| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hello all,
As my CC campaign nears the half-way mark, my thoughts turn to "Wake of the Watcher." Initially, I thought I'd run this adventure more or less as written, but so far I've managed to maintain a strong gothic feel to our version of Ustalav, and I'm anxious about the effect that Lovecraftian horror will have upon it.
So I've decided to make some radical alterations -- keeping the same locations and (mostly) structure to the module, but changing the story and threats to fit a high-gothic, low(er)-magic campaign. To do this, I have incorporated three elements, most of which come from Victorian Gothic fiction. Since this writing is contemporaneous with early sci-fi (H.G. Wells and Jules Verne), there is still a slightly fantastical element to my version of events, but no unspeakable terrors from between the stars.
The elements I used as inspiration are:
1) Devil worship
2) Creepy children
3) Orientalism (Note: creating bad guys from foreign lands sometimes smacks of racism, but in my case it's mitigated somewhat by the fact that one character is a Tian monk. His connection to the plot was also important, but I've left him out of my summary below, in case anyone else wants to adapt this narrative).
With those things in mind, I welcome any suggestions to help fill in the details of my revised WotW. I'm especially shaky with math, so suggestions on ways to match the CR ratings of WotW encounters would be a big help.
Lai Feng was Taian’s betrothed, but her heart was only for Horatius. The lovers eloped, narrowly escaping Taian’s wrath; Croon left his dear friend a letter of apology, but he was careful to omit any clue to where he and Lai Feng might hide. And, indeed, he chose the most unlikely honeymoon in the world, taking his lovely bride to live in Illmarsh. He knew it as place to which no one ever goes, and from which no word chances to emerge.
But Croon slipped up. He forgot that, years earlier, he’d chanced to mention Illmarsh to Taian Zhu, while they were discussing the construction of pagan stone circles. Croon had recalled reading of a seven-stone menhir on Tern Rock near Illmarsh; he speculated it was similar to a wayang stone circle on one of Minata’s Wandering Isles. Somehow, Taian’s dredged this reference up from memory, and one day, he arrived in Illmarsh, purchased the property on Tern Rock, and stole Lai Feng back through wicked enchantments.
That was thirty years ago. Croon still lives near Illmarsh, pathetically hoping his bride will return to him; but neither he nor any of the villagers have seen Lai Feng or Taian Zhu for decades. No one knows the dark secrets of Undiomede House, the manor built around the stone circle generations before. The locals know it as a foster home for girls, supported by the temple of Gozreh as a mercy for the impoverished and overpopulated village. They suspect that the girls are eventually sent to the Neighbours Down Bay, but they do not ask questions. There is no one to ask.
In fact, shortly after arriving in Illmarsh, Taian used the menhir to summon a contract named Valefar. The mad genius exchanged his soul for three simple wishes: first, the undying love of Lai Feng; second, an army at his command; and third, the secret of eternal youth. In payment, the devil awakened an “army” of skum from hibernation deep beneath the earth. Furthermore, he activated the skums’ long-dormant mental powers, including the bizarre ability to transfer consciousness from one body to another. This is how Taian stays young; he has recently transferred his mind into the body of an eight-year-old foster child named Mara. But his new, less imposing form has caused skum morale to falter, so Taian/Mara made a deal with the Whispering Way, in order to obtain an ancient idol worshipped by the skum.
The PCs discover that the Temple is a front for aspiring devil worshippers. They rescue six girls from the clerics’ clutches, but learn that a far greater threat awaits those children who have already been sent to Undiomede House, on Tern Rock. Using Croon’s trawler (or stealing a boat for themselves), the PCs cross Avalon Bay and arrive at Undiomede House, where they are greeted coldly by Matron Jessop, who seems to be the only ward for thirteen girls.
Undiomede House is haunted, both by daemons drawn by past atrocities, and by the devils that serve Taian (in fact, Matron Jessop herself is a disguise shared by a trio of polymorphed Greater Host Devils). As the PCs investigate the House’s strange goings-on, they discover that one of the girls now houses Taian’s mind—but even as they learn this, the skum attack the manor, absconding with the other children. Now the PCs must trust Taian/Mara to guide them to their underwater complex—or else brave the dark waters themselves.
Deep below Tern Rock, the PCs fight their way past a monstrous sea creature and in-fighting skum before rescuing the kidnapped children. Here, they learn the fate of Gaster Lucas, the WW’s contact whom Taian betrayed (keeping the Raven’s Head mace here for himself). They also discover Lai Feng, the once-lovely subject of Croon and Taian’s feud, now mutated and driven mad by exposure to the skum’s psychic energies. The PCs’ final confrontation is with Valefar, the Contract Devil who awakened the skum, and who rallies the grotesque beasts to defend him. What role Taian (or Croon) takes in this battle depends on how the PCs treat Lai Feng. Regardless, the PCs must escape from the aquatic nightmare with the Raven’s Head mace, their key to defeating the plot of the Whispering Way.