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<blockquote data-quote="Gradine" data-source="post: 7514423" data-attributes="member: 57112"><p><strong><u>Ravenloft: Writ in Blood</u></strong></p><p>Byzantine Schemes</p><p>Elder Signpost</p><p>Dread Ninja</p><p>Pie Wagon</p><p>Red Unicorn</p><p>Deadly Ink</p><p>Iron Law</p><p>Traitor</p><p></p><p><strong>Shodō</strong></p><p>Shodō is one of the Domains of Ravenloft, the Demiplane of Dread. It is ruled over by the daimyo Ooma, but its true Darklord is the notorious shinobi Nagato. The two grew up together, and treated each other as brothers; together they expanded Shodō and brought it prosperity. In the midst of a difficult war, Ooma sent Nagato to assassinate the tyrant lord Nobunaga. </p><p></p><p>Unfortunately, Nagato failed in his mission and was captured. Instead of accepting his execution, as honor would demand, Nagato persuaded Nobunaga to hire him instead, and forged a contract with him to kill Ooma and his entire family. The contract was signed in Nagato’s blood. Nagato returned, and as Ooma embraced him, he drove his tantō into his former lord’s back. Nagato continued on to slaughter most of Ooma’s family, though princess Junsui was able to escape. The mists of the Dark Powers descended on the prefecture as Nagato chased her, failing to fulfill his contracted mission.</p><p></p><p>Ooma exists now as a ghost, though none of Shodō’s native inhabitants have noticed, and thus he is still recognized as the rightful daimyo. He spends little time ruling, however, as he is despondent over the betrayal of Nagato and the death of his family. Both of his sons are dead, and only his teenage daughter, Junsui, remains truly alive; at least to an extent. Each night at midnight she suffers the fate Nagato intended for her, and blood pours from her as she is repeatedly impaled by an unseen force. Ooma dotes on her by day, and mourns by night; each morning Junsui awakes in her original, pristine state. His realm has been run in his stead by his fleet of squabbling retainers.</p><p></p><p><strong>Atakakune Meat Pies</strong></p><p>The Dark Powers, as they are want to do, draw in groups of adventurers to their Domains of Dread for reasons known only to them. Perhaps they grow bored. Adventurers may seek out the lost prefecture of Shodō. Regardless of how they find themselves swept up by the mists of the Dark Powers, they eventually find themselves wandering the streets of this lost community, which is reeling from a series of disappearances; every night for the past month, exactly five citizens of the city go missing, and are never seen again. Most place blame on a local boogeyman called “Nagato”. There is little pattern to the disappearances, but intrepid investigators can discover that every district of the city has been home to these horrific crimes save one: Atakakune.</p><p></p><p>Atakakune is home to many markets and eateries, but none are so treasured by the people of the district as Pan-ya’s famous Meat Pies. A Shodō institution for generations, Pan-ya’s meat pie recipe is a closely guarded family secret. Pan-ya himself is a well-loved, gregarious man; his pies aren’t cheap, but he never turns away a hungry stomach, whether they can pay or not. </p><p></p><p>Pan-ya is the culprit of the disappearances; the key ingredient to his pies is human flesh. This can be confirmed by finding his family recipe, kept hidden within his humble wagon. If confronted, Pan-ya will insist he was only following the family recipe, that he somehow felt compelled to carry out the brutal murders each night to keep his pantry stocked. He will seem genuinely horrified by his actions. </p><p></p><p>The recipe does appear ancient and unaltered, but the disappearances began less than a month ago. The recipe was, in fact, altered; the Dark Powers, due to the nature of Nagato’s transgressions, have the power the pervert words written in ink, through which they have compelled many atrocities for their own amusements.</p><p></p><p>The disappearances solved, the people will look to the adventurers to solve a more dangerous mystery: the Beast of Aokigahara.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Beast of Aokigahara</strong></p><p>The Beast of Aokigahara has, for decades, demanded the sacrifice of a virgin once every four weeks, on the night of the full moon. When denied, the Beast has destroyed farms and corrupting the fields. All would-be heroes who have gone to slay the Beast have never returned; only the Beast remains, returning each full moon. For years, the young women of the city were forced to draw lots to determine the sacrificed. Strangely, however, nobody in the city can specifically remember the names of those who have been sacrificed in recent months; they can certainly recall sending young virgin women to their deaths, but nobody can actually remember who they were. With the next full moon nearing, the princess Junsui has offered herself in place of another sacrifice from the city, over the objections of her father.</p><p></p><p><strong><em>Shodō-jō</em></strong></p><p><em>Shodō-jō</em> is the castle in which Ooma, his family, and his staff reside. It is an impressive and imposing structure that looks out over the city and the surrounding countryside.</p><p></p><p>Ooma’s many retainers fight with each other over what remains of the Shodō prefecture; the corruption of many of Ooma’s directives, as well as the laws and edicts written by the court’s bureaucrats, have led to a tangled web of intrigue and schemes; a never-ending parade of alliances and backstabbing, poisonings and assassinations. Only one retainer has managed to remain above the fray: Grand Steward Taneka.</p><p></p><p>Taneka discovered the source of the corruption long ago, but has only managed to convince a handful of allies to believe his claims. He began to instead etch his messages and edicts in slabs of pure iron; he learned this writing would not be corrupted. If Pan-ya’s recipe is discovered, Taneka will hear about it through his agents and attempt to reach out to the adventurers. He will plead with the party to accompany Junsui on the night of the next full moon, and discover the true nature of the Beast, whom Taneka believes to be Nagato himself. Taneka can tell them the story of Ooma and Nagato, and of Nagato’s betrayal. Though he knows little of the nature of the Demiplane of Dread, he has definitely began to suspect that something deeply unnatural has happened to his homeland.</p><p></p><p><strong>The Virgin Princess</strong></p><p>Junsui maintains pretenses of being of the chaste, simple daughter of the daimyo, but this is merely a facade. Though none in the court maintain any memories of her gruesome deaths (including herself), and her monthly sacrifices are always forgotten by the people of Shodō the next day, she was nevertheless the first to suspect that something sinister was afoot in the realm, and reached out to Taneka when she noticed him coming to a similar conclusion. When Junsui first offered herself as the virgin sacrifice for the Beast, she instructed Taneka to make two copies of the edict declaring her sacrifice; one in paper, and one in iron, and to keep them hidden in her pillow. When she awoke the next day, she found both edicts; the edict in paper called had been corrupted, while the other spelled out her fate.</p><p></p><p>Though young, Junsui is clever, and a capable hunter, as she often skipped out on her calligraphy lessons to hunt in the woods of Aokigahara. She is not a seasoned adventurer, but she is not helpless either. On the night of Nagato’s assassination, she was able to wound him with an arrow and escape into the woods. Now their fates are bound, but because of this she has the protection of the Dark Powers; no harm can come to pass against her until the time of her appointed “death” and resurrection the following morning.</p><p></p><p><strong>Qi’lin</strong></p><p>Deep within the misty woods of Aokigahara lies the domain of Qi’lin, a unicorn and the former spiritual guardian of Junsui. His time trapped in the Demiplane of Dread, cut off from his divine connections, has corrupted him, and he seeks nothing more than to escape the domain of Shodō. His attempts to form the necessary seals to summon a portal to escape have all resulted in failure, primarily due to the Dark Powers corrupting the seals as they were drawn. But Qi’lin, in speaking to a fellow trapped spirit, has learned of one form of “ink” the Dark Powers could not corrupt: blood. In the light of the full moon, Qi’lin uses his sacrifice’s blood to slowly trace the necessary seals on the ancient trees around the woods. These markings point out the path to Qi’lin’s grove.</p><p></p><p>Qi’lin was originally frustrated that Junsui, once his sacred charge, was presented as a sacrifice. He grew more angry as he found himself unable to actually harm her. Still, when midnight came, Junsui would die and Qi’lin had the blood he needed. His confusion over Junsui’s returns was swiftly replaced with relief that he no longer had to responsible for murder. Still, the practice of tracing his seals has steadily stained his pure white fur a dark blood-red.</p><p></p><p><strong>Nagato</strong></p><p>Qi’lin’s friendly spirit is none other than Nagato himself. Unable to be seen or directly interact with the world as part of the curse placed upon him by the Dark Powers, Nagato can do little but whisper words into the wind; his favorite pastime is to whisper his name in the ears of the sleeping citizens of Shodō. He maintains his sway over the people through fear alone. In his own quest to escape his curse, he learned that his fate is tied to Junsui. Only by completing his contract, signed in blood, can he truly find peace. But he cannot directly kill her. He does not realize that the Dark Powers maintain their protection over her until midnight; it is only during this time can he, just a moment, act upon the world. It is this precise moment, however, when the Dark Powers “kill” Junsui, right in front of him if they can arrange it. Because Nagato’s contract requires him to personally kill Ooma’s family, it remains unfulfilled, and the Dark Powers restore Junsui to life each morning.</p><p></p><p>Though he had originally hoped that convincing Qi’lin to slay the princess would free him, he began to realize that Qi’lin’s portal might actually allow him to leave the Demiplane of Dread as well, and he has continued to urge the corrupted unicorn on.</p><p></p><p><strong>Resolution</strong></p><p>Adventurers might choose to allow Qi’lin to complete his seals and follow him through the resulting portal, as Nagato intends to. This will, in fact, return them to their home plane. Qi’lin, for his transgressions, will be immediately transformed into a wretched demon and dragged into the Abyss. Nagato, on the other hand, will regain his mortality and corporeal form, and will be free to offer his skills to a new master. The Dark Powers will instead turn their attentions to the suffering of Ooma, which they will escalate; as they let out their wrath from Nagato’s escape. Junsui will take Nagato’s place as an invisible, incorporeal being, unable to let her father know of her fate. They and their people will continue to suffer to the end of time.</p><p></p><p>Alternatively, the heroes can attempt to sway Ooma to move on. His grief over his family’s slaying and anger over Nagato’s betrayal are what tie him to world. If he can be convinced that Nagato suffers also, and that the rest of his family is already at peace, he might be willing to move on himself. The Beast of Aokigahara must be dealt with first, however; he will otherwise refuse to abandon his people and his daughter in their time of need. </p><p></p><p>Ooma’s passing severs the ties between Shodō and the Demiplane of Dread, and frees the prefecture from the Dark Powers’ grasp. All that will be left is Nagato’s incorporeal form, as the Dark Powers spend eternity dreaming up new ways to punish and torment him for their amusement.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Gradine, post: 7514423, member: 57112"] [B][U]Ravenloft: Writ in Blood[/U][/B] Byzantine Schemes Elder Signpost Dread Ninja Pie Wagon Red Unicorn Deadly Ink Iron Law Traitor [B]Shodō[/B] Shodō is one of the Domains of Ravenloft, the Demiplane of Dread. It is ruled over by the daimyo Ooma, but its true Darklord is the notorious shinobi Nagato. The two grew up together, and treated each other as brothers; together they expanded Shodō and brought it prosperity. In the midst of a difficult war, Ooma sent Nagato to assassinate the tyrant lord Nobunaga. Unfortunately, Nagato failed in his mission and was captured. Instead of accepting his execution, as honor would demand, Nagato persuaded Nobunaga to hire him instead, and forged a contract with him to kill Ooma and his entire family. The contract was signed in Nagato’s blood. Nagato returned, and as Ooma embraced him, he drove his tantō into his former lord’s back. Nagato continued on to slaughter most of Ooma’s family, though princess Junsui was able to escape. The mists of the Dark Powers descended on the prefecture as Nagato chased her, failing to fulfill his contracted mission. Ooma exists now as a ghost, though none of Shodō’s native inhabitants have noticed, and thus he is still recognized as the rightful daimyo. He spends little time ruling, however, as he is despondent over the betrayal of Nagato and the death of his family. Both of his sons are dead, and only his teenage daughter, Junsui, remains truly alive; at least to an extent. Each night at midnight she suffers the fate Nagato intended for her, and blood pours from her as she is repeatedly impaled by an unseen force. Ooma dotes on her by day, and mourns by night; each morning Junsui awakes in her original, pristine state. His realm has been run in his stead by his fleet of squabbling retainers. [B]Atakakune Meat Pies[/B] The Dark Powers, as they are want to do, draw in groups of adventurers to their Domains of Dread for reasons known only to them. Perhaps they grow bored. Adventurers may seek out the lost prefecture of Shodō. Regardless of how they find themselves swept up by the mists of the Dark Powers, they eventually find themselves wandering the streets of this lost community, which is reeling from a series of disappearances; every night for the past month, exactly five citizens of the city go missing, and are never seen again. Most place blame on a local boogeyman called “Nagato”. There is little pattern to the disappearances, but intrepid investigators can discover that every district of the city has been home to these horrific crimes save one: Atakakune. Atakakune is home to many markets and eateries, but none are so treasured by the people of the district as Pan-ya’s famous Meat Pies. A Shodō institution for generations, Pan-ya’s meat pie recipe is a closely guarded family secret. Pan-ya himself is a well-loved, gregarious man; his pies aren’t cheap, but he never turns away a hungry stomach, whether they can pay or not. Pan-ya is the culprit of the disappearances; the key ingredient to his pies is human flesh. This can be confirmed by finding his family recipe, kept hidden within his humble wagon. If confronted, Pan-ya will insist he was only following the family recipe, that he somehow felt compelled to carry out the brutal murders each night to keep his pantry stocked. He will seem genuinely horrified by his actions. The recipe does appear ancient and unaltered, but the disappearances began less than a month ago. The recipe was, in fact, altered; the Dark Powers, due to the nature of Nagato’s transgressions, have the power the pervert words written in ink, through which they have compelled many atrocities for their own amusements. The disappearances solved, the people will look to the adventurers to solve a more dangerous mystery: the Beast of Aokigahara. [B]The Beast of Aokigahara[/B] The Beast of Aokigahara has, for decades, demanded the sacrifice of a virgin once every four weeks, on the night of the full moon. When denied, the Beast has destroyed farms and corrupting the fields. All would-be heroes who have gone to slay the Beast have never returned; only the Beast remains, returning each full moon. For years, the young women of the city were forced to draw lots to determine the sacrificed. Strangely, however, nobody in the city can specifically remember the names of those who have been sacrificed in recent months; they can certainly recall sending young virgin women to their deaths, but nobody can actually remember who they were. With the next full moon nearing, the princess Junsui has offered herself in place of another sacrifice from the city, over the objections of her father. [B][I]Shodō-jō[/I][/B] [I]Shodō-jō[/I] is the castle in which Ooma, his family, and his staff reside. It is an impressive and imposing structure that looks out over the city and the surrounding countryside. Ooma’s many retainers fight with each other over what remains of the Shodō prefecture; the corruption of many of Ooma’s directives, as well as the laws and edicts written by the court’s bureaucrats, have led to a tangled web of intrigue and schemes; a never-ending parade of alliances and backstabbing, poisonings and assassinations. Only one retainer has managed to remain above the fray: Grand Steward Taneka. Taneka discovered the source of the corruption long ago, but has only managed to convince a handful of allies to believe his claims. He began to instead etch his messages and edicts in slabs of pure iron; he learned this writing would not be corrupted. If Pan-ya’s recipe is discovered, Taneka will hear about it through his agents and attempt to reach out to the adventurers. He will plead with the party to accompany Junsui on the night of the next full moon, and discover the true nature of the Beast, whom Taneka believes to be Nagato himself. Taneka can tell them the story of Ooma and Nagato, and of Nagato’s betrayal. Though he knows little of the nature of the Demiplane of Dread, he has definitely began to suspect that something deeply unnatural has happened to his homeland. [B]The Virgin Princess[/B] Junsui maintains pretenses of being of the chaste, simple daughter of the daimyo, but this is merely a facade. Though none in the court maintain any memories of her gruesome deaths (including herself), and her monthly sacrifices are always forgotten by the people of Shodō the next day, she was nevertheless the first to suspect that something sinister was afoot in the realm, and reached out to Taneka when she noticed him coming to a similar conclusion. When Junsui first offered herself as the virgin sacrifice for the Beast, she instructed Taneka to make two copies of the edict declaring her sacrifice; one in paper, and one in iron, and to keep them hidden in her pillow. When she awoke the next day, she found both edicts; the edict in paper called had been corrupted, while the other spelled out her fate. Though young, Junsui is clever, and a capable hunter, as she often skipped out on her calligraphy lessons to hunt in the woods of Aokigahara. She is not a seasoned adventurer, but she is not helpless either. On the night of Nagato’s assassination, she was able to wound him with an arrow and escape into the woods. Now their fates are bound, but because of this she has the protection of the Dark Powers; no harm can come to pass against her until the time of her appointed “death” and resurrection the following morning. [B]Qi’lin[/B] Deep within the misty woods of Aokigahara lies the domain of Qi’lin, a unicorn and the former spiritual guardian of Junsui. His time trapped in the Demiplane of Dread, cut off from his divine connections, has corrupted him, and he seeks nothing more than to escape the domain of Shodō. His attempts to form the necessary seals to summon a portal to escape have all resulted in failure, primarily due to the Dark Powers corrupting the seals as they were drawn. But Qi’lin, in speaking to a fellow trapped spirit, has learned of one form of “ink” the Dark Powers could not corrupt: blood. In the light of the full moon, Qi’lin uses his sacrifice’s blood to slowly trace the necessary seals on the ancient trees around the woods. These markings point out the path to Qi’lin’s grove. Qi’lin was originally frustrated that Junsui, once his sacred charge, was presented as a sacrifice. He grew more angry as he found himself unable to actually harm her. Still, when midnight came, Junsui would die and Qi’lin had the blood he needed. His confusion over Junsui’s returns was swiftly replaced with relief that he no longer had to responsible for murder. Still, the practice of tracing his seals has steadily stained his pure white fur a dark blood-red. [B]Nagato[/B] Qi’lin’s friendly spirit is none other than Nagato himself. Unable to be seen or directly interact with the world as part of the curse placed upon him by the Dark Powers, Nagato can do little but whisper words into the wind; his favorite pastime is to whisper his name in the ears of the sleeping citizens of Shodō. He maintains his sway over the people through fear alone. In his own quest to escape his curse, he learned that his fate is tied to Junsui. Only by completing his contract, signed in blood, can he truly find peace. But he cannot directly kill her. He does not realize that the Dark Powers maintain their protection over her until midnight; it is only during this time can he, just a moment, act upon the world. It is this precise moment, however, when the Dark Powers “kill” Junsui, right in front of him if they can arrange it. Because Nagato’s contract requires him to personally kill Ooma’s family, it remains unfulfilled, and the Dark Powers restore Junsui to life each morning. Though he had originally hoped that convincing Qi’lin to slay the princess would free him, he began to realize that Qi’lin’s portal might actually allow him to leave the Demiplane of Dread as well, and he has continued to urge the corrupted unicorn on. [B]Resolution[/B] Adventurers might choose to allow Qi’lin to complete his seals and follow him through the resulting portal, as Nagato intends to. This will, in fact, return them to their home plane. Qi’lin, for his transgressions, will be immediately transformed into a wretched demon and dragged into the Abyss. Nagato, on the other hand, will regain his mortality and corporeal form, and will be free to offer his skills to a new master. The Dark Powers will instead turn their attentions to the suffering of Ooma, which they will escalate; as they let out their wrath from Nagato’s escape. Junsui will take Nagato’s place as an invisible, incorporeal being, unable to let her father know of her fate. They and their people will continue to suffer to the end of time. Alternatively, the heroes can attempt to sway Ooma to move on. His grief over his family’s slaying and anger over Nagato’s betrayal are what tie him to world. If he can be convinced that Nagato suffers also, and that the rest of his family is already at peace, he might be willing to move on himself. The Beast of Aokigahara must be dealt with first, however; he will otherwise refuse to abandon his people and his daughter in their time of need. Ooma’s passing severs the ties between Shodō and the Demiplane of Dread, and frees the prefecture from the Dark Powers’ grasp. All that will be left is Nagato’s incorporeal form, as the Dark Powers spend eternity dreaming up new ways to punish and torment him for their amusement. [/QUOTE]
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