back to earth with a thud, his face blue, eyes bulging, tongue protruding (SAN Roll: 1/1D6).

Investigations later in the day, when the sun is up and the fog has cleared, will discover a length of twined fabric scraps forming a short piece of crude rope tangled around the gnomen of the sundial – a cord of linen and wool. The inscription on the sundial reads (in Latin) “Umbra Sumus” – “We Are Shadows”.

*****

Benjamin Maylott

An introvert and a shining example of the quality of student that the local yeshivas are producing, the Rabbi’s son has a secret, something that has terrified him to the point of withdrawing from anyone who could help him with it. Benjamin has a habit of scrounging for old books in the barrows and stores along the streets; it was here that he discovered a battered old book – the Sefer ha-Sha’are ha-Daath (“Book of the Gates of Knowledge”) – and thinking that it might contain some interesting commentaries on the Sefer Yetsirah, brought it home to read. The book does contain commentary on that other tome; it also has a bunch of other stuff that a yeshiva student ought not to look at without guidance from an instructor.

Benjamin has a lot of issues with his father who drives him mercilessly and who feels that his son doesn’t quite live up to expectations. Benjamin has followed the angst that the local factory has caused amongst the community and, in one stroke, has taken action to show his father his willingness to thwart the troubles and show him how clever a scholar he is. Benjamin found the recipe for making a golem in the old book and, fuelling it with the community’s outrage against the factory, has let it loose.

There was a price though. Benjamin has been shaken by how much the process took out of him and, pleading ill, has taken to his bed. He is slowly starting to realise that his ability to control the monster is limited indeed and, now that he has discovered his sister’s romantic involvement with one of the golem’s targets, he can sense the resentment of the creature swinging his way. He knows he will have to do something eventually, but he knows not what. In the meantime, bed is a good place to hide...

Son of a Rabbi

char.	value	char.	value	char.	value
STR	9	POW	7(12)	Age	17
CON	10	DEX	12	HP	10
SIZ	10	APP	7	Magic Points	1
INT	17	EDU	19	SAN	52

Damage Bonus: +/-0

Weapon:       None

Armour:        None

Skills:             Sewing 65%; Feign Illness 55%

Spells             Create Golem

SAN Loss       It costs no SAN to see Benjamin Maylott (unless he is horribly killed)

The Whitechapel Golem

Unlike the typical creature usually encountered in legend, this golem is constructed from cloth, specifically the shatnez at the cause of the community conflict. The word “Aemaeth” has been embroidered upon its forehead making the excising of that all-important letter somewhat tricky in organising the creature’s demise.

Golems are, at best, moody servitors. They know that they are abominations, transgressions of the holy order of the universe and thus, they resent being brought to life. Further, they conduct themselves according to the abiding sentiment of the community for which they have been brought into being to serve: if they emerge within a restless, divisive and angry community, that is how they will behave. It takes the active involvement of a strong and righteous rabbi to adequately control a golem – something that is quite lacking in this tale.

Since the animus which motivates the creature comes from the gestalt-mind of the community, it is able to mingle amongst its ‘own kind’ without being noticed. Members of the congregation will have a ‘blind spot’ in regard to the beast – they will see just another familiar person rather than a stranger, and think nothing of their presence: in retrospect, they may invent plausible identities for the stranger, but without absolute certainty as to who they actually were. Outsiders, on the other hand, may see an extra, unaccounted-for individual and be concerned when the other Jewish persons present fail to notice them. The manifestation of the golem is not completely unremarked however: the faithful will feel its oppressive, angry presence amongst them, coupled with sensations of being watched, or followed, even haunted. Of course, when it attacks someone - Jewish or otherwise - they become acutely aware of its presence.

The Golem can assume two distinct forms in this tale: it can appear as a silent, dark-attired male figure, wearing a yarmulke and with ringlet sidelocks hanging before his ears; or it can manifest as a scarecrow-like agglomeration of material, shaped as a vaguely-humanoid giant, a shape it uses to attack its victims. In any form it is able to slump down into a pile of cloth and become completely camouflaged in, say, a tailor’s workshop. As well, it is able to slip easily through windows, between bars, and under doors, gaining access where a human assailant would not be able to pass.

Again, like all such creatures, the golem resists its enslavement to the community will and seeks freedom, initially by the expedient of dispatching its creator. As time goes by and the monster’s SIZ and STR become unmanageable, the creator will break cover and seek aid in avoiding their fate (possibly regretting the act of stitching the animating word upon the golem!).

Like other golems, this automaton is animated by the mystic word on its brow. This word – Aemaeth – translates as ‘Truth’; removing the first letter reduces it to Maeth – literally, ‘he is dead’. Of course, our heroes possibly don’t read Hebrew. The word looks like this:

Hebrew is read right to left, not left to right like English, so it’s possible that the Investigators might attempt to efface the wrong symbol!

Rag Trade Automaton

char.	value	char.	value	char.	value
STR	24	POW	12	Age	n/a
CON	17	DEX	4	HP	18
SIZ	19	APP	n/a	Magic Points	12
INT	4	EDU	n/a	SAN	n/a

Damage Bonus: +2D6

Weapon:       Crush 35% (1D6+2D6db); Fist 45% (1D6+½db); Strangle 45% (1D6+1D6db)

Armour:        9-points of insensate linen and wool

Skills:             Climb 80%; Hide (from Gentiles) 75%; Sneak (around Gentiles) 70%

Spells             None

SAN Loss       It costs 0/1D6 SAN to see a Golem

This golem attacks with two club-like limbs at the beginning and the end of each round; if both strikes succeed against the same target, it may then start to Crush the opponent the next round. Alternatively, it may lash out with spiralling tendrils of cloth and try to Strangle a single opponent up to 20 feet away: if successful, it can continue choking its victim over the next few rounds but can perform no other attacks on other opponents. To release a Strangled victim, those coming to their assistance, must combine their STR and overcome the golem’s current STR on the Resistance Table.

This golem increases in power much as others of its ilk; however, this particular monster evolves in a very different fashion. For each victim it kills, it grows exponentially larger and stronger; as well, the chance of it breaking free of its creator’s control increases exponentially for each victim. Use the following table to track its growth.

Victim	STR	SIZ	HP	db	Chance of Breaking Free
Abraham van der Vat	24	19	18	+2D6	5% (failed)
Shlomo Carvajal	25	20	19	+2D6	15%
Thomas Bamford	27	22	20	+2D6	30%
Simeon Goldschmidt	30	25	21	+2D6	50%
Myron de Witt	34	29	23	+3D6	75%
David Cohen	39	34	26	+4D6	105%

Benjamin’s control over the creature is nominal at best, enough to stop the monster attacking himself, the Rabbi, or Ruth, and to keep it focussed on the members of the Confederation of Whitechapel Tailors and Drapers – for now. If it breaks free of even this slight impedance, it will target Benjamin immediately, then go on a mad rampage attacking everything and everyone...