The Weeping [spoiler]
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 12:44 pm
Actually, only a spoiler if your GM decides to run this adventure. I've run it, more or less, with 3rd edition. It's intended to have somewhat soft opposition in parts that rapidly become really dangerous - I would love some help on balancing that out, as well as the rewards. I want to run this for my first adventure in 4th when I get a group together at the beginning of January (okay, I'm busy and running behhind). It's based on a hook from the Throal book.
The Weeping
Introduction
The characters meet at the Tub of Rouge. Some may know each other, but it is not necessary. They have all arrived in Bartertown on other business that has been completed. They are responding to word that has been put out that the proprietor of the Tub of Rouge needs to hire adepts to investigate a crime.
Every Adept starts with 1-4 Corruption Points. This roll is made in secret; the character doesn’t know exactly where he stands. Each character can choose from a perk –
Not My First Rodeo – start with 500 legend points. Spin a tale of your first adventure.
Yes, My Parents Loved Me – start with 750 silver in a lockbox stored at a Money Exchange in Bartertown. They charge a 5% silver withdrawal fee. They will sell you the lockbox for 75 silver including the withdrawal fee; it weighs 15 lbs (about 7.5 lbs worth of silver). As long as it is stored at the Money Exchange, it will never be stolen (GM's word).
Not All of My Choices Have Been Pretty – Start with any one blood charm with Availability of Unusual. Know that blood charms can give a power boost, but some Name-Givers associate them with Horror taint. Make a secret willpower test against the number of blood damage points the charm causes. If you don’t make it, you gain one corruption point.
Apprentice of Garlen – Start with 500 sp worth of healing aids.
Inheritance – Start with up to 500 sp worth of common magical items with Availability of Unusual.
Family Matters – family member is moderately-highly placed in the Throalic government or a major trade family.
Bartertown is everything you dreamed, only with more mud and an undercurrent of violence that seem incongruous so close to Throal's gates. In fact, Throal's reach is only evident in the Royal Road, which runs straight through the center of town. You could walk the Road with your eyes closed and your overflowing money pouch spilling silver onto the pavement, and people would pick it up to hand back to you. Step off the road even a few blocks, and only a sharp eye and stout sword arm will keep your purse intact.
On that theme, you come to the bordello that advertised the job. At loose ends and low on cash, you can't afford to be too picky. And truth be told, you could have picked worse. The Tub of Rouge is tacky, no doubt. Low class, naturally. But the place is clean and it is clearly not the sort of place where violence is tolerated. So the question of why they needed to hire you is an interesting one.
The story:
The players are ushered into a back room by Salicia, a beautiful dwarf courtesan who is acting as the hostess. The room is a meeting room with a small but nicely appointed bar, a long table, and a mural of one of the founding mothers of Throal. The matron in the mural is commonly noted for her martial attributes, but those aren’t what are immortalized on the wall here.
The madam of the Tub of Rouge (Honey Bear) recently hired a new bouncer, an ork named Crook-tusk. He seemed to go crazy yesterday afternoon and killed three of her employees and seriously injured two others with his bare hands. He only stopped when one of her girls put a pitchfork into his face and throat. The madam needs to find out what happened. She will pay 200 per character to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Investigation
Some possible avenues of investigation:
Patrons at the Tub
Girls at the Tub
Support staff at the tub
Neighbors
Pavlek Buundavim
Shadowswift Buundavim
Clystrone Tax Collectors
Hithorn (male windling merchant/rumor broker), Arlorn (male elf warrior, face of the Eye of Throal), Pahoga Elcomi (controversial scholar/conspiracy theorist in exile).
Baber Unclestump, undertaker and local historian. The characters will meet him, one way or the other. He tends to all of the bodies, he may meet them in this way.
Leads and rumors
The bouncer was a tax collector who was fired for drunkenness. That implies some pretty serious drunkenness. He was hungover at the time of the incident (girls, support staff).
One of the Tub's recent regulars claims to have seen a ghost in the brothel (patron). Untrue.
A similar killing occurred on the same night, on the first of Riag at a dish merchant's stall at the other end of Pavlak's territory, on the border with Clystrone's. Witnesses saw eerie blue lights on the roof the night before (Pavlek/Clystrone Buundavim).
Various unnamed cultists can be found in Barsaive – horror cults, dragon-worshiping cults, cults dedicated to the Mad Passions, and others dedicated to more esoteric legends (Anyone).
The greatest Local Historian and Cult Lore Expert is Baber Unclestump, a local undertaker. Another character will direct the characters to speak with him, even if everything else fails. He has the information about the Rememberers and the Weeping, but will conceal his connection to the Rememberers (Anyone will suggest they talk to him).
One cult that has been more active is the Rememberers, because of the Weeper's month (Unclestump). They are the decendants of the people who were denied entrance to Throal as the Scourge was starting, because there wasn’t room and there wasn’t a reliable way to test for horror taint. Every year there are some hauntings and disappearances. When Unclestump speaks of it, he conceals his anger fairly well, but an Insight test that scores at least 1 extra success will detect it.
The roof of Crook-tusk’s flop house and the dish merchant’s stall show signs of ritual magic. This can only be discovered through investigation.
Killing, day 2
The neighbor, a human blacksmith with no other connection to the Tub, has her house targeted by the Rememberers. If the ritual is not interrupted, she smashes a customer in the face with a hammer in the middle of the day and goes on a rampage. The characters must stop her; she will not stop until he is unconscious. She will use aggressive attack options; she will ignore the effects of all wounds.
If the blacksmith is kept alive, she will awaken racked with sobs. She will have no memory of the event. Just a deep, terrible pain in her heart and soul. Not physical, but as though she had undergone a terrible emotional or psychological blow.
Defenses: 6. Wound/KD Thresh: 6/12. Unconscious/Death Ratings: 30/36
Attack: 6. Damage: 9. (hammer)
Armor Phys./Mystic: 2 (blacksmith leathers)/1
Investigation of her house will show that a magical ritual took place on the roof.
The Weeping
Introduction
The characters meet at the Tub of Rouge. Some may know each other, but it is not necessary. They have all arrived in Bartertown on other business that has been completed. They are responding to word that has been put out that the proprietor of the Tub of Rouge needs to hire adepts to investigate a crime.
Every Adept starts with 1-4 Corruption Points. This roll is made in secret; the character doesn’t know exactly where he stands. Each character can choose from a perk –
Not My First Rodeo – start with 500 legend points. Spin a tale of your first adventure.
Yes, My Parents Loved Me – start with 750 silver in a lockbox stored at a Money Exchange in Bartertown. They charge a 5% silver withdrawal fee. They will sell you the lockbox for 75 silver including the withdrawal fee; it weighs 15 lbs (about 7.5 lbs worth of silver). As long as it is stored at the Money Exchange, it will never be stolen (GM's word).
Not All of My Choices Have Been Pretty – Start with any one blood charm with Availability of Unusual. Know that blood charms can give a power boost, but some Name-Givers associate them with Horror taint. Make a secret willpower test against the number of blood damage points the charm causes. If you don’t make it, you gain one corruption point.
Apprentice of Garlen – Start with 500 sp worth of healing aids.
Inheritance – Start with up to 500 sp worth of common magical items with Availability of Unusual.
Family Matters – family member is moderately-highly placed in the Throalic government or a major trade family.
Bartertown is everything you dreamed, only with more mud and an undercurrent of violence that seem incongruous so close to Throal's gates. In fact, Throal's reach is only evident in the Royal Road, which runs straight through the center of town. You could walk the Road with your eyes closed and your overflowing money pouch spilling silver onto the pavement, and people would pick it up to hand back to you. Step off the road even a few blocks, and only a sharp eye and stout sword arm will keep your purse intact.
On that theme, you come to the bordello that advertised the job. At loose ends and low on cash, you can't afford to be too picky. And truth be told, you could have picked worse. The Tub of Rouge is tacky, no doubt. Low class, naturally. But the place is clean and it is clearly not the sort of place where violence is tolerated. So the question of why they needed to hire you is an interesting one.
The story:
The players are ushered into a back room by Salicia, a beautiful dwarf courtesan who is acting as the hostess. The room is a meeting room with a small but nicely appointed bar, a long table, and a mural of one of the founding mothers of Throal. The matron in the mural is commonly noted for her martial attributes, but those aren’t what are immortalized on the wall here.
The madam of the Tub of Rouge (Honey Bear) recently hired a new bouncer, an ork named Crook-tusk. He seemed to go crazy yesterday afternoon and killed three of her employees and seriously injured two others with his bare hands. He only stopped when one of her girls put a pitchfork into his face and throat. The madam needs to find out what happened. She will pay 200 per character to get to the bottom of the mystery.
Investigation
Some possible avenues of investigation:
Patrons at the Tub
Girls at the Tub
Support staff at the tub
Neighbors
Pavlek Buundavim
Shadowswift Buundavim
Clystrone Tax Collectors
Hithorn (male windling merchant/rumor broker), Arlorn (male elf warrior, face of the Eye of Throal), Pahoga Elcomi (controversial scholar/conspiracy theorist in exile).
Baber Unclestump, undertaker and local historian. The characters will meet him, one way or the other. He tends to all of the bodies, he may meet them in this way.
Leads and rumors
The bouncer was a tax collector who was fired for drunkenness. That implies some pretty serious drunkenness. He was hungover at the time of the incident (girls, support staff).
One of the Tub's recent regulars claims to have seen a ghost in the brothel (patron). Untrue.
A similar killing occurred on the same night, on the first of Riag at a dish merchant's stall at the other end of Pavlak's territory, on the border with Clystrone's. Witnesses saw eerie blue lights on the roof the night before (Pavlek/Clystrone Buundavim).
Various unnamed cultists can be found in Barsaive – horror cults, dragon-worshiping cults, cults dedicated to the Mad Passions, and others dedicated to more esoteric legends (Anyone).
The greatest Local Historian and Cult Lore Expert is Baber Unclestump, a local undertaker. Another character will direct the characters to speak with him, even if everything else fails. He has the information about the Rememberers and the Weeping, but will conceal his connection to the Rememberers (Anyone will suggest they talk to him).
One cult that has been more active is the Rememberers, because of the Weeper's month (Unclestump). They are the decendants of the people who were denied entrance to Throal as the Scourge was starting, because there wasn’t room and there wasn’t a reliable way to test for horror taint. Every year there are some hauntings and disappearances. When Unclestump speaks of it, he conceals his anger fairly well, but an Insight test that scores at least 1 extra success will detect it.
The roof of Crook-tusk’s flop house and the dish merchant’s stall show signs of ritual magic. This can only be discovered through investigation.
Killing, day 2
The neighbor, a human blacksmith with no other connection to the Tub, has her house targeted by the Rememberers. If the ritual is not interrupted, she smashes a customer in the face with a hammer in the middle of the day and goes on a rampage. The characters must stop her; she will not stop until he is unconscious. She will use aggressive attack options; she will ignore the effects of all wounds.
If the blacksmith is kept alive, she will awaken racked with sobs. She will have no memory of the event. Just a deep, terrible pain in her heart and soul. Not physical, but as though she had undergone a terrible emotional or psychological blow.
Defenses: 6. Wound/KD Thresh: 6/12. Unconscious/Death Ratings: 30/36
Attack: 6. Damage: 9. (hammer)
Armor Phys./Mystic: 2 (blacksmith leathers)/1
Investigation of her house will show that a magical ritual took place on the roof.