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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rune" data-source="post: 7857962" data-attributes="member: 67">Underwater WaterfallWandslinger's DisgraceDoctor's OrdersWicked ValleyHerald of StormsAmphibious LurkerGlowing BasementBeefValley of RedemptionA fantasy + western adventure for use with Pelgrane Press’s Owl Hoot Trail, but easily adaptable to any other system suitable for the genre.ArrivalIn the Valley of Depravity, hellhounds rove in packs, loosed into the world by the Adversary to prey upon sojourners. Or they are wardens, maybe, set to keep the townsfolk of Decadence within.These otherworldly beasts may hound the PCs as they drift townward, no doubt road-weary and in need of resupply. They more often watch from afar. Attempts to leave the valley meet more resistance.The town is rough. Raucous laughter rolls along the street. The unmistakable scent of steak beckons the hungry, its welcome somewhat out of place. Townsfolk and Talk:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ruby Page, waits tables at the restaurant. Her greeting is clearly rote: “Welcome to Decadence, darlin’s. Home of the best damned steak you’ll ever taste. Seared over the fires of Hell itself and good enough to sell your soul for. But we’ll let ya have it for five dollars,” she winks. Once completed, she adds, “Preacher won’t touch the stuff, but everyone else knows better. And anyhow, he’s got his own demons to worry over.” What she knows: The restaurant’s owner and cook, Smokey Dreisbach, has some sort of deal with Doc Barton, who’s a big-shot, financially speaking. What she don’t: Doc Barton supplies the steak pre-seared to Smokey, who further cooks it in-house. Smokey doesn’t know why it must be this way, but folks love it and he makes good money, so he’s inclined not to wonder. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ugly Bonnie Thomson, bartends at the Ugly Mug Saloon — den of pleasure, poker, and ofttimes violence. Ugly Bonnie hears lots of talk and she’s always happy to pass it along. What she knows: All manner of marital infidelities, petty acts of rivalry, and social flaws involving folk the PCs will never know. Also, some few things of greater import than she can fathom. For one, she knows the old preacher was once a man of violence (and magiks, too!). And he visits the doc on the regular — shaky going in, calmer coming out. She knows that Doc Barton’s basement’s got strange lights coming out of it in the midnights, too. Strange beastial noises. And the smell of cooking meat, of course, but that’s all throughout the town. She also knows that many a drifter’s come through and disappeared in the valley, their horses ambling back alone in time. And some do come back, draggin’ large burlap sacks behind. Straight on over to Doc’s. What she don’t: What any of it means. As far as she’s interested, the appearance of things amiss matters more than the why of it. She can make that up on her own, after all. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Jebediah Knight, preacher. He proactively seeks the PCs to request their aid. What he reveals: Once a wandslinger (akin to gunslingers, but better equipped to face supernatural threats), Jebediah killed a man who’s only guilt was to be demon-possessed. Worse, the demon resides still in this very valley. Jebediah’s better days are long gone and he cannot confront the demon again (besideswhich, he hung those wands up long ago to take up the cloth). With guidance from the Good Book and a healthy dose of holy water, Jebediah reckons the demon can be expelled from this world. He aims to convince the PCs to take up this task and so earn himself redemption. What the Good Book says: There are a few bookmarked passages that Jebediah often preaches upon the deaf ears of Decadence. One speaks of repentance, lest the Storms of Righteousness bring floods upon the Wicked to wash away the Evil. Jebediah believes this to be literal truth. Another warns against willfully poisoning body and spirit, lest the Adversary and his minions gain entry to the soul. Finally, another passage speaks a prophecy: Lo, the river shall rise. Seek ye then the vastness underneath. Therein a waterfall by miracle is wrought. Ye shall find the One who is Many even as he lays in wait. Yet, feed ye your blessings into the water’s source, that he may never again hide in this world. As if in response to the reading, a gentle rain begins outside. What Jebediah will give them: In exchange for exorcising the demon from the world, Jebediah is prepared to gift them with his pair of silver-plated, pearl-handled wands, sleek and deadly in trained hands. Quite valuable in any. What he’s hiding: Jebediah’s infirmity is not all advanced age. Within his sparsely-furnished home, many an empty medicinal bottle and a note reveals: Take a swig of laudanum twice daily and as needed to control the pain or shakes. Quit skipping doses! Doctor’s orders! — Gabriel </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Doc Gabriel Barton, physician and all-around stand-up guy. He proactively seeks the PCs to offer them employment. What he reveals: An expected medicine shipment never arrived and he needs able adventure-seeking drifters to find its whereabouts. This happens from time to time and Doc Barton is pretty sure he knows who’s to blame: a minotaur inhabiting labyrinthine tunnels beneath the valley. Fortunately, he happens to know the obscure language necessary to question it. If the PCs will but capture the creature alive (a hefty dose of laudanum is provided for this purpose), interrogation will reveal his shipment’s whereabouts. He can reacquire it on his own. What he will give them: Since some risk will be involved, a generous payment of one hundred dollars seems reasonable. What he’s hiding: There is no stolen medicine. And there’s a whole herd of minotaurs down in the labyrinth. Doc Barton needs more beef. From a sentient. Thus, he sends more drifters into the labyrinth to find one of the bovine-folk and bring it back to slaughter. Or die trying, of course. Fortunately, there are always more drifters. What he’s up to: Doc Barton serves the Adversary. More directly, he serves the demon of the Valley of Depravity and carries out his will. What the demon wills: The demon’s orders are twofold. First, he views Jebediah as a threat and has given Doc Barton specific instructions to keep his old opponent enfeebled through addiction. More broadly, the demon desires the preparation of likely hosts. For this, a ritual must be performed: the willing consumption of sentient creatures’ flesh kissed by the flames of Hell. Those who partake are susceptible to possession. Beasts are too, but that’s less fun. Doc Barton knows this, which is why he never eats the steak. But he does the rest within his stone basement (wherein a caged hellhound provides Hell’s flames). Should the PCs discover this basement’s contents and kill the hellhound, this hinders the demon’s plans, but so long as Doc Barton lives, more hellhounds can be captured, and the demon remains, the delay is minor, at best.</li> </ul>Caverns of DepravitySeeking entrance to the labyrinthine caverns should be simple enough; many adventurers have come before and left traces of their passing. A gentle river winds through the valley and several caves look down upon its banks. These ultimately lead to the same system of caverns. If the PCs map or mark their progress, things will be easier — especially when they are trying to leave with an unconscious minotaur in tow.Every 10 minutes spent exploring, roll 1d8:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">1. A sudden unseen draft snuffs candles or torches and mayhap even lanterns fail.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">2. A scrabbling echo winds through the passageways, its source unseen.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3. A small stream of refreshing water meanders across the passage. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">4. The way forward is too small for humans or orcs (or unconscious minotaurs) to fit. Hill folk or shee might squeeze through. Half’ins can proceed just fine.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">5. A large cavern opens up. Thousands of bats take flight.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">6. Territorial creatures attempt to drive the PCs off. Roll 1d6. 1-3: Giant bats! 4-5: Goliath rats! 6: A startled owl bear! It’s Howl of Lament may call other critters. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">7. A goblin raiding party happens by. Hijinks ensue.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">8. A minotaur, at last! It would rather not be captured.</li> </ul>Beneath the StormsFrom the moment the PCs read (or hear) the prophecy heralded in Jebediah’s Good Book, the rains begin. They are, at first, a trickle to warn the unrepentant. Within hours, the downpour is unrelenting, the winds harsh. Lightning dances supernaturally through the valley. If the PCs do not undertake Jebediah’s quest, things in Decadence will still seem temporarily improved. The hellhounds that roam the valley drown, their fires quenched. The surviving minotaurs migrate to some other labyrinthine home. But the demon remains and, eventually, his influence will once again ensnare mortalkind.Elsewise, if the PCs embrace their roles in the Good Book’s prophecy, they must go down to the river. Beneath it, more like. By the time they reach the caves, the river is swollen and swift. The entrances now are just above the water-line. All, but one. This single submerged cave mouth drinks the river as if possessed of a great thirst. Within, a vast cavern falls away bellow, rapidly filling up with water. Their foe awaits:One who is Many, servant of the Adversary, wearer of mortals. It’s present raiment: a frog-behemoth. Within the vast cavern, beneath the river and hidden by a watery veil, the demon awaits these newest mortals.<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The demon, supernaturally aware of his peril, stole this amphibian form as soon as the rains began. If he must fight the PCs and finds them too tricky to simply devour, he endeavors to lure or drag them underwater where the struggle will be to his advantage.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If at least one of the PCs has consumed his minion’s hellish steak, the demon attempts  possession. The target must succeed at a difficult Toughness + WITS test to resist. Should the demon gain a new host in this way, the newly-freed frog may continue to fight on its own. The demon rides its host back to Decadence where new hosts are available in which to bide his time. The demon can possess a new body even if his current one is dead.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The demon can be forced to return to Hell by dousing it’s host with holy water. Merely splashing the frog-behemoth with the comparatively the small amount given them by Jebediah will not suffice, but if it is poured directly into the waterfall, the demon will be exorcised as soon as the frog hops through again. Alternatively, if one of the PCs is a preacher, they could bless the waterfall directly. The PCs could possibly achieve either without even descending into the cavern.</li> </ul>Return to Decadence<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the PCs are successful in exorcizing One who is Many, they will find Jebediah thankful and relieved. Most others will never know the peril they were in. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If Doc Barton is exposed as a servant of the Adversary, an angry mob forms to kill him, but someone with enough Wile + GRIT may intimidate them into being content with exile. Either way, the town no longer has a doctor. In time, with the lessening of the doctor’s wicked influence, Jebediah’s pews will start to fill. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Jebediah desires to be freed from his addiction to laudanum. He will need support, if he is to succeed. If Doc Barton is gone, the supply will dry up and make this considerably less difficult. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If the demon was left lingering in this world disembodied, Jebediah will attempt to finish the job when the waters recede. He is weak and shakes badly, but it must be done. If another critter happened by, however, he may be too late...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">If one of the PCs is hosting the demon when they return to town, he attempts to find another (safer) host at the first opportunity. If he cannot before they meet with Jebediah, the preacher is uneasy in their presence and will splash the group with holy water, unless somehow dissuaded from the act — which the demon will certainly attempt. Through violence, if necessary.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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