Roland Carter

Overview
A troubled former archeologist who was forced to turn away from the comfortable life of an academic when he began to discover that many facets of the history of our world and the universe itself defies science, and even basic reason.

He took on the duty of an investigator of the occult, using his bizarre ability (and curse) to trace the past of objects that he touched to further his quests. And yet from the moment of his supernatural awakening he felt as though he was always... hunted.

Aspects
High Concept Trouble Phase Aspects
 * "Official" Occult Investigator
 * The Fragile Mind
 * Lure of the Unknown
 * People Lie, Artifacts Don't
 * A Little Knowledge is a Dangerous Thing
 * The Things I've Seen
 * Whoever Fights Monsters

Early Life/ Academic Career
Roland was born to a wealthy New England family and showed great intelligence and curiosity growing up. Unfortunately, he also showed signs of mental illness at an early age as well. He was diagnosed with generalized anxiety as a child and a schizophrenic disorder as a teenager. He was treated for both of these early on however and he graduated private school with honours and enrolled at Miskitonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts. There he earned a masters in archeology and found himself preforming field work in Iraq.

While researching the ancient sumerian city of Lagash, a previously hidden chamber was unearthed under a ziggurat temple of Ninurta. Tragically, the discovery was a result of an accident. A collapse of the antiquated masonry killed two labourers, injured five others. One of the injured men had no physical injuries, but was confused and disoriented and disappeared shortly after being taken to a hospital for assessment. He was never found.

Young Roland, however could hardly contain his excitement. A new discovery untouched since 3000 BCE, was his to study. And yet as he descended into the ancient chamber a sense of foreboding washed over him. Nevertheless a certain scientific zeal and curiosity won out in the end and he scrambled into the dark with a renewed vigour, having conquered some primitive dread with his mind of reason. He found a stack of stones carved with unusual hieroglyphics, seemingly far older than the cuneiform writing of the age. He knew that was impossible, however. He knew full well that cuneiform writing is the oldest in the world. And then he touched the stones.

With that touch he knew that this chamber was indeed far older than cuneiform writing. It was older than the ziggurat above, and ruinous city surrounding it. This altar, for he knew it was an altar used for a horrid ancient god, was older than anything built by humanity. He knew what transpired in this chamber, long ago sealed by terrified priests. They were never above sacrifice. Something had to keep the Tigris placid, but even they knew what these gods demanded was wrong, even inhuman. They would take all sacrifices and offer naught but sorrow and madness.

When Mr. Carter didn't answer his colleagues above they quickly rushed to his aid. They found him crying and laughing in equal measure, in the midst of a psychotic episode. The chamber around him was bare, save for a smell of decay and a strange black ichor in one corner of the chamber.

Disgrace and Investigation
In the weeks and months that followed, Roland was placed into psychiatric care back in Massachusetts. After he was discharged from the hospital he was granted a teaching position at the University. However his ordeal in Iraq appeared to affect his mental state more than initially thought. He kept insisting that the Sumerian ruins were at least 100,000 years old, rather than the estimated 5000 years generally accepted in the field. When is colleagues and even students would insist that no human structure is anywhere near that old, he would simply respond with "Exactly". Occasionally he would follow it up with some cryptic mention of things older than time.

Eventually he wrote a paper detailing his experience. In this essay he detailed strange rituals never before documented, bizarre creatures unknown to the fossil record, and complex religions predating the Ancient Temple of Gobekli Tepe. At many points in his paper he implied heavily that archaeology must no longer study mere human artifacts, but look back into the depths of geologic time. It did not go well among his peers. His mentors gently asked him to drop his ideas due to lack of evidence. Unfortunately this only steeled his resolve and he only grew more insistent. At that point the requests turned to ridicule, and he was forced to leave his job in disgrace.

Embittered and determined, he then traveled to South Africa on his own dime. In his readings, he came across mention of lines of stone believed by some to be the foundations of ancient buildings. When he touched the aged stone, he knew that these were the foundations of a sprawling Metropolis, the remnants of cellars laid down when the ancestor of man was little more than a burrowing rodent. He sensed the ancient masters of the city were something not even remotely human. The stones were permeated with an ancient patience, contempt, and malevolence.

Roland knew however, that whatever impressions he received by touching these stones, strong as they were, it was not proof. and so he decided to stay there until such proof could be found. He found room and board at a nearby town, and spent the next three months combing the ruins for some evidence of this city's former occupants. Eventually he found what he sought. Without fully understanding why he was eventually led to a patch of land, overgrown though it was and apparently devoid of the foundational rocks, he knew there was something buried here. He dug and he searched two more days until he found a buried slab of stone that he could only describe as a vault door.

Determined to clear his name in the academic community Roland again threw caution to the wind. Again he descended into a hidden chamber hitherto unknown to humanity and again he got a strange sense of foreboding. Again he felt watched. He found himself in a cyclopean cave with walls that appear to be some form of primitive concrete. The steps and ceilings which clearly proportion for things far larger then a human being. He was amazed by the preservation of this place. It became very clear to him that this place was built to outlast a great many things. He found himself in a hole and it became clear to him that this was connecting multiple Chambers. Became extremely excited when he came to the realization that this place was meant to last. Perhaps ahead he could find some sort of archive detailing this city and its occupants. However as time went on it became clear that he was not alone here. This place was not an archive but a prison.

Bizarre creatures then began to flood into the chamber. Roland with surrounded by abominable creatures every biological form that he knew. These animals if animals they were possessed nonsensical combinations of organs and limbs, they shrieked like demons and moved with unnatural speed. He ran like a man possessed, firing into the dark behind with a pistol he brought for protection. He would later theorise that the only reason he survived was that he'd started the creatures, and thus were reluctant to give chase. regardless he made his way to the entrance, sealed it and headed back to the town.

He had the vault sealed at no small expense. he was tempted to destroy it with explosives, but he became certain the that would kill very few if any of those things and likely release the rest. He knew we could never prove what happened here, not without endangering the lives of any future researchers. Archaeology was behind him now, and he now knew there was something deeply wrong. If was going to fight this he needed to look into alternative resources.

New Responsibilities
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Well

Acknowledgements:
Created in tribute to H.P. Lovecraft and the other writers of the Cthulhu Mythos.