FeFestivalstival ofof thethe DamnedDamned AA nniversarynniversary EE ditiondition

TTwowo CClassiclassic AArsrs MMagicaagica™™ AAdventuresdventures byby JJonathanonathan TTweetweet andand JJohnohn NNephewephew RRevisedevised andand UUpdatedpdated forfor thethe FFourthourth EEditiondition FestivalFestival ofof thethe DamnedDamned AnniversaryAnniversary EditionEdition CC REDITSREDITS

“THE GHOUL OF ST. LAZARE”CREDITS and especially Jay Ferm, whose Al Zed Miracle Author: paid the ultimate price

Tales of the Dark Ages Edition Editor: John Brandt ANNIVERSARY EDITION CREDITS Original Tales of the Dark Ages Cover Artist: Tara Development, Editing, Layout: John Nephew Kinnunen Additional Editing & Coordination: Jeff Tidball Playtesters: Marty Dennis, Woody Eblom, Matthew Cover Illustration: Charles Gillespie Gress, Nicole Lindroos, Damian Sherridan Interior Illustrations: Ralph Horsley, Eric Hotz, Jeff Menges, Eric Pommer, John Scotello, and Tonia “FESTIVAL OF THE DAMNED” CREDITS Walden Author: Cartography: Eric Hotz Original Edition Editor: John Nephew Special Thanks: Bob Brynildson, Jerry Corrick, Original Edition Cover Art: Janet Aulisio Nicole Lindroos, Link Martineau, and all the Playtesters: Sandy Johnson, Greg Stolze, Mike Halse, players whose enthusiasm has made this game Mary Oettinger, Gail Hermodson, Marty Dennis, prosper for more than a decade

Fans of discuss the game on an e-mail discussion list. To subscribe, send the command “subscribe ars-magica” (no quotes) in the body of an e-mail message to [email protected]. To subscribe to a digest version of the list, send the command “subscribe ars-magica-digest” (no quotes) to the same address. Project: Redcap archives and links to many of the fan-created Ars Magica pages on the World Wide Web. To get to Project: Redcap, point your browser at http://redcap.org. Errata for the first printing of the fourth edition of Ars Magica is available on request. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to PO Box 131233, Roseville, MN, 55113. Up-to-date errata is also posted on the Atlas Games World Wide Web site. Ars Magica, A Medieval Tapestry, Hedge Magic, Kabbalah: Mythic Judaism, Mythic Europe, Covenants, and Charting New Realms of Imagination are trademarks of Trident, Inc. Atlas Games is a trademark of John Nephew and Trident, Inc. Tales of the Dark Ages is a trademark of John Nephew. Order of Hermes and Tremere are trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. and are used with permission. Copyright ©1990, 1991, 1998, 2002 John A. Nephew. Published under license by Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without written permission, except short excerpts for the purpose of reviews, is expressly prohibited.

PO Box 131233 Roseville, MN 55113 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.atlas-games.com Digital Edition Version 1.0 • August 2002 • Stock No. AG0257PDF TableTable ofof ContentsContents

Foreword...... 4 Chapter 2. Vézay...... 36 Key to the Map ...... 36 Villagers ...... 41 PART ONE Chapter 3. The Witches ...... 36 The Ghoul of St. Lazare Position in Vézay...... 57 Current Activities ...... 58 Chapter 1. Introduction...... 6 The Midwives’ House ...... 58 Players’ Background...... 6 The Cursed Cloth ...... 59 Storyguide Background ...... 7 Investigating the Fevers...... 60 Notes to the Storyguide...... 8 Pacing the Mystery of the Witches ...... 62 Theme...... 10 The Witches ...... 63

Chapter 2. Vézay...... 11 Chapter 4. Temptations ...... 66 The Church of St. Lazare ...... 13 Palm Sunday ...... 66 Monday ...... 68 Chapter 3. Events...... 18 Tuesday ...... 73 The Death of Noilis...... 18 Wednesday ...... 77 A Parody of Resurrection ...... 22 Maunday Thursday ...... 78 The Unholy Hour ...... 24 Good Friday...... 82 Conclusion ...... 26 The Diabolopsuche ...... 27 Chapter 5. Easter Sunday ...... 36 The Day ...... 86 Map of Vézay...... 28 Dusk ...... 86 After the Fight ...... 90 End of the Vigil ...... 91 PART TWO Curse of the Fiends ...... 91 Fiends of the Seven Deadly Sins ...... 92 Festival of the Damned Aftermath for Vézay ...... 98

Chapter 1. Introduction...... 30 Reference ...... 99 Time and Location ...... 30 Villager Checklist ...... 99 Summary of Plot ...... 32 Mystic Auras ...... 100 Groups...... 33 People from “Ghoul” ...... 101 Explanatory Notes ...... 34 Timeline ...... 101 ForewordForeword

ilwaukee, summer, 1990: I five years, we are pleased to celebrate stood in a corner of the Lion our birthday by bringing these stories MRampant booth at Gen Con, back. hanging out with my friends and for- The first part of this book is one mer housemates, hawking copies of of the adventures from Tales of the Tales of the Dark Ages, a 64-page book Dark Ages. “The Ghoul of St. with a strikingly plain cover printed Lazare” is a story I ran for the gang at in blue and black. House Rampant. Our saga, Patina, I had four years of freelance writ- was in a fantasy North America that ing and editing under my belt, had been colonized by late imperial including a year on the staff of Lion Romans. For publication, I trans- Rampant, which had just moved planted the tale to Occitania, which from Northfield, Minnesota, to the the then-current 2nd Edition had Atlanta area. With Tales of the Dark made ArM’s official setting. Ages, I stayed behind and struck out “Festival of the Damned” was on my own. published in 1991 as a stand-alone I don’t put a lot of stock in book. Jonathan developed it as a anniversaries, but the release of this sequel to my story. I’m afraid my own book does mark eight years of Atlas little adventure looks a little weak Games (and more than a decade of beside his masterpiece. A number of Ars Magica, which first came out in Ars Magica fans have told me over late 1987). In an industry as chal- the years that they think “Festival” is lenging as this one, survival itself is one of the best RPG adventures ever an accomplishment. I’d like to think published. Strong praise, but I would that we have lived up to some of the have to agree. vision I set forth in the introduction It’s a delight to make these sto- to Tales of the Dark Ages. ries widely available to Ars Magica The company started with a storyguides once again. licensed book of adventures for Ars Magica, now publishes the game John Nephew itself. Since the contents of this Roseville, Minnesota book have been out of print for about June 10, 1998

4 PartPart OneOne TheThe GhoulGhoul ofof St.St. LazareLazare

byby JohnJohn Nephew Nephew

Art by Tara Kinnunen, from the cover of Tales of the Dark Ages, in which “The Ghoul of St. Lazare” originally appeared