My journey towards the uncanny is full of surprises. As you may know, I’m trying to discover more information about the dark secrets of our world and lately, a small town on the Massachusetts coast caught my attention. Its name: Innsmouth.
But the good people in Arkham and the county of Essex don’t say much about it, so what a stroke of luck it was to come across an eldritch volume about this shunned place. Was it really, however? I might regret what I am about to discover but I can’t help sharing it with you, in case anything happens to me.
The weirdness of the manifestation
Just one look on the cover is enough to know that its content is going to be disturbing, like the faint smell of a rotting fish hung in an old net.
Oh of course, you can first read the copy of the Innsmouth courier that is provided, or even scrutinise the two two-sided maps to have a first glimpse of the taint but it’s nothing compared to what you will find inside the book itself. Don’t you see? It exudes from it.
Page after page along the 268 bound together, are gathered hundreds of illustrations, be drawings, maps, blueprints and even more. It’s compelling, it’s attractive, despite projecting a gloomy and unsettling ambiance. Or maybe, that is precisely what encourages the reader to carry on. Even the overall design of the pages concurs to it. What a job has been done, what a magnificent piece of art it is. If not but its content, the artwork alone already sets the bar very high.
The non-euclidianism of the structure
Five chapters. Five chapters not to mention the Introduction nor the Index. That’s how the scaly material emerges ashore.
Yes, of course, the Introduction gives an overview about what to expect plus a few warnings, and it’s not as nice as you may think.
But it all really begins with a ‘Welcome to Innsmouth’ (Chapter one), like if anyone could be welcomed in this sea-cursed fishing town. There you will find the history of the municipality with some of its already despicable secrets, including the current situation and some first nuggets about the infamous Esoteric Order of Dagon (EOD). It is followed by Innsmouth’s chronology and its geographical situation in the Miskatonic valley. Because you see, it’s not easy to find this forgotten place, lost in the middle of the coastal swamps, especially with the horrific weather they have.
The then chapter 2 will unveil the Shadow over Innsmouth in twenty pages detailing precisely the structure and goals of the EOD before diving profoundly into the alien history and cultures of the creatures known as Deep Ones.
You will learn a lot and maybe you will wish you had not known as much as each mystery revealed about these beings makes them less frightening. But don’t be fooled, they are not humans and their real objectives are far apart from ours, I have no doubt about that. If I was wrong, why would there also be written a part about a certain raid and the future ?
Now you are hooked, aren’t you? And of course you want to investigate a bit more. Well, that’s the subject of Chapter 3, in nineteen pages. Specific investigators and their backstories, altered and new skills, what kind of information can be found about Innsmouth from outside the town and some more general ones along with gossip form the content of this part of the tome.
Oh yes, if, like me, you feel the pull, the attraction of the foetid town, it’s time to read in detail what viscous mystery you can catch in the fourth chapter, Guide to Innsmouth. And it will take time as they are developed over 138 pages. For your sanity, I won’t bother to detail them here, but just know that the town is studied neighborhood by neighborhood, almost family by family. A real autopsy for this almost murdered place.
Eventually, you will reach Chapter 5: Appendices. You won’t want to overlook it, not only because of the six scenario seeds but also because of all the play aids left here, like by a sepulchral tide: profiles, marine magic and artifacts.
The finishing Index is always welcomed, cataloguing neatly such a previous madness. But one advice, friend, go to the very last pages, and you should find another queer surprise.
Beyond the Veil of the everyday reality
I know what you are thinking, dear Keeper: better not to approach this part of the Miskatonic valley, then. But you would be wrong as there is so much to learn.
Don’t you want to know what really happened in this gloaming place and why? Don’t you want to know more about the Marsh family, how they became the richest of the town and why the eldest one hasn’t been seen for so long? And don’t you want to know, at least, how and why people still live in the fetid houses of this revulsing part of the Salt Marches?
You can find all the answers you seek in this guide and much more.
I’m telling you, take any page and you will be shocked by the discoveries you will make, maybe especially by the Third Oath of Dagon.
Even the Devil Reef and the submerged Y’ha-nthlei have been described, bringing a new layer of atavistic terror and cyclopean wonders.
You might feel trapped once you are there, for sure, not knowing where to go and who to trust while you are hounded by some bulging eyes’ folks with webbed fingers. But know that not all is lost, many have their own agenda and there are still some rare sparks of hope disseminated along the way. For the sake of the ones who accompany you, I hope you find them.
Finally, be aware, some of the old abandoned warehouses might not be as abandoned as one may think and people tend to disappear regularly in the deep of the night (and of the ocean).
The accursed attraction of the unspeakable knowledge
As a Keeper, you will want to weave your own stories and create your own journeys to share with your PCs and it all ends with one question: is Innsmouth worth it? My answer is yes, without a doubt.
Sure the small fishing town is much less important than Arkham but if you want a place infused with shameful secrets, that’s the one you need. It’s broken, damp and sick. Should you prepare it correctly, it will leave a mark on your players that they will certainly never forget.
And even if you don’t run your tales in the 1920ies, that should not be a problem as the authors present many ‘Look to the Future’ entries telling you how a place, a person or a situation will evolve.
As for the setting in the Miskatonic Valley, well, to be honest many other places looked alike at this period, be them in France, in the UK, or anywhere in the world, really. Just a bit of imagination, of elbow grease and Innsmouth can be transported anywhere.
As an investigator, most of this knowledge may not be for you though, like with any guidebook published. But as usual, it’s a personal choice and I, more than many, can understand the appeal of these dark lines and otherworldly revelations.
Where everything ends, where everything starts
This book is like a wet and salty slap in the face, a marvel of what can be achieved nowadays in the industry, a masterpiece of art and cryptic stories that will leave you shaken and upset by the terrible taint of this once prosperous fishing town.
Some daring dark choices and options are presented by the authors, for sure, but what an evolution since the last occurrence of Escape from Innsmouth in 1997.
They are really master creative storytellers who managed to develop the Mythos beyond what could be thought and, more than that, who managed to create a unique decaying ambiance that I have never felt anywhere despite reading a lot of evil tenebrous volumes around the world.
Even if your campaign was not supposed to approach the lost fishing town and its crooked and ichthyic inhabitants, you might want to reconsider not being caught in their nets.
