Testimonies of the Mound...

(Please Note: This is not a factual overview of the town of Binger in Oklahoma. It is a dissection of a short story written by H.P. Lovecraft and Zealia Bishop, based in a fictional version of that settlement. The purpose of this exercise is to show how a short narrative like this one can be broken down for the purposes of re-working it as a roleplaying narrative. It is not meant to portray the town in a negative (or any other light); Lovecraft and Bishop have already done that for me! My efforts have been constrained to identifying the (presumed) documentary evidence arising from the story and presenting them as clues for later investigators as to the nature of the supernatural activity outlined in the tale. I have tried to spice things up with images claiming to have been generated in Binger at the time of the events - the veracity of these pictures may be in question, but they suit the current purposes regardless and, since it took a bloody long time to track them down, I'm keeping them. If any reader has issues about this post that have nothing at all to do with Lovecraft, the Cthulhu Mythos, or its associated source material or gaming offshoots, please don't contact me about them - I could care less.)

Binger Oklahoma, in Caddo County, has the rare distinction of being host to a haunted Native American burial mound of great antiquity, descending from a Pre-Columbian, Mississippian culture. This mound is aligned along a north-south axis in the middle of a plain, three-quarters of a mile west from the outskirts of Binger (although nowadays, since the town lies somewhat more east of its original position in 1889, the distance is closer to a mile). It is a flat-topped, narrow ellipse, 300-feet long and only 50-feet wide; at its tallest point it measures 35-feet. Interest and research into the possible contents of this site has spread ever since the mound was identified in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century. Local legend has it that the site was haunted by two ghosts: a Native American man who guarded the mound by day and a headless female figure which walked the site after dark, bearing a lit torch. Sightings of the two figures were commonplace throughout the community in the early days of the settlement, especially of the night-time manifestation. Various local legends have sprung up attempting to give a rationale to the presence of these two manifestations; however there are on record several accounts in connexion to the mound which indicate a deeper mystery.

Since the late Nineteenth Century, several individuals and small groups of explorers have tried to excavate the mound outside Binger and every one of these attempts has met with failure. The investigators have either come back empty-handed; come back wounded and mentally scarred; or have failed to return at all. Police files exist in the Sherriff’s Office containing incident reports of many of these attempts, including medical records and other documents particular to each case. In chronological order they are as follows:

1891 The Heaton Incident

This file from the Binger Sheriff’s Office contains an Incident Report, signed and dated by Sheriff’s Deputy Amos Kirby, to which are appended a Medical Testament provided by Dr. William Stanhope, along with twelve additional Progress Reports dated between 1891 and 1899, a copy of Clyde Heaton’s Death Certificate, an Addendum to the original incident report and Cross-References to a further four Case Files. Copies of this material are kept in the Caddo County Archive in Anadarko, to which a Note is appended stating that copies of that file – along with the other files to which it refers - were requested and retained by the Office of Naval Investigation’s ‘P4-Division’ in 1934.

*****

Clyde Heaton, resident of Binger, was seen approaching and climbing the mound; he disappeared shortly afterwards. Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby questioned the local people. Eyewitness reports varied: some said that Heaton “disappeared” into the shrub atop the mound, while others insisted that he simply “vanished from sight”. Chester Danton, a known associate of Heaton, told how he went out to the mound the day previous and saw nothing of any interest: he related how Heaton had kept an eye on him from the town outskirts and told him upon his return that there must be a trapdoor somewhere atop the mound which he (Danton) missed and that he (Heaton) would discover it the next day. A search party was mounted by the Sheriff’s Deputy but found no trace of Heaton in their initial attempts, before abandoning their efforts at nightfall.

Two hours after sunset, Heaton appeared in the main street of Binger, raving, babbling and covered in grime. He was delirious and was taken immediately to Dr. Stanhope, the local physician, whereupon he was sedated and put to bed; a medical report attached to the file reveals that Heaton was extremely malnourished and suffering the effects of dehydration. As to his mental state, Stanhope warily tendered a diagnosis of “extreme shock, possibly brought on by the patient’s physical exhaustion”; how a healthy young man could be reduced to such a state in the course of a single day, he fails to clarify. Twelve additional progress reports by Stanhope track Heaton’s decline over the subsequent eight years, as well as his death from epileptic seizure in 1899: these reveal the victim’s obsession that “a wounded white man was hurt and imprisoned under the mound”; that there was “a sizable quantity of gold” beneath the structure and that there was “a civilisation of evil guardians that controlled a hidden world beneath the surface”. Stanhope’s reports include transcriptions of some of Heaton’s ramblings as a potential aid to his future psychological care and treatment.

The addendum attached to the case file by Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby concerns itself with a trio of Binger locals – Wade Druitt, Herbert Cowley and Stuart Wainwright – who were reported as searching the mound the following day after Heaton’s return, in an attempt to “seek vengeance” on those responsible. Eyewitness reports claim to have seen them “vanish” inexplicably once atop the mound, although one witness – a Mr. Norman Brennan – claimed that he saw indistinct figures rise up from the ground and drag the three men downwards, whilst watching with his set of high-powered binoculars. Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby organised another search party which examined the mound and the surrounding area over the following two weeks without finding any evidence of the three men. The case remains officially unsolved.

Referrals to four other case files accompany this one and they can be referenced individually. They comprise the following:

24th September, 1892 - Jonas & Abigail Tanner: Following rumours of gold contained within the mound, Jonas Tanner walked to the prominence and was seen to disappear: a week-long search party failed to find any trace of him. On the 3rd of October, Abigail Tanner went to the mound in the early hours of the morning: she was seen wandering on the outskirts of town nine hours later with no recollection of who she was or even how to speak her own language. The attached Medical Report details malnourishment, the presence of strange, “L-shaped” scars on her back and a pronounced photosensitivity. It also contains a copy of her Death Certificate due an ‘hysterical seizure’ two months later. Also attached are Letters of Authority allowing the Tanner’s child Matthew to be released into the care of his adoptive parents, Nathan and Ally Price, the following year.

13th June, 1893 – Chester Danton & Frank Druitt: After a night of heavy drinking, resulting in the two of them being issued with a Citation for Disorderly Behaviour, these two men decided to approach the mound to avenge perceived wrongs which had been done to them. According to an Addendum to the Case File, witnesses (Druitt’s mother and sister) saw them stagger off into the darkness towards the mound shortly before midnight: Druitt’s sister, Esmé, woke Deputy Wayne Petersen, who lived nearby, and he rushed after the men on foot in order to apprehend them. As he approached the mound, he heard a man screaming from on top of it and fired several shots into the air to indicate his presence to the concerned parties. Receiving no response he quickly climbed the mound and headed towards a distant blue light which he could see on the far end of the tumulus: he was halted by the discovery of a man’s severed hand and forearm. Petersen returned to Binger and informed Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby and a search party was organised: this group of mounted men surrounded the mound and proceeded to work their way up onto it as dawn broke. No sign was found of the missing men, however the severed hand was retrieved and a Medical Report issued on it by Dr. Stanhope: the hand was missing the last two joints on each finger and the stump of flesh where the limb had been severed just below the elbow, was overgrown with flesh and skin, as if healing had occurred. By means of a tattooed “F.D.” on the webbing between the thumb and forefinger, the hand was tentatively identified as that of Frank Druitt.

17th October, 1895 – Ebert Diggles and Drew Stuckey: Two itinerant prospectors, these men set up camp east of Binger on the 10th of October but soon relocated to the western edge of town after hearing rumours about gold buried in the mound. In the ensuing investigation, the pair were reported stocking up with supplies and also visiting the local Indian settlement. They were last seen by 12-year-old Elsie Wainwright leaving their campsite with all of their supplies loaded onto their mule cart and heading for the mound; this sighting was corroborated by Mr. Norman Brennan who saw the pair leading their cart behind the far side of the prominence. The mule was found three days later wandering loose in the town and a search party was established: no sign of the men, their cart, or their equipment was found and the Case File remains unsolved.

31st March, 1899 – Luther Mason: A painter specialising in depicting birdlife, Mason arrived in Binger from Boston in mid-February. In a few short weeks he became a well-recognised figure, roaming the wilderness around the town looking for subjects to paint. The Case File notes that Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby warned Mason on several occasions about wandering too near the mound. On the evening of March 31st, Miss Bethany Walker, in whose boarding-house Mason resided, called in at the Sheriff’s Office to report his absence: he had not returned for his evening meal and apparently was always careful to notify Miss Walker if he was planning to be late or absent. Fearing the worst, Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby took off on horseback towards the mound: sure enough, he found the artist’s easel, blown over at the base of the tumulus, with a rough sketch in pencil pinned to it (this Image is appended to the Incident Report). The usual search party, radiating outwards from the mound, was organised by the Sheriff’s Deputy; as well, he deputised Mr. Norman Brennan as a “spotter”, to keep constant watch upon the area in which the easel was found. At midday, two days later, Brennan raised the alarm: he had observed Mason staggering away from the mound towards the town, gesticulating wildly. The artist was quickly apprehended and taken to the surgery of Dr. Stanhope: a sedative was swiftly supplied and an assessment performed. As in other cases, Mason was badly malnourished, dehydrated and exhibiting photosensitivity; as well, the sleeves of his jacket and shirt had been torn off and a close scrutiny of Mason’s hands revealed that he suffered from postaxial polydactyly of the hands, although no-one in the town could recall having observed the fact that he was six-fingered. As with previous victims, Mason could not remember who he was, or anything concerning his whereabouts: in the following days, he experienced repeated and frenzied anxiety attacks wherein he tried to slash his arms with various objects. Confined to restraints, Mason died two weeks later from a massive seizure during which he repeatedly screamed “they’re not mine! They’re not mine!” Along with the Medical Report and a copy of the Death Certificate, Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby attached a Photograph of Mason’s five-fingered gloves to the Case File.

17th of May 1892 - Marshal John Willis

While not a Case File per se, Sheriff’s Deputy Amos Kirby filled in an Incident Report in respect of the situation, seeing as how there were issues of seniority and of jurisdiction that needed to be recorded. Included in the file are a Reference to case of horse-theft which took place near Gracemont; a Statement taken from US Marshal John Willis on the evening of 17th March 1892; a series of Statements taken by Deputy Wayne Petersen from the local Indian Settlement; a Telegram from the Sheriff’s Office in Anadarko requesting Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby step aside in favour of Marshal Willis for the duration of the search for the horse-thieves and a Statement from Willis authorising Kirby’s return to his position as the Sheriff’s local representative. Copies of this material are kept in the Caddo County Archive in Anadarko, to which a Note is appended stating that copies of that file – along with the Gracemont file to which it refers - were requested and retained by the Office of Naval Investigation’s ‘P4-Division’ in 1934.

*****

US Marshal John Willis rode into the mound area in May 1892, in pursuit of a group of horse thieves. Entering the western plains area from the Binger Township at dusk, he ranged widely looking for tracks in order to continue his search. He noted a loud sound ahead in the darkness and headed towards it, as it sounded like the ringing of horse-harness to his ears. At a point to the south of the mound, he reported hearing the sounds of an enormous battle between mounted opponents, coming from the air above him; this continued for a good hour or so. After a brief pause, the sounds began again, slightly to the north this time and continued for another hour. At no time did Marshal Willis see any combatants but he distinctly heard the clash of arms, the jangling of harness and the sounds of horses and men coming together in battle but muted, as if the sounds were carried from a great distance. After this second instance, with his horse badly spooked, Marshal Willis decided to return to Binger for the night.

Wichita Nation settlement, near Binger, Caddo County

Reporting the incident to Sheriff’s Deputy Amos Kirby, Willis learned that the area was shunned by the local settlers and was regarded as ‘haunted’; some townsfolk even claimed to have seen ‘ghost-riders’ in the air above the plain. An investigation by a diligent Deputy Wayne Petersen among the local Indian tribes in the subsequent days determined that some of the natives had heard the sounds also: they were extremely reluctant to speak of them, referring to the source of the noises only as “those people”, “the old people”, or “they who dwell below”. Petersen faithfully records this quote in his report:

“Men very old, make very big spirit; not so old, not so big; older than all time, then spirit he so big he near flesh; those old people and spirits they mix up – get all the same.”

Not willing to entertain notions of being haunted, Willis concluded that the incident was the result of a type of “aural mirage”, and that the sounds were being carried to his location by means of a high wind. Given this rationale, he concluded that the horse-thieves must have established a base somewhere nearby and requested the formation of both a search party and subsequently, a posse from among the local men. The results of these actions are not stated in the file.

22nd of November, 1910 – Citation for Trespassing

This Case File contains an Incident Report detailing the apprehension, imprisonment and fining of Milton Cardwell for the crime of trespass; it also contains a Hansard Transcript of the court proceedings against the County, overturning Cardwell’s indictment and ordering a repayment of the fine. A Newspaper Article from the Anadarko Daily News outlines the details surrounding Amos Kirby’s subsequent activities. Also attached is a Petition put forward by the people of Binger in support of Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby’s actions. This Case File is stored in the Caddo County Archive in Anadarko, to which a Note is appended stating that copies of it were requested and retained by the Office of Naval Investigation’s ‘P4-Division’ in 1934.

*****

After the turn of the Century, Sheriff’s Deputy Amos Kirby established a perimeter around the mound, indicated by a series of ‘No Trespassing’ signs, indicating that the area was off-limits under Caddo County law and infringement was punishable by a fine. This deterrent seemed to work fairly well until one Milton Cardwell decided to flout the regulation. Spotted by several local residents, Cardwell was apprehended by Sheriff’s Deputy Kirby, just as he began to penetrate the scrub at the summit of the mound: at gunpoint, Cardwell was made to return to the base of the prominence and was then taken into custody and fined $50.

Cardwell challenged the penalty in court the following January, at the County Sessions in Anadarko, before Sheriff Baxter. It was revealed that the County had issued no law preventing the approach to the mound and that the imposition of a fine, especially of such magnitude, was unwarranted. Amos Kirby was tried in absentia for negligence and ordered by the court to repay Cardwell and to step down from his position as Sheriff’s Deputy. A signed petition from the Binger community backing Kirby’s actions found no sympathy with the court, leaving Amos Kirby no other option but to retire and moved to Oklahoma City, where he died of a heart attack, three years later.

28th of June, 1915 - Disappearance of James and Maude Williams

The Case File contains a short Transcript of an Interview conducted between Sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Petersen and the Williams’ at ‘Craddock’s Boarding-house’ on the 19th of April 1915. There follows an Incident Report detailing the discovery of the couple’s absence and the ensuing efforts to discover their whereabouts, as well as a final Note detailing the Williams’ personal effects and their consignment to Anadarko. The copy of this file in the Caddo County Archive also contains an Article from the “Anadarko Daily News” detailing the mysterious disappearance. A further Note is appended stating that copies of this file were requested and retained by the Office of Naval Investigation’s ‘P4-Division’ in 1934

*****

Amateur archaeologists Maude and James Williams arrived in Binger on the 18th of April 1915, from Cambridge in Massachusetts. Both were former students-turned-instructors from Harvard College where they had been studying archaeology. Due to James’ poor health they had decided to take a year off from teaching and enjoy the warmer climate which Oklahoma provides. The townsfolk of Binger were unusually reticent about welcoming these easterners, suspicious of their assertions of marriage and suspecting ulterior motives for their presence. Sheriff’s Deputy Wayne Petersen conducted an interview with the couple at their boarding-house and was able to reassure himself as to the couple’s marital status; he was less pleased to be told of their intention to explore the region for Indian artefacts. He states in his report that he offered to take them to the local Indian settlement and to escort them around the region, but warned them against approaching the mound.

On the morning of the 24th of April, Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen was approached by Walter Craddock, owner of the Williams’ boarding-house and was informed that the couple had not been seen since the evening of the 22nd. Petersen immediately summoned a search party and ordered a search to the west of the town, heading towards the mound. The search lasted for two weeks but no trace of the couple was ever found. Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen copied his report and sent it to the Sheriff’s Office in Anadarko, along with the couple’s personal effects, to be shipped back East.

Diner with Staff & Patrons, Binger OK, circa. 1920

11th of May, 1916 – Disappearance of Capt. George E. Lawton and subsequently, of Joe Norton & Rance Wheelock

This Case File involves a well-known local personality and is to be treated with the utmost discretion. Captain George E. Lawton was an administrator and arbitrator during the Oklahoma Land Run of 1889 and was instrumental in opening up the territory for western settlement. He was particularly involved in the establishment of Caddo County, including the disposition of the land and in negotiations with the native occupants. The ‘File contains an Incident Report filled in by Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen covering the arrival of Lawton in Binger and the subsequent search party sent out to find him. It contains another ‘Report concerning the arrival of the Stranger to Binger a week-and-a-half later and the Medical Report and a Copy of his Death Certificate provided by Dr. John Halifax. There is a Letter from the Sheriff’s Office in Anadarko ordering Petersen to enact a full-scale search for Captain Lawton: along with this are a series of Interview Transcripts with members of the Indian community outside Binger and also an Addendum to the Case File detailing the disappearances of Joe Norton and Rance Wheelock. As with the other listed files, there is a Note appended stating that copies of this file were requested and retained by the Office of Naval Investigation’s ‘P4-Division’ in 1934.

*****

In response to rumours about the mound outside Binger, inflamed by recent newspaper activity, retired captain, George E. Lawton, arrived in Binger with a view towards settling the mystery once and for all. He spent a week in the town talking about the phenomenon with Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen and various townspeople; he also conducted talks with the native community. On Thursday the 11th of May, he was watched by a gathering of the townsfolk as he rode to the mound, ascended to its summit and vanished from sight. As before, a search party was detailed and a brief search of the area conducted, to no avail.

At midnight, on the 20th of May, the township was awakened by the frantic cries of a man who had crawled into town from the west: the fellow was emaciated and raving, his crawling necessitated by his complete absence of feet. The stumps of his lower legs had healed over indicating that whatever had caused this lack, it must have occurred many years previously. Of immediate interest to those who came to his aid, was the fact that the man kept saying “Captain George E. Lawton” over and over again, leading many to believe that he had some information which would lead to the Captain’s recovery. The man was taken to Dr. Halifax’s surgery (Dr. Stanhope had retired in 1900 and had moved back to New York) and was examined, whereupon it was noted that he bore a striking resemblance to Lawton but was at least forty years younger, with a full head of thick, dark hair where the Captain had been grey and balding. The unknown man was restrained and sedated, to an almost dangerous degree according to Dr. Halifax’s report but he refused to calm down and died of an aneurysm before morning. To this day his identity has not been conclusively proven.

Given the status of Captain Lawton, Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen was tasked by the Sheriff’s Office with embarking upon a rigorous examination of the local area, in order to find evidence of the Captain’s wellbeing. Petersen began a month-long series of patrols into the outlying areas around Binger and made several trips to the native settlement to talk with the Indians there, but to no certain result. It is clear from his report that he felt the effort was needless and that the mound alone, was the source of Lawton’s disappearance. As an unexpected side effect of the search, two of the searchers – Joe Norton and Rance Wheelock – made an unauthorised trip to the mound, secretly telling their confederates that they were sure the Indians had an “underground hideout” in the mound and that they intended to find it and “make them pay” for the abduction of Captain Lawton. Neither of them was seen again.

10th of September, 1920 – Ed and Walker Clay

This Case File begins with a copy of a Notice authorising Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen to enforce a half-mile perimeter ‘No Trespassing’ zone around the mound, in light of the disappearances connected with Captain Lawton’s visit to Binger; a series of Cross-References indicate five other files detailing citations given by the Sheriff’s Deputy in regard to the violation of this edict. An Incident Report details the discovery of the missing Clay brothers and the efforts undertaken to find them. Dr. Halifax’s Medical Report details the results of Ed Clay’s autopsy and cross-references this with copies of his Medical Certificates obtained from the War Department; it also contains a copy of his Death Certificate and a Sketch of the hieroglyph cut into his forehead. The original Suicide Note was stolen from the file in Binger by persons unknown but a copy of it exists in the Sheriff’s Office in the county seat of Anadarko. Again, there is a Note appended stating that copies of this file and other associated material were requested and retained by the Office of Naval Investigation’s ‘P4-Division’ in 1934.

*****

From 1916 until the end of 1920, a ‘No Trespassing’ zone was erected around the mound on express orders from the Sheriff’s Office in Anadarko and this largely served to keep explorers and prospectors away from the area. By 1920 however, with the return of many young men from World War One, a large number of locals began making clandestine journeys to the mound; fortunately, these incidents were free of disappearances or traumatic transformations. Unfortunately, it was not to last.

On the 9th of September two local men, Edward and Walker Clay, decided to investigate the mound under cover of darkness; their absence was not noticed until midday the following day. With the alarm raised, Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen arranged a search party and set off to the mound to see if there was anything that could be done: the men’s horses were recovered from the base of the tumulus but nothing else. Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen called an end to the search and set two men to hold watch at the base of the mound; after a week, this effort was also cancelled.

On the 17th of December, just after nightfall, Ed Clay skulked back into his parents’ house wearing only a strangely-patterned blanket, which he proceeded to throw into the fireplace as if it was poisonous. The Sheriff’s Deputy and the Doctor were called for and Ed Clay was given a brief medical examination: he was malnourished and had a strong aversion to bright light; as well, a strange scar had been incised into his forehead, in the shape of an unidentifiable hieroglyph. His hair had gone white from shock for a length of two inches from the roots. When questioned, Clay said that he and his brother had been taken prisoner by strange natives – “not Wichitas or Caddos” – and had been tortured, from which treatment Walker had perished. He promised to speak at greater length, but only after much-needed rest. Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen and Dr. Halifax left with promises to return the following afternoon for a fuller debriefing.

At 3 o’clock in the morning a gunshot was heard in the Clay household: Ed had shot himself through the temples after penning a short suicide note. It was clear from a large amount of burnt paper in the pot-bellied stove near his bed that he had written a much larger report of his travails but had dispensed with this for a message of urgent brevity:

“For gods sake never go nere that mound it is part of a world so devilish and old it cannot be spoke about me and Walker went and was took into the thing just melted at times and made up agen and the whole world outside is helpless alongside of what they can do – they that live forever young as they like and you cant tell if they are really men or just gostes – and what they do cant be spoke about and this is only 1 entrance – you cant tell how big the whole thing is – after what we seen I don’t want to live aney more France was nothing besides this – and see that people always keep away o god they wood if they see poor walker like he was in the end.

Yrs truely

Ed Clay”

An autopsy was performed and it was discovered that Ed Clay’s internal organs were completely rearranged, transposed from left to right “as if he had been turned inside out”. A request for copies of his medical records, previous to his being shipped out to France during the Great War, was sent to the War Department and proved that – barring some kind of egregious oversight - Clay’s physiognomy had been normal prior to 1915. Needless to say, excursions to the mound ceased shortly after this incident.

20th of August, 1928 - Testimony of Dr. Filbert P. Hovacs

The Case File for this incident mainly comprises a 136-page Document written by Dr. Filbert P. Hovacs detailing his two counts of trespass upon the mound outside Binger. There is also a Medical Certificate prepared by Dr. Halifax and a Record of Hovacs being fined $20 for his infringement. As before, a Note is present stating that a copy of this file was requested and retained by the Office of Naval Investigation’s ‘P4-Division’ in 1934.

*****

In the late summer of 1928, Dr Filbert Hovacs went to Binger to conduct ethnological research with the local native populace. A long time correspondent with Clyde Compton of Binger, he had arranged to stay with Mr Compton and his mother at their home. He spent several days talking to the locals and the occupants of the Native settlement before attempting a foray to the mound to map its configuration. During an initial dig, he discovered a metallic cylinder in which he claims there was a manuscript some 500 years old. This text supposedly outlined the singular adventures of a Spanish nobleman named Pánfilo de Zamacona y Nuñez, including his sojourn to a subterranean world below the mound known as “K’n-yan”. Hovacs returned to the Comptons’ house and spent the night reading the ms. and preparing a rough translation.

The following day, Hovacs returned to the mound, observed by many of the local townsfolk. Missing his pick and shovel – left at the site the previous day – he theorised that one of the Bingers had moved them as part of a joke. He had with him the cylinder and ms. for reference purposes. According to his testimony, he entered the mound by means of a shallow depression at the northern end (this recess does not exist). He claims to have found an extensive subterranean complex complete with sculptures and several items belonging to past explorers, including his own pick and shovel and another shovel with a label showing it to have been the property of James Williams. Shortly thereafter, he describes an encounter with a mutilated corpse which shocked him into dropping everything he was carrying and fleeing in terror.

Unlike any other adventurer who encountered the mound, Hovacs is the only one who has returned relatively unscathed. An examination by Dr. Halifax pronounced him well despite the shock to his system. In the aftermath, he transcribed his notes, incorporating his own experiences and the narrative of Zamacona into a single document of 136 pages in length, a copy of which was left with Sheriff’s Deputy Petersen in his case file on the matter. He was also fined $20 for trespass before returning to New York.

2nd July, 1935 - Government Intervention

In July 1935, engineers from the Office of Naval Investigation entered Binger and cordoned off the plains area to the west of the town. Over the next six weeks 3 massive hangars - 400 feet long, 50 feet wide and 50 feet high - were erected over the former site of the mound; other structures – barracks, offices and vehicle housing - were also constructed. The entire area was fenced off from the public and signs were placed around the facility proclaiming it to be a new instrument testing and development facility.

After 1945, the testing facility was downgraded. Most of the buildings, with the exception of one of the long hangars, were dismantled and the area surrounding it reduced by means of a public land sale. According to new signs erected, the facility was taken over by the US Army and became an archive for the Museum at Fort Sills Army Base. The hangar was reinforced and locked and the area has been quiet ever since.

(Source: H.P. Lovecraft & Zealia Bishop, “The Mound”)

English; various authors; 1891 to 1935; 0/1d3 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +3 percentiles; 3 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: None