The Hollowed Ones

Description

The name the Order gave for the entity controlling people through direct communication with their brain: "The Hollowed Ones. Infection. Sounds like stage one." It is described as an infection with stages, not a single creature — the Hatchett gang were only the first.

It first revealed itself through the Hatchett gang, who were psychically linked — any harm done to one of them hurt them all, and they died in perfect unison across separate locations during "Hole Noon," seemingly without direct cause of death. When Cuthbert made contact with the presence behind them and asked where it was, a single word dropped into his mind: "EVERYWHERE."

Eleven months ago, the same affliction appears to have taken the miners at the mine north of Hole — and, before them, Ms March's brother August March, who changed after entering the mine and then vanished.

Known Signs & Symptoms

Notes

• The Order has ordered Cuthbert to stand down — "Not your mission. Stand down. Sending warden to collect." — and that message, unlike its others, did not fade. An Order warden is incoming
• Cuthbert's Session 9 suspicion: he now doubts the "stand down" order came from the Order at all. It did not print from his watch like a genuine message — it appeared only after the first message had faded ("Marty McFly style"). He suspects it is a forgery by the Hollowed Ones, meant to dissuade him from investigating. (His theory, unconfirmed.)
• The Hatchetts showed no strange behaviour before "Hole Noon" and there are no living Hatchetts left in Hole — making them an abrupt, late-stage outbreak rather than a slow local one
• Open speculation: Doctor Webb's red algae mutates corn, seems extraterrestrial, and likely originates underground; the small cacti reminded Ms March of "some corn she once saw." Whether the algae, the cacti, and the Hollowed Ones share an origin is unknown
• The mine's main shaft was closed after the miners vanished; owner Righteous Arminhanmer's company covered it up and is now opening a new shaft
• Session 10 — a warden did arrive. Jacob Johnston, an Order warden and a peer from Cuthbert's training, woke him with a sword at his throat. His instruction is to return Cuthbert to his original time; he does not know whether the Richie Durgin directive is even why Cuthbert was sent to Hole. Jacob outranks Cuthbert and believes it is best not to question orders — but accidentally let slip that the Order are not in agreement about what to do with Cuthbert.
• Session 10 — the hum has a third location. Farmswatter heard it at the cactus grove on a mountainside ledge near the mining village. That is the same sound as the mine's hum and Doctor Webb's recurring nightmare
• Session 10 — the cactus cells: under the microscope, the cactus's red cells latch onto and manipulate other cells, which Doctor Webb reads as extraterrestrial — the same read he had on the red algae
• The session ended with Cuthbert and Ms March misteleported into somewhere wet, musty and pitch dark
• Session 11 — what Jacob has overheard. He has not been told any of it directly, as it is above his position. He has heard the Hollowed Ones mentioned in relation to zombies, and that they are tied to something big
• Session 11 — the Order is split. The upper echelons disagree on how to handle the Hollowed Ones, or whatever situation is related to them. The Interventionists want to intervene; the Preservationists do not.
• Session 11 — Ms March says the Hollowed Ones killed her husband. She stated this to the party after Doctor Webb explained their history with the infection and the Hatchett gang.
• Session 11 — Darla had not heard of the Hollowed Ones, despite being an Order operative sent from 1983
• Doctor Webb explained the party's previous experience with the Hollowed Ones and the effect they / it had on the Hatchett gang — the account that prompted Jacob to trade what he knows

Session Appearances