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A Family Plot
A Family Plot
Cuthwen Manor
Summoned by the local landholder the companions near a large manor, on the moors of southern Ellesland 50 miles north of the town of Coffin. A scattering of small buildings surrounds the manor house, they are mostly small cottages and storage sheds. Mangy dogs growl at the companions as they pass and curious faces peer out from behind doorways and windows.
The manor is a squat rectangular building built obviously with defence in mind, the windows are tiny slits in the thick stone and it occupies the highest ground for many miles. Four men dressed in ragged woollen cloaks and thick jerkins scowl at the companions as the approach.
The party will be challenged by the four guardsmen at the gate and they will engage them with hostilities if the party do not immediately identify themselves.
The guardsmen are on edge and wary of strangers and will attack with little provocation.
4 Guards Normal Human
ATTACK 11 Sword (d8, 4)
DEFENCE 5 Armour Factor 2
MAGICAL DEFENCE 3
EVASION 3 8, 4, 5, 5 Health Points
STEALTH 12
PERCEPTION 4 Reflexes: 12, 11, 10, 8.
Following the scuffle/conversation with the guards outside Mandell Manor, the companions are ushered inside, where they are introduced to the Lord who summoned them, Sir Lionel Cuthwen. Sir Cuthwen addresses the companions, speaking of a battle, The Battle of Wooldock Moor, which occurred in the area twenty years previously in which 3500 of the regions men at arms died including many notable local heroes were killed.
It is said that the conflict was sparked by rival lords seeking possession of an ancient Selentine manual containing ancient martial secrets of a legendary general of the empire. Sir Cuthwen indicates that he believes that the existence of the manual was a ruse and that the rumour of that manual was spread with the very intention of provoking such a battle in order to eliminate a large number of rival lords at once.
The perpetrator of this action was and is, according to Sir Cuthwen, a local landholder of mysterious aspect, who is known in the region as the Laughing Lord, his family or at least the family that used to own the hill-top fort which he has called home in the years since the battle are the Bracewells, though it is unknown which of the Bracewell sons is the Laughing Lord as he interacts with others only through intermediaries except on the field of battle. The Laughing Lord has displayed ferocious skill and cunning in battle and his undefeated status along with his habit of wearing a full helm at all times and carrying arms and armour previously known to belong to vanquished combatants in the Battle of Wooldock Moor have many curious about his nature.
He has since taken lands from bordering lords but has managed to keep both the church and the High King from action through the generous distribution of seized properties and goods, overpayment of taxes and tithes and the exceptional diplomatic skills of his retainers.
Sir Cuthwen wishes to secure the services of the companions in order to bolster his forces against the Laughing Lord who he believes will be taking action against him soon.
Having introduced themselves and been accepted by Sir Cuthwen the companions and three of his trusted house-guards along with his son Bolray set off for the nearby town of Hulton. According to Sir Cuthwen he has received a report that an amount of the Laughing Lords ill-gotten treasure is hidden there.
Upon arriving at the small trading town the companions are shocked to find the streets clogged with a procession of coffins and shroud-wrapped bodies. Upon asking they are told that a rumour ( originating from Sir Cuthwens spy who was a little careless while in his cups) has spread of a fabulous treasure housed in a tomb in the cemetery, and that the many bandits, ne’er-do-wells who rushed to plunder it were killed by a series of traps just inside the tomb’s door. The coffins and bodies belong to families hoping to preserve their relatives’ remains from the plunderers who they fear may begin looting any tomb they see.
Hulton Cemetery
If the companions, Bolray and the three house-guards go to the tomb they see the littered bodies of a dozen or more men impaled on stakes and crushed beneath falling blocks of masonry. Any of the companions with a background in siege work, construction or masonry will note that the traps are a mixture of ancient and quite recently installed.
1. Tomb entrance: A broad stair leads into a marble and granite room: the room is littered with the dead and broken bodies of men and you can make out places where a wedge once held a block of stone and a hidden pit once topped with slate which was filled with spears and now holds the bodies of the dead.
2. Corridor: This bare earth and stone corridor is trapped with falling slabs of stone. The traps have a ‘Stealth’ score of: 13 for the purposes of detecting them. The first two will drop automatically as the three house guards suddenly dart forward after Bolray shouts ‘A shadow ahead!’
The three house guards are killed by the twin falling blocks which crush them beyond recovery.
There are 3 more suspended blocks activated by a hidden hydraulic system beneath three individual flagstones.
3. The Resting Place: The companions push further into the crypt, and enter a large final chamber holding three Selentine sarcophagi where they encounter Jarves, who is the Laughing Lords treasurer by title, but also a deadly combatant in his own right. Breaking off from sealing a large amount of silver and gold coin into one of the coffins, he will attack at once and try and fight his way clear of the tomb, but during the fight an errant blow, (from the companions or Jarves) will set of a chain reaction in the remaining traps and drop the entire ceiling of the entry passageway sealing everyone in.
Jarves 6th Rank
ATTACK 20
Cudgel (d3, 3)
DEFENCE 11
Armour Factor 0
MAGICAL DEFENCE 7
EVASION 5
17 Health Points
STEALTH 14
PERCEPTION 8 Equipment: Dust of transformation (Giant Hawk), 3 Smoke Jars, 2 Flash Pellets.
Jarves will call for parley if he is injured and explain that they're all trapped there together and they should work together to escape.
There is a secret exit from the tomb the Jarves is aware of but it requires two to operate it and his servant was killed in the initial surprise of the attack on the tomb. There are two recessessed handles in the opposite walls of the chamber which must be turned at the same time to reveal a muddy and low passageway which after several hundred metres emerges in a field.
Upon emerging into a thick morning mist Jarves drops a Flash Pellet and a Smoke Pot and vanishes in the confusion, a successful Track leads to a nearby patch of woodland but the tracks vanish there. Worse they find that Bolray is nowhere to be seen.
The companions are in something of a quandary since they were the only ones known to be in the tomb with Bolray at the time of his disappearance. To make things worse a thorough search of the tomb by Sir Cuthwens men the next day reveals a large pool of blood and a crumpled epaulet from Bolrays clothing and only a handful of gold coins within the sarcophagi which is a lot less than Cuthwen was informed were present ( and a lot less than the companions saw).
He begins to suspect foul play by the companions and may attempt to have them taken in. If a knight or a companion with noble blood asks, Sir Cuthwen will grant them a month’s time to prove their innocence. A particularly impassioned plea from a commoner will earn two weeks stay. Others will be thrown in to the manors holding area and held pending trial: (see Justice Rules in the Dragon Warriors Core. Bear in mind that the judges’ son is missing, the best result that can be obtained is a stay of execution or a truly massive blood price).
A cave in Hedgehog Wood
If the companions return to the site of Bolsrays disappearance at night they note after some time a strange procession in the nearby woods. (These are the six spectral handmaidens of lady Misryn; they are returning from the monthly ritual held by the community of charcoal burners, led by Old Maggie, deep in the woods where the six spectres and Lady Misryn are worshipped as benevolent protectors of the forest-dweller poor folk.). If the companions follow this group of ghostly, white robed women through the forest they come to a cave entrance in the earth which leads into the home of the Lady Misryn.
1. Cave entrance: Within the cave entrance a long steep obviously worked tunnel goes deep into the earth here and ends at a crossroads of sorts.
2. The large cavern off to the left from the crossroads it is inhabited by Lady Misryn and the six women who the companions followed down here. They are conducting some kind of ceremony over a dark pool of still, black water. The air within is filled with strange noise and shrieks and a hazy barrier prevents entry. The barrier is impervious to noise, blows and the like. Those inside the chamber can hear nothing; its purpose is to prevent interruptions during delicate rituals. The six women in white are Spectres (see DW Core or Bestiary), the spirits of Lady Misryns ladies in waiting. The Lady herself is caught somewhere between life and death caused by a fatal fae poisoning by her estranged husband which was only partially countered by the mis-made periapt about her throat. As a result from one moment to the next she is a haughty but attractive woman of middle years with long auburn hair and a blackened and distorted corpse swollen with foul toxins. (See Full Stats at end of Scenario.) The pool in this room is the resting place of an ancient Elven lord, there are numerous sorcerous carvings about the cave and they may be read with some difficulty by those who have seen elvish script before. They are mainly prayers and warnings not to disturb the dead, but some contain sorcerous lore. The ancient spirit has been partially roused by the presence of the undead beings above him and his unconscious mind has occasionally been in contact with that of lady Misryn.his thoughts bringing comfort…and power. .
3. This is the chamber of Liam Hart, Lady Misryns ‘son’. He will attack at once without a word. He is a powerful Water Elementalist, but his limited teachings under his ‘mother’ mean that he only has access to his primary element.
Liam 6th Rank Water Elementalist
ATTACK 16
Sword (d8, 4)
DEFENCE 8
Armour Factor 2.
MAGICAL ATTACK 22
12 Magic Points
MAGICAL DEFENCE 11
EVASION 3
12 Health Points
STEALTH 16
PERCEPTION 7
Equipment: Ring of Evaporation (Functions once per day; recharges at midnight), Healing Potion, Cloak of the Harpy (Allows flight- transforms into a pair of great vulture-like wings during the hours of darkness, wearer may bear one other person of equal weight; use of the cloak is accompanied by a foul but not overpowering stench).
A brief battle with Liam, during which he constantly warns that his mother will soon destroy them will ensue. If they look like defeating him he will activate his ring of evaporation and flow up to a small alcove in the ceiling out of sight. Within this alcove are a number of sacks containing over 400 florins of the Laughing Lords money taken from the Selentine tomb.
4. Alive but unconscious on two biers are Bolray and an unknown young woman of noble bearing: they are surrounded by a white nimbus which fluctuates with the chanting from the other cavern. They appear unharmed but it is found to be impossible to touch them or affect them in any way. Soon the companions must decide whether to keep trying to rouse them and risk the ceremony ending and facing the seven witches within or going to get help from Sir Cuthwen.
If they choose to stay they will die, the combined forces of Lady Misryn, her son and the six spectres will destroy them in short order.
The Next Day
The companions travel back to Sir Cuthwens manor and relate what they have found. Sir Cuthwen does not believe them at first but he will nevertheless rouses a force of twenty men and ride out with the companions to the forest cave.
Sir Cuthwen leads the way into the cave with the companions at his side, the holy aura surrounding the relic contained within his sword pommel keeps the spectres and their mistress contained within the ritual chamber as his men enter the bier chamber and attempt to secure Bolray and the young woman. The two are no longer surrounded by an aura and the men are able to easily pick them up off the biers and make away with them to the surface.
Liam will watch the goings on but will not engage the superior forces once he sees his mother has been contained.
Sir Cuthwen will cover the rear, retreating up the tunnel slowly in reverse keeping the undead trapped behind him. At the top of the tunnel he will regretfully plant the sword blade first into the earth within the cave and order his men to fill in the entrance.
He will then embrace his son and thank the companions rather curtly; though he will mention rather strongly that he notes there is still a lot of missing gold to be accounted for.
After Sir Cuthwen takes his leave of the companions, an emanation of Lady Misryn appears above the cave mound; she says little of why she kidnapped Bolray but she does mention that she had hoped it would draw worthy heroes, though without saying for what purpose. She then vanishes like morning fog on a summer day.
The young woman awakes and tells the companions that her name is Beatrice( if stats are required she is an ordinary human with average stats) and that she was sold to a strange woman after being taken from her household bordering the Laughing Lords lands and that she is now far from home as a result. The companions can offer to escort her back, as they can combine their escort duties with their pursuit of the Laughing Lord who has blackened their name.
The Ale Master
The companions come across a gentleman and his three manservants on the side of the road with a cart full of ale barrels with a seemingly damaged wheel. A character with a background as a carpenter, wheelwright or carter will (on a successful perception check vs. 10) instantly note that there is no actual damage to the vehicle. The men will otherwise achieve surprise when they launch their attack if the companions offer to assist or otherwise engage with them. The Ale Master and his three hirelings are servants of the Laughing Lord and have been sent to attack the characters for reasons currently unknown.
Samis the Ale Master
ATTACK 15
Sword (d8, 4)
DEFENCE 9
Armour Factor 3
MAGICAL DEFENCE 5
EVASION 4
16 Health Points
STEALTH 13
PERCEPTION 6
Three Bondsmen
ATT 11
Hammer (d6, 5).
DEF 5.
AF 0.
MD 3
Movement 10m (15m)
EVA 3.
Health 5, 7, 3.
Stealth 12
Perception 9
If the Ale Master is searched he will be carrying a rough piece of parchment, it reads:
‘F on the road. Ambush and return.’
After the attack Beatrice will claim that she is quite tired of being attacked and that she will make her own way home from here-in. If pressed she will point to a distant holding and state that she can see her way from here there is no need for an escort so close to home.
Ambush at the Churchyard
After Beatrice’s departure the companions continue on towards the Laughing Lords fort in the darkening afternoon and come across a number of small hamlets. The inhabitants seem happy if perhaps a little skittish.
Passing through one in particular the companions pass a small stone church, with a tiny graveyard and an elderly priest in attendance at the stoop. He will usher them over to him in a frightened manner and begs them to deliver them from the demon.
Liam has used his cloak to fly ahead of the companions and has been terrifying the priest and his congregation by playing the part of a cackling emissary of Hell. He is currently crouched out of sight on the leeward side of the church roof.
As the companions are talking with the priest he will spring aloft and begin to throw a number of strange black stained daggers at them, if he is attacked with missile weapons he will blast them with spells before continuing his attacks with the daggers.
Once someone is wounded with one of the strange blades he will alight on the rooftop and deliver a message from his ‘Mother’.
He at first demands to know where the young woman that they ‘stole’ is, but does not pursue the line of questioning once the companions answer.
He explains somewhat tersely that she is the Laughing Lords former wife, and that she wants the companions to protect him from the other Lords and landholders who are after his head, so that she alone can enjoy her revenge against him for what he has done to her.
To insure the companions compliance, Liam relates the daggers he has been using have been coated in a unique eldritch poison which will slay those struck by them within a month and transform them thereafter into a shambling husk whose tortured soul will be trapped within forever., She will of course provide the antidote once the companions have completed their mission. There is no poison; the substance is a harmless but noxious looking amalgam of Oakwort, Beetleback mushrooms and sap. The substance does however register as a poison to spells or magical items, and stays in the system for up to six months soaking into the fatty tissues.
Unless the companions have any brilliant ideas (which will probably fail but feel free to let them try) they no other choice, and at the Liams direction, the companions are told to seek the Laughing Lord at a long-house deep in Frostdell Forest.
He then flies off into the night laughing like a mad thing.
Frostdell Forest
Frostdell is a thick stand of ancient woodland that borders the moors in the eastern part of the Laughing Lords holdings. It is known as the dwelling place of desperate men and worse things.
The forest is two days journey across the moors and open farmland, the longhouse they seek is near the centre of the forest almost six hours journey through the thick brush.
Random Encounters (d10)
Moor land/ Farmland. (Roll twice)
1-2 Wild dogs 1-4 (see Core Book)
3 Bull (see Core Book)
4-7 Peasants 1-6.
8 Wild Goats 1-12.
9. A single goblin will be seen capering across a nearby patch of higher ground, if pursued it will have vanished.
10. ‘Scarecrow’- whilst this appears to be an ordinary scarecrow approaching it it becomes obvious that it is a leathery bog corpse struck through with a pole to hold it upright. It will animate if the characters touch it, it is fixed through its body and cannot move from its place. As Zombie (see Core Book)
Frostdell Forest
1-3 Wolves 1-6. (see Core Book)
4 Wild Boar (see Core Book)
5 Outlaws 1-4 ( As Ordinary Human, see Core Book)
6 Thorn Demons 1-3 ( see Core Book) ( a small colony of these beings lives near the centre of the forest)
7 Stag ( see Bull, Core Book).
8 9 Okeman (see Core Book; this ancient being will take no action unless the companions are truly destructive towards the old growth).
10. A hidden trail which leads straight to the longhouse.
The longhouse is a dark mound in the centre of a clearing; torches are visible within through the round windows. Upon entry the companions are regarded by a dozen men for a few, moments before they return to their gambling and winching. Various groups of rough looking men drink and play dice at four small tables. In the centre of the room a couple of richly dressed merchants surrounded by four brutish kurlish axmen play some sort of card game against a tall man dressed in black and tan livery with his face concealed behind a steel mask styled in the manner of a laughing monk. He appears to be joking with the merchants about his upcoming nuptials, his laugh sounds hollow if boisterous as if he was suffering an ailment of the lungs.
After regarding the companions for a few moments he ushers them over to sit with him and challenges them to a game.
The card game is complex and will only be understood by a character of above average intelligence (16 or above).
If they can roll under their Intelligence on 2d10 3x in a row they will have won the round. Each roll risks 5 florins but winning a round doubles the risked money.
If they do not understand the game they can still play but they have a base 50% chance of success or failure each turn.
The companions and the Lord can size one another up over the gaming table, and swap banter if they wish; the Laughing Lord finds them entertaining and he thanks them for their valuable service (though the companions are not told which service this was). He is intrigued as to how they located him but he does not appear overly concerned until……
….the front door is kicked in and a host of men rush through the door; the companions can defend the Laughing Lord against the gang of attackers who storm the long house; these doughty knights and men-at-arms are employed by the various lords and landholders who have allied against the Laughing Lord.
There are 30 attackers (5 2nd rank knights/ 5 1st rank knights/ 20 guardsmen for stats see corebook, the guardsmen are ordinary humans with Health points of 5, armed with flails and wearing gambesons.). A third of them will attack the merchants and their guards, a third the outlaws and the knights will attack the Laughing Lord.
The attackers will surrender if they lose half their number, the guardsmen will surrender if the knights are killed. The scene will be chaotic and there is no need to keep a tally of the battle, the merchants guards are 4th rank barbarians and will decimate the guardsmen and most of the outlaw leaders are 1st or 2nd level barbarians and knights.
.
If they survive this battle, the companions can make a solid case for the Laughing Lord to hire them on as bodyguards, which he will accept at the weekly rate of 25 florins somewhat dubiously.
Lone Elm Hillfort
Accompanying the Laughing Lord back to his home the companions pass a large number of peasants and menial labourers in the fields and holdings they pass through. The locals watch them respectfully if a little fearfully and tend to flinch when ever the Lord bursts into his hollow laughter. and find themselves within the walls of his darkened hillfort
After they have settled they are escorted by two men in sable and tan tunics to a central throne room. There they are surprised to see a large number of people including Jarves, Samis (looking hale and whole) and Beatrice surrounded by a gaggle of young ladies. They may well be shocked to find that woman the Lord is on the eve of marrying is none other than Beatrice. The companions have a number of options:- - Join the Laughing Lords retinue and inform him of Lady Misryns existence in the hope that he can save them from the ‘poison’. This will derail his plans for consolidation of power, put Jarves in danger and under sanction, lead to an attack on the woodland cave and distract him that he is not ready when Sir Cuthwens forces attack his hillfort. - Join his retinue in order to spy for Lady Misryn, and at some point discover the truth about him either through unearthing a part of Fredrick’s notes he neglected to destroy or by overhearing him during his nightly prayers for forgiveness for slaying his brother. If they give information about his true identity to Lady Misryn she will know at once it is true and die on the spot her spirit free to join her husband. Her handmaidens will now be free of control and will quickly become mindless terrors haunting the woods above and slaying all they encounter. - If they flee the hillfort in order to take up again with Sir Cuthwen he will accept them and rely on their knowledge of the hillforts layout in his future attacks upon it.
The Truth:
The Laughing Lord was the eldest son of the Bracewells, Galwain, and was killed and his body and arms lost during the battle of Wooldock Moor. Ten years later a team of heath-cutters unearthed his body recognised it and transported it to the family estate where his youngest brother, Fredrick was now lord. Fredrick was a sickly child who worshipped the ground his older brother walked on and maturity had not healed his ills or his love.
A virtual recluse he had assembled about himself a group of intelligent and resourceful men and was married to a forceful woman of ferocious temper named Lady Misryn. They were childless and Fredricks other brothers had fallen in the crusades or other ventures, bereft of family when his brother’s body was found Fredrick became obsessed with somehow returning Galwain to life.
Fredrick courted dark forces and shadowy pacts in his pursuit of a method and finally chanced upon an ancient manual belonging to the dark Selentine priests of Pluto. It was his pursuit of this manual which somehow became confused with the contested title deeds that set of the conflict that had given rise to the battle of Wooldock Moor that led to the various rumours surrounding a mystical Selentine treatise.
Locked away in his rooms for weeks on end with only strange old men for visitors his wife became incensed and demanded to know what he was up to. When he refused to explain she locked herself and her staff away as well in the eastern part of the fort.
On a fateful night at Midwinter Fredrick finally succeeded in his task and brought Galwain back to life, unfortunately Fredrick did not live to see his brother walk the earth again. Upon awakening Galwains stained and twisted body, warped from its time in the bog, grasped Fredrick and drew his life-force out in order to sustain itself. When his mind awoke once more his brother lay dead and withered on the stones and he was alone. Galwain spent the night piecing together what had happened from his brothers notes.
Eventually he resolved to become Fredrick they had always been of a likeness, he wrapped his brothers withered body in his cloak and dressed himself in enveloping clothes as there was still something of the bog about his form.
Emerging from the chambers he set about familiarising himself with his brothers household and he was pleased by what he found. He buried his brother’s body in the catacomb destined for him and set about bringing his family to the fore once again. ( His brother has since re-animated as a zombie but is sealed within the catacomb effectively forever).
Lady Misryn was not sure what to make of this new husband who claimed to have been damaged by the terrible vapours involved in his ‘family research’ yet who apart from a raspy voice and strange hollowness to his laugh appeared more hale and well than he had ever been, though he kept his face always in shadow even from her.
Over the months that followed lady Misryn employed her maidservants to try and discover exactly what had happened to her husband to make him like this.
Galwain was not a man to be badgered however and he ordered Jarves to remove Lady Misryn permanently; somewhat taken aback but loyal to his lord Jarves tried to convince his mistress to stop her lines of investigation and let sleeping bears lie. But she would have none of it, at last and with heavy heart Jarves did as his master asked and poisoned the Lady Misryns nightly flask of mulled wine. Unknown to him Lady Misryn was in the habit of sharing her evening repasts with her maidservants and when Jarves returned later that evening all seven women lay dead and terrible in hue from the poison.
Aghast at himself he went to his lord who seemed glad that the deed was finally done; he bade Jarves to dump the bodies in an old cave in Hedgehog Wood. As Jarves set about his task with the help of two young kitchen boys he was shocked to discover that Lady Misryn who had appeared dead had begun to stir. He was dumbstruck with horror as he stared at the bodies. He had already concealed the bodies of the maidservants deep within the cave and was carrying Lady Misryns body down the tunnel when she began to stir.
When she opened her eyes Jarves was lost, he could not commit murder again! He swore himself to his lady’s service, despite the horridness of her form, before the shocked eyes of the two boys, and then stared aghast at the boys realising that he must now silence them! But fate took the task from his hands, out of the darkness loomed the silent white forms of the maidservants transformed into vengeful malevolent spirits by the trauma of their death, they tore the life from the eldest boy and would have done the same to the younger but lady Misryn raised her miscoloured hand.
‘Do you have a mother, child? No?’
‘And I have no son…..I will call you Liam. And you will call me Mother, are we understood?’
Jarves was at once relieved and horror struck as he stared at his mistress, the wan forms of the spectral girls and the two boys; one damned and one destroyed.
Lady Misryn bade Jarves to return to her husbands service and to serve as her eyes and hands in the household.
Some years past……Events Leading to the Current Situation
Lord Cuthwen and his fellows began to find Galwains actions intolerable and started their plans against him.
Galwain, desirous of companionship, set his sights upon a young local landholder’s daughter by the name of Beatrice. When Jarves reported this to Lady Misryn she set about plans to kidnap the girl. Beatrice was taken at night from her holdings by a group of charcoal burners led by Maggie, a worshipper of Lady Misryn and confidant of Liam. She was held within the cave in stasis. Having lost his fiancée, the Laughing Lord was distracted which allowed Sir Cuthwen to discover the where abouts of one of his hidden treasuries.
Jarves had also reported that the other landholders led by Sir Cuthwen were plotting against her husband; she told Jarves to keep an eye out for an opportunity to kidnap Cuthwens son and thus distract his father from his plotting. She also introduced the idea to the household staff of Cuthwen, through Liam’s contacts among the charcoal burners, the idea of hiring outsiders as they could be trusted not to be pledged to another lord amongst the plotters or to the Laughing Lord. When Jarves saw Galray in the tomb with the companions he recognised his chance immediately; having no real quarrel with the companions he took Galray by surprise as they exited from the escape tunnel, used his Dust of Giant Hawk Form and with the young lord grasped in his talons flew to Lady Misryn and then on to his lords fort; where he reported that strangers in the employ of Cuthwen had raided the treasury. Liam upon receiving the unconscious body of Galray and Jarves report, made his way across to the secret exit from the tomb and gathered up all the monies, gashing himself badly on the jagged edge of the sarcophagi; using his ring to escape again having no way to trigger the door by himself. Lady Misryn had held hope that she could use the two young people she had captured in order to restore herself fully to life but she is especially angry that her husband will now be able to remarry; and sends Liam after the companions to kill the girl.
Major Players: Sir Cuthwen Knight 5th Rank. Attributes: Strength 14, Reflexes 13, Looks 13, Intelligence 13, Psychic Talent 12 ATT- 18 DEF- 12 MD- 6 EVA- 5 Perception- 15 Stealth- 9 Equipment:- Plate Mail, Sword, Deeds of Title, Family Crest Dagger, Pepper pouch, Family Crest, 2 Vials of Medium Poison. Loses the holy sword of St. Grimas at the Hedgehog Wood cave Image: Sir Cuthwen is in his early ’40s. He has pale skin, dark gray hair and green eyes. He stands 6’3". He wears gold chains and a charcoal-gray tabard. Notes: He loathes all those beneath him in station. History: Wetheford ancestors were minor landholders in the area, with the passing of the Bracewells as a power his fortunes have waxed in recent decades. His stint in the Crusades in Ta'ashim was brief but he established himself as a capable and competent commander and siege-breaker.
Galray Cuthwen 2nd Rank Knight. Attributes: Strength 12, Reflexes 15, Looks 14, Intelligence 14, Psychic Talent 15. ATT- 14 DEF- 4 EVA- 4 MD- 5 Perception- 14 Stealth- 8 Equipment: Mad-Fang (d6+1, 3) A strange and baleful looking short blade, its metal has a sickly greenish hue. (Those struck with the weapon are afflicted with a random madness until the wound is healed. Unknown to Galray this is a sacred blade of Rimfax. However the northern demon is little known in southern parts and Galray gained the blade from a fallen foe many years past), Steel breast plate. Image: Galray is a handsome young gentleman with light blue eyes and blond hair. He always smiles politely, and apologetically, as if he really has no desire to cause anyone any sort of harm, but feels obligated to do so given his position. Even in the darkest, dankest places, Galray insists on being dressed in his finest clothes. History: Galray has been his father’s right hand for many years now and follows him without question.
Lady Misryn Attributes: Strength 14, Reflexes 15, Looks 15, Intelligence 13, Psychic talent 12. Unique Undead ATT- 20 DEF- 13 MD- 8 EVA- 5 Perception- 14 Stealth- 7 Claws (d6, 3) AF: 2. (Undead Flesh) Health: 32 Notes: Since her death she has noted that she possesses a link to energies of life and death and over the years she has worked at manipulating these. In this endeavor she has been helped by strange inscriptions found on the walls of the cave and by strange dreams she has when she ‘sleeps’. She currently possesses the ability to project an ethereal illusion of herself, to control the spectres of her handmaidens, to summon a misty impenetrable barrier of 2 hours duration and to put humans into a form of stasis in which they are removed from the physical world after a half hour ritual said over their bodies, the ritual must be refreshed each day. Image: One moment:-Lady Misryn is tall and lean woman in her early 30s; she wears simple jewelry and has short, cropped hair (quite unusual in a noble woman). She wears a lustrous cloak of dark brown bear fur and she has hazel eyes. The next: Lady Misryn is a twisted a swollen corpse, her flesh is purple and black from toxins and her limbs are painfully gnarled, she stares at the companions with bloodshot eyes and a swollen tongue makes her speech wet and loathsome as her form. History: Lady Misryn became Fredrick’s wife at the age of 16, and was not at all pleased by it. Though she came to care for her husband over the years she never really felt as if she knew him. When he became reclusive she became obsessed with discovering his secrets. When he emerged from seclusion and ignored her she became bitter. When he had Jarves poison her and dump her body in the forest…..she became angry….very angry. Misryn is unaware that it was not her husband who ordered her death and that he indeed died a year before her at the hands of his risen brother Galwain.
Galwain Rank 4 Knight/Undead. Attributes: Strength 18, Reflexes 13, Looks 4, Intelligence 15, Psychic talent 15 ATT- 20 DEF- 12 EVA- 7 MD- 6 Perception- 18 Stealth- 8. Health: 35 Weapon: +2 Shortsword. (Brailwrath; this weapon was once a family heirloom of the Cuthwen family, and is greatly sought by them.) AF: 5 Equipment: Moons Maille (Once a family Heirloom of the Huntford family, this +1 armour is inscribed with hundreds of tiny prayers to the Moon, it must be left exposed under the light of the full moon for 1 night every month or it will lose its enchantment), Holy Books, Legal documents, 2x Daggers (These twin weapons once belonged to Robert of Lund who fell at Wooldock; they glow with a baleful light in the presence of lycanthropes). Image: Galwain is the image of his brother Fredrick but is a little taller and more barrel chested. Being undead he does not need to eat or breathe but has learnt to fake this in order to avoid unsettling his retainers. His flesh is somewhat grey of cast but otherwise there is little to tell of his status; he is a little bothered by bright light but is no way injured by such. Once per year he must drain the life from a human being in order to continue his existence. The desiccated corpses rise as zombies and he has taken to placing these grisly watchmen about his lands in the form of scarecrows.
Cuthwen Manor
Summoned by the local landholder the companions near a large manor, on the moors of southern Ellesland 50 miles north of the town of Coffin. A scattering of small buildings surrounds the manor house, they are mostly small cottages and storage sheds. Mangy dogs growl at the companions as they pass and curious faces peer out from behind doorways and windows.
The manor is a squat rectangular building built obviously with defence in mind, the windows are tiny slits in the thick stone and it occupies the highest ground for many miles. Four men dressed in ragged woollen cloaks and thick jerkins scowl at the companions as the approach.
The party will be challenged by the four guardsmen at the gate and they will engage them with hostilities if the party do not immediately identify themselves.
The guardsmen are on edge and wary of strangers and will attack with little provocation.
4 Guards Normal Human
ATTACK 11 Sword (d8, 4)
DEFENCE 5 Armour Factor 2
MAGICAL DEFENCE 3
EVASION 3 8, 4, 5, 5 Health Points
STEALTH 12
PERCEPTION 4 Reflexes: 12, 11, 10, 8.
Following the scuffle/conversation with the guards outside Mandell Manor, the companions are ushered inside, where they are introduced to the Lord who summoned them, Sir Lionel Cuthwen. Sir Cuthwen addresses the companions, speaking of a battle, The Battle of Wooldock Moor, which occurred in the area twenty years previously in which 3500 of the regions men at arms died including many notable local heroes were killed.
It is said that the conflict was sparked by rival lords seeking possession of an ancient Selentine manual containing ancient martial secrets of a legendary general of the empire. Sir Cuthwen indicates that he believes that the existence of the manual was a ruse and that the rumour of that manual was spread with the very intention of provoking such a battle in order to eliminate a large number of rival lords at once.
The perpetrator of this action was and is, according to Sir Cuthwen, a local landholder of mysterious aspect, who is known in the region as the Laughing Lord, his family or at least the family that used to own the hill-top fort which he has called home in the years since the battle are the Bracewells, though it is unknown which of the Bracewell sons is the Laughing Lord as he interacts with others only through intermediaries except on the field of battle. The Laughing Lord has displayed ferocious skill and cunning in battle and his undefeated status along with his habit of wearing a full helm at all times and carrying arms and armour previously known to belong to vanquished combatants in the Battle of Wooldock Moor have many curious about his nature.
He has since taken lands from bordering lords but has managed to keep both the church and the High King from action through the generous distribution of seized properties and goods, overpayment of taxes and tithes and the exceptional diplomatic skills of his retainers.
Sir Cuthwen wishes to secure the services of the companions in order to bolster his forces against the Laughing Lord who he believes will be taking action against him soon.
Having introduced themselves and been accepted by Sir Cuthwen the companions and three of his trusted house-guards along with his son Bolray set off for the nearby town of Hulton. According to Sir Cuthwen he has received a report that an amount of the Laughing Lords ill-gotten treasure is hidden there.
Upon arriving at the small trading town the companions are shocked to find the streets clogged with a procession of coffins and shroud-wrapped bodies. Upon asking they are told that a rumour ( originating from Sir Cuthwens spy who was a little careless while in his cups) has spread of a fabulous treasure housed in a tomb in the cemetery, and that the many bandits, ne’er-do-wells who rushed to plunder it were killed by a series of traps just inside the tomb’s door. The coffins and bodies belong to families hoping to preserve their relatives’ remains from the plunderers who they fear may begin looting any tomb they see.
Hulton Cemetery
If the companions, Bolray and the three house-guards go to the tomb they see the littered bodies of a dozen or more men impaled on stakes and crushed beneath falling blocks of masonry. Any of the companions with a background in siege work, construction or masonry will note that the traps are a mixture of ancient and quite recently installed.
1. Tomb entrance: A broad stair leads into a marble and granite room: the room is littered with the dead and broken bodies of men and you can make out places where a wedge once held a block of stone and a hidden pit once topped with slate which was filled with spears and now holds the bodies of the dead.
2. Corridor: This bare earth and stone corridor is trapped with falling slabs of stone. The traps have a ‘Stealth’ score of: 13 for the purposes of detecting them. The first two will drop automatically as the three house guards suddenly dart forward after Bolray shouts ‘A shadow ahead!’
The three house guards are killed by the twin falling blocks which crush them beyond recovery.
There are 3 more suspended blocks activated by a hidden hydraulic system beneath three individual flagstones.
3. The Resting Place: The companions push further into the crypt, and enter a large final chamber holding three Selentine sarcophagi where they encounter Jarves, who is the Laughing Lords treasurer by title, but also a deadly combatant in his own right. Breaking off from sealing a large amount of silver and gold coin into one of the coffins, he will attack at once and try and fight his way clear of the tomb, but during the fight an errant blow, (from the companions or Jarves) will set of a chain reaction in the remaining traps and drop the entire ceiling of the entry passageway sealing everyone in.
Jarves 6th Rank
ATTACK 20
Cudgel (d3, 3)
DEFENCE 11
Armour Factor 0
MAGICAL DEFENCE 7
EVASION 5
17 Health Points
STEALTH 14
PERCEPTION 8 Equipment: Dust of transformation (Giant Hawk), 3 Smoke Jars, 2 Flash Pellets.
Jarves will call for parley if he is injured and explain that they're all trapped there together and they should work together to escape.
There is a secret exit from the tomb the Jarves is aware of but it requires two to operate it and his servant was killed in the initial surprise of the attack on the tomb. There are two recessessed handles in the opposite walls of the chamber which must be turned at the same time to reveal a muddy and low passageway which after several hundred metres emerges in a field.
Upon emerging into a thick morning mist Jarves drops a Flash Pellet and a Smoke Pot and vanishes in the confusion, a successful Track leads to a nearby patch of woodland but the tracks vanish there. Worse they find that Bolray is nowhere to be seen.
The companions are in something of a quandary since they were the only ones known to be in the tomb with Bolray at the time of his disappearance. To make things worse a thorough search of the tomb by Sir Cuthwens men the next day reveals a large pool of blood and a crumpled epaulet from Bolrays clothing and only a handful of gold coins within the sarcophagi which is a lot less than Cuthwen was informed were present ( and a lot less than the companions saw).
He begins to suspect foul play by the companions and may attempt to have them taken in. If a knight or a companion with noble blood asks, Sir Cuthwen will grant them a month’s time to prove their innocence. A particularly impassioned plea from a commoner will earn two weeks stay. Others will be thrown in to the manors holding area and held pending trial: (see Justice Rules in the Dragon Warriors Core. Bear in mind that the judges’ son is missing, the best result that can be obtained is a stay of execution or a truly massive blood price).
A cave in Hedgehog Wood
If the companions return to the site of Bolsrays disappearance at night they note after some time a strange procession in the nearby woods. (These are the six spectral handmaidens of lady Misryn; they are returning from the monthly ritual held by the community of charcoal burners, led by Old Maggie, deep in the woods where the six spectres and Lady Misryn are worshipped as benevolent protectors of the forest-dweller poor folk.). If the companions follow this group of ghostly, white robed women through the forest they come to a cave entrance in the earth which leads into the home of the Lady Misryn.
1. Cave entrance: Within the cave entrance a long steep obviously worked tunnel goes deep into the earth here and ends at a crossroads of sorts.
2. The large cavern off to the left from the crossroads it is inhabited by Lady Misryn and the six women who the companions followed down here. They are conducting some kind of ceremony over a dark pool of still, black water. The air within is filled with strange noise and shrieks and a hazy barrier prevents entry. The barrier is impervious to noise, blows and the like. Those inside the chamber can hear nothing; its purpose is to prevent interruptions during delicate rituals. The six women in white are Spectres (see DW Core or Bestiary), the spirits of Lady Misryns ladies in waiting. The Lady herself is caught somewhere between life and death caused by a fatal fae poisoning by her estranged husband which was only partially countered by the mis-made periapt about her throat. As a result from one moment to the next she is a haughty but attractive woman of middle years with long auburn hair and a blackened and distorted corpse swollen with foul toxins. (See Full Stats at end of Scenario.) The pool in this room is the resting place of an ancient Elven lord, there are numerous sorcerous carvings about the cave and they may be read with some difficulty by those who have seen elvish script before. They are mainly prayers and warnings not to disturb the dead, but some contain sorcerous lore. The ancient spirit has been partially roused by the presence of the undead beings above him and his unconscious mind has occasionally been in contact with that of lady Misryn.his thoughts bringing comfort…and power. .
3. This is the chamber of Liam Hart, Lady Misryns ‘son’. He will attack at once without a word. He is a powerful Water Elementalist, but his limited teachings under his ‘mother’ mean that he only has access to his primary element.
Liam 6th Rank Water Elementalist
ATTACK 16
Sword (d8, 4)
DEFENCE 8
Armour Factor 2.
MAGICAL ATTACK 22
12 Magic Points
MAGICAL DEFENCE 11
EVASION 3
12 Health Points
STEALTH 16
PERCEPTION 7
Equipment: Ring of Evaporation (Functions once per day; recharges at midnight), Healing Potion, Cloak of the Harpy (Allows flight- transforms into a pair of great vulture-like wings during the hours of darkness, wearer may bear one other person of equal weight; use of the cloak is accompanied by a foul but not overpowering stench).
A brief battle with Liam, during which he constantly warns that his mother will soon destroy them will ensue. If they look like defeating him he will activate his ring of evaporation and flow up to a small alcove in the ceiling out of sight. Within this alcove are a number of sacks containing over 400 florins of the Laughing Lords money taken from the Selentine tomb.
4. Alive but unconscious on two biers are Bolray and an unknown young woman of noble bearing: they are surrounded by a white nimbus which fluctuates with the chanting from the other cavern. They appear unharmed but it is found to be impossible to touch them or affect them in any way. Soon the companions must decide whether to keep trying to rouse them and risk the ceremony ending and facing the seven witches within or going to get help from Sir Cuthwen.
If they choose to stay they will die, the combined forces of Lady Misryn, her son and the six spectres will destroy them in short order.
The Next Day
The companions travel back to Sir Cuthwens manor and relate what they have found. Sir Cuthwen does not believe them at first but he will nevertheless rouses a force of twenty men and ride out with the companions to the forest cave.
Sir Cuthwen leads the way into the cave with the companions at his side, the holy aura surrounding the relic contained within his sword pommel keeps the spectres and their mistress contained within the ritual chamber as his men enter the bier chamber and attempt to secure Bolray and the young woman. The two are no longer surrounded by an aura and the men are able to easily pick them up off the biers and make away with them to the surface.
Liam will watch the goings on but will not engage the superior forces once he sees his mother has been contained.
Sir Cuthwen will cover the rear, retreating up the tunnel slowly in reverse keeping the undead trapped behind him. At the top of the tunnel he will regretfully plant the sword blade first into the earth within the cave and order his men to fill in the entrance.
He will then embrace his son and thank the companions rather curtly; though he will mention rather strongly that he notes there is still a lot of missing gold to be accounted for.
After Sir Cuthwen takes his leave of the companions, an emanation of Lady Misryn appears above the cave mound; she says little of why she kidnapped Bolray but she does mention that she had hoped it would draw worthy heroes, though without saying for what purpose. She then vanishes like morning fog on a summer day.
The young woman awakes and tells the companions that her name is Beatrice( if stats are required she is an ordinary human with average stats) and that she was sold to a strange woman after being taken from her household bordering the Laughing Lords lands and that she is now far from home as a result. The companions can offer to escort her back, as they can combine their escort duties with their pursuit of the Laughing Lord who has blackened their name.
The Ale Master
The companions come across a gentleman and his three manservants on the side of the road with a cart full of ale barrels with a seemingly damaged wheel. A character with a background as a carpenter, wheelwright or carter will (on a successful perception check vs. 10) instantly note that there is no actual damage to the vehicle. The men will otherwise achieve surprise when they launch their attack if the companions offer to assist or otherwise engage with them. The Ale Master and his three hirelings are servants of the Laughing Lord and have been sent to attack the characters for reasons currently unknown.
Samis the Ale Master
ATTACK 15
Sword (d8, 4)
DEFENCE 9
Armour Factor 3
MAGICAL DEFENCE 5
EVASION 4
16 Health Points
STEALTH 13
PERCEPTION 6
Three Bondsmen
ATT 11
Hammer (d6, 5).
DEF 5.
AF 0.
MD 3
Movement 10m (15m)
EVA 3.
Health 5, 7, 3.
Stealth 12
Perception 9
If the Ale Master is searched he will be carrying a rough piece of parchment, it reads:
‘F on the road. Ambush and return.’
After the attack Beatrice will claim that she is quite tired of being attacked and that she will make her own way home from here-in. If pressed she will point to a distant holding and state that she can see her way from here there is no need for an escort so close to home.
Ambush at the Churchyard
After Beatrice’s departure the companions continue on towards the Laughing Lords fort in the darkening afternoon and come across a number of small hamlets. The inhabitants seem happy if perhaps a little skittish.
Passing through one in particular the companions pass a small stone church, with a tiny graveyard and an elderly priest in attendance at the stoop. He will usher them over to him in a frightened manner and begs them to deliver them from the demon.
Liam has used his cloak to fly ahead of the companions and has been terrifying the priest and his congregation by playing the part of a cackling emissary of Hell. He is currently crouched out of sight on the leeward side of the church roof.
As the companions are talking with the priest he will spring aloft and begin to throw a number of strange black stained daggers at them, if he is attacked with missile weapons he will blast them with spells before continuing his attacks with the daggers.
Once someone is wounded with one of the strange blades he will alight on the rooftop and deliver a message from his ‘Mother’.
He at first demands to know where the young woman that they ‘stole’ is, but does not pursue the line of questioning once the companions answer.
He explains somewhat tersely that she is the Laughing Lords former wife, and that she wants the companions to protect him from the other Lords and landholders who are after his head, so that she alone can enjoy her revenge against him for what he has done to her.
To insure the companions compliance, Liam relates the daggers he has been using have been coated in a unique eldritch poison which will slay those struck by them within a month and transform them thereafter into a shambling husk whose tortured soul will be trapped within forever., She will of course provide the antidote once the companions have completed their mission. There is no poison; the substance is a harmless but noxious looking amalgam of Oakwort, Beetleback mushrooms and sap. The substance does however register as a poison to spells or magical items, and stays in the system for up to six months soaking into the fatty tissues.
Unless the companions have any brilliant ideas (which will probably fail but feel free to let them try) they no other choice, and at the Liams direction, the companions are told to seek the Laughing Lord at a long-house deep in Frostdell Forest.
He then flies off into the night laughing like a mad thing.
Frostdell Forest
Frostdell is a thick stand of ancient woodland that borders the moors in the eastern part of the Laughing Lords holdings. It is known as the dwelling place of desperate men and worse things.
The forest is two days journey across the moors and open farmland, the longhouse they seek is near the centre of the forest almost six hours journey through the thick brush.
Random Encounters (d10)
Moor land/ Farmland. (Roll twice)
1-2 Wild dogs 1-4 (see Core Book)
3 Bull (see Core Book)
4-7 Peasants 1-6.
8 Wild Goats 1-12.
9. A single goblin will be seen capering across a nearby patch of higher ground, if pursued it will have vanished.
10. ‘Scarecrow’- whilst this appears to be an ordinary scarecrow approaching it it becomes obvious that it is a leathery bog corpse struck through with a pole to hold it upright. It will animate if the characters touch it, it is fixed through its body and cannot move from its place. As Zombie (see Core Book)
Frostdell Forest
1-3 Wolves 1-6. (see Core Book)
4 Wild Boar (see Core Book)
5 Outlaws 1-4 ( As Ordinary Human, see Core Book)
6 Thorn Demons 1-3 ( see Core Book) ( a small colony of these beings lives near the centre of the forest)
7 Stag ( see Bull, Core Book).
8 9 Okeman (see Core Book; this ancient being will take no action unless the companions are truly destructive towards the old growth).
10. A hidden trail which leads straight to the longhouse.
The longhouse is a dark mound in the centre of a clearing; torches are visible within through the round windows. Upon entry the companions are regarded by a dozen men for a few, moments before they return to their gambling and winching. Various groups of rough looking men drink and play dice at four small tables. In the centre of the room a couple of richly dressed merchants surrounded by four brutish kurlish axmen play some sort of card game against a tall man dressed in black and tan livery with his face concealed behind a steel mask styled in the manner of a laughing monk. He appears to be joking with the merchants about his upcoming nuptials, his laugh sounds hollow if boisterous as if he was suffering an ailment of the lungs.
After regarding the companions for a few moments he ushers them over to sit with him and challenges them to a game.
The card game is complex and will only be understood by a character of above average intelligence (16 or above).
If they can roll under their Intelligence on 2d10 3x in a row they will have won the round. Each roll risks 5 florins but winning a round doubles the risked money.
If they do not understand the game they can still play but they have a base 50% chance of success or failure each turn.
The companions and the Lord can size one another up over the gaming table, and swap banter if they wish; the Laughing Lord finds them entertaining and he thanks them for their valuable service (though the companions are not told which service this was). He is intrigued as to how they located him but he does not appear overly concerned until……
….the front door is kicked in and a host of men rush through the door; the companions can defend the Laughing Lord against the gang of attackers who storm the long house; these doughty knights and men-at-arms are employed by the various lords and landholders who have allied against the Laughing Lord.
There are 30 attackers (5 2nd rank knights/ 5 1st rank knights/ 20 guardsmen for stats see corebook, the guardsmen are ordinary humans with Health points of 5, armed with flails and wearing gambesons.). A third of them will attack the merchants and their guards, a third the outlaws and the knights will attack the Laughing Lord.
The attackers will surrender if they lose half their number, the guardsmen will surrender if the knights are killed. The scene will be chaotic and there is no need to keep a tally of the battle, the merchants guards are 4th rank barbarians and will decimate the guardsmen and most of the outlaw leaders are 1st or 2nd level barbarians and knights.
.
If they survive this battle, the companions can make a solid case for the Laughing Lord to hire them on as bodyguards, which he will accept at the weekly rate of 25 florins somewhat dubiously.
Lone Elm Hillfort
Accompanying the Laughing Lord back to his home the companions pass a large number of peasants and menial labourers in the fields and holdings they pass through. The locals watch them respectfully if a little fearfully and tend to flinch when ever the Lord bursts into his hollow laughter. and find themselves within the walls of his darkened hillfort
After they have settled they are escorted by two men in sable and tan tunics to a central throne room. There they are surprised to see a large number of people including Jarves, Samis (looking hale and whole) and Beatrice surrounded by a gaggle of young ladies. They may well be shocked to find that woman the Lord is on the eve of marrying is none other than Beatrice. The companions have a number of options:- - Join the Laughing Lords retinue and inform him of Lady Misryns existence in the hope that he can save them from the ‘poison’. This will derail his plans for consolidation of power, put Jarves in danger and under sanction, lead to an attack on the woodland cave and distract him that he is not ready when Sir Cuthwens forces attack his hillfort. - Join his retinue in order to spy for Lady Misryn, and at some point discover the truth about him either through unearthing a part of Fredrick’s notes he neglected to destroy or by overhearing him during his nightly prayers for forgiveness for slaying his brother. If they give information about his true identity to Lady Misryn she will know at once it is true and die on the spot her spirit free to join her husband. Her handmaidens will now be free of control and will quickly become mindless terrors haunting the woods above and slaying all they encounter. - If they flee the hillfort in order to take up again with Sir Cuthwen he will accept them and rely on their knowledge of the hillforts layout in his future attacks upon it.
The Truth:
The Laughing Lord was the eldest son of the Bracewells, Galwain, and was killed and his body and arms lost during the battle of Wooldock Moor. Ten years later a team of heath-cutters unearthed his body recognised it and transported it to the family estate where his youngest brother, Fredrick was now lord. Fredrick was a sickly child who worshipped the ground his older brother walked on and maturity had not healed his ills or his love.
A virtual recluse he had assembled about himself a group of intelligent and resourceful men and was married to a forceful woman of ferocious temper named Lady Misryn. They were childless and Fredricks other brothers had fallen in the crusades or other ventures, bereft of family when his brother’s body was found Fredrick became obsessed with somehow returning Galwain to life.
Fredrick courted dark forces and shadowy pacts in his pursuit of a method and finally chanced upon an ancient manual belonging to the dark Selentine priests of Pluto. It was his pursuit of this manual which somehow became confused with the contested title deeds that set of the conflict that had given rise to the battle of Wooldock Moor that led to the various rumours surrounding a mystical Selentine treatise.
Locked away in his rooms for weeks on end with only strange old men for visitors his wife became incensed and demanded to know what he was up to. When he refused to explain she locked herself and her staff away as well in the eastern part of the fort.
On a fateful night at Midwinter Fredrick finally succeeded in his task and brought Galwain back to life, unfortunately Fredrick did not live to see his brother walk the earth again. Upon awakening Galwains stained and twisted body, warped from its time in the bog, grasped Fredrick and drew his life-force out in order to sustain itself. When his mind awoke once more his brother lay dead and withered on the stones and he was alone. Galwain spent the night piecing together what had happened from his brothers notes.
Eventually he resolved to become Fredrick they had always been of a likeness, he wrapped his brothers withered body in his cloak and dressed himself in enveloping clothes as there was still something of the bog about his form.
Emerging from the chambers he set about familiarising himself with his brothers household and he was pleased by what he found. He buried his brother’s body in the catacomb destined for him and set about bringing his family to the fore once again. ( His brother has since re-animated as a zombie but is sealed within the catacomb effectively forever).
Lady Misryn was not sure what to make of this new husband who claimed to have been damaged by the terrible vapours involved in his ‘family research’ yet who apart from a raspy voice and strange hollowness to his laugh appeared more hale and well than he had ever been, though he kept his face always in shadow even from her.
Over the months that followed lady Misryn employed her maidservants to try and discover exactly what had happened to her husband to make him like this.
Galwain was not a man to be badgered however and he ordered Jarves to remove Lady Misryn permanently; somewhat taken aback but loyal to his lord Jarves tried to convince his mistress to stop her lines of investigation and let sleeping bears lie. But she would have none of it, at last and with heavy heart Jarves did as his master asked and poisoned the Lady Misryns nightly flask of mulled wine. Unknown to him Lady Misryn was in the habit of sharing her evening repasts with her maidservants and when Jarves returned later that evening all seven women lay dead and terrible in hue from the poison.
Aghast at himself he went to his lord who seemed glad that the deed was finally done; he bade Jarves to dump the bodies in an old cave in Hedgehog Wood. As Jarves set about his task with the help of two young kitchen boys he was shocked to discover that Lady Misryn who had appeared dead had begun to stir. He was dumbstruck with horror as he stared at the bodies. He had already concealed the bodies of the maidservants deep within the cave and was carrying Lady Misryns body down the tunnel when she began to stir.
When she opened her eyes Jarves was lost, he could not commit murder again! He swore himself to his lady’s service, despite the horridness of her form, before the shocked eyes of the two boys, and then stared aghast at the boys realising that he must now silence them! But fate took the task from his hands, out of the darkness loomed the silent white forms of the maidservants transformed into vengeful malevolent spirits by the trauma of their death, they tore the life from the eldest boy and would have done the same to the younger but lady Misryn raised her miscoloured hand.
‘Do you have a mother, child? No?’
‘And I have no son…..I will call you Liam. And you will call me Mother, are we understood?’
Jarves was at once relieved and horror struck as he stared at his mistress, the wan forms of the spectral girls and the two boys; one damned and one destroyed.
Lady Misryn bade Jarves to return to her husbands service and to serve as her eyes and hands in the household.
Some years past……Events Leading to the Current Situation
Lord Cuthwen and his fellows began to find Galwains actions intolerable and started their plans against him.
Galwain, desirous of companionship, set his sights upon a young local landholder’s daughter by the name of Beatrice. When Jarves reported this to Lady Misryn she set about plans to kidnap the girl. Beatrice was taken at night from her holdings by a group of charcoal burners led by Maggie, a worshipper of Lady Misryn and confidant of Liam. She was held within the cave in stasis. Having lost his fiancée, the Laughing Lord was distracted which allowed Sir Cuthwen to discover the where abouts of one of his hidden treasuries.
Jarves had also reported that the other landholders led by Sir Cuthwen were plotting against her husband; she told Jarves to keep an eye out for an opportunity to kidnap Cuthwens son and thus distract his father from his plotting. She also introduced the idea to the household staff of Cuthwen, through Liam’s contacts among the charcoal burners, the idea of hiring outsiders as they could be trusted not to be pledged to another lord amongst the plotters or to the Laughing Lord. When Jarves saw Galray in the tomb with the companions he recognised his chance immediately; having no real quarrel with the companions he took Galray by surprise as they exited from the escape tunnel, used his Dust of Giant Hawk Form and with the young lord grasped in his talons flew to Lady Misryn and then on to his lords fort; where he reported that strangers in the employ of Cuthwen had raided the treasury. Liam upon receiving the unconscious body of Galray and Jarves report, made his way across to the secret exit from the tomb and gathered up all the monies, gashing himself badly on the jagged edge of the sarcophagi; using his ring to escape again having no way to trigger the door by himself. Lady Misryn had held hope that she could use the two young people she had captured in order to restore herself fully to life but she is especially angry that her husband will now be able to remarry; and sends Liam after the companions to kill the girl.
Major Players: Sir Cuthwen Knight 5th Rank. Attributes: Strength 14, Reflexes 13, Looks 13, Intelligence 13, Psychic Talent 12 ATT- 18 DEF- 12 MD- 6 EVA- 5 Perception- 15 Stealth- 9 Equipment:- Plate Mail, Sword, Deeds of Title, Family Crest Dagger, Pepper pouch, Family Crest, 2 Vials of Medium Poison. Loses the holy sword of St. Grimas at the Hedgehog Wood cave Image: Sir Cuthwen is in his early ’40s. He has pale skin, dark gray hair and green eyes. He stands 6’3". He wears gold chains and a charcoal-gray tabard. Notes: He loathes all those beneath him in station. History: Wetheford ancestors were minor landholders in the area, with the passing of the Bracewells as a power his fortunes have waxed in recent decades. His stint in the Crusades in Ta'ashim was brief but he established himself as a capable and competent commander and siege-breaker.
Galray Cuthwen 2nd Rank Knight. Attributes: Strength 12, Reflexes 15, Looks 14, Intelligence 14, Psychic Talent 15. ATT- 14 DEF- 4 EVA- 4 MD- 5 Perception- 14 Stealth- 8 Equipment: Mad-Fang (d6+1, 3) A strange and baleful looking short blade, its metal has a sickly greenish hue. (Those struck with the weapon are afflicted with a random madness until the wound is healed. Unknown to Galray this is a sacred blade of Rimfax. However the northern demon is little known in southern parts and Galray gained the blade from a fallen foe many years past), Steel breast plate. Image: Galray is a handsome young gentleman with light blue eyes and blond hair. He always smiles politely, and apologetically, as if he really has no desire to cause anyone any sort of harm, but feels obligated to do so given his position. Even in the darkest, dankest places, Galray insists on being dressed in his finest clothes. History: Galray has been his father’s right hand for many years now and follows him without question.
Lady Misryn Attributes: Strength 14, Reflexes 15, Looks 15, Intelligence 13, Psychic talent 12. Unique Undead ATT- 20 DEF- 13 MD- 8 EVA- 5 Perception- 14 Stealth- 7 Claws (d6, 3) AF: 2. (Undead Flesh) Health: 32 Notes: Since her death she has noted that she possesses a link to energies of life and death and over the years she has worked at manipulating these. In this endeavor she has been helped by strange inscriptions found on the walls of the cave and by strange dreams she has when she ‘sleeps’. She currently possesses the ability to project an ethereal illusion of herself, to control the spectres of her handmaidens, to summon a misty impenetrable barrier of 2 hours duration and to put humans into a form of stasis in which they are removed from the physical world after a half hour ritual said over their bodies, the ritual must be refreshed each day. Image: One moment:-Lady Misryn is tall and lean woman in her early 30s; she wears simple jewelry and has short, cropped hair (quite unusual in a noble woman). She wears a lustrous cloak of dark brown bear fur and she has hazel eyes. The next: Lady Misryn is a twisted a swollen corpse, her flesh is purple and black from toxins and her limbs are painfully gnarled, she stares at the companions with bloodshot eyes and a swollen tongue makes her speech wet and loathsome as her form. History: Lady Misryn became Fredrick’s wife at the age of 16, and was not at all pleased by it. Though she came to care for her husband over the years she never really felt as if she knew him. When he became reclusive she became obsessed with discovering his secrets. When he emerged from seclusion and ignored her she became bitter. When he had Jarves poison her and dump her body in the forest…..she became angry….very angry. Misryn is unaware that it was not her husband who ordered her death and that he indeed died a year before her at the hands of his risen brother Galwain.
Galwain Rank 4 Knight/Undead. Attributes: Strength 18, Reflexes 13, Looks 4, Intelligence 15, Psychic talent 15 ATT- 20 DEF- 12 EVA- 7 MD- 6 Perception- 18 Stealth- 8. Health: 35 Weapon: +2 Shortsword. (Brailwrath; this weapon was once a family heirloom of the Cuthwen family, and is greatly sought by them.) AF: 5 Equipment: Moons Maille (Once a family Heirloom of the Huntford family, this +1 armour is inscribed with hundreds of tiny prayers to the Moon, it must be left exposed under the light of the full moon for 1 night every month or it will lose its enchantment), Holy Books, Legal documents, 2x Daggers (These twin weapons once belonged to Robert of Lund who fell at Wooldock; they glow with a baleful light in the presence of lycanthropes). Image: Galwain is the image of his brother Fredrick but is a little taller and more barrel chested. Being undead he does not need to eat or breathe but has learnt to fake this in order to avoid unsettling his retainers. His flesh is somewhat grey of cast but otherwise there is little to tell of his status; he is a little bothered by bright light but is no way injured by such. Once per year he must drain the life from a human being in order to continue his existence. The desiccated corpses rise as zombies and he has taken to placing these grisly watchmen about his lands in the form of scarecrows.
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