From: Ian Stuart Subject: Special Affairs Files All the best Al Stuart "Plan B." "Run like extras in a Godzilla movie?" "You got it fuzz-buddy!" EARTHWORM JIM AUTHOR'S NOTE: The town of Castle Rock, and the names Leland Gaunt, Sheriff Alan Pangborn, Danforth "Buster" Keaton III and Polly Chalmers are the property of Stephen King. Their usage here is entirely unofficial and no profit is intended to be gathered from this usage. The document may be distributed freely, providing that this note remain on it and the document is distributed in it's entirety. FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION Special Affairs Division Security Clearance Roosevelt The "Castle Rock Incident" File Number X1103 Investigating Agents Special Agent Catherine Maria Shenko Special Agent Daniel Philip Hanrahan SUMMARY OF EVENTS On November 18th last year, the town of Castle Rock, Maine erupted into what can only be described as mass psychosis. Towns people fought each other, for no good reason, with whatever came to hand, all, it seems, at the behest of one Leland Gaunt, owner of the shop NEEDFUL THINGS. Events climaxed with a standoff between Gaunt and a Council member, Danforth "Buster" Keaton III. Keaton had clashed repeatedly with the town deputy, hammered his own wife to death and, by this point in the evening, had several hundred pounds of dynamite strapped to his chest. Eyewitnesses say that Keaton, having already wounded the local Sheriff, Alan Pangborn, rushed Gaunt, knocking both of them back into Gaunt's shop. The resultant explosion levelled the building. Keaton and Gaunt were killed instantly. Such was the state of affairs when Agent Hanrahan and myself arrived on the scene. As we investigated further however, we discovered something far, far more unusual than these events had occurred in Castle Rock{It is my wish at this point to state that such views are Agent Shenko's ONLY}. SUMMARY OF INVESTIGATION The townspeople were, as is often the case in such events, co-operative, as friendly as possible considering their horrific ordeal and utterly, utterly convinced that Gaunt had been killed. We talked to everyone involved in the incidents and all expressed a uniform set of emotions, and, it's worth adding, a uniform story. All were horrified and slightly embarrassed by what they'd done. One man recanted how he'd nearly killed his best friend because he believed the man had stolen his first edition printing of TREASURE ISLAND. A book purchased from NEEDFUL THINGS. We found such uniformity to be simultaneously reassuring and slightly dangerous. The town seemed remarkably together considering it had nearly committed mass homicide less than a week before we arrived. There were no cross words, no fights, not even much reaction to the smoking ruin of Gaunt's shop, other than keeping a healthy distance away from it. It is worth noting that a healthy distance was also kept from any mention of Sheriff Pangborn's condition or location. We tracked him down on the third day in town, staying in the flat above his fiance, Polly Chalmers' coffee shop. Pangborn was pale, drawn and had taken a shoulder wound from what appeared to be a high velocity sniper rifle, a wound which we can trace back to the townspeople's accounts of the night. Miss Chalmers was very dubious about us talking to Pangborn and only allowed us ten minutes with him. However, during that time I found the Sheriff to be lucid, calm and utterly matter of fact about what he saw. Which is not, what the other townspeople saw, or claim to have seen. Pangborn's story tallies exactly with that of the town, right up until the explosion. According to Pangborn, there was a pause as the debris of Gaunt's shop settled and lay still, and then something moved. Gaunt walked out of the shop, unharmed and straight up to Pangborn, smiling widely at the Sheriff. He is unclear about what Gaunt said, but can clearly remember the following sentence. "You and Polly will marry and have a beautiful son. You'll call him Edward. I'll see you in Djakarta Alan, January 15th, 2010. A beautiful day, we'll make headlines." And with that, and before the stunned townsfolk, Leland Gaunt, or whatever claimed to be Leland Gaunt, got in his car and drove out of town. I know that Agent Hanrahan, in his now legendary footnotes, will point out that Gaunt was weak from stress and blood loss, and that none of the others present claim to have seen it. As a result, I refer both the readers of this document, and my partner, to several points: A) Alan Pangborn worked Homicide in Chicago for ten years before retiring to Castle Rock. He was decorated for valour no less than eight times during that ten years. B) I had Pangborn checked over at Bethesda Naval Hospital(Report attached). They reported: 1)Damage to the artery and nerves in the right shoulder, with an anticipated 5% mobility loss in that arm. 2)Contusions and cuts indicative of shrapnel damage from an explosion. 3)Powder burns, as incurred by repeated firing of an automatic weapon(Pangborn reported discharging a full magazine from his Beretta 92F into the air in an attempt to diffuse the situation. The weapon has been confirmed as being fired). NO blunt trauma, concussion or head damage whatsoever was incurred. Sheriff Alan Pangborn was in complete control of his faculties when he saw what he saw. There are a number of questions this raises: Who or what is Leland Gaunt? What did he want in Castle Rock? Why did he instigate such unrest over, apparently, petty matters? Has he done so before? Why is Sheriff Pangborn the only one to remember him? To take the first question, I believe Leland Gaunt to be any of a number of possible creatures, all capable of passing for human and all, time and again, encountered by Special Affairs Agents across the country. A)Vampire: Gaunt never ventured out during the day, kept the curtains in his shop shut and appeared pallid almost constantly. He is reported to have eaten on several occasions, but Vampires are capable of faking this(Refer to File X573A: The Gourmet Vampire of Salt Lake City). B)Immortal: The Immortals are the most universally recognised group in the country, simply because their activities are so high profile. It seems highly likely that Gaunt was one such creature, tiring of the political and physical sword play of his fellows, who decided to use Castle Rock as his plaything. This would also explain the eating mentioned above and the unconfirmed rumours that Gaunt was seen outside on one occasion. C)Demon: Pangborn's own word. Gaunt seemed to take genuine pleasure in causing others pain and discomfort and, Pangborn seems to believe, needed it. However, he may simply have been any of the above with some particularly impressive psychoses{Or a normal man with impressive psychoses, whilst Sheriff Pangborn was at the end of his tether when we interviewed him}. As to what he wanted in Castle Rock, this Agent was unable to draw any definite conclusions. However, research into the archives of the town showed several, frankly bizarre, incidents have occurred there in the last fifteen years: 1980: A giant rabid dog, known as Cujo, killed the Sheriff at the time and three others before being brought down. No owner was ever discovered. 1987: Paulie Descheux, a New Orleans born writer in Castle Rock to research a book is involved in a car crash. He claimed to have developed telepathic abilities since that point, and successfully tracked down a serial killer using these abilities.{Descheux was unable to predict his own death however, at the hands of the killer}. 1992: Leonard Marsh, a well known writer who lived in the area, was reportedly attacked by George Stark, his pen name brought to life. Pangborn was involved in this incident but mentioned only in passing during our interview. I would like to formally request to open an investigation into this incident at the earliest opportunity. 1995: Leland Gaunt. As can be seen, for a small town, Castle Rock has had more than it's fair share of trouble. The reason for this, I believe, is it's location. To be blunt, Castle Rock is situated above the junction of the two biggest leylines in America. Earth energy, or Feng Shui has been conclusively proven, time and again, to be real and one can only assume that whatever Gaunt is{or was}he fed off this{why?}. I freely admit that this area of the investigation is vague, but I believe with more time and manpower, we could establish a case for this. As to Gaunt's reasons, those have been dealt with earlier. He moved the people of Castle Rock around like chess pieces, exploiting their own petty feuds and habits and playing them like a master. To Gaunt, Castle Rock was his own private playground, a town where he could be God and, better still, be God without anyone knowing or admitting it. In short, Gaunt is a psychotic, a control freak taken to the ultimate extreme. I interviewed over 300 townsfolk, without Agent Hanrahan present, and, by doing so, constructed a profile of Gaunt. He is{or was }, both tightly controlled and extremely flamboyant. The man demonstrated manipulative abilities of a level only normally seen in master interrogators, playing on the town's internal dissent and massively accentuating it. For Gaunt however, this is only half the fun. The real enjoyment comes from watching the townsfolk return to him for help and advice, committing further atrocities and then returning yet again. As if that wasn't enough, Gaunt can then appear in public and commiserate with his victims. Regardless of whether he is an Awakened being or not, Leland Gaunt needs this worse than an addict needs their fix. If he is alive, this will happen again, and keep happening again until we find him.{Sir, I would like to formally request that Agent Shenko be granted three weeks leave. She needs it/} For this Agent, if no one else, the following information clinches Leland Gaunt's status as Awakened. Sheriff Pangborn waited until Hanrahan had left the room and told me that he'd found newspapers and cuttings in Gaunt's shop. Cuttings ranging from the sinkings of both Titanic and Lusitania to the Watts riots, the Little Boy tests and innumerable riots. He said Gaunt had been present at everyone and, if not caused them, had certainly garnered great enjoyment and nourishment{Again, Agent Shenko's phrase ONLY} from these events. As well as these, we have similar incidents to Castle Rock in New York State, Pennsylvania, Chicago and, outside the country, London, Moscow and Paris(See File X1591: Unprovoked Civil Unrest). For want of a better word, Gaunt is a pain vampire. If this is true, then we also have an explanation for why Pangborn is the only one to remember Gaunt. It's possible that he enjoyed the game he played with Castle Rock so much that he let Pangborn live, and live with the knowledge that they would meet again. The fear and torment this leaves the victim with will sustain Gaunt until they finally meet and make the final kill all the sweeter. This technique appears to be common amongst the Awakened, as it does amongst Predator animals(Refer to Files X992 and X993 -The Schaefer Unit Massacre and Harrigan Incident and X4831-The Bastet Assault in New York). Certainly Gaunt's precise knowledge of when he and Pangborn will meet again would suggest some kind of paranormal ability. As to why Pangborn is the only one to remember him, Vampires have shown the ability to mask their presence in memory time and again, as have the Were-Races. We can only assume that Gaunt is capable of the same. {I feel duty bound to point out that Pangborn may be the only one to remember because he was mildly concussed AT THE TIME. I am casting no aspersions on Alan Pangborn's character, indeed, I found him to be a likable, strong willed man who is clearly a fine police officer. But I challenge anyone to emerge from what he experienced unharmed mentally or physically. Likewise, if he did see Gaunt, then could the time mentioned not be a parting shot, something to keep the Sheriff thinking and "looking over his shoulder". File X173: The Sin Killings, shows an excellent example of this, and the tragic consequences for the Police Officers involved}. CONCLUSION Regardless of speculation as to what Leland Gaunt is, we must be prepared for the possibility that he is still alive. If everything Pangborn says is a lie, Gaunt is still responsible for the eight deaths in Castle Rock at the time and should, at the very least, be confirmed as dead. If everything Pangborn said is true however, something truly horrific is at loose, something which feeds from our pain and fear. Something which should be contained or destroyed. Special Agent Catherine Maria Shenko {I am actively concerned about my partner's increasingly obsessive behaviour. I can only request, again, that Agent Shenko be placed on vacation. She needs it.} Special Agent Daniel Philip Hanrahan Playing Leland Gaunt in the World of Darkness General Firstly, the great advantage to the film(Less so the book as Gaunt turns into a demon at the end), is that we never find out just what Gaunt is. All Shenko's explanations are equally plausible and none of them are entirely provable. In short, play him how you want him. Whilst Shenko views him as a kind of Suffering Vampire, the Sadistic Immortal theory is equally plausible and so on. However, one thing remains constant throughout all the different versions of Gaunt that can be played. He is a showman, loving his work and unable to resist showing the puppets a brief glimpse of the strings every now and again(Witness his conversations in the film with Pangborn to prove this). In many ways he's very likable, until he stops getting what he wants, or his plans are near completion. In his desperation to take things through to their conclusion, Gaunt will often let the mask slip, screaming at the townspeople to do as he says. Other Races' Views Camarilla: He isn't one of us. Stay out of his way, and let the Prince know the instant you see any sign of him. Sabbat: Fun at parties. We may be puppets but boy do we love it! Garou: He is of the Wyrm, and almost as old as Gaia herself. The Norse called Loki, the Trickster God. Face him in numbers, for he has the blood of many of us on his hands. Magi: A genuinely fascinating individual. If we could work out exactly how he manipulates reality so delicately, paradox would be a thing of the past. Deal with him on your terms and be very careful. Wraiths: He has sent many to us far too early. When he falls, there will be celebration in the Shadowlands. Changelings: A player of style and elan. We admire his methods, if not his actions. Immortals: Stay out of the way. One of us severed his head in Paris a hundred years ago. He laughed, replaced it and tore the Immortal apart. We have no idea what he is, apart from dangerous. Leland Gaunt (Created using the DAEMON rules by Frank Torkel and Joshua Fairfield) Name: Leland Gaunt Nature: Conniver Demeanour: Bon Vivant Ilk: Diabolos Infernal Ranking: ***** PHYSICAL SOCIAL MENTAL Strength ****** Charisma ******* Perception ****** Dexterity ***** Manipulation ******** Intelligence ********** Stamina ***** Appearance **** Wits ******** TALENTS SKILLS KNOWLEDGES Alertness *** Drive **** Cosmology ***** Awareness ***** Etiquette ***** Culture ***** Expression ***** Firearms ** Enigmas ****** Intuition ***** Research **** Investigation **** Intimidation **** Stealth **** Law ******** Linguistics ******** Medicine **** Occult ********** ADVANTAGES Investment ***** Itinerate **** Metamorph ***** Elemental Influence **** Ordain ***** BACKGROUNDS Vim Dark Seed **** ************************* HEALTH Arcane ***** Willpower Bruised -0 *************** Hurt -0 Injured -0 Wounded -0 Mauled -0 Cripple -0 Incapacitated * * Dispelled, takes three turns to reassemble mortal body. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Gaunt is a tall, lanky man with grey, close-cropped, thinning hair and a goatee beard. He has an unusual accent, and enjoys joking about it(When asked where he's from, he invariably answers "Ohio"). He is courteous and polite when in the presence of women and always formal when talking to people, with an underlying current of self-mockery. However, when on the verge of causing complete anarchy, Gaunt will become abusive and loud, screaming at his puppets to do their will.