ANOMALIE OBSCURA No.895

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CONCEALMENT MANIFEST No.895:

Record of Acquisition of Anomalie Obscura

Cargo Determination:

Lethality Concealment Desirability Priority Status
9 5 7 (Sioux) 3 B

Bounty Commissioner: ​Corporal Connor Dander
Expedition Lead: Agent Jonas ███████ B███

Handling/Hunting Guide:

“When the wind picks up it’s not always what you’d think. If there’s the sound of heavy flapping wings or pounding steps of horses, it’s most likely one of those damn wind demons-spirits. F█████ said he heard howling in the base of his head.”- Agent B

It is expected that unless the Hunter has proper protection or a heavy enough figure, he will be thrown around like a ragdoll with a petulant child. Carrying weights or having them in one’s clothes can reduce the possibility of lost equipment and belongings, as showcased by Agent F█████’s experience. Using tungsten for some replacement metals is also suggested if the Hunter can afford and handle it.

It is suggested to transport the object in a box filled with wool or cotton to keep it suspended. A wheeling device is also suggested. When transporting the object do not jostle it. Do not walk in a swaying or uneven motion. Do not remove it from suspension. All transport persons in the event of object activation will carry small gifts (shiny or precious stones); these are to act as gifts of appeasement to a summoned entity. Please be conservative when handing a “gift” over.

If the object is activated, then it’s best to follow twister protocols if possible:

  • Always have emergency kits on hand with non-perishables, water, and medicinal supplies
  • A map of the area if possible
  • Avoid windows and easily breakable glass
  • Have a blanket or cot ready when hunting (you should have this already)
  • Avoid trains and train sounds, especially if there is no track nearby
  • A piece of Rocky Mountain Juniper and something to burn it with
  • A shiny gift or rock
  • Something to kill the summoner

Recommended supplies:
1. Emergency kits
2. Weights
3. Map
4. Cot
5. Several shiny gifts
6. A killing weapon, many prefer guns but a heavy blow to the head with less things in the air is all the better
7. Rocky Mountain Juniper
8. Firestarter material
9. Cotton or wool
10. A decently sized box depending on the size of the summoning object


Description & Encounter:

The object is a greenish crystal smaller than the size of a grown man’s palm. The crystal has one end of it covered in obviously cut rock. When taken to a jeweler for appraisal and cataloging he claimed it was one of the best emeralds he’d seen. The only flaw being some small bubble or something he couldn’t identify in the center. When the object is hit with something hard - say a spoon, doesn’t matter if wooden or metal - slight ringing can be heard. It is suspected this ringing is what, in Agent F█████ words, acts as a siren’s call to an entity that wreaks havoc within the area.

The entity is a servant of what a tribe in the Crow-Indian Reserve call, Taku Skanskan, Škaŋ, or just Skan. I personally call them Skan’s greedy orphans. From the current understanding of Indian beliefs here, Skan is the lord of the wind and the spirits that inhabit it. And since they also believe that wind and the spirit of life travel together, he is also the lord of spirit energy, not that that matters. Skan is considered temperamental at best and so are his servants, at least the ones that are not under the cardinal winds. As such, these servants tend to blow and howl and just cause a mess of everything in their path. It is a rare thing for only a gentle breeze to blow where they go. It’s currently confirmed that they can make twisters at their own free will even if alone, though it won’t be as big as the ones in Oklahoma.

If one chooses to show itself, it can appear in a myriad of different forms, including but not limited to: large eagles, horses, front half of a horse, bighorn sheep, and possibly a steam engine. I’m unsure of the last one; Agent F█████ told me he heard something like it when he watched the summoner ride off. Seems to be colored differently than a natural creature. Usually, too many blues and reds for an earthly beast. It’s currently unknown if they are natural shapeshifters or if the object summons a little orphan from the surrounding area. I personally think it’s one greedy little bastard orphan coming around over and over trying to catch its favorite treat.

Current dispellment methods of a summoned entity include just giving the damn thing something to look at. They like shiny things such as gems and jewelry. They don’t mind a particularly polished piece of metal, but they’ll gladly toss it into the dirt for a good, mined rock crystal. Not sure why they like it so much, but it just kind of gives them something to look at then disappear. That of course is if you can catch ‘em before one starts up their tantrum or wrecking. Skan’s orphans need to be a little calmer before they accept a gift, otherwise you’ll just get their attention and their wrath. They won’t take it due to some cosmic rule that we haven’t discerned from the Dakota talks, but they will tear you limb from limb or just pelt you with rocks as hard and fast as bullets. Best way to calm an orphan down is burning some Rocky Mountain Juniper. A piece of wood or small branch will do it.

That wasn’t so easy to get from the Indians. Frankly they didn’t mention anything like it at all beyond its relation to the “thunder beings”, but they did mention something about a relation. See over in Minnesota and in other places like Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas some of the tribes and folks related to Sioux talk about how these “thunder beings” use the whatever-they-have-for-arms to “use the wind as sticks to beat the drum of thunder.” I figured that if the juniper cedar calms down the big things that use Skan’s orphans as drumsticks, then maybe the orphans would calm down since they’re not being used as banging instruments anymore. I heard about what the mind trick used there is called, but I don’t remember what it is. It was something some fancy doctors talked about back East.

Final method of pacification is just simply killing the guy who summoned the servant. The servant does whatever the summoner wants because it thinks it’ll eventually get the crystal. So, they’ll stick around trying to get on the summoner’s good side whenever rung up. That fat bastard Agent F█████ thought using a smaller bullet might be a good idea. It just gave the thing something other than a rock or tree branch to use. The tornado it was controlling (or posing as) threw it right back at us. Took out a cavalryman that came with us. If you’re going to use a gun, make sure to get close to the summoner and far away from that damned orphan. Otherwise, the thing will just suck it up, make it go wild, shoot it back, or get impacted on rock or tree. If one uses a club or heavy cutter, a Hunter can easily kill the summoner without many problems. Once an orphan sees its master dead it’ll leave howling not bothering much beyond some rock formations.

It’s said if you announced the Lord’s name or that of the Sioux’s creator then the creature would disappear altogether- or, at least that’s what some of the Authority’s sciencemen suggested. I have no idea and don’t plan to test anything like that. Those freaks will do anything just to see if something will happen. Might kill and eat a child if they think it’ll do anything good, damn bastards.


Recountment of Sighting:

As our contractors in Tombstone well know, Agent F█████ and me, Agent B███, were commissioned jointly by the Authority and the US Army to investigate a possible rising of Indian tensions between each other and the government. This possibly led to “all-out psychic shamanistic warfare,” whatever that means.

After having a long stop and layover at Salt Lake City we hitched a ride on a passenger car with some cavalry and army gents. The train apparently was carrying gold dust and some minted bars towards some depository back East. Might have been Kentucky- might have been something else. Either way, they had to make some stops before heading to the many, many mid-Western stops and Indian reserves.

The train chugged along past Big Horn and then Miles City in Montana. At the time Agent F█████ the fat, old toad was asleep (“We Never Sleep” my ass). I was trying to catch up on a political periodical, figuring I could get something out of this trip. Around that time while we were passing buttes and coming up on Badlands, the train was picked up the tracks slung around and smashed back on to the ground by a completely out-of-season unusually strong tornado. After which time I hit my head and was knocked unconscious.

I woke at a shout and crawled out of the flipped car. A few of the army men were dead. Plenty of woman folk were crying, then a couple screamed when six horsemen rode up brandishing pistols and rifles. They demanded all precious belongings and the gold that was being transported. Being held at gunpoint, everyone cooperated of course; though I remember a few of the other passengers in the other cars hid some in some lining or what-have-you.

The gang seemed to be headed by a man with an ugly scar on the right side of his face. One of the bandits called him Finder Jim. I remember after the bandits were satisfied with their catch one took a gold mint bullion and threw it up into the air. It never came back down. Agent F█████ and I, of course, were not satisfied. They took a combined $500 from us. The remaining army and cavalry men took charge of the situation with most officers organizing camp with a small team trying to warn Miles City of the “freak occurrence”. The passengers and such would be heading back toward Miles City until something could be arranged with the army and cavalry in tow. Agent F█████ found an officer that was willing to go after the bastards that stole from us. That one should be the commissioner on here or someone who’s above him who had one out already. We stocked up on food and water and left attempting to follow them on foot. A hard task without horses.

We followed the trail to the badlands and a particular section that had some caverns and tunnels in it. That was after about two days travel though; a lot of which was backtracking and looping. The gang was probably trying to not leave an obvious trail. A particularly eager grunt of the officer that came with us spotted a sentry and took an immediate potshot. They’ll let anyone in, I guess.

The man’s aim was bad. We were all pinned behind various rocks and outcroppings. A cavalryman managed to take one bandit’s head off. Around that point I heard a slight ring in the air that didn’t fit the bark back of a shot. That’s when the new windstorm started. Agent F█████, crack shot that he is, tried to fire around the twister. The bullet was caught by something not seen, hung in the air for some seconds, then twirled back around towards us. That one took a cavalryman with it.

We just kind of stared at the damn thing by then. Agent F█████ calls me an idiot after attempting to throw a lit branch into the tornado. I heard that fire uses up air to burn so I figured a fire would use up all the wind in a twister. Well neither of us were proven at the time, but that branch was from an odd poking juniper and just caused that damn orphan to show. It was like a blue and yellow bald eagle. It spoke with the voice of a child asking for gifts and shines. An army man gave it a coin hidden in some pocket, which it snapped up into its beak and disappeared.

After that, the shooting started back up. The bandits seemed just as shocked as us and allowed the unit to move up some ways, but not enough to not be pinned again. Some minutes after I heard that ringing again. At that I up-and-turned running. I was trying to find a way around our current buttes and towards theirs. The bandits were too distracted with the on-and-off firing and loud windstorm. Climbing up the back of the hideout butte, I found what was calling that damned thing out over and over. A redskin was there, not a medicine man like usual ones all those stories and such back East talk about. He was a slight red-man, middle aged. Looked a little undernourished, maybe even frustrated considering how he had to hit the crystal. I guess it must have been the final coin that private had, because the tornado wasn’t disappearing. So, I picked up a sharp rock and killed that Indian.

When the tornado never reappeared, we started pincer attacks. This led to the gang to disperse and escape, but we managed to take down three members, two dead and one alive. The Army men were of course quick to secure the left-over loot of the gang. Considering the involvement of the Indian, I and Agent F█████ backtracked to the Crow-Indian Reserve to find any possible relations. While the tribe we consulted and indeed many of the Reservation’s police force did not recognize the man, they did identify that he was wearing Sioux clothing. They suggested looking in the Dakotas or further afield for possible relations. What information I could glean from them I have added to this report.


Storage & Utility:

Officer Cleave has signed off on storage in a tectonically stable area. Cleave also suggests that any further research be taken up on a budgetary constraint as the entities that are called up tend to hide away whatever “gift” they are given in a place that is currently unavailable to personnel.

Officer Cleave has also suggested for members of Axton Hornsby to not touch the crystal beyond mere examination. A room full of nitroglycerin almost went up before one of the called-up entities was appeased when Researcher Smith decided to do a more “thorough examination”. Cleave has also threatened to shoot any Hornsby member he sees holding a hammer near Anomaly storage rooms.

Relevant Personnel:
Officer Cleave, Protectorate Liaison Corporal Connor Dander, Researcher Smith, Pinkerton Agents Jonas ███████ B███ & Karl ██████ F█████


Additional notes:

1. While this document does have some relations to a firsthand account, many documents will not be up for Archival Dilation Suspension.1 As such, other documents are expected to be in a separate folder or container, but still in locality with pertinent archived documents.
2. The gang leader that both agents encountered is a man by the name of James Vaunt. It is currently unknown why he had access to the Indian shaman. A wanted poster is also up for Archival Dilation Suspension if capture remains unlikely.

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