The Rudraprayag Leopard - Part 2

What Happens Next?

This of course depends upon whatever pretext the Keeper has constructed to get the party to this point. Against the backdrop of the Keeper’s machinations, several attacks by leopards take place while the party are in the region; they will have plenty of opportunities to investigate these events and to make certain deductions about the perpetrator(s). Of course, if they begin to unearth the activities of the secretive Leopard Cult, they will swiftly become targets for elimination by these madmen.

Meanwhile...

They say that Virtue is its own reward, but very few characters in Call of Cthulhu are completely virtuous. Since it’s going to become apparent that someone in the party is going to be abducted by savage cultists at some point, why not turn the exercise into an object lesson?

For this evil addition to the storyline, you need to focus on a character who constantly frets about their personal appearance, to the point of vanity if applicable. You know the type: Kate Capshaw’s character in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” immediately springs to mind. The character should be prone to excessive amounts of perfume, or pomade, given to bright colours or extravagant headgear, or neckwear. This piece of deviltry is especially potent if this character’s personal preparations cause the party to constantly be late, or losing good daylight for trekking and hunting.

The core of this exercise is a native superstition among the Indian peoples. Butterflies are attracted to strong floral scents and bright colours; butterflies are also considered to be sacred to the goddess Kali, bringer of destruction. A Thug belief that, if a butterfly landed on your head, you were chosen for death by the goddess herself, has passed into general superstition: if a butterfly lands on your head, you are going to die – so runs the common belief.

So, take your vain character, brightly-coloured and smelling of perfume or hair oil, and have a butterfly – or many butterflies - land on them in full public view. Watch the locals shy away in terror and begin to treat the character as one of the walking dead.

Of course, then it only becomes a matter of time before the cultists hear about the incident and decide to abduct the character and enact the goddess’s will. Although these monsters worship Shiva, Kali is an aspect of his consort, so the superstition translates nicely.

If they manage to survive, the character will probably spend less time preening in front of the mirror in future!

First Attack!

Whilst the party are engaged on other business in the village, an Indian youth will run into the town square screaming for help and will slump senseless to the ground. The Investigators can use their First Aid and Medicine Rolls to good effect here, winning the acceptance of the local villagers. Once the fellow has been revived, it will be discovered that he has run all the way from the nearby village of Ratura, on the outskirts of which he lives with his parents. He reveals that, last night, his younger sister went to a nearby spring to draw water; the family heard her scream then silence. His father told him and his mother to wait in the house until he returned and then he too, went out into the darkness. Morning came and he has still not come home. Recent rains have damaged the road in to Ratura, so the boy has come to Rudraprayag to seek aid.

The Investigators should note that the youth is terrified almost out of his wits. Exhaustion and anxiety for his mother, holed-up back at their home, have also taken their toll. Medicine and First Aid rolls will observe that any medical advice offered to aid the young man will be useless, until such time as the source of his concern is addressed and he can relax. Therefore a rescue must be launched and the attack upon the family investigated.

This scene is the baseline event against which those following will be measured. In this instance, the Rudraprayag Leopard is the culprit and the party will be able to learn how to read the site of a true animal attack. If the party has a robust array of Biology, Natural History, Spot Hidden and Tracking skills, the Keeper may wish for them to deal with the event on their own; otherwise, this is a good opportunity for the party to encounter Jim Corbett, who can talk them through the signs and indicators around them.

The family’s farm is situated northeast of Rudraprayag, a little more than half the distance between that town and the next village, Ratura. Any characters who choose to check will observe that heavy rain and subsequent landslips have badly affected the road leading from here to Ratura. The general trend of the land is a slope from north down to south; the small wattle-and-daub farmhouse has a thatched roof and sits on the northern side of the road, surrounded by animal pens and neat garden plots. A well-trod trail marks the approach to a small spring, across the road and about thirty feet downhill from the farmhouse. Dense forest surrounds the farm in all directions.

If it's 1925 and the Keeper is introducing Jim Corbett at this point, the party will encounter a small group of men of various ages, who watch Corbett with rapt attention; amongst them is the young man’s mother who will rush tearfully to embrace him. It transpires that Corbett was camped nearby and heard of the attack from a road repair crew sent from Ratura, bedded down for the night to the east and roused by the commotion. If Corbett is not here, the young man will rush to hammer on the farmhouse door, which will open to reveal that his mother is safe.

Jim Corbett – Proto-Environmentalist

char.	value	char.	value	char.	value
STR	13	POW	16	Age	50
CON	14	DEX	15	HP	13
SIZ	11	APP	12	Magic Points	16
INT	14	EDU	20	SAN	80

Damage Bonus: +/-0

Weapon:       Knife 60%; Pistol 85%; Rifle 100%; Shotgun 40%

Armour:        None

Skills:             Tracking 95%; Botany 55%; Natural History 95%; Wilderness Survival 85%

Spells             None

SAN Loss       It costs no SAN to see Jim Corbett

From this point onwards, the information will flow to the party in the form of successful skill rolls (which Corbett can supplement if the party’s rolls are less than stellar):

First, the farmhouse commands a good view of the entire area, with windows on all sides; the goat pen is situated just across from the main entrance and is in full view. The only remote and secluded part of the farm is the spring;

Second, the fence defining the goat pen is well-built and high; as well, the goats have an accessible shelter with a single narrow entrance and a solid wooden roof in which they can spend the night. Currently there are six female goats and no kids. Too, the billy goat that rules this herd is young, fit and feisty;

Third, a circuit of the farm’s perimeter in the edges of the surrounding forest will reveal several piles of scat - leopard faeces - indicating that the cat has been in the area for at least a week;

Leopard tracks will also be noted around the margins of the farm and following the trail to the spring. Along with these are occasional territorial markings on trees and in the hard earth, especially on the ground under the window closest to where the daughter of the family slept at night. These take the form of long scratches in the bark or dirt, a mark of five parallel lines sometimes overlapping.

From all this, the party can get a clear idea of what has transpired. The Leopard has scouted out the farmstead, noting its strengths and weaknesses. An attack near the house would meet a quick response from other members of the family while an assault upon the livestock would result in a similar outcome. Furthermore, the goats are large and well-defended by the young buck and have a secure hideout into which they can retreat for safety. The only place where an ambush would be effective is along the trail to the spring.

Furthermore, the leopard has taken its time with scouting and planning, most likely patrolling a wide range and returning here frequently to observe events. Having found the perfect locale for an attack, it then watched the family to determine their routine. Discovering that the youngest child had the task of drawing water from the spring, it then selected her as its preferred target. This is a normal result: leopards, like all other big cats, generally attack the young and infirm of any herd as this takes less energy. As well, leopards leave their kills hidden up in trees away from scavengers to rot awhile before eating: large kills are thus an exercise in waste as they are more difficult to hide. Therefore, since the body of an eight-year-old human is easier to deal with than any of the other available targets, she became the inevitable victim.

Once all of this evidence has been collected, the party can then decide what to do next. The daughter has almost certainly been killed, but there is a chance that she may yet be alive if the father’s efforts to save her were effective. The fate of the father is still an open question and his whereabouts should be discovered in order to give the family some closure. The party may wish to follow up on this; otherwise they might well leave the locals to sort out their own issues.

If the party decides to find the father, have them make an averaged Luck Roll as they set out into the jungle. A successful roll will discover the body of the man amongst some thick bushes at the base of a tree; if the roll was very successful, the man will still be alive. First Aid and Medicine rolls will be required to stabilise him and put him on the road to recovery. It will be noted that the man’s throat has been bitten, possibly in an attempt to crush his windpipe, but that the major damage was inflicted by claws to the front of his torso and legs.

If the farmer survives, he will definitively identify the assailant as a big spotted cat. Further searching by the party might (Luck Roll) discover some rags from the girl’s clothing, much stained by blood, but no tangible remains. This is due to the fact that the cat has taken to the trees with its meal to facilitate its escape.

Regardless of whether the party is successful in its efforts to aid the family or not, they now have a base-line of knowledge about the leopard’s M.O. to work with in future. Now they can tell the real cat from the ersatz ones

(Wait. “Fake leopards”? What the...?)

The Leopard Cult

Of course, one sick old leopard could not be responsible for such a large amount of carnage... unless it had some help. In this story, the leopard’s notoriety is perpetuated by an insidious cult of leopard worshippers, an import from Africa, which is benefiting from the hysteria brought on by the maneater’s exploits. More, the cult members see the presence of the Leopard as a sign that their activities are being looked upon favourably by the powers they worship.

How did an African leopard cult end up in the Punjab? At the end of the Nineteenth Century, with the abolition of slavery and the slave trade, many industries that traditionally used slave labour to accomplish their goals turned to other sectors of the community to make up shortfalls which technology couldn’t supplement. Chinese and Indian labour was considered efficient and cheap and many willing workers emigrated from those countries to win the cash incentives that were offered. These Chinese and Indian diasporas weren’t usually return trips – many individuals lost their lives in dangerous, backbreaking conditions – but a fair percentage of these workers went home to report what they had accomplished. Some of the things which they brought home with them were completely unexpected – as in this case.

In the early Twentieth Century, the British were fairly content with themselves and their rule. Sleeman had relatively recently broken the back of the Thugs, and Dacoity – the tradition of forest banditry – was considered a dwindling, mainly southern Indian, phenomenon. Against the growing threat of political manoeuvring from Nepal, China and Russia, religious fanaticism - even murderous fanaticism - was a minor issue.

Leopard cults are based around the concept that the leopard is a psychopomp, a herald and escort of the dead, in many African religions and these magical traditions date back to Ancient Egypt, when the leopard was a symbol of Osiris, god of the afterlife. The cultists believe that the spirit of the leopard is able to invade their bodies, guiding and directing them to fulfil its plans for humanity. They believe that the Leopard allows them to despatch those who are about to die and rewards its human agents accordingly. Cynically, there is a certain point of view which holds that the trappings of the cult are simply an excuse to enact petty revenge on those by whom the cultists feel they have been wronged; this was very much the case in the latter history of the Thuggee cults.

This sub-continental version of the African cult has a few differences to distinguish it. To begin with, the two-pronged claws used in Africa have been replaced by a more traditional Indian weapon, the Tiger Claws, or ‘bagh nakh’, of the northern districts (Base Chance: 20%; Damage: 1D6+db; Range: Touch; # of Attacks: 1 or 2; HPs: 10). These are well-made, steel-and-brass hand weapons utilised by certain tribes of the Punjab and surrounding areas. They are traditionally an assassin’s weapon, used to disembowel victims; making the attack look like an animal assault. Another unique feature is that the cult has become a vehicle of worship for the deity Shiva, who is often depicted wearing a leopard-skin pelt, and the nearby town of Kedarnath is an important pilgrim site dedicated to the god.

From this point on, the Investigators are going to have to pay attention to the details and learn to separate a real leopard attack from a fake one...

To Be Continued...

An Aside...

It was Voltaire who said (something like) “I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. Fortunately for him, he was living in a pre-Internet age, because otherwise he would have contributed something very different to the realm of quotable quotes. Something like, “oh for God’s sake, shut up!”.

Everyone on the planet is entitled to their opinion. In some areas on the planet, you are entitled to whatever opinion is considered the status quo and heaven help you if you speak otherwise. Generally though, you are free to make your own mind up about certain things and operate accordingly. What everyone needs to remember, however, is that there’s a difference between what you think is true and what is actually true.

In these over-sharing days, people seem to have lost the ability to discern the difference between what is real and what is a load of horse-puckey. We live in an age where people adopt paleo-diet lifestyles with no discernment other than that some mildly famous TV presenter says that it’s “cool” (and that – erroneously – it sends cancer into remission, among other outright, unproven, lies). We live in a time when measles, whooping-cough and diphtheria are on the rise once more because there’s a handful of people out there – without any valid training whatsoever - who think that the science behind immunisation and herd immunity is “wrong”. We live in an age of chiropractors – it’s witchcraft people: look it up.

On the one hand, we have access to more information than we’ve ever had before. You’d think that that would make us all more rational and intelligent, but no – somehow it’s turned us all into drooling idiots. On the other hand, we live in a time when we’re told that our individuality and right to express that self-importance is at an all-time high. What that means is that we’ve become a population of fawning idolaters, trained upon the least hiccup of Kanye West and his misbegotten coterie (he’s mad, people; certifiable, and now in the loony-bin where he belongs. Huzzah!).

The people who come to this blog are, on the whole (when they’re actual people, not web-crawling robots or people searching for “hitler youth camps sex” – I’ve seen you out there: please stop) roleplayers, and it’s my opinion that that fact means you’re people who know the difference between what’s real and what’s not. Surely then, you can look someone like David Icke right in the eye and tell him where to get off?

My step-father helped to build the Large Hadron Collider; my sister is at the bleeding edge of genetic research: I’m surrounded by the notion of tested evidence and the value of peer review. You may read articles about people bodgy-ing their scientific papers and being caught out as cheats but this is just the scientific process in operation. Why does it make some people think that the entire scientific community is a bunch of shonk-meisters who continually lie about their findings?

(Conversely, these are generally the same people who think that the Illuminati rule world governments from the shadows, that people’s minds are being controlled by secret orbiting satellites, that footage of the World Trade Centre’s destruction “proves” it was an inside job and that David Icke is right when he says that Queen Elizabeth II is an eight-foot tall red lizard with the ability to cloud people’s minds. Seriously people: grow up.)

At one of my earlier positions, we had a very good customer, a Japanese professor who was trying to prove that all human life on the planet evolved from penguins. I shit you not. He was a very good customer, very personable and erudite, but seriously – who, for a moment, thinks that that has legs as far as scientific research is concerned? Of course, science is predicated upon the notion that proving a negative is just as valid as proving a positive – the Theory of Evolution (as some religious retards in the American south are keen to remind us) is just that – a theory. Our customer was obviously just shutting down a dead end, wilted twig on the tree of scientific discovery. Obvious for some, that is.

I see people come into my shop all the time who have fallen prey to other people’s opinions. They show up lurking about the fringes of the store, red-faced, wide-eyed and usually hyperventilating. It means that they’ve spent the morning downloading videos from YouTube about alien invasions, the Lithgow Panther, Yowies, or tracking devices in modern currency. It takes a lot of my time – time which would be better spent doing actual work – talking these idiots off the ledge and reassuring them that, just because something is somebody else’s opinion, doesn’t mean that it’s real.

Look, you come here because you’re a Lovecraft fan right? What did Lovecraft teach us? There’re no superpowers out there pulling the strings. The cosmos is indifferent to us – it rolls along without a plan, without a purpose. There is no conspiracy; there is no hidden agenda. Of course, you are more than entitled to your own opinion, but please, examine what that opinion is; test it against all available evidence (unless your source is somehow related to a Kardashian, then absolutely avoid and decry it), and if it stands up to scrutiny, for God’s sake, shut up.

The Rudraprayag Leopard - Part 1

In 1926, a wild leopard that had preyed on humans in the Punjab region of Northern India over the past eight years, was finally shot and killed by a British big-game hunter – Jim Corbett - specifically commissioned for the job. Why is this such a big deal? Well firstly, the leopard attacked and killed a phenomenal 250 people before being taken out; and secondly, the incident rated a mention as a prophecy in the Hindi version of that mouldy old Mythos tome, the Cthaat Aquadingen.

This story takes place between the years 1917 and 1925, the eight years during which the leopard killed and ate people in the region without anyone seemingly able to check its progress. Getting the party here should be left up to the ingenuity of the Keeper, however this story is not the one about bringing the leopard’s activities to a halt; this is another tale entirely, set against the background of fear which the predator’s activity generates. (If the Keeper wants to play out the story of bringing the feline to justice, they are free to flesh out the details from this premise if they like, possibly using Corbett’s own memoir of the events as a guide – see the Library in a forthcoming post.)

The Keeper should find a solid hook to involve the party; for best effect, they should be involved before 1926. This adventure can form an offshoot to the campaign series “The Masks of Nyarlathotep” if the Keeper wishes. The party could have friends or acquaintances in India who might call them in to look at the problem, or they may be familiar with the prophecy in the Hindi translation of the Cthaat Aquadingen: wherever there’s a prophecy, there are those who seek to investigate it, and since we’re in the district...

Welcome to the Punjab!

The Punjab is a northern region of west India just below the Himalaya mountain range. The Ganges has its origins in this area and, as such, there are pilgrim sites, temples and other holy places galore throughout the countryside. The small town of Rudraprayag lies on a pilgrim trail between two such sacred sites and reaps the benefits of high annual traffic and the influx of tourists. Temperatures in the Punjab are significantly lower than other parts of India, especially during the traditionally hotter months, and this area is a place of escape for most non-Indian residents of the country. Many diplomats and soldiers whose job keeps them in such places as Delhi and Kolkata base their families in the cooler Punjabi hills for at least part of the year to ease the severity of the foreign lifestyle.

Getting There

The best way to get to the Punjab is by train. Trains run frequently between Delhi and Hardwar, the trip taking from two to three days (depending upon delays, break-downs, etc.). Delhi is a good place for research to happen, as there are universities, foreign embassies, trade missions, social clubs and so forth. From Hardwar, the party needs to find alternative transport. Wagons are available, teams of horses and possibly automotive vehicles (averaged Luck Roll of the party), but they should keep in mind that these means will only be of use for a short duration: inevitably, the party will be on foot. Guards, porters and other servants can be hired almost anywhere along the route: this is a pilgrim trail and many locals are adept at making their living by offering their services to the passing tourists.

From Hardwar, it is a three day hike (or one to two day’s Drive or Ride) to Pauri, where they will find the end of the telegraph line and the military outpost which defends it: this is the logical place to fall back to if everything goes pear-shaped in the high country. Rudraprayag is a day’s march beyond but Pauri marks the limit of progression for motorised vehicles.

Supplies

From the earliest days of colonisation by the British, the Indian populace has been motivated to create manufacturing industry throughout the country. Of particular interest is the manufacture of metal goods and of fabric items. Clothing, tents, canopies and other cloth necessities can be obtained at prices one-third of that listed in the standard equipment guides; so too can simple metal objects and contraptions, such as traps, lanterns, shovels, swords and tent spikes. More complex items – such as telescopes, compasses, or guns – will cost twice as much as usual and will be less effective, generally imposing a -20% penalty to the Skill required to use the item (Navigation for example). Guns and rifles will not impose a penalty per se, but will have a base 75% chance of Malfunctioning.

Basic foodstuffs and medicaments are easily obtained, including rice, flour, opium, tea and coffee. Complex or imported foodstuffs, such as alcohol, generally cannot be had, although there is a black market in Hardwar and Dehradun which can supply some items (at black market prices, of course!). Note as well, that alcohol, beef, items of bovine leather or cow horn, fly in the face of Hindu custom: players should choose their vendors wisely when shopping. Of course, while there are many Muslim shopkeepers around to circumvent religious strictures, it is not wise to ask them to provide bacon.

Haggling is the rule rather than the exception when shopping in India, so the players will have excellent opportunities to utilise their Bargain skill while stocking up for the trip ahead.

Pauri

This small outpost represents the furthest limit accessible by a party conveyed by an automobile: the trails into the mountain foothills beyond this point are rude and narrow and not the place for a lumbering car. Those parties who insist on driving ahead will discover only impassable bridges, near vertical slopes and broken axles. Horses and small, two-wheeled wagons will still be useful for a while longer; however upon reaching Rudraprayag, the party will discover that, if they want to go anywhere, they will have to walk.

At Pauri is a small, walled compound which houses two British soldiers – Major Thomas Evans and Captain Brian Harrows - and their families. These two military men maintain the telegraph line which terminates at this point, and oversee the mail deliveries (which are infrequent). They have command of a small troop of twenty Sikh soldiers who help to keep order in the local district. Both commanders have engineering backgrounds and the compound with its surrounding village is neat and well-maintained; military rigidity is noticeably absent, although the atmosphere is by no means slack or decadent. While in town, the party will be welcomed and accommodated in an easy-going manner.

Major Thomas Evans

char.	value	char.	value	char.	value
STR	12	POW	16	Age	42
CON	14	DEX	15	HP	13
SIZ	12	APP	13	Magic Points	16
INT	15	EDU	19	SAN	80

Damage Bonus: +/-0

Weapon:       Knife 50%; Pistol 65%; Rifle 60%; Shotgun 40%

Armour:        None

Skills:             Accounting 75%; Botany 55%; History 74%; Electrical Repair 65%

Spells             None

SAN Loss       It costs no SAN to see Thomas Evans

Captain Brian Harrows

char.	value	char.	value	char.	value
STR	16	POW	14	Age	35
CON	14	DEX	13	HP	15
SIZ	15	APP	12	Magic Points	14
INT	13	EDU	19	SAN	70

Damage Bonus: +1D4

Weapon:       Knife 70%; Pistol 60%; Rifle 75%; Shotgun30%

Armour:        None

Skills:             Accounting 65%; Military Procedure 75%; Wilderness Survival 55%

Spells             None

SAN Loss       It costs no SAN to see Brian Harrows

Typical Sikh Troopers

char.	value	char.	value	char.	value
STR	12,13,14,14	POW	14,12,13,12	Age	25,24,36,29
CON	14,14,15,15	DEX	14,14,12,10	HP	14,15,16,16
SIZ	14,16,16,17	APP	15,12,9,13	Magic Points	14,12,13,12
INT	12,15,13,14	EDU	10,11,11,12	SAN	70,60,65,60

Damage Bonus: +1D4

Weapon:       Knife 65%; Rifle 50%; Sword 65%

Armour:        None

Skills:             Bargain 75%; Folklore 45% Sikhism 80%

Spells             None

SAN Loss       It costs no SAN to see a Sikh Trooper

Once the locals become aware of the party’s intentions, they will not hesitate to point out the uselessness of vehicles, horses and wagons beyond Pauri and Rudraprayag respectively. Evans and Harrows will offer to help find porters from the local community and, under these circumstances, Bargaining Rolls have a +20% effectiveness. Despite the relative ease of haggling however, there may be some issues about finding people willing to head out towards Rudraprayag (see sidebar).

While at Pauri, any mechanical difficulties affecting the party can be left in the hands of the soldiers. Ammunition can be re-stocked to a reasonable extent and telegrams and letters may be despatched. Some local supplies are available in the form of fresh vegetables and fruits and laundry can be done here.

Rudraprayag

This village has an air of tension about it which the party will detect as soon as they enter. Depending upon what year it is, the atmosphere will be more or less heightened by the fear which the man-eater has generated by its presence. If the party arrives in 1925, all windows and doors in the village will be barred shut with rough-hewn planks of wood; people will scurry furtively from place to place, keeping their backs to the walls of the buildings; a constant sound of grieving and praying will fill the air. Prior to 1923, the atmosphere will be one more of excitement than fear, with much chattering and bluster and occasional arguments amongst people with differing views on how to approach the issue of the big cat.

Throughout the village (and indeed the entire district from here on in) the party will see decorated flags flying wherever they go. These are prayer flags (or yantras) and the one that they see most often is dedicated to Shiva for whom this is sacred territory.

The first difficulty the party will have (assuming they arrive during the time of dread) is simply trying to convince someone to step outside and talk with them. Once their presence is made known, the reaction of the villagers will be mixed: some will think that, being Westerners, they are expert hunters come to kill the leopard; others will believe that the presence of foreigners will only anger whatever forces are already punishing them. If the party makes an averaged Credit Rating roll, the villagers will eventually be predisposed to believe that the arrival of the party is a good thing: accommodation will be provided and the party will learn that the village elders sent a deputation to Delhi many months ago to ask for help in removing the wild cat from the district. The party may feel it appropriate for the villagers to believe that they are the help provided by the government; otherwise, they might choose to quickly disabuse the townsfolk of this notion. The choice they make here may cause a later meeting with Jim Corbett to be somewhat uncomfortable...

Pilgrim Territory

Passing through Rudraprayag puts the traveller on the path to Badrinath and its temple, a site which is sacred to adherents of Shiva, or Saivid Hindus. Journey to this shrine is part of a larger pilgrim trail known as the Char Dham, a voyage that takes the pilgrim to the four corners of the Indian sub-continent, and which is shared by Vaishnavite Hindus, or followers of Vishnu. Further, here in the Himalayan foothills, there is another pilgrim trail called the Chota (or small) Char Dham, which follows the footsteps of the Hindu saint (or sadhu) Ari Shankara: this walk takes in another powerful Saivid site at Kedarnath.

Pilgrims tend to walk clockwise along the Chota Char Dham so as to arrive at Kedarnath before coming to Badrinath. Kedarnath is the site of a temple where the Pandavars, a fraternity of warriors from the Hindu epic the Mahabharata, performed acts of austerity which won them the blessings of Lord Shiva. Kedarnath is located beneath a glacier and is open only between April-May and October-November – heavy snows completely cut off the town outside of these months and the residents depart to friendlier climes.

Badrinath is sacred to Saivid Hindus because of its location near the Alaknanda River. According to legend, when the goddess Ganga fell to earth, Shiva interposed himself to protect the Earth from her impact, catching her in his matted locks. The place where she left his coiffure to walk upon the ground is the trail of the sacred River Ganges. The River Alaknanda is a tributary of the Ganges formed by this dramatic fall. In the Ninth Century, Ari Shankara found a stone in the river, naturally carved into the likeness of an incarnation of Vishnu who did great penance at the site to ease the suffering of the world: this stone murti, or three-dimensional holy image, is housed within a temple in the village and pilgrims from all over India come to see it.

The surrounding area is full of other holy sites and places of interest, including hot springs and caves. Of note amongst these is a mountain which, when viewed from Badrinath seems to be carved with the Devanagari word “Aum”, a sacred syllable to Hindus; near Sonprayag is a temple where the Goddess Parwati was spiritually wed to Lord Shankar and in which a fire illuminating this ceremony has burned since the Ninth Century; and there is a spring at Udar Kund which, according to tradition, contains water from all the oceans and which never loses its freshness: its powers of purification are well-known.

Settling in...

The villagers put up the party at an abandoned farmstead on the edge of town. This is a four-sided construction surrounding a courtyard: a walled gate forms the front entrance with kitchens and laundry on either side, while staff quarters make up the left-hand side and stables are to the right. The main house is a two-storey construction with an upper balcony overlooking the central yard. The villagers will attempt to precede the party and clean up: they do not immediately (or ever, if they can manage it) reveal that the house was abandoned after the owner was attacked and killed in his bedroom by the infamous leopard. It will be noted by the party however, that the roof above the master bedroom has caved in at some point; this is where the leopard pushed through to make its assault.

Any servants that the party may have accumulated will, if they have journeyed to Rudraprayag and are not locals themselves, at first be unconcerned about moving into these premises; after a few days however, they become sullen and moody, jumping at shadows and muttering under their breath. Contact with the local villagers has revealed to them the nature of the past events in the house and the fact that most villagers consider the place cursed at least, haunted at worst. Any helpers engaged in Rudraprayag itself will straight-out refuse to move into the place.

To Be Continued...