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Chaosium Digest Volume 23 Number 09
Chaosium Digest Volume 23, Number 9
Date: Sunday, March 1, 1998
Number: 4 of 4
Contents:
The Convent of Shadows, Part Two (Erick-Noel Bouchard) FRENCH NEPHILIM
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From: Erick-Noel Bouchard <samedi@colba.net>
Subject: The Convent of Shadows, Part Two
System: Nephilim
[continued from V23.8]
SECOND SONG
The following section contains a description of the signficant places
in this story and an outline of the events that are meant to happen
while the adventurers travel to Rosecouronne. Bearing in mind the
preceding section, the Keeper should arrange the following into a
workable story outline of his own, distributing the NPCs and the
events as he or she sees fit. As you can see, a large degree of
freedom has been surrendered to the Keeper, as this is the way I
usually like to write my adventures. Some Keepers may find it
unfomfortable; I suggest reading the plot many times and getting
familiar with it before running the game. What is important is not the
order in which these events happen, but rather that they climax in the
pilgrims' arrival and final "awakening" of the the dark moon entity.
Events
What follows is a briefing of events and encounters, as well as a
description of the barony's important locations. The Keeper is final
judge on how and when things should happen; if some encounters appear
inappropriate, then he should feel free to modify or suppress them as
he sees fit.
1: Brigand hunt
Terrified peasants are roaming the forests with bows and forks,
hunting for brigands. It is very likely that they shall stumble upon
the adventurers, or that a hunted footpad confronts them and pleads
for their help. Depending on the nature of this encounter, the
adventurers could learn from the peasants of the barony's recent
happenings or, from the footpad, of the the dark moon worship
happening in Rosecouronne. If the adventurers manage particularly
well, it might be possible for them to make contact with the brigand
leader and negotiate terms with the tribe. It would be a good occasion
for the players to get their hands on the secret message's
contents (see above).
2: The sacrifice
This encounter can only happen at night, in isolated regions of the
forest. A small group of peasants, deadly frightened and with a
paranoid demeanor, are carrying an old woman to the convent's ruins as
a sacrifice to the spirit captured there (which they know as
"Koh-Baal") in the hope that he shall spare them from the brigands and
the baron's wrath. They believe that Santa Claudina, a local figure of
mercy and generosity, has abandoned them and that only the devil,
known to hunt the convent at nightfall, can help them. They are not
affiliated with the dark moon or Bucardo in any way, and shall flee if
any serious opposition arises. Investigations should point out to the
adventurers that such sacrifices used to be quite frequent in the old
days before a convent of Kabbalah was built over the sacred place, at
the time when the tribes were masters of the land.
3: The Jewish wars
It is very likely that the Jews shall come into conflict with the
villagers and/or the werewolves in the convent's surroundings, as El
Marquis intends to have his people prevent the evil ceremony from
being completed. They shall attempt to destroy the ruins and burn them
to the ground, actions that shall fuel Joltok's charade about their
evil intentions. The Jews can be a valuable source of information
about the convent's past and goals, and about the roamings of the dark
moon in the region. An alliance with them could bring the adventurers
great help into stopping the pilgrims from conjuring Baal.
4: The conjuring ceremony
But a few days after the adventurers' arrival in Rosecouronne,
Bucardo's "pilgrims" shall come into the barony, make a short sleep
and meal at l'Auberge des Six Couronnes before joining him at the
Castel and preparing for the nocturnal ceremony. One of the pilgrims
carries with him a black jewel in a silvery casket: it contains the
ashes of a slain entity of Kabbalah, primordial component for the dark
ritual. If nothing happens to prevent the ceremony (which begins at
nightfall and reaches a climax at midnight), Baal shall be freed into
this world and wreak havoc, destroying the barony and burning most of
the forest, before disappearing to Arabia to advance his dark
plans. (Which the adventurers shall discover in the fourth episode of
this campaing, The Sect of the Goat.) The Jews shall be slain in their
attempt to defeat the cultists and the werewolves shall be prohibited
from entrance, shortly after the ceremony's beginning, by a ward
against shape-changers conjured by Bucardo and his associates.
The five pilgrims have standard characteristics for Selenims. All of
them share an academic bent and master the Scholar's Apprentice
career. They bear swords but would rather fight with their daggers (or
not at all, for that matter). All are bound to Bucardo's ring and
would die before disobeying him.
PLACES OF INTEREST
The Lands of Rosecouronne
1: Auberge de l'Aigle Perce
This old wooden inn bears a heavy straw roof upon which nest a whole
family of birds. It takes its name (Inn of the Pierced Eagle) from the
predator husk which the precendent owner nailed upon the door as a
good-luck charm. (Spanish are known to be very superstitious.) Rare
indeed is the traveler who stops at the inn for a night's rest, and
since baron Olivier took reign over Rosecouronne it is slowly fading
into ruins. The innkeeper, Maria-Eva Budro, lives there with her son
Guillermo in miserable conditions. Guillermo is deeply ill, with
burning fever and strange marks since he came back from the abandonned
convent. An intelligent if little educated child, he took great
pleasure in studying the carvings and scriptures of the chapel. The
dark moon emanations from the corrupt church inflicted upon the child
the curses of the dark moon, and he is now suffering from mutations
tearing apart his insides. In little time, the boy shall be dead and a
demonic creature shall rise from his body to slay everything in its
path.
The innkeeper, although visibly anxious, shall be very courteous to
customers and offer them what little she can. She shall ask any
traveler if he would be knowledgeable in medicine or magic, for she
fears for her son's life. Magic could ease the child's pain but
nothing short of death can prevent his transformation into a foul dark
moon creature, a kind of "dark moon Dragon effect".
If the adventurers spend the night in the inn, they shall be awakened
at two o'clock by the howlings of the boy in his final transformation
stage: his appearance shall be truly repugnant and horrendous
tentacles shall emerge from his drooling body. The adventurers shall
have little time to slay the beast before he aggressively turns upon
them. As he slays and yells, the boy tearfully pleads for pity and
deliverance, and shall call upon his mother for help..
If not slain but the adventurers, Guillermo shall run towards the
village, where his rampage shall cause the deaths of half a dozen
peasants, and then flee deep in the forest, to die of hunger and
internal bleeding a few days later.
2: Village of Rosecouronne
No more than two hundred peasants live here, all in the most dirty and
poor shacks the adventurers have ever seen. Rats crawl everywhere and
garbage is abundant in the muddy streets. The townsfolk are paranoid,
xenophobic, and fearful in the extreme of anything strange or
supernatural. Centered around the ruins of an unnamed church, the
village is a place where villagers trade necessary goods (wood, crusty
bread, clothing) and gossip. At nightfall, all doors and windows are
shut and nothing but violence can make them open until sunrise. Only
the baron's men at arms and wolf hunters dare to set foot outside. The
village is paralysed by fear of the werewolves and suspects any
stranger of being one. In fear, a small number of them have turned
towards the devil for protection (see above) and offer the god
sacrifices of animals and men at the desecrated convent, once built
over an ancient church of evil to purify the area. This same convent
has now turned to the dark moon, and the sacrifices benefit none
other than Baal, the Selenim who longs to become once again a god.
Some of the village's features:
La Grande Place: Built around the church of Ste-Jeanne d'Arc, this
public place is used as a gathering ground by the populace for
hangings, burnings and religious celebrations. Farmers, artisans and
shepherds sell their goods, monks of Ste-Jeanne d'Arc preach virtue
and peace, while the baron's men patrol grimly. Since the baron's
demise, Bucardo has begun to purge the villagers' ranks of
"werewolves" and heretics, that is anyone that appears menacing to his
plans. Executions are crude and horrifying, the bodies being exposed
in black iron cages on Le Chemin des Pendus. The crowd is paranoid and
superstitious, seeing witches everywhere and impulsive to condemn
"warlocks" to be lynched.
The church of Ste-Jeanne d'Arc: This small church, built of dark rock
bleached with sulfur, is crushed between two fat towers on top of
which hang large bronze bells. Windows are filthy and ridden with
spiders; the inside appears abandoned, although the place is
frequently visited. Three monks and a nun live there in poverty,
preaching the laws of Ste-Jeanne d'Arc, saint of mercy, and condemning
heretics who fight against the baron's will. Most of the saint's
followers are descendants of those who used to worship Santa Claudina,
and many of the Nephilim society's beliefs and doctrines have been
adopted here. It is inside the eastern tower, near the bell, that
Joltok hides during daylight hours. Were he discovered there, he would
valiantly fight to escape and flee for Instanbul.
La Taverne des Six Couronnes (Six Crowns Tavern): Rosecouronne has but
two inns, this one being the most frequented by locals and foreigners
alike. The innkeeper, Gorshu, is a slim and androgynous-looking man,
with fair skin and long hair; his is always laughing and his voice
sounds a little weird. He also carries with him a strange smell, not
unlike cannabis.
Six rooms are open to visitors at the second story; about twelve to
thirty folk dwell here after the dinner hours, including some of the
baron's men. It is the right place to find gossip about Rosecouronne
and the neighbourhoods, including some strange happenings in
Santo-Felician... It is also here that Bucardo's pilgrims intend to
pause before joining their master for the ceremony. Upon the wall lies
a broken candelabra with but two of its seven candles bringing
light. If asked, Gorshu would reply he had gotten this menorah from a
travelling Hebrew, for the meager cost of six crowns. (Hence the inn's
name.) The innkeeper would not easily separate from it as he feels
some nostalgia over the times when he bought the place, while he was
but a young man. He knows not what it represents, neither what the
cursive inscriptions upon it mean: "... when the Saint, blessed he be,
created the world, he gave the earth all the creative strength she
needed. But this strength remained captured within her flowers up to
the time when man was created; it is but after man had been created
that the creative strength of the earth came to the world's sight."
(Zohar I, 97a)
Le Castel de Rosecouronne: This dark construction lies about three
hundred steps away from the village. Erected centuries ago on the site
of a battlefield, the castle has been inhabited by the Rosecouronne
family for seven generations. Its ancient stone walls, sometimes
carved with obscure pagan runes, are covered with vegetation and the
towers seem to be crouching towards the center, like an old beast
preparing for death. At the dungeon tower's summit flies the flag of
the Rosecouronne family: a red griffon rampant upon a blue
moutains. Like all of the castle, they have lost their colors and
appear to be dying.
The citadel's doors are low and it are small rooms; the floors are all
humid and wet and the wood is everywhere eaten by tiny but ferocious
worms. The inside is filled with heavy curtains and crumbling statues;
the whole place feels sinister and abandonned. All of the castle's
windows are shielded with iron bars which let only air and light
pass. Baron Olivier's ancestors apparently found gothic to their
liking, as the castle's inside is invaded by literally hundreds of
gargoyles, from small incrustations in doorsteps to large demonic
sculptures in the dining room and the stairs. Knowing the baron
endured his whole childhood in this scary place, it is no wonder he
went mad after his wife's death.
But two servants and eleven soldiers live with the baron and Catheline
in the grim castle. The villagers enter the place only if they have to
and hurry themselves away from it as soon as possible. Catheline de
Rosecouronne is captive in the dungeon's highest room with a rook, a
prayer book, and a bed. Rosecouronne's fortune has been lost over the
centuries and what little remained has been seized by Bucardo who sent
it to Instanbul, in a small caravan accompanied by three men at arms.
Some of the castle's important places:
The dungeon tower: Residence of the baron and his daughter, it
features a strange spiral stairway, many trophy rooms, a large dining
room, many unused bedrooms and a small kitchen, as well as an
observatory, in which Catheline has been confined. Centuries old
furniture fills the rooms and heavy, locked doorways pierce the
walls.
The baron has locked himself up in his room with his gold, a primitive
arquebus imported from Cairo, a kitchen knife and a large (fourty
pounds) tonnel of black powder. In his madness, baron Olivier prepared
himself for the brigand's assault and intends to have the castle (and
his daughter) explode with him. He would not hesitate to make
everything blow up if anxious enough. And it does not take much to
make him anxious! He can hardly be reasoned with, and directs people
friendly with him to his seneschal, Denis Bucardo, "his only friend in
a cruel world". He shall threaten to shoot the barrel if his friend is
accused: death for him or others does not frighten him, as he believes
the gods of the dark moon and the devil shall spare him. If the gun
powder is taken away from him, baron Olivier shall cower under his bed
and threaten with the vengeance of Khorne, holding his kitchen knife
like a sword: without it he is inoffensive and slaying him would be
outright murder.
Baron Olivier bears on his breast a most precious device which is of
high interest to the heroes. First of the cristal pyramids, a small
pyramid of cristal which allows, along with the two missing ones,
access to the fabled Geburah's gates. Inside of it strange characters
(Hebrew) have been inscribed, not decipherable yet. Should our heroes
manage to get their hands on the cristal, they shall accomplish a
great advancement in their quest. Only in the next episode of the
chronicle shall they truly discover its meaning... If they could not
manage to take hold of it, Bucardo himself will manage to take it
among the ruins, as the cristal is harder than iron despite its
appearance. Guided by unfathomable purposes, Bucardo would surely
bring the key to Instanbul as destiny itself seems to play in the
city's walls its final act.
Chapel: Located at the dungeon's entrance, what used to be a sacred
place to Santa Claudina has been perverted into a shrine to the devil
by the baron. An old and trustworthy guard has been ordered to watch
over it day and night by the baron, for it is in this foul place that
Denis Bucardo gets his sleep. Paranoid in the extreme, he lies (from
five am to eleven am) in a vault hidden in the altar, which is
diabolically hidden and locked up by a complex combination lock.
During most of the day and all of the night, the vault contains no
more than letters from the archbishop di Ducre and Weissenstadt which
mention of Geburah's cristal pyramids, Selenim wars in Instanbul and a
rival bourgeois named Erico Navidad Bucardo. The guard, Felipe, does
not know where the man sleeps but knows that he carried with him a
mechanism the first time he moved him. Although courageous, the guard
is not suicidal and shall surrender if overpowered.
Guard's quarters: This aging building of stone and wood houses the
baron's men. During the day, but one or two of them wander here while
at least six sleep here every night. All of them are relatively aged
(no less than 35 years old) and relatively loyal to the baron, in that
they shall not betray him if their lives are not endangered. If
problems arise, one of the guards shall run to the tower and ring the
bell to warn the castle's inhabitants and the villagers of danger.
Vault: The baron hid in this dark place, amidst the rotting weath, all
of his belongings which he could not carry with him to the
dungeon. Statues and other large valuables can be found here for those
who search carefully.
Convent of Santa Claudina (ruins):
Santa Claudina's society used to be a paganised and Spanish version of
Geburah's society, which explains the Solkanites' interest in
Rosecouronne. Few but those who follow Kabbalah nowadays remember its
existence, as most of the old followers of the holy woman were
converted to the belief in Ste-Jeanne d'Arc over decades.
Now but a ruin of stones and rotting wood, the convent is void from
any form of life: plants, animals and even people shun its presence,
feeling thecorruption of the dark moon lying within it. The Nephilim
cultists built this building long ago over a sacred place dedicated to
the powers of life, where spirits of Kabbalah (Those Who Hunt At
Night) were laying dormant to be called by the werewolves. Nowadays,
the werewolves have forgotten its presence and know only of Bucardo's
wish to summon evil there.
Baal, being a Daemon, cannot enter the Old World without having being
properly called to this place. In this intent, he used his mad but
faithful servant, Joltok, to subtly modify the runes upon the
convent's sacred stone: this stone used to bear inscribed upon it the
magical words necessary to call Those Who Hunt At Night, but now
speaking the altered words summons instead Baal and his court. The
ceremony must last at least one hour before Baal appears. He will
destroy the summoners and bring death upon all Rosecouronne before
flying to Arabia, laughing madly (where he shall be encountered later
by the adventurers.) Destroying the stone destroys the gateway and
traps the Daemons on whatever side they are at the moment. After their
corporal forms has been slain, the Daemons' souls return to the roaring
madness of the Warp.
Although a Prince, Baal is far from the strength and might of Nurgle
or Khorne, and cannot stretch his form much outside of the Warp. His
material form looks like a large and fat imp as black as ink, with a
large smile of shark teeth, pointed ears, a barbed tail, ridiculously
small bat wings, and glowing red eyes. He has characteristics of a
Greater Daemon but with values ranging from 9 to 10 (or 90 to 100) and
masters all Illusionist spells at no cost. When summoned, he will
appear with a dozen fiery Servant Daemons sharing the same aspect (but
of considerably smaller size) who shall take great pleasure into
setting the convent, forest, castle, and village ablaze with their
fiery breath.
Significant locations in the convent:
The prayer room: Almost completely overwhelmed by fallen stones and
crumbled walls, this room still presents signs of the runes, coverings
and garments of the Nephilim society, as well as many books spilled
amongst the dirt. Adventurers who spent at least half an hour
scrouging through the ruins may find the following after succeeding in
an Intelligence test:
* Prayer books about Santa Claudina written in different languages,
notably Spanish and French.
* Christian parchments and drawings about witch torture, inquisitorial
questioning and demon hunting.
* Manifests of important Templars about the fate deserving those who
follow the dark moon and evil, and the destruction that awaits those
who remain neutral in the great fight.
* An old book in French with an iron covering, named "Le Cartulaire
des Mirages Temporels", teaching the arts of Demonology from the
viewpoint of Kabbalah. Demonologists might find in it a few spells
about banishing Daemons or protection from them, but most of it it
theology about the fight between the five elements and the dark moon
and the need for the destruction of the latter. (Keepers in need of
inspiration should take a look at Warhammer 40.000's Imperium to get
an idea of the propaganda within the manuscript.)
The garden: About two dozen yards across, this garden has kept no
traces of the beautiful flowers that once dwelled in it. In the center
of a great ring of shiny pebbles lies a great stone of obsidian, upon
which has been carved the incantion needed to summon Those Who Hunt At
Night. As noted before, the corrupted words no longer call thess
spirits but instead summon into existence Baal, a forgotten god of
fire and perverted virility, ready to uncover his greatest vengeance
in the following sequels of the chronicle. In this foul place the
Selenim shall attempt to summon the spirit. What happens next depends
upon the actions of the adventurers and their allies.
EPILOGUE
The ending of this story shall be determined by the way the
adventurers handled the situation as presented by the Keeper. The
basic idea was to stop the meddlings of baron Olivier, but it should
appear obvious to any intelligent player that he is no longer the
leading character in the chain of events. The best way to end this
story would be to arrest or slay Bucardo and his minions with the help
of the Jews and/or the werewolves, preventing Baal's appearance. Witty
players might think of summoning Those Who Hunt At Night with the true
summoning process to bring back nature in this place and free
Rosecouronne from its oppression... details are left to individual
Keepers, but in any case this episode should entice the adventurers to
uncover the dark secrets lurking in Instanbul, which shall be
encountered in the next adventure in this campaign, A Kabbalist's
Dream. Then shall they face their true foe, archbishop Francisco di
Ducre, and his master Weissenstadt. The vengeance continues...
Erick-Noel Bouchard Copyright 1996 All rights reserved
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