Compendium

Darkwood Labs — Specimen Compendium

Controlled • Contained • Cataloged. Internal index of the Lab, its operatives, and designated anomalies. Entries are living records; redactions update without notice. Hazard Red flags indicate active containment risk or breach review.

Lab

Darkwood Labs — Facility Profile

Sector Θ Sublevel 3 R&D Spine
DWL-FAC-PRIME
  • Facility
  • Controlled
  • Black
Acquisition
Commissioned as the core site for nocturnal chemistry and anomaly handling. Cold foundation slab, isolated grounds, analog failovers—systems that behave when computers don’t.
Containment
Rotating clearance rings; interlocked doors; negative-pressure corridors. Hazard Red is for breach logs, not decoration.
Chain of Custody
All samples double-logged: physical cards + Comms Terminal mirror at 19:00. If a mark isn’t in ink, it never happened.
Open dossier

Design favors predictable failure: gravity drains, scrubbed ventilation, manual valves you can kick. If the lights die, the labels remain. If the radios hiss, the doors still shut.

DOC REF: DWL-FAC-PRIME • STATUS: Controlled • MOTTO: Controlled • Contained • Cataloged

Operatives

Dr. Vesper — Chief Nocturnal Chemist

Chain-of-Custody: 19:00 Icon: Vesper Star
DWL-PER-VESPER
  • Human operative
  • Controlled
  • Black
Acquisition
Recruited after a university incident with photophobic compounds. Expertise: toxicology, low-lux materials, and paperwork that prevents mythology.
Containment
Voluntary V-7 clearance. Light-locked workspace; signatures time-synced nightly to keep a single clock for a single mind.
Iconography
Crescent/vesper star nested in a hex-chamber. Moth-wing veining, micro tick marks at 19:00. If daylight shows through the mark, it’s counterfeit.
Open dossier

Archetype: surgical calm, midnight intellect. Communicates in labels, not speeches. Sets a tone: precise handwriting, no melodrama.

Field guidance: if a description can be shorter, make it shorter. If a door can lock twice, lock it twice.

STAMP: DARKWOOD LABS • DR. VESPER — R&D: Nocturnal Compounds • CLEARANCE: V-7 “Vesperline” • TAG: DWL-PER-VESPER

Pablo “Esoapbar”

Acquisitions & Morale Cover: Distributor
DWL-AUX-007
  • Human auxiliary
  • Controlled
  • Green
Acquisition
Joined during a supply stress test when inventory arrived before the purchase order. Audit cleared; timing admired.
Containment
Loading-bay badge only. Supervised windows. Humor logs separately from timestamps per Policy 7.2.
Function
Moves necessities ahead of need. Keeps spirits up without breaking procedure—useful and loud in exactly the right measure.
Open dossier

Logistics disguised as commerce. If deliveries drift from the audit trail, access reverts to escort-only.

Specimens

Loveland Frogman

Loveland, Ohio 1950s–1972
DWL-CRPT-001
  • Amphibious biped
  • Monitored
  • Green
Acquisition
Post-rain transects along the Little Miami produced thermal confirms; entity acknowledged path markers and vacated without aggression.
Containment
Cartographic control—bridges, culverts, and river access logged. Patrol cadence increases after rainfall; harassment strictly prohibited.
Notes
Local “wand” reports (sparking stick) tracked as potential tool use or misidentified electrical arcing. Entity favors liminal river margins and will yield path if given warning.
Open dossier

Mythos & Field Signatures: Patrolman sighting (1972) plus mid-50s accounts describe 3–4 ft bipedal amphibian with pronounced dermal sheen. Odor neutral to earthy; eye reflection green-white. Prints suggest splayed toes with interdigital webbing.

Lab Interaction: Geometries placed along waterlines (chalk chevrons) appear respected; entity crosses at the broad end. We archive resin castings; no custody attempts—risk of river panic is higher than value of capture.

SPECIMEN TAG: DWL-CRPT-001 • STATUS: Monitored • PROTOCOL: After-rain watches, no bait, no flash.

Mothman

Point Pleasant, West Virginia 1966–1967
DWL-CRPT-002
  • Omen-class flyer
  • Monitored
  • Amber
Acquisition
Sequences of nocturnal aerial silhouettes over the TNT area; red ocular reflectance observed without corresponding headlamp sources. Silver Bridge disaster correlation treated as coincident signal, not causation.
Containment
No captivity attempts. Air-band decoys and triangulated lookout posts positioned to record flight corridors; observers operate in pairs to reduce pareidolia bias.
Notes
Silent flight; wingspan variable by witness (6–12 ft). Eyeshine red at distance, ember-bright at close approach. Avoids floodlights, favors treeline thermals.
Open dossier

Mythos & Field Signatures: Clustered sightings precede or accompany community stressors; folklore frames it as a harbinger. Tracks are scarce; preferred evidence is aerial—streaked negatives, sudden RF noise, and “felt presence” reports near concrete structures.

Lab Interaction: We classify as Omen-class: observe, don’t chase. Acoustic arrays set to capture sub-audible turbulence; observers maintain dark adaptation and write notes before speaking to prevent story creep.

SPECIMEN TAG: DWL-CRPT-002 • STATUS: Monitored • PROTOCOL: Look up, record, do not ascribe cause.

Flatwoods Monster

Flatwoods, West Virginia 1952
DWL-CRPT-003
  • Atmospheric intruder
  • Contained
  • Crimson
Acquisition
Barometric and EM spikes flagged a descent event; containment achieved with ion-suppression arc and grounded mesh. Interference recorded across handheld radios.
Containment
Faraday enclosure with scrubbed ventilation. Instruments analog-only; respirators mandatory. Exposure windows capped at 90 seconds.
Notes
Witness reports include metallic odor, motor interference, cone-shaped silhouette with “hood.” Symptoms: nausea, tearing, burning throat—consistent with irritant gases.
Open dossier

Mythos & Field Signatures: Youths and Guardsmen report a towering figure with “claw” arms and glowing face; luminescent mist and heat signatures suggest machinery, not organism.

Lab Interaction: Treated as equipment of unknown provenance. We test air samples against chlorinated compounds and ozone; suit fabrics are grounded before entry. Crimson tag reflects interference risk, not hostility.

SPECIMEN TAG: DWL-CRPT-003 • STATUS: Contained • PROTOCOL: Analog only, respirators on, don’t linger.

Dover Demon

Dover, Massachusetts 1977
DWL-CRPT-004
  • Humanoid anomaly
  • Monitored
  • Amber
Acquisition
Dusk transects recorded a small hairless humanoid along Farm Street. Tag attempt withheld; low-intrusion markers placed at map boundaries.
Containment
Observation only. Low-light protocol; patrols in pairs; do not use direct illumination. Evidence gathered via remote optics and boundary-line experiments.
Notes
Disproportionate head; long fingers; prefers road margins and fence lines. Avoids the center of things—behaviorally liminal.
Open dossier

Mythos & Field Signatures: Multiple teen witnesses in a 24-hour window; creature crosses stone walls and culverts rather than open fields. No odor; movement described as “careful.”

Lab Interaction: Boundary geometry appears meaningful. Chalk arcs and dashed lines influence path choice; we test whether it “chooses edges” or “rejects middles.” No pursuit—entity withdraws if not cornered.

SPECIMEN TAG: DWL-CRPT-004 • STATUS: Monitored • PROTOCOL: Edge-line experiments; no head-ons, no flashes.

Lizard Man of Bishopville

Lee County, South Carolina 1988
DWL-CRPT-005
  • Reptilian biped
  • Unverified
  • Amber
Acquisition
Passive trail cameras and resin panels captured claw scoring and thermal tracks near the Scape Ore corridor. Vehicle panel damage documented; custody not achieved.
Containment
Area denial at the road-to-marsh margin. Engine-first patrol approach; any vehicle impact logged as evidence, not entertainment.
Notes
Red ocular reflectance; sheet-metal interaction; aversion to floodlights. If verification threshold is met, reclassify to Monitored.
Open dossier

Mythos & Field Signatures: Reports of a seven-foot reptilian biped pursuing vehicles; prints wide and clawed but inconsistent in stride. Local storytelling inflates incidence—souvenir hunters contaminate scenes.

Lab Interaction: We cast scoring with two-resin method to capture depth without tearing paint. Patrol routes favor choke points where marsh meets road; we collect heat maps, not heroes.

SPECIMEN TAG: DWL-CRPT-005 • STATUS: Unverified • PROTOCOL: Document, deny access, avoid pursuit.