A terrible curse descends upon the town of Willowshore! Located in haunted Shenmen in the heart of the sprawling continent of Tian Xia, this horror-themed campaign pits the heroes against supernatural threats and the harsh realities of facing an upcoming winter.
The Season of Ghosts Adventure Path is named for a traditional period in Shenmen that takes place during the first few weeks of summer, when the woodlands see an increase in hauntings, spirits, and undead. While the cause of this increased haunting is uncertain, these ghosts often lure people to their deaths.
In Willowshore, a massive feast and festival takes place on the last day of spring. Called the “Reenactment Festival,” this gala is meant not only to celebrate the end of spring, but to trick the evil spirits and ghosts believed to come out of the woods during the first few weeks of summer. As the festival’s feast concludes, the town reenacts victims being snatched away by “ghosts” (played by townsfolk in paper masks). Those not involved in the faux abduction pretend to plunge into collective panic as designated wailers mourn loudly while others play out a search and rescue effort. This farce is believed to trick real ghosts into thinking that someone has already haunted the settlement, and thus trick them into seeking a happier village to inflict misery upon once the season of ghosts begins the next day on the first day of summer.
As fate would have it, the PCs are chosen this year to play the role of the town’s abductees—reasons for their abduction are built in to the various Season of Ghosts backgrounds, so if you don’t use one of these backgrounds for your character, work with the GM to create a reason similar to those presented there to explain why you’re among the festival’s abductees. Once you’re “abducted” from the feast, your captors roll you up in straw mats and then carry you off into a forest clearing on the town’s outskirts, where you’re expected to stay overnight. With the first dawn of summer, the “abductees” are ransomed by whoever is in charge of that year’s Reenactment Festival. This year, that honor falls to one Choe Chun‑hu, beloved leader of Willowshore’s millers. He has promised to bring the “ransom” (a selection of delicious breakfast delicacies) to the PCs in the forest clearing the next morning for them to enjoy before leading them back to town to proclaim the Reenactment Festival a grand success.
While it often rains during the summer, you luck out and spend a relatively comfortable night out under the stars. Of course, staying overnight in any woodland carries some risk, and you all have plenty of time to prepare. You can bring all your starting items and gear, as determined during character creation, to have with you during your abduction—items not brought will be waiting for you back at home.
The Season of Ghosts Adventure Path begins when you and the other PCs awaken in a forest clearing on the first day of summer... but there’s no sign of Choe Chun-hu and the breakfast he promised!
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Ancient but cursed, Ghul divides his life into chapters thousands of seasons long each!
Those early chapters little more than a fading dream, his humanity in an age lost to time, vibrant of skin and wholesome of appetite, civilized, with passions and interests of mortal mirth, only to persist and decay slowly, everyone he had ever known dying, and even himself, his body, spoiling but never fully spending. For ghul is a dhampir gifted with eternal life but not eternal youth, and despite having lived a full life, lost himself for a time proportionally longer by an order of magnitude beyond even his own comprehension.
Those middle chapters - indeed the greatest span of his time under the hated sun by far! - also a blur, dimmed by a different perception altogether, for Ghul had devolved into a beast of the wood, slaking his sanguine lust upon game and fowl and rodent, and living as an animal, crawling on all fours like a dog, his body weak and yet powerful, his awareness of time only an ever-present "now", living by pure instinct, and losing his ability at speech, as years, decades, centuries without contact with other society-dwelling beings withered the very muscle of complex communication from his bloodthirsty tongue, all-the-while the flames of undeath keeping his undead heart paradoxically ice cold, and the entirety of his being reduced to a simple, primal emotion: hunger.
This late chapter, now, perhaps not even a few decades in length, of his being discovered once again by beings also blessed with longevity (but not cursed by depravity) - a group of elves stewarding the Silvermist Lodges - pitying his very soul, and trapping him for an extended period, nursing him back to some semblance of sentience, and with only the patience a race known for living well beyond the ken of other kin, reteaching him how to speak, to listen, to learn...
...in their absence, Ghul remains, and eventually integrates himself into the quaint community of Willowshore's south side, a huntsman sticking to the edges of the civilization, grateful for his own second chance at a simple life...
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…and to that effect, what better way to “normalize” his condition than to volunteer himself in a community undertaking - one of the top celebrations of the year:
Usually avoiding the event, Ghul decides this year to sign up to be an “abductee”, inclusive, presumably, of having supplied for him a face-covering to mask his decrepit, bestial features. And spending most of his participatory time away from the village itself. Whereupon returning, having built suspension at his disappearance, smoothing over the transition of having to present for gazing upon his horrid visage!
Sunken sockets into which have settled tiny pale specks of photoreceptive tissues, signifying some semblance of life within the unnaturally strong but thoroughly rotting vessel, his body, ugly, silent, still; still not unlike death, the miniature unconscious movements of healthy endothermic vitality noticeably absent. His face - you presume the creature to have once had a male sex - wrinkled like an onion, layer upon layer upon layer, dotted with what seems to once have been age spots, now faded and spread, a disease of spoiled flesh encroaching the curves around his jaw, his cheeks, his brow, the holes that might have once been a nose and ears, his neck.
Dropping fresh game onto the counter, as a simultaneous offering and distraction, our wretched hero searches for his disguise amid the other four volunteers present in the room…
Memories of the previous night return, and you all can recall being dragged from town by townsfolk during the height of the Reenactment Festival, yet as you all gather yourselves, things seem off. The straw mats and red blindfolds you were ceremoniously trussed up in the night before seem to be cruder, filthier, and less comfortable today.
Even more curious is the fact that while each of you remembers settling down to sleep for the night to await their rescue in the morning, they were certain they’d been left behind in an entirely different part of the woods than where they woke.
The weather this morning is typical for Shenmen in the early summer—partially overcast with a crisp early morning chill to the air.
Xu Jiang wriggles free of the loose bindings, stands up and looks around. "Where in the Lady's Name are we?"
She was feeling more light headed than usual as she slowly regains consciousness. As she does, the normal breeze and sound of long off thunder starts again. Her hair flowing in the breeze around her
She looks around a bit bleary eyed "Oh. They moved us. That's inconvenient. Guess they planned a surprise for us too!" she says smiling
Stretching her arms wide and letting out an audible yawn, Ayane looks around and seems only slightly off put that they aren't in the same forest clearing they were led to last night. "Huh I think this looks pretty much the same as the other woods, trees are trees!" She pulls out her bag and begins to quickly search for a bite to eat. Munching on her rations she waits for the rest of the group to wake up.
After the you all have talked for a bit, you do notice something else is amiss. The main organizer of the ritual this year, the miller Choe Chung-hu, said he would arrive by sunrise with food to “ransom” you all back and lead you back home.
This step isn’t essential; it’s more of a breakfast delivery to thank those who helped with the reenactment. You guys know that you can go back to Willowshore without this ransom being delivered, as if they safely “escaped from their kidnappers.” However, Choe’s absence is strange since the miller seldom goes back on his word.
Additionally, after some time of taking in your surroundings you guys do notice a nearby game trail, that judging by the rising sun, leads to the west.
The sylphs looks around, her eyes seem very excited
"Perhaps Choe is late cause he's bringing our surprise. We should go down the road and meet him! Maybe help him carry?" she offers as she makes her way towards the trail
rubbing her belly hungrily, "I hope Choe comes soon I'm ready for a real breakfast!"
"I wonder. Perhaps something happened to delay him," says Jiang. "We should search for him in the direction of the village. If we can figure out which way that is."
"The game trail will be easier to follow. Eventually it will cross water and we can follow that."
When everyone is ready, Jiang heads west along the trail.
As you all set out down the wooded game trail, the claustrophobia of the forest starts to set in, its hard to determine if moving west is taking you closer to town or farther from it. Not even 5 minutes have gone before you all have stumbled into a small clearing in the woods.
As you all gather in the center, there is a rustling from the nearby woods that grows louder and more frantic, rushing toward your clearing. Within moments three giant bright orange creatures, long segmented bodies with at least a 100 legs, long antenna trailing from their heads, accompanied by large mandibles.
These creatures hiss as they charge.
Hunters and scavengers that live amid dung and detritus, centipedes are a relatively common and often reviled threat faced by adventurers. Scurrying about with surprising speed on the scores of legs attached to their long, segmented bodies, centipedes strike with poisoned mandibles to slow and torment their prey with a vicious toxin before they settle down to feed in slow and disgusting leisure.
One of the giant centipedes continues its run forward, hissing, hungrily. It surges forward, scuttling across the ground, rustling the leaves before rearing up to bite Xu Jiang and striking true, the mandibles clamp down and a green ooze can be seen staining Xu Jiang's clothing near the wound site.
The unnerving hissing sounds coming from these centipedes are really drawn out, you think it sounds almost like they are trying to form words, but maybe thats an after effect of partying too hard the night before
[color=Green][/color]
Giant Centipede 3 -
Ghul -
Ayane Xio -
Shandari -
Giant Centipede 1 -
Yuranosuke -
Giant Centipede 2 -
Xu Jiang -
"Sounds like they're trying to talk to us, but don't let them get close. Like with Xu, they have nasty bites"
Her hands flow elegantly as she starts to weave electricity from the very air around her, directing it towards the centipede by Xu
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Ghul hunts these creatures with his bow, loosing arrows at Centipede 1 as it closes with the party ”Stay close by” he warns them ”that Ketephys may keep you”
Seeing them charge, he stows his longbow, and draws his shield!
◆◆) Strike x2
◆) Interact to Swap to Meteor Shield
↺) Glimpse of Redemption
"It sounds like those buggy boys are trying to talk!?"
Ayane pulls out a soup pot and wooden spoon and starts to rhythmically bag on the bottom of the pot while singing a song of inspiring nonsense. "You can hit those bugs, da da da, get em! da da da, we are in the woods! da da da, I'm still hungry for breakfast! da da da Oh looks rocks! da da da" Suddenly a rock begins to float up and hurls its self towards the centipede in front of Xu
Xu Jiang clutches his wound site as he feels the poison course through him.
Shandari tries to blast one of the centipedes with lightning but her blast strikes the gorund ripping up a furrow.
Ghul similarly draws, knocks and fires an arrow but the shot goes wide, something about the early morning sun messes with his aim.
Ayane, singing and dancing though is able to throw a small rock that slams into the centipede that is trying to eat Xu Jiang, a small amount of viscous green blood leaks onto the ground.
Another one of the Giant Centipedes surges forward, rearing up to bite at Ghul.
The centipede that bites Ghul continue hissing, "ssssooo. . . huunnnggrrryy"
Encounter Map
[color=Green][/color]
Giant Centipede 3 - 3 damage
Ghul - 6 damagw
Ayane Xio -
Shandari -
Giant Centipede 1 -
Yuranosuke -
Giant Centipede 2 -
Xu Jiang - 4 damage, Poisoned DC 14 Fort Save at end of turn
Waking up disoriented, Yuranosuke stretches and rises as he tries to look about. He tosses his long, black braid behind his shoulder and brushes his bangs out of his eyes.
"I...don't know if this was where we are supposed to be..."
He's adorned in a green and white umanori hakama, over which his lacquered armor hangs.
At the appearance of the centipedes, he springs into action, grabbing his shuan ji and lowering into a defensive stance. He hears their hissing "speech" and his eyes widen.
"By every god in Heaven and upon the Earth!" he exclaims.
Seeing Xu Jiang get attacked, he barges past Shandari and Ayane.
"Hold fast! I'm coming!" he barks as he focuses his attention on the centipede that just bit Xu Jiang.
Then he strikes!
"How dare you strike a holy man?!"
Yuranoske strides to Xu Jiang aid coming down and skewering the Centipede, pining it to the dirt before he swipes his Shuan Ji, separating the insect into two wriggling halves, green ichor staining the ground.
The second centipede surges forward, joining its companion and attempting to devour Ghul, they don't quite realize how unappetizing he really is yet. It hisses and skitters, speaking in unnatural voice.
“meat... flesh... bones... fingers... hair...skin... eyes...”
Again this one grabs onto his legs, tearing into it and injecting its foul poison.
Encounter Map
[color=Green][/color]
Ghul - 7 damage
Ayane Xio -
Shandari -
Giant Centipede 1 -
Yuranosuke -
Giant Centipede 2 -
Xu Jiang - 4 damage, Poisoned DC 14 Fort Save at end of turn
Again the sylph seems to draw the lightning from the air around her, making those around her feel the static as she launches another burst of electricity at the centipede attacking Ghul
Taken aback by being called a holy man, Xu Jiang hesitates. ALmost he invokes the strongest gift of the Lady, but at the last moment he remembers the admonition of the priestess Elizeth to think before he acts. "I must husband my resources. I don't know what else this day will bring," he thinks.
Begone, spirits! Leave us in peace!" he shouts. And so doing, he invokes Vitality Lash against Centipede #1.
He then moves to put himself 30' behind Ghul. He starts to look quite green from the centipede poison!
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◆) Everstand Stance
◆) Raise Shield
◆) Strike
↺) Shield Block
↺) Glimpse of Redemption
Crouching low, Ghul shifts from an upright to a feral, wild stance, gripping his shield in two hands and pounding the closest centipede to pulp!
She continues to sing her inspiring song with her makeshift kitchen drum."Da da da, you got one bug dead! da da da, look at the slimy goo, da da da you cant eat us you nasty bugs! da da da oooh more rocks!"
20 total Nice!
"Da da da take that!"
All four of you descend with a fury on the remaining centipedes, blasting, smashing and pinning the remains to the dirt.
The roughly 10 seconds of melee that ensued leaves you all standing there breathing heavily at the suddenness both of the ambush and with how quickly the bugs were dispatched.
You realize how unusual it is for creatures like giant centipedes to be so quickly aggressive and to avoid fleeing upon facing superior foes, especially during daylight hours), but the addition of their disturbing ability to speak reveals immediately that something supernatural is afoot.
With how unusual these centipedes were acting, you think these animals are being influenced in some way by an evil spirit. Possessed or influenced in some way
Yuranosuke crouches down and examines the centipede he's just killed.
"Honored Uncle," he says to Ghul. "What in the name of all gods and ancestors do you make of this?!"
The panic of the sudden attack seems to have distracted his sharp mind.
Jiang stares for some time at the bodies of the giant centipedes. "Spirits," he says at last. "Some evil spirit or spirits dwelled in these poor creatures. Let us be wary."
Munching some more food she found Ayane perks up at the mention of evil spirits. "Evil Spirits, uh thats odd since thats the whoel reason we were ransomed right!?" she frantically waves her little arms around as she talks. " The reenactment festival is supposed to WARD OFF the spirits not call on them. Something weird is happening" She starts looking around the clearing seeing if she can forage any more food.
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Ghul nods gravely towards Xi Jiang and Ayane Xio.
”Perhaps the Festival didn’t succeed in performing it’s function” he lifts part of the corpse with his hand, mussying himself in guts inappropriately absent-mindedly for a ‘civilized’ creature ”Perhaps it is we who have failed…”
The scratching rasp of his voice like serrated metal dragged over a steel beam!
"How could I have not seen this?" Yuranosuke murmurs. The woods around town had been unnervingly quiet in the past few days...quieter than the Specterwood would normally be with the rustling of animals running and winging through brush and leaf.
He notices Ghul rooting at the centipede and goes over to him, grabbing his shoulder gently.
"Let's not handle those things too much, honored uncle. If spirits drove them to attack us, their flesh is befouled. Let us see if we can find something cleaner."
Seeing Ayane already trying to forage, he takes up his shuan ji and begins checking to see if any game might be nearby that can be hunted for a morning meal.
Yuranosuke does some quick foraging for food while Ayane tries to remember any songs about the local edible flora and fauna in the area.
While he is subsisting, he gets a better direction and sense of where you guys are at and he thinks your group isn't but another 5-10 minute walk to the Duyue River and the bridge that crosses it leading into the village.
Yuranosuke brings back what he's found to the others.
"Good news, I figured out where we are now: only about a few minutes' walk to the river and the bridge back into town. Tide yourselves over with this, we'll probably be able to get a proper meal at the Festival later."
gathering sticks and socks and anything else that she finds that looks interesting Ayane follows Yuranosuke as the group walks to the river and then back into town.
" La La La, bubbling water flowing along, going to get back to town, going to eat some FOOD!" she yells the last part as she hops and dances along.
As you guys gather yourselves, hiking the remaining 10 minutes to town, following Yuranosuke's lead, a mist starts to creep in through the trees, it starts off low, barely ankle height but the closer you get to town the mist grows into a full fledged fog just as you step onto a familiar riverside road.
Up ahead the sight of the Duyue River bridge is a welcome sight through this unusual fog. You all know recognize the bridge and recognize you have arrived at the easternmost edge of Willowshore.
The eerie fog is thick enough to obscure visibility beyond a range of 500 feet. Creatures viewed from more than 100 feet away are concealed. In addition, the mist distorts peripheral vision, causing one to periodically notice strange shapes moving and shifting about at the limits of their vision.
You remember an old nursery rhyme,
Lazy Adou took a break, and
did not light the lamp that day.
This proved to be a big mistake, for
then the ghosts came out to play!
Hazy mist and moon of blood,
all because he just gave up.
After crossing the bridge over the Duyue River, you all arrive at the Eastern Entrance to Willowshore. Here a stone statue of a Guardian Spider once stood in a shrine next to the road, but as you approach, something looks off in the mist--The Spider statue is missing, only an empty shrine left behind. Additionally the Eastern Entrance's lantern once held in the stone spider's fang now lies extinguishes on its side in the grass below.
you remember the original story of how the town got the Guardian Spider, affectionately named "Ugly Cute" when a Lung Wa aristocrat offered a free stone guardian spider from his garden instead, since it no longer fit in with the garden’s decorations. Most Willowshorers thought the giant statue was the ugliest thing they’d ever seen when it arrived. Nevertheless, they assumed the statue housed a guardian spirit and respected it accordingly. In time, villagers accepted their unique entrance guardian, even calling it their “ugly but cute” mascot.
"No wonder Chun-hu couldn't find us, even Uncle Ghul and me are having trouble seeing in this fog," Yuranosuke comments.
"This is bad," says Xu Jiang. "Ugly Cute is missing and his lantern is extinguished. This is an invitation to the forest spirits to enter Willowshore!
After thinking a bit, Jiang continues. "I do not know the ritual to re-light the lantern, but we would need Ugly Cute here to hold it in any case. Let us take the lantern to the village elders. They will know what to do."
He scoops up the lantern.
Xi Jiang doesn't know any better, so he attempts to heal everyone who was injured in the fight.
Yuranosuke turns to Xu Jiang as his jaw drops.
"How would a guardian like Ugly Cute just disappear like that?" he asks. "I've hidden behind him many times, since I was a kid, and he's never moved or anything...
His questions cease abruptly as Xu Jiang begins praying to heal them.
"Jiang, wait!"
Too late to stop it, he tries to push Ghul away from the young priest!
Singing softly she remembers a familiar nursery rhyme, which sounds much more creepy in the dense fog.
"Lazy Adou took a break, and
did not light the lamp that day.
This proved to be a big mistake, for
then the ghosts came out to play!
Hazy mist and moon of blood,
all because he just gave up."
Looking around nervously, and when she sees Ugly Cute missing she cries out. "NOT UGLY CUTE! not good not good not good, nope nope nope. yes lets go to the elders th- they will know what to do" She is visibly shaken by missing statue.
She hums along to all the songs and rhymes, not that she knew any of the words to actually sing along
"What now? Statues missing? So shouldn't we just take a match then?" she asks from inside the thick mist. The air around her makes the most spin around her like a small vortex