Assignment #706:

The Paper Trail

 The Paper Trail

An Assignment for Candela Obscura

Content warning: Nothing that bad, have fun!

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Premise 1
Threats

Dramatis Personae

Exploration
Exploration I: The Offices

Exploration II: The Basement Flat

Escalation
Escalation I: The Tunnels

Escalation II: The Far Lands

Climax: The Mind Wyrm

2
A Note from the
Reliquary
This tome is a work of Nostromo's Reliquary, where the
arcane meets the terrifying in tabletop role-playing
adventures. We craft immersive and spine-tingling tales that
span the realms of horror, mystery, and steampunk for a
diverse array of TTRPG systems.
Our creations are not just stories; they are immersive
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facing ancient evils in eldritch landscapes, our games
promise inclusive narratives and unforgettable horrors. Join
us on a journey where your choices matter, and the
shadows hold more than mere secrets.
Nostromo's Reliquary invites you to explore the unknown,
confront your deepest fears, and embark on tabletop
adventures that will linger in your thoughts long after the
game ends. Get ready for a rollercoaster of emotions and a
thrilling ride into the realms of the unknown!
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Nostromo
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3
Premise
Annabelle Powers is in over her head. She has read from a
forbidden tome in The Lower Stacks of the Briarbank
College Library, where she is a researcher and dabbling
occultist. An ancient sigil in the tome has possessed her
with otherworldly urges to delve deeper into the long-
forgotten arcana of the library - in the process, unleashing
awful forces from beyond the Flare.
Threats
The Mind wyrm (body):
Summoned from beyond the Flare and controlled by occult
rituals, the Mind Wyrm is a colossal threat to the
investigators. Digging tunnels wide enough to fit subway
cars, it requires care and caution from your investigators.
The Far Lands (brain):
Spinning in a tight orbit around a distant star, the Far Lands
are a desolate landscape inhabited by abominations and
the occasional human interloper. Countless miles from the
nearest outpost of humanity, reckless investigators can lose
their grip on reality here.
The Sigil (bleed):
It is unclear if the Sigil is a living creature or residual
Oldfaire magick - it is abundantly clear that it is a malevolent
force with no good intentions for the investigators.
dramatis personae
The Chief Librarian:
Dr. Artemis Huxley (they/them)
The Seekers:
Hannibal Chittenden (he/him), Arcadia Atwood (she/her)
The Scriveners
Alistair Philpott (he/him), Damien Lee (he/him)
The Sigil-Bearer:
Annabelle Powers (she/her)
Dr. Artemis Huxley, the Chief Librarian
Hooks
Read this section to the players as the hook for this
adventure:
The scene is unearthly quiet, as the gray desert
landscape tumbles through space. A young woman,
short and unassuming, kneels on the ashen ground,
drawing precise shapes in the dust. She murmurs under
her breath as she finishes the final form.
After what feels like an interminable wait, a slight tremor
twitches in the ground. Over long minutes it grows to a
violent uproar as the young woman’s eyes widen.
We see a long shadow cast over her diminutive form,
dust and stones tumbling around her. The shadow grows
and grows, seemingly without end.
Feel free to use one of these hooks to further customize the
assignment to your Circle of investigators.
Academic Connections:
You have some connection to the Briarbank College
Library. Either as a former student, employee, or faculty
member, you are often in contact with library staff. A
discrete overture was made for your assistance in handling
a delicate matter of library business. You felt moved to
accept based on your past associations.
A friend from the War:
Your friend from the war, Hannibal Chittenden, is calling in a
long-held favor. He is worried, and it isn’t in his nature to
worry. He’s currently employed as a fixer for the Briarbank
College Library, finding dusty old books that the eggheads
can’t live without. You can’t imagine what is so urgent that it
needs your immediate attention, but a favor is a favor and
so you come when asked.
4
Angling for Access:
You have heard through your contacts that a tome has gone
missing from the Lower Stacks of the Briarbank College
Library. Badly wanting access to this restricted trove of
arcane objects, you spring into action. You call in a few
favors to ensure that when Candela Obscura is recruiting
investigators, your name is at the top of the list.
As always, customize these assignment hooks to make a
compelling investigation that suits your Circle!
Arrival
Read this section to the players:
You’re called in by Candela Obscura to investigate the
disappearance of a rare tome from the restricted Lower
Stacks of the Briarbank College library. Sealed under
lock and key, the Lower Stacks are a secure reserve for
the library’s rare and esoteric collections. As the library
staff are among the chief suspects, the Head Librarian
has sent word to your circle’s Lightkeeper for a team of
investigators.
You begin on the campus of Briarbank College
quadrangle. You know that the Head Librarian should
have more information, as should the student-
researchers who staff the library.
Reveal: The Library at Briarbank College is a beacon of
learning - but the presence of the tightly secured Lower
Stacks hint at something more dangerous.
If your players opt to visit the Library directly, read this
section to the players:
The library at Briarbank College sits on a tidily manicured
lawn on the college’s central quadrangle. Students zip
from building to building, relax on picnic blankets under a
canopy of old-growth trees, or play ball to while away the
time.
The library itself is an imposingly grand edifice, with
marble columns and finely crafted wooden double doors.
Upon entering, the investigators see a quiet scene of
students studying at neatly arrayed tables, and towering
mahogany stacks going as far as the eye can see. The
stacks are separated periodically by standing statues of
historical figures.
Several library assistants are seated at the central
reception desk, checking out books and sorting through
the card catalog.
If the players opt to question the library assistants, they may
learn:
● The Lower Stacks are a secured area below the
main library - access is tightly controlled.
● The location of the Head Librarian’s office is
upstairs - the assistants should not give up this
information readily.
● Only Scriveners, Seekers, and guests specially
approved by the Head Librarian are allowed
access to Lower Stacks.
Roles in the Briarbank College Library
For your background knowledge as a Lightkeeper, and
potentially to reveal to a world-wise investigator, here is a
quick breakdown of the roles in the Library.
The student employees in the Briarbank College Library
are broadly broken into three camps.
Assistants are the majority of junior student employees
at the library. They perform the mundane tasks that keep
the library running, such as shelving books and helping
patrons find materials in the winding Upper Stacks.
Scriveners are a small group of senior researchers.
They catalog, translate, and attempt to understand the
rare tomes that the library possesses. Think of the
scriveners as standard academic researchers with a
peculiar research interest.
Seekers are a select group of senior library staffers,
often students but not always. They retrieve rare tomes
at the request of the Head Librarian. A blend of
adventurers and archaeologists, the Seekers are
alternately envied or looked up to by other library staff.
Think of the Seekers as the library’s ability to reach out
into the world and acquire new material - by whatever
means necessary!
Exploration I: The
Offices
Reveal: The researchers and book retrievers of the library
had various motivations to want to delve deeper than Dr
Artemis Huxley would allow.
The Chief Librarian's Office
If the players choose to visit the Chief Librarian in their
office, read the following section.
The Chief Librarian’s office is a spacious, mahogany-
lined room on the top floor of the college library. A wide
desk is lined with trinkets both scientific and spiritual,
including a small, working Sterling engine as well as
5
 religious icons from faraway places.
Arcadia is a gifted Weird, sensitive to the magick auras that
The walls are decorated almost to the point of often accompany the material that the library seeks out. She
overcrowding with maps, diagrams, and what looks like is also an avid autocycle rider and generally lives life for the
star-charts or arcane glyphs. thrill of it. Where Hannibal is quiet and reserved, Arcadia is
chatty and talkative. She wears a silk scarf over her left
A small working area is reserved on the desk and is kept hand, which is badly scarred by Bleed.
immaculately clear. This area includes a small calendar,
a writing pad, and a bleed detector.
If the players opt to question Hannibal, they may learn:
● Dr. Huxley is toweringly angry, and that worries
If the players opt to meet Dr. Huxley, they find that the head Hannibal - not much worries Hannibal.
librarian is a quirky individual who takes their job very ● Damian Lee, one of the Scrivs, is too ambitious for
seriously. Distracted by the tasks of running the College his own good. He asks for access above his level.
library while keeping the collection in The Lower Stacks ● Alistair Philpott wants to be a Seeker, but is too
safe, the Doctor should come off as absent minded or green for the work in Hannibal’s estimation.
meandering. Their demeanor should change to one of sharp ● Arcadia and one of the Scrivs named Annabelle
focus when the question of the missing tome arises. were in a romantic relationship until recently.
Hannibal doesn’t know the details, and knows
better than to pry.
If the players opt to question Dr. Huxley, they may learn:
● Dr. Huxley needs outside support, as they are too
close to their students to maintain an objective
mind.
● The missing book is titled Codex Vermis Mentis,
and pertains to summoning creatures from beyond
the Flare.
● The Seekers look like a rough crowd, but they are
recruited for their sterling character as well as
survival skills.
● Some interpersonal drama is riling up the
Scriveners, commonly referred to as Scrivs. This is
not uncommon, given the awkward sort of genius
that the work attracts.
● Annabelle Powers, one of the Scrivs, is out sick
today. That is out of character for her, and she will
surely be back tomorrow.
● Dr. Huxley knows the personal details of all of their
employees, like home addresses. They will part
with this information only with a good justification.

The Seekers’ Office Hannibal Chittenden, Seeker

If the players choose to visit the Seekers in their office, read If the players opt to question Arcadia, they may learn:
the following section. ● Annabelle and Alistair Philpott are good friends.
● Arcadia thinks that Annabelle is missing work to
avoid seeing her, which hurts Arcadia.
The Seeker’s office is a tiny, cramped space near one of ● Annabelle broke up with Arcadia via a cruelly
the spiral staircases to a side entrance of the library. The worded note. It was very out of character. Arcadia
room is crammed with several desks, covered in maps, does not volunteer this information without an
appropriate test.
expedition equipment, and dusty books.
In a corner is a mannequin of the type used for martial
arts sparring - it is deeply scored with scratch marks and
bleached from years of hard use.
A leather jacket and helmet hang from a coat hanger in
the other corner.

If the players opt to meet Hannibal Chittenden and Arcadia

Atwood in their offices, they encounter an interesting pack
dynamic. The two are “work spouses”, often traveling
together for weeks on end to dangerous places. They trust
one another implicitly.

Hannibal is a grizzled veteran from the recent war, bearing

terrible emotional wounds from years of trench combat. He
is formidable in a fight and generally provides the Seeker’s
with their muscle when the situation calls for it. He wears
either a short sword or a long dagger as part of his outfit.
6
Arcadia Atwood, Seeker
The Scriveners’ Office
If the players choose to visit the Scrivs in their office, read
the following section.
The Scrivener’s office is a claustrophobic space just off
the stairwell to the restricted Lower Stacks. The office
has three desks, one of them tidy and two of them piled
with books.
The walls of the room are lined with bookshelves and a
large table for a reference tome and card catalog.
If the players opt to meet Alistair Philpott and Damien Lee in
their office, they encounter a somewhat friendly pair of
rivals. Damien is intensely talented and competitive, even to
the point of being dismissive and condescending of others’
achievements. Alistair is a shy, retiring sort who dislikes
interpersonal conflict.
If the players opt to question Damien, they may learn:
● Damien has a low opinion of most of his
colleagues, Dr. Huxley included. They are holding
him back.
● The library is stuck in the past, preventing brilliant
researchers from accessing the resources they
need.
● Annabelle is working on a biography of a 16th
century occultist and supposed sorcerer, Algernon
Eldenstone - the restricted Lower Stacks has his
grimoire. It’s a boring subject to Damien, everyone
knows that magick isn’t real.
Damien Lee, Scrivener
If the players opt to question Alistair, they may learn:
● Annabelle is an avid note-taker - she records all of
the meeting minutes, and stores her notes in her
locked desk.
● Alistair is hiding something - he knows that
Annabelle has been acting erratically for the past
few days, and suspects that she has the missing
tome.
● Alistair is in a rush - he intends to travel to
Annabelle’s basement flat, as he is worried for her
safety.
If the investigators recover Annabelle’s notes, a perceptive
investigator will learn that Annabelle’s research interest has
suddenly shifted in recent days from Algernon Eldenstone’s
biography to esoteric, older texts focused on piercing the
Flare, with repeated references to a “Mind Wyrm”. A
knowledgeable investigator might know the nature of Mind
Wyrms, as they are an ancient dragon-like myth with
tremendous destructive capabilities. Her writing has turned
recently from precise and analytical to cold and calculating.
Alistair Philpott, Scrivener
7
Exploration II:
The Basement Flat
Reveal: Annabelle is suffering from a dark obsession with
magick that might pierce the Flare.
Whether following Alistair Phipott because he acted
suspiciously or having acquired the address from Dr.
Huxley, the investigators should eventually call on the
missing Scriv, Annabelle Powers.
By this point, the Mind Wyrm has been summoned and has
burrowed a network of tunnels under Newfaire. Be sure to
mention unusual tremors or even small earthquakes as your
investigators travel through the city.
To enter the flat, the investigators will need to be creative.
The flat has the following characteristics:
● The door is locked and no one answers if the
investigators knock.
● The window is easily jimmied open, but it's difficult
to reach without some acrobatic talents.
● The landlady lives in the ground-level unit, and can
be persuaded to let the investigators in.
When the players enter the flat, read the following:
Annabelle’s basement flat is a modest but immaculately
kept studio. Scant furnishings include a small desk next
to a neatly made bed. A notebook sits closed on the desk
next to a well-used inkpot.
The waste basket has a set of clothing in it, cut for a
taller woman.
A tapestry covers a crack in the far wall.
The room smells of recently burned incense.
If the players opt to investigate the notebook, they may find:
● The notebook begins with personal entries,
including several pleasant references to the
beautiful new Seeker at the library.
● Recent entries shift abruptly to academic research,
particularly figuring out a complex mathematical
formula.
● A knowledgeable investigator will recognize the
formula and incense smells as components of a
summoning circle.
If the players opt to investigate the wastebasket, they may
recognize the clothing as Arcadia’s, cut in a similar style
and size to the Seeker.
If the players investigate the crack in the tapestry, advance
them to the next section. If they are set to ignore the
tapestry, let them hear the faint voice of Alistair calling from
where he is trapped down below.
Escalation I: The
Tunnels
Reveal: The Mind Wyrm has returned to Newfaire, digging
a tunnel beneath Annabelle’s flat.
A cold draft brushes past you as you peer behind the
tapestry. The crack expands to a hole just wide enough
to crawl through. Through the hole, you spot a cavernous
tunnel, about as wide as a subway car, that descends in
a corkscrew to unfathomable depths below.
Clinging to the tunnel wall on a narrow ledge, you see
Alistair Philpott with a flickering lantern tied to his belt.
Alistair has come looking for Annabelle, having stolen
Eldenstone’s Grimoire from the Lower Stacks of the library.
He can explain how the mark of the Sigil-Bearer possesses
its victim, but only if he survives the scene!
Navigating the Mind Wyrm’s tunnels is tricky. Near-vertical
in places, investigators with climbing gear will have a much
safer traversal than investigators attempting to free climb.
This is an ideal moment to freely deal out Brain and Body
marks from the hazards of exploration.
Obstacles may include:
● Nearly vertical sections of wall present a challenge
to investigators. A clever investigator might find a
safe path along the natural ledges, while an
intrepid climber might rig a safety rope to descend
downwards.
● Pools of secretion lay in seemingly safe ledges.
The Mind Wyrm’s ichor is highly contaminated with
bleed.
● The tunnel periodically intersects itself, requiring a
good sense of navigation to choose the fastest
route downwards. Getting lost is exhausting and
can inflict Body marks.
● The tunnel intersects with a buried relic of Oldfaire,
clearly wrought by human hands but uninhabited
for centuries. Three strange bat-like predators
prowl in this section of tunnels. They fear light
sources and little else.
When you are satisfied with the tension built in this scene,
you can advance to the next sequence.
8
The Nature of the Missing Books
For your background knowledge as a Lightkeeper, and
potentially to reveal to a book-smart investigator, here is a
quick breakdown of the missing documents.
Two books have gone missing from the Briarbank
College Library. They are the following:
Codex Vermis Mentis is the book that your Circle was
called in to retrieve. Profoundly dangerous, it details the
summoning rites for a Mind Wyrm, a creature capable of
piercing the Flare and burrowing through space and time.
It is in the possession of Annabelle Powers in The Far
Lands.
Eldenstone’s Grimoire was recently stolen from a less
secure section of the Lower Stacks. It is the collected
wisdom of a 16th century philosopher and occultist.
Unknown to the library staff, it contains a spell to
summon a remnant of the ancient sorcerer. The remnant
inhabits the body of the spellcaster, marking them as a
Sigil-Bearer. It is in the possession of Alistair Philpott in
the Mind Wyrm Tunnels.
Escalation II: The
Far Lands
Reveal: The Mind Wyrm has tunneled through dimensions
to reach a far celestial body, an asteroid tumbling through
space.
Upon reaching the far end of the Mind Wyrm’s tunnels, read
the following:
After long hours of trekking through the tunnels below
Newfaire, you see a strobing light in the distance. As you
approach, you are struck by a strange sensation. Gravity
seems to invert, and rather than walking towards the
light, you are forced to climb the last few feet towards a
cave mouth.
The cave mouth opens into a desolate, alien landscape.
Gray and barren as a desert, the land around the cave
mouth is bathed by strange, harsh sunlight. The sun
wheels in the sky with unnatural speed, producing a
dizzying, spinning effect.
Your investigators have entered The Far Lands, a midway
point for interdimensional travelers of old, like Algernon
Eldenstone.
Investigating the alien environment, your investigators may
find:
● The dust and regolith holds footprints well. A single
set of footprints lead to a nearby mesa. An astute
investigator determines that the trekker seems at
times to wander, and at times to know exactly
where they are headed.
● A sharp-eyed investigator can spot Earth in the
harsh night sky.
● The ground shakes violently from time to time.
Upon following the footprints, read the following to the
investigators:
A diminutive figure kneels before a low stone altar in the
distance, a thin chant reaching your ears. Their hands
shake as they carve glyphs into the stone. An open book
flutters on the altar, the figure stooped over the pages.
You recognize the figure to be the missing Scriv,
Annabelle Powers. Her delicate features are marred by a
glistening sigil, glowing and pulsating on the side of her
face.
Annabelle Powers, the Sigil-Bearer
Annabelle is completing the ritual to make permanent
Algernon Eldenstone’s possession of her body. Her soul will
soon be replaced by the ancient sorcerer. Investigators
either in the company of Alistair Philpott or in possession of
the grimoire that Alistair carried will understand the
significance of the chanting.
The book on the altar is the Codex Vermis Mentis, the
original missing tome from the library. It contains the spell to
summon the Mind Wyrm, which a quick-thinking investigator
could reverse engineer into an unsummoning ritual.
If the players attempt to intervene, advance to the next
section.
9
Climax: The Mind
time. Bear in mind, any harmful action towards Annabelle
will turn Arcadia immediately hostile towards the
investigators.

Wyrm Epilogue

Reveal: The sorcerer Algernon Eldenstone has influenced
Annabelle Powers into summoning the Mind Wyrm to
protect their dark ritual - can the investigators outwit the
beast to save Annabelle and themselves?
At a narratively appropriate moment, read the following
introduction for the Mind Wyrm.
Now is your chance to wrap up the assignment and
describe what happens in the world once the player
characters are gone. Remember that you have full narrative
agency during the hook and the epilogue, so you can
explore the story in ways that you cannot just by following
the player characters.

A tremor passes through the ground, growing in strength

Epilogue Questions:
to an overpowering earthquake. Emerging in the 1.
distance, a colossal creature rises from the ground,
sending talus and dust hurtling into the air. 2.
A long shadow passes over your investigators as the
creature keeps unwinding, seemingly without end. Its 3.
head, a maw of trifold beaks and endless teeth,
screeches as it surges towards the altar. 4.
5.
The Mind Wyrm’s first objective is to keep the investigators 6.
away from Annabelle so that the ritual can be completed 7.
and Algernon can take over her body permanently. This can
be accomplished by picking up Annabelle on its great
scales or by attacking the investigators directly.
Did the investigators successfully escape The
Far Lands?
Did they help anyone during the course of their
investigation?
Did they bond with any NPCs, and if they did,
what became of them?
Did they form any alliances or enmities with the
NPCs or supernatural forces chasing them?
Did they recover Eldenstone’s Grimoire?
Did they recover the Codex Vermis Mentis?
Did they recover all of the missing tomes?
(Award an additional bonus point if so)

The climactic scene may play out in several different ways - Credits
or something else entirely, depending on your investigators!
To end the possession, the investigators need to interrupt All artwork was generated using AI, like ArtFlow.
the chant or alter the sigil on Annabelle’s face, or read a
counterspell from Eldenstone’s Grimoire. Thank you to u/YaAlex for creating the basis for our
Assignment design template, available here!
Several common outcomes include:
● A chase across the dragon’s back: The Thank you for playing this game - I do this for fun, and it
investigators may opt to subdue Annabelle, brings me joy to be a part of your storytelling world!
requiring them to pass several checks to climb the
Mind Wyrm and reach her.
● The delicate solution: Altering the shape of the
sigils on Annabelle’s face disrupt the possession
and thus free the Mind Worm. A small incision or a
daub of ink are sufficient.
● The hard choice: Failing other options, the
players can end the possession and free the Mind
Worm by killing Annabelle.
● A battle of wills: The investigators may attempt to
free Annabelle by casting a spell from the
Grimoire, thus engaging in a challenge of minds
with Algernon Eldenstone.
● A noble(?) sacrifice: The investigators can cast
the Sigil on themselves if they possess the
Grimoire, leading to an investigator who hears
strange whispers from a malevolent voice. This
can confer awesome arcane power, but at what
cost?
Optionally, you can have the Seekers arrive to assist the
party - they would have no great difficulty following the
investigators through the tunnels. Arcadia and Hannibal can
provide a helpful distraction or buy the investigators some
10