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Chaosium Digest Volume 31 Number 04
Chaosium Digest Volume 31, Number 4
Date: Tuesday, May 2, 2000
Number: 3 of 3
The Adventure of the Lady of Darkwater (part 3)
Events during marriage
Spices and Potions
Jasmine, along with many other beauties of Arthurian fable, does not seem to
age. She's ageless because she's already dead, but she can't tell that to her
husband. If pressed, she admits to brewing a philter which delays aging. It
works most strongly, she claims, for those of her religious persuasion, to which
knights may not convert, but should still be of benefit to her husband, and
those he selects to share "their" secret with. She cautions him not to tell too
many, because men will do terrible things to live longer.
Jasmine's potion, she claims, requires rare ingredients that must be purchased
in London, York or Camelot. While the characters are away, collecting spices,
her ghulish cohorts are disinterring a corpse per dose of potion required, and
are draining away its juices. The potion is black and oily, and smells like
decaying meat, but she gently chides any knight showing displeasure at the
concoction, telling him that the price of beauty is discomfort, as any woman
knows.
Jasmine's false ingredients cost 5L per dose, or less if she feels the knights
cannot afford it. If asked where she has been getting the money from to pay for
the ingredients previously, she states that she has sold some of the gifts, from
her previous husband, that she keeps in her private quarters. Characters need to
drink the potion annually to retain its effects. Jasmine claims that good
Zoroastrians keep
themselves pure, and so need to imbibe it far less often. Jasmine either sells
the spices, if the dominion is short of money, or stores them. When the
characters ransack her rooms, at the scenario's end, they either find her
private treasury or piled bags of cinnamon.
The potion appears to slow aging, but actually it gradually transforms its
drinkers into ghuls. Tell the players that the first statistic point that the
character loses each year, either due to major wounds or aging is not actually
lost. Keep a private record of these loses. If a character dies due to
statistic loss (aging, poisoning, depravation or major wounds) while under the
effects of this potion, they become a ghul, although they may not realize this
until the final confrontation. When the characters dispatch
Jasmine, the illusion of health this potion creates is dispelled, and their age
catches up with them. While taking this potion knights lose 1 point less than
is usual from each cutting injury and heal two points faster than usual.
Jasmine uses this as an excuse to dose a husband who is too young to worry about
aging.
Bouncing baby ghuls?
Any children Jasmine bears are ghuls. They have green eyes, just like their
mother and have green mouth interiors. Ghulish babies are sneaky, and so don't
poke their tongues out at other children, or perform other acts likely to give
them away to humans, although the are casually cruel, in much the same way some
natural children are. Ghul babies feed on blood, but their wetnurse, also a
ghul, only feeds them in the "women's garden".
The Ghost Who Walks
The ghost of Sir Basil is unable to rest until the ghouls who shared his body
are all dead, and buried in sacred earth or consumed by flame. He is distantly
aware of this. On the anniversaries of his death, which is not the date in his
epitaph, and his marriage, which is not the date in the parish register, he
returns to Darkwater to seek revenge. He can be driven away by the ghul pack,
but sometimes manages to kill one of the weaker ones. He assaults Jasmine when
he is able, and, once the player
characters have begun to take her potions, these "ghuls" as well. So that the
characters do not wonder at the importance of the two days on which the Phantom
is seen, Zekiel impersonates the ghost on certain other knights, leading the
characters on lengthy chases through the dark and murdering innocent peasants.
Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Jasmine's Husband...
The charming Lady Jasmine can get her husband out of the house by having his
lord grant him an office. His salary assists her to develop Darkwater, without
cutting into the funds for the hospice. Her prefered station for her husband is
Keeper of the King's Pleas, or coroner. If her husband's lord doesn't rule more
than one county, he performs a similar role, collecting rights, but will draw
this income from
less exotic sources, and need to do less detective work.
The number of counties a lord controls is equal to the number of places his land
has on its regional Homeland table. For example in Logres, on page 73, Dorset
contains three counties. Lindsey, the most powerful state, contains 4 rural
counties and two cities, Leicester and Lincoln. Cities also have coroners.
The Custos Placitorum Coronae, to use the formal title, are responsible for
collecting the "chance revenues" of the king. Chance revenues include "the
forfeited chattels of felons, deodands, wrecks, royal fish and treasure trove".
It is the duty of the coroner to seek out these revenues, and ensure that they
are transferred to his master.
Chance revenues are miscellaneous income sources which kings hold by law or
tradition. The chattels of felons are the goods of those who have been stripped
of their property for committing a serious crime. Coroners hold inquests into
any event they think might lead to a conviction for felony, to ensure that their
lord gets any income owed to them. Deodands are objects which cause death by
misadventure.
Deodands are donated the Church, which sells them and then distributes the
proceeds to the bereaved. The royal fish is the sturgeon, and if any are
caught in Britain they are the property of the king. Treasure trove is any gold
or silver object that has been found, but was not lost. That is, if it is
deliberately buried, or hidden, then found, and if no owner can be discovered by
the coroner, it belongs to the king.
How much the character is paid for his work depends on how much the lord earns
from his chance revenue rights. Some kings fund the office of coroner from a
portion of their pleas. These coroners earn little most years, but collect a
lump sum when a nobleman is declared a felon, a merchant ship wrecks on their
coast or someone discovers buried treasure. Other coroners have a fixed salary,
but these
are less fun to role-play.
Sheriffs or coroners?
The Pendragon book describes the title of sheriff, or shire-reeve, which has a
similar function to that of the coroner. Originally each shire-reeve acted as
the steward for the king's portion of his county and ensured the king's justice
was upheld. He held courts on major issues, appointed hundred-reeves to hold
lesser courts, and called out the posse comitatus, the force of the county, to
quell riots and pursue wrongdoers.
Coroners are taxmen, who seek the truth because there might be money in it for
their lord. The king's pleas, and the goods gathered under them, were
originally handled by the shire-reeves, but they were widely considered
incompetent and corrupt, so, during Phase Two, coroners were given the task of
ensuring sheriffs passed on all the money that the king was due. During Phase
Three Arthur shifts the right to keep the king's pleas to the coroners, which
means they gain the right to hold inquests into
matters that might net the king chance revenue. This gives the character, and
his assistants, the right to snoop about after sudden deaths, ask people
distressing questions and otherwise irritate in a manner common in cheap
detective fiction.
[This section compiled with the assistance of
Rhea, N.,"Constable Through the Meadow" in Heartbeat: Constable Along the Lane
And Other Tales of A Yorkshire Village Bobby, Headline Book Publishing, London,
1995, pp.425-8. The words in "quotations" are themselves quotations in this
book, although no Act is named. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 4th
edition. The Oxford Companion to British History]
Tourneying
Ghuls love tourneys. Basically, to them, tourneys are events in which humans
poke sticks into each other, and spill blood everywhere. Jasmine does what she
can with her husband's finances to ensure a tourney is held on important
anniversaries. One reason for this is that the anniversary of her second
marriage is also the anniversary of her first husband's death, and extra knights
are handy when the Phantom comes calling. The other is that Zekiel can
impersonate any nobleman whose blood he
tastes.
Wounds
Ghuls drink the blood of the sleeping. If her husband is injured, Jasmine may
not be able to help herself. A character who has a high Piety score has
terrible nightmares of his wife licking his blood from his wounds, and awakes
with fever and an infected injury. Wise healers and leeches from the hospice,
who have green eyes, tell the character that he is suffering from blood
poisoning and this often leads to nightmares.
Drugs and Raucous Behavior
Jasmine sedates her husband before sneaking out to ghulish festivals. Since
she's dead, she's willing to taint food she shares with him. If another
character follows her, he is be spotted by ghulish sentries, who keen a warning.
Jasmine then lights a fire, burns some incense and prays for a few hours. If
approached she claims that the sentries are there for her protection. If the
character is not useful to her, she and her packmates simply kill them
immediately.
Dénouement
Jasmine's scheme should be exposed before the players want to use her ghulish
children as characters. A gamemaster wishing to stretch this story may arrange
that all of her children are female, for some mystical reason. It is best if all
of the player characters are present when this story concludes. A celebratory
tournament, which the Darkwater Suitors attend, should be staged.
The erratic calendar which times ghul festivals is cyclical, so one eventually
falls on the date Jasmine murdered her first husband, and married her second.
As her attendance is required, she drugs her lover and heads out into the
darkness. Zekiel meets her at the manor's gates, as both know the Phantom may
ride this evening. They gallop to their packmates, seeking safety in numbers.
The Phantom instead attacks her drugged husband, rousing him from sleep as it
first slices into him with its all-but-insubstantial sword. The character,
without weapons or armor, may be seriously hurt in this encounter. His cries
bring assistance after two rounds. Knights roused from sleep are dressed in
clothing and carry daggers, unless they take an additional round to snatch up
weapons. A large group of characters should have little difficulty banishing
the ghost.
Jasmine's absence is cause for alarm. The characters send out search parties,
and receive reports that the Phantom has been seen prowling along the road near
one of the graveyards. The characters may choose to waste time putting on armor
if they wish, but those who have a Passion for Jasmine will not put their safety
before hers. Gathering together, they ride to the ghul festival. All those with
Passions for Jasmine should roll them now.
For reasons which myths make absolutely unclear, ghul sentries never seem to
notice the approach of the soon-to-be-mortified husband. On this occasion it
is because none of the sentries want to be out where the Phantom might get them,
so they have come into the great tomb that serves as their feasting hall.
Success over so many years has made the ghuls lax.
As they enter the graveyard, the characters hear, distantly, raucous laughter
and strange, sensual music. (Awareness checks). Following these sounds leads
to the door of a great tomb, which is open a crack. When the characters swing
this portal wide the sounds become louder, and they can see the flickering of
torches, beckoning them into a tunnel that descends into the earth.
The tunnel seems to have been clawed through the soil, but it's stable. Its
dirt floor is firmly-packed, possibly by the thousands of footfalls that have
left marks going deeper into the ground. The characters must travel in single
file, and stoop slightly, if they wish to follow the tunnel. Fortunately they
do not encounter any ghuls in this passage...yet.
The tunnel opens out into a vast, columned chamber. This room is bedecked
richly in gold and fabric, and has many surfaces of marble. It is a morbid
parody of a feasting hall. At its center lies a long, marble sarcophagus, on
whose lid has been draped a red cloth. On the cloth rest vessels of gold and
silver, the largest of which is a boar-platter. The boar platter supports a
human form, partially decayed,
and carved into joints. It has an apple in its mouth. Similar atrocities fill
the tureens and platters
surrounding this centerpiece. The feasters are dressed in finery suitable for
any Earl's court. Their benches are coffins. They slurp wine and black, oily
liquid from chalices of gold and silver. At the table's head stands Zekiel. He
holds carving tools. To his left, in the place of honor, sits Jasmine, her face
unveiled and her green eyes ablaze in the firelight.
She laughs. "So, my loves, do you come as guests or as gammon?" If the
characters do not reply, or she does not consider their replies important, she
raises her glass in toast to them, and allows a little of the black liquid to
dribble down her chin.
Characters with a Passion for Jasmine, or a ghulish wife she has provided them,
should check it, modifying their roll by up to 5 points, depending on how often
and recently they have consumed the black wine of the ghuls. Those who succeed
in their Passion roll want desperately to continue serving Jasmine, and may only
save themselves by invoking a stronger passion or trait. If the characters have
bought other Darkwater Suitors, enough of them remain under Jasmine's spell to
make this final
confrontation challenging. Some of these Suitors can be freed by appeals to
their Loyalty (Darkwater Suitors Group), should the characters think to try.
The Phantom may appear if the battle goes against the characters, giving them
time to flee back up the tunnel, in which the ghouls can only attack them one at
a time.
Killing Jasmine is difficult for any character who feels a passion for her. The
knights who drive their weapons into her body are choosing to fumble their
Passions, and are giving themselves over to Madness. The Gamemaster should
allow them to conclude the battle before whisking them away, however.
Characters who kill their own, ghulish, children are choosing to fumble Love
(Family) and will similarly be driven mad, although Prudent checks will suggest
that characters can avoid madness by killing each other's children.
Ghul Statistics
SIZ: 13 Move 3 Major Wound 25
DEX: 13 Damage 4d6 Unconscious 7
STR: 13 Heal Rate 8 Knock Down 13
CON: 25 Hit Points 28 Armor: Clothing (1) or Dress-up armor (5)
APP: 17 Age: varies
Attack: Scimitar 15 (+1d6 dmg, used double handed)
Traits: All Evil 16+.* Deceitful 21. May oppose Deceitful to other evil
traits to hide them.
Passions: Loyalty (Ghoul Pack/Jasmine) 18
Significant skills: Awareness 21
* Evil bonus: Vary at Gamemaster's discretion
Ghulish abilities: Ghuls do not bleed (maximum 6 points damage per cutting
blow), do not age, heal quickly and are supernaturally charming.
Ghula Statistics:
SIZ: 10 Move 2 Major Wound 25
DEX: 13 Damage 3d6 Unconscious 9
STR: 10 Heal Rate 8 Knock Down 10
CON: 25 Hit Points 35 Armor: Clothing (1)
APP: 20 Age: varies
Attack 2 claws @ 19
Traits: All Evil 16+.* Deceitful 21. May oppose Deceitful to other evil
traits to hide them.
Passions: Loyalty (Ghoul Pack/Jasmine) 18
Significant skills: Awareness 21
* Evil bonus: Vary at Gamemaster's discretion
Ghulish abilities: Ghuls do not bleed (maximum 6 points damage per cutting
blow), do not age, heal quickly and are supernaturally charming.
Darkwater Suitors
Darkwater Suitors use the statistics for knights found on page 329.
The Conclusion
Defeating the ghuls is an act of heroism, but is it one that the knights want
widely discussed? If the characters form a compact to take Jasmine's secret to
their graves, then none receive Glory for those deeds kept private. If they do
allow the Tale of the Lady of Darkwater to circulate they receive 100 Glory,
plus that for defeating enemies and skill successes. Their liege, any Darkwater
Suitors not in the battle, and a contingent of Knights Hospitallier quickly
assemble to seek answers from the characters. The Hospitalliers are familiar
with ghuls, and, if bodies showing the telltale green mouths are produced, they
exonerate the characters. They then begin purging the domain of ghuls.
Characters who wish to preserve their ghulish children must hide them until the
Hospitalliers have departed.
Characters looting the feasting chamber of the ghouls collect grave goods worth
25L. These should be reburied or donated to the church, as should the 30L of
valuable materials found in Jasmine's private chambers.
Jasmine's husband is given title over Darkwater. The Hospitalliers burn down
the two hospices, as places of evil, then spend several days blessing the sites
and sowing the ground with salt. They set up new hospices on alternative sites,
if invited, as they want to keep a close eye on Darkwater in future.
New beginnings
It is difficult for the characters to be certain that they have destroyed every
ghul in the area. It is likely that some escape the Hospitaliers. At the
gamemaster's option, their lord's wife gives birth to a long-desired child. It
is born with green eyes, and severs its umbilicus with its own teeth, but
charms its parents as Jasmine and Zekiel did. How can the characters kill their
lord's heir without being tried for
treason? If the lord refuses to surrender his son, even to the justice of the
High King, are they willing to muster the Darkwater Suitors a final time, to
besiege him?
Glory in conclusion
For participating in the Adventure of the Lady of Darkwater: 50 each
For permanently laying Sir Basil to rest: 25 each
For permanently solving the ghul problem in Darkwater: 25 each
For becoming an Officer: As set out in "Pendragon"
For holding tournaments: As per Pendragon
For defeating the Phantom Knight: 25 per victory.
For killing Zekiel: 250
For killing Jasmine: 50
For each common ghoul slain: 25
For each ghoul baby slain: 5
Failure
If the characters die in the final confrontation, Jasmine waits several years,
as the ghulish heir grows, then arranges to become its governess. This is a
wise dynastic move, as she has ghulish children of similar ages. Perhaps the
next batch of player characters are Hospitaliers or noblemen, who, travelling
down a darkening road, see a group of knights, riding into Darkwater.
-----------------------------
TO AMUSE A LADY
I ran this short scenario at a Convention here in Rome and it was quite
successful. I hope you will like it too. All the references and statistics are
given according to 4th edition King Arthur Pendragon rulebook, although maybe
the magic rules need a little fudging to make it run smoothly - but, hey, it's
magic, isn't it?
PROBLEM
Lord Robert, Earl of Salisbury, assigns the player knights to Lady Madule's
entourage. The Lady plans to visit one of her relatives, a vassal of Earl
Artgualchar, in Wuerensis. The trip will be more problematic than it might
appear. Three main challenges await them, although you are free to add as many
as you want, of course.
The party will stop in Devizes Castle for the night. During the feast Sir
Yolains throws for them, Sir Laurent - an Ordinary knight (p. 329) belonging to
the castle garrison, with Amour (Orlande) 20 - will accuse the player knight
seated beside Lady Orlande to be looking at her with dishonorable intentions.
Sir Yolains, torn between his duty towards his guests and his obligation towards
his vassal and the love for his daughter chooses to defer to God's judgement.
During the fight that will follow the knight may inflame his Honor or his
Hospitality passion.
To use Mildenhall Bridge, as usual, every knight will have to joust with The
Knight in Red and Black - a Notable Knight (p. 329). But, not so normally, as
soon as the Knight is knocked from his horse he will draw his sword and charge
the winner as if he received a serious insult. It's up to the player knight to
stop this good knight gone mad - without an apparent reason. A test of Merciful
and Forgiving is appropriate. If no character unhorses the Knight you have two
options: you can have him knocked from his horse by the last player knight that
jousts with him (maximum game fun). Otherwise the last character to be unhorsed
must test [Proud, +12; success = "You don't know why, but you can't stand being
beaten by this particular knight. You take it as a terrible offense"].
During a night spent in a country manor, Lady Madule will slip under the
blankets of a player knight, possibly one with an Amour (.) or Love (.) and will
ask him to make love to her. She will hint that, as everybody knows, witches are
very good at certain things - and she is a witch after all. Ask the player to
oppose his [Chaste vs. Madule's Lustful +12; failure: "You cannot resist this
Lady's dark passions"]. If the player knight inflamed his passions then
surrendering to Madule's seduction counts as a failure and provokes a Shock in
the knight. If he decided to not inflame the passion then it counts as a
failure: -1 point to the passion's score and the character will be Disheartened
(see p. 206 for further information).
SETTING
Obviously the scenario takes place in the Salisbury County, so the Gamemaster
should review the information beginning on page 223. Of special interest are the
places mentioned above and Lady Madule's capsule.
CHARACTERS
Lady Madule, who thinks that every gentlewoman and gentleman of Salisbury hate
her, and so gives them good reasons to keep on doing it. She has discovered her
Talent for magic - namely to manipulate emotions - at Amesbury, courtesy of
Queen Morgan le Fay, segregated in the abbey after the affair of the enchanted
mantle (in my campaign - Your Chronology May Vary). Her only true friend is her
loyal servant and factotum, Ysgarran.
Born serf in the lands of West Lavington, Ysgarran left his family and asked his
Lord the Banneret to take him as his squire before the Battle of Bedegraine.
Arthur's army was vastly outnumbered and this is why the Banneret accepted his
plea instead of beating him to death. (Please note that the Battle of Bedegraine
is where Arthur "invents" the role of Squire as he "invented" the role of Knight
earlier that year at the crowning in London - again, YCMV). Many years later, on
his dying bed the Banneret
ordered his loyal squire Ysgarran to take care of his only child and heiress,
Madule.
His heroic constitution notwithstanding, Ysgarran could not avoid paying the
toll of Time (he had 15 years in 510) and now his hands shake. Some of his
skills, exotic both for his peasant and squire backgrounds were taught to him by
Lady Madule. Obviously, he is not aware that a Troubadour may call his feeling
for Lady Madule courtly love. All that he knows is that if she orders, then he
must obey.
SECRETS
The knights' strange behavior and Lady Madule's lustfulness are inspired by
magic. The Lady will use three Create Directed Trait: on Sir Laurent Suspicious
(vs. the knight close to Lady Orlande), on the Knight in Red and Black Proud
(vs. the knight who has knocked him from his horse) and on herself Lustful (vs.
the knight whom she wants to seduce). She hopes that they will shame themselves
by overreacting or otherwise breaking the customs. For the scenario's sake you
should slightly ignore some magic rules and assume that, between passions and
high skills Lady Madule always criticals her Talent roll (this, with the spells'
+7 modifier, gives the +12 which is applied to the Traits rolls).
LADY MADULE'S TALISMANS
Fashioned from precious gemstones set in gold rings, they cast a short but
bright colored flash when their magic is invoked. The emotion created or
enhanced by the spell dictates the flash's color. For example, a burst of
jealousy is preceded by a green flash.
Player knights staring at the Lady [test Suspicious as a measure of
watchfulness] will notice the flash with a simple success of Awareness, but will
probably dismiss it as a natural reflection. But a critical success reveals that
the flash comes from inside the gemstone. On the contrary, the spell's victim
will see the color flooding his field of view, turning all other colors in
shades of itself.
SOLUTIONS
Overcome all the problems above, plus some more of gamemaster devising.
Eventually, this game will tire Lady Madule and she will admit that there is no
relative to visit, although she will not say that it has been just an elaborate
joke. Rather, she will say, "it was a test of your knightly virtues". But the
Player Knights will probably know better.
As an alternative, Ysgarran could be befriended. Not very likely for Player
Knights, less so for the Squires (and I think it would be nice - for a change -
to play the squires rather than the knights). Ysgarran is torn between his Love
for Lady Madule which prompts him to comply with everything she does and his
Loyalty which tells him to protect her, especially from herself.
CONCLUSION
The Player Knights may have acquired new friends or new foes during this
scenario, depending on how they overcame the challenges. Certainly Lady Madule
could be among the foes, but if they are sympathetic enough they may even show
her the road to redemption and by demonstrating her that she is not hated,
mitigate her hatred for others.
GLORY
Beside the normal Glory awards for the specific tasks (combats won, roll
succeeded), the Player Knights may divide 200 points among themselves for taking
part in an ordinary adventure seasoned with a pinch of magic.
STATISTICS
Here are the statistics for Lady Madule and Ysgarran. Traits not written are
supposed to be at 10 or 13 if they are religious and passions at 11 or absent at
the gamemaster's whim. The value of skills not written is given on page 104 for
Lady Madule (Cymric female) and on page 271 for Ysgarran (peasant).
LADY MADULE
Insight 1754
SIZ 13 Move 3 (+2)
DEX 16 Damage 3d6*
STR 9 Hit Points 25
CON 12 Armor 1 (robes)
APP 13
Attacks: Dagger 10 (*subtract one die for dagger).
Significant Traits: Lustful 16, Energetic 13, Vengeful 16, Generous 16, Honest
7,Cruel 13, Proud 18, Suspicious 13.
Significant Passions: Love (Brigid) 15, Hate (Knights) 15, Hate (Ladies) 15.
Significant Skills: Celestial Lore 9, Courtesy 10, Faerie Lore 9, First Aid 10,
Geomantic Lore 14, Industry 10, Orate 11 Read (Latin) 14, Religion (Pagan) 10,
Sight 18.
Magic Limit: 70 Magic Defense: 70
Personal Life Force: 4d20
Significant Talents: Emotion 19, Glamour 14, Necromancy 12, Travel 7.
Talismans: 3 x Emotion 60
Woman's Gift: Make Potion
Rides a Palfrey (from Camargue). Emotion is her Natural Talent.
YSGARRAN
Glory 271
SIZ 13 Move 2(+1)
DEX 8 Damage 5d6
STR 14 Hit Points 34
CON 21 Armor 6 (cuirboulli)
APP 12
Attacks: Sword 16, Grapple 11, Battle 10, Horsemanship 10.
Significant Traits: Just 12, Merciful 10, Reckless 13, Trusting 12, Valorous 16;
directed trait Forgiving +9 vs. Lady Madule.
Significant Passions: Loyalty (Lady Madule) 17, Love (Family) 6, Amour (Madule)
16.
Significant Skills: Awareness 10, Chirurgery 5, Compose 5, First Aid 15, Folk
Lore 5, Heraldry 6, Hunting 10, Industry 10, Read Latin 5.
Rides a Rouncy.
--
