a Haunt's page

Hazard: Akari lingered for
decades where she had been murdered,
but when exorcists begin to work their magic on
modern Willowshore, her spirit becomes agitated
enough to lash out at her killer’s unsuspecting
granddaughter. Despite her tragic story, Akari’s
haunting presence is initially more of an unnerving
inconvenience than an actual threat, but that
changes when the PCs stay overnight in the shop.
The PCs are thus the first to spend the night in the
shop after it becomes haunted.
An hour after midnight, the ghostly form of a young
woman with long hair drifts into the shop through one
of the doors, then proceeds to pull out her hair by the
roots. She holds out handfuls of hair, and they slither
through the air like worms to infest tomorrow’s steamed
buns and to form strange, braided patterns tangled
in the rafters. If the PCs take no action, the haunt
completes its uncanny rite after a minute before it fades
away. After seeing the spectral image, a PC can attempt
a DC 21 Willowshore Lore check (or can attempt a DC
21 check the next day to Gather Information) to recall
an old story about a young woman’s corpse that was
found near Gourd Lake with every hair on her head
plucked from her scalp. The woman was later identified
as a local herbalist named Hinode Akari. If the PCs
mention this tale to Mama Bao, she grows pale and
then curses in shock as the pieces fall into place. She
reveals that a few nights before the body was found,
her grandfather came into a sudden windfall of money
which he used to build the steamed bun shop. He told
her parents that the money came from selling “an old
collection of wigs to a puppet maker in Sze,” but now
Mama Bao recalls how evasive grandfather had been
and suspects the awful truth.
WRITHING HAIR
UNIQUE
COMPLEX
HAUNT
HAZARD 5
Stealth +0 (trained)
Description A ghostly woman floats quietly
through the shop, plucking hair and sending
it slithering into the rafters or out to infest
uncooked steamed buns.
Disable DC 23 Diplomacy to calm the upset
spirit down, or DC 21 Religion to convince the
spirit to abandon the haunting via prayer.
If the PCs use Hinode Akari’s name or
otherwise let the haunt know that they
understand her story, checks to
Disable this haunt gain a +2
circumstance bonus.
AC 22; Fort +9, Ref +15
HP 54; Immunities critical hits,
precision damage; Weaknesses
positive 5
Cyclone of Hair [reaction] Trigger A creature
attempts to interact with or speak to the haunt; Effect
The ghostly woman shrieks and rises into the air as her
hair grows swiftly, snaking through the shop to tangle
into the rafters or weave through the seating area. All
creatures in the shop must attempt a DC 22 Reflex
save to avoid becoming immobilized (or restrained on a
critical failure). The haunt then rolls initiative.
Routine (1 action) The haunt targets one creature in the
shop at random, preferring targets who are immobilized
or restrained. The ghostly figure moves over to the
victim and begins to strangle them with coils of her hair
while she begins clawing through the target’s hair as if
ripping it out by the handful. The target takes 2d8+7
mental damage (DC 22 basic Will Save) from enduring
the painful sensations of being strangled and having
their hair plucked out, even though they’re not actually
being physically strangled or losing their hair.