Chaosium Digest V13.9 (Teil 2)
Ralf Wagner
If the players are slow in figuring out the clues, another murder
occurs. If they are fast, then another murder occurs soon after they
determine Dalrin is the murderer, as Dalrin has located his next
victim and just finished killing him. Dalrin will not return to the
Tower of Delights until the next day, as he wants to drink in a tavern
on the other side of town. The victim in question is a female priest
of Arkyn and she was murdered in her shrine. Eventually, Dalrin will
make his way back to the Tower. Players may notice that he is quite
serene and unworried.
PCs can wait for Dalrin to return the next morning and he does. They
can attack and kill him quite easily as he has no combat skills to
speak of, and will not put up a fight. If captured, Dalrin will
remember little if anything. If his body is inspected, blood can
easily be found on his clothing. The city guard will desire to bring
him to justice if he is captured alive.
The party can quite easily learn of the final murder, as the body is
discovered soon enough and the final note is as follows:
"You're only looking for what I want
but it's lonely here and I think you know
I'm waiting
Don't make me wait in vain
bide my time while I'm waiting,
for the end."
The Death of Dalrin
If Dalrin is captured alive, he will be imprisoned for a day and then
the city's mayor will sentence him to death by burning to be carried
out the following day. Dalrin will be tranquil and accept his fate.
If the party allows this to occur see the paragraph "If Dalrin is
slain....". PCs may ask for advice from "mystics" in the city if they
suspect that Dalrin is the final victim of the ritual and some support
and some opposition will arise. Characters will need to convince the
mayor and powers of the city that they should wait to kill him (either
roleplay it out or allow a successful [Fast Talk] roll). People will
be clamoring for Dalrin's blood, so this may be difficult.
Some will even think the party is in on it if they try and delay the
execution. This is a perfect opportunity for some intense roleplaying.
A mob will start forming up and unless the party does something to
calm them (either roleplay or a successful [Oratory] roll), they will
try and get Dalrin and hang him immediately. The best solution is for
a sorceror to be summoned from a larger city nearby who can "exorcise"
the demon possessing Dalrin. Even if this occurs, Dalrin will still be
put to death, but the city will not suffer the consequences.
If Dalrin is slain before the spirit possessing his body is exorcised,
dire consequences will occur. Goldeneyes chose this location to
distribute the book because of their unique method of burial. He knows
thousands of corpses, from cadavers to skeletons, are in the river.
If the ritual is completed, the dead will be possesed by minor spirits
that Chardros sends from his home plane, and they will move to wreak
their vengeance upon the city. Adventurers caught within the city can
try as mightily as possible to stave off the invasion but it will fail
and Carnavan will become a town of undead. Escape from the city is not
too difficult. Combat will occur for a bit, but powerful PCs will have
little trouble breaking free if they try to. Many people escape but
many more die in the city. Carnovan will pass into history as a city
infested with undead. (See further adventures)
TYPICAL UNDEAD OF CHARDROS
STR: 3d8
CON: 2d8
SIZ: Variable as per human
INT: Only a rare few have any intelligence. All others act as
automatons killing all living creatures in their domain. The
few with intelligence can control the less powerful minions.
POW: 2d8 but the intelligent ones will be higher.
DEX: 2d8
APP: not applicable
They can attack with their hands at Att 50% and do fist damage.
Some may either start with weapons or find weapons. Their skill
can vary.
The Tome
The title has long ago been rubbed off the cover of this dark brown
book. It is not that thick and the writing is difficult to follow. It
is written in High Melnibonean. The curse of the book is such that a
spirit will attempt to possess the reader. After 6 hours of reading
the mind of the reader will be more receptive and weakened by what the
book talks about and the demon will start subtly attacking him.
Each hour after 6 roll POW vs the demon's power of 26 or be possessed
with 96-00 always being a failure. The reader will not know he is
being attacked. The persistent reader can decipher these things at
these hours:
2 hours: A very evil book. Describes many ways to sacrifice people
properly to Chardros.
6 hours: Much power is promised to the reader of the book. Describes
the many rewards the reader shall gain by mastering the contents of
the book. Also describes the history of the author, as a man who was a
misunderstood genius of his time. He was persecuted but the book does
not reveal what happened to him. Reveals location of his residence as
a city named Seplis, under the cemetary in the city. If libraries are
consulted, or [Young Kingdoms] is rolled, the PC may discover/know
that the southern Filkharan city, Seplis, was razed by barbarians from
Oin and Yu 85 years ago. Possible adventure site may still exist there
for the excavating inclined.
10 hours: The book seems to detail some magical spells as well, but
the spells are not listed in recipe form. Rather, parts of each are
sprinkled throughout the book so only the assiduous reader will learn
them. Spells hinted at are spells to prolong life, revive the dead,
and attain perfection!?!?
12 hours: Some of the spells seem to involve human sacrifice in a very
gruesome way. Interspersed among this are tales of an artifact of
great power called the Hand of Glory, said to hold the power of 15
sorcerors in it. It was last seen being wielded by the honorable mage,
Lithui. Research or a critical on [Young Kingdoms] will reveal that
Lithui was a fearsome Melnibonean mage who attained immortality after
creating a construct, Ras Haluud, to destroy humankind. Later, he
repented his decision and tried to hunt the construct down to defeat
it but failed and has never been seen since. A PC from western Jharkor
or western Dharijor or Myrhynn may recall (35% chance) a haunted and
sacred mountain being called Immortal's Rest. Possible adventures may
ensue.
15 hours: Study of the book has made you fairly proficient in
vivisection. Gain +25% in [Physik].
20 hours: The nature of the book is revealed and the reader learns
about the curse.
And so on. Feel free to add/delete to/from the book as much as you
like, as this is a perfect means to introduce new adventures to the
party. But, remember the dangers inherent in the book. Most of the
spells alluded to in the book are not real spells but failed
experiments. The great ritual of raising the undead is true, however.
It requires four deaths in a ritual manner, and that the slayer then
be killed by the righteous. A grand afterlife is promised for the
slayer.
Further Adventures
If the city falls to the minions of Chardros, the PCs may want to
return to raid the city of riches. While a whole city's riches are
ripe for the taking, the undead flourish and some rather powerful ones
have been attracted to the city. Meanwhile, many adventurers have
already started raiding the city, so some more accessible areas have
already been cleaned out.
Another possible adventure is the party wanting to atone for their
mistake. The city can be either totally expunged of undead by slaying
them all (not going to happen!) or the players can find Dalrin's body
and have it blessed by Priests of Law to purify it, before giving it a
Lawful burial outside of the city. Finding Dalrin's body may be a
problem as it may have moved from the last time the party saw it. To
finish the cleansing of the city, the demon of the book must be
destroyed. Unfortunately, the demon now is in a body and has become
ruler of the city! But, if this is all done, the undead from the
ritual will perish and the city will become a more conventional "ghost
town".
Finally, further adventures can still be defined by the Tome the
adventurers found. It might detail places of worship to the Chardros
or lost hordes of treasure. The possibilities are endless but the risk
of reading the book may dissuade PCs.
So, please email me with your comments. I am especially interested in
hearing how the adventure went with your campaign. I have a couple
more I am interested in typing up. There is a second adventure to this
one which is less linear and has a variety of possible endings.
By Ward Narhi, uszv...@ibmmail.com, with some ideas from songs and
various other sources.
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