Children of the Night Ghosts
Children of the Night Ghosts
2e
Mae Upton, First-Magnitude Ghost: Mae Upton passed away on the very morning that the heroes entered Stangengrad. In a cruel twist of fate, her spirit did not go on to whatever final rest awaited it. Instead, Mae found herself still attached to this world, retaining all her memories but also awash in a dreadful epiphany; she was given complete understanding of exactly what had happened to Jimmy and exactly how it was all her fault. Another flash of inspiration told her that in order to escape the same fate she had unwittingly inflicted on her son, she would have to find a cure for his condition. To this end, she walks again in the world of the living for the sole purpose of securing the heroes’ aid. If they save Jimmy, they also save her.
On the day of Jimmy’s encounter with Fennelstock, Mae heard several neighbors tell tales of what happened. She became convinced that her son had been killed. The guilt she felt was overwhelming; she had lied to her only child and used his love for her to send him into a confrontation from which he never returned. She devoted the rest of her life to helping the poor, caring for the debilitated, and preaching the ways of honesty to her former partners in crime. She did all this in the hopes of regaining enough of her honor to be able to look her son in the face when they meet in the afterlife.
Ghost Cat, Unfamiliar, Minor Fury: ?
Wilhelm Pellman, First-Magnitude Ghost: Wilhelm had been trying to find Mark, to warn him about Kole’s particularly angry mood that day. He caught up with his friend just in time to see the final blow. When he saw Mark’s body go limp and fall to the ground, Wilhelm screamed, turned, and fled into the street, where he was struck by an out-of-control cart carrying vegetables to the market.
Wilhelm lay where he fell, bleeding from a massive head wound. A local innkeeper known as Mother Ladria held him and tried to make sense of his last words as he died. Because of the violent scene that he witnessed just before his death, Wilhelm became a ghost.
Susannah Joson, Third-Magnitude Geist: At last, Rafe convinced Susannah to go with him for a romantic boat ride on the pond, promising it would help “put to rest her torturous fears over what had happened to her family.” He pinned a red rose to her dress to win her over, and the tactic worked to his ends once more. Then, he rowed to the center of the pond and absently asked what she would give to learn her family’s fate, to which she responded “my life!”
“Fair enough,” said Rafe with a cruel chuckle. He plucked the rose from her shoulder and threw it into the water, where Susannah slowly focused upon her brothers and parents, just barely visible in the depths. As she screamed in horror, Rafe seized her from behind and held her head under the water so she could look into the vacant eyes of her dead family while she, herself, drowned. When she stopped struggling, he took a knife and cut her ring finger off, claiming the family heirloom of her grandmother’s wedding ring.
Susannah is a third-magnitude geist, owing to the fact that she died traumatically.
Jediah Joson, Second-Magnitude Ghost: Susannah’s parents and two brothers are all second-magnitude ghosts. Their ghostly origin is due to sudden death, strengthened by the betrayal of Rafe.
Meriam Joson, Second-Magnitude Ghost: Susannah’s parents and two brothers are all second-magnitude ghosts. Their ghostly origin is due to sudden death, strengthened by the betrayal of Rafe.
Aldan Joson, Second-Magnitude Ghost: Susannah’s parents and two brothers are all second-magnitude ghosts. Their ghostly origin is due to sudden death, strengthened by the betrayal of Rafe.
Tomon Joson, Second-Magnitude Ghost: Susannah’s parents and two brothers are all second-magnitude ghosts. Their ghostly origin is due to sudden death, strengthened by the betrayal of Rafe.
Pond Zombie: The ghost Susannah’s passion and beauty have made quick work of many men, so lots of bodies lie in the pond. They rise much like the Josons do, as a variety of the common zombie.
Theona Helsvar, Third-Magnitude Ghost: Finally realizing what was happening as her sentence was read aloud by the mayor, Theona started invoking her spell. Unfortunately, she was tied to a stake before she could finish the spell. Searching out the figure of Monica, Theona stared at the girl as her body began to bum. As pain swept over her, Theona continued to stare at Monica until a wave of disorientation hit her. She blinked and found herself standing among the townspeople, watching as her dead former body was burned to ashes. Looking down at herself, she realized that she was in Monica’s body.
Monica Ferrier, Second-Magnitude Ghost: Instead of departing, Monica’s spirit managed to remain nearby, intent on regaining her stolen body.
Lord Alexander von Lupinoff, Third-Magnitude Ghost: Just as the moon reached its zenith, Alexander appeared at the edge of the clearing in wolf form. After the wolf killed the goat and settled down to its meal, the villagers opened fire with their bows and mortally wounded it. As the wolf lay dying, its form shifted into that of Alexander von Lupinoff. The villagers backed away in awe and terror. Fearful that Alexander might live long enough to understand what his former friend had done to him, Claude stepped up and delivered the final, killing blow with the same silver dagger he had used to kill the sorcerer. As Claude struck, Alexander fully realized his former friend’s part in the whole situation. While part of Alexander was saddened by his friends betrayal, another part of him, the aspect of Alexander that had been attracted to the wolf form, cursed his former friend and killer. He wished Claude to suffer the rage and despair that filled the final moments of his own life until such time as Claude confessed his crime.
Lord Claude Hornberg, Second-Magnitude Ghost, Mutable Ghoul-Ghost Hybrid: ?
Sir Marcus Malvoy, Third-Magnitude Ghost: The beast found Marcus and tormented him. Sir Marcus cried for mercy and, finally, for death. The undead creature surrounded Sir Marcus with the bodies of his allies and animated them. They all cursed him with dead tongues, and Sir Marcus cried out, beseeching the monster for release.
Finally, the undead beast put Sir Marcus to death. Even then, Sir Marcus’s story did not end. Sir Marcus can no longer escape his torment, any more than he can escape his world.
Hurrek the Giant, Fourth Magnitude Ghost Stone Giant: The temple remained hidden for about thirty years, but then a truly cruel warlord found it, and Hurrek died by torture. As he had tortured people in the past himself, his new nature made the experience even more unbearable as he realized the pain he had caused others. The agony brought him back from death as a very powerful but very sad ghost.
Accalus, First-Magnitude Ghost: Acchalus’s violent death and, more importantly, his failure to defend the temple, caused him to return as a ghost.
Marta, Geist: This is Marta, a warrior who fell in the battle and arose as a geist, a harmless restless spirit.
Lord Bryg Colvin, Wight: ?
Nicholai Melantha, Third-Magnitude Ghost: Enraged by this “back-talk,” the father proceeded to beat Nikolai harder and more violently than ever before. Nikolai died to the screams of his mother and sister. As life left him, his final words were: “Don’t you ever touch my sister again, you monster.”
Intelligent Zombie: If a wizard or priest spends 1d4 minutes flipping through the pages of the book, the hero realizes that the text covers the creation of zombies through the use of a magic powder rather than the casting of actual spells. A pinch of the powder must be thrown into the face of the victim, and if he breathes any of it, or gets any in his eyes, he dies within a minute. After ten minutes, he reanimates as an intelligent zombie who is unwaveringly loyal to his creator. Only a dispel magic or neutralize poison spell will stop the process. (Slow poison delays the inevitable.)
Additionally, Nanette has one use of the magical powder that creates zombies. During the first round of combat, she throws it into the face of an attacking hero (with only a -1 penalty to her attack roll, due to the called-shot penalty being offset by her high Dexterity). The hero must then make a successful saving throw vs. death magic, or die within 1d4 rounds-only to rise again as a zombie under Nanette’s complete control (but with all his skills intact).
Rhianna, Third-Magnitude Ghost: Rhianna’s guilt at being involved in so many horrible deaths overpowered her so much that she has become a restless ghost.
Duncan MacFarn, Fourth-Magnitude Ghost: When the door closed, Duncan barred it from the outside with a four-inch beam of solid oak that dropped into iron receivers two inches thick. His archers on the vented roof drew their ashen bows and rained death on Donal and his men from the murder holes Duncan had carved.
When the last man (Donal himself) twitched a final spasm, Duncan’s men opened the door, reentered the hall, and knifed any who showed brief signs of life. They removed the tables and the remains of the feast, and then returned with the paving blocks. Donal and his men were interred on the bare soil, and Duncan’s varlets laid the dressed floor stones atop their bleeding corpses. The hall they reset for dining, and the victors sat to drink and feast.
One year later, on the anniversary of that bloody, tragic night, Duncan MacFarn of MacFarn, Chief of Clan MacFarn, came home to celebrate his wedding in the ancient keep. The chief, his blushingly beautiful new bride, and the entire bridal party gathered in the feast hall. Just as the last guest entered, the oak door slammed shut. The four-inch beam, without human agency, fell into its thick receivers, and the stones of the floor began to fly. In their hundreds they flew, whirling and smashing about the room, striking and bashing and hammering; death rode bloody wings that night. Everyone was slain. Duncan lay smashed and broken, penetrated by granite shards.
Ghost of Hospitality, Third Magnitude Ghost: When the door closed, Duncan barred it from the outside with a four-inch beam of solid oak that dropped into iron receivers two inches thick. His archers on the vented roof drew their ashen bows and rained death on Donal and his men from the murder holes Duncan had carved.
When the last man (Donal himself) twitched a final spasm, Duncan’s men opened the door, reentered the hall, and knifed any who showed brief signs of life. They removed the tables and the remains of the feast, and then returned with the paving blocks. Donal and his men were interred on the bare soil, and Duncan’s varlets laid the dressed floor stones atop their bleeding corpses. The hall they reset for dining, and the victors sat to drink and feast.
One year later, on the anniversary of that bloody, tragic night, Duncan MacFarn of MacFarn, Chief of Clan MacFarn, came home to celebrate his wedding in the ancient keep. The chief, his blushingly beautiful new bride, and the entire bridal party gathered in the feast hall. Just as the last guest entered, the oak door slammed shut. The four-inch beam, without human agency, fell into its thick receivers, and the stones of the floor began to fly. In their hundreds they flew, whirling and smashing about the room, striking and bashing and hammering; death rode bloody wings that night. Everyone was slain. Duncan lay smashed and broken, penetrated by granite shards.
Vlana Waldershen, Fourth-Magnitude Ghost: Two days after Vlana locked herself in the tower, the annual harvest festival took place in the village. As Thaeos reigned over the festivities, young Drugen enjoyed watching the jugglers and listening to the music of the minstrels. At the festival’s climax, Vlana appeared suddenly in her old Vistani garb and made long accusations about Thaeos’s treachery and deceitfulness. Just when her vituperative cries seemed to reach the pinnacle of ferocity and hatred, Vlana invoked a terrible curse, condemning the entire Waldershen line for Thaeos’s crimes against her. After her vile declaration, she leaped at him, but Thaeos was quicker. He ducked her charge and, grabbing a sword from his chief advisor, Bracy, struck the baroness through the heart. Vlana writhed in agony as the cold steel bit her flesh, and she died within moments. At her death, her shade caressed Drugen (using her cause wound ability) and then fled to the manor and took up residence in the mausoleum, where she has rested undisturbed ever since.
Josephine de Monceau, Third-Magnitude Ghost: ?
Ezekiel Preston, Fourth-Magnitude Ghost: One winter’s day, while trying to find a good spot to beg for more coins, he stumbled over a frozen corpse. Instead of seeing the corpse’s face, however, he saw his own. Fear settled deep into Preston’s bones. That night, while lying shivering in the poorhouse and brooding over Amalia’s love for another man, he vowed that death would never hold him. The next morning, his corpse was thrown onto a heap with several others while his ghost watched gleefully.
Amalia Preston, Second-Magnitude Ghost: On a gloomy winter day precisely six months after Willem’s demise, Amalia sat straight up in her bed and spoke to her maid. Her figure was bony and her hair matted, but in her eyes danced the old sparkle of life. “I’ll soon see Willem!” she announced. “Help me get ready!” Then her voice dropped to a whisper. “Make sure that we are together in this world for all eternity.” Then Amalia fell back into her pillows and died.
Preston, despite her deathbed request, buried Amalia on the edge of the woods behind his home, with a white marble stone marking her grave.
When Willem turned thirteen, he and Amalia (who was eleven) stood under a spreading oak tree and promised themselves to each other forever, sealing their pact with a kiss. When Amalia turned fourteen and finished school, they planned to marry.
In the meantime, Amalia’s parents promised her hand to Ezekiel Preston. The young couple pleaded with Amalia’s father and mother to cancel the wedding, but the Wrights would not hear of it. Amalia cried every day as the wedding approached. Her parents realized that a bride who cried through her wedding day would be quite a spectacle and would not reflect favorably on anyone. They postponed the wedding until they could ensure that their daughter was restored to physical and mental health.
Overjoyed at her temporary freedom, Amalia ran from the house, saddled her horse, and set off to find Willem. At his home, however, she learned from a neighbor that he had left the house in a rage, carrying a sword and cursing Preston under his breath. Amalia rode swiftly to Preston’s home, hoping to prevent Willem from committing an act he would regret.
Upon reaching Preston Hill, she could hear angry shouts so she spurred her horse up the slope. As she crested the hill, she caught sight of Preston and Willem sparring with each other, but a sudden flash of steel in the moonlight told her she was too late. Willem staggered and crumpled to the ground, a victim of Preston’s quick dagger. The following day, Willem was laid to rest in the graveyard adjoining the school where he and Amalia played as children.
Willem Tyson, Third-Magnitude Ghost: When Willem turned thirteen, he and Amalia (who was eleven) stood under a spreading oak tree and promised themselves to each other forever, sealing their pact with a kiss. When Amalia turned fourteen and finished school, they planned to marry.
In the meantime, Amalia’s parents promised her hand to Ezekiel Preston. The young couple pleaded with Amalia’s father and mother to cancel the wedding, but the Wrights would not hear of it. Amalia cried every day as the wedding approached. Her parents realized that a bride who cried through her wedding day would be quite a spectacle and would not reflect favorably on anyone. They postponed the wedding until they could ensure that their daughter was restored to physical and mental health.
Overjoyed at her temporary freedom, Amalia ran from the house, saddled her horse, and set off to find Willem. At his home, however, she learned from a neighbor that he had left the house in a rage, carrying a sword and cursing Preston under his breath. Amalia rode swiftly to Preston’s home, hoping to prevent Willem from committing an act he would regret.
Upon reaching Preston Hill, she could hear angry shouts so she spurred her horse up the slope. As she crested the hill, she caught sight of Preston and Willem sparring with each other, but a sudden flash of steel in the moonlight told her she was too late. Willem staggered and crumpled to the ground, a victim of Preston’s quick dagger. The following day, Willem was laid to rest in the graveyard adjoining the school where he and Amalia played as children.
Lich: ?
Wight: ?
Bastellus: Rhianna’s mother discovered her limp body the next morning. In an effort to prevent further night terrors from springing from Rhianna’s death, her family cremated the body (which prevented her from becoming a bastellus like the one that killed her).
Ghost: If the Waldershen have died and the heroes have not managed to banish Vlana from the manor grounds with her ashes, she takes control of the manor house and attempts to rule the lands around it. She begins terrorizing the village and turns her victims into ghosts bent-on serving her needs.
