DREADFUL● REICHENAU · c. 1340
The noise beneath the floor
He had told everyone. Everyone had agreed it was the river.
DREADFUL · 04 · FOR THE READING QUIRE
The record is not an explanation.
These accounts have been retained. That is not the same as having understood them.
● SALT QUAY · 1641
The harbour return
A full crew. A discrepancy in the inventory.
● BRISTOL · 1889
On the paperwork
One hundred and four reports. Eleven burials.
TRANSFERRED · T-09
Transfer order
Field notebook, L. Vargas · 1951
MISFILED · M-18
The label does not match
Crypt store · Contents as found
WITHDRAWN · W-97
Reports 97 to 104
Bristol series · 1889
RECONCILIATION · SALT QUAY / BRISTOL
Both counts agree.
The crew is complete. The series is not.
RECENTLY RECOVERED · 2026-10-09
In receipt of this
You are in receipt of this because somebody has confirmed that you saw it, and that you did not lie about it afterwards.
NOT YET EXAMINED · R-01
DAMAGED CASE FRAGMENTS · PARTIAL
Some pages did not survive.
Some were not meant to.
● FRAGMENT F-14 · HORROR
The Foundry Man
A big man in a leather apron, seen only through heat-shimmer, never at rest. The two workers who saw him close describe a shape with the fire on the inside of it.
·A furnace that holds temperature overnight without fuel. Accidents that fall on new men and never on old ones.
● FRAGMENT F-22 · QUARRY
The Thirsty Hour
Not a creature. A period of the night in a particular house, usually between two and three, during which things are taken.
·Flowers fail in that room. Milk sours by morning and only there.
● FRAGMENT F-31 · QUARRY
The Fetch
Exactly like somebody you know. Exactly. The detail every account fastens on is that the clothes are correct for a day that has not happened yet.
·A person seen in two places. A greeting returned by someone who was elsewhere.
EYEWITNESS EXHIBIT
Witnesses must disagree.
PLATE 221 · THREE WITNESSES, ONE SUBJECT · BLACK DITCH, 17 FEBRUARY 1909
ACCOUNT 1
A child of eleven
ACCOUNT 2
A woman of thirty-four
ACCOUNT 3
A man of sixty-seven
Drawing separately on the same day, none of whom had spoken to the others.
WHICH DETAIL DO ALL THREE SHARE?
SIGNS · WHAT IS TRUE BEFORE ANYTHING IS SEEN
Read the file before you arrive.
“We have four hundred years of records. We have names for six hundred things. We have never once been right about what any of them were.”
ATTRIBUTED TO THE ROTTERDAM ARCHIVE · UNDATED
DREADFUL · PLAYTEST DRAFT v0.29
The next file is yours.
Three to five hunters. One storyteller.