Forked Tongues
Steve Hatherley
        
        Martin Coleford-Johns is fascinated by dinosaurs. His father 
worked hard uncovering fossilized skeletons of the giant creatures 
and passed the bug on to Martin. It was only natural that he should 
attend Oxford and study the science of paleontology. Now, at the age 
of 42, Martin Coleford-Johns is the acknowledged leader of the field.
        Tall and good looking, many women have fallen for this 
aristocratic figure. However, Martin has but one passion - dinosaurs.   
He is distant and uninterested in anything except his favourite 
subject. When anyone mentions anything to do with the prehistoric 
world he suddenly becomes lively and alert, almost undergoing a 
complete personality change.
        However, this reclusive man does not like to publicise his 
work. He lives in the family house set back in extensive gardens 
behind high brick walls. His two servants, a butler and a maid, aid 
him. Currently he has only one heir, Justin Coleford-Johns. The boy 
is at boarding school, his mother having died in childbirth.
        Coleford-Johns rarely appears in public, preferring to work 
either in the field or in the extensive laboratories constructed on 
his grounds. When he does appear (evening engagements only) he is 
always impeccably dressed.
        Visitors to the house are unwelcome. If the visitors cannot 
express an interest in either the extensive reptile collection or the 
study of fossils then they will be shown the door. Otherwise Coleford-
Johns will talk animatedly to his fellow devotees on the subject until 
he grows tired of them.
        The Coleford-Johns family has for years been a sanctuary for 
the Serpent People. With the aid of Consume Likeness the Serpent 
People have taken the place of Martin, the butler and the maid. There 
are other Serpent People hidden about the house.
        The only human member of the family is Justin, and he is kept 
away from the house as much as possible. Once he has bred and has at 
least one heir, the Serpent People will kill and replace him as well.
        The house is filled with reptiles and dinosaur books. The 
shelves are lined with anything even vaguely connected to the subject. 
There are fossils and bones and several scale models of dinosaurs. 
There are also several Serpent People tomes, but they are well hidden. 
Lighting in the house is always soft to avoid casting betraying 
shadows. The Serpent People never go out in bright sunlight and have 
most of their needs delivered direct from Harrods.
        Coleford-Johns has a purpose other than the study of fossils. 
He is engaged in a programme to return the People as rightful masters 
of the Earth. In rooms concealed below the house he has several 
clutches of Serpent People eggs, just waiting to hatch.
        His fossil hunting expeditions across the globe conceal a 
more sinister purpose. Chipping at rock in distant countries is a good 
cover for his true goal - finding the lost temples of the Serpent 
People.
        The Serpent People were a violent, possessive race and fought 
many battles with other aliens that wanted Earth for their own. 
However, their enemies were cunning and powerful and, at the end of 
the Permain Era, they began the preparations which would preserve 
their ancient race until such time as they could reclaim the world 
for their own.
        Their preparations consisted of a series of temples scattered 
across the globe in isolated locations. In each, a number of the 
Serpent People were placed in a state of deep hibernation, along with 
much of their (now lost) technology and sorcery. Eventually, when the 
wars were over they would awaken to reclaim the Earth.
        However, something went wrong and the temples' inhabitants 
never woke. As the Earth grew older its crust moved and shifted, 
crushing many temples. Others were lost as the land dropped and the 
sea rushed in, or were found by other races and destroyed. Now, 230 
million years after their construction, there are only a few of the 
temples left. Martin Coleford-Johns wants to find them.

Possibilities
1       Justin Coleford-Johns is troubled by nightmares about 
reptiles. In them he dreams of giant walking snakes which talk in 
strange hissing voices. Sometimes, in the really bad nightmares his 
father turns into one of these creatures. Periodically he runs away 
from the boarding school, but is always found and sent back.

2       Carelessly, slip Martin Coleford-Johns is photographed in 
broad sunlight while working on a large fossil in Utah, America. The 
photographer is a journalist reporting on the expedition and does not 
notice the strange, inhuman shadow. However, while Martin is still in 
the USA, the photograph is printed in one of the London papers. The 
paper has the print in its files, the shadow is much clearer on that.

3       Should reports pointing to a new Serpent People colony reach 
his ears, Martin will begin to investigate. Stories of dinosaurs, 
giant reptiles, and samples of shedded skin will stir his interest.
        If the Investigators are involved he may try to infiltrate the 
group by casting Consume Likeness. Coleford-Johns may decide to use 
one of his different forms to avoid attracting attention to his 
sanctuary.

Copyright (c) 1990 Steve Hatherley
steve@flar.demon.co.uk