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F or ewor wor d and note notes s fr om the author I f you you are a pl playe ayer and not a GM stop stop readin reading g now
This is a K ult RPG ad adventure called lled “Crac “Cracks in the the M irror”. Within Within the these pages you will find all the material you need to run this adventure, including player characte characterr s, npc inf infor orm mation, ation, maps, maps, a dayday-by-day by-day eve event nt tabl table e, monste monsterr inform nfor mation as we well as hooks hooks & tips tips on on how to get your playe players involved. And And las lastt but not not le least ast you you wi will fi f ind theK ult L ight rules rules.. The K ult L igh ight rules need some explan lanation ion. Thes These are by no means the com comple plete rule ules of the K ult ult RP RPG of any editi dition. on. Nor is i s it a chall challe enge nge to the copyri copyrig ght of K ult (which is as fare fare as I know is cur currr ently hel held by Seventh Ci Circle). cle). I ns nste tead ad the K ult ult L ight ght rul r ule es ar ar e included her e as the bare bone bones s you you wil will nee need to run this this adve adventur nture e, included included here so that GM ’s that that don’t don’t own Kul K ultt themselves ves or are ar e unfami unfamiliar with with K ult altoge altogether ther, can can run run this adve adventure nture. A And nd for that that purpos purpose e they they wor work j ust fine fine.. I f you are are one of those those GM ’s jus justt me mentione ntioned, I sugge uggest you you re r ead the K ult ult L ight rul rule es se section ction fir fi r st, the then n proc pr oce eed to the adve adventur nture e itself, as som some e par parts of it i t wil will make mor more e sense then. About Kul K ultt and this this adventure ntur e: K ult ult is is a role role-pl -playing aying gam game e that chall challe enge nges people’s limits, morally and otherwise. Not everyone is comfortable doing that, and so Kul K ultt is is not for ever ver yone yone. Y ou, the GM should be awar aware e of this this. Thi T his s adventure may contain graphic descriptions of mutilations, sexual situations of various nature (up to and possibly including rape and incest), graphic des descri criptions ptions of violenc vi olence e and hope hopefull ful ly a chill chil ly scar scary y atmos atmosphe pherre. Y ou should should therefore ask your players if there are situations they are uncomfortable with, and if so try tr y to avoi avoid sai said situations situati ons as best best you you can. Thi T his s wi will enhance nhance the gaming experience for all parties. L ast ast but not le least. ast. I spent pent a lot lot of tim ti me wri writing ting and and des designing this adventure ntur e. I give per per mission to distribute it freely as long as no profit is made, no alterations are done to the mater aterial, and I am given prope proper cre credit. dit.
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F or ewor wor d and note notes s fr om the author I f you you are a pl playe ayer and not a GM stop stop readin reading g now
This is a K ult RPG ad adventure called lled “Crac “Cracks in the the M irror”. Within Within the these pages you will find all the material you need to run this adventure, including player characte characterr s, npc inf infor orm mation, ation, maps, maps, a dayday-by-day by-day eve event nt tabl table e, monste monsterr inform nfor mation as we well as hooks hooks & tips tips on on how to get your playe players involved. And And las lastt but not not le least ast you you wi will fi f ind theK ult L ight rules rules.. The K ult L igh ight rules need some explan lanation ion. Thes These are by no means the com comple plete rule ules of the K ult ult RP RPG of any editi dition. on. Nor is i s it a chall challe enge nge to the copyri copyrig ght of K ult (which is as fare fare as I know is cur currr ently hel held by Seventh Ci Circle). cle). I ns nste tead ad the K ult ult L ight ght rul r ule es ar ar e included her e as the bare bone bones s you you wil will nee need to run this this adve adventur nture e, included included here so that GM ’s that that don’t don’t own Kul K ultt themselves ves or are ar e unfami unfamiliar with with K ult altoge altogether ther, can can run run this adve adventure nture. A And nd for that that purpos purpose e they they wor work j ust fine fine.. I f you are are one of those those GM ’s jus justt me mentione ntioned, I sugge uggest you you re r ead the K ult ult L ight rul rule es se section ction fir fi r st, the then n proc pr oce eed to the adve adventur nture e itself, as som some e par parts of it i t wil will make mor more e sense then. About Kul K ultt and this this adventure ntur e: K ult ult is is a role role-pl -playing aying gam game e that chall challe enge nges people’s limits, morally and otherwise. Not everyone is comfortable doing that, and so Kul K ultt is is not for ever ver yone yone. Y ou, the GM should be awar aware e of this this. Thi T his s adventure may contain graphic descriptions of mutilations, sexual situations of various nature (up to and possibly including rape and incest), graphic des descri criptions ptions of violenc vi olence e and hope hopefull ful ly a chill chil ly scar scary y atmos atmosphe pherre. Y ou should should therefore ask your players if there are situations they are uncomfortable with, and if so try tr y to avoi avoid sai said situations situati ons as best best you you can. Thi T his s wi will enhance nhance the gaming experience for all parties. L ast ast but not le least. ast. I spent pent a lot lot of tim ti me wri writing ting and and des designing this adventure ntur e. I give per per mission to distribute it freely as long as no profit is made, no alterations are done to the mater aterial, and I am given prope proper cre credit. dit.
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Some of you may may be familiar with with how the systemworks works in in Kul K ult, t, and some even even have your own rule rulebooks. If If so; great! If I f not, here here is is a short short rundown and and revi revisi sion on of the 1 basic rule rules of Kult K ult fi first edition dition . K ult ult it it is is a rather sim simple ple system that handles thi things like combat bat pretty pretty well well, withou wi thoutt complicating matters too much. Combine this with the fact that it is a rather lethal system (it (i t is is eas easy y to die die) and you ha have a good syste system m for any horror setti setting. ng. Y ou wil will find that, in this system, even a tiny gun or a knife can kill you with one hit, albeit not as easily as a big gun or a rifle. The Rev Revisio ision n According ccording to to the K ult ult rule rules, in in order to perf perform orm an acti action on li like sa say, shoot a gun; gun; you have to roll equal to or below your skill, in this case Handgun.
The The re result of of (Y our Skill – Y our Roll Roll = Res Result) lt) would de determine ine ho how well you perform rforme ed. Thi This s roll roll may be modifi odified as as the the GM sees fi fit of course course,, but I’ I’ve always ways felt that is is unne unneces cessa sary ry compl complicated cated.. The Theref refore ore I wil will in thi this case do it it the other way around. round. Now the the resu resullt will wil l be (Y our our Rol Rolll +Y our our Skil Skill =Resul sult) and and the the GM can can just ust refe refer to the tabl table e bel below to see how wel well you did. did. Al A lso the the GM can easil sily set set a certai certain difficulty to any action, thereby making the job a little less cumbersome. A lso, for for fl flavour, I have have added/change d/changed d theeffect effect of Botche Botches and and Perfect Perfect Success Successes es.. All effects of the revision are described below. The Skill Throw Throw Skil Ski ll and Abil Abiliity scores scores are are usu usua ally a num number betwe betwee en 1 and and 20. 20. Add A ddiing the the roll roll of a d20 to the score gives you the result of your action; the higher the better.
Note that while the GM normally will only call for Skill rolls, rolls may occasionally be made with the basic abilities. PS: PS: Si Since the Basi asic Abi A billities ties also go go from from 1-20 and and ofte often n are much highe higher than than the the Skil Ski ll that de derive ri ves s from it, you should should never ver subs substi titut tute e A bil bility for a Skil Ski ll unm unmodifi odif ied. The Effec Effect When you know whether the action was successful or not, you need to know just HOW well your character achieved his purpose. This is determined by the difference betwe between en your score and and the the di difficulty culty provide provi ded d by the GM (the GM may or may may not tell the players the difficulty, but might in some cases just describe the effect).
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This is the first edition to appear in English. There was a Swedish edition before this, and also a second English edition after it (which sucked). There has been made a third edition by a French company, but this is on the whole rather difficult to obtain for the time being. The main rules of the third edition are, however, identical with the first English edition. .
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The greater the difference, the better the level of success. Mind that the effect (damage) is determined differently for combat skills. In the case of damage the effect is determined by a second die roll (sometimes modified by the skill roll). A general guide of difficulties is provided here. 5-10 11-20 21-30 31-35 36-40 41 +
A walk in thepark Normal action Difficult Very difficult Near impossible Impossible
Contested Rolls Sometimes you will not be rolling against a set difficulty, but rather against an opponent of some kind. For instance, if your character were to try and sneak past a guard, you would roll Sneak against his Listen roll. Whoever gets the highest result (after any modifiers have been taken into account) “wins” Winning in this case means for your character that he managed to get past the guard without being noticed, and for the guard, detecting you. Perfect successes and Botches Whenever you roll a natural 20, you might get what we call a Perfect Success. Whenever this happens, roll again, and if you still make a successful skill check you have a Perfect Success. If not, it’s just a normal success. On the same page, if you roll a natural 1 you might have a Botch on your hands. Roll again, and if you still fail to make the skill roll, you have a Botch.
A natural roll of 20 is always a success (albeit not necessarily a good one), and a natural roll of 1 is always a failure. Automatic Successes If your character has a skill score that is higher than the difficulty you may choose to perform an Automatic Success. This means that you don’t roll; your character can do this routinely. This will not produce very good results, but neither will it produce very bad results. It’s a success, no more, no less. Dices As for dices, the one used most of the time will be the d20. It is used for skill checks, ability checks, damage rolls, and pretty much everything. The only other dice you might need is a d10, which is used for initiative rolls, but even that can easily be substituted by a d20.
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Game Terms Abilities There are eight main Abilities in the Kult RPG system.
AGILITY (AGL), which determines your ability to move and control your body your speed, precision and balance as well as you nimbleness. STRENGTH (STR), which determines you ability to use muscle power to achieve a purpose. CONSTITUTION (CON), which determines your ability to withstand pain and illness, exhaustion, hunger and thirst. COMELINESS (COM), which is a measurement of your beauty. EGO (EGO), which measures intelligence, memory and willpower. CHARISMA (CHA), which is a measurement of your charm and you ability to influence people. PERCEPTION (PER), which determines your ability to use your senses. EDUCATION (EDU), which is a measurement of your general knowledge. Up to 15 the EDU score is equal to the number of years you went to school. Over 15 every step represents 2 years. Secondary Abilities LOAD CAPACITY : Walking at a leisurely pace, you can carry your STR score in kilograms without risking exhaustion. When you run, you can only carry half as much without significant encumbrance. It is not normally possible to carry any more than three times your STR score for any longer distance. The maximum weight you can lift is ten times you STR score.
MOVEMENT: During one combat round (about 5 seconds) you can move a distance equal to ½of your AGL score at normal pace. Running you can cover six times that (AGL x 3). ACTIONS: In one combat round one may perform a fixed number of actions. This is controlled primarily by the characters AGL score. All characters start with 2 actions/combat round. An AGL of 16-19 gives one extra action and an AGL score of 20 or more gives two extra actions. INITIATIVE BONUS: rolling a d10 and adding your Initiative Bonus decide Initiative. Whoever gets the highest one goes first. An AGL score of 8-12 gives you an Initiative Bonus of zero. For every step above 12 you get a +1 Bonus and for every step below 8 you get a –1 penalty.
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DAMAGE BONUS: The Damage Bonus is based on AGL and STR combined. You can use the Damage Bonus in hand-to-hand combat, in melee and when using throwing weapons. STR +AGL Bonus 3-6 >-3 7-10 >-2 11-14 >-1 15-20 >0 21-24 >+1 25-28 >+2 29-32 >+3 33-40 >+4 DAMAGE CAPACITY : Damage in Kult RPG consists of four different types of wounds: Scratches, Light Wounds, Serious Wounds and Fatal Wounds. Whenever you exceed your capacity for the “lighter” types of damage it spills over to the next level. CON 1-5
Wounds 3 Scratches =1 Light 2 Light =1 Serious 2 Serious =1 Fatal
6-10
4 Scratches =1 Light 3 Light =1 Serious 2 Serious =1 Fatal
11-15
4 Scratches =1 Light 3 Light =1 Serious 3 Serious =1 Fatal
16-20
5 Scratches =1 Light 4 Light =1 Serious 3 Serious =1 Fatal
ENDURANCE: Endurance determines how long you can fight, run or stay awake without collapsing. It is calculated as the characters Constitution times five, plus thirty. Put into a formula it would look like this (CON x 5) +30. Normal people regenerate about 20 Endurance points in one hour’s complete rest. That was all the abilities you need to keep track of. If you got this down, you are just about ready.
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Introduction Lying somewhere north of Portland is a small town called Craneville. Being a land of rugged coastline and vast forests the landscape is beautiful and breathtaking. Like a picturesque fishing village, it clings to the coastline with two bays, a weather bitten harbour and an old, but functioning lighthouse. On the other side of town there are lakes and woods with some marshland. Come wintertime the village is often isolated, so this is a place where people learn to pull together when they have to. But this town also has a sinister story behind it. The Past The year was 1908. Craneville was in essence a mining town. What used to be a small fishing village had rapidly been turned completely upside down by the discovery of a rich coal oar. The mining company Decker & Decker, owned by Mike and Gavril Decker, had taken completely over the run of the place. Running the mining operation without regard for the safety of their workers and exploiting children and adults alike in their mines and factories, the brothers were hell-bent on making the biggest profit possible. In less than 5 years the village turned into a dirty town with poor houses for the workers families and a large factory spewing smoke from processing the coal. The houses were unpainted grey except for the few original houses still left, the church and the mansion that housed the wild parties and orgies of the brothers.
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In the middle of these decadent, ruthless men stood a woman, Dani Jackson. The fiancée of Mike and the mistress of Gavril she played the brothers up against one another and manipulated themto push the workers even harder. Mike Decker DOB: 9 of July 1876 Mike was the oldest of the two brothers and quite ruthless. Hopelessly attracted to Dani, although desperately knowledgeable of the fact that she was using him, he was nonetheless unable to give her up. Instead he took his anger out on his workers even sometimes employing a whip and was ridden by variously depressive periods and destructive rage. A bit distant and shy, still capable of great passion, Mike would be the underdog compared with his brother in social situations. He dampened his emotions with the use of absinthe and opium, something that just made him more distant and he could be lost in his own drug-induced state for days at the time. Uncaring and cruel he would exercise his own inadequacy on his workers driving themharder and harder, in some cases to the point of death. His gentle and docile appearance, it seems, hid a cruel and bitter man. Gavril Decker DOB: 15 of October 1878 The younger of the two brothers, Gavril was outgoing and carefree, the direct opposite of Mike. Everything seemed to come easy for Gavril. He soon took an interest in his brother fiancée and finding her willing he became her lover behind his brother’s back. Quite the avant-garde he held lavish parties of great depravity on the mansion with his business associates and friends of the Boston freemasonic lodge, lasting days on end. Even more of a profit rider than his brother he saw to it that only lip-service care was taken for the security of the workers and that third rate material was used for scaffolding in the mines. After all, materials cost money, while workers seemed to be of infinite supply. Dani J ackson DOB: 11 of November 1873 The fiancée of Mike Decker and the lover of Gavril Decker she was the source of a lot of the animosity between the two brothers. While not of extreme beauty she had a charisma and appeal that seemed to attract men like flies to honey, an attraction she used for all it was worth. Delighting in the control she had, she turned the brothers against each other, and pushed them to driving the workers even harder. It is said that she was a witch who took delight in the suffering of others, although this in most likely oldwives tales. It is also said that she had a fright of dogs from an attack when she was a kid, for the old wives, another proof of her witch hood.
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Ralph Minoge DOB: 28 of J anuary 1876 A young priest of great devotion, Ralph had heard rumours of this far off coastal town, where a number of workers went, and from which few returned. Following his calling he recognized the need for the Lords presence in such a place, promptly sought the town out and left Boston for Craneville. When he came there he found the conditions to be fare worse than he had imagined. Children starving and slaving in the mines, workers driven to near death under inhuman working conditions and forced to live in houses overcrowded and in poor condition. All the while the brothers and their harlot where living in endless luxury, leading lives of depravity and sin. Not wishing to force an open confrontation and maybe making things even worse for the workers and their children he single-handedly built a small church on the outskirts of town, near the swamp. Soon most of the people gathered as his flock to worship and hear the Lords words, gaining spiritual peace if not physical. He came to care and pity the people of Craneville deeply; something that eventually became his undoing. The end? In late August 1908 disaster inevitably struck. After slaving for the Decker brothers for years the anger and fury of the population of Craneville had reached it’s peak. Exploitation and abuse had taken its toll with several families dying each year from starvation, accidents and abuse. Complaints where met with discharge, whipping or worse, and as none of the workers had anywhere else to go the people really had little choice but to stay. It seemed the fruits of the industrial age was only for the rich to sample. A late chilly evening the catastrophe everyone had feared happened. The scaffolding in one of the mines, worn and of poor quality, collapsed, starting a chain reaction that instantly killed more than 40 children and adults, trapping at least a 100 more inside to die slowly from suffocation. The remainder of the workforce worked valiantly to save them but to no avail, and all pleas for help from management was met with indifference. They where, after all, in the middle of one of their parties and would not be disturbed. Too late they managed to open the mines only to find everyone dead inside. 159 women, men and children died that day. Ralph, devastated by the sheer number of dead and the negligence of the brothers called for God’s vengeance on the decadence and cruelty that had taken place. Leading a large mob to the Decker mansion he took the vengeance that God himself seemed unwilling to inflict. Beaten and broken the brothers and their harlot where taken down to the factory, the symbol of their power. All three of them where thrown inside by the raging workers, and the place was set on fire. The coal-dust and woodworks of the factory soon created an explosive fire and the whole place was soon consumed and the evildoers with it. Coming to his senses, the priest realized that in extracting vengeance he had betrayed all that he had ever believed in. Staggering from the place of slaughter he was last seen alive walking slowly towards the church he had built. He was found the following morning hanging in his own bell tower, a noose tightly around his neck with a note pinned to his chest saying; “We all deserve Hell”.
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This would have been the end of it had it not been for Hell. Discovering that death is only the beginning, the Mike, Gavril, Dina and Ralph found that the suffering had only just begun. They would stay in Inferno paying for their sins for almost a century. The escape Inferno relies on the sinner’s own conscience and memory of sins to extract punishment. This is no different in the Citadel of Samael, the avenger. To be able to escape Mike, Dina and Gavril was forced to erase their own memories, and let themselves be reborn into new bodies, namely our own characters Michael, Dani and Gabriel. Ralph, the priest followed them, not wanting their evil to once again taint the world of the living. However, even he was forced to erase his memory to be able to tear his way trough the borders of reality and allow himself to be reborn, namely as their younger brother Raphael . (The exact mechanics of how to use this method as an escape is not summarized here due to space restrictions, and the fact that it is not necessary for running this adventure. I f you own or have access to “Metropolis” and “Beyond the Veil” hints of this process can be found, although the author is going a bit out on a limb here concerning the actual Kult mythology. The characters could for most purposes be considered purgatides, however this will not impact the story much.)
Samael, however have never been of a forgiving demeanour, and taking a personal interest in this insolence he has had his most trusted nepharite to set a trap for them. The trap is Craneville itself. The purpose of the trap is to make the characters remember their past lives, again “allowing” for them to be punished fully for their sins.
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Craneville Craneville has changed somewhat over the almost 100 years that has passed since the catastrophe that caused the death of some 157 men, women and children, but some things are still the same. The factory is in ruins and most of the original buildings are gone, but the mines are still there, as are the original lighthouse. The mansion has been turned into a school, and Ralph’s church can still be found by the swamp.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Lighthouse School/Mansion Bay Smugglers Caves The Freeling Family’s house The Old Mines The Burnt Down Plant The Old Railroad The Old Church Marshlands
The L ighthouse (1) This old and weather-beaten lighthouse no longer holds a keeper. Everything is automated and only the outer concrete shell remains of the original building. Inside the tower one can find a rusty steel stair circling the inside walls, leading up to the top where the light is seated. All in all it is a rather unimportant lighthouse now that the ships travel further from the shore, and the level of maintenance bears witness of this. Near the lighthouse is a small wooden shed that has probably been there about as long as the lighthouse itself.
If one is to make ones way inside, which shouldn’t be too hard with an old rusty padlock holding the door barely in place, one can find an old toolbox, some planks of wood, an old broken rocking chair and a small chest with a lock on it. The chest appears to be very old, and consisting of more or less rotted wood, shouldn’t prove to difficult to get open (for instance with the crowbar from the toolbox). Inside one can find a well read and badgered copy of John Keats, “The Poetical Works” (Published
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in 1884), an old rusted knife, a small silver cross on a chain, an old yellowed picture of a young man and a diary (See player handouts). The book of poems is bound in worn reddish brown leather and has a small piece of rope marking the page where the second part of the poem“Lamia” begins. It reads: “LOVE in a hut, with water and a crust, Is—Love, forgive us!—cinders, ashes, dust; Love in a palace is perhaps at last More grievous torment than a hermit’s fast: That is a doubtful tale fromfaery land, Hard for the non-elect to understand. Had Lycius liv’d to hand his story down, He might have given the moral a fresh frown, Or clench’d it quite: but too short was their bliss To breed distrust and hate, that make the soft voice hiss. Besides, there, nightly, with terrific glare, Love, jealous grown of so complete a pair, Hover’d and buzz’d his wings, with fearful roar, Above the lintel of their chamber door, And down the passagecast a glow upon the floor.”
The diary is bound in half rotted black leather and is quite damaged by moist. A lot of the ink has been ruined and most of the pages have rotted too. The book lies on the bottom of the chest and only a few pages are readable (See player handouts). School/M ansion (2) Maps of the School/Mansion can be found in the GM’s aid. The school of Craneville is in fact the old mansion of Dani Jackson, Gavril and Mike Decker, the “founders” of Craneville. The mansion has been partly refitted and modified to suit the needs of the school, but a lot of the rooms are the same as they where originally and a lot of the rooms, especially in the basement is unused or used for storage. Here and there one can even find pieces of the original furniture. A gangway connects the mansion with an additional building that in and old antique greenhouse, kept largely in the same shape as it was a hundred years ago. It is quite huge and even holds a large knotty oak stretching towards the ceiling. The greenhouse has framework of black metal decorated with ornamental wines and roses, all black. The greenhouse is overgrown with wines, almost shutting out the daylight and several flowers of various types grow here. There is a small pond next to the oak and a path leads from the stairs of the gangway to the pond and around the edges of the greenhouse itself. The school/mansion will be dealt with separately below as much of the story will take place here. The Bay (3) The bay has four piers, with the oldest and smallest (on the fare right) being closed off as it is not secure. The other three has 2 fishing boats, a small recreational boat and 4
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smaller boats with outside engines distributed among them. A half sunken rowing boat is also attached to the lowermost pier. The shore is covered with stones and the occasional piece of wood or other objects that has floated ashore. It gets deep rather steeply just outside the piers and as the area is plagued with strong currents people are discouraged from swimming outside the piers. Not that this stops the kids however, and there have been quite a few drowning accidents over the years. One particularly dangerous game of dare is to try and swim out as far as possible and then swim back. The boys often dare each other and swim out two by two, seeing who has the most courage and stamina. This, however, is most often done when no adults are around. Smugglers Caves (4) These caves are only accessible during the low tide. They are partly flooded during high tide and it is quite possible to get trapped inside. The outer parts of the cave have long since been explored, and there is little of interest there. Going further down is hazardous as the caves are unstable, and may be prone to flooding, cave-ins and other unpleasantness. It is also inhabited by an unknown number of rats as to make things even more hospitable. If there ever where any smugglers here, they are long gone… The Freeling Family’s House (5) Map of the Freeling Family’s House can be found in the GM’s aid. The Freeling family’s house is an old worn house that used to belong to an old lady. The kitchen is of the old fashioned type with white and black tiles, stained and worn by time, some of them cracked. The same types of tiles are used in both bathrooms; only here they also cover the wall halfway up. The other rooms have worn hardwood floors that haven’t seen paint in decades. In the kitchen there is an old gas oven used for cooking and in the back there is a really old and rusted washing machine, that makes a lot of noise when it is on. In the living room there is a fireplace made out of what used to be red brick, now mostly black. The closing for the pipe is broken, so when the wind blows it sends chilling gusts of air down into the living room and kitchen. The stairs are just as old as the rest of the house and is made of rough hardwood, with dents in them from wear and use. They creak rather loudly when someone walks them. In the parents bedroom is and old cast-iron bed that daddy Freeling got down from the attic. Its big and creaky, with curly spirals as end piece decoration, and would probably be any Goth’s wet dream. In both bathrooms there are old iron bathtubs. They have layers of cracked paint and rust, but are fully useable. The piping however, makes a lot of gurgling noises before delivering water, and getting hot water takes forever, except in the kitchen. (The water heater is in the kitchen opposite to the washing machine).
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There is also an attic, reachable by ladder from the hallway between the upstairs bedrooms. It is mostly empty and dusty, and probably the home to a reasonable amount of spiders, however there is an old gramophone with some Artie Shaw records (if you’re not familiar with Artie, think prewar jazz and you’re there). The gramophone actually works. Another item of note is an item that will be central to the story as it unfolds. Also found in the attic is an old antique mirror, full of dust and spider webs. The frame seems relatively intact, however the mirror itself is ever so slightly cracked (if this is the first time they se it). More on the mirror below. The Old Mines (6) The old mines were the place of the death of some 100+ miners, including 20-30 children down to the age of eight. They are closed off to the public with black iron gates, locked with padlocks. The only thing seen from the outside are the old wooden supports around the entrance, the gates, and the signs telling people to keep out. It is possible, however, for a person slim enough to crawl under the gates, especially if one where to dig a little. Once inside the mines continue downwards into the darkness with several passages leading left and right, and sometimes straight down. Here and there the wooden supports have fallen down, and rock and dirt has partly blocked the way. On the floor there are rails for small mining wagons, and in a couple of the side entrances these rusty steel-wheeled things lie as if dead and broken. Further down one can find a broken oil lantern and maybe an old pick or shovel. The place seems strangely free of rats and bugs and a gloomy silence fills the place, leaving only the echoes of the explorers’ footsteps and voices to be heard. It is important to play up on the claustrophobia and feeling of isolation in this place, hinting that finding ones way back might not be all that easy. Going really fare down the mines have collapsed and the supports bears some witness of a fire having taken place a long time ago. From under a collapsed part of the mine a small skeletal hand can be seen sticking out from under a rock, telling of the tragedy having once taken place here. The Burnt Down Plant (7) The plant/ factory was once used for coal development, but is now more of a ruin than anything else. The once red brick walls are blackened by the fire and smog, and large parts of the ceiling have caved in. The almost cathedral-like windows of the factory are smashed, and pieces of broken soothed glass lie on the ground below them, and even several yards away as if blown out of their frames. One of the two large pipes have fallen over and broken into three large sections, while the other still stands as a memory of long gone days. Inside pieces of rusted machinery can be found, all but the metal parts burned away, and here and there even parts of the machinery seems to have melted as if exposed to enormous amounts of heat. A rail going trough the building might at some point have been used to transport coal in and out, and an old trolley of miners design stands in the middle of the factory floor, rusted or melted to the rails. Rusted and blackened railings and iron pipes crisscross above head, here and there collapsed onto the floor, and at one end of the factory the furnace and mechanics of an old steam engine stands looming.
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The Old Railroad (8) This rusty old railroad was used to transport the processed coal out of Craneville and more central areas. They haven’t been used since the mines collapsed. They stretch from the mines, past the plant and out of Craneville continuing west. Rusted and mostly overgrown, it is still not hard to find. The Old Church (9) Map of the church can be found in the GM’s aid. The fact that this small wooden church still stands is more or less a miracle. There never was any paint on the walls and the planks are almost rotted trough. Inside the church there are eight benches of crude design made from rough wood. To the left are a small cupboard and a bed equally crude, and with old rotted bed linens. Below the pillow on the bed an old crusted bible can be found with the name Ralph Minoge engraved into it. To the left of the church stand a bookshelf with three more bibles and an old psalm book, and a water basin roughly carved from stone. At the furthest end of the church is an altar with a wooden candlestick and a copper plate. A large wooden cross, painted red, hangs above the altar. To the right of the altar is a ladder leading up to the bell tower. Climbing up one will find a small iron bell hanging from the top. There is not but a small catwalk around the edges of the tower, and the tower is open down to the rest of the church. There is an old rotted rope hanging from the bell that seems to have been cut. The Marshlands (10) The marshlands start right next to the church and stretch tens of miles to the north and vest. It is overgrown with vines, knotted trees and grey moss, and is quite impassable. Some way into the marshes is a small lake in which cranes make their home. Apart from the cranes the marshlands seemvoid of life, and most of it has the characteristics of a swamp.
The School The school is a century old two-story building made from red brick blackened by age. From the outside the house has a monumental look and the design is late 18th century England with large multi sectioned windows giving an almost sacred impression. The school grounds on the front are covered with gravel and have a flagpole from where the American flag hangs. On the back is theplayground with swings, a carousel and a climbing cage. A shadow from the hill behind the school seems to loom over the place even in mid-day. A large Victorian double door leads into thebuilding… Ground Floor The Greenhouse (1) The Greenhouse holds an old knotty oak standing over a small pond and several types of flowers and small bushes cover the ground in most places. A narrow gravel path leads from the stairs by the gangway around the edges of the greenhouse and by the pond. The greenhouse is rather huge and is about two storeys from “floor” to ceiling. It is made from black iron framework with ornamentations of leaves, vines and flowers, all in black iron. It is slightly rusted in parts. The yellowing glass walls
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makes everything on the outside seem a bit blurry and all one can really see are the shadows of people moving outside. First and second grade Classroom (2) This is where the first and second graders have their classroom. Their teacher is Mrs. Claire Higgins, a middle-aged lady with a great love of cats, two of which are left free to roam the classroom at all times. The class totals 7 pupils, this not being that big a school. The walls are filled with crude pictures drawn by the pupils, the motifs are seemingly innocent, but if you look close will show scenes of people getting decapitated, stuck on poles and the like. The pupils will apart from this seem like normal first and second graders and will if asked about the pictures gladly explain the various methods of execution and torture in a simple childlike manner. Like all the ground floor classrooms the walls are painted in a hospital-like green giving off an institutional feeling. The L ab (3) This is the biology, chemistry and physics lab of the school. The various classes use this room at different times, but mostly it is empty. Here you have rows of workstations with outlets for gas and water, and the floor has been tiled with black and white ceramic tiles of the same type as the ones in the Freeling’s house. The walls are covered with periodic tables and shelves with lab equipment as well as the always eerie glass jars containing specimen of various animals. When inspected more closely all the jars contain animals that are in some way mutated, or having experienced trauma of some kind. Some have five legs, an extra eye or even two heads, while some have nails stuck trough them. There is also a small foetus in a large jar, which has holes in its feet and hands as well as wounds across its forehead and some kind of stab wound below the ribs. A Mr. Chapman, a long and wiry figure with horn glasses and a small goatee will hold classes here. He is of a morbid disposition and will describe in detail things like the process of decomposing of the human corpse. Third and fourth grade Classroom (4) This is the classroom for the third and fourth graders. Their teacher is Larry Cotton (the brother of Kirsty Cotton), a man in his early forties who spends a lot of his time lecturing poetry. The walls here are completely empty and hospital green. No pictures, no maps, no nothing. The pupils never write or read or draw anything. They just sit eerily still listening to Mr. Cotton read to them. If someone enters the classroom all the pupils will turn as one and stare at whoever enters, and keep staring at them until they leave. There are 13 pupils in Mr. Cotton’s class. This week, the works of Edgar Allan Poe… Cupboards (5 & 6) These are the cupboards under the stairs leading up to the first floor from the entrance hall. They are mostly used for storage of various school materials like chalk, books, etc. Sometimes pupils lock each other inside them as pranks. Fifth and sixth grade Classroom (7) Here is the classroom for the fifth and sixth grade. Their teacher is Mrs. Sharon Spencer, a lady in her late thirties. She will at first seem rather lovingly and kind, but
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will soon prove to be a psychopath with a shifting temperament. She will give you praise one moment only to slap you the next for a transgression real or imagined. She dresses in flowery dresses and appears like a demented Martha Stuart both by demeanour and appearance. The classroom is decorated with landscape pictures in antique frames. The pictures seem to be from the Craneville area and are at first quite harmonious. However as soon as one stares to long at them one will seemingly see dark figures crouching in the shadows beneath trees and stones and even the landscape itself will seem threatening. When you’re not looking the shadowy figures will have appeared to move. A crucifix hangs over theblackboard. The pupils in the class number 12 including Raphael and Gabriel, and will at first seem indifferent to the newcomers. After a while though they will start to befriend Gabriel and will start badgering Raphael, calling him “J esus Junior” and mocking the cross he carries. They will try to lure Gabriel along with them, and will, if he goes along with it, treat him as sort of a gang leader as long as he continues to pick on his brother. Room being redecorated (8) This room is currently being redecorated with large semitransparent plastic sheets hanging from the ceiling. The sheets will move as if from a draft although the room is completely closed. The walls are stripped showing the planks beneath and there are tools of various types scattered around. The floor is covered with stripped off paint flakes that make a crunching sound when you walk on them. There is an old fireplace at one of the walls. Boys lavatory (9) The mirror over the sink will at all times be cracked to the same extent (if not identical) as THE mirror. This mirror can be broken, but will be replaced the next day, equally cracked. Girls lavatory (10) The mirror over the sink will at all times be cracked to the same extent (if not identical) as THE mirror. This mirror can be broken, but will be replaced the next day, equally cracked. Copier room (11) This room holds an old copy machine that appears to have seen at least the last world war. There are shelves with packs of paper on the walls but little else. Between rooms 11 and 12 there is a backdoor to the playground as well as stairs leading down to the basement.
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Teachers lounge (12) This is where the teachers are supposed to be when they are not in class. It appears as a normal teachers lounge seen at any school anywhere, with worn couches and chairs, an air of old tobacco hanging in the air, and a billboard with timetables and stuff. It is always empty even after you just saw a teacher walk in there. Administration (13) Two office ladies (Daisy and Doris) that keep this place running have their seats here. They sit behind ancient desks and constantly write on antique typing machines. Although not identical in appearance they both have old style half-rim glasses, rolled up grey hair, smoke cigarettes at all times and have a mean disposition. The back wall is covered from floor to ceiling with filing cabinets of the old-grey-and-metal kind, much, much, much too much filing space for a school… Principals Office (14) This is where Daniel Schreber has his place. He is a grey haired thin man wearing a black pinstriped suit and a blood red bowtie at all times. He will lecture to anyone entering his office about the importance of a firm hand in the educational system and how a sound beating can make any runt into a productive member of society. The office is decorated with a stuffed bear looming by one of the walls, and paintings of old men in suits looking stern. His large antique desk has woodcarvings of Golgotha, showing Jesus on the cross with the crowd gathered around. If one looks carefully one can almost see them laughing and pointing instead of crying. The rest of the walls are covered with bookshelves with old dusty books of various kinds, some of which have occult titles. The L ocked Room (15) This room is locked. If ever opened it will reveal rows upon rows of the flayed skin of humans, some old, some young, even some children, all appearing to be in good condition. Y ou should not let the players enter this roomuntil thefourth or fifth day at the earliest. The keys for the lock can be found in the desk drawer in the principal’s office. L ibrary (16) This is the school library. Here are rows of tall dark-wood shelves with books, and at the back a small desk belonging to the librarian. The librarian, Malcolm Crowe, is an old man in his late sixties with glasses. He will seem friendly enough, but will from time to time cough up black dust. He wears a shirt with a black west and slippers and will appear old as time itself. He will help anyone asking to the best of his ability, but has a very bad short time memory. First Floor Seventh Grade Classroom (17) This is the classroom of the seventh grade tutored by Robert Englund. There are 11 pupils including Michael. Englund will appear to be slightly insane, constantly cleaning his nails with a penknife, and staring at his pupils. He will have violent fits, even going as fare as threatening his pupils with his knife and beating them whenever he feels like it. He will constantly degrade them and belittle them, especially Michael. He will openly make fun of his drug problem in front of the class and claim he is too
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weak to deal with reality. Englund is a man of small stature with a shaved head and small round glasses with little pig like eyes behind them. His lectures often involve a little rant about the process of evolution where the strong should dominate and even exploit the weak. The pupils will at times join in while some might seem curious about the drugs themselves, and eager to listen to what Michael can tell of his previous experiences. Some of the boys will comment on his sexy-bitch sister, and even say things like “Bet you’ve wanted to fuck her yourself…” and pick on him, all the while trying to get him to take pictures of her in the shower. A couple might even offer to get him some first rate glue if he does. The classroom walls are like all the first floor classrooms covered with dark wooden panelling. The room is decorated with old yellowed anatomical illustrations stapled to the walls, and there is a stuffed raven in a cage hanging by the blackboard. School Cantina (18) This is the schools cantina where all the pupils eat lunch. Rows upon rows of tables and benches cover the floor while on one side is a long counter where some disgusting stew is served, the same every day. There is only water to drink. Eight Grade Classroom (19) Here is the eight grade classroom and the kingdom of Kirsty Cotton (the sister of Larry Cotton). She is a lady in her late thirties, wearing a long black dress and her black hair held back in a knot. She will continuously belittle the girls sexual prowess and say things like “I bet you haven’t even fucked yet you little bitch” or “What’s the matter, you afraid your pussy’s going to break?” The boys of the class will be totally infatuated with Dina and will do just about anything she asks, while the girls will talk and whisper behind her back, and will have nothing to do with her. Old rusted gears and cogwheels are for some reason hung as decoration on the walls of this classroom. Ninth Grade Classroom (20) This room is always locked, and the pupils entering and leaving will be silent and antisocial, looking at all the other pupils with contempt refusing to even talk to them. Most of them will have scars on their wrists from cuts as from suicide attempts, and some may even have cuts on their jugulars. All the pupils of this class are dressed in black. Their teacher is never seen. The Room with the fireplace (21) In this rooma lot of old furniture will be stuffed. There is also a rather large fireplace on one of the walls (corresponding with the fireplace in the room below). There is still a lot of ashes left in the fireplace and among the ashes the burnt remains of a leatherbound diary can be found. The engraving is barely readable but can be made out to Mike Decker. A couple of the pages are still readable if badly damaged by the fire. (See player handouts). Boys lavatory (22) The mirror over the sink will at all times be cracked to the same extent (if not identical) as THE mirror. This mirror can be broken, but will be replaced the next day, equally cracked.
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Girls lavatory (23) The mirror over the sink will at all times be cracked to the same extent (if not identical) as THE mirror. This mirror can be broken, but will be replaced the next day, equally cracked. Empty (24) This room is empty. Dining Room (25) This room apparently used to be some kind of dining room, with a long black lacquered dinner table and dining chairs. The furniture is covered with white sheets to protect it as is the three pictures on the wall. If uncovered the pictures are large paintings of Mike, Dani and Gavril. The Room with the Mirror (26) This room has a lot of dusty old furniture stuffed into it. Most of it is original furniture that used to be here when the house was the mansion of the Decker brothers and Dani. The wallpaper is an exquisite wine-red colour with golden roses on it. A big doublesided bed with woodcarvings can be found here as well as a number of antique chairs and a makeup table. On the table there will be an exact copy of the mirror found in the attic in the Freeling’s house, actually one and the same. Any character looking at the mirror will feel a strange attraction to it. More on the mirror below. In one of the drawers of the table one can find a rather nice silver necklace with inlaid pearls that Dina will feel irresistibly tempted to try on. If she does it will fit her perfectly as if made for her. Michael will feel a slight unease whenever heis in the room.
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Against one of the walls stand a desk. In one of the drawers an old opium pipe can be found along with an empty bottle of absinthe. This used to be the bedroom of Mikeand Dani. The L ast Bedroom (27) This used to be the bedroom of Gavril. Gabriel will feel right at home here, and will want to try the large bed standing in the middle of the room. The bed has black iron shackles attached to the bedposts, and the sheets on the bed seem to have been soiled with something, now dark brown in colour. In a closet by the bed hangs a selection of leather whips as well as various needles and hooks. There is also a desk in one of the corners. In one of the drawers a half finished letter can be found. (See player handouts). Michael will feel even more at unease here. The Ritual Room (28) This room is almost empty. Embedded into the floor is an unbroken circle of cast iron, now slightly rusted. Dust covers everything in this room. In the corners of the room stand large black iron chandeliers, some of which still have candles in them. The floor is stained with something of a dark brown colour, now long since dried. Strange symbols are carved into the floor in and around the iron circle.
The Basement The Boiler Room (30) This is where the school gets its heating in the winter. A large black boiler, that for some reason is kept lit and red-hot, dominates the room. A large pile of coal lies next to it and shovels and iron rakes hang in the furthermost wall. The Cells (31) This room is practically stacked with old furniture. However if one makes ones way trough the room and over the furniture, one can see the northernmost wall being lined with cells with iron bars. Some of them are soiled with some dried brown substance and all of them have rusted iron shackles attached to the walls. J anitors Office (32) This is the “office” of the school janitor. He is nowhere to be found, but the room holds an old beat up couch, a small table and a lamp. A dirty blanked lies on the couch as well as a ragged dirty pillow. On the table a worn and badgered copy of “Dante’s Inferno” lies.
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The NPCs Steve and Diane Freeling They are the parents of our main characters. They are model parents in most respects, however this may modify a bit during the course of the next few days… Steve is a man in his early forties with short blond hair and a warm bear-like quality about him. Picture the kind of father you see in movies from the fifties and you’re there. Steve works at a scrap-yard/antique-shop in central Craneville most of the day. He will always be happy to see his children even if they show up for work. Diane is by all respects the model homemaker, serving dinner on time, cleaning the house and like Steve could be taken right from a fifties move. She is in her late thirties, wears dresses and has an almost charming ignorance for most things that go on in the world. They will act in unison on most subjects, including their attitude to the children. They will reprimand Michael a lot more than Gabriel, and i t will seem as though Gabriel can do nothing wrong. He is obviously their favourite. Dina will be treated somewhere in between, not reprimanded as much as Michael, but not loved as much as Gabriel. Raphael will be mostly ignored and left to his own devices. During the course of this adventure there will be some horrid and strange events taking place. The parents will both act as if this is completely normal and just as it should be. If approached by the children with stories of strange or grotesque nature they will simply say things like “That’s good dear” or “That’s nice”. Play up on this vibe to the point of the ridiculous. Consider their stats to be equal to the Standard NPC described below for most purposes. The teachers at the school The teachers are covered under the description of the school and are more a part of the school than actual persons. Therefore they will not be described further here.
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Moses, nepharite serving the Deathangel Samael (If you don’t know what a nepharite is, think Pinhead and the others from the Hellraiser movies and you get the picture). This is the main “antagonist” of the adventure. He is vengeful and angry that they escaped his purgatories and he definitely wants them back. He has therefore made a trap for them, Craneville. The point of the trap is to make them remember who they used to be, so that he can once again punish them for their sins. He is the most trusted nepharite of the Angel of Death Samael. (A deathangel can be considered a powerful demon lord for those not familiar with the Kult mythology). In his true form he is over two meters tall, dressed in a long black leather butchers apron that looks almost as a shirt. His chest is bare and has long rusted iron spikes jutting out from the ribcage. His flesh is pale, almost grey and his appearance is that of a thin human with twisted features. His head has no hair four iron spikes are driven into his head at the forehead, temples and back. His hands have long thin fingers that have too many joints, giving them an inhuman appearance. His cracked fingernails are long as well giving the impression of claws. He is armed with a large curved iron skinning-knife attached to a chain. When he does not wish to reveal his true form he can look like anyone he pleases and can change his appearance at will.
Moses will hesitate to attack the characters openly, but may harm and hurt them to torment them. The point of Craneville is not to kill the characters but to make them remember. That does not mean that they will not believe themselves to be in mortal danger. Narrow escapes should come with a price, and dangers are supposed to lead the characters to discover more and more about their past lives. Keep in mind though that Moses is a creature of pain, and will toy with the characters and torment them for his own pleasures sake. AGL 40 EGO 30
STR 50 CHA 35
CON 50 PER 25
COM 5 EDU 25
Senses: Like a human, but can see people’s auras and mental balances. Will be aware of anything that happens in Craneville. Communication: All languages. Telepathy. Initiative bonus: +28 Damage Bonus: +10 Endurance: 280 Damage Capacity: 10 Scratches =1 Light Wound 9 Light Wounds =1 Serious Wound 7 Serious Wounds =1 Fatal Wound Can take 2 Fatal Wounds before dying Powers: Telepathy – can read memories and feelings. Distort time and space to appear anywhere he likes at any time, even several places at once. Skills: Sneak 20, Dodge 15, Dagger 25, Whips and Chains 50, Unarmed Combat 30, Search 30, Torture 80. Feel free to add any skills at any level you feel like to make the story work for you. The Dark Art: 20. In Craneville assume that he can change reality more or less as he pleases. He will for instance never allow the characters to leave Craneville and will make sure that cars don’t start, trees fall over roads, etc, to stop them. If all else fail he will make a personal appearance.
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Magic: The Lore of Death 50, all spells at 50. Possess 30. Gives the ability to possess a human body while the caster’s own body remains in Inferno or Purgatory. Carl Struycken This is the weird guy that works with Steven in the antique shop. He is tall and skinny, with a bald head and staring eyes. Think Lurch from The Addams Family. He is a silent type and will not speak unless spoken to. He does a lot of the manual work at the store and is always fixing things or carrying heavy objects around. He is despite his appearance mostly harmless. Consider his stats to be equal to the Standard NPC described below for most purposes. Add +10 to STR. Christopher L loyd He is the owner of Lloyd’s Antiques, and Stevens boss. He is an old man with shoulder length white hair, small round glasses and carries a cane with a cranes head. He will laugh at almost anything and will pinch the cheek of any of the characters that come within reach. Consider his stats to be equal to the Standard NPC described below for most purposes. Lower AGL to 6. The Rest Other than this Craneville will seem full of normal sleepy small-town life. Feel free to invent any characters you feel you need. Standard NPC These stats are for whenever you just need some stats for a general NPC. AGL 10 EGO 10
STR 10 CHA 10
CON 10 PER 10
COM 10 EDU 10
Senses: Normal senses. Communication: English only. Initiative bonus: +/-0 Damage Bonus: +/-0 Endurance: 80 Damage Capacity: 4 Scratches =1 Light Wound 3 Light Wounds =1 Serious Wound 3 Serious Wounds =1 Fatal Wound Dies after receiving 1 Fatal Wound. Skills: Give the NPC skills as appropriate.
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The Timetable This adventure will take place over five days. Therefore the events to take place are sorted under each day and night. Some of the events are mere suggestions on ways to create mood and get the players hooked, while some of the events must take place for the adventure to run its course. Below you will also find events that could take place at any time during the five days, most of them location specific, some not. Events marked with a * are events that must take place. Also slight (sometimes dramatic) changes will happen to Craneville and their population as the days progress. When playing out the dream sequences try not to make it obvious that the characters are in a dream, but rather that what they experience is real. Day One Craneville will be as previously described. Moving in* – The first event of the adventure should be the arrival at Craneville. The characters will drive their old beat up Volvo 240 with their mom to their new house. There the moving truck will already have arrived with their furniture and the father will be busy directing the moving guys where to put stuff. Use this event to describe the house to the players. To the school* – At some point Diane will take the characters to their first day at school. The Principal will meet them in his office and they will be enrolled by the administration. They will be given a tour of the school and the grounds. They will of course only be shown the offices and classrooms, not any of the “special” rooms. If the characters enquire about other rooms the principal will only say that those rooms are part of the original building and are not used for the time being. Use this event to make the most of the classes and the mood at the school.
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Brushing teeth* – One of the characters go to brush their teeth (preferably alone). The second he/she looks into the mirror a horrid face with grey skin, an insane grin and spikes protruding from its skull will appear. The mirror will instantly crack, just a little, and the face will be gone as quickly as it appeared. Thirsty – During the night have one of the characters wake up thirsty. Remembering the orange juice in the fridge the character makes his/hers way downstairs for something to drink. The lights seem to be out, but finding the fridge in the kitchen should be no problem in the little bit of moonlight coming from the windows. Play up on the draft from the fireplace and the curtains moving slightly as of their own will to make the mood a bit creepy. When the character opens the fridge, the kitchen is bathed in the light from it, and taking the bottle of juice the characters suddenly sees a tall dark figure (Moses) standing beside him/her. Startled he/she drops the bottle that smashes against the floor and the door to the fridge closes making the kitchen once more pitch black. The figure is then nowhere to be found. The Dream 1 – One of the characters (preferably Raphael or Dina) will be having a dream about slaving in the mines. He/she will be a child pushing one of the heavy carts used to transport the coal from the bottom of the mine to the entrance. When he/she gets to the top a tall figure (either Mike or Gavril Decker, although the characters does not know this at the time) will stand before him/her and yell at them for not working hard enough and being lazy. He will then slap the poor child across the face, slamming him/her to the ground. The character will then awake. A red mark can be seen across the characters face from where the blow hit him/her and Michael/Gabriel will seem to have hurt his hand the next morning. Day Two The teachers at the school will be ever so slightly more abusive than they where yesterday. Field trip* - The whole school is having a field trip to the old factory that used to be the centre of power for the Decker brothers. Here they will receive a lecture on the history of Craneville as with mention of the brothers, the harlot and the priest, as well as graphic descriptions of the horrid conditions for the workers. They will also be shown the entrance to the mines and will be told in vivid detail about the tragedy that took place there. The Greenhouse – One of the characters will find the greenhouse at the school to be a seemingly peaceful place, and will want to go there to relax for a moment alone. Sitting by the pond under the tree he/she will notice that all the sounds from inside the school and the yard outside has stopped. There is nothing to be heard except silence. He/she will then notice an impossibly tall figure (Moses) standing outside the greenhouse looking in at them. The figure seems to have some sort of crown (the spikes), but only the shadow can be seen trough the old yellowed glass of the green house. A pupil or teacher will then call the character in to class from the door and suddenly the sounds can be heard again. The shadow is gone. The cough – One of the characters will start to get coughs. Nothing serious, but just unexpected and irritating. The cough will get gradually worse over the next couple of
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days and the character will start to cough up black slime and have trouble with short breath. The Dream 2 – One of the characters will have a dream about being chained to their bed and being whipped with a nine-tailed-cat (A whip with nine extensions with little hooks on them). The character will wake up screaming and will have bloodied marks on his/her back. Day Three The teachers will be even more abusive. The kids at the school will have slightly dirty clothes and some will have soot (coal dust really) on their cheeks and hands. The parents will seem to almost live in their own little world, and be even more distant than they used to be. People in the town will seem more tired somehow and several will be thin as from starvation. Here and there you can see scenes of parents beating and abusing their children. The Argument – One of the characters will hear an argument trough one of the doors of the school (not a classroom or office door, one of the “special” rooms). I t appears a man and a woman is having an argument over her fucking his brother behind his back. She is accusing him of being weak and not fully a man, while he is screaming that if she doesn’t stop it he will kill her. If the character opens the door, all turns silent and there is no one in the room. Describe the room as you would. The Dream 3 – Raphael will have this dream. He is in an old church (THE old church. He will recognize it if they already have been there. Otherwise just describe the church as you would). He feels dragged down by feelings of guilt and walks in towards the altar. He grabs a piece of paper and hastily writes; “We all deserve Hell” on it and fastens it to his chest. He then climbs up the ladder and takes the rope from the bell and makes a noose. Slowly he puts it around his neck and lets himself fall. The tug feels like a blow to his neck but he does not die. He will awake coughing as if someone just tried to strangle him, and a red mark shows around his neck.
Day Four The teachers are just as abusive as the day before, and one of the teachers actually beats a pupil to death in the hallway for some minor transgression. The feeling of hatred and disgust towards the characters visibly grow as if they are to blame although no one actually attacks the characters. Even in town the people seem to look at them with hateful eyes. The only exception is Raphael who feels the children looking at him with pleading eyes although noneof themseemto dear to speak to him. A lot of what happens for the rest of the adventure depends on what the characters have discovered so fare, and whether they have realized the truth or not. The Butcher – One or more of the characters are asked to join their mother as she goes shopping for dinner. She goes to a butchers shop down town and as they enter there are quite a lot of people there already waiting for their turn. One by one the people get their orders and leave and when the character(s) get to the counter they see various human body parts on display. There are legs and arms and parts of cut of pieces of flesh in metal trays, and even a human head with an apple stuck into its
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mouth. The butcher is just wrapping up a human baby for a customer, commenting that it will make an excellent pot roast, as their mother approaches the counter. She tells him she is looking for some meat to make a good stew, totally unaffected by the display of carnage before her. She asks him for some meat for a stew she’s cooking for dinner. He picks out a nice piece of meat for her and wraps it up. She pays him and leaves. She later cooks the stew with the meat she bought and serves it for dinner that same day. The Dream 4 – All of the characters will have this dream. They find themselves standing in a cave of some sort, with only an old oil-lantern to light their way (The “cave” is actually the mines, and the characters might recognize it as such if they have been there before). As they walk they seem to go deeper down no matter which passage they choose (even if they try to walk back the way they came). In the distance they can hear people screaming for help. Whether they choose to follow the sounds or not they will soon reach a blocked of passage way down where the cave have collapsed. The screaming continues on until it reaches deafening levels and a failed CON roll diff. 30 will result in bleeding from the ears. Suddenly the screaming stops. When the characters look around they are surrounded by scores of people. The people are children, men and women all dressed in dirty rags, skinny and starving with black holes where their eyes should have been. As one they all attack the characters and try to rip them to pieces. Even if the characters flee, they should at some point be cornered and the seized by the attackers. The characters will all wake up in their beds sweaty and with bruises and claw marks on their bodies, clothes ripped to shreds.
Day Five This is the last day of the adventure. Endgame* – The characters are awoken during the night of a lot of people outside (no matter where they spend the night). There are people carrying shovels and picks and torches. The mob is banging on the doors yelling for them to come out. If they don’t come out the mob will break into the house, and if they try to run they will be chased down. Once they have been seized (they might be a bit beat up at this point) they will be taken to the ruin of the factory and thrown inside. Once inside the mob will turn silent and just wait outside. When they start looking around they will see a tall man with grey skin standing with his back to them between rows of machines of unknown purpose. He will slowly turn towards them (describe Moses in all his morbid horror) and say; “So, are you finally ready to be punished for your sins?” He will point at something behind them, and as they turn they will see the mirror, now almost completely cracked. He will look at Raphael and say; “You know what you have to do. Break the mirror and you will all be judged, as you should be.”
If Raphael breaks the mirror the crashing sound of the glass crushing will be deafening and it will seem as if the whole of reality is breaking with it. They will now be in Inferno. The only one not there is Raphael. If Raphael refuses to break the mirror the nepharite will look at him with disgust and say; “Well, you never seemto be able to follow your conviction do you? Not then and
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not now.” He will then point at the mirror that breaks scattering shards of broken glass over the characters who is cut by them. Bleeding they will fall to the floor. The nepharite will then grin at them and say; “Welcome home.” They will now all be in Inferno. Let the screaming begin. Any time The Phone – If the characters should ever try to use the phone the only thing they will hear is a metallic rhythmic sound that strangely reminds them of heartbeats. Doing research* – If the characters should ever try to research the school library for information on anything, one of them will bump into one of the shelves making an old envelope fall from the top. The envelope contains the old birth certificates and engagement certificate of Dani and Mike. The dates on the birth certificates match perfectly the birth dates Dina and Michael (Except for year of course). The librarian – At some point when the characters are in the library they will be standing in between shelves. They will then see the old librarian pushing a trolley of books past them, seen only trough the opening between the shelves. For a moment he will appear as an old tired and dirty man in old clothes pushing a cart with metal wheels (the kind they used in the mines), before disappearing out of sight. If the characters run out to see, his appearance will have changed back to normal and if enquired about it he will seem not to know what the characters are talking about. He will kindly pat one of them on the shoulder and send them on their way back to class. A black coal-dust imprint of his hand will later be seen on the shoulder of that character. Old habits – If any of the characters (Not Raphael) get into a fight, have it end badly. Not with them losing, but with the other kid getting hurt badly. This could happen by them falling down a flight of stairs, falling hard on a rock, or from the character using something to hit them with. If so, the principal will suddenly be standing behind them, hands folded on his back just eyeing them and coldly commenting; “Getting back to our old habits are we?” The Principal will have no further comments on the matter. He/she will however not be punished for the event, but the other kids will look at him/her with disgust and fear for the rest of the day. Exploring – This is the catchall event for the characters exploring the school or any of the other locations of Craneville. It is important that they get all the player handouts at some point. Use it for all it is worth… Memories – Feel free to “implement” memories of the characters past lives as you see fit, and especially after they start getting the picture of what is going on.
The Mirror The Mirror requires some explaining I feel. The mirror is a symbol of the border between this world and Inferno. I t will show up at various places, among them the antique shop, the Freeling’s house attic and the school. The Mirror will be more and more cracked as the story progresses and will be in worse and worse shape as the days go by. All the mirrors in Craneville are affected by this as well and will be cracked to 29
an equal degree as The Mirror at all times. The Mirror however is indestructible until the last scene: Endgame. It will resist all attempts to destroy it, and although the characters can break the other mirrors in Craneville this won’t help them at all. As the mirror is cracked more and more, a slightly visible red glow will emanate from the cracks, and if one listens carefully one can hear moans and low screams of pain coming from it.
The Characters Due to space restrictions the characters are only described on the record sheets. Y ou, the GM, should read trough them (as well as all the player handouts) before running this scenario.
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Thanks to: Gunilla Jonnson and Michael Petersen, for creating the meanest RPG around. All the guys at The Last Cycle, for all your support, input and inspiration. Torben, for hosting the best Kult forum ever. (Check it out at: http://www.kult-rpg.com/). All my friends, for keeping up with me pestering themwith ideas and plots. My flatmate Chris, for being my strongest critic ever Seventh Circle, who decided to once more make this wonderful RPG available to the masses. All those people who allowed to GM for them even when I sucked, and which helped me get at least a bit better at telling stories. My history teachers, for teaching about the very real horrors of the industrial revolution.
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