The hunters are contacted by telephone by a man named Nathaniel Swain. In his initial contact, Swain will be terse and mistrustful: all business and no more information than is absolutely necessary to get the hunters' attention. This man seems scared. Where the Undead are concerned, he is a believer in mind, but not at heart. The thought of people who hunt the Undead for a living is almost as scary as the Undead themselves.

But not nearly as scary as the fact that he is actually calling them.

Swain is one of the many the hunters have met who have been shocked into unwilling belief... by a sight that the rational mind could explain no other way. On the phone, Swain will claim to have something to show them that might be related to their line of work, but he's not sure. He wants to meet with them.

But only in public, and only in daylight.

Sounds like this man has seen a vampire.

The phone call ends with Swain's first offer: "Five thousand dollars ro cover your traveling expenses. Five thousanl dollars jusr to come and take a look at what I have. Friday, at noon, in Denver Colorado... the patio of rhe Burger Bash in Tabor Center. I'll be wearing a red sweater and a white baseball cap. "

If the hunters have the ability to trace the call, they will notice that it originates in a 303 area code--a pay phone somewhere in Denver. Four hours later, $5000 will be wired to the Hunters' bank account from the account of Nate Swain of the Wachovia Bank of Washington, D.C. Without much more coaxing, the hunters should find themselves on the next flight to Denver.

Swain

Nate Swain is a narrow 37 year-old with thick glasses who, despite his geeky appearance, is grim and competent in person. By profession, Swain says he is a deputy inspector for the Department of Transportation; but by night, he occupies himself with studies of mythology and the occult.

He makes his home in Washington, D.C., but travels extensively, inspecting the scenes of mass transit accidents all over America. He has seen some grisly scenes in his time with the DOT.

The DOT and NTSB follow up on over 700 commercial transit accidents per year. Some of them, like Flight 800 and the ValuJet disaster, make the national headlines.

This is not one of them.

Swain will bring a plain 9"x12" envelope containing hardcopy reports and photos of a train derailment to his meeting with the hunters.

Train Wreck

At 5:42 am, mountain time, a Union Pacific light freight special, en route from Washington to Los Angeles, derailed on a curve just outside Laramie, Wyoming. The derailment occurred on a flat stretch of ground, in fair weather conditions. The train was under the command of an engineer with over 20 years experience, who had never been known to drink or use narcotics.

The official cause of the derailment is listed by Union Pacific as, "...operator error--possibly narcotics or alcohol induced."

Nate Swain doesn't think so. The conditions were ideal for travel and the crew was competent. That train should never have jumped the tracks. And then, there's the bodies...

In another envelope, Swain has the autopsy reports for the min's crew:

Torrance, Mark 1. (Brakeman)

Age: 24, Male Caucasian.
5'10", 190 lbs.
2nd and 3rd degree burns over 30 percent of victim's body. Burn areas concentrated in the upper arms, chest, face and neck. Both arms fractured at the elbows, apparently crushed. Massive deep tissue lacerations of the neck and left shoulder.
Cause of death: shock, mass trauma.
Time of death: approx. 6:00 am, MST.

ME's Note: Positive ID achieved through victim's dental records.

Harvey, Daniel S. (Engineer)

Age: 50, Male Caucasian.
5'8", 162 lbs.

Massive deep tissue damage in the chest and abdomen. Ribcage split open at the sternum exposing the chest cavity. Multiple type-3 connective tissue separations between ribcage and spine. Massive coronary ruptures.
Cause of death: mass trauma, blood loss.
Time of Death: approx. 6:00 am, MST.

ME's Note: Victim scheduled to retire from U.P. the following Monday. Positive ID by wife.

Santiago, Fredrico (Fireman)

Age: 35, Male Hispanic.
6'2" 252 lbs.
Extensive cranial fractures--left side of skull. Sinus cavities collapsed. Left eyeball ruptured.
Cause of Death: Massive cranial trauma.
Time of death: approx. 6:00 am, MST.

ME's Note: Positive ID by wife. Father of three. I quit.

Torrance and Harvey were found with the wreck. Santiago was found several miles down the tracks. After a good look at the photos accompanying the reports, the hunters might need make use of the Burger Bash's clean and pleasant sanitary facilities.

Inspector Swain will ask the waitress for some more catsup.

The local medical examiner at Laramie agrees with Swain that the wounds on the bodies of the crew are totally inconsistent with a train wreck. Moreover, nothing on the train was found to be on fire or have been on fire. So what burned Mark Torrance so badly? Sunrise that morning was at exactly 5:40 am.

"I hope this is enough to incite your interest," Swain will explain to the characters. "My own people would laugh me right out the door if I came to them with what I think about this. If you like, though... I can show you the coffin."

Storage Locker

Swain will take the hunters to a storage locker outside Denver, where he has collected what he considers the important evidence in the case... primarily a badly damaged steel coffin. Thc inside of the coffin, and the edges of the lid, has been clawed through, a process that must have taken a very 1ong time--even for a vampire. Inside the coffin is a small satchel containing a passport for one Darian Grelet, a few personals (a comb, a pocket watch, and some jewelry) and 360,000 French francs (about $60,000). There is also a piece of paper with a name written on it: "Athena."

The most important detail is the shipping label. The label reads:

Darian Grelet
US Postal Depot,
Leesburg VA, 12012-3412
United States
Overnight Express Post Restante

In other words, the coffin was to be delivered to its owner, who would pick it up. Without proper ID, the post office will not release the Post Restante package. So the vampire would be stuck inthe coffin unless the contact provided fake ID or working in the post office.

Swain's second offer: He will give the 360,000ff up front, with another $40,000 to follow, providing the hunters can loacate and eliminate Grelet's contact in Leesburg.

What do you say, hunters, up for it?

PLEASE!

If you plan on playing in this adventure,

read no further!

More Hunters

Player's Introduction
GM Introduction
Leesburg, VA
Main Facility
Garage and Vampire's Lair

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