Latest revision as of 21:48, 20 February 2020

Background

In the village of Kresk, at a fairly rough interval of once per month, a very special lady comes to town. She seeks out the best and brightest children and offers them space in her very special boarding school. There is no visitation permitted but they are offered the finest education and upon graduation the very best of them have been heard to return to the village and take their wise and trusting parents away to a life of ease in a land beyond the mist.

History

The village is normally led by Master Abel Hannish and his wife Brianna. They are well into their sixties. They had a son in his twenties but he was found floating in the duck pond with strange wounds on his body and they are inconsolable. The Master is not leaving his house to attend to his duties and the population is concerned that his inattention has put them at risk. The patrols are not being scheduled, obligations are not being enforced, rations are overrun.

Niko Hannish is trying to use this opportunity to force his uncle Abel out in favor of his mother Magda. Niko is disliked by many and knows he could not hold a following but is trying to line up some kind of succession to his daughter Vannika.

Picker Paula runs a tinker/pawnshop and her four children scour the town for trade goods as well as opportunities for easy theft.

Biva Solnis, competes with Red’s Jacks and openly accuses Big Red of starting a fire at her mill. Actually caused by her young sister Tina, an aspiring warlock.

The Ghostly Goat, public house. Serves ginny water made from onion gin. Run by Old Will and Old Tom. Staffed by orphans taken in by Old Will and Old Tom.

Silver and Copper are in scarce supply. The lumber sales to Vallachia are paid out 10% silver 90% gold but the desire for Silver arrows and blades far outstrips coin value so the gold is smelted down into small blue gold “pins” and copper trade is done with embossed and branded wood slugs.

Rumors

Kresk is not a large place but it still manages to keep some secrets. Some people know little secrets. Some know big secrets. Some know things that are just plain wrong.

Roll a contested Persuasion against the chosen villager's Insight. Whether successful or not, roll 3d8 and consult the Rumors table (everybody has something to say, but not all of it is valuable). Add the difference on a success or subtract the difference on a fail. On a result lower than 3 the villagers are literally getting up, crossing themselves, and walking away when the character tries to talk. The bartender refuses to take their order and calls a serving girl over to ask them to leave because they have a "cursed smell" to them.

Go Jump in a Lake

You find yourself talking at length with a man named Yavni Hannish. He tells you about the north pond which he claims is haunted by an evil spirit who takes the form of a particularly ill tempered goose. He warns you that the goose carries a curse. If the goose bites you, the wound will never heal and you will wake to fresh blood on your bandages until you eventually bleed to death weeks later. Only holy vestments will stop the bleeding but the curse cannot be lifted until the goose is slain but the goose is immune to metal weapons.

Truth: (Insight 12) The man is a frightful drunk, though well practiced in hiding it. He keeps talking as long as possible, adding sometimes conflicting details so long as the drinks keep flowing.

False Kitty

A young man named Terrin Vamil spins a tale of how his little sister Ekki has lost her pet cat. Terrin takes care of Ekki since their parents disappeared in the night some four years ago and while he has no great coin to offer for help he assures the character that he would offer his knowledge of the town and his servitude if they could help return the smile to his little sister's face. He begs the character to just meet Ekki, that the promise of a true adventurer's aid would give the poor dear hope.

On arriving at Terrin's shack, the character finds two straw mattresses on a dirt floor. On the larger one is a note written in charcoal on a board that reads

I have to find Kitkat. Please do not be angry with me. I come back fast. Pinky promise.

Terrin tells you that he cannot read and asks what the note says. If told he breaks down in tears, offering everything he has if only they would find his sister.

Truth: (Insight 16) Terrin and his comrades play this game to mock outsiders. The shack is not Terrin's but has been abandoned for years. Different boys continue leading the character in circles with sightings at Red's Mill, Mercy's Hospital, the Ghostly Goat, Picker Paula's, the North Pond, and the Black Church. If the character goes all the way to the Black Church, Terrin loses the game. If one of the other boys' clues are not followed, that boy loses. The loser has to wear a Donkey Hat and pay for the other boys' drinks the next night.

Hilltopping

You spend some time talking to a woman named Goody Hargriss. She tells you that her husband was healed by the Abbot of some terrible wasting disease and sure enough he was made whole but afterwards he could only speak of the Morninglord. He went and climbed the peak seeking solitude and the damn fool won't come down.

If the peak is approached during strong daylight hours, the only thing to be found is a flat stone with a ring of ash.

Investigation 14: The ash is in a radial pattern outlining a clear center in the shape of two hams.

Investigation 20: There are charred tracks leading to a deer path through the broken boulders.

Investigation 25: The footfalls are extremely far apart. Whatever made them was moving at great speed.

After dusk to late dawn Goodman Hargriss can be found meditating on the rock. He is bare chested and barefoot, his only garb being tattered leather breeches. If left alone he sits through the sunrise, at first smouldering and then burning brightly, his face contorted but concentrating. When he can no longer bear the pain he bolts down the path to a hidden cave.

If disturbed he curses the interloper but does not move. "Begone. The stink of your blood offends me. I wish only to be left alone to pray to the glorious Morninglord to deliver me." He grips the stone and demands that they leave at once.

Perception 16: He grips the stone with ragged and rough fingernails but instead of breaking they are cutting grooves in the stone.

If not left alone he attacks, screaming "I did not want this! I warned you to leave but your stupidity has forced my hand! I am trying to hold back the beast but my strength has limits." If defeated he becomes a blue fog and flies into the mists. The mists shift and glow, confusing any pursuit.

His lair is a literal rift, two great sheets of rock pressed against each other like old men arguing. The rift requires scaling to navigate to a shelf some 20' up. The entrance is little more than a flue, two feet wide but only ten inches high. Acrobatics 16 to enter or fall to the bottom of the rift and become wedged. Inside the chamber opens to a high peaked hall decorated with monstrous alien figures that indicate the original purpose to possibly be a temple of some kind. Defiling the temple are collections of gore, beasts and men hung to drain. At the rear of the chamber is a staggered ramp where Hargriss's guardian keeps watch, a massive hound of pure darkness. Only the eyes and mouth show any definition, being manifestations of fading embers. At the sight of trespassers the embers flash to angry flame and the great hound howls. The walls answer.

Beyond the ramp is a round, buttressed room. It is a stark contrast to the previous scene, pristine alabaster walls with a great round slab of blue veined marble. Atop the slab is not Hargriss but a lovely woman in traveler's garb. Her eyes are closed and her face is serene. She could be sleeping if not for the pine branch protruding rudely from her bosom. If disturbed Hargriss's voice echoes from above.

"Don't touch her. She is the monster behind my curse. I tried to end her but the stain was already on me. I cannot move against her further but I cannot be free of her. If your remove my thorn she will rise and end all of us. Leave me to my doom."

Bitter Man

You pass the night being harangued by a loud doughy individual of indeterminate gender called Vik.

"I'll tell you what it is like living under that creepy place. My wife and I moved here to get away from the wolves of Vallachia. My wife tells me it's the right thing to do, escape the gloom and hide beneath a holy retreat. Here's what you get for living in the shadow of a monastery. Nothing! Won't let folks in at their gate, won't come down to help, don't keep the dark shadows away at night. Might as well be an oddly shaped rock up there for all the good it has done us to live here. Sure there's stories of some random sprinkling of healing glory, but half the time it's some self important urchin trying to get some free drinks with a made up story. Tell you what, the one time I saw it for myself was when the Red Fever blew through the town three summers ago. Must have lost forty people to that plague, mostly kids. We prayed, we begged, not even some clean water came down the hill from his high and mightyness. Then when most of the graves are dug, master fancypants comes down and heals ONE PERSON. Not even the whole house. Wanda Grable got a husband and two kids in the ground and that holy assed Abbott goes and heals Wanda's GRANDMOTHER. Lady was half in the ground already, wasn't even sick with fever, just old bones. Then he comes back a week later and says Wanda needs to return the favor and takes her DOG. The one she was holding on to at night while she mourned her dead husband. I don't know what they doing up there but it ain't nothing good."

Wanda Grable was once a much adored troubadour. Now with the destruction of her household, she gets by foraging for berries, all hope and joy gone from her life. She lives alone now with her grandmother, the two of them quietly avoiding each other as they occupy the same space. They live together in a steel container that is canted significantly to one side as if the ground is slowly, inexorably consuming it. Narrow windows have been cut into the walls and the borders are chased with thin engravings to represent vine covered shutters. Heavy wool blankets have been crammed in to block the cold and the entire perimeter is guarded by thorny brambles and dead plants that have failed to take root.

Plaster Artifact

Snipe Hunt

Wolf Bait

Mary's School

You end up passing the time with a pleasant looking woman with large eyes and cascades of brown hair. She tells you she is celebrating but there is a sadness to her smile.

"My oldest was selected by Miss Mary. Have you seen her? She comes into town every month or so for provisions but all the parents look to her with expectant eyes. She runs a school you see. Teaches the children manners and how do you do's for living in the world of aristocrats. And the Art too, they learn magics and ways to protect themselves from the wickedness of this world. She trains them up and sends them out into the world. Some are seen in Vallachia but the rumor is she can send some to OTHER PLACES, other islands in the mist beyond the grey eye. I have even heard tell of her sending their folks with them. That's what I hope for my Anya. She has been a wonder since her first breath, I was sure that Miss Mary would see her potential."

If pressed she continues. "My Anya has always been a jewel. She would laugh at night after I put her down. When the fever took my Petri and I, she didn't even sniffle and when we couldn't get out of bed she tended the shop and she brought me back with a moss soup. When Petri passed, she was my rock. She pulled me from the dark, forcing me to push myself. She made me get out of bed, made me walk. And when that felt like all I could manage she made me dance with her, made me stay up. She wouldn't let me follow Petri. Now she can get the instruction she deserves, she can be great like she is supposed to be. It hurt to watch her go but she needs these things that I canna give her. How can a mother say no? Who dares to be that selfish?"

"Perhaps this was my purpose, to give Anya life and give her this chance. It's not like slinging clay pots was going to make my mark. Teacups don't really change the world these days. But my Anya, she's a light in the dark. If she's going on then I can have something to be proud of when I go to my Petri."

Perception 16

You notice a deeply pointed ear poking through the mass of curls. This woman has elf blood.

Insight 14

This woman is dangerously close to the Ennui. Elves and Half Elves who have no passion for life fade and die from their sorrow. She has poured her whole life into her daughter and kept none for herself. If she does not find a new purpose she will be dead before winter.

True Kitty

This story begins in the same manner as False Kitty, but as the last boy at the North Pond is giving his clue his voice goes dead and his eyes distant and he says "Look for her in the Liar's Tomb in the catacomb of the Black Church. She is afraid of the fire man."

After speaking the boy will pass out. Terrin rushes out, demanding to know what the character did to Toby. He will begrudgingly admit to following the party. He offers to take Toby to see Miss Mercy while they go on to the Church, hoping to finish the game.

In the tomb of Lord Folgin, the character encounters a Burning Ghoul clawing at it's own sarcophagus. After facing the burning ghoul the character will hear a small voice coming from the sarcophagus.

Inside is a seven year old girl cowering while holding a striped grey cat. She looks hungry but only speaks of being taken back to Terrin. She says he is likely in the cathedral with his friends.

Terrin is in in the balcony with his friends, all of the boys from the previous locations. They are laughing and drinking but at the sight of the girl they go silent. Terrin says "You're not real. Its a joke, you're not a real person. We just made that up to mess with the outsiders."

The girl says "You said Kitkat was in there but he wasn't Terrin. It wasn't funny Terrin. He tried to get me and I hid in the box but I couldn't get it open Terrin."

Terrin answers "No you are lying. I don't have a little sister."

"I'm not your little sister Terrin. I'm your big sister. Did you forget me? Or did you not want to remember?"

The girl rises up into the air at this, wind swirling around her. The cat vanishes from her arms and appears on the railing, hissing at the boys. The others scatter but Terrin is frozen in place.

If not stopped the girl will unleash a Banshee wail, blasting Terrin into the upper pews and knocking him unconscious. If he survives the battle he will ask to see the tomb, all mirth gone from his face. He will kiss the skull and whisper an apology. He expresses a desire to have the Abbot bless the bones and put his sister to rest. He says he doesn't remember what really happened but that he has fragments of memory of the face from his early childhood. His hand trembles when he speaks of her.

Good Joke

You strike up a conversation with an elderly woman putting on airs of faded elegance. She spends much of the evening being standoffish and responding to your questions with one word responses but well into the evening she beckons you to lean in close and she whispers the most filthy joke you have ever heard. WIS save DC 18 or affected by Tasha's Uncontrollable Hideous Laughter. The joke is a masterpiece but when you try to repeat it the words melt away from your mind like butter on a hot griddle. As you turn back to ask the woman for help, the seat is empty. No one saw her leave, nor can anyone remember seeing her and many swear that you have been mumbling to yourself all night.

You dream of the woman and the joke every night for 1d8 nights, each time waking up laughing hysterically. At the end of the duration you wake with the realization that it wasn't that funny.

My Problems Matter

Thy Neighbor's

You spend the evening making precarious friends with a nervous man with a greying tonsure. It takes some effort to get him talking but eventually he relates the following:

You hear about Stip? He was an ass of a man, always eating his own foot with dinner he was. I liked him because he was witty with his hate and he didn't really mean anything by it. He just got dealt a bad hand in life, you know? I mean the whole world's a polished turd ball by any measure but Stip just couldn't get ahead and it ate at him. He used to come in and play cards with a few of us. Sometimes his wife Jan would come in after and drag him out by his ear. That was always worth a laugh.

Anyhow we was razzing him after one of these wifely exits and he was blustering back and he said something downright awful about Old Tom and Will don't have no sense of humor about that kind of thing. Anyhow Will shouted him out and he wouldn't go and two of the Little Goats got up on him and I don't think Stip meant anything by it but there was some scuffling and one of the Goats got kicked into the bar and she went down hard. It was ugly to watch but Stip wasn't trying to kill her, it was just a harmless scuffle that went bad.

They closed down the Goat for the wake and Stip tried to apologize but Will wouldn't even let him in. He was all dog-eared with his hat in his hands. Right pitiful it was.

The next day I went around to see Stip and he was straight up disappeared. His wife thought I was mad as a chocolate hat. She said she didn't have no husband, that she wore that silver wedding band to remember her father by. Eventually she showed me the house and all of his clothes and his tools were gone as well. Even the matching "His and Hers" towels I gave them for a wedding gift were split up. Jan said she got a set of "Hers" towels from Picker Paula.

Thing is tho, without Stip around Jan done lost her sharp edge. She laughs at my Stip stories like they are a funny joke and she always has a kind word for me.

I tell you what, I know two things sure as my own name. I know you don't say nothing bad about Old Tom around Old Will, and I know there ain't no Bro Code if your Bro got himself wiped from existence.

Rough Sport

Good Mary

A Good Game

Regretful Heirloom

Sweet Mary

A middle aged woman deep in her cups spends the evening regaling you about her boys who were chosen for Lady Mary's School for Extremely Well Behaved Children. She says that Lady Mary is no less than a Saint, taking in only the best and brightest of Kresk and teaching them etiquette and sorcery that will guarantee them high station as adults. There is a longing in her voice as she speaks of her James and her Delphine, so effortlessly great at everything they attempted in life. She asks that if you have the opportunity that you find the School and deliver a letter for a proud but lonely mother.

Infatuation

Beacon

Watery Ghost

Mother Mary

You start asking around and you are interrupted by a rough looking young man with shaggy hair and a scant whisper of a mustache who pulls you into a dark corner of the room.

"Are you looking for Miss Mary's School? Can you get me in there?"

"I was chosen by her five years ago. Everyone was so excited, jealous even. I was just an orphan boy, I didn't even know who she was really but everyone told me that it was a great honor, that I had to go with her. I was scared. There were five of us and the others looked so fancy compared to me, dressed in their best and me in rags. The others were mean, they wouldn't let me walk with them. Miss Mary ignored it, just said "Chin Up, show them what you're made of." and kept walking. Then we heard the wolves and we all got scared. Miss Mary said "Nonsense, the hippos will keep us safe." We thought she was joking. When we got to the house it was dark and it started to rain and then the big doors opened and there was this great horned demon thing. I panicked. The others froze. I didn't. I ran as hard as I could. I made it back to town and everyone called me a fool and an idiot and that I had blown my one chance at something good in life. The next time she came to town I tried to talk to her, but she said "You showed me what you are made of and it isn't very much" and walked off."

"I will show you the way if you take me with you. I tried going by myself but she wasn't kidding about the hippos and they are not adorable or nice at all. If you can get me there I can talk to her, get her to take me back. Please?"

Insight 18 He doesn't mean to talk to her. He is bitter and angry and he means to do something terrible if he gets the chance.

Found Geode

Locations

Hannish Mill

Yusif "Red" Grovobska runs Hannish Mill, a water driven sawmill that spans the River Running. He runs his own mule teams to keep the mill supplied with materials, and is rumored to be responsible for the burning of Biva's Mill some two miles downstream. He was encouraging some harrassment of Biva's customers but failed to anticipate the escalation that led to the fire. Red is paranoid that Biva is going to retaliate in kind so he is currently a soft touch for orphans, paying well for brush clearing and "keeping an eye out for trouble".

The mill operations begins with the sluice which receives logs from the river and the south bank which accepts carted and dredged logs. Once logs are recieved they are staged in the yard to dry and fed to the Wheels via a toothed ramp. Milled logs are segmented and ejected into carts and brought to the drying warehouse inside town.

Mercy's Hospital

Mercy's Hospital is actually a converted smokehouse being used as a crematorium. Families bring terminal patients to Mercy to ensure that the bodies do not rise up as undead later so Mercy has converted a wing to convalescence and basic care while her "patients" linger on.

The Ghostly Goat

The Ghostly Goat is one of the most completely remodeled buildings of Kresk. It is run by two humans known only as Old Tom and Old Will.

Much of the day to day operation is done by orphans taken in by Tom and Will. They clean, cook, bus tables, run errands and such. It is well known around town that you do not start problems with the "Little Goats" as they are called, lest you have to answer to the "Shadow Men". No one knows more than this because as the rumor goes the "Shadow Men" eat memories. Simple misunderstandings could result in missing a nights memories, actual cruelty could mean that your family forgets your existence altogether.

Picker Paula's

Picker Paula is a sturdy middle aged woman who has set up a found goods and pawn shop in what was once a stately manor but is now a hoarder's paradise. Her three oldest take pushcarts of random goods through town and the younger children pick the ruins for fresh treasures.

The North Pond

The North Pond defies the very weather. It does not freeze, it does not green up, it collects no insects or even fish. Birds do not land on it's clear face and the wind causes no ripples to form. The only sign of life is a single white swan who can be seen floating on the water at night.

The Black Church

The Black Church is a burned out cathedral and graveyard with a high wrought iron fence that gives off a faint aura of protection magic. The graveyard regularly spawns ghosts and crypt-lights but the gates keep them from spilling out into the town proper.

Whitehall Distillery

The entire distillery is dusty and barren, abandoned since the beginning of Master Hammish's wake.

Mary's School for Extremely Mild and Pleasant Children

Mary is what is known as an Teadar-Gaire, or Joy Sucker. She feeds on happiness, consuming joy and leaving her victim an empty husk. This Teadar-Gaire calls herself Miss Mary and has constructed a large structure to spread her consumption across many victims at once in an attempt to allay suspicion. She keeps a number of fantastical beasts to help her maintain her facade. The children waste away and when they can no longer feel joy they are eaten by the ravenous minions. They are not well fed but fear of Miss Mary keeps them in line, though they are always on the lookout for morose children that they have come to view as "ripe".

Staff Faculty

Miss Mary takes on the appearance of a well groomed, no nonsense type of schoolmarm. She is always immaculate and if she is coerced into indulging in foolishness will immediately deny taking part in any sort of silly behaviour.

Uncle Bert is in actually a foul Quasit with two heads but chooses to appear as an overweight gnome with wild hair and a second head under his cartoonish top hat. He laughs at everything and nothing but more than anything loves a good joke, or a bad joke well enjoyed. Of course, the mirth this inspires is captured by him in small glass bottles to present to Miss Mary at a later time.

Dame Quibbery appears as a very fancy but tiny sphinx dressed in elegant skirts that frequently end up toussled rudely, to her own shame. In truth she is a normal Gynosphinx who has been cursed by Miss Mary after losing a battle of wits with her.

Mister Shade is a frightening and not humorous at all Fomorian Giant dressed as a butler. He despises the children and remembers every slight against him for when it is his turn to laugh.

Approaching the School

The power of the Teadar-Gaire twists the landscape oddly. The actual landscape is withered and corrupted, frightening off the "normal" beasts. To combat this, Mary maintains a permanent Hallucinatory Terrain that causes the land to appear vibrant and wildly colorful. The area around the school is haunted by echos of laughing and children's singsong rhymes, broken fragments of joy from Miss Mary's many feasts. Any lighthearted attitudes during the approach are likely to attract the attention of the patrolling "hippos", in reality dire boars.

Armageddon

Should the Abbott's plan be thwarted, the forces of Hell will move to push Miniel over the edge to wrath. A small army led by an Erinyes named Tifonis cuts the veil but unable to reach the monastery chooses to sack the town to induce a reaction from Miniel. She sets a Wall of Fire through the center of town, blocking the main road and roosts on the main gate, watching for airborne targets and waiting for Miniel.

Every ten minutes there is a 25% chance of attracting the attention of a squadron of 9 Bearded Devils and a Bone Devil lieutenant.

The Hidden Path

Grable House

As you approach, the door flies off its hinges as a Bearded Devil is thrown violently through it. Nana Grable stands in the doorway, stabbed mortally but uncaring and her head hangs lifeless on a broken neck, yet still she stands blocking the door. She gestures for you to come inside.

Save her.

Must not see this. Not tell her. Just save.

The Black Church

For all the burning buildings, the church is untouched. The flames do not even seem willing to jump to the trees inside the fence.

Picker Paula

The house is an inferno and four of her kids are standing outside, watching. They tell you that Mama went in after her best pieces, she will be coming back out any minute now.

Whitehall Distillery

Two of Paula's boys have broken down the main door and are currently loading casks of whiskey into a wheelbarrow.

Mercy Hospital

A force of devils have surrounded the crematorium and some entity has blocked the chimney with a smouldering tree trunk. The windows are pouring smoke which is making the devils laugh and point.

The Ghostly Goat

The location of the Ghostly Goat appears to be an empty field, long overgrown. There is no indication that any building ever existed.

The Gate

Tiphonis

A regal woman in black armor lounges on a freshly constructed throne of flayed corpses, an impressive longbow laying across her lap. Below her two intimidating Bone Devils are directing activity as groups of Bearded Devils move back and forth, lines of humans in tow. At an odd crunching sound she reveals great crimson wings and leaps into the air. She reaches a certain height and puts three arrows into the darkness, then watches. Satisfied, she lands and returns to her throne. (Insight 16 She is waiting for something)

I am tired of this game Miniel. Are these the new pawns? Haven’t we done this twice already? Stop fighting girl, just give in to your nature so we can stop wasting everyone's time and get on with the things that matter. You are better than this. Hiding in the dark, afraid of your true self. Embrace your wrath, let us get on with this.