Chaosium Digest Classics: The Adventure of the Bequest (PENDRAGON)

by Timothy Ferguson ferguson@beyond.net.au

Originally presented in Chaosium Digest Volume 31, Number 2, Tuesday, May 2, 2000

Author's Note: This adventure was written during the playtest for the "Saxons!" supplement and may contain references which are not correct for the published version, since it is based on the playtest release.


The adventure revolves around the search for the remains of a character's father, who disappeared and therefore could not be buried by his sons, dishonoring them. At the time of his disappearance the father was equipped with a family heirloom, a spear blessed by Wotan and Thurnor, that would never break in battle and added +1 to it's wielder's spear skill. A traveler will relate a tale in which the heirloom appears, drawing the character into a confrontation with its new owner and providing him with a clue as to the whereabouts of his father's remains. If no player character is appropriate, then an NPC thegn, Caedwalla, will be the heir and will ask the assistance of the player characters in the recovering of the artifact. The rest of the scenario is written presuming it is this NPC who is the heir.

The characters are in the mead hall of their lord. While here before dinner they can use some courtly skills, if they wish. The Gamemaster should emphasize how different this setting is from the usual, by making the manners more earthy and the activities less refined. Dinner is served and the characters lay into their meat and mead, while telling stories of what they and their ancestors have done. Check Temperate to see how drunk the character is by this time.

These tales have a certain form, which should help the players design them about their character's fathers. It starts with a statement of relationship, then a description of the excellence of the man and those things he owned. Then it outlines a problem, adds an opponent, then makes it very clear that the opponent is terrible and potent. Next it praises the bravery and skill with which the relative overcomes the menace. It then concludes with the receipt of his just reward. Characters who make up a story about their fathers may make checks on Honesty, Pride and Orate. If they critically succeed on the Orate roll, they may check Love (family), as it gives them a deeper insight into the greatness of their father's bloodline.

If the characters all have fathers safely burnt or buried, the last tale in the series involves Caedwalla, who tells the tale of his grandfather's victory over Edbert, a Scandi warrior of great might. A visiting Skald will beg the next tale and say:

"As I traveled here, I met another Skald who told me the tale of a warrior living in the woods of Lanburh. He also carried a spear such as you described. It's holder is a mighty bandit, known for his many forays into the Welshlands. It is said that, with the spear you describe, he slew two hundred men at the Battle of Cliffington. He is said to have escaped the bear-pit of the King of Kent only by seducing his daughter."

"Tell us the tale!", call many drunken Saxons.

The skald goes into a tawdry tale indeed of a woman foolishly freeing her father's enemy because he promised her a large bride-price. Although he paid her a large maiden-fee, he did not take her away to marry him, so she was dishonored before all of her family.

Soon after, the Gesith leaves and the Thegn gets sufficiently drunk at his expense to fall asleep. Caedwalla asks the skald for directions too Lanburh. The skald will give them freely, so that the characters realize it is about three weeks away by foot, two by horse. He mentions that there are feats for heroes along the way, but myths indicate they might only be found by those with a fox's hide arm-band. Caedwalla asks the characters to accompany him to overcome this chieftain and regain his heirloom. He is also keen to haggle a fox fur off one of the other warriors, but will leave that to the player characters while he gathers supplies. He has only two horses, one for himself and one to carry provender, so characters will have to supply their own mounts, if they can.

The First Feat: The Lady of the Barrow of Black Stones.

Five days from home, the track the characters are following swerves past a low hill, obviously artificial, made out of black, polished rocks. Should any character touch a rock, a woman with black hair and dark eyes, dressed in black-embroidered clothes and wearing a cape of fur from a black bear, will accuse them of being thieves and attempting to steal her stones. Once they protest their innocence, she will call them liars and curs, then will demand they undertake a trial to prove it. Either they will be tried by hot water or by combat.

A foul beast emerges from this barrow every evening during the dark of the moon, she claims, and she will believe the truth of their story only if they can slay it, or cause it to flee. She will be unable to describe it, but will say that it eats people and leaves few footprints when it travels. It never enters houses, so people shelter from it in the mead hall, but it often kills passers-by and livestock. If the characters ask, she will agree to pay damages for their injuries in battle against the beast, even as a chieftain would, so long as they prove their innocence of her charge.

At midnight the barrow shudders slightly and there is a low, groaning sound as the stones move against one another. A humanoid shape leaps to the top of the barrow. It is like a human, but bent over almost double, with springy legs, black, shiny skin and a long tongue with which it tastes the air. After a moment or two, it leaps to a nearby tree-top, then bounds from tree to tree away from the mound and out into the forest. After a night of rapine, it will return to the mound. Characters wishing to confront it would best do it now, as it is weighed down by a bloated stomach.

The Fiend of Vaults:

SIZ 15 Move 3 / 6 leaping. Major Wound 12
DEX 30 Damage: 4d6 Unconscious N/A (0)
STR 12 Heal Rate: Special Knockdown 15
CON 12 Hit points 27 Armor 15 points, hide of stone

Modifier to Valor: +0
Glory to Kill: 50? 75?
Attacks: 2 Claws @ 10 each or
2 Kicks @ 15 each, damage 5d6 only on two people standing
together or on a single target or
1 Jump @ 20, crushing damage 6d6, but useable only every second
round.

The Fiend will shy away from flame and not fight any character who bares a torch. It also hates sunlight, as this turns it into inanimate stone until the New Moon. If the characters prevent it from hiding back in the barrow, it will seek a sheltered spot where it's body can lie undisturbed during the next month, such as the bottom of a deep stream. If it does get back into the barrow it can be killed by lighting a huge fire that covers the entire mound, as this cooks it against the hot stones.

If the characters are victorious, the Lady of the Barrow of Black Stones will thank them profusely and pay them for their wounds using polished jet. Finally, she will take the left hand of the heir and kiss it, instantly vanishing. The character will take three points of damage as her kiss has branded him, as if by a hot iron, with a rune for "stone". Although he will be annoyed now, the brand will grant him three added points of armor in the battle with the brigand chief, before vanishing away, leaving only a faint, white scar.

The Second Feat: The Maiden of the Field of Berries and Briars.

The characters will come upon scattered clumps of wild berries during their travels and may trap small game to give themselves some fresh supplies. Late one day while foraging, a character with an arm-band of fox-fur will find a large glade with raspberries, blueberries and blackberries growing together by a cool spring. The edges of the glade are surrounded by thick briar-bushes, but a path through these is easily cleared. It is an excellent place to pitch a tent and camp, but early the next morning a carnation-skinned girl with strawberry-blonde hair, who wears a cloak of red deer hide, will rouse them awake, by demanding that they get out of her glade and pay her for the magical berries they have stolen.

The characters will likely again protest their innocence and the maiden will demand a test of them. Either they will be tested by cold water or they will be tried by combat. Again, she will agree to pay the price of the blood they spill if they succeed in the trial. She will tell them that a terrible creature dwells deep in the well. It is drawn forth by the light of the full moon, or the reflection of silver in moonlight upon the water's surface. The creature kills babies and bites people in their sleep, leaving them with boils and blisters for months afterwards, but never enters the mead halls, so the people sleep there while it eats their livestock.

The Robust Fiend of the Spring of the Field of Berries and Briars

This creature has the statistics of a Mersc Feond, from Chapter 8, save that It also has the attack "Bite @ 15: Damage 7d6, plus opposed roll on Con. versus poison potency of 12, or the wound festers and blisters, giving the character 1 point of damage per round if they participate in combat while wearing clothing." It has eight points of armor, due to its aqueous nature, which makes it resistant to stabbing and chopping attacks.

The Robust Fiend is a potent foe, but is very vulnerable to alcohol. It will not attack a character who is not cold sober, or who carries an alcoholic beverage. If mead, for instance, is splashed upon it, it uses the following statistics:

As per Mersc Feond, but reduce damage rolls by two dice, its hit points to 32 and let its armor be 5.

Once the characters are victorious, the Maiden of the Fields of Berries and Briars will congratulate them, apologizing for her earlier claims against their honor. She will pay for their wounds with bottles of berry-wine, toasting them and asking each to raise a horn. As the heir drinks, she disappears and he is branded on the tongue with the glyph for water. Although he loses three hit points and is probably extremely annoyed, the glyph will aid him in the final battle as he will bleed water it produces rather than his own juices. This prevents aggravation of Major Wounds.

Characters travelling on will get to Lanburh, a little community by the woodland in which the bandit chieftain skulks. Suspicious players may be on the look-out for another supernatural occurrence, but these scenes are another venture into the day-to-day life of Saxons. The chief is holding a feast as his people have just raided deep into the Welshlands and have returned with much livestock and many slaves. He invites the characters to sit at his table, so long as they are not ill-thought of, which in game terms is represented by a low Honor Score.

Tales will be told and mead drunk. He will gladly give the characters a fair price for their berry wine in precious metal, so long as they tell him the tale of its earning. He will be greatly pleased by the death of the Robust Fiend, as he had tried to kill it, but it had refused to fight him. Although the chief claims this was due to his great courage, wily GMs may notice it was because he was noted for his great Indulgence. If asked about the Maiden, he says that odd magical maidens are thick on the ground in this bit of the country as a runecarver had come here many years ago and trained some local girls the ways of the written word. Mostly, he says, they keep to themselves. If the characters have sex here, remember to check for pregnancies and charge maiden and bed-prices.

After heading on again, the characters will travel upon a road of gray flagstones, which makes travel remarkably rapid. They come to an enormous tree which has fallen, blocking the path. It is spongy with rot and coated in fruiting bodies of both odd and unsavory hues. It's wood has bleached to a gray color. Characters trying to clear it will be accosted by a woman who claims the fruits as her own. If they travel around the tree, which, due to the placement of gullies on either side of the track is a laborious course, she still waylays them for using her road, but not paying the toll.

The Dame of the Road of Polished Flagstones is elderly and has gray hair. She wears clothing of gray wool and has a shawl of wolf's fur. Her hands are covered with iron gauntlets and she always lays the right over the left. She will also will also abuse the characters, saying that they have damaged her tree, trodden dirt all over her nice road and ruined her crop. She will call them all sorts of horrible names, ask if they are descended of Scandians, then demand they take the trial of hot iron to prove it.

She will accept combat instead, against the Thegn at the end of her road. He is a brute and a bandit, also a well-known rapist and a defiler of graves. He does not, however, attack people in mead-halls, so that is where women shelter from him while he adulterates graves. She agrees to pay the price of their wounds, if the players think to ask, so long as they are victorious.

At their assent, she disappears and the heir feels a stabbing pain in his right hand. He loses three hit points and is 
marked with the glyph of vengeance. This will add one to the damage he does with each successful blow of his weapon upon his opponent. The point is added after the subtraction of armor, so that he does at least a point of damage whenever he wins the opposed resolution roll.

At the end of the road is a small motte and bailey structure, wherein dwells the bandit chieftain. Characters are faced with the classical Pendragon dilemma of how to get into a fortified structure. In this case, it is relatively simple. The bandit chief wants the horses and valuables of the player characters and he is more than certain that he can take them. He opens the gates for them and allows them to enter.

Aelfric, the chieftain, is an elderly man who has fought off the years well. He is haggard and has scars aplenty to testify to his bravery and resilience. He asks the characters to dine with him, but at the feast the characters will find themselves the center of attention, greedily stared at by his henchmen. Eventually he will ask for stories from the characters. Caedwalla will arrange with the other characters to speak last. He will tell of his father's victory over the Scandian warrior.

Aelfric will laugh at him, then tell the story of how he killed Caedwalla's father, incinerated him, then added him to his Sack of Ashes. A leather bag is hug from the ridge-pole of his dining hall. He always incinerates his enemies, he says, as it prevents them haunting him. With a critical Awareness check, characters can see something inside the bag wriggling. Caedwalla is incensed, but makes his Hospitality vs. Love (Family) check and so keeps his peace. His host asks the characters to leave in the morning, saying that he will give them a day's start.

The next morning, after the characters have passed out of the gate of Aelfric's stead, Caedwalla will call out to Aelfric, proclaiming him to be ignoble in any number of ways and demanding trial by combat for his spear and the box of Ashes. Aelfric will ignore him. Caedwalla shouts that the leader of the bandits is a Nithing and that all who serve such a one are worse than the lick-spittles of a dog. That gets some attention.

Twice as many followers of Aelfric as there are characters emerge from the gate to do battle. They have their armor on, which is an advantage they have over the PCs, but the PCs are presumably mounted and the bandits have no time to arrange a Scudburh so long as the players attack them quickly. The runes on the hands and tongue of the heir do not activate unless things are going poorly for him. After half of these bandits die, they retreat back inside.

After this success, Aelfric comes to his gate and calls out to Caedwalla that he will meet him in trial by combat. All of the rest of the bandits troop out to form a half-circle and watch their leader in combat. Each is armed and the characters should feel that if he is victorious they are liable to be hunted immediately. Aelfric is armored in finely-worked mail, with an elaborate helmet, giving him 12 points of armor. He carries the spear which was Caedwalla's father's. This makes "Love (Family)" the appropriate combat passion for the heir.

Aelfric's statistics are those of a Rich Thegn, from chapter 8.

If, during the combat, the bag of ashes is burst open, a black cloud that whines like a swarm of mosquitoes will curl out of it then attack Aelfric, filtering in through the slits in his helmet's visor and choking him to death. It will then hunt down any bandits who do not flee for dear life, seeking out any who hide nearby. Finishing it's retributive justice, it slides back into the bag and turns back into a heavy, gray powder.

At Aelfric's death, the three brands begin to fade into thin, white scars. The heir loses his magical powers as soon as he holds the spear in his right hand.

Victorious characters can either take over the motte and bailey, which has no peasants around it so it must be supported by raiding, burn it down, or give it to the lord they feasted with on the way to the conflict. Although there are only three horses here, characters might take the livestock, although it is stolen property, so they can never sell it in good faith. Similarly, most of the items of treasure found here should be the grave-goods of someone or other, so to keep it might prove unfortunate and Pious Saxons will insist on destroying everything they can lay their hands on.

The Dame of the Road of Polished Flagstones will appear to the characters and pay them for their wounds in iron, giving them swords, seaxes and the heads of axes. spears and arrows. She congratulates them and thanks them for avenging so many wrongly dead and badly buried. She gives them an inlaid box in which to keep the ashes until they are safely home, instructing them to burn it. A Recognize roll, with negative modifiers, will note that the design is the battle-banner of the previous King of Kent.

If the characters do not notice this, it will be pointed out to them by the skald at their home, who has waited to hear the outcome of their journey. He tells them that the Princess of Kent suffered so greatly that she went mad, scourged herself until her wounds poured out her lifeblood then fled to the woods, calling all of the gods to grant her justice and revenge. Many years later, as her father lay dying, she returned to her family, briefly. She showed no injury from her time away, having grown into a proud and forceful woman, save that her left hand, now covered by a gauntlet, was never seen to move without the prompting of her right, lying flat again if not held bent by its partner. After burying her father she left again, taking with her such few sections of her maiden-price as were still in the hall. No-one has seen her since.

Plot Hook: The Lady and the Maiden can serve as puzzles for future games. Are they ghosts of two of Aelfric's victims? What is their relationship to the two monsters? Were they his bastards, or the bodies of the women under terrible curses? Are they simply runecarving acolytes of the Princess in Gauntlets, or are they faeries she has called to her? Are they simply her in other guises?

Chaosium Digest Classics: Family Snapshots

A Tale of Terror for Call of Cthulhu by Nick Middleton, ©2002
Originally presented in Chaosium Digest Volume 38, Number 7, Sunday, November 13, 2004

"The sense of isolation inspires
Inspires me"
Intruder, Peter Gabriel

Celia Anderson is an occultist of dubious reputation and an aquaintance of the Investigators. Possibly, they have crossed paths with her on a previous case. She is an independently educated orphan. Now in her mid thirties, short brown hair sternly cut, always conservatively but durably attired, with a steely gaze and brusque demeanor. She has never been convicted of any wrongdoing and the investigators have no reason to believe she is a cultist, although she certainly has a reputation for sharp practice and a lack of concern over the fate of others. There are dark rumours regarding the ultimate fate of some artifacts known to have come in to her possession and questions have been raised amongst informed Occultists as to the sorts of  clients Ms. Anderson works for.

Ideally, Ms. Anderson should be introduced as a peripheral character some sessions before the Keeper intends to run this Tale, and certainly, Ms. Anderson's formidable Occult knowledge and academic training might be of some assistance to the Investigators in a preceding case. Even so, the request to visit her at her family home should come as an intriguing surprise, one they will be willing to take up.

The Investigators will no doubt wish to do some research before they visit Ms. Anderson at home and the invitation should allow them a day or so for such footwork. What they discover depends on which option the Keeper has chosen (see below), but with such limited time only the facts of public record will be revealed before the Investigators have to make their way to the house. It is an aristocratic pile, clearly over a century old (at least in origin) and some what isolated, although sharp-eyed investigators will note that a telephone line and electricity have been installed. A skeleton domestic staff of three is retained but is obviously not capable of maintaining the house and grounds.

Ms. Anderson will be as genial a host as she knows how, although it is clear that much of the house (and grounds) is out of use, and she will freely admit that she doesn't use the house much anymore. In fact, she intends to sell the place soon, which brings her to the reason she invited the Investigators: there is a collection of Occult material (books and artifacts) that has accumulated in the house over the years, some her late father's, some her late brother's and some her own. Since the house is to be sold, she intends to dispose of the collection but chose to consult acknowledged experts (the Investigators) before approaching an auction house. In the field of the Occult and Paranormal, there are risks to any such disposal. Right on cue, the power (and phone) lines are cut, plunging the house into darkness...

Ms. Anderson has not been entirely frank with the Investigators. Her father was a minor Mythos Sorcerer who dabbled and taught his children a little magic. She and her brother George found particular use for the spell, Keenness of Two Alike, especially after their father disappeared and they had to fend for themselves. Unfortunately, George had a particularly gruesome set of experiences in the War and became more than a little unhinged. Ms. Anderson had him institutionalized and is selling the collection and house to be rid of the memories and to generate enough capital for a trust fund to pay for his care indefinitely.

1) She then intends to move away and change her name. Unfortunately, one of the Occult items is a mirror made from Glass of Leng which the Anderson children used as a focus for their spells and which George has used as a target for the other spell he knows, Wandering Soul... George has thus discovered his sister's callous plans and come to wreak revenge on her and all those whom he perceives as helping her. He knows the house and grounds intimately and has the ingenuity, agility, endurance and strength of the insane. He will stalk the inhabitants of the house, beginning with servants, then the investigators, then his Sister. He will also attempt to retrieve the Mirror (which is part of the collection the Investigators were viewing). Both the mirror and his sister are tokens for which George MIGHT bargain.

2) Unfortunately for Miss Anderson and the Investigators, Anderson senior has returned. Or rather, he never left, since his offspring caused his disappearance. Whilst scrying through his magical Mirror of Leng, Anderson Senior's body remained seated in his chair, apparently studying the mirror. When George attempted to shoot his father he was horrified to see the bullet, having passed through his father, smash the mirror. Rather than scatter glass fragments it splashed like quicksilver over Anderson Senior and George. George fled, irrevocably insane, and the quicksilver absorbed Anderson Senior's body. It was forced into the cellar by Ms. Anderson where it has remained, trapped by an electric barrier. Ms. Anderson made the mistake of telling Daddy her plans yesterday and "it" has been desperately calling out for its missing part that was absorbed into George. Now George is home and has cut the power...

3) Unfortunately for the Investigators, Ms. Anderson is a minor Sorcerer and her staff are cultists. Driven mad by her father's experiments with magic and estranged from her devoted brother George by his experiences in the War, she has studied the Mythos too deeply. When George discovered what she was up to he attempted to stop her, but she managed to bribe the right people and he was institutionalized. Fortunately, a pair of his friends managed to intervene to ensure he was not badly treated. They have played a watching game until word of Ms. Anderson's intention to sell the house reached them. Rightly assuming that she intends to disappear to pursue her unspeakable interests elsewhere, George has been sprung from incarceration and he and his two friends have decided to assault the house, capture Celia and destroy as much as possible. George, although not entirely stable, will not initially intend to kill his sister. She, on the other hand, will be prepared to let everyone die (and will summon magical aid to achieve this) if she gets the chance. Although ideally a paranoid stand-off between George and his companions and the Investigators should be arranged before any violence ensues, but after Celia has managed to start the calling of a servitor...

Chaosium Digest Classics: Vehicle Building Rules

by Dany St. Pierre
Originally published in The Chaosium Digest Volume 32, Number 11, Saturday, December 23, 2000

Although CoC has rules for vehicles it doesn't include rules for building them. I`ve bashed together some quick rules for constructing and driving simple vehicles in my CoC game.

The player has the right to have a normal car for free in the beginning of the game, The Keeper may also simply assign a maximum of points for a player to spend (a total equal to the INT of the PC is a good guideline).

MOVEMENT COST.

TYPE                      BASE COST BY MPH     ADDITIONAL COST
Ground vehicle           1 pt. per 10 MPH
Submarine                  1 pt. per 10 MPH             Adaptability +6*
Boat                           1 pt. per 5 MPH
Helicopter                  1 pt. per 10 MPH              Hover +2
Tunneler                     1 pt. per 1 MPH             +2 for each class of protection above 1*
                                                                           Adaptability +3*
Airplane                     1 pt. per 20 MPH
Supersonic aircraft   16 pts for mach 1             +2 for additional mach, Adaptability +3*

VEHICLE SIZE

SIZE RANGE       (BRP) SIZE      EXAMPLE                     PROTECTION
20 kg to 200 kg     (7 to 24)           Motorcycle/scooter          6 points
436kg to 733kg     (33 to 39)         Small car                          8 points
1 ton to 3 ton         (45 to 55)         Helicopter/limousine         10 points
                                                      Airplane/fighter
4 ton to 10 ton       (60 to 70)         Truck/light tank                12 points
                                                      DC2 and 3/Ford trimotor

*Adaptability protects the pilot or driver from hostile environments.
-- Submarine: underwater preassure and asphyxiation.
-- Tunneling: heat and asphyxiation.
-- Supersonic aircraft: high altitude and asphyxiation.

ACCELERATION & HANDLING OF COMMON VEHICLES.

VEHICLE TYPES      ACCELERATION/DECELERATION                HANDLING
Sports car                       2/10 of maximum speed                                   +20%
Common car                   1/10 of maximum speed                                     +0%
Limousine                       1/10 of maximum speed                                    -10%
Pickup truck, van            1/10 of maximum speed                                    -10%
Light Tank                      1/10 of maximum speed                                    -10%
Police car                        2/10 of maximum speed                                   +20%
Standard plane                2/10 of maximum speed                                     +0%
Combat plane                  4/10 of maximum speed                                   +20%


DOGFIGHT RULES.

Gain +1% to Investigator's Piloting skill per 10 mph the plane has of superior speed (x2 if you have a combat plane and your opponent has an ordinary one). If you win a contest of skill you have the right to shoot your foe with your weapons. When a vehicle has taken a total of 20 points of damage beyond it's defense it is considered out of action. It has to be fixed or replaced.

RAMMING

An investigator can ram a foe, using the mass and speed of his vehicle to do damage. Each 10 mph does 1D6 of damage. A vehicle of size 7 to 24 has a 1D6 of basic damage, 33 to 39 2D6, 45 to 55 3D6 and 60 to 70 4D6. The vehicle takes 1/6 of the damage done. The vehicle's protection counts toward this damage.

COMMON HAZARDS FOR GROUND VEHICLES.

Hitting curb, obstacle or pedestrian -20%
Hitting lose debris -5%
Light rain, gravel on road -5%
Heavy rain, light snow, oil on road -10%
Heavy snow or ice -20%
Colliding or sideswiping any vehicle or large object (shoggoth) -30%
Losing a Tire -25%

EXAMPLE VEHICLES

FORD MODEL T
In simple terms, the Model T changed the world. It was a powerful car with a possible speed of 50 mph and ran 25 miles on a gallon of gasoline. It had a 20 horsepower side-valve four-cylinder engine, two-speed planetary transmission and a 100 inch wheelbase. Important to the long-term success of the Model T was Childe Harold Will's experiments with the properties of vanadium steel which resulted in the lightness and durability that was an important trademark of the Model T.

TYPE: ordinary car WEIGHT: 1 ton(45) SPACE: 1 driver 3 passengers
SPEED: 50 mph PROTECTION: 10 COST: (5+10):15

STUTZ BEARCAT
These are little two-seater convertibles for the fast lane drivers. If speed is your need, look no further. The Stutz is a four-speed, 150 mph joyride. No actor or actress will be caught in anything less.

TYPE: sport car WEIGHT: 733kg(39) SPACE: 1 driver 1 passengers
SPEED: 150 mph PROTECTION: 8 COST: (15+8):23

1935 L6500 MERCEDES-BENZ
The L6500 cargo carrier is one of several Mercedes-Benz trucks that saw considerable use. The cargo area is open for ease of loading and unloading, although a canvas top is often added to provide some protection from the weather. With a cargo capacity of roughly 5,900kg, its the reliable workhorse you use to transport the lost ark or the bizarre altar with strange glyphs on it.

TYPE: truck WEIGHT: 6 ton(60) SPACE: 1 driver 1 passengers
SPEED: 80 mph PROTECTION: 12 COST: (8+12):20

LIGHT TANK MKIIa
This highly effective British design, dating from 1929 was developed by Vickers. The MKIIa is notable in that it is designed to be crewed by only two individuals. One serves as driver, the others as commander/gunner. With a maximum 10mm of armor, the MKIIa is a light, maneuverable vehicle, perfectly suited to shoot-and-scout situations, or infantry support roles. The MKIIa's main armament is two 303 caliber Vickers heavy machine guns (ROF:20 shots:250 range:110 yards malf:99-98-85) increasing the vehicle's effectiveness against infantry or Cthulhu cultists.

TYPE: light tank WEIGHT: 10 ton(70) SPACE: 1 driver 1 passengers
SPEED: 40 mph PROTECTION: 12+8 COST: (4+20):24

That is not Dead Which can Eternal Lie...

It's been a while but I'm trying to make a comeback.

I'm not going to bore you with the details but let's just say a mix of new job and sundry other things led to me spemding my time and focus elsewhere. I've been wanting to get back here for a while and now, as the signs of Autumn appear even here in California and Halloween approaches, my mind is turning back to the eldritch horrors we all know and love.

I've still got a ton of Chaosium Digest Classics to get posted and I'll be working to get them here as time allows. I'm also open for submissions from any readers that find their way back here. As always, you retain full rights to your work. By submitting, you're just allowing me to post the work in this or future iterations of the Digest.

I'm off now to get the next installment of Chaosium Digest Classics together and posted. I expect to have it up later today, baring any unforseen distractions. I'm going to try and keep to weekly updates. I'll have to see if any particular day works out to be best.

In any case, if you like what you read here, spread the word and feel free to drop me a line.

Sad News about Chaosium's Lynn Willis

Yog-Sothoth.com hosts a letter from Chaosium's Charlie Krank stating that Lynn Willis has Parkinson's Disease. Chaosium.com has also posted this report. The Chaosium Digest offers our sincerest condolences and best wishes to Mr. Willis and his family. Thank you sir, for all of your work and effort on behalf of Chaosium and the fans.

Chaosium Digest Classics: Turkey and Jaguar

by Prof. Richard Scott Nokes, Ph.D
Originally published in The Chaosium Digest v38.07 on Sunday, November 13, 2004

Seeing the wild turkey on the hillside reminded Pete Byrd that he would miss Thanksgiving with his family this year. Archaeologists spent most of their time in classrooms and at colleges, but when they had to go out into the field they had to stay for long periods. Only seven months remained on Prof. Sinclair's grant to study the ancient Maya city of Tikal in the Peten rainforest of Guatemala, and he could not afford to lose any of that time. No days off, no slack days. He'd rest when the grant money ran out. Of course, Prof. Sinclair had flown out on Tuesday; No such luck for Pete, his research assistant.

Pete lugged his laptop and machinery through the low brush on a small hillside, the worst part of his job. He was mapping out the still-buried structures of the city, which involved hauling three heavy trunks around each hill in the stifling Peten heat and getting an "image" from sound waves bounced off of about two dozen spots around the hill. The image was a fuzzy jumble of lines and blurs, but in later months he would clean up the images and construct a three dimensional image of each structure. The dirty, sweaty, boring nature of the work, and the excess of turkey droppings on this particular hillside did not make the job any more fun, Thanksgiving fantasies aside.

At first he ignored the muffled sound of someone yelling up the path. The main temple square and north acropolis were off a way, so tourists generally did not get out to where he worked, but when they did they tended to be loud and annoying. As the person on the path drew nearer, though, Pete thought he could make out his name. Yes, it was his name. Sighing, he lumbered down the hill, knees aching. Like many Maya archaeologists, his knees were starting to give out, the result of spending a career climbing up and down steep pyramid steps. If they're aching at the beginning of my career, what'll they be like by the time I retire? he wondered to himself.

Luis was running up the path, out of breath and drenched in sweat. Luis qualified as the laziest assistant Prof. Sinclair had ever hired, so to see him moving so quickly was a surprise. Something was wrong. Even though the graduate student had good Spanish, Luis jabbered with such excitement that he could not make out what was being said. After repeating himself three times, Luis simply shook his head, gestured for Pete to follow, and sped back up the path. Pete followed.

Soon he found the cause of all the excitement, and became excited himself. Recent rainfall had knocked over a tree. Rain in the Peten region had only two settings: on and off. The area saw no drizzles, showers or sprinklings. Rain either thundered down like a waterfall, or not at all. In fact, atop a pyramid you could see the rain coming in like a gray wall, a spot of twilight moving across the sky. Earlier that morning a torrent had come down for about forty minutes. That forty minutes had apparently been enough to fell an old, rotten tree on a hillside near where he was working.

Luis's excitement did not come from a fallen tree, however. The root system of the tree seemed to have burrowed into a buried wall of the city. From his previous work, Prof. Sinclair believed this particular section of the city had been an acropolis, but it had never been excavated before because of the cost of labor, as well as the cost of preserving it from tourists and the elements. Indeed, now that the tree had fallen, the professor's hypothesis seemed correct, because the place that the tree had stood was now a gaping hole in the earth. The fierce sunlight revealed stone walls below.

The excitement Luis had felt now infused Pete, and he recognized an opportunity. With Prof. Sinclair gone for at least another two weeks, Pete would have time to examine the interior on his own. If he moved quickly, he might be able to submit the initial findings under his own name, rather than as "second author" status under Sinclair. This find, Pete realized, could mean the difference between getting his first job at Podunk College for the Semi-Literate, or getting his first job at Ivy-Covered Research University. He would have to cut corners, he would have to move fast, and he would have to document his findings in some public way.

Pete ordered Luis to stay and guard the entrance from tourists, who might disturb the site. He ran - yes, sprinted in the Peten heat - to get a flashlight. Though he was flushed from the heat and the exertion, Pete didn't notice. His career was made, and next time it would be he who flew back to the States for the holidays, while his own assistant stayed behind to do the grunt work. The hotel in which they were staying was not, unfortunately, air conditioned. Some of the nicer hotels were, but they were too far from the site. Pete's shirt was dirty and heavy with sweat by the time he arrived at the hotel. He fumbled for the flashlight, smearing it with sweat and dirt on his hands.

Luis squatted with a friend outside the hole when Pete arrived. They were munching some greasy chicken from "Pollito", sucking the taste off their fingers. Pete panted and gasped. When he brushed back his matted hair, Pete's finger (which had somehow ended up in the dirt) smeared a filthy line across his forehead. Luis looked at Pete with a little disgust, but kept it to himself - it wasn't smart to disrespect the Yankee archaeologists, not if you wanted to keep this cushy job for the next research grant. "Señor Byrd..." he began, wiping his fingers clean. Luis pulled a video camera from his bag. The camera belonged to Prof. Sinclair, and in his excitement, Pete had
forgotten about it. He snatched it from Luis.

Pete stripped off his sweat-drenched shirt, leaving him in just his ripped shorts and worn sandals. Just as Pete started to climb down into the hole, Luis heard him mutter something about "rats." The American then climbed back out, picked up a large branch off the ground, presumably to use to club rats, then descended into the cave-like hole.

When Prof. Sinclair returned from America, the police had already found Luis and his friend, Enrique. Luis had refused to talk about what had happened to Pete Byrd at all, but Enrique, being a more practical man, had shown the police the hole, but refused to go near it, pointing from a distance. Since Tikal was a UNESCO Cultural Heritage of Humanity Site, the police had stayed out of the acropolis entrance, but insisted on sending an officer down to accompany Prof. Sinclair. Once in the hole, they found that only two rooms were connected. Another wall was completely obscured by ages of dirt, which the professor assumed led in the direction of more acropolis. The first room was simply stone, with two jaguar heads carved in relief on either wall. A low doorway led to the second room, which was simply small and cramped. On the ground was the flashlight, batteries dead, but in the "off" position, and the video camera. The dirt on the ground was disturbed, apparently from Pete walking around in the room, but there was no other sign of him, and only the one exit.

The policeman apologized to Prof. Sinclair for the inconvenience, and he promised that someone would be punished for the disappearance of Pete. Obviously, he said, Luis and Enrique were involved in some conspiracy, perhaps a ransom plot gone wrong, and they had waylaid poor Pete when he was cornered in the second room. As Pete had been missing for two weeks and no ransom notice had been given, the policeman did not offer Prof. Sinclair much hope.

That evening, Sinclair watched the video recording in the camera. It was rather short, less than four minutes long. It began from the base of the hole, spent a minute or so panning close-ups along the stone jaguar heads, then went into the next room. On the tape, Pete could be heard to laugh, as the flashlight and camera light revealed that a wild turkey had gotten into the second room and was staring up at the camera light rather indignantly.

The last brief, chaotic images did not reveal much, and were of little use to the police; Pete's finger had come off the camcorder button before anything of use was filmed. A low rumbling noise, almost like a growl, could be heard. The camera swung wildly, randomly. A quick shot of Pete's dirty knees, a few words from Pete, so garbled that they might be English, might be Spanish, maybe neither, then static.

The police never found Pete's corpse. They charged Luis and Enrique, but they knew they had no case, so after the grant expired and the professor returned to Los Estados Unidos, they quietly dropped the charges. They had found a pile of bones not very far away, but the bones were not human. They looked like the bones of wild turkeys and other birds.

Chaosium Digest Classics: The Balance and The Girl

by Nikos Moshonas
Originally presented in The Chaosium Digest v30.9 on Saturday, March 18, 2000

This is an introductory adventure for Stormbringer/Elric! to demonstrate some aspects of Law, Balance and Chaos.

Background on Troos

The following information can be given partly as background knowledge to the players and partly as a result of research.

A great mystery covers the forest of Troos and the general area of Org. Even the forest's presence contradicts with the barren land that surrounds it. According to rumors, the forest is old, older than the holy states of Vilmir and Ilmiora, older than The Melnibonean Empire, even older than humanity. The opinions of the relationship between the Melniboneans and the forest are many and contradicting, while they agree on one point, both are spawns of Chaos.

After the emancipation of Northern Continent, Troos was located within the state of Vilmir. The governors and the holy men of the new kingdom showed interest in the area. A group of woodcutters and investigators were sent in order to clear the land and search for the truths that it was believed such an ancient place would hide. None returned. An army was sent immediately afterwards but faced the same fate. After that the forest was blockaded and guard points were set around the border with the purpose of prohibiting travel into or out of the forest. The name Org was given to the area, taken from the cries of some repulsive creatures that were known to live there. The creatures, while appearing humanoid, look more like a blasphemy of humanity.

Research in the library of the Church could reveal references to the forest in Melnibonean manuscripts which are thousands of years old. It seems that the Menliboneans were not responsible for its creation, even though many of the clergy have different opinions.

A caravan route goes through the northern part of Org and is the fastest way of communication between three states of Vilmir, Ilmiora and the Weeping Waste as well as many cities.

Another story

It is a warm summer evening in the year of purity 373. The initiate priest and nephew of the Vilmirian king, Calvan Fornova lays abed in his tower in Jadmar, next to his servant girl Anna. He is already sorry. The worst is yet to come.

Anna was pregnant, but she was no servant girl. The young warrior-priestess of Phum received a prophesy of a birth. It spoke of the birth of a child that would help dearly the cause of the Order and spoke of a holy man with royal blood who was a foreigner to this world. Note that West was another world for the Easterners. The rest was hazy for Anna, but then again, so are most prophesies.

After Calvan had learned of the pregnancy he became miserable. He was the nephew of the king and he could aspire only to the title of duke, already possessed by his father. The clergy offered him another opportunity for further advancement, but after the recent revelations everything he possessed and even his family name is in danger. He could not marry a lesser woman and he could not "remove" the problem since it would have been a mortal sin. So, after seeking the advice of Chancellor Pedron he placed Anna in a convent and relinquishing his status as a priest. The whole thing hadn't gone beyond the circle of him, his father and the Chancellor, so he could forget for some time.

When the birth came, Anna gave the newly born girl to a nun and asked the child be take to Calvan. After that she disappeared from the convent and traveled back to the East. According to the prophecy she would have to leave the child behind for six years. The first part of her quest was over and she would leave the rest to Fate.

With the child back in his hands, Calvan became a ghost of his former self. He wanted to be rid of the spawn of his sin and suddenly the gods gave him the solution. At that time a strange black man (Erekose) had visited the city. He showed no respect to the gods and the authorities put him into prison. Calvan found his salvation in this man. He was an outsider with no interest in money and civilization. He had a strange accent and though he wouldn't say where he was from the only thing he wanted was to leave. That was ideal for Calvan who offered him the baby. Refusing any money he took the infant, went away and no man learned anything of him again.

That was six years ago. It is now 379 YK. A caravan, in which Count Calvan Fornova had financial interest, was attacked by the beast-men of Org three months ago. During the ambush by night, one of the surprised guards was chased into the forest and became lost. After running blindly, he fainted. Wounded as he was, he would have died, save for a miracle. He awakened in a hut in the middle of the forest. Nobody thought that humans, save minions of Chaos dwelled within the forest, but here was his savior.

This was Erekose who had retreated to Troos, away from humans and gods. He had a little girl with him. The girl was maybe even stranger than the silent old man. With black hair around a moon-shaped face, her round black eyes were piercing and oddly knowing. The mercenary guard spent most of his time in the forest in a coma and does not remember much. The black man helped him out of the forest after he recovered.

Calvan heard the story and felt the old demons along with new ones to come back to haunt him. How had the black man survived in that place? Maybe he was a wizard preparing the child as a nemesis for him. Maybe the girl would come back and ask for her righteous heritage, or maybe the gods where testing him? Anyway he had to know and here is where (at last) the players come in. One of them should be the mercenary, in order to guide them. Another can be a priest, particularly a young and romantic one. Due to the humid environment of the forest and the swamps that can be found in it, a barbarian hunter of the Weeping Waste can be of some help. They found someone, a slave along with his mother at the mines of Dolgar that can undertake the task in exchange for his freedom. Finally, some other lowlife can be drawn from the prisons, or from the list of supects (a suspected witch, a thief, or both). These people (the players) will be traced by servants of Calvan and agents of the Chancellor.

On a warm summer day, the PCs will meet each other at the office of the Chancellor of Jadmar. Calvan will be in attendance. Chancellor Pedron will tell them of a secret expedition to Troos that he wants them to undertake. Calvan will tell them that he had made a mistake in the past and now he wants the child back (actually he isn't planning to keep the child but to put her in a convent or something like that). The Chancellor will explain the other side of the journey that he has in mind. The priest must keep a diary and take notes of everything of importance to the Church they find in Troos. Many truths concerning Law and the history of humanity could be waiting to be revealed in the ancient forest (Insight rolls may reveal that Calvin is more upset than interested in the fate of the child, also that the Chancellor is a very intelligent man whose interest in the welfare of the Church and the state is beyond doubt). The Leader of the expedition, which is to be kept a secret, is supposed to be the priest.

The adventurers are to be guided, until they reach the forest, by two servants of Calvan and another priest. It is Summer and the weather is warm. They need about 9 days to reach the guard posts outside Org.

On the road (see Atlas of the Young Kingdoms, vol. 1 for more information)

Not all the details are given here, just basic descriptions I considered important. These can, of course, be altered, or others can be added to at the option of the GM.

Duchy of Rignarion

Marble Highways, windmills and endless fields with weak plants. Hints of drought. The farmers look very poor and underfed.

The city, the granite palace, the golden pyramid-temple. Also, the beggars. The adventures are supposed to know about the statue of the prophet Vil Vilario and the supposed miraculous powers of it. Nevertheless, only known followers of Law can be granted immediate entry into the Gardens. The priest is the obvious candidate for that.

If the priest sleeps under the statue, he will be visited by a dream. The dream starts with him in a misty and dark place. He will see the form of an unknown woman and she will call him. He follows and finds himself in a dark room. Light is provided by a glowing object which dominates the center of the room. It is a large golden scale, taller than a man. The woman is nowhere to be seen.

The golden scale doesn't balance perfectly. Instead, it bends a bit towards the left side. Suddenly he will feel something in his right hand that he hadn't noticed before. Ii is a small, oval, black stone, plain but strangely beautiful. The scale seems to be unbalanced and the stone looks like the stones used by the merchants to weigh the products they sell. Whether he puts the stone on the left or on the right side of the scale, destruction is the result. The scale collapses with a deafening sound to the floor. A feeling of ultimate guilt overwhelms him.

The dream is a prophecy of the future dilemma that the adventures will face. The message of it is that they should not try to upset the balance. Of course, they may never understand it.

On the road again the PCs are treated to depressing views of the never ending plains.

One of the stops is a convent. It is a tower-like building with a large yard where gray-dressed nuns work and praise Donblas. Shelter will be given to them due to the presence of the two priests in the party. Anna will be there, pretending to be a young nun. After dinner during the night she will approach one of the adventurers (the one she thinks more likely to support her) and explains that the mother of the child exists and longs for her. She also tells the PC that she would need him/her to support her when the time comes. The approach can happen during the confession of one of the players, somewhere in the convent halls, or in the PCs cell. Anna would do whatever she thinks is necessary to bring the PC to her side excepting violence.

After a few days, on a country road, they will be approached by a hunched-back old woman. She is actually Anna under a Linken Shape spell and will offer to the two priests one of the two breads she carries. Only critical Insight roll will reveal that there is something suspicious about her. Anyway, the other priest will take the bread. It has been laced with a sleeping drug (POT 16). Whoever eats the bread and fails the CON vs. POT roll, will fall asleep in half an hour. Anna does this to get rid of the adventurer's escorts. She approaches the camp in the night wearing a peasant-woman dress and without signs of her Chaos-worshiping nature. She wakes all the adventures up and tells them her story. She tells them that she is the mother and that she was parted from her child because the Count was afraid of the scandal. She says that the Count will never acknowledge the girl as his, that he only wants to avoid the scandal around her and that he will probably have her exiled or killed.

If they ask her how she knows all these things, she will reply that she has conducted an investigation on her own and that she has some friends near the Count. Insight rolls will show her true interest in the child, and that she is a very intelligent and cunning person that can hardly be just a peasant girl.

Sometime during the next day the group will encounter a band of ragged, cloaked people walking in column. The man at the head of the column is bearing a censer and is chanting. A Search roll will reveal that their faces do not look exactly human. A critical Search roll is needed to reveal that they are just lepers. The lepers will not respond to any call, since they are under an oath of silence. The priest may understand the situation with an INTx1 roll. He is supposed to have lived in Jadmar and he has no experience of such sightings.

Nadsokor

The group will have to pass through this land in order to enter Org from the western border. Sightings of beggars might occur. The beggars may be a threat, people just asking for some food, or just observers.

The next and final stop for their guides, is a watch tower at the western border of Org. The soldiers can help them and their animals cross the river. They may choose to cross it from a point further to the north, but Valkark is a wide and deep river. The soldiers will not give them a boat.

Org (see Atlas of the Young Kingdoms, vol. 1 for more information)

The Road to the Forest

According to their information, the hut of the old man is somewhere between two marshes, the Sucking Swamp and Mudmere. The best way in my opinion, to start is to follow the river, which flows along the western side of the forest, north until they reach the Sucking Swamp and enter the forest from there. The description that follows is based on this schedule. It may be left to the players to discover a the less dangerous way.

The trip along the eastern bank of the river to the north lasts about three or four days (with horses). The weather is warm and at the beginning of the journey and met by warm winds. The weak grass and some rocky hills on the west contrast with the rich flora of the eastern bank composed of willows, great poplar trees, bushes and tall grass, and even more with the main bulk of the forest which lies a few miles east. Very few birds live in the trees of the eastern bank.

The trip takes them further to the north. Day by day the vegetation becomes thicker and unrecognizable plants become more frequent. On the third day, a feeling that they are watched will possess the PCs. It will not leave them until after they have left the forest.

At the Swamp

The river leads to the Sucking Swamp, which provides a sight of desperation. It is an endless flat area of black mud, bogs and a few very lonely swamp trees emerging from the gray waters. With an INT check, they can note that there are no birds at this place.

No more than 20 miles separate them from the hut. Considering the thick vegetation of the forest, someone could cover the distance on foot or with a horse in two days if he/she knew the exact place where to find the hut. Daily Navigate rolls from the mercenary will be needed in order to keep moving in the right direction.

In the Green Hell

The vegetation of Troos is weird and of completely unknown species that grow to supernatural proportions. The forest itself is a very dark bulk in the midst of almost desert land and its blasphemous flora looks like a mockery of gods, humanity and even nature. Sometimes it seems like it is one gigantic malevolent being. The GM should create the eerie atmosphere of the forest and give the players the feeling that they are in constant danger. The forest is, of course, dangerous by itself and apart from Orgians does not host any other form of intelligent life, or even fauna. The characters do not know that. It is said that demons and ghosts haunt the forest, and this is all they know. For a more complete description see "Atlas of the Young Kingdoms, vol.1".

They can take the horses with them, or not. Movement is a difficult and tiring process and the horses can only serve as pack animals. The animals are nervous and get easily frightened, throwing off burdens and riders. With or without animals, it will take them 1d6+1 days to find the second swamp and the hut (or the same time for Erekose to find them). Every day the GM should roll the following checks:

a) Check for madness (Atlas of the Young Kingdoms)

b) Check for bogs. The leader should roll under POWx3 in order to avoid falling into a bog.

c) Check for drinking water. A successful Natural World roll is needed. Failing that the water will be harmful (POT 8+1d6) and drinking it may cause stomach problems. Assuming they have fresh water, check every 3 days.

d) Check for burning woods. The one who looks for them should roll under his Natural World/2 skill, or under POWx2, in order to find and cut some harmless burning woods. In a different case roll 1d8:

1): The root lash out and hurt the woodcutter for 1d6+1 points of damage.
2): The juice of the woods cause itching for a whole day (-20% in every roll) and the smoke from the campfire smells awful.
3): The bark is extremely hard and rolling under STRx5 results in breaking the axe.
4): The blossoms of the tree shoot seeds (a POWx2 is needed to avoid being shot). On the next day, if the roll was unsuccessful, a rash grows on the skin of the woodcutter causing 1d3 points of damage per day and loss of 1 point of Constitution. Erekose can heal this.
5): Acidic juices spray the woodcutter (POWx4 to avoid being sprayed in the face and a loss of 1 APP) damaging for 1d6 points.
6): Who ever carry the pieces of wood gets poisoned (POT 13) and gets blisters.
7): Madness of Troos (no CON check).
8): Encounter with a dead tree that looks like a body, but nothing else happens.

A Night Attack

The feeling that they are being watched and followed is not without reason. The Orgians have spotted the group and there is a small band that watches their moves. Due to their knowledge of the forest and stealth, they will remain undetected by the characters. In a few days the Orgians could gather a bigger war band and kill or capture the characters, but in the mean time these four get greedy and ambush the characters during a night when most of them will be asleep. They are mainly after the horses or some of the characters' belonging, so they probably mount a diversionary attack, while one of them steals what they want. In the dark of the night they would look like devils. If one of them gets killed they try to take him, leaving no bodies behind.

Orgians STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX APP Hp db
#1 18 14 13 5 7 10 2 14 +1d4
#2 17 19 12 6 7 11 2 16 +1d4
#3 22 19 12 5 6 10 2 16 +1d6
#4 17 15 13 7 8 11 2 14 +1d4
Armor: 1d2-1 thick muscle
Weapons: Cleaver 60%: 1d6+1+db
Crude Club 60%: 1d8+ db
Dodge: 35%, Jump: 70%.


Erekose

Erekose may find the PCs at a time of danger or the PCs may find him if they are successful enough in finding the right way to the hut. He will treat their wounds and heal their diseases, if any.

He lives in a hut in the middle of a pond of fresh water, just north of the second swamp (Mudmere). He knows the ways of the forest. It seems, also, that the Orgians are afraid of the big black man and they consider him an evil spirit. A young girl lives with him. He calls her Agnes. The girl is of the right age (about 6) and has black hair and piercing black eyes that resemble Anna's. She is actually Anna's daughter.

Erekose would not like the girl to leave. He was like a father to her and he knows that her father is a man that cannot be trusted. He does not say much, but it is clear that the presence and purpose of the characters upsets him. Agnes will immediately recognize the reason for the characters "visit". Her trust could be gained by a sincere and, preferably, female character. Nevertheless Erekose will not be easily persuaded to give them the child. Intense role-playing and maybe a successful Oratory roll could change his mind. Nevertheless, he will escort them out of the forest, not leaving the girl unprotected.

There are a lot of interesting things in the hut. The man has a great variety of herbs and potions, mainly for healing or protecting purposes (not an ointment of Invulnerability though). Apart from that, a successful Search roll could reveal an old but impressive set of armor, some weapons, a golden comb that belongs to Agnes and a few other things from the world of Erekose. The strange man will set fire to the hut before they leave.

After that he speaks even less, his face becomes even darker and his eyes seem to attend the Fate that is about to strike.

The Way Out

The Orgians know the group's moves at all times. They are be afraid to attack Erekose and they will not hurt the girl since they recognize divine qualities in her. Instead, they will try to capture the girl and kill or capture the characters. Erekose suspects this and will propose to follow a trail through places like Mudmere, The Deep Tree, The Barrow Glen or/and The Old Thing. Erekose can provide the priest with details for his diary. These include a theory of the Orgians being unevolved humans (which means that humans were once like that), hints of the long gone existence of a certain people called The Doomed Folk, and anything the GM would feel appropriate and upsetting enough for the Vilmirian priesthood.

Mudmere could provide them with the bark of the silver trees, which after the proper preparation can enhance stamina for a few days. It should be difficult to attain , needing successful Climb and DEX rolls. With it they will be able to move fast and they will be out of the forest in three days. With Erekose with them, the characters will have no problem finding fire wood, fresh water, or avoiding the bogs. With his knowledge of natural potions, the chance of being affected by the Madness results only on a roll above CONx6.

Since the Orgians are following them, they will have to move fast and carry the girl as well. The girl can feel the Orgians, but the characters would need a critical Search roll to spot them. If one of the PCs fails a CONx5 roll, the Orgians will catch them. If this happens, Erekose will propose a duel between two warriors, one of the Orgians and one of the characters. There are 20 Orgians. Use the statistics of the four above. The leader, though, is tougher.

Warband leader
STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX APP Hp db
24 17 13 6 6 11 2 15 +1d6

Armor: 1d2 thick muscle
Weapons: cleaver 78%, 1d6+1+db
thrown rock 50%, 1d4+2+db/2
Dodge 40%

If the character wins, the Orgians will let them go. If the characters still have any of their horses, offering them to the Orgians would be even more convincing.

Leaving Troos

When they are, at last, out of the forest the group will be tired and hungry. Since they cannot cross the river they will have to head south. The same night Agnes will face the character from the Weeping Waste and will say to him: "Your mother is dead".
This is true, since the old woman could not bear the work in the mines any more. If asked she will say simply that she just knows. Insight rolls will reveal that she means what she says, but there is no other way to verify her words. This twist is added in order to free the character (assuming that he believes her) from his duty to his mother, and force him to make a personal choice.

Erekose's face will be like stone. He says almost nothing and Insight rolls will show that he looks like a man with death in his eyes, that he is ready either to die or kill...

A day after, they will encounter a rider from the guardhouses in the south. He will give them some food and water and order them to follow him across the river without explaining anything else. If pressed he will say that these are his orders from the Count.

They will cross the river by a boat. After that they can leave the soldier and head for the place where Anna had asked them to meet her, just a few miles north, or follow the soldier to where Count Fornova is waiting. No matter what they do, there should be a dramatic closing to the story, with both groups facing each other and the adventurers, while waiting for their decision.

Assuming that the characters follow the soldier (the most conservative choice), they will arrive at a hilly field, somewhere in eastern Nadsokor. Some people are waiting for them. There are ten riders standing silent and a heavy dark coach behind them. As soon as they arrive, the soldier will depart without another word.

The riders are obviously of the Gray Defenders and they are actually foot soldiers using horses for transport. At the head of them is Brother Rodrigo, knight-monk of the military order of the Cleansing Flame. The coach hides the Count and his friend, Chancellor Pedron, but only Rodrigo will do the talking. He may consult the passengers of the coach, but will not reveal their identity. Rodrigo is distant and offensive, he is the only one to ask questions and he will only tolerate answers coming from the priest character. He will demand the diary and a briefing of what they encountered. This is a critical moment. Depending on what the characters say they may be considered dangerous heretics or receive their payment. If, for example, they speak of missing links in human evolution and of lost races that created Troos, they will be immediately arrested. Even if they are careful with what they say, Rodrigo will demand they leave Vilmir, except for the priest. After that he will ask for the girl.

At that point, a strangely armored rider, obviously a follower of Chaos will come riding down a slope, followed by four other riders. This is Anna with some bandits that she hired at Valkark Gorge. She will shout that she is the mother of the child and call for the help of anyone who values justice.

Erekose will protect the girl, not giving her to anyone. He will do nothing else and will be killed, probably by Rodrigo unless the PCs intervene. After that Rodrigo and most of his men will attack the riders, leaving behind two soldiers to guard the girl. The coach will depart at the first sight of hostility. What will the players do? Will they side with Law and the father of the child, or with Anna risking with the company of Chaos, or they will just try to keep the child protected, as Erekose
did? The fate of the girl and themselves is in their hands

I played this adventure with two different groups of players. They all sided with one or the other of the opposing groups and only one thought of taking the child away without taking any part, but rather late and he did not succeed to keep the balance.

If Ana wins, she will take the girl (who is to be named Sorana) on her horse, pay the characters that helped her and leave. Obviously the characters have to leave Vilmir and not come back for a long time.

If the Law party wins they will take the girl to the Count. The characters that helped them will receive their payment, but are expected to leave Vilmir. The surviving ones who opposed them will be executed if they are captured.

The characters should also receive some Chaos, Law or Balance points, according to their acts.

Appendix-Characters and parties

Anna, Warrior priestess from the East, mother of the girl

Tall, feminine, well built, with black hair and round charming eyes. She is a woman with many secrets who knows how to get what she wants. Her life is dedicated to Lady Eequor. She is wearing a characteristic black jewel around her neck.
Age 27, C81 B16 L20
STR 14 CON 15 SIZ 13 INT 17 POW 20 DEX 16 APP 16 HP 14 DB +1d4
Longsword 105%, 1d10+1+db
Small Shield 60%, 1d3+db+knockback
Akras 59%, 1d3+3+db
Desert Bow 55%, 18+2+db/2
Armor: Demon plate 1d10+2+1d10
Magic: Sphere of Flesh, Rune of Enhancements. Among other effects, she can produce the following: Demon's Eye, Seduction, Horns of Hionhurn, Linken Shape, Speed of Vezhan.
Skills: Dodge:66%, Ride:100%, Potions:70%, Insight: 40%.

Hired bandits from Valkark Gorge
STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX APP HP DB
#1 15 14 11 12 11 13 09 13 +1d4
#2 14 12 14 10 10 15 12 13 +1d4
#3 12 16 13 12 12 13 14 15 +1d4
#4 16 15 13 13 12 14 13 14 +1d4
Sample weapon statistics:
Broadsword 65%, 1d8+1+db
Flail 70%, 1d6+2+db
Spear, Thrown 50%, 1d6+1+db/2 (db of the horse, if charging)
Shield, small 55%, 1d3+db
Hunting bow 60%, 1d6+1+db/2
Armor: Various, mostly leather and rings: 1d6+1
Skills: Hide: 50%, Ride: 70%
They fight on horseback. They are quite loyal to Anna, expecting a handsome payment.


Erekose, Old Hero from another world

A tall, heavy build black man approaching the winter of his life. He is a man of few words and most of the time he seems lost in deep thoughts. It is not known how he came to this world. He might have been serving Fate or trying to get away from her. He lives the life of a hermit by choice, not wanting to get involved in the affairs of men or the gods anymore.
Age 60, C27 B88 L124
STR 17 CON 16 SIZ 17 INT 17 POW 23 DEX 14 APP 13 HP 17 DB +1d6
Weapons (though he would never use them against another man):
Warsword 180%, 1d10+1+db
Staff 120%, 1d6+db
Large shield 90%, 1d4+db+knockback
Skills: Follow Fate 85%, Dodge 79%, Knowledge Troos 85%, Natural World 90%, Physick
80%, Potions(healing) 70%, Protect Agnes 99%.

Calvan Fornova, remorse haunted noble

Of medium height, with nicely cut blond hair and small brown eyes, Calvan would not be someone to remember as special. Thatis, of course, if there had not been his royal blood and his education that makes him a quite capable debater. He also has a good knowledge of Vilmirian Theology.
Age 32, C13 B05 L34
STR 11 CON 11 SIZ 11 INT 12 POW 10 DEX 12 APP 13 HP 11 DB 0
Weapons: Dagger 35%, 1d4+2
Skills: Art(Conversation) 45%, Insight 25%, Vilmirian Geography 60%, Law Theology 55%, Myths and Legends 35%.

Chancellor Pedron

Tall and gaunt with straight brown hair. Deep wrinkles cut across his face, which hosts an ever-expressionless mouth of thin lips and a pair of grim brown eyes. He is the only man that Calvan trusts absolutely. He is cunning and would do anything to preserve order, the high status of the Church and his position in it.
Age 51, C18 B09 L75
STR 11 CON 12 SIZ 13 INT 16 POW 15 DEX 10 APP 12 HP 12 DB +1d4
Weapons: none
Skills: Art(Organ) 35%, Art(Conversation) 48%, Bargain 65%, Fast Talk 30%,Insight 68%, Oratory 70%, Theology 80%, Politics 90%

Rodrigo, Knight of the Church, religious fanatic

Tall with extremely close cut hair.
Age 34, C08 B11 L70
STR 16 CON 16 SIZ 13 INT 13 POW 13 DEX 13 APP 12 HP 15 DB +1d4
Armor: Chain mail 1d10
Weapons: Cavalry lance:80%, 1d8+1+db
Broadsword:115%, 1d8+1+db
Full Shield:75%, 1d4+db+knockback
Skills: Dodge 50%, Give Orders 80%, Obey Orders 95%, Ride 96%.

Gray Defenders

Sample statistics are given for the nine soldiers.
HP 12, DB +1d4
Weapons: Broadsword: 55%, 1d8+1+db
Kite shield: 45%, knockback
Skills: Ride 45%
They fight on foot.