The Jameson Historical Research Foundation – Intelligence Report #6000

By Jacob Busby, ©1998

 

The Jameson Historical Research Foundation

The Jameson Historical Research Foundation (JHRF) was founded in 1954 by Sir Arthur Jameson, a minor Oxford Professor of History with ambitions above his station. Ostensibly set up “to provide students and members of the public with access to rare and historical artifacts,” the JHRF was only really set up to further Jamesons’ political ends, to wit, the Chair of History at Oxford. For Jameson, when a prize was involved, no method was too unscrupulous and no means was too underhand. If this meant blackmail, theft, murder or abuse of his position would land him an ancient Egyptian vase or Napoleon’s favourite tablespoon then they would be used mercilessly. Indeed it was whilst Jameson was performing one of his maverick stunts that things went wrong…

In 1957 Jameson paid two members of the Ku Klux Klan to steal the Tribal mask of a Sioux Indian shaman. The fascists broke into the reservation, shot several Indians but were caught escaping. In exchange for reduced sentences they admitted to being hired by Jameson. The scandal destroyed Jameson, who committed suicide during the extensive legal proceedings that followed.

At this time Delta Green was looking for cover organizations from which it could further conduct its research. With Oxford University keen to disassociate itself from the Foundation and the scandal, it was a simple matter to obtain the relevant holdings of the JHRF. With a foothold in the academic field Delta Green had a means of contacting members of the academia and (with the bribery of funding) used its newly established contacts to provide historical analysis of various captured Mythos artifacts. The JHRF also gave Delta Green cover for planting agents in various foreign countries where Mythos activity was suspected, posing as historical researchers, archaeologists or interested auction buyers, whilst a labyrinth of bureaucracy and red tape was used to stonewall any inquiries which might connect the agents back to Delta Green.

Ultimately, this abstruse maze of paperwork proved the saving grace of the JHRF. Lost in the shuffle, the JHRF was not disbanded when Delta Green was, in 1970. Instead it remained under the ownership of an unnamed member of Delta Green.

The Foundation Today

The JHRF owns two museums (one on the outskirts of Oxford and one in San Francisco) and a variety of historical artifacts. It funds expeditions and its curator, Krystyna Kranozkwi, and her staff are reasonably well-respected in their fields. It holds a conference once a year aimed at school-children to foster a better understanding and love of history. In fact 99.9% of the JHRF’s work is legitimate; only occasionally is it ever utilized by Delta Green as a cover organization.

Allies and enemies

The Jameson scandal has been forgotten by most people and the JHRF enjoys a reasonable status as a respectable source in academic and historical circles. DG occasionally uses the researchers for probing in public, but well-hidden, documents and the staff has good relations with public record offices and national museums.

Due to its background the JHRF suffers bad relations with the Ku Klux Klan, who blame the JHRF for the arrest of some of their members. Additionally, some members of the Sioux Indian tribe believe the spirit of Jameson still lives whilst his legacy is active in the world and believe the world might be better without the JHRF.

Campaign Use

The important thing to remember when using the JHRF is that DG does not want to draw any attention to its legacy, for fear of losing it. Only trusted and discreet agents are employed by the JHRF. 99.9% of the work done by the JHRF is legitimate. The foundation is employed in a variety of ways by DG.

Research: DG occasionally uses the JHRF for researching documents and artifacts. In the majority of cases this is harmless research but every now and again the JHRF turns up a useful nugget of information.

Recruitment: The JHRF is sometimes used to recruit prospective friendlies from the halls of academia. The typical approach is to employ the consultant to give his professional opinion on a variety of ancient artifacts, amongst which one is a Mythos object, such as a Deep One bowl or a Tcho-Tcho carving. Other DG academics are used to monitor the rookies’ performance and report back to A-Cell whether the new recruit should be employed or not.

Field Trips: As was the case for DG, the JHRF is used as cover for DG operations.

Funding: The JHRF is a listed charity, able to collect donations from the government, corporations and the public. This makes it an ideally suited to receive contraband funding which DG comes into from time to time. On occasion valuable artifacts found on field trips are sold on by the JHRF, the majority of the proceeds finding their ways into DG funds. DG does not do this very often as they have no desire to draw the attention of the IRS.

Important Characters

Dr. Krystyna Krakowski
Age: 52
Nationality: Polish-American
Occupation: Current curator of the JHRF

STR 9     CON 11    SIZ 12    DEX 12/6
APP 10    INT 17    POW 11    EDU 19
HP  12    MP  11    SAN 55
Idea 85%  Luck 55%  Know 95%

Her DEX is considered 12 for manual work, but 6 for movement.

Skills: History 94% Archaeology 69% Psychology 56% R/W Ancient Greek 65% R/W Latin 63% R/W Aramaic 70% R/W Hebrew 54% Appraisal 68% Philosophy 59% Libary Use 74% Spot Hidden 51% Cthulhu Mythos 7%

Background: Krystyna always loved history. Researching the past was like a detective story, new twists to be found at every turn, conflicting evidence to be compiled in order to solve the whole jigsaw puzzle. Consequently, it came as no surprise to anyone who knew her that she rose through the ranks of academia to find herself as a lecturer at UCLA.

It was in 1977 that JHRF approached with a variety of old documents which they wished to be independently appraised. Whilst the majority of the documents were perfectly ordinary, one of them was a papyrus scroll detailing how the court magician of Emperor Cyrus attempted (and failed) to summon Yig before an important battle. Her curiosity piqued, Krystyna began to investigate the Mythos a little further, and was somewhat shocked to discover evidence that the same demons were still worshipped today. She made a few discreet enquiries around the sociology department, which is when Delta Green stepped in, informed her that they were a top-secret governmental organization and offered her the opportunity to help her country.

For a while everything went well. Delta Green would contact her with documents and artifacts and ask her professional opinion of them. This all changed in 1985 when she was involved in a car accident just outside of the university car park. This cost her the use of her legs and, as the sight of the university brought back horrifying flashbacks, ultimately led to her leaving her job. Delta Green took the opportunity to appoint her chief curator at the JHRF where she has remained ever since. Only Krystyna is aware of the true purpose of the JHRF, all her staff remain ignorant of it. She is quite happy to keep it this way.

Krystyna is a good judge, whether it be character, artifice or ethics, Krystyna has a distinctive gut-feeling for when something is out-of-place. She is hard-working, but has a chirpy, confident character which tends to put people at ease around her.

Krystyna has black hair and brown eyes. Her voice carries a trace of a Polish accent. Her wheelchair is motorized. She looks young for her age.

Unnamed document (The Yig Papyrus):
Mythos Gain +2% San Loss: d3/d6 No spells Language: Hebrew

This document, written by a Jewish Scribe in Cyrus’ court before Ezra’s return to Israel, describes how one of Cyrus’ court magicians tried to summon Yig before a major battle but seemed to make no connection. The next morning the court magician, whose name was not given in the document, was found dead:

“His skin had been flayed from his torso and serpents crawled around his bones. His legs had knit together and scales seemed to have formed on his neck, his eyes had slit and turned dark black and his fingers and turned into snakes. No sight has ever filled me with more revulsion.”

The Yig Papyrus is often used by the JHRF when making an approach to a potential DG friendly.


Special thanks to Janusz A. “Alex” Urbanowicz for help and advice on Polish names and surnames.

Leave a Reply