To steal from Charlotte Brontë, a school for disadvantaged young girls is being run by a miserly vicar who lets the girls starve and freeze in the name of spiritual purity. Or a reclusive country gentleman is looking for a bride and is secretly married to an insane woman. The state does not allow for divorce because she is mentally unstable.
WANTED: Dark Secrets
- Thread starter DrunkonDuty
- Start date
Eloi
First Post
An aging blacksmith has three sons, a beautiful daughter, and a young wife who recently became ill. He knows she was fine in the morning before she started talking to a gypsy, and that the kitten she obtained from the gypsy doesn't seem to want to leave her presence for any reason. He fears that somehow the kitten may be affecting his wife's health.
His oldest son, very strong and a talented fighting man, is in service to the local lord. The second son, charismatic and handsome, is accompanying the third son on a business venture, setting him up to obtain the rights to a nearby iron mine.. cheaply, since it was taken over by odd creatures eight years ago. They are headed back to town to post an "Adventurers Wanted" notice. The beautiful daughter is tending his wife, but her condition is slowly worsening.
What no one has noticed in a while is that the blacksmith does not apparently have a name; this is one manifestation of a curse which has hung about the blacksmith for over twenty years. The creature that has possessed this new wife, after slaying the old one, is vulnerable to the presence of felines, and is slowly being driven out of the host (while taking quite a toll on her). The kitten is quite smart, but otherwise a normal kitten, and acts as cats do when in the presence of an allergic human.
When the creature does eventually emerge from the young wife, and is defeated, the hero who manages the feat will be well rewarded. Soon, though, the hero will discover that people who he has known and traveled with cannot seem to remember his name. Worse, people are calling the oldest son by the hero's name now.
The bloodline of the blacksmith has been altered by magic. He has decommissioned about fifty cursed items so far in his career, and the dust that has built up in his smithy has some truly revolting auras left shimmering in it, if someone mystic were inclined to take a peek. Looking deeper into the matter reveals that his children are all especially appealing to the forces of Evil, insofar as they would all be perfect sacrifices. The blacksmith's neighbor, a silversmith, could be coerced into revealing that the blacksmith at one time had three daughters.
His oldest son, very strong and a talented fighting man, is in service to the local lord. The second son, charismatic and handsome, is accompanying the third son on a business venture, setting him up to obtain the rights to a nearby iron mine.. cheaply, since it was taken over by odd creatures eight years ago. They are headed back to town to post an "Adventurers Wanted" notice. The beautiful daughter is tending his wife, but her condition is slowly worsening.
What no one has noticed in a while is that the blacksmith does not apparently have a name; this is one manifestation of a curse which has hung about the blacksmith for over twenty years. The creature that has possessed this new wife, after slaying the old one, is vulnerable to the presence of felines, and is slowly being driven out of the host (while taking quite a toll on her). The kitten is quite smart, but otherwise a normal kitten, and acts as cats do when in the presence of an allergic human.
When the creature does eventually emerge from the young wife, and is defeated, the hero who manages the feat will be well rewarded. Soon, though, the hero will discover that people who he has known and traveled with cannot seem to remember his name. Worse, people are calling the oldest son by the hero's name now.
The bloodline of the blacksmith has been altered by magic. He has decommissioned about fifty cursed items so far in his career, and the dust that has built up in his smithy has some truly revolting auras left shimmering in it, if someone mystic were inclined to take a peek. Looking deeper into the matter reveals that his children are all especially appealing to the forces of Evil, insofar as they would all be perfect sacrifices. The blacksmith's neighbor, a silversmith, could be coerced into revealing that the blacksmith at one time had three daughters.
DrunkonDuty
he/him
Thanks to everyone who's posted. There's a plethora of great stuff here to borrow. I appreciate all the help. And my players will appreciate it too.
REchan: you asked about the rest of my players. I'll try to keep the outline as brief as possible.
Lady Michelle: an Elf who married into a noble family (scandal!! Elves are despised foreigners) . Many suspect her husband was bewitched by her. The fact that he died tragically less than a year later leaving her childless and heir to his great fortune has not helped quash rumours. She is a sorceressand has a dark past herself and is being blackmailed by her ex-lover. SHe went to meet him on a dark and misty night...
Don, the Pirate. A two-bit sort of pirate who imagines himself much greater than he is. Was astounded to find his ex-lover is now rich and has wasted no time in blackmailing her. (He happens to know she is a sorcereress.) He wants a new ship, but she aint that rich.
Jonas, a con artist ala Michael Caine's character in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Has had the good fortune to meet the Lady Michelle and has convinced her he is the rightful heir to the Barony of Tilsit, deposed by the puritanical Pholtics. She has invited the "poor Baron" to stay at her townhouse.
AJ, an actor and petty thief/smuggler who saw the Lady Michelle the evening she was meeting her ex-lover. She was assaulted by strangers in the low dive they were meeting in and he completely failed to help her. Until he discovered she was rich. Suddenly he can't do enough for her.
Helena, a pirate/smuggler sometime friend/lover of AJ. An Elf as well. She's drunk most of the time and just hanging around because it looks like she can get this rich cow to pick up her bar tab. Plus there's always trouble where ever AJ goes.
Sir Conan, the Lady Michelle's cousin by marriage. He is poor and has decided to make his way in the world as a mercenary. His first real job, keeping his cousin safe, has gone well but he is wondering if she's going to remember to pay him.
I've let everyone by extra feats by taking flaws. So the Lady Michelle has an enemy. We're thinking it must be the mother of her dead husband but still thinking it over.
AJ the actor has a rival/enemy: another actor. I'm going to make the enemy the leader of the Duchess's Gentlemen. (the premier acting troupe in the Grand Duchy.)
In the first session they have made an enemy of the leader of the main smuggling gang in the city. He is incidentally a low ranking member of the secret cult that is headed by the second most powerful nobleman in the Grand Duchy. So the heroes are already on a collision course with the BBEG.
That's about where we stand at the moment. Next session I will introduce the actor's rival when he and someofhis troupe gate crash a performance by AJ.
Thanks again to every one. there's too many Dark Secrets to address individually, just let me say they're all very cool and I'll enjoy using all the ones I can.
cheers,
Glen
REchan: you asked about the rest of my players. I'll try to keep the outline as brief as possible.
Lady Michelle: an Elf who married into a noble family (scandal!! Elves are despised foreigners) . Many suspect her husband was bewitched by her. The fact that he died tragically less than a year later leaving her childless and heir to his great fortune has not helped quash rumours. She is a sorceressand has a dark past herself and is being blackmailed by her ex-lover. SHe went to meet him on a dark and misty night...
Don, the Pirate. A two-bit sort of pirate who imagines himself much greater than he is. Was astounded to find his ex-lover is now rich and has wasted no time in blackmailing her. (He happens to know she is a sorcereress.) He wants a new ship, but she aint that rich.
Jonas, a con artist ala Michael Caine's character in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Has had the good fortune to meet the Lady Michelle and has convinced her he is the rightful heir to the Barony of Tilsit, deposed by the puritanical Pholtics. She has invited the "poor Baron" to stay at her townhouse.
AJ, an actor and petty thief/smuggler who saw the Lady Michelle the evening she was meeting her ex-lover. She was assaulted by strangers in the low dive they were meeting in and he completely failed to help her. Until he discovered she was rich. Suddenly he can't do enough for her.
Helena, a pirate/smuggler sometime friend/lover of AJ. An Elf as well. She's drunk most of the time and just hanging around because it looks like she can get this rich cow to pick up her bar tab. Plus there's always trouble where ever AJ goes.
Sir Conan, the Lady Michelle's cousin by marriage. He is poor and has decided to make his way in the world as a mercenary. His first real job, keeping his cousin safe, has gone well but he is wondering if she's going to remember to pay him.
I've let everyone by extra feats by taking flaws. So the Lady Michelle has an enemy. We're thinking it must be the mother of her dead husband but still thinking it over.
AJ the actor has a rival/enemy: another actor. I'm going to make the enemy the leader of the Duchess's Gentlemen. (the premier acting troupe in the Grand Duchy.)
In the first session they have made an enemy of the leader of the main smuggling gang in the city. He is incidentally a low ranking member of the secret cult that is headed by the second most powerful nobleman in the Grand Duchy. So the heroes are already on a collision course with the BBEG.
That's about where we stand at the moment. Next session I will introduce the actor's rival when he and someofhis troupe gate crash a performance by AJ.
Thanks again to every one. there's too many Dark Secrets to address individually, just let me say they're all very cool and I'll enjoy using all the ones I can.
cheers,
Glen
WayneLigon
Adventurer
What an amazing thread.
The Actress
Twenty years ago, Lady P___ was an actress of the lowest sort, and a sometimes singer in music halls. Then she caught the eye of a handsome member of the gentry who devised a plan. She was taken off to a distant school and trained in the arts of the well-mannered, and returned with a flawless accent and impeccable table manners. Unfortunately, no-one thought to do anything about the little tattoo in the small of her back.
She was spied upon in her bath by a rogue and when she arose, he almost fell off the roof. That mark was known to him! It belonged to his lover of long ago, who left him in dire straits. Now, he's come 'round to demand compensation on a weekly basis or else he'll talk. Lady P____ has come to love her husband and the high life and if it were known she were a dance-hall girl, her position would be ruined and her husband's family scandalized. Using her old tricks of disquise, she finds out where the rogue lives, and she plots murder. Knowing little of the art herself save poison and knowing that someone found dead by 'womanly arts' could lead back to herself, she enlists the aid of the rogue's apprentice by the simple act of seducing the young man. Once he is deeply in love with her, she coaxes him to murder the rogue in a brutal fashion so that no suspicion falls upon herself.
Then she is given cause to beleive that the rogue passed on his knowledge. Again and again she sends the young man out to kill those she thinks know her secret. As these random people begin to die, will the party figure out their 20-year-old connection and stop the killings?
Added spice: (1) The young apprentice is Lady P____'s son by the rogue, long thought dead of fever. Despite their lovemaking he has never seen the mark but knows of it. He returns to her one night as she is dressing, and sees it. Realizing what he's been doing, he slowly goes mad. (2) The theater company did very well for itself in the last several years and moved up in society a little; they now perform in nice playhouses, turning the young man's murders into a 'Phantom of the Opera'-esque plot.
The Cobbler
Old Meechum the Cobbler has the most wonderful shoes and gloves. Coming from poor origins, he's attained a place in the nice area of the trade district and is known to all as a humble, pious soul who always has a kind word for everyone and gives his extra pennies to the poor, even though he barely gets by himself. He's been getting attention lately, since he's come upon a new means of tanning leather, a method that makes gloves as soft as silk and shoes as comfortable as slippers. He guards his secret carefully and there are several who would love to know how he does it. He's started to attract clients of good renown and there is talk that he might even be give a Royal Monopoly on certain types of gloves, which would as good as drive several of his competitors to ruin.
Several of those competitors pool their money and hire someone (a member of the party) to break into the man's workshop and discover his secret. They find... nothing, just the normal tools of the trade. Not even notes on a new process.
Meanwhile, the body of a prostitute is pulled from the canal. A sad thing, but they get drunk and slip into the water sometimes. Then they notice a curious thing: her back has two strips of flesh missing, in the shape of a pair of gloves....
The Orphans
The Orlake Orphanage has a good reputation: tough but fair. They take the cases no-one else wants and makes model citizens out of them. They boast that their children always go to the best homes, and none are sold for labor. Mr Orlake scours the streets for runaways and takes them into his own home he does, a huge and rambling mansion on the outskirts of town. Not a week goes by that a new child doesn't arrive.
Mr Orlake is a master of psychology and torture. His father was a doctor who was ruined in his profession by the thoughtless actions of a child of the Quality, and he's decided to take his revenge. His father passed on knowledge of many exotic drugs to him; he uses these and sadistic methods best not described to break a child's mind and spirit, then remold him into something more appealing. Once the boy or girl has been rendered 'fit', they move from the basement warrens into the fabulous upper mansion. They are presented to childless couples of the Quality, or sold discreetly to those of the nobility who might want a 'spare'.
Once ensconsed in their new abode, the child is quiet and polite and grateful. He is also an expert spy who uncovers blackmail material and sends it to Orlake. He is a dagger aimed right at the heart of the family, and hopefully can remain a secret thorn in their side for years.
No amount of conditioning lasts forever, though, and despite visits from Orlake to check up on 'his darlings', some of them are starting to 'fray' at the edges, betraying the madness that lies just below the surface. If they do break down all the way, they become the savage flesh-craving little monsters they were in the warrens.
Extra Spice: (1) Orlake secretly works for the government, trying to develop 'the perfect weapon', a child that can be insinuated into the noble family of a rival kingdom and eventually deliver that throne to his masters. (2) Orlake's medicines are made from people, specifically 'failed' children. (3) Some of Orlake's orphans have shaken off their conditioning and are banding together in order to kill Orlake.
The Actress
Twenty years ago, Lady P___ was an actress of the lowest sort, and a sometimes singer in music halls. Then she caught the eye of a handsome member of the gentry who devised a plan. She was taken off to a distant school and trained in the arts of the well-mannered, and returned with a flawless accent and impeccable table manners. Unfortunately, no-one thought to do anything about the little tattoo in the small of her back.
She was spied upon in her bath by a rogue and when she arose, he almost fell off the roof. That mark was known to him! It belonged to his lover of long ago, who left him in dire straits. Now, he's come 'round to demand compensation on a weekly basis or else he'll talk. Lady P____ has come to love her husband and the high life and if it were known she were a dance-hall girl, her position would be ruined and her husband's family scandalized. Using her old tricks of disquise, she finds out where the rogue lives, and she plots murder. Knowing little of the art herself save poison and knowing that someone found dead by 'womanly arts' could lead back to herself, she enlists the aid of the rogue's apprentice by the simple act of seducing the young man. Once he is deeply in love with her, she coaxes him to murder the rogue in a brutal fashion so that no suspicion falls upon herself.
Then she is given cause to beleive that the rogue passed on his knowledge. Again and again she sends the young man out to kill those she thinks know her secret. As these random people begin to die, will the party figure out their 20-year-old connection and stop the killings?
Added spice: (1) The young apprentice is Lady P____'s son by the rogue, long thought dead of fever. Despite their lovemaking he has never seen the mark but knows of it. He returns to her one night as she is dressing, and sees it. Realizing what he's been doing, he slowly goes mad. (2) The theater company did very well for itself in the last several years and moved up in society a little; they now perform in nice playhouses, turning the young man's murders into a 'Phantom of the Opera'-esque plot.
The Cobbler
Old Meechum the Cobbler has the most wonderful shoes and gloves. Coming from poor origins, he's attained a place in the nice area of the trade district and is known to all as a humble, pious soul who always has a kind word for everyone and gives his extra pennies to the poor, even though he barely gets by himself. He's been getting attention lately, since he's come upon a new means of tanning leather, a method that makes gloves as soft as silk and shoes as comfortable as slippers. He guards his secret carefully and there are several who would love to know how he does it. He's started to attract clients of good renown and there is talk that he might even be give a Royal Monopoly on certain types of gloves, which would as good as drive several of his competitors to ruin.
Several of those competitors pool their money and hire someone (a member of the party) to break into the man's workshop and discover his secret. They find... nothing, just the normal tools of the trade. Not even notes on a new process.
Meanwhile, the body of a prostitute is pulled from the canal. A sad thing, but they get drunk and slip into the water sometimes. Then they notice a curious thing: her back has two strips of flesh missing, in the shape of a pair of gloves....
The Orphans
The Orlake Orphanage has a good reputation: tough but fair. They take the cases no-one else wants and makes model citizens out of them. They boast that their children always go to the best homes, and none are sold for labor. Mr Orlake scours the streets for runaways and takes them into his own home he does, a huge and rambling mansion on the outskirts of town. Not a week goes by that a new child doesn't arrive.
Mr Orlake is a master of psychology and torture. His father was a doctor who was ruined in his profession by the thoughtless actions of a child of the Quality, and he's decided to take his revenge. His father passed on knowledge of many exotic drugs to him; he uses these and sadistic methods best not described to break a child's mind and spirit, then remold him into something more appealing. Once the boy or girl has been rendered 'fit', they move from the basement warrens into the fabulous upper mansion. They are presented to childless couples of the Quality, or sold discreetly to those of the nobility who might want a 'spare'.
Once ensconsed in their new abode, the child is quiet and polite and grateful. He is also an expert spy who uncovers blackmail material and sends it to Orlake. He is a dagger aimed right at the heart of the family, and hopefully can remain a secret thorn in their side for years.
No amount of conditioning lasts forever, though, and despite visits from Orlake to check up on 'his darlings', some of them are starting to 'fray' at the edges, betraying the madness that lies just below the surface. If they do break down all the way, they become the savage flesh-craving little monsters they were in the warrens.
Extra Spice: (1) Orlake secretly works for the government, trying to develop 'the perfect weapon', a child that can be insinuated into the noble family of a rival kingdom and eventually deliver that throne to his masters. (2) Orlake's medicines are made from people, specifically 'failed' children. (3) Some of Orlake's orphans have shaken off their conditioning and are banding together in order to kill Orlake.
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Wayne, I love your Oedipus-twist. However...
I think this one's a little obvious. Or at least, I've seen this a lot. So how about, instead of made purely from the living, the Cobbler could be growing flesh in vats, using some sort of dark necromancy to keep it alive. Perhaps it needs sacrifices, or the blood of a virgin, to make the things grow.WayneLigon said:
WayneLigon
Adventurer
Rechan said:
Indeed, it's somewhat derivative but I did blow thruogh it in about five minutes
I was trying to keep it as low magic as possible. It could be that he does have a secret process but it involves something hideously illegal, such as baby livers or something. An added dark twist is that the PC's discover this and report it to the proper authorities, only to find that the nobility likes their new gloves too much to bother and in fact give the man his Monopoly If that route is taken, it could obviously be made of orphans and street urchins.WayneLigon said:Indeed, it's somewhat derivative but I did blow thruogh it in about five minutes
Perhaps kept in cages, and made to "put the lotion on their skin". 
Thornir Alekeg
Albatross!
Oh yeah, I can see this is a party that will be powered by good and loyalty to each otherDrunkonDuty said:
OK, one more to add:
Count Borald Martis
The rise of the Martis family was remarkable in how quickly it happened, and the lack of fanfare as it rose. The Martis family used to be very minor nobility, most noted for the way they kept to themselves. Rarely speaking at court, never showing for the many social gatherings, just maintaining the small number of vineyards they owned, the family was never considered to be anything for others to concern themselves with.
Then, about 20 years ago, something happened. The family was suddenly acquiring more lands for their vineyards, and Count Borald was frequently seen in the private company of the King. Something unusual was happening and it made the rest of the nobility curious.
To date nobody has been able to confirm how exactly the Martis family achieved their ascension to the higher levels of nobility. The best they have been able to establish is that somehow Count Borald managed to gather information on much of the nobility, even the royal family itself and used it to leverage the family standing upwards. They see him as a spider sitting in the center of an invisible web. The nobility both fear and respect Count Borald as at least two families who tried to assert themselves over his saw their fortunes turn terribly.
The dark secret behind Count Borald is that there really is no dark secret at all. His family vineyards produced a spectacular vintage one year. Count Borald sent all of it to the King. This led to an invitation for a private audience. The King was so impressed by Count Borald's down-to-earth attitude and the way he stayed out of the politics so rampant among the nobility that they became friends. Knowing that he would be unable to withstand any jealous efforts by the rest of the nobility to take him down, and that they would never believe anyone could rise so without some scandalous reason, the King had stories and rumors spread about Count Borald's ability to gather secrets and had the Crown's own agents secretly work to take down the families that tried to move against Count Borald.
Warren Okuma
First Post
The Vargos. A family that had been controlled by a mind flayer. The mind flayer in a moment of weakness sired a son. The mind flayer was later found and killed by adventurers. The family is now trying to breed a superior human with all the benefits of a mind flayer but none of the penalties... by force if necessary. So far, the badly inbred leaders of this clan is producing members that can pass as human... but insanity has crept into this family.
One member is sealed up in the attic and is mad. She was never taught to speak and full of deformities and never been out of her room. But somehow she can sense the new moon and will howl and howl when it is dark...
Ah, yes, and they still crave raw brains from time to time... and they like them tender.
One member is sealed up in the attic and is mad. She was never taught to speak and full of deformities and never been out of her room. But somehow she can sense the new moon and will howl and howl when it is dark...
Ah, yes, and they still crave raw brains from time to time... and they like them tender.
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