So, this abandoned rural estate lies directly on the path between Feldgrau and Ascanor Lodge. Rule of Fear gives some details about the grounds, with crop circles and strange creatures resembling blue eyed children being the two most relevant details. My question for anyone is if anything has been done with the sight?
I'd like to have something the players either have to run from, possibly even something that the Whispering Way or Demon Wolves that passed through couldn't deal with. The whole crop circle thing is kind of neat and makes me want to use the sight as some sort of 'thinny' (a thin spot between two worlds). However which plane or dimension would this spot be thin towards and what would inhabit it as a result?
1)First World This might involve Lurkers in Light (pale blue-eyed children) or some other kind of Fey.
2)Dimension of Dreams Perhaps the crop circles are massive protective runes designed to keep the realm from creeping in, which could be something like an Animate Dream
3)The Void Again, maybe the strange circles and inlaid geometry somehow correspond to the outer void, and someone or something wants to bring things into the world. This would help tie in with the next module, but what monster or persona would fit this role?
Any ideas would be appreciated, I'm kind of leaning towards idea #1 unless something strikes me for idea #3. Also, If Mr. Schneider has any input on what's there, I would be immensely grateful! Thanks!
Other planar connections you might consider include a layer of the Abyss where whispering wind-blown grasses conceal horrifying predators, a once-placid demiplane that reflects the growing insanity of its creator, or a malfunctioning gate to the dead planet Eox that releases demented souls hungry to possess the living?
As for the blue-eyed children, how about an incestuous family of Verdant sorcerors, mystically connected to the flax itself? How about a degenerate druid cult that practices an ancient Kellid nature rite by sacrificing visitors to the demonic spirits of their fields? How about the vessels of alien intelligences rediscovering the pleasures of the flesh?
Alternately, how about a brief encounter with the children that creeps the players out, but never leads them to a satisfactory conclusion revealing what’s going on?
Some good ideas there, I ideally want something that doesn't escalate into full-blown combat but still manages to unnerve the players. I might have some invisible, possessing force haven taken control of the children, maybe something that somehow ties in with the crop circles. Perhaps the kids don't age because of the possessing force and nearness to whatever other dimension they're allied with. I like the idea of a manor house taken over by possessed children who force people to work the fields, creating mystic symbols... More ideas forming..
Just to throw some ideas in here which I may do. During the day the place is empty and devoid of life but always with the sense of being watched or something outside the corner of the players eyes. At dawn and at dusk black outlined shapes of children walking clumsly around or being stationary, basically devoid of intelligence. When darkness falls, the black outlined shapes flesh out with very pale skinned children with blue eyes who use their childest acts and looks to put the players off balance. Have them very chaotic evil and very tricksome, but to unnerve the players have it to where when the children get really hurt they start to cry and wail for their mommies and fathers and if the players dont do anything have them wander back into the fields still crying out and then something like they found their parents and u hear them get ripped to shreds.
Almost like a children of the corn meets the school in the first silent hill.
Also, where exactly did u find this lace? I got the book and im not seeing it anywhere in there. Really interested in throwing this at my arty but cant seem to find it.
It's in Rule of Fear, page 12, and also in the map Folio. I am writing something up currently, though its taking longer than anticipated. I've come up with about fifteen roadside estates and farms to use as backdrops for the travel across Ardis, of which Langitheath will be one of them.
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And here we go. Besides a bunch of other farmlands and estates I posted about, here's how I am going to run Langitheath. Ideally, I have a scenario where the players try to run as far away as possible from this place without losing their characters. The scenario below is not meant to be winnable by 8th level PCs, but the escalation between each encounter should subtly hint at something beyond their power.
For me this is an important idea, especially for a horror game: the fact that there are things out there significantly more powerful than you are and just because you aren't a certain 'level' doesn't mean the things don't exist. Anyways, here's some First World horror to vary things a bit from the aliens and undead terrors coming..
It should be noted that as the PCs approach the boundaries of the property, it grows curiously warmer in temperrature. The AP makes no assumption about what season the PCs are adventuring in, but in mine, it will be winter. This will make it eerie to come upon an area where summer weather exists year round.
Description:
As the PCs come within 1000 feet of Langitheath, read the following.
"The hillcrest you stand on reveals a strange sight ahead of you. The road passes within the boundaries of an old manor house, showing little signs of life at this viewing distance. The peculiarity arises from the fields themselves, within the straight rows of flax surrounding the estate are several clearings cut in circular and angular patterns that don't correlate with the grid-like arrangement of the fields. It is possible that there is a pattern to the crop cuttings, but even from this vanatge point, details are impossible to decipher due to the verdance of the crop. A lonely barn stands alongside the manor like a neglected child, overgrowth clearly marking a long time since anyone used the place."
PCs that fly to gain a better vantage can see the following:
"There is certainly a design to the crop cuttings within the fields. Cocentric circular rings extend outward several thousand feet in all directions from the manor house, even beyond the flax fields and into the undergrowth surrounding the area. Each of the rings, of which there are 5, are a variation of adjoining and non-adjoing clearings in the flax comprised of simultaneously circular and angular shapes that look almost like giant symbols. The ground itself in the clearings appears to be a bright green grass, vibrant in its color even at this distance."
Details:
-Knowledge (DC 20)This estate was formerly the seat of the Loslimors, a family of some political importance during the years preceding Ardis's decline and subsequent disinheritence of the title 'Capital of Ustalav.' When this occurred, this family, like so many in Ardis, moved its affairs to Caliphas. As a result, the ownership of this farm changed hands from different families several time, with each subsequent owner finding the place less inviting and profitable. Over the course of a few years, the farm went from a wealthy producer of flax to a festering eyesore that was eventually abandoned altogether. No one has owned the languishing property in years, giving it the name 'Langitheath', which means 'Languished Hearth' in Varisian.
-Knowlegde (DC 25) There have been rumors that no one besides the Loslimor family was able to make the fields profitable. Some speculate that the family had supernatural aid in the harvesting of the flax, that the Loslimors would sell their crops year round, even in height of winter. Others say thay the sight of the farm itself was once the location of old Kellid ruins, and the Loslinmors learned how to tap into some hidden power to make their crops grow. Whatever the case, the crop symbols are a clear indication of some higher mystery that most believe to be tied to the rise and fall of the farm. Most believe the place to be haunted and try to avoid it.
-Knowledge (DC 28): The Loslimors were never succesful in social circles, and after the decline of Langitheath, the family line seemed to disappear altogether from popular society. Many believed that the family was ensorceled, especially in the manner in which they always conducted business and social dealings: They always seemed to speak one truth and one lie with every sentence they spoke, whether willingly or not. Whether or not this is fact, few trusted the family's word and presently, no trace of their family can be found.
-Unknown Details: The Loslimor family had for centuries made this dwelling their main source of income, making it possible for the heads of the family to involve themselves in the affairs of the nobles, eventually gaining the title out of wealth and association. The reason for this farm's prosperity is an magical pact made over a thousand years ago with entities from the First World. Agents of a being known only as The Lantern King, the fey offered the first farmer who attempted to tame this area one-hundred generations of unsurpassed prosperity for his bloodline. They only asked two tasks in exchange: the planting of a strange seeds in weird, circular designs all over the farm, and the gifting of one female member of their bloodline every generation to the fey. This sacrifice had been honored without fail until thirty years ago, when the family's two daughters ran away to Caliphas to avoid the fate of a First-World abduction,alledgedly resulting in the taking of the family matriarch. Unknown to the family, the term of their contract had expired last generation, but other forces sought to use the family and their farm for their own purposes. Unwilling to rebuild his family, the patriarch sold the manor that had been in the family for over a thousand years and quietly moved his affairs to Caliphas as well. Unfortunately, the Fey not only remained but changed in nature under the guidance of a new matriarch.
A sight of great magical potence, the farm's geocentric location serves as a nexus of leyline energies, thinning the barriers between different worlds here. This thinness used to heighten at certain times of the year, with full breaches between the worlds manifesting on each year's solstices and equinoxes. The seasonal breaches always opened to the same places, with spring opening to the Dimension of Dreams, summer manifesting a way to The First World, Autumn opening a path into the Etheral Plane, and Winter opening a way into the Plane of Shadow. Somehow, this all changed when the Fey of the Lantern King's court made their deal with the farmers who settled it. Through some form of unknown magical theory, the fae have utilized a series of giant glyphs to control the magical energies in the area. As a result, the seasonal thinness has been fixed onto its summer destination permenantly, the First World.The thinness between planes has been amplifed by this tampering to the point that the fabric of reality has ripped open completely in places, especially closest to the manor house. This is why the family was able to grow crops year-round; their fields existed in a bubble of idyllic, year-round summer weather given by the First World. The crop circles and designs themselves are composed of a growth of overly vibrant green grass, grass that can be smelled over the adjoining, massive flax fields. This is a type of magical grass imported from the first world, which is highly attuned to Conjuration magic and responsible for the change in the nature of the thinness. While the grass can be harvested, burnt or salted, it regrows itself within a day of its destruction. Attempts to move the grass and regrow it in other places fail; the grass is of other-worldly origin and powerful magic roots it to the place. However, any creature of the Animal type that eats any portion of the grass gains a +4 enhancement bonus to Charisma for 24 hours.
As the PCs travel through the boundaries of the property along the road, they cross through three of the five rings of crop runes, unless they take pains to go around the property (The inner two encompassing the manor house). Doing this still alerts the current residents of the estate and takes an additional two hours of travel time since most of the adjoining terrain is heavy undergrowth. This is a dangerous option since fighting in an area composed entirely of difficult terrain against airborn opponenents can be tactically difficult at best. Also, unless the PCs have taken to the air, there is little indication from the ground that the crop cuttings are done in a circular layout that might encompass the road; none of the cuttings incorporate or include it into their designs, giving the illusion that traveling the road won't be influenece by the strange glyphs. This assumption is proven wrong as the PCs pass into the boundaries of the first ring. Each of the rings and their amount of distance in width is listed below, as well as the increasingly strange effects that occur once the boundaries of one of them is crossed.
First Ring: (2,000 feet)
"Everything seems to have grown brighter, almost as if the sun's light has not only been amplified but also as if everything around you has grown more vibrant in color. The blue of the flax fields seems to almost mimick the sky in its deepness, with its stalks a blazing yellow. The farmhouse itself looks to be in better condition than before you saw it, showing the same display of pastel vibrancy along its ivory panels and mahagony roof. Above, the clouds swirl and eddy along the wind, forming numerous shapes that come and go with vivid recognition."
This is the first indicaton of the ebbing over of the First World. PCs who watch the clouds see almost too-well formed caricatures of fantastic beasts such as Unicorns, Griffons, Chimera, and others appearing and disappearing with frequent regularity. This, and the heigthening of color increases in magnitude through each ring passed, to the point that above the manor house, the cloud creatures dance and cavort with each other in an endless, swirling ballet.
In game terms, all Conjuration spells function at +1 caster level while inside this ring. The fields of Flax are arranged in a grid, allowing normal movement along one axis (North and South), but x4 movement along the other axis (east and west). The fields also grant cover to anyone in them.
CR 5
A lone Child of the Flax patrols the road that passes alongside Lagitheath. Alerted by the Crop Mother and its use of Commune with Nature, this creature uses a long-time routine ofpretending to be a runaway child to lure prey closer to the Manor house and barn. The creature moves out from the edge of the road as soon as it sees the PCs coming down the road (assume 90 feet away) and then darts back in, heading towards the manor to alert its kin. As PCs progress through the first ring, at some point read the following :
"Ahead, a human child suddenly steps out into the middle of the path from the tall rows of flax, scarcely clothed and barefoot. The 8-year old looks at you pleadingly and speaks, 'Please, you must help us..' Before you can react, she darts off into the fields, towards the location of the farmhouse."
Children of the Flax
Fey Aranea (Bestiary 2, p30; Bestiary 3, p116) CR 5
CE Medium Fey (shapechanger)
Init +5 Senses darkvision 60 ft.,low-light vision; Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 21, touch 15, flat 16 (+4 armor, +5 dex, +2 natural)
hp 37 (5d10+10)
Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +4; +4 vs. mind-affecting effects; evasion
DR 5/cold iron; Resist cold 10, electricity 10
OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft., climb 30 ft., fly 75 ft. (good)
Melee bite +10 (1d6-1 plus poison)
Special Attacks web (+10 ranged, DC 14 ) (Their web resembles a mass of flax paste)
Spell-like Abilities (CL 5th, concentration +9)
3/day- dancing lights
1/day- deep slumber (DC 17), entangle (DC 15 ), faerie fire, glitterdust (DC 16)
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 5th, concentration +9)
2nd (5/day) create pit* (DC 16), summon swarm
1st (7/day) charm person (DC 15), mage armor, unseen servant, vanish*
0 (at will)- daze (DC 14), detect magic, light, mage hand, mending , message, prestidigitation
STATISTICS
Str 9, Dex 21, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 18
Base Atk +5 CMB +4 CMD 19
Feats Deceitful, Eschew Materials(b), Iron Will, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +11 (+19 jump), Bluff +10, Climb +13, Disguise +10, Escape Artist +12, Knowledge (Arcana)+8, Perception +9, Spellcraft +7, Stealth +11; Racial Modifiers +2 Acrobatics, +2 Perception
Languages Common, Sylvan
SQ change shape (humanoid; alter self
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Poison (Ex) Bite- Injury, save Fort DC 14; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d3 Strength; cure 1 save
The Child of the Flax attempts to simultaneously lure the PCs closer to the farmhouse while moving closer to its kin within the next ring. It typically utilizse Vanish to disappear and reappear closer to the manor, trying to get the PCs to move towards its master's territory.
Second Ring (1,200 feet.)
"The pastel brightness seems to have increased slightly as you've moved closer to the farmhouse, with every streak of sunlight that permeates the swirling cloudscape amplifying the chromatic radiance of the the things the light touches. Periodically, the wind seems to almost hum as its breeze rises and falls, with every gust forming a giant wave of bowing growth that rises after its passsing "
The ties to the First World and the heightening of Conjuration magic amplify within the boundaries of this ring and the third. All Conjuration spells are now cast at +2 caster level, made slightly visual by a strange magical resonance that occurs whenever any spell of that school is cast; there is almost an after-flicker or recasting of the spell that occurs after the spell takes place. While the magical energy here isn't strong enough to cause the spell to copy itself, the resonance of the near-mirroring of the spell should give some indication of some sort of magical anomaly present. This is caused not only be the power of the rune design used in the fields but also the nature of the grass itself and the area's proximity to the first world. This effect heightens in the next ring.
As the PCs get within 100 feet of the third ring, a group of the Children of the Flax attempts to make its move against the PCs. Again disguised as children with bright blue eyes, one of the group of 4 attempts to trick the PCs into following it back to the manor. Unlike the initial scout, this one is ready if the PCs see through its ruse, and while it talks, its allies encircle the PCs to take them off balance. If combat begins, they attempt to utilize Vanish and Unseen Servant to confuse the location of their position and their actual numbers, while utilizing Create Pit and their [i[Deep Slumber[/i] spell-like ability to neutralize their opponents quickly, saving Summon Swarm for problematic enemies. Against any lone or isolated PCs, they typically utilize either Charm Person or their poisonous bite, depending on the situation. They only attack if the one leading the ruse is discovered or attacked. Otherwise, the 'child', which identifies itself as Ailson, pleads for the PCs to help her. When she speaks, she always tells one lie and one truth, examples of truthss he gives (and lies, which are in parentheses) are:
-A monster from another world lives in the barn (and it is forcing them to tend the fields)
-It is some sort of plant creature that can control minds (and has magical super powers that won't let any of the kids leave the fields.
-The rest of the kids are out in the fields (but too scared of the monster to come out of them)
-(They don't know where they are), but everything here works differently!
-The crop shapes change magic (and protect this place from great evil).
-{When confronted about others of its kind wwith the same blue-eyed, pale skinned appearance} This place changes you,(and once you're here, there's no escape as long as the monster's here)
In any case, the child attempts to get the PCs to move to the farmhouse (within the fifth ring) without any bloodhed, since the Crop Mother prefers her sustenance fresh. The children avoid revealing their true form if possible, utilizing it only if a quick escape is necessary or if they can single out a lone opponent. In their natural form, Children of the Flax resemble a pale blue spider about the size of a large dog, with a pair of silky, gossamer wings. Their eight eyes each bears one of seven different, variant shades of blue while the eight is a swirling white eye. They utilize Sylvan in all of their communication unless speaking with the PCs in their alternate form or under duress. In all, there are 42 of the fey creatures present on the farmstead, and should any combat with flashy spells break out (like Fireball, Flamestrike, or other area-of-effect spells), the rest of them move either towards the PCs or back towards the barn to defend their 'mother'. 2d4+6 rounds after any encounter with such a display, another group of 6 of the Children arrive, with a second group of six arriving 2d4 rounds after that and a third group of six arriving 2d4 rounds that the second group. The remaining 19 remain behind at the barn. While potentially lethal in escalation, expedient means of avoidance (such as Dimension Door) or magical flight can save the PCs from what could become an overwhelming fight. The idea is to escalate and punctuate the strength of the fae and the oldness of their presence here while also driving the PCs away from the estate.
Third ring (700 feet.)
"Everything is almost too vivid, leaving you to wonder if you haven't somehow stepped out of the real world and into some sort of dream version of the landscape you've been crossing. The flax not only grows tall and vibrant in its coloration but almost seems to move, as if each stalk were seeking out the sun. Even when the singing wind flattens their stalks, the crops seem to not only rebound after the passing gust, but seem to almost immediately point right back at the sun. Stranger still are the blue flowers that cap the top of each stalk , flowers that almost seem to resemble tiny blue faces with little puckered lips kissing at the light. A worldess hum seems to resonate from the fields themselves, as if many voice were joined in with the rising and falling of the wind."
From this point onward, conjuration magic is strangely amplified even further. Besides all spells of the Conjuration school functioning at +2 caster level in this area, every spell of that school also has a chance of echoing, duplicating its effect. Anytime such a spell is cast, the caster can feel a font of power interacting with the spell being cast. The caster may make a DC 15 concentration check to harness this energy to duplicate the spell being cast, with the same target, chosen area, and other parameters of the spell duplicated as the original. This occurs immediately after the resolution of the casting of the original spell, and in some instances will have no effect (such as casting two Create Piy spells in the same place) while in other instances can be devestatingly effective (such as two cure or acid arrow spells). Using Plane Shift to reach the First World requires no material component from this point onward as well. These effects continue into the center of the fifth ring, the manor house.
After about 300 feet, read the following:
"Up ahead, a small path breaks off from the road to lead up to the manor and barn. Beside this fork in the road is a strange looking scarecrow. His body resembles that of a human man, outfitted in shoddy clothing. Where his head should be appears to be a woven creation made of bent flax stalks, a snarling, wicker, wolf's head. Its jaws stand open in silence, perhaps in an attempt to mimic the agony felt by the body from the several, silver blades that pierce it. At the feet of the scarecrow lays a large pile of bones, enough to compose the corpses of at least four or five humanoids. Curiously, strung around the neck of the effigy are 3 necklaces, their gagged skull emblems clear in the flooding sunlight."
An area of trophied remembrance, the Children of the Flax have set up this effigy as a warning to members of either the Demon Wolves or the Whispering Way; their death awaits them here. A fight broke out between the Children and both groups, resulting in the deaths of three of their number, but a dozen amongst the other two. If being accompanied by one of the Children, it explains that, "(The creature did that when the bad men tried to hurt us), it said it would keep us safe." The other remains were consumed by the Crop Mother. Despite the smell and decayed state of the corpse (which is overriden by the supernatural grass), few vermin cling to it, offering little resistance to the removal of the five silver longswords stuck in the corpse. The main road continues another 300 feet before passing back through the boundaries of the third ring.
EL 8
The path to the farmhouse extends about 400 feet, passing into the heart of the anomaly. This path is watched over by a pair of giant Rattlesnakes (using statistics of an Emperor Cobra from Bestiary 2 p.252) the Crop Mother keeps Charmed and a small cadre of fey caretakers, 7 Pugwampi (Bestairy 2 p.144). Refugees from the First World, these despised fey have also been Charmed and ordered to take part in what they consider to be a highly mishievious plan, one that they have yet to execute. The Pugwampis keep the snakes hooded unless they notice someone unaccompanied by one of the Children, at which point they remove the hoods. Unfortunately, the snakes immediately attack everyone around them, including their caretakers. This gives the PCs an extra round of warning while two of the Pugwampis are bitten by the snakes (and consequently perish, reducing their number to five). They then utilize their stealth to avoid the snakes while the serpents move to attack the PCs, placing the PCs within their Unluck Auras when possible. Any Pugwampi that takes damage immediately flees into the flax fields.
PCs that ignore the path to the farmhouse can continue onward and eventually come back to the boundaries of the third, second, and first rings, with a diminishing of the strange warping between the planes as the PCs get further from the estate's center. Attempting to attack the barn and its resident is extremely dangerous, as should be made evident by the guardians that watch the path between the path and the barn.
Fourth Ring (400 feet)
"The feeling of crossing over into another world is almost unmistakeable. Besides all of the increased vibrancy and surreal effects that have been occuring, you feel your own senses affected by the land itself. You can almost taste and feel the flax just by looking at it and when your gazes drifts towards the sun, you can almost feel the heat from it just by looking at the sunbeams. Amongst the shafts of light that dance in and out of the clouds, you can see wispy, man-like shapes that flicker in and out of the beam's radiance. The humming increases, almost as if the fields were a thousand voices. "
The increase in magical potency functions as the last ring's area with one minor exception: controlling the magic that causes Conjuration spells to duplicate requires only a DC 10 Concentration check. Spells and effects that rely on teleportation (such as Dimension Door, Teleport/[i], or a Conjurer Wizard's [i]Dimensional Steps ability) function bizarrely. Everytime such a spell or effect is used, the caster must make a DC 15 Caster Level check or reappear in the last spot they teleported from (as they literal bounce back and forth).
EL 9
Watching the fields closest to the house (this ring and the area within the last) is are a group of Phase Spiders, creatures who've come to rely on the Children of the Flax as some sort of divine community that imparts wisdom of the First World. In a way, they've been trying to absorb what knowledge the Crop Mother has to impart without actually getting near her since they are aware of the danger she poses. Usually content to feed on any beasts that wander into the fields and occasionally question the lone Child, the spiders know well enough of the Children's tricks to leave them alone when they are escoting people to the barn, but anyone traveling without them incites an immediate, hungry response. Having crossed back and forth between the Ethereal Plane numerous times in this area, the group are unaffected by the magical anomaly present within the fourth ring's boundaries.
4 Phase Spiders (Bestiary, p.226)
Fifth Ring (200 feet.)
"The apex of the vividness seems to have manifested as you walk within a few dozens spans of the manor. Like some sort of interflowing design, the very grain of the wood that comprises the house ebbs and sparks with tiny lines of light that run across it's white surface in multiple hues. The doorway is a stylized archway draped in stone vines that almost seem to move, with the header resembling a carved lantern with miniature stone flames frozen in its sculpted recess. The windows seem to sheen iridescently as if the sunlight's beams were being broken into multiple hues by their reflection, resulting in a strange rainbow cascade that buffets the ground around the manor. Stranger still is the rooftop of the two-story structure. The paneling slightly resembles the side view of a split log, as if the circular overlap of rings were twisted into an everflowing wave. This pattern spreads itself along the entire roof and almost seems to move with the wind, as if the house were breathing through massive wooden gills. The barn beside the house is that in shape only; every surface of the closed structure is covered in flowering vines except for a single doorway on the structure's front. A garden of colorful vegetation grows atop the barn's green roof, its floral center resembling a rainbow-hued starburst."
The magical augmentation of this sight reaches its cresecendo beyond the barrier of the fifth ring. All spells of the Conjuration school are cast at +2 Caster Level and are affected as if by an Extend Spell meta-magic feat. Furthermore, the doubling effect of Conjuration spells continue, still requiring only a DC 10 Concentration check to harness. Teleportation magic functions with the wrinkle as the previous ring heightened slightly; any spell or ability that utilizes such effects requires a DC 20 Caster Level check or they simply bounce back and forth between locations.
EL 9
The path up to the house has one final guardian lurking in the fields: a Boruta (Pathfinder 44, p.84). Despite the androgynous nature of the Crop Mother and the Boruta's immunity to its mind control, the Boruta has grown fond it, enough to draw the creature out of its normally swampy habitat to lay claim to the fields around the estate. Seeing itself as a caretaker of the crops in the abscense of its mortal harvesters, the creature quickly responds to anyone not accompanied by one of the Flax Children that moves along the path, seeing them as a threat to its beloved. For its part, the creature is quite knowledgable about the Crop Mother and the nature of the breach in reality here; it has spent numerous hours conversing with the Crop Mother about her vast knowledge regarding the First World and its ever-bountiful verdence. The creature fights until reduced to 10 hit points, at which point it either attempts to flee or bargains for its life.
The Manor: The first floor is composed of an entry hall, parlor, music room, ball room, dining room, kitchen, servant's quarters, storage area, and privy. The upstairs consists of four bedrooms, a master bedroom, a lounge, a study, a library, and several privys. Largely abandoned and looted before the fey came to reside here, there is little of value within the house. PCs who look long enough can find old personal journals detailing some of the hidden history of the place, but nothing of montary value remains.
EL 10
The house is far from unoccupied. Being so near to the First World, the occasional traveler invariably passes through the manor. Presently the house is being occupied by a Bogeyman (Bestiary 3, p.42), a creature that intially wanted to take part in the games that the Flax Children were playing. Seeing the malicious fey as a source of competition, the Crop Mother has rebuffed the creature's advances and told the it to leave. Annoyed, the fickle fey has stuck around to be as irritating as possible, an activity that has quickly bored it. It has in fact just convinced itself to leave the premises when the PCs begin snooping around the house, giving it a chance to exercise its deadly diversions on them.
Outside The Barn (EL 13+):
Standing sentinetal in the fields nearest the barn and hidden by the cover of the Flax are four of The Children of the Flax. Any unaccompanied PC causes the four to send Message spells to the four nearest to them. Within three rounds, all ninteen that stay near the barn have been alerted and converge on the PCs, attempting to subdue them if possible.
If one of the Children is escorting the PCs here, give the PCs one last chance to escape by reading the following:
"Almost as one, nearly two-dozen children with the same bright blue eyes and shabbled clothing step out of the fields, their gazes regarding you with amusement. While not in unison, they all begin speaking the same words, "Mommy, its time to feed!". With that, the door to the barn suddenlyopens."
Give the PCs one round to escape before the Crop Mother immerges. Otherwise, the Children stand back while their mother attempts to devour the PCs, utilizing Charm person to save for bigger specimens so it can feed over a longer period of time. If the PCs inflict significant damage on it (half of its hit points), the Children move to its aid.
-19 Children of the Flax
Inside The Barn (EL 13)
Inside the barn lurks the Crop Mother, a strange plant known as an Alraune. The result of a transformation over a clash in Fae politics, this creature is content to allow a new harvest to take place, the harvesting of humans. For twenty years this creature has ruled the farm with a ravenous drive. Even still, this creature isn't responsible for the farm's abandonment or the family's ruin.
One thousand years ago, the Lantern King became aware of the breach between planes in this area, and sent agents to secure the site and inact a ritual would would cut it''s access to the Plane of Shadow, the location of one its enemies, Count Ranalc. Through mortal agents, the Lantern King was able to implant the area with the magical glyphs that would ultimately secure the area for the First World. This resulted in a year-round thinness, yet the Loslimors seemed to not just live, but thrive with the blanket of that plane, growing up side-by-side with the occasional strange sight given by wandering faeries. They had no idea that numerous fae protected their area from the primal things that walk through thatr realm, nor did they have any idea of the strange fate given over to each daughter that was given up on the Summer Solstice every ten years. Taken into the First World and magically transformed by the Lantern King, these daughters became The Children of the Flax, caretakers of the crops and guardians against things that might intrude into the area. When this occured, others within the Fae Court heard about the magic and power that the Lantern King was wielding, and one in particular grew jealous. Believing that he was intruding on what she considered to be her domain, The Green Mother set a plan into motion to humble the trickster.
After the hundredth generation had passed, the Loslimors were supposably free from their debt with The Lantern King. Yet, the Green Mother had been waiting, and she sent her agents on what would have been the Solstice where a daughter would be given up, enacting her own abduction. Finding only the family's mother, the fae took her and spirited her away to The First World, where she was brought before The Green Mother and transformed. Still retaining her memory and instinct, this mother was sent back to the farm, changed nonetheless. Given knowledge of the Lantern King's transformation of generations of children, the Alraune quickly sought to bring them all under her control and set herself up at the estate as she had before she left. Her change brought hunger however, and soon all of the servants and other humans on the farm were gathered by her children and consumed by her. Imparted with some of the malevolence of her fae patron, the Alraune now seeks to feast on as many as possible while expanding its family. It's true desire is to have a human family maintain the farm as it did in days of old, but it has grown too hungry in every instance for this to occur. For now, it maintains the ever growing fields as best it can, shunning most other fae as outsiders at best or enemies from The Lantern King's Court at worst. Unlike a normal Alraune, this particular one can only assume female gender due to the nature of its creation.
Crop Mother, Alraune (Bestiary 3, p13)
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All the cool things...
WHOA! Flippin' cool man! Nicely done!
Sweet! Thanks for accolades! Would not have been possible without Rule of Fear, so I have you to thank!
This is exactly what I need. Thank-you!