Sabledrake Magazine
November, 2001
Feature Articles
Thoughts on the Evolution of PBeM
Wraith Over Her Shoulder, Pt. I
Regular Articles
Resources
Mystery of the Elven Mummies
A GURPS Fantasy adventure for up to seven players.
Copyright © 2001 By Christine Morgan
Pre-made Characters (for the full character sheets, click here) -
Haarkonite, Order of the Shroud, medical/necromantic abilities, morbid and somber.
Haarkonite, Order of the Shade, medium/mystic/psychic, former fortune teller.
Archaeologist, once ambitious but now sour, looking for one last chance at a real find.
Lenaisian elfkin, archer/hunter/daredevil, impulsive and outdoorsy.
Darkwood wizard, from high society and good family, athletic, accompanied by servant.
Constable, former soldier/swordsman, left hand replaced by blade, determined.
Constable, cocky young kid, out to prove something, mild magical ability.
Note: Haarkon is the god of the dead, a spectral, skeletal figure in a black cowl, much like the Grim Reaper. His symbol is either a white skull, or, for the sake of the superstitious, a white octagonal outline. The average person doesn’t even like to hear the utterance of the name, for fear it’ll bring bad luck. Priests of Haarkon are responsible for the care of the dead, from embalming and burial to communing with the spirits to see if any last messages are needed to be passed on to the living. They are generally regarded with dread, and the underlying fear that always accompanies turning over one’s dear departed to them is that there’ll be some mixup (or deliberate act) that will result in the body being raised as one of the church’s undead servants.
Introduction -
The forest of Darkwood, in southeastern Hachland, is a densely-wooded region populated by scattered townships and estates. Each township is ruled over by a hereditary lord owing fealty to the king; the estates belong to the wealthy and influential families who made their fortunes through magery.
Emerald Deep is one of the richest parts of Darkwood, centered around a teardrop-shaped lake of clear green water. The lord of Emerald Deep is Lord Verdant, a young and hedonistic man with black hair, fair skin, and eyes as green as the lake. He is known for his passion for all things beautiful, from art and antiquities to women. He is not of a mageborn family and thus regarded as “new money,” but as there is a lot of the “new money,” he’s not snubbed either. His father, the previous Lord Verdant, made his fortune during the War of Grisbayne, providing a safe shelter for many fleeing nobles.
Lord Verdant is keenly aware of the precariousness of his position. His mother was the daughter of Lord Grisbayne, an enemy to the king, and even when all else was forgiven, the Grisbayne lands and fortunes were reclaimed and the name cast into disfavor. Verdant has tried to make a good impression on all other nobles and royals of Hachland by creating a fabulous lakeside home and filling it with wonderful works of art and rare antiques. He frequently hosts extravagant parties and is famous for giving the most opulent gifts.
Verdant’s greatest rival is his much-older cousin, Sir Elsam. Verdant was born quite late in his father’s life, so Elsam had gotten used to the idea of inheriting from his rich uncle. The arrival of an heir soured Elsam to the point that he left Emerald Deep to live in Seven Pines, his hunting lodge on Farraday Island. Elsam is widowed, with a spoiled son named Arlen and a pretty but gold-digging daughter, Elary.
Elsam has recently sent a package to his young cousin, containing a small rosewood casket and a note that reads as follows:
My dearest cousin Verdant,
I hope this missive finds you well and healthy, and Emerald Deep in good keeping. Word of your marvelous parties and affairs have reached even here. Elary and Arlen are heartbroken over the notion that you have forgotten to extend invitations to your own kin, who of course, and I’m sure I needn’t remind you, enjoyed their childhood at Emerald Deep and miss it greatly.
But I do not write you, cousin, on behalf of my children. I write because, as you can see by the contents of this parcel, I believe I’ve come across something that would be of interest to you. I’ve heard of your fine gallery of antiques and rare items-of-art. It is said to be an up-and-coming showpiece of our fair region, bringing acknowledgement and respect back to our family.
Thus, it is my duty and my pleasure to present you with this remarkable piece. It was recovered from a cavern recently discovered by my Huntsmaster, who reports that said cavern is to all reckoning some sort of crypt. Most striking of all is that the objects contained therein give every indication of being not only quite old, but of elven design and make.
I’m sure you can see what a find this is, dear young cousin. It could well be the discovery of the century, this proof that against all our historical reckoning, the elvenfolk did once dwell in Darkwood. The import, and indeed possible prospects of this, cannot fail to escape the notice of a collector such as yourself.
Herein, however, is the crux of my concern. This find is obviously quite momentous and the objects within the crypt are of great value. They clearly belong in the keeping of one able to care for, respect, and properly display them. Someone, in other words, such as yourself. I would be most willing to discuss the … shall we say … sum total of your interest.
As a token of my good faith, I freely gift you with this casket, taken from one of the outer chambers of the crypt. I’m sure that you will find it to be of great worth and impeccable condition, and I assure you, it is only a small sampling of all else that we’ve unearthed.
My trusted man, Ferd Fireburn, will await your reply. Your second-cousins send their greetings and regards, and as always, I remain
Your Kinsman,
Sir Elsam Casey
The casket is made from rosewood, intricately carved with the recurring images of rosebushes and sinuous cats. It is of elven make and between 2 and 3 thousand years old, which dates back well before the settling of Darkwood by humans. The casket is in good condition and sealed. It is three feet long and accordingly proportioned, the right size for an infant or very small child. It is heavy enough to suggest it contains something, and a weight does shift if it is shaken.
The mummified body of an elven child is inside the casket. Wrapped in papery-fine rosecloth, hands crossed and curled on its breast, it is the body of a male two-year-old. The pelt of a spotted silkfur cat was tucked around the mummy like a blanket, and the dusty remains of white rose petals are sprinkled throughout. A fine bracelet of silver and gold is engraved with the name Meredor.
**
The Adventurers -
The adventure begins when the PCs are invited to dinner at Lord Verdant’s home. Each will receive an invitation:
The pleasure of your company and the prestige of your professional opinion are most eagerly desired by Lord Verdant of Emerald Deep. Your presence is requested at a gathering to begin Restday, the 14th of Turning. The hospitality of Lord Verdant’s home will be yours, and you shall be offered suitable compensation for your time, advice, and service.
Verdant’s home is a lakeside manor with sweeping views. The interior is overly furnished, too aggressively proclaiming wealth and indulgence (if not precisely good taste). The house is approached via the back gardens, where several of Verdant’s mistresses (Alys, Cordelia, Gwynne, Blythe, Tyna) can be found lounging on the grass, picnicking on fruit, wine, and cheese while listening to musicians and poets.
The PCs will be welcomed and shown to lavish guest suites, offered refreshments and a chance to rest or tidy up before dinner. They’ll have some time to wander around and perhaps get to meet each other. The household staff consists primarily of young, buxom women (Edith, Kerni, Abigail, Pippa, Deanna).
When dinnertime arrives, they’ll be escorted into a formal dining room and served a sumptuous 5-course meal - soup (chowder), appetizers (mushroom caps stuffed with shredded freshwater crab and cheese, thin-sliced deep-fried eel), a fish dish (baked almond whitefish), a fowl dish (half a pheasant cooked in raspberry wine sauce), and dessert (honey cakes with custard). The young lord also prides himself on his wine cellars and mead.
Over dinner, Verdant will tell them a little about the family history and his cousin Sir Elsam, and the package that arrived three days ago. He sent back his cousin’s man with a note the next day, thanking Sir Elsam for the gift and promising more of a response soon, stating his wish for a more educated opinion or two.
He’ll explain to the party that he’s brought them all here because he doesn’t trust Elsam, wouldn’t put it past him to try and pull some sort of prank, passing off forgeries as genuine in an effort to get his hands on some of the fortune he felt should have been his.
What Verdant has in mind is this - not only would he like the experts (the Haarkonites, the archeologist, the elfkin, the mage), to examine the casket and its contents to see if it’s the real thing, but he’d also like to send them to Farraday Island to view this crypt and the other items. He’s requesting that the constables go along purely as a precaution … unless it does turn out that Elsam is trying to cheat him, in which case he’d like to see his cousin duly charged with deception and fraud.
Provided they agree, Verdant will offer them hospitality for the night and anything (within reason) that they feel they might need. His opening bid for their consultation fee is a thousand marks apiece, plus travel expenses. He’ll arrange transportation on the Green Lady, a ferry that will take them to the island.
The Green Lady is a small ferryboat owned by Riley Cross, whose family has been in the boating biz for six generations. The boat is powered by oarsmen, not slaves but men who make a decent wage (better than Ferd, as he’ll sourly point out). They are typical of the breed - bare-chested, muscular, tough-looking. Not the sort you’d want to get into a fight with.
Riley himself is a small bantam rooster of a man, in his late forties or early fifties. His family lives on the island (except for one daughter who married a forester and moved off gods-know-where). He can talk all day about his wife (Clara) five sons (Johnny, Archer, Wilton, Edmond, Lewis), two daughters (Flora, Fawn), and four grandkids (John Jr. Little Riley, Little Clara, and Davin).
It takes the better part of a full day to ferry across to the island. The boat will leave in the late morning (after Lord Verdant provides a buffet breakfast for his guests) and arrive at Boattown in midafternoon.
**
Farraday Island -
The island is located toward the center of the teardrop that is Emerald Deep. The shore is within view, though a good mile at the nearest point. The forest here is less-settled, wilder. Bear, deer, boar, rabbit, pheasant, and elk make up the fauna.
The lake is rich with fish, eels, and freshwater crabs with a distinctive iridescent green shell that contributes to the lake’s name. The shells are a popular trade item, used in decoration and for scoops, ladles, bowls, windchimes, and jewelry.
Livestock consists of chickens and geese, some tamed swine, and a few goats. There isn’t much in the way of farming because the ground’s not good for more than a few small gardens. For transportation, the people use boats or hand-hauled two-wheel carts. Sir Elsam keeps four or five horses but the undergrowth is really too thick for much riding and so he does most of his hunting on foot.
The island is rocky, with few good places to land a boat, as it’s mostly cliffs, tumbles of boulders, and a few small rocky beaches. There are three signs of habitation on the island - Boattown, Farradayville, and Seven Pines. Only Boattown is visible from the ferry approach; Seven Pines, Sir Elsam’s hunting lodge, is by a spring-fed creek near the middle of the island.
A scholar or linguistics expert might note that the name Farraday derives from the elven “feyr’yhadia,” meaning “secret burial places.”
**
Boattown -
This is a small huddle of houses and shops around a dock, mostly wooden plank buildings weathered to a silvery grey. Boattown is home to 2 dozen fishermen and their families, a boatwright, a ropemaker, a netmaker, and the Jolly Boatman pub.
The Jolly Boatman is run by Mikar Brewster. It is a lively, noisy, raucous place, but oddly Puritan - Mikar is a devout Galatinite and frowns on gambling, loose women, and bad language (he doesn’t mind a good fight, though, and will be the first to leap in if he feels one of his regulars has been slighted).
The people who live in Boattown make their living mostly off of the fish, which they cart into town and sell, or trade for other goods. Any surplus fish is smoked (the smokehouse is in Farradayville) and shipped out. They are for the most part clean, plain, hardworking folks, who don’t have much to do with “the inlanders,” unless it’s market day or church day.
A curving road leads into the woods to Farradayville. It is five miles’ easy walk, and as Boattown has no inn or other accommodations for guests, the party should set out at once in hopes of reaching the town before dark. There is an inn in Farradayville, the Loaf and Tankard, or they might seek the hospitality of Sir Elsam.
Boattown first names: Fallon, Blaine, Postam, Beatrice, Inna, Sibley, Brenna, Lundan, Tavis, Evina, Wynda; last names: Roper, Carpenter, Cross, Fischer, Shoregrove, Atwater, Donalston, Brewster, Lakerby.
**
The Road -
Winding through the forest, dark and dense and closed-in at times, the road is nonetheless a very gentle grade, wide, and well-kept with mile markers made of white stone along the way. It tops a hill and then descends into a still, quiet valley. Only a few lights can be seen burning in the windows of Farradayville; the absence of people moving about may indicate that all’s not quite right with this peaceful scene.
**
Farradayville -
The town consists of thirty or so buildings clustered around a well and a bare-earth marketplace. The business district includes:
Shrine to the nature gods - Kelvennor, Tarana, Helia.
Church of Galatine. With tiny schoolhouse attached and fenced cemetery in back.
Potter.
Leatherworker/Furrier.
Baker/Brewer. Doubles as the town pub and restaurant.
Carpenter/Wheelwright.
Herbalist/Midwife. Here, a rosebush grows from the middle of the swept-dirt floor.
Tailor.
Blacksmith/Tinker. Here can be found a litter of crystal grit and shards, and the body of the smith holding a hammer; he’s been stabbed several times and put up a good fight.
General Store. Includes goods brought in from the mainland (cloth, glass, beans, grain, sugar, tinned beef, lamp oil, kofa, candy, parchment and ink, novelties), a candle-dipping setup, and a nine-book town library - one cookbook, two books on Hachlanian history and folklore, one “Handbooke for the Newe Bryde,” a guide to edible fungi, a book of “Spells, Charms, and Potions” that are purely phony, a book of children’s stories, a battered Word of Galatine, and a book on treating injuries and illness.
Smokehouse. Not really a business, just a place where people can smoke and store their meat.
Bowyer. Provides Sir Elsam with arrows, otherwise plain farmhouse with big stash of colored feathers.
Almost every house has a tidy little garden, and a few have larger plots where grain is grown. Pigpens and chicken coops are much in evidence. The population should number around 130, but the town gives every impression of being empty.
The few lights seen from the road turn out to be oil lanterns, guttering and nearly out of oil. Many doors stand wide open as if people fled in a panic. Some beds appear to have been abandoned in a hurry, covers thrown back. Others are rumpled from sleep but still drawn up, as if the bodies that had been in them simply disappeared.
Scrawled on some of the walls are strange letters in a variety of substances - ink, paint, chalk, and even blood. They are in an older dialect of elven and read: “Return the child.”
The only movement in town is that of cats, dozens of cats and kittens, slinking among the buildings regarding everything with wide, fey eyes. They are skittish and spooked. In truth, most of the cats were once residents of the town, transformed by magic while they slept. Being trapped in cat form has left them with IQ 7 and few memories of humanity. Only habit keeps them in the general vicinity of their homes.
The livestock and other normal animals in town haven’t been fed or otherwise tended to, and most of them are agitated as a result. Many chickens and a few dogs are running loose, including one large and obviously well-bred hunting hound with a deep, clotted gash along his hip. This is one of Sir Elsam’s dogs, escaped but wounded.
A profusion of wild rose bushes dot the yards and streets, sometimes right in the middle of the hardpacked dirt street, which makes getting around them difficult. It almost seems that the rosebushes move and sway even in the absence of wind, reaching out to anyone who passes close by. They are in fact moving, not meaning to do harm but causing 1d6-5 damage all the same with their long, sharp thorns. A Tracking roll might reveal human footprints (most bare) leading up to the rosebushes and then no further. These are the rest of Farradayville’s inhabitants, those who woke during the incident and attempted to flee, only to be caught by another spell and changed into rosebushes.
A few corpses can be found, only a day or two dead. Some of them are in their bedrooms, as if they’d just rapidly arisen. The cause of death in every case was vicious stab wounds by some sort of spear. Some victims are holding weapons, or are in postures of defense (with accompanying defense wounds), but there is no sign of wounded assailants. Most of these valiant fallen are menfolk, presumably staying behind to defend the homestead or buy time while their families ran for it.
Farradayville first names: Fergus, Hadwin, Dolph, Kelsey, Brodrick, Allan, Mona, Gretta, Renilda, Kate, Delia; last names: Jameston, Wrey, Cooper, Claypot, Tanner, Gardenfield, Wright, Rockfarm, Lambert.
A much narrower road leads from the village toward the heart of the island, following a creek upstream. A sign at the start of the road reads simply: Seven Pines.
**
Seven Pines -
The hunting lodge is a large construction of flagstone and rough-hewn timbers, set at the top of a short but steep hill that slopes down to a rushing, rocky creek. An arched wooden bridge spans the creek and gives onto a path that loops around the hill to a wide cleared space ringed with a low rock wall, bordering on a small stable. From this area, a set of flat stone steps leads up the hill to the lodge’s flagstone terrace.
The stable has stalls for eight horses, a hayloft, tack room, and attached tool shed. A little ways apart from it, connected by a covered walkway, is a two-room cottage belonging to the groom. Four horses are here, alive and well though hungry and easily spooked. A scarred old orange tabby cat is prowling around as well - the former groom, Cedric Atley.
The entire front half of the lodge’s ground floor is given over to one long room, dominated by a stone fireplace. The furnishings are leather and dark tartans, the décor upper-class rustic - antler chandelier, stuffed and mounted trophies on the walls, a black bearskin rug, portrait of a younger Sir Elsam on a Southern Plains safari with a Plainsfolk bow in one hand and his foot resting on a shaggy-bull. A dining-room table and chairs are in one section, sofas and chairs in another. At either end of this long room, half-log stairs lead up to a gallery off of which other doors open.
The dining room table is utterly bare and draped with not a tablecloth but a worn woolen blanket. The chairs around it are set up in odd patterns that suggest they’d been used to support something between them. A book with a worn leather cover is on the floor under one of the chairs, fallen open and face-down in a tent-shape. An unstoppered, spilled inkwell lies nearby, along with a pheasant-feather quill. Some scraps of rosecloth wrappings litter the floor in heaps.
The writing is here too - “Return the Child,” written in elven on the wall above the fireplace in ink from the spilled inkwell but done with a finger, not with the quill.
The journal is full of scribblings (“Talk to Harldon - boar hunt for Sir Winston’s birthday,” “Silk scarf for S.; don’t forget; she likes red,” “Write to Charles - invitation to next tournament?” “Devon Drewe, Kordai, wants sponsors for Perrifaulian expedition.”). On the last written-on page is the following list:
2 adult caskets, rosewood, truesilver fittings, elf-runes on sides, sealed.
Silver chalice, gowned elfwoman handles, polished amethysts set in base.
Assorted crockery shards, very thin, painted.
Moonstone candleholder, crescent-shape.
Exquisite light broadsword, truesteel? with ivory hilt, jeweled.
Cedarwood case lined with quilted cloth, tiered game board and rods, pieces carved from garnet and amethyst - archers, wizards, castles, horses, minstrels, lords, ladies, dogs, gryphons, unicorns, dragons.
Set of nesting enameled boxes, festival scenes.
4 crystal goblets, deep silvery-blue tint.
Wooden castle dollhouse with dolls and furniture.
6 wrapped remains, cats?
Glass spear with black crystal tip.
Ceramic vial, painted roses, stoppered and sealed, contains liquid.
The list is Sir Elsam’s notes on the items that Harldon (the hunstmaster) and Edgar brought up from the crypt after he sent Ferd with the message for Lord Verdant.
The rear half of the lodge’s ground floor consists of a brick kitchen with hanging copper pots, a well-stocked pantry, the housekeeper’s (Tenni Brightcastle) room, a nook where the kitchen boy’s (Chester Brightcastle) cot is, a dorm shared by Sir Elsam’s manservant (Edgar Fischer) and guardsman (Ferd Fireburn), a laundry/bath room with iron stove and big iron tubs, a morning room with windows looking out on the garden and a small table suitable for breakfasts, and a back door.
The upper floor hall is a gallery overlooking downstairs. Five doors open off of it - the master bedroom, two bedrooms clearly belonging to Sir Elsam’s son and daughter, a guest room, and a privy. The beds in Elsam and Arlen’s rooms are disturbed, the covers thrown back. Elary’s bed is rumpled from sleep but the blankets are drawn up.
A plump calico cat (Tenni) is curled on the hearth. A scruffy patchwork kitten (Chester) is with her. Edgar and Ferd fled when the attack came and are rooted in the backyard. Of Lord Verdant’s cousins, Elary and Arlen, no sign can be found.
Sir Elsam is dead below his window in a scatter of glass and splintered wood, having crashed through his bedroom shutters while fighting off one of his attackers. He is in his nightshirt, bloodied with many wounds. The crystal shards beneath and around him are the remains of a crystal golem (see below).
In the backyard, a clothesline and chicken coop are to one side, an herb and vegetable garden to the other. A stepping-stone path leads to a four-room cottage at the rear of the yard, abutting the woods. This is the huntsmaster’s (Harldon Oakes) home, plainly-furnished. Adjoining the cottage is a kennel large enough to hold half a dozen hunting dogs.
The kennel was clearly the site of a battle. The gates stand ajar, two dogs lie dead of multiple stab wounds, and the body of a fit, rangy older man in a leather jerkin is sprawled by the door. He has been pierced several times and it looks as if he managed to drag himself far enough to open the rear door and let the surviving dogs escape.
What happened here was as follows: after Sir Elsam retired for the night, his son and daughter decided to take a closer look at these elven treasures themselves. Inspired by greed, they opened the caskets and were delighted to find that the rosecloth-wrapped mummies within each wore an ornate truesilver necklace with a pendant of an emerald in the shape of a rose.
When Arlen and Elary donned these necklaces, they became possessed, not by the spirits of the dead elves but by a sort of memory-echo that made them believe they were Eridor and Merdith Talere. Enraged at the desecration of their tomb, they first summoned the crystal golem guardians of the tomb and took revenge on Sir Elsam and Harldon. The necklaces gave them the power to change people into plants, and to wake and control the six mummified cats.
The dead cats are responsible for the transformations of the housekeeper and kitchen boy, as well as throughout town. Once unwrapped, they appear fairly normal, except that their eyes do not merely reflect light but literally glow pale green. Quick and silent, they slunk through the night and found sleepers, stealing their breath and transforming them from humans into cats. Those that woke and tried to flee were either changed by the possessed Arlen and Elary, or slain by the crystal golems.
Once everyone at the lodge was dealt with, Arlen and Elary went into town to search for the missing casket of the elven child. Failing to find it, they struck at the people of Farradayville. When morning came, they returned to their tomb to rest and recover their strength, the use of magic being very draining on their human bodies. Once night falls, they will set off through the woods to Boattown, wreaking the same havoc there while the party is busy investigating Farradayville.
**
Return to Boattown -
If the party decides to go back to Boattown, either to seek help or escape the island, they will find the smaller town is now in the same condition as Farradayville - cats and rosebushes and dead people.
The boats, including the Green Lady, will bob where they’ve been moored. With no one to row or steer, the party could well be trapped on the island until the return of a crab-trapper who’d been away for a few days. These fishermen will be horrified by what they find in their village, and would probably be quick to blame these strangers. Such a misunderstanding may result in a fight.
Fishermen:
| ST 11 | thr: 1d-1 | sw: 1d+1 | move: 5 | dodge: 5+PD |
| DX 11 | PD/DR: 1 | area: torso | type: light leather | |
| IQ 10 | Brawling - 12 | parry: 8+PD | dam: 1d6-2 cr. | |
| HT 11 | Baton - 12 | parry: 6+PD | dam: 1d6+1 cr. |
| Ricky | Russell | Lewis | Lorinta |
| 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
**
The Tomb -
The path that Sir Elsam’s huntsman and servants made while carrying the treasures of the tomb back and forth is wide and recent and easy to follow. It leads into the island’s deeply forested heart to an opening in a hillside near a bubbling creek. A gaping hole in the earth, surrounded by a spill of loose soil, marks the entrance to the tomb.
This entrance had been concealed by a wall of shaped earth (not stone), but when the creek that flowed past Seven Pines was diverted by natural causes over the years, the flowing water washed away the wall of earth and eventually revealed the opening. It hasn’t been exposed long enough for the elements to do much damage.
The first chamber was once the living area. The floor is bare stone but the impression of stalks has been left on it, proof that it was once carpeted in rushes and grass. A shelf of stone near the opening is blackened with old soot, and the spongy remnants of a wooden spit can be found in bored holes on either side.
The furniture is brittle and large, constructed within the cave. There are two beds (one large, one small) and a cradle, chairs, tables, and a washstand with a broken crockery basin. The books on the shelf are so deteriorated that they will disintegrate into dust if touched.
All of the furnishings were long-since shoved aside to make room for the biers upon which the caskets were set. The caskets are no longer on them, but resting against one of the walls.
If the party arrives here on the night of the attack in Boattown, they will find the tomb deserted except for a single crystal golem. Everything on Elsam’s list will be here, but the caskets will be disturbed, markings on the wrappings indicating that some heavy collar, necklace, or piece of jewelry was removed from each.
If the party arrives by day, Arlen and Elary will be found sleeping on the bare floor, and the rest of the crystal guardians will be standing watch. At the first disturbance, the possessed pair will awaken and use their newfound magical powers on the intruders.
The cat-spirits can only use their breath-stealing power on a sleeping person, but can also attack conventionally. They are destroyed when their HT reaches 0, and the stolen breath will be released in a vaporous cloud, thereby undoing the transformations.
Cat Guardian:
| ST 3 | damage: 1d-4 cut. |
| DX 14 | speed: 10 |
| IQ 7 | weight: 7 lbs. |
| HT 12 | PD/DR: 0/4 |
Special: Shapeshift Other, 16 or less, no cost but victim must be sleeping; resisted by IQ.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
Crystal Golems -
These man-sized figures have the form of elven spearmen, in chainmail and helms. The tinting of the crystal gives their armor a silvery effect, their ‘flesh’ a bluish one. Their spears are glass with crystal-obsidian tips. There were 6 of them, now 4 because Sir Elsam and the town blacksmith each destroyed one Crystal Golem:
| ST 20 | damage, fist: 2d6-1 crush. |
| DX 12 | speed: 7 |
| IQ 9 | PD/DR: 3/7 |
| HT 13/20 |
Spear skill - 15; parry 7+PD; dam 2d6+2 imp.; used 2-handed.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |
Arlen and Elary -
Although essentially possessed by the insane and vengeful spirits of long-dead elves, these two remain physically human and normal in appearance. Both are in their nightclothes and slippers, unarmed, somewhat disheveled and dirty from their late-night trips through the forest and their days spent sleeping on the ground.
Arlen - human male, age 20, decent physical condition
| ST 11 | thr: 1d-1 | sw: 1d+1 | PD/DR: 0/0 |
| DX 12 | b. speed: 5.5 | move: 5 | dodge: 5 |
| IQ 11 | height: 5’9” | weight: 175 lbs | |
| HT 10 | hair: black | eyes: blue | |
| Brawling - 14 | parry: 9+PD | dam: 1d6-2 cr. |
Special: necklace gives the ability to control the crystal golems and cat guardians; also has the spell Plant Form Other at 15.
Elary - human female, age 17, pampered
| ST 9 | thr: 1d-2 | sw: 1d-1 | PD/DR: 0/0 |
| DX 11 | b. speed: 5.25 | move: 5 | dodge: 5 |
| IQ 12 | height: 5’4” | weight: 105 lbs | |
| HT 10 | hair: black | eyes: brown |
Special: necklace gives the ability to control the crystal golems and cat guardians; also has the spell Plant Form Other at 15.
While wearing the necklaces, Arlen’s and Elary’s personalities are buried. They only speak elven and have been driven nearly mad by the knowledge that the child, Meredor, has been taken away from them. Because they aren’t truly these elves reborn, they can use no other magic than that incorporated in the necklaces.
They do have access to a bare outline of the memories and attendant sorrows and guilts of the dead elves - Eridor blames himself for Meredor’s death and took his own life in remorse; Merdith spent her last years grief-stricken, making the tomb and the guardians before joining them.
Removing the necklaces will require force, but will release the pair (it won’t undo the Plant Form Other spells; Remove Curse or smashing the emeralds is required to do that). Arlen and Elary will have no memory of anything after they tried on the jewelry, and, being a pair of petulant brats, will react haughtily and with anger at being told what’s happened.
**
History:
The sorceress Merdith Telere, her husband Eridor, and her nephew-apprentice Fianne were the only survivors of an attack by dragons that wiped out their Lenaisian home. They fled to Darkwood, living in the caverns rather than risk notice by building aboveground even though it was long before humans had settled there.
A son, Meredor, was born to the married couple shortly thereafter, but the baby drowned when he was only two years old. Eridor, blaming himself for failing to save the child in time, killed himself a few years later.
Merdith devoted herself to creating a tomb for her husband and son, including creating the crystal warriors and cat-spirits to watch over it. She also made a casket for herself. Her final deed was to take her own life, stabbing herself through the heart with an obsidian dagger.
She left instructions for her apprentice that he evidently followed - to arrange her body for burial, put it with her family, and seal the tomb before he left to find others of their kind.
**
Resolution -
Even when the spells are broken and Arlen and Elary are themselves again, a bit of mop-up is required. The townspeople will be frantic and wanting an explanation, But when all’s said and done, only a few people actually lost their lives, and the rest will count themselves lucky.
As Sir Elsam is among the dead, that will leave Arlen in charge as lord of Farraday Isle. Neither he nor Elary will be bursting with gratitude, resenting anyone who thinks they were in any way responsible for this mess. It would please them both greatly if the party just left in a prompt fashion. However, they are also both greedy, and would be glad to sell any of the artifacts to the highest bidder, be it their cousin Verdant or anyone else.
Lord Verdant, on the other hand, will be shaken by the story. Being a superstitious person by nature, he’ll insist on returning the child’s casket - he doesn’t want it anyway, all things considered. Neither will he be interested in any of the other items, or Elary’s proposal. He will pay the agreed-upon fee to the party, and offer a five hundred mark bonus to each of them because it turned out to be far more trouble than anticipated.
**
Author’s Notes -
The land of Darkwood is set in the world in which I both game and write. It is located in the southeastern corner of Hachland, south of a spur of the Bannerian Mountains, northeast of the port city of Kordai. Magical talent is rare among humans, but generations ago the talent sprang up in some of the Darkwood families and they have cultivated it through arranged marriages and snobbish class-ism ever since. The magic they use is similar to that practiced by the elves of the Emerin and Lenais.
Lord Verdant is dedicated to the Green Baron, with all due apologies for making him even more of a skirt-chasing decadent playboy here than he was in the story. ; )
**
Handouts:
#1 - the invitation
The pleasure of your company and the prestige of your professional opinion are most eagerly desired by Lord Verdant of Emerald Deep. Your presence is requested at a gathering to begin Restday, the 14th of Turning. The hospitality of Lord Verdant’s home will be yours, and you shall be offered suitable compensation for your time, advice, and service.
#2 - the letter:
My dearest cousin Verdant,
I hope this missive finds you well and healthy, and Emerald Deep in good keeping. Word of your marvelous parties and affairs have reached even here. Elary and Arlen are heartbroken over the notion that you have forgotten to extend invitations to your own kin, who of course, and I’m sure I needn’t remind you, enjoyed their childhood at Emerald Deep and miss it greatly.
But I do not write you, cousin, on behalf of my children. I write because, as you can see by the contents of this parcel, I believe I’ve come across something that would be of interest to you. I’ve heard of your fine gallery of antiques and rare items-of-art. It is said to be an up-and-coming showpiece of our fair region, bringing acknowledgement and respect back to our family.
Thus, it is my duty and my pleasure to present you with this remarkable piece. It was recovered from a cavern recently discovered by my Huntsmaster, who reports that said cavern is to all reckoning some sort of crypt. Most striking of all is that the objects contained therein give every indication of being not only quite old, but of elven design and make.
I’m sure you can see what a find this is, dear young cousin. It could well be the discovery of the century, this proof that against all our historical reckoning, the elvenfolk did once dwell in Darkwood. The import, and indeed possible prospects of this, cannot fail to escape the notice of a collector such as yourself.
Herein, however, is the crux of my concern. This find is obviously quite momentous and the objects within the crypt are of great value. They clearly belong in the keeping of one able to care for, respect, and properly display them. Someone, in other words, such as yourself. I would be most willing to discuss the … shall we say … sum total of your interest.
As a token of my good faith, I freely gift you with this casket, taken from one of the outer chambers of the crypt. I’m sure that you will find it to be of great worth and impeccable condition, and I assure you, it is only a small sampling of all else that we’ve unearthed.
My trusted man, Ferd Fireburn, will await your reply. Your second-cousins send their greetings and regards, and as always, I remain
Your Kinsman,
Sir Elsam Casey
#3 - the list:
2 adult caskets, rosewood, truesilver fittings, elf-runes on sides, sealed.
Silver chalice, gowned elfwoman handles, polished amethysts set in base.
Assorted crockery shards, very thin, painted.
Moonstone candleholder, crescent-shape.
Exquisite light broadsword, truesteel? with ivory hilt, jeweled.
Cedarwood case lined with quilted cloth, tiered game board and rods, pieces carved from garnet and amethyst - archers, wizards, castles, horses, minstrels, lords, ladies, dogs, gryphons, unicorns, dragons.
Set of nesting enameled boxes, festival scenes.
4 crystal goblets, deep silvery-blue tint.
Wooden castle dollhouse with dolls and furniture.
6 wrapped remains, cats?
Glass spear with black crystal tip.
Ceramic vial, painted roses, stoppered and sealed, contains liquid.