Halloween is three weeks away so here are the notes to run a seasonal random encounter.
Edit: for context, thus scenario was run with a CrIgCo Flambeau, a friar and a shield grog.
Set up
A Wiedergänger (revenant) is haunting his former neighbours after his family died in a famine. The mage and the grogs have a chance to end the haunting.
Rumours
The party can hear about what happened from the villagers after they stop by in the afternoon:
- Werner, their cousin, has disappeared two weeks ago.
- Now the grain is going bad, which is terrible so soon after the harvest.
- Two locals accosted a stinking wild man last night who beat them up, and now they are ill and wounded.
What happened
The famine (and the ensuing illness) of 1225 killed off Stefan and Beate, their children (Helga, Judith and Stefan the younger) as well as a few other of the elder villagers during the Winter and Spring. Werner, their 17 year old eldest son, went to Trier after the (failed) harvest to try and find work and to not be a burden during the winter. Now, in 1226, he came back in June, he found his family dead and the farm in a state of disrepair, he lived alone in it for the summer, and got drunk 2 weeks ago and fought with the neighbours before leaving, not to be seen again, because he fell into a small regio and died.
Werner had accused them of not helping his family despite being his dad's cousins (the two, Oswald and Rickmuth, are now both ill, having each a mix of four light and medium wounds from Werner beating them and infecting them, as an undead). Worse still for the village: the grain has started to rot due to Werner, who now returns as a Wiedergänger.
Locations
Bardenbach
Bardenbach is a large clearing of 4 farmsteads along a stream, squeezed between forested hills to its North and South. It is a holding of the abbey of Mettlach (pronouced Mettlich in the local dialect) which lies a full day's walk away, part of the parish of Losheim (Parrish church is St Peter& Paul, 1/3 of a day's walk away). The village lacks an aura as one cannot even hear the church bells from there.
Mettlach abbey is famous in the region, having been founded by St Liutwin, Charlemagne's great grandfather. His most notorious miracle was praying for the day to be long enough that one could walk from Laon to Reims in a day, which came to pass.
The village has no aura, except for a tiny wooden chapel with a crucifix inside (2x2 paces, three walls and a door), which has a divine aura of 1. It is still decorated with harvest festival crown (Erntedankkrone) that is over a week old by the time the party arrives.
About an hour away from the village, heading north East between the Prims stream and the hill, there is a dip in the ground, between two linden trees, this leads to Werner's resting place, which is a regio (Perception + Second Sight roll against an Ease Factor of 7 to find the entrance).
Werner's Grave (magical regio, aura 1)
This is a tiny regio, about 4 paces wide and 2 paces deep, with two sheer walls and two sloped one allowing to climb out without great difficulty. It is full of dirt, moss, decaying leaves and other elements to be expected on the forest floor. The walls are covered in forest mushroom. The stench of death has begun to permeate it though this is merely Werner's doing.
The regio opens every night shortly after midnight for two minutes, leaving a gaping hole in the ground (in which a drunken and hurt Werner fell and died).
Optional: depending on the sought rewards, this could be a Vis source producing a pawn of Herbam in form of a particularly large and tasty looking Boletus/Cep/Steinpilz mushroom growing on the
Event/timeline
Day 0, a week after the harvest festival
A strange man has been seen around the farms and the grain is going bad, which is terrible so soon after the harvest.
Night 5
Oswald and Rickmuth, blind drunk on beer were separately accosted a man last night who beat them up and breathed bad air at them and now they are ill and wounded. He made his way to the grain supply and used his Breath of Corruption on the grain, causing the loss of about a barrel's worth. (A character looking for traces of this encounter can find them easily with a Perception + Hunt or Awareness roll against an Ease Factor of 6: at about 50 and 200 paces from the village there are two clear marks of men who feel into humid earth, there are dragging booted shoe marks that lead from the woods to the two falls and then onwards to the grain supply where they end)
Day 6, afternoon
The party arrives in Bardenbach, and are told of the problem. They are offered to sleep in Werner's house since it is not being used, if they make a good impression on the villagers (Presence + social skill roll against an Ease Factor of 6).
Every Night thereafter
Werner attacks the village, the party can intervene. Werner is likely defeated, but returns to his grave while the character sleep, leaving behind any body part that might have been cut off in the fight (such as his left arm).
Day 7
The party can search of his resting place, they can use a combination of hunting, dowsing, Intelligo Corpus or other methods, to find the corpse and exorcise it.
Night 7+
The villagers implore the party to stay one more night after they exorcise Werner, as a safety precaution. They offer to feed the party and lodge them in Werner's hut, if they had not done so before.
The Fight
Werner is tough, with a soak of +11, making him a real threat to the villagers (though not for experienced soldier). He can be killed by decapitation, but that alone will not permanently exorcise his ghost. He attacks each night until exorcised or the death of the whole village.
The party can either make an Intelligence + Magic Lore roll against an Ease Factor of 9 to determine that they need to either drive a ash, elm or yew stake through the Wiedergänger's heart or to roll against an Ease Factor of 9 with Intelligence + Theology to know that they need to find the body and give it a proper Christian burial.
In addition to any grogs/mages, the party can rustle up three fit farmer from the village who form a trained group, though not so skilled (size 0, soak +3 (stamina 3), knife: Initiative -2, Attack +4, Defence +1, Damage +5, +9 to either attack or defence each turn thanks to Leadership 3). Werner is content to use his Breath of Corruption to attack the leader amongst the farmers as the villagers are the target of his ire.
People
Villagers
There are three remaining families, headed by Oswald, Rickmuth and Wilhelm. The first two are about 40 and are cousins of the deceased Stefan. Wilhelm a more distant relative of the deceased Beate, is closer to 30. They all have wives Adehleid, Kathie und Hedwig. Wilhelm can lead Lukas and Markus, the sons of the other two farmers with him into a posse to fight as a trained group of 3, as they have had to fight off animals and vagrants in the past years.
Neither Oswald nor Rickmuth can give much information about the beating that they received the night before besides that it happened close to the stream , on the north east side of the village and that it was late at night. The first encountered has a bruised rib (medium wound) and the second has nasty looking scratch at his neckline, which looks inflamed.
All the villagers descend either by marriage or directly from a common (great)-grandfather, old Johannes, who came to the clearing and claimed it, in exchange for a lifetime exception from taxes and the right to pass on the farm to his heirs, who in turn married into the farmsteads in the region. Most of the villagers have somewhat similar lip shape and some also have a particularly round nose.
Lottie is a 10 year old girl with Second Sight 2 (regiones) and an effective Perception of 0 (Per 2 , -2 from age).
Optional: depending on the sought reward level, Lottie could be a gentle gifted child.
The villagers have a somewhat high level of freedom from the abbey: they live far away and receive few visits by the parish priest (which they must lodge and feed when he visits). The most noteworthy duties that they have is that they must conduct three pilgrimages per year to the abbey of Mettlach: 12th May, for the anniversary of the consecration of the Abbey, the Sunday after Ascencion day (when a large market is held) and finally on the 9th Octobre, for the consecration day of the St Denis of Paris' church.
Dialect: the villagers speak in a somewhat gutturally and drop letters.
Greetings: “Unn?” (hello, how's it going?) “Gudda Dach” (good day) “Norben” (good evening)
Gelle (ends a sentence, much like a british “innit?”, “Flemm” (feeling down), “Dabber” (fast), “Hauptsach, gudd Gess!” (main thing is, to eat well).
Werner the Wiedergänger
(based on the Revenant, RoP:M p98)
Magic Might: 9 (Corpus)
Characteristics: Int –2, Per –2, Pre 0, Com –2, Str +3, Sta +3, Dex +1, Qik 0
Size: 0
Confidence Score: 10
Virtues and Flaws: Magic Human
Magic Qualities and Inferiorities: Greater Power, No Fatigue; Improved Soak (x4); Baneful Circumstances (in daylight), Curse of Undeath
Curse of Undeath: Werner is already dead but keeps reanimating every night. No wounds will cause a worse result than incapacitated except for stabbing him in the heart with a stake made of ash, elm or yew. Decapitation followed by a proper Christian burial will break this curse.
Personality Traits: Vengeful +6
Combat:
Fist: Init 0, Attack +7, Defense +4, Damage +5
Soak: +11
Wound Penalties: –1(1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), incapacitated (16-)
Abilities: Brawl 3 (fist)
Powers:
Breath of Corruption, 2 point, Init +2, Auram
R: Special, D: Mom, T: Ind
Werner can exhale foul humours, infecting a person or an equivalent amount of grain within 2 paces with a disease (Ease Factor 9, effect as a Medium wound for a person, or for grain to rot without a roll) CrAu 20 (Base 10, +2 Range equivalent to Voice): Greater Power
Return to the Grave, 1 point, Init –1, Corpus
R: Arc, D: mom, T: ind
Werner (or his inanimate corpse) returns to his grave automatically shortly before the sun rises, and has no control over this.
ReCo (Base 35,): Greater Power
Equipment: Tattered peasant clothes; the revenant’s dead and unfeeling fist (count a bludgeons)
Vis: 2 Corpus in in head
Vulnerability:
A character armed with an ash, elm or yew stake should make a regular melee attack (treating it as a knife). If the attack would have caused an Incapacitating or fatal wound against a soak of 3 (ie 19 or more damage), then the revenant’s animating spirit is destroyed and any vis in the corpse is left behind.
Appearance: a young adult with dirty thin pale hair, moustache and beard, he is emaciated and bears wounds including tearing from thorns and has a knife stabbed into his left should, he has started to rot and carries an unpleasant smell. He is dressed in dirty torn peasant clothing.
Rewards
The villagers are poor and cannot offer much more than a few days worth of food and beer as reward, having suffered terribly from famine . The Vis from Werner (if the party can extract it discreetly) and his grave are the most evident loot.
Lottie's parents can be convinced to let her come with the party if they promise her a better future: Presence + social skill roll against an Ease Factor of 9, or 6 if the character making the offer has a social status from a religious institution (such as mendicant friar, priest, clergy...)