man-Eaters

A VAL-DU-LOUP SUPPLEMENT FOR THE BRP ROLEPLAYING GAME

GUY DONDLINGER Introduction Man-Eaters is a supplement for the Val-du-Loup monograph published by Chaosium Inc. It provides background on and examples of ogres living in the Val-du-Loup region, and discusses possibilities of enacting ogre playing characters. It also includes a scenario which can be used to introduce ogre playing characters into the Val-du-Loup setting. This supplement is intended for use with Chaosium's Roleplaying System BRP, and is also compatible with Stéphane Gesbert’s Cthulhu Dark Ages setting. The supplement is divided into two parts: I, Ogre is a short guide to creating and playing ogre characters in a medieval campaign and introduces different types of ogres that live in the Val-du-Loup region of the Ardennes. The Horror of Perfosse is a scenario inspired by Robert E. Howard’s The Black Stone.

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Cover illustration: Tête de l'ogre - drawing by Jean-François Millet, 1857. Musée du Louvre, Paris. Maps and additional illustrations © Guy Dondlinger 2010. This document may be distributed freely for personal use but not for commercial purposes.

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Links: ❖ Val-du-Loup monograph at Chaosium ❖ my Val-du-Loup support site ❖ Stéphane Gesbert's Cthulhu Dark Ages support site

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Disclaimer: the theory behind the origins of the ogres as presented in this document is only one among many, and I do not claim that this one is more valid than any others out there. I do, however, find it to be the most fascinating one.

Table of Contents

I, Ogre 3 Background 4 About this Section 4 Origins 4 Look & Feel 4 A Way of Life 5 Ogre Playing Characters 6 Professions 6 Characteristics 6 Mutations 6 Ogre Adventuring Parties 7 Ogres in the Val-du-Loup 8 The Legend of Tijan of Grisroc 8 The Black Heart Ogres 10

The Horror of Perfosse (Scenario) 11 Introduction 11 Background: The Horror of Epeedor. 12 Set-Up: The Vanishings 13 Getting the Adventurers Involved 14 In The Valley of the Fosse 15 Investigating 15 Crime Scenes 15 A Witness 15 Ignatius, The Hermit 16 Events 16 Attack 16 To the Rescue (A Thief in Trouble) 17 The Observers (1) 17 The Observers (2) 18 The Spy 18 Ways to Win 19 Getting Help 19 Perfosse 20 The Village 20 The Church 21 The Monastery 21 Personalities 22 Villains 22 Crapaud 22 Artor 23 Antak 23 The Army of the Dead 24 The Bear 25 Typical Ogre Hunters / Warriors 25 - 1 - Mastiffs 25 Gol-Goroth 26 Other NPCs 26 Baldwin, a Thief 26 Ignatius the Hermit 26 Tijan and the Grisroc Ogres 26 De Padin's Men 26 Villagers 27 Special Guest Appearances 27 Appendix: Maps 28 Fosse Valley 28 Perfosse Village and Abbey 29 Val-du-Loup Map 30

- 2 - I, Ogre

Creating and Playing Medieval Ogre Characters

- 3 - Background

they - and their camp followers, which About This included many women - faded away into the Section forest. Some speculate that the marauders found the entrance to the vast underground I, Ogre provides background for game cave system rumoured to exist beneath Trou- masters and players to use ogres as playing du-Loup; others believe that they simply split and non-playing characters in a Val-du-Loup up and retreated into the depths of the Black or other medieval/low-fantasy setting. It Heart where their descendants still live. Ever includes examples of both wild and since, the region is full of rumours of ogre assimilated ogres as well as rules for creating tribes chasing and killing humans for food. ogre playing characters. So-called civilised ogres are not discussed in this section as examples of such characters Look & Feel are given in the Val-du-Loup monograph. Ogres are generally tall; while some are lithe and agile, others are big and broad (due to muscles or to fat, as the case may be). Origins Their appearance ranges from revolting (with In the the 9th and well into the 10th open sores and welts on their skin, a condition century, Magyar (Hungarian) warriors not due to cannibalism, however, but to invaded the lands of Western Europe, raiding inbreeding and bad hygienic conditions) to and pillaging wherever they went. There were average, and some are even said to be good- 47 recorded expeditions into Germany, Italy looking, using their looks and to charm and France in the tenth century, until the would-be-victims into a trap. invading hordes were decisively beaten by the Most ogres still adhere to the ancient, pre- German King in 955. When the invading Christian faiths of the Magyars, a mixture of troops were defeated, isolated pockets of shamanism and ancestor worship. There are surviving raiders hid in the vast forests of a number of shamans and sorcerers in their Western Europe. Cannibalism had been a midst. The shamans speak to the spirits of tradition among some of the Magyar tribes, their ancestors who guide the tribes. Shamans but generally only combatants killed in battle can heal the sick and injured through dance were eaten; as were elder members of the and song, and they lead the hunters to their tribe after they passed away. However, as the prey. defeated Magyar bands tried to stay alive, they resorted to cannibalism as a means to Among the isolated wild tribes, gain nourishment. They took up hunting cannibalism and inbreeding have led to a humans who travelled alone or in small number of mutations over the years. These groups in the isolated regions of the vast include extremely tall size (giving rise to the woods, capturing and killing them for legends of the giants), bad to very bad skin, nourishment. Eventually, word spread that increased strength, reduced intelligence, man-eating giants haunted the forests, and refined senses to help them hunt down the legend of the ogres was born. The term humans, claw-like finger nails and fang-like 'ogre' was derived from Hongrois, meaning teeth; and above all a physical addiction to Hungarian. human flesh. These mutations, which may or may not be present in individual ogres, has In Val-du-Loup, a ragged army of two led to a number of rumours: hundred or more of Hungarians was ❖ cornered in the woods around Trou-du-Loup Ogres are extremely ugly. Their skin is by the German troops. Before battle began, covered in vermin infested boils. - 4 - Sometimes, their faces consist of nothing may include more heavily mutated but raw flesh. members who are duly hidden away ❖ Ogres command wild animals such as should an outsider venture in their midst. boars and bears, and use them to scare ❖ The civilized ogres: these are ogres who humans away from their hiding places. abandoned the woods to go live among ❖ Ogres are giants, generally 2 meters or the people in the cities and towns. They taller. have become craftspeople, traders, entrepreneurs, soldiers; some have even ❖ Some ogres are all but indistinguishable risen to become nobles and knights. from humans, and while they prefer to live in isolation, nothing prevents them A trait that many ogres have developed from mingling with humans while over the years is an addiction to human flesh. secretly prying on them. How well an individual ogre can integrate into normal society depends on how well he ❖ A number of ogres can keep their or she can overcome this addiction. Most wild cannibalistic instincts at bay. ogres do not even try to so, while most civilised ogres have worked out ways of dealing with their addiction, devising intricate A Way Of Life designs how to kill and devour humans without being caught. When the defeated Magyar armies and their followers disbanded into the woods, they Also, while some ogres kill indiscriminately, knew that their best chance of hiding and others try to maintain honour and tradition: surviving was to split up into smaller groups. they kill their prey in a fair fight, and kill only They reorganised themselves into clans those who can defend themselves. Some ogre ranging from half a dozen members to fifty or clans like to organise hunts, preying on more. Some found refuge in caves or ruins, hunters, woodsmen or other travellers and while others took up a nomadic life style, hunting them through the woods before never remaining in one place for very long. swooping in for the kill. Others, especially the giant ogres, simply waylay and capture Several decades down the road, the ogre passers-by. clans have basically adopted three different life styles: Killed or captured humans are mostly devoured during a grand feast in which the ❖ The wild ogres: these are the ones who whole clan participates. The food is prepared live in the remotest areas of the vast in many varied and enticing dishes, with unpopulated forests. Some are various body parts being roasted, cooked or continuously moving about. The wild stewed. Many clans include members who are ogres are usually those that include the masters at preparing human flesh. most deformed of the species, i.e. the very big and the very ugly. Legends also suggest that some ogres lure potential prey into traps, capturing and ❖ The assimilated clans: these are clans imprisoning them, and feeding them well who live a semi-open life. In other words, before devouring them. Certainly the "Hansel they no longer hide themselves but live in and Gretel" story of German origin suggests reclusive communities in settlements in this approach. the heart of the forest, away from human settlements. While they shy away from As part of the ancestor worship practiced contact with the outside world, they by most clans, clan elders are also eaten after present to the occasional visitor the their death. Ogres believe that the dead live image of an isolated but normal rural on in those who eat them. community. Most clan members are It should be pointed out that even hunters and woodsmen; but there are assimilated or civilised ogres, no matter how also farmers and craftsmen. Most have discreet they try to be in their killings, often mutations which go unnoticed to the have an aura of ill-repute about them. This is occasional visitor. However, a community because once people make a habit of - 5 - disappearing in their proximity, rumours start spreading that death attaches itself to these individuals or communities.

Ogre Playing Characters

The first step in creating an ogre playing character is to decide if the character belongs Characteristics to one of the wild tribes, to the half-way Roll for characteristics as listed below assimilated tribes, or is a member of civilised (note: this is a slightly different version of the society. This influences both the professions statistics given in the Val-du-Loup monograph). that the character begins with, and also Char. Roll Average which, if any, mutations are present and noticeable. STR 2d6+6 13 CON 3d6 10-11 SIZ 2d6+10 17 Professions INT 2d6+6 13 The following are suggested starting POW 3d6 10-11 professions for ogre characters, based on their DEX 3d6 10-11 background. The professions are detailed in APP 2d6 7 the Val-du-Loup monograph. EDU 3d6 10-11 ❖ Wild ogres: craftsman, criminal, healer, hermit, shaman, soldier, tribesman, wolf leader, woodsman. Mutations ❖ Assimilated ogres: beggar, craftsman, Many ogres carry signs of mutations from criminal, healer, hermit, laborer, peasant, the long years of isolation and their strange priest, serf, servant, shaman, soldier, feeding habits. If the player so desires, and tribesman, tale keeper, wolf leader, the game master approves, an ogre playing woodsman. character may be created as a mutant ❖ Civilized ogres: assassin, beggar, Use the BRP rules for creating mutants craftsman, criminal, entertainer, explorer, (BRP manual pp. 102). The type and strength knight, laborer, merchant, monk, noble, of the mutations should fit the character's occultist, physician, priest, scholar, background and the campaign, so the game servant, soldier, spy, writer. master may wish to limit the list of available mutations. Many ogres have developed a physical and mental addiction to human flesh. This - 6 - mutation is explained below. It is mandatory ❖ Natural weaponry: fangs or claws for any ogre character. ❖ Pheromone: the ogre produces pheromones that entice humans and are Addiction to Human Flesh (Adverse used to lure prey into traps. Mutation) ❖ Reduced sense: reduced eye sight; or Like all mutations, there is a minor and a reduced smell for all except smelling major variation. humans. As a minor mutation, the character must ❖ Sensitivity to human flesh. make once per week an opposed roll of POW ❖ Structural weakness: very tall ogres may versus SIZ to see if the ogre can overcome the have problems with their condition and addiction. stamina because of their size and weight. As the major mutation, the character must This also influences their MOV rate. The make once per week an opposed roll of POW game master may make this adverse versus (SIZ plus number of weeks without mutation mandatory if the character's human flesh). Game master and player must SIZ is above a certain level (24 for agree before the game on how long the example). character has gone without human flesh before the adventure starts. It's the game Other Powers master's call on when to call for the roll. Shamans and healers have access to magic If the roll fails, the player character may or to sorcery. continue without reverting to eating a human; however, each day thus spent causes the loss of 1d3 health points which are regenerated once human flesh is consumed. If using the Ogre Adventuring optional Sanity points, 1d4 Sanity points are Parties also lost each day. How to in integrate ogre characters into a Other Mutations campaign depends obviously on the campaign itself and on the type of ogre that The following are examples of other the player wishes to portray, and how well this mutations that an ogre character is likely to character fits into human society. have. Obviously, other mutations are possible but should be agreed upon between game There is also the possibility of creating a master and player. campaign for troupes made up solely of ogre characters. While this requires specific types ❖ Congenital disease, caused by inbreeding. of adventures (certainly for wild or barely ❖ Decreased characteristics: APP, INT, assimilated ogres), players and game master CON, others do not need to worry about making ogre characters fit an otherwise human group of ❖ Disease Carrier: carries a disease which is adventurers. The next chapter presents Tijan spread through the ogre's bite. and his clan who make a good starting point ❖ Hardy for an ogre adventuring party; and the scenario in this supplement presents a ❖ Increased characteristic : SIZ, CON, possibility to introduce a group of ogre STR, APP. playing characters. ❖ Keen sense: smell humans

- 7 - Ogres in the Val-du-Loup

tall, man-eating marauders from the lands of The Legend Of the Magyars. Tijan Of Grisroc As Tijan turned into a young man, he diligently followed the designs that his adoptive father had for him. He plowed fields, worked as a stone mason in Castle Beaufort and in other castles, he lugged timber, and even became a blacksmith’s apprentice; adding much needed money to the family's meagre income. All this before he was eighteen years old. However, wherever Tijan went, he was taunted as ,the ogre‘. Few people called insults to his face: he was too tall, strong and fearsome for that. But people jeered behind his back; and often enough, groups of drunken louts would band together to beat the crap out of him, just for the sake of it. Sometime in his eighteenth year, Tijan was on his way to work in a stone quarry north of Trou-du-Loup when he came across a bunch of wild warriors: tall, powerful men, dressed in rags and armed with artlessly made spears and old decrepit axes. Tijan instantly recognised that these were "his" people, and One day, in the forests north of Beaufort, a they recognised him as one of their own, and charcoal maker from Trou-du-Loup came invited him to accompany them back to their across a number of corpses, men and women hide-out, a large cave by the Loup river where who looked to be a family of tall, wild people. some thirty ogres had found refuge. In the midst of all these dead people, he found a mewling toddler, whom he took home Tijan was quickly welcomed by most of with him. He and his wife named him Tijan the clan members. He used his skills in the and raised him as their own, together with various crafts he had learned over the years to their other three children. help the clan make and repair tools and weapons, improve their shelter and generally Early on, it became clear that the little make their life better and somewhat easier. Tijan was different. He soon grew taller and stronger than most boys his age, and his skin The destitute clan was ruled by a despotic, and hair were darker than customary. Some paranoid chief and his son, a no-good bully. people suspected the foundling to be a The chief and his son never took a liking to changeling, that is, a goblin of some sort, but Tijan, seeing him as a menace, as Tijan's most agreed: he was an ogre, one of those popularity among the clan members,

- 8 - especially the younger ones, grew and grew. bread. Under Tijan's tutelage, the clan Never mind that Tijan could teach the band a members became craftspeople as well, host of useful crafts and techniques, the chief learning how to repair weapons and armor. continuously refused to take him in as a full And once in a moon, in order to quell member, on account of him not being a their hunger for human flesh, the clan takes hunter and never having killed. One night, off on a special type of hunt. They roam the the chief's son tried to kill Tijan in his sleep, forest in search of unwary travellers or forest but instead Tijan killed his attacker. The chief dwellers. In the tradition of their forefathers, then ordered Tijan taken prisoner and the hunters offer their prey a fair chance to executed, but the young clan members fight, but few ever best the wild warriors of rebelled: they demanded instead that Tijan be Grisroc. made a full clan member and be granted the right to his first flesh: that of the chief's son. Trou-Du-Loup The chief and his die-hard allies, all veteran MONTFORT warriors, made the rebels leave the shelter of Becblanc the cave. That night, as the young warriors camped in the woods, the chief ordered a Perfosse hunt on Tijan and his new-found allies. But Grisroc the young men had anticipated this and set a River Loup trap; and it was the hunters who ended up being hunted. At the end of the night, Tijan had made his second kill, the chief. And the Rocmort next day saw Tijan feasting on his first human flesh, that of the chief and of the other Tijan and his band did not remain attackers who had been killed that night. unnoticed for long. Eventually, foresters spotted them, and when gossip reached Castle The young men then returned to the clan Montfort, the Chevalier d'Ascalon came to and presented Tijan as the new clan leader; investigate. He and Tijan agreed on taxes to and although a few of the older ones, be paid, and on a quota of men to fight each including Antak, the clan's shaman, refused year in Ascalon's mercenary army, should the allegiance, most of the other ogres agreed to Knight require them. In return, the Knight follow the young outsider. agreed to let them live their life unhindered. Tijan sought a new beginning for his new- They were granted the rights to hunt wolves found family, and so he led them away from and boars, and were even allowed to rent out the Loup valley, deep into the deserted stretch their hunting services to local hamlets and of forest called The Black Heart. Years ago towns as good hunters were always in demand he had helped build a tower which was meant in these wolf infested regions. to become a castle, but the castle proved to be Some time later, rumours started to spread unsustainable and construction was that people were disappearing without a trace abandoned. The lone tower sits forlorn on a in the region around Grisroc. The Chevalier, hill called Grisroc (Greyrock), in the stretch of who had an inkling of what was going on, no-man's land between Rocmort and paid a second visit to Tijan. The two came to Montfort. The Chevalier d'Ascalon, lord of another agreement, and so far both men have Montfort, is known to have a "don't ask, don't honoured it. Now, when hunting their special tell" policy with regards to those who come to prey, Tijan and his men move further afield, settle on his soil. For Tijan, this made it the away from Montfort, preferably south into the perfect place to settle down with his people. lands of Rocmort. And once in a while, a And thus a group of thirty or so ogres messenger from Ascalon arrives bearing the went to live in and around that forbidding names of people and places - the names of tower in the depth of a near-impenetrable whom and where to hunt next. Ascalon has part of the woods. They took up hunting, thus been able to rid himself of a number of mostly wolf and boar, and even made some his enemies while Tijan and his people get effort at tending fields to grow some wheat for their hunt, and their feast.

- 9 - Tijan of Grisroc, Ogre Leader isolation and apart from preying on lone STR 15 CON 16 SIZ 19 INT 14 travellers, they don't have any contact with the outside world. They are shy but aggressive POW 14 DEX 15 APP 8 EDU 17 when encountered. They only venture out of Hit Points: 18 their hiding place, a shallow cave in a deep Damage Bonus: +1D6 dark valley, to hunt and to lay traps. They Move: 10 feed off hares, foxes and birds which they ensnare, boar or deer that they hunt and the Attacks: Grapple 45%, Spear 65% damage d10+1+1Db; Spear (thrown) 55% damage occasional human whom they encounter. d10+1+ ½ db; Shield (buckler) 55%. Sometimes, especially in winter, they venture Armor: 4-point makeshift scale mail near human dwellings in order to capture human prey. Skills: Appraise 65%, Brawl 55%, Command 80%, Climb 45%, Craft (Blacksmith, Carpentry) 85%, The adults are six men and five women, all Dodge 50%, Hide 45%, Language (German) equally ferocious. One is a shaman, he is the 85%, Language (Magyar) 55%, Listen 70%, Persuade 70%, Repair (Structural) 75%, Sense eldest of the band and too old to fight. 65%, Spot 60%, Stealth 35%, Strategy 75%, Track 50%. Wild Ogres Mutations: none. Ogre 1 2 3 4 Traits: aggressive: 55%, brave 85%, curious 60%, communicative 45%, honest 80%. STR 19 18 17 16 CON 11 13 13 14 Typical Grisroc Ogre Hunter SIZ 24 22 19 18 STR 16 CON 15 SIZ 19 INT 11 INT 9 10 13 10 POW 11 DEX 13 APP 6 EDU 9 POW 10 9 13 11 Hit Points: 17 DEX 9 11 13 13 Damage Bonus: +1d6 APP 3 5 6 4 Move: 10 EDU 7 7 8 7 Attacks: Spear 75% damage d10+1+1Db; Thrown HP: 18 18 16 16 Spear 70% damage d10+1+ ½ db. DB: 2d6 2d6 1d6 1d6 : 4-point leather with bits of metal. Armor Move: 9 9 10 10 : Brawl 55%, Dodge 45%, Hide 35%, Jump Skills Size 230 220 210 200 Centimeters 45%, Language (German) 35%, Language (Magyar) 65% Search 55%, Smell Humans 75%, Attacks: Heavy Club 60% damage 1d8+db; Bite Sneak 35%, Track 80%. 65% damage 1d6+db; Spear 45% damage d10+1+1Db; Thrown Spear 45% damage Mutations: Enhanced Senses: smell human beings. d10+1+ ½ db. : aggressive: 50%, brave 70%, curious 30%, Traits Armor: 2 point leather communicative 45%, honest 60%. Skills: Brawl 65%, Dodge 35%, Hide 25%, Language (Magyar) 65% Search 55%, Smell Humans: 65%, Sneak 25%, Track 80%. The Black Heart Mutations: Enhanced sense: smell humans; Increased Characteristic: SIZ; Decreased Ogres Characteristic: APP, Natural Weapon: Teeth; Metabolic Weakness: addiction to human flesh. Northwest of Beaufort Castle, deep in the All mutations are minor. middle of impenetrable wooded hills, live a Magic (shaman only): Contact Spirits, Heal, Wound band of wild ogres. Direct descendants of a and others. group of Magyar warriors who hid in the Traits: aggressive: 80%, brave 70%, curious 15%, woods right after the defeat of their armies, communicative 15%, honest 50%. their number has dwindled down to a dozen or so. Inbreeding, bad hygiene and bad nutrition have left their traces on this band of once proud warriors. They live in utter

- 10 - The Horror of Perfosse (Scenario)

This scenario has been written for use with town - and if so, which one? The Countess either the BRP or the Cthulhu Dark Ages system. sent them some wheat for making bread and It uses locations, background and NPCs other supplies, and told them to stay put, described in the Val-du-Loup monograph. awaiting new instructions. Non-player characters have been created The Hauvent fugitives are unaware that a for a heroic type BRP scenario and may have few miles further upstream, another bunch of to be adjusted down for use with Chthulhu Dark settlers has taken possession of the Perfosse Ages. The statistics for Antak the shaman lists grounds: Crapaud and his band of fellow both BRP and CDA sorcery spells. Some of ogres. Crapaud's people have, however, the BRP spells are taken from the BRP Magic noticed the newly arrived and are none too monograph. happy about it. The last thing that Crapaud wants is to have people prying into their affairs - not with them digging up graves, Introduction fortifying the town, restoring the church in a very unchristian way.... In short, Crapaud A sweltering heat has been lying for weeks wants the intruders gone. over the Ardennes. The long hot summer has left the forest brown and dry. Many brooks For several weeks now, he and his men and wells have dried up, and even the Loup have been dressing up as a Wild Hunt and in and the Herbenoir have dwindled down to this guise have been terrorising the Hauvent miserable streams. Forest fires have raged in settlers. They attack their hunters and their various parts of Val-du-Loup, including one pig-herders or anyone else who moves away in the largely unsettled area up in the north of from the makeshift town, kidnapping them Rocmort, on the border to Montfort. One and carrying them off to be killed and eaten small isolated farming town, Hauvent, ended by the ogre tribe. In the process, a couple of up falling prey to the flames. Its inhabitants unwary travellers from Rocmort and two of fled before the fire arrived, bringing Sybill's men-at-arms have also been killed. themselves, their meagre belongings and their The attacks seem random enough, and livestock into relative safety. neither the Hauvent people nor the Countess' They headed for the only stream that still men suspect that Hauvent itself is the target carries water in the region, the Fosse brook, of the attacks. The settlers believe that a Wild which feeds into the Loup river. They settled Hunter is at work. The Countess and some of in a small corner of the narrow valley, a spot her councillors believe that the Knight of broad enough to allow construction of Ascalon, the lord of Montfort, is orchestrating shelters and a place for their livestock to the attacks. De Padin, the Countess' graze. This place lies a little downriver from Constable, does not buy into this theory. He the Perfosse Abbey ruins. sends the adventurers to investigate and resolve the issue. The Hauvent settlers sent word to the Countess, their liege lord: would they be allowed to settle in Fosse valley (and to clear enough wood to allow for some basic agriculture), or should they resettle to another - 11 - Background: The Horror of The few surviving monks and villagers buried the dead, both their own (in the Epeedor. monastery graveyard) and the invaders, in a (Inspired by Robert E. Howard's The Black mass grave just outside the monastery's walls. Stone) And although the survivors tried to go back to a normal life, they couldn't: nightmares and visions of hellish rites and sacrifices invaded their sleep, and a number of them turned half-mad. Finally, monastery and town were abandoned and the survivors went to live a life a great many miles away: in Perfosse. Like Epeedor, Perfosse had been the site of a battle between the German King's troops and Hungarian invaders, who had all perished in the process. Unfortunately for the settlers of Perfosse, they took the horror of Epeedor with them. Somewhere in the hills of Hungary lived a One of the surviving monks had found in the curious race, a mixture of Magyars and of a possessions of one of the slain warriors a more ancient, presumably Mongolian people. strange statue - a squat idol, a toad-like figure These mountain dwellers worshipped an hewn from ancient black stone - and stored it ancient being, the toad-like Gol-Goroth, who with the monastery's few treasures. When the appeared to them on top of a column of monks and the villagers relocated, the monks black stone on midsummer nights when its packed the statue and it travelled with them followers made human sacrifices in its name. to Perfosse; and so did the nightmares. In the 16th century, the Turkish invaders As time passed, and the nightmares kept exterminated these mixed-blood villagers and plaguing monks and villagers, tensions slew Gol-Goroth (or more likely, only his between the village folk increased. Most avatar), but still afterwards, the black column blamed the nightmares on the fact that here, gave visions of the past and nightmares to too, a bloody battle had been fought, and those who ventured up the mountain and were angry at the Rocmort authorities for spent midsummer night in the column's resettling them here. proximity. Another sad side effect of the invasion of When the Magyars invaded much of Epeedor had been the rape of many of the Western Europe during the 9th and 10 village women and girls; and a number of century, a fair number of the strange these unfortunate ones ended up bearing the mountain dwelling people were among the children of their attackers. As tensions rose, invaders. At the end of the 9th century, a many of the villagers wanted these women Magyar horde invaded the small town of and their offspring gone. At the end of only Epeedor, built around the monastery of the one year in Perfosse, the community was so same name. Most of the villagers and monks divided that a life together was no longer were slain, the church and some of the possible. First the village was abandoned, with monastery buildings burnt, before the the various families all moving to different Emperor's troops manage to come to the towns and villages, and finally the monks also rescue and slay the invaders, at a great cost to relocated to various monasteries in the area. their own numbers. Perfosse, like Epeedor, became a ghost The soldiers were horrified at the scenes of town. The parting villagers and monks left carnage, villagers and monks brutally killed little behind, but in the damp cellar of the and dismembered, their blood smeared on monastery, a few items deemed worthless the monastery walls. Everywhere lay parts of were left lying. Among the rotting scrolls, roasted and partially eaten human remains. worm eaten wood carvings and rusting cups lay that ugly, repulsive stone carving of a - 12 - toad-like being, the source of the nightmares first instinct was to have his men attack and that had driven the survivors of Epeedor chase the intruders away. But inspired by the away. visions which come to him almost nightly, he Crapaud grew up in one of the villages not instead instructs his people to kidnap far away from Perfosse. The son of both a individuals which are then used in ritual woman and a man who had been born of sacrifices to Gol-Goroth, after which the women raped by the Magyar invaders all victims are eaten during a communal meal. these years ago, he had a strange countenance Crapaud knows that no army is coming to seldom seen in this part of the world: he was stop them. The noble lords have all gone to not just darker of skin, but he had an alien, make war amongst themselves down south, primitve look to him that scared people. This taking their armies with them. Thus, for man, whom everyone just called Crapaud several weeks now, Crapaud’s men have been (Toad) because of his looks, became a tall, able to attack and to kidnap unhindered. The vicious brute. Always an outsider, he was few men-at-arms that the Countess of finally driven from the village. Drifting from Rocmort could spare to send were soon town to town, he eventually made his way to gotten rid of. the abandoned monastery of Perfosse. There, as he lay sleeping in the ruins, he had his first vision, which led him to the cellars Set-Up: The Vanishings underneath the monastery, where he found an It has been a long hot summer. The forest object wrapped in tissue strangely unaffected has turned from green to brown, and many a by the humid air: the squat, toad-like figure stream has stopped flowing. The hamlet of hewn from black stone - Gol-Goroth. Hauvent has been abandoned, its inhabitants Possessing the idol turned Crapaud into a are on the move. Down in the valley of different person. Suddenly, all the lore of his Perfosse, the waters still flow, and that is strange ancestors was known to him: the where the citizens of Hauvent have relocated. secrets of their rites and their idolisation of But strange things have been going on in Gol-Goroth. Moreover, he suddenly and the valley. Six people from Hauvent have clearly saw before him a purpose in life: lead gone missing. Search parties found traces of the lost children of the hill tribes back to the fights and the bloodied remnants of the way of life that was taken from them by the missing people’s clothes. Two of Countess German army, and thus also lead them back Sybill’s soldiers also have fallen victim to the into the embrace of Gol-Goroth. mysterious attacker, as were a couple of Crapaud went back to wandering the journeymen on the road between Montroc woods, and by and by he gathered about him and Rocmort. In each case, no bodies were a band of ruffians who were all, like him, found, and useful items such as weapons, descendants of the Magyar horde which had tools, horses or mules have also gone missing. massacred the people of Epeedor. They The attacks have mostly happened at dusk survived by waylaying and robbing travellers or during nights of the full moon. The victims or ransacking isolated settlements and farms. were always people who happened to be out For almost a year, Crapaud, who had become at night – hunters returning from the forest or a charismatic leader of men, roamed the pig-herders guarding the pigs grazing in the woods before returning to Perfosse and woods. settling there with his band of ogres, as they proudly called themselves. They set about Until recently, nobody has seen the attacks, fortifying the town, restoring the church and but plenty of people have heard them. With the monastery, but not as a Christian place to the mad shouting and barking that they could worship but as a place to venerate their new- make out, everyone is convinced that a Wild found god, the ancient Gold-Goroth, and to Hunt is under way. hold sacrifices to him. When the Hauvent settlers arrived in the Perfosse valley and set up camp, Crapaud’s - 13 - There are a number of hooks that can be For more details on Wild Hunts, check used to draw the player characters into the out either the Val-du-Loup monograph, adventure: Chaosium's Malleus Monstrorum guide book, or wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/ ❖ They are sent by Roger de Padin, the wiki/Wild_hunt. Constable of Rocmort. They are either members of his Hubertus Chase, or else he The area around Perfosse has always been hires them because he has heard of their rumoured to be the home of wild creatures: past exploits. wolves, werewolves, ogres, Wild Hunters – ❖ The Hauvent settlers have contact the they all have reportedly been observed at one Knight of Ascalon for help. He is point or another, and are said to be the cause reluctant to send any of his knights or for the disappearances that have happened men-at-arms into Rocmort, so instead he every so often, although there have never hires the adventurers to look into the been as many incidents as in the recent weeks. matter. Countess Sybill does not buy into this Wild ❖ Tijan of Grisroc has learnt of the events Hunt thing. The border region has always (possibly through Edouard d’Ascalon) been disputed between her and her and sends some of his people to neighbours, and she lays the blame for the investigate. This starting point can be killings squarely at the door of the Sieur used for adventurers wanting to play ogre d’Ascalon. characters, as described in the I, Ogre part of this supplement. Getting the Adventurers ❖ The adventurers stumble into the Involved adventure by chance. They may be riding through the valley on their way to When this scenario takes place, the troops Rocmort and either come across the Wild of Countess Sybill are engaged in a stand-off Hunt chasing Baldwin and Gertrude, or with the troops of the Count of Hauterre and find a frightened Berthe who has just his allies, as described in the Val-du-Loup witnessed the Wild Hunt kill the men-at- supplement. This is the reason why the arms from Rocmort. Countess does not send her army to stop whoever is responsible for the disappearances and has to rely on other people to do this job.

- 14 - In The Valley of the Fosse

❖ The attackers came from two sides. To Montfort Perfosse ❖ There is one set of tracks that belongs to (town) Perfosse a large man fighting on foot. Abbey 12km With some Luck, the searchers may also find bits of broken spears and torn bits of armour that does not belong to the victims. There is nothing special about these items Hermitage (road) except that both the weapons and armour are roughly made, not the work of expert craftsmen. Fosse The adventurers may try to follow the tracks to see where the kidnappers came from or went to. The tracks lead south, then west

Hauvent and finally back north, harking back to camp Perfosse Abbey in a wide circle, avoiding the roads. It takes four successful track rolls to follow the traces all the way back to the

To Rocmort Perfosse. If a roll is missed, it may be repeated at level Difficult, but if the roll is missed (Refer to the appendix for a larger version of the Fosse again, the track is lost for good. Each Track valley) roll corresponds to two hours of searching; unless dogs are used, in which case each Track roll amounts to thirty minutes. Investigating A Witness Crime Scenes There are a series of people from the When shown the scene where the camp who claim to have heard the Wild abductions took place (the latest being the Hunt: men shouting, horses baying, dogs spot in the woods where the traders went barking; the sounds of fighting and of people missing), the adventurers may deduct the crying out in fear and pain... following, based on Track and Idea rolls: Only one person has actually seen ❖ There are not a great many tracks – it something: Berthe, a young pig herder who looks like there were not more than ten watched as the two men-at-arms were men; all of them on horseback. This attacked by the horde. She describes the contradicts Berthe's account of the attackers as a bunch of dilapidated looking, attack. maddened hunters, shouting in strange tongues and dressed in the furs of wild ❖ The attackers had dogs with them. - 15 - animals. Most were on foot but some were ❖ If the adventurers have not yet heard the riding. The riders were accompanied by large story of Epeedor and Perfosse, he is hounds and there was at least one happy it to relate it to them. supernatural beast – something that looked like a huge, emaciated bear who could walk on two legs. If asked how many there were, Events she just says 'many' but does not name a figure. She recalls that as the ragged army The following is a series of incidents which approached, she felt a cold wind rise. do not happen in a particular order or at a fixed point in time, but which the game She also reports the fact that the attackers master may throw in when convenient. seem to have used a two-pronged strategy: the hunters on foot drive their prey before them and straight into an ambush set by the riders. Attack Whether by design or by accident, the Ignatius, The Hermit adventurers encounter the 'Wild Hunt'. This takes place late in the evening when there it is At some point in time, the adventurers still light outside, or else during a full moon. may seek out the hermit, or vice-versa (game In any case, it should be possible to see a master’s choice). The hermitage is visible in minimum without resorting to torches. the rocks high above the Perfosse valley, and the adventurers may get the idea that the The adventurers first spot a large number hermit may have seen something from high of warriors, shouting and moaning and up there. The hermitage is visible both from advancing rather rapidly towards them. the Hauvent settlement and from the Abbey There seem to be somewhere between thirty grounds. and fifty men advancing. Most are dressed in outlandish garb: fur clothing, peaked caps, Ignatius is an old man who has lived most leather armour. Much of the clothing, of his life in isolation on this rock. His social armour and weaponry seems old and skills have deteriorated to the point where he dilapidated; and the warriors themselves seem tends to ignore or forget that he has visitors. to carry a good number of wounds. This is He is getting old, having turned 50, is thin as the Army of the Dead, the ghosts of the slain a reed but otherwise fit. Magyar warriors and German soldiers raised He has not witnessed any of the attacks, by the shaman. The ghosts appear as they but he can provide the following pointers: looked like in their moment of death. ❖ He has been seeing the Army of Ghosts By all accounts, the ghosts look alive if a on the ridge across the valley (see The bit worn, and there is nothing to suggest that Observers (2), below). The way he puts it: they are not corporeal. It's only if the “they stand there for hours, just watching adventurers decide not to make a run and - hardly moving. And then they fade back fight the horde that they discover that they are into the darkness of the forest, the same facing a bunch of immaterial ghosts. While way they have appeared.” the ghosts are not able to fight physically, they ❖ As the adventurers get on his nerves with do engage in ghostly combat and also cause too many questions, he irritatedly points Fear which may frighten both the adventurers towards Perfosse: “why don’t you ask and their mounts (more on this in the them!” If the adventurers are not aware of Personalities chapter at the end of the scenario). Perfosse being inhabited again, he tells Their presence is accompanied by a breeze, them, although he does not provide any causing the leaves to rustle and the further clues. His is a gut feeling that temperature to drop. something is wrong with them, not When the adventurers are pre-occupied certain knowledge. with the Army of the Dead, the living ogres approach on horse-back from behind. All in all, there are some ten riders taking part in

- 16 - the attack, including Crapaud (on average settlement in order to hide out for a while. He about two ogres per player character); and is basically helpful but a bit lazy; and accompanied by five or six mastiffs. The generally he is tolerated for the many tales he shaman is also with the group but does not has to tell about his myriad adventures, real take part in the fight. or imagined, in the far-off places he visited. With them is also the giant ogre who is Baldwin is friendly enough with the called The Bear. He also approaches on adventurers, but tries to stay clear of them, horseback but dismounts to fight. He is especially if they work for one or the other of swathed in bear fur and wears a bear head the local nobles. Basically, Baldwin behaves as over his head and face, which is why Berthe if he has something to hide, which he does. mistook him for a beast-like creature. This may serve as a red herring for the adventurers if they suspect the thief of some The warriors are dressed in furry rags with kind of involvement in the kidnappings. bits of leather armour or chain mail on top. Their hair and faces have been blackened The following event should take place with blood and soot. Some wear the heads of during one of the nights which the wolves, bears or boars as hoods. adventurers are spending in or around the Hauvent camp: Baldwin and the young maid A successful Sense roll lets the player Gertrude have snuck out of the camp to characters notice an additional rider who is spend a few quiet hours by themselves. keeping away from the fight. He is dressed in Baldwin had overruled Gertrude's objection black furs and has painted his face black. This as to the danger posed by the Wild Hunt, rider is Antak, the old shaman, who controls claiming that he is on a winning streak and the Army of the Dead. that she has nothing to fear, the hunters will The ogres do not expect stiff opposition. If definitely not turn up... the adventurers manage to hold their ground The adventurers and the villagers wake up for three rounds or so, Crapaud gives the to the noise of men shouting and dogs order for his people to retreat. The troop then barking, and a girl screaming her lungs out. If splits up and disappears into the wood. The the PCs decide to investigate, all they have to adventurers may decide to follow, in which do is follow the noise and they come to the case a chase can be orchestrated according to place where Baldwin and Gertrude are just the BRP rules. being dragged onto horses by wild, fur clad If the adventurers follow the riders, they warriors. As the PCs approach, the find their way barred by ghosts who attempt kidnappers swiftly ride away, too fast and too to frighten both horses and adventurers. They far away for the PCs to follow, although they also engage in ghostly combat (check the may give it a try. If they do so, they see description of the Army of the Dead in the themselves confronted by the Army of the Personalities chapter). Dead, who provide enough of a diversion for the riders to escape unhindered. The adventurers may succeed in capturing one or the other of the ogres, and may This kidnapping should serve as a interrogate these. Use Persuade (or other motivation for the adventurers to quickly find applicable communication skills) versus the culprits. The two kidnapped people have POWx5 rolls to determine if the prisoners about two or three days to live before they are reveal where they come from (one roll per sacrificed to Gol-Goroth and devoured by the day). ogre community. The sacrificial ceremony can coincide with whatever time the PCs pick to investigate or invade the ogre camp. To the Rescue (A Thief in Trouble) The Observers (1) Baldwin is a thief fallen on hard times. A group of observers are hiding on a Wanted by the authorities in both Rocmort plateau above the valley. Smoke and/or noise and Montfort, he has joined the Hauvent

- 17 - or light give them away, and the adventurers earlier by Berthe or witnessed by the may want to investigate. adventurers: Artor and his apprentice, There are two options as to whom the Thomas, found themselves cornered between observers are: a ragged band of foot soldiers and a handful of men on horseback. Thomas was captured, ❖ If the playing characters have been hired possibly killed, but Artor put up too strong a by de Padin: the observers are Grisroc fight with his heavy hammer (which he is ogres, sent by Tijan to investigate. Tijan carrying) and the attackers let him get away and his ogres are detailed in the chapter once they got hold of Thomas. I, Ogre above. Artor has wounds to prove his point, some ❖ If the PCs are playing ogres: the minor cuts (dealt by Crapaud). He tells his observers are de Padin's men, sent by the story convincingly, and there should be little Constable to investigate. They are men- in it to make the adventurers suspicious. at-arms wearing Rocmort insignia. They are suspicious to the point of being Artor remains in the village and seems to aggressive. integrate into the community. Once he 'recovers from his wounds', he assists the While de Padin's men think that the Ogre locals in such tasks as felling trees and player characters may be the offenders, building huts. Tijan's people are afraid the PCs will think of them as being the Wild Hunters and are He also tries to ingratiate himself with the highly defensive. They purport to be adventurers, trying to find out what they Ascalon's men, and some (but not all) are know. He even tries to get on their team and wearing his insignia. accompany them on their search for the attackers. In both cases, the reaction of the observers depends largely on the behaviour of the This is where Artor runs the highest risk of adventurers. They may attack or flee, or order being discovered: he asks a lot of questions, the adventurers to get lost. and tries very hard to get to accompany the adventurers. A Luck roll (use lowest of the group) means that the observers mention having Unless found out, Artor eventually takes noticed activity in the Perfosse abbey ruins. his leave. Whatever he has learnt he takes back to Crapaud. Crapaud then sends him back with another mission: try to lure the The Observers (2) adventurers into a trap - try to lure them to Perfosse by telling them enough of the truth As a means to frighten both the to get them hooked. adventurers and the Hauvent settlers away, Antak has his Army of the Dead show up on If Artor succeeds in this, and the a ridge across the Fosse from the Hauvent adventurers make their way into Perfosse, settlement. The soldiers appear soundlessly they get easily as far as the village - only to see either at dawn or at dusk and seem to watch themselves set upon by all of the ogre the settlers for hours on end. Whenever brave warriors. investigator ride up onto the ridge to check, If the player characters become suspicious the army simply disappears into the darkness of Artor, and decide to interrogate him, they of the thick forest. may learn the secrets of Perfosse. For this, they need to overcome Artor‘s brave trait by Persuasion or other skills used in the The Spy interrogation. At some point in time, Artor shows up in If it looks like the players become the Hauvent camp. He pretends to be a suspicious, the game master should make an journeyman, a wandering carpenter, who has Idea roll for Artor. If successful, Artor just been attacked by the ,Wild Hunt‘. The disappears during the next night. story he relates is similar to the one related

- 18 - ❖ Destroying or stealing the Gol-Goroth Ways To Win idol. This destroys Crapaud’s hold over Overall, Crapaud and his warriors are a his community, and most of his people strong enemy to face. The adventurers may will desert him before too soon. even manage to fight off the relatively small troop of mounted warriors who take part in the Wild Hunt, but some 30 fighters, both Getting Help male and female, are lying in wait in Perfosse Abbey. Hoping to take them all out by If the adventurers feel that they are themselves might prove too daunting a task. outnumbered, there are number of people However, there are still ways how the player they can turn to for help: characters can succeed: ❖ The Chevalier d’Ascalon. He resides in ❖ Kill Crapaud. By sneaking into the camp, the castle of Montfort, two or three days or luring him out of Perfosse, the player of riding. Ascalon is wary of sending characters may get a good shot at killing troops into Rocmort territory, but may be Crapaud, especially if they have extra persuaded to do so if the adventurers can troops to keep Crapaud’s warriors in overcome his Strategy skill of 75% with check. applicable Communications skills. ❖ Get reinforcements. Perfosse lies ❖ Tijan Grisroc. If not playing ogre nominally in Rocmort, but Montfort is characters, Tijan and his band of ogre nearer and the adventurers may be able warriors may be persuaded to help. In to talk either Tijan or the Sieur order to do so, the player characters d’Ascalon into providing enough men-at- should overcome is Cautious trait of 60% arms so that they can match the number with applicable communications skills. of ogre warriors (see the entry Getting ❖ The Hauvent settlers: certainly not the Help, below). At the very least, the strongest of allies, and mostly unarmed, additional fighters can stage a distraction but the villagers could still be talked into that allows the player characters to get helping to set up a diversion. Use the into the Abbey undiscovered. reverse of the settlers Aggressive trait (i.e. 100-45 = 55%) to see if the PCs' persuasion attempts succeed.

- 19 - Perfosse

6 Le g end 1. Vil l a g e 2 2. Fosse br ook 3. B r idg e & pa t h t o a b be y 5 4. C hur c h 5. Mona st e ry 7 6. B a ck st a irs 7. Me a do ws & st a b l e s 8. Roa d 3 4

1

8

Note: player characters who are Val.du- turning the old monastery into a place of Loup locals with a Knowledge score of 50+ worship for Gol-Goroth. have heard the legend of Epeedor and Perfosse (others must make a Knowledge roll). Non-local characters who succeed a difficult The Village Knowledge roll have also heard of the legend. Under cursory attention, the settlement There is no indication that the village has seems perfectly in order: men and women are been re-settled. The adventurers only find out refurbishing or re-building dwellings and if they investigate the site, follow the attackers' clearing the grounds to accommodate fields tracks back there, interrogate a captured ogre and meadows. Huts and stables are being or speak to the hermit. built, trees are felled, ditches dug. Horses, Perfosse refers both the village and to the mules and livestock are grazing inside a monastery. The village lies on the west bank fenced-off clearing, a bunch of hunting dogs of the Fosse, while the monastery is situated laze around. The men and women appear to on a ledge overlooking the east bank of the be mostly peasants, but also a fair amount of small stream. hunters and foresters are among them. They appear a bit wild, dressed in rags, not overly The ogres are constructing dwellings in concerned about hygiene, but then again, what is left of the village, and are also busy nobody really is in this time and place. They are all taller than average, strongly built as - 20 - suits people used to hard physical work. They across the palisades; climbing down only 2, all speak German without any accent. They but the chances of being seen are higher have fair complexion (but are deeply (difficult Luck roll in daytime, normal Luck roll suntanned from the work outside) and dark at night). The plateau is patrolled at irregular hair. If asked, they claim that two of their intervals - use a Luck roll to determine if own citizens have gone missing recently. guards show up. The settlement contains four large huts, in The ogres have pretty much fixed up the each some ten people have taken up small church, repairing the walls and residence. restoring a roof. Only the bell tower has not When visiting the settlers, the adventurers been fixed up, it is open to the elements and is will mostly deal with Crapaud. It is obvious now used as a chimney. The inside of the that he is the community’s leader. Antak, the church is anything but a Christian place of shaman, remains in the background, as does worship. There is an altar, a huge square slab Artor of stone, which is used in the original sense of the word: to sacrifice people. Here, the Any of the ogres that the adventurers kidnapped victims are slaughtered according encounter in the village are normal looking, if to ancient traditions. The bodies are slightly taller than average, sturdy men and dismembered and cooked or roasted in the women. For statistics, use the Ogre Hunter fireplace that has been built in what was once stock character descriptions provided in the the bell tower. A huge oak table occupies the Personalities chapter. main part of the church; this is where the ogres hold their feasts. The table is still covered with the remains of the last dinner: The Church bits and pieces of bones and meat. The altar The Church and the monastery are itself is covered in blood and gore. The whole located on a ledge across the Fosse place reeks, and is filled with countless flies overlooking the clearing where the village is who feast on the remains. located. A bridge and then a steep path lead Seeing the carnage in this place costs up to the gate in front of the church. A 0/1d4 SAN points. second staircase, hidden towards the left side of the rocks, leads to a back entrance to the In front of the altar, a man-size octagonal monastery grounds. These stairs are difficult to black granite column has been erected. On perceive for a casual on-looker. They consist top of it sits the figure of a squat, toad-like of footholds roughly hewn into the rock and creature: Gol-Goroth, hewn from a block of require a normal Climb roll to use. ancient black stone. The old monastery walls have not been rebuilt, instead, a palisade of sharp-ended The Monastery wooden logs now surrounds the grounds. It takes a difficult Climb roll to get across the The ogres have also fixed up most of the palisade. A single gate allows access to the old monastery building. They have converted ground, this gate is normally left open during some of the old monks' cells into prison cells the day but is closed if the ogres feel where they can keep the people they kidnap threatened in any way. There is one guard on until it is time for the killing. The Bear and a duty. few other ogres also reside in the cells, doubling as guards for both the prison and In case of an attack on the village, all the the temple of Gol-Goroth. ogres retreat into the monastery compound. There is a well and they have stocked enough There is a door leading from the church to food to subsist for a couple of weeks. this monastery building. Anyone wishing to investigate the church undetected must make Skilled climbers may try to climb up the a successful Sneak roll lest the ogres next door rocks from the bed of the Perfosse, or down are alerted. from the plateau above. Climbing up requires 3 Climb rolls + a difficult Climb roll to get - 21 - As one enters the monastery from the outbuilding also leads to the monastery's church, there is a corridor leading towards backyard and former cloister. the rear of the building. The monk cells are to Crapaud and Antak the shaman are both the left and right of this corridor. Two larger residing in the monastery, having fixed up for rooms, the former refectory and scriptorium themselves the larger rooms at the back. are at the back. There is an additional entrance to the monastery, from the little Baldwin and Gertrude are locked into two outbuilding close to the gate. The same adjoining padlocked cells after they have been kidnapped.

Personalities

Villains Crapaud Crapaud and his followers are all descendants of Magyar invaders who came from the same region in Hungary, and who were themselves descendants of an ancient, unknown people, described by the narrator of Robert E. Howard’s The Black Stone in this way: “They were a shorter, more squat race, whose brows were lower, whose faces were broader and duller. Some had Slavic and Magyar features, but those features were degraded as from a mixture of some baser, alien strain I could not classify. Many wore the hides of wild beasts, and their whole appearance, both men and women, was one of sensual brutishness.” These people are generally smaller than other Magyar descendants, but not necessarily so. Their “baser, alien strain” is The leader of the Perfosse ogres is a brute not always visible: to any on-looker, most of of a man. Tall and heavily built, he bears the these people look like regular folks, but a few scars of numerous fights - most noticeable is have a bit of a caveman look to them. his missing ear and the hairless patch of scalp Overall, some 60 people have settled in above it. He's also missing a finger and a good Perfosse, of whom about half can be many of his teeth. considered warriors. Years of abuse and shunning by the people in whose midst he grew up in have left Crapaud angry beyond reason. Today, with the real or imagined voice of Gol-Goroth in his head, he is on the brink of paranoia. He fears that whatever he does not destroy, will destroy him.

- 22 - STR 15 CON 14 SIZ 18 INT 13 something not quite right with Crapaud, and POW 16 DEX 11 APP 7 EDU 9 that he is seeking strife rather than leading Hit Points: 16 them away from it. Damage Bonus: +1d6 STR 16 CON 18 SIZ 19 INT 9 Size: 2m POW 11 DEX 10 APP 7 EDU 7 Move: 10 Hit Points: 19 Attacks: Mace 85% damage d10+1+1Db; Grapple Damage Bonus: +1d6 75%. Size: 2m Armor: 4-point leather with bits of metal. Move: 10 Skills: Brawl 70%, Command 80%, Language Attacks: Hammer 78% damage d10+1+1Db; (German) 15%, Language (Magyar) 40%, Ride Thrown Hammer 60% damage d10+1+ ½ db, 10%, Spot 30%, Smell Humans 75%, Track Grapple 70%. 45%. Armor: 4-point leather with bits of metal. Mutations: Enhanced Senses: smell human beings. Skills: Brawl 70%, Command 70%, Language Spells: Contact Gol-Goroth (German) 50%, Language (Magyar) 25% , Traits: aggressive: 90%, brave 70%, curious 10%, Persuade 80%, Ride 50%, Spot 55%, Smell communicative 35%, honest 20%, trusting 5%. Humans 58%, Strategy 48%, Track 45%. Mutations: Enhanced Senses: smell human beings. Traits: aggressive: 50%, brave 80%, curious 40%, Artor communicative 15%, honest 50%, gullible 75%.

Antak The old shaman initially lived with the ogre tribe which split when its young warriors decided to throw in their lot with that young lout, Tijan. Antak left the tribe with a few other of the old chief's followers, but then they encountered Crapaud and followed him to Perfosse. Crapaud may be commanding the troops, but it is Antak who is penning the plans and the schemes. It was his idea to start the 'Wild Hunt', and the ghosts that ride with their warriors are at his command. He is old and physically feeble, but he is every bit as cunning as he ever was. He is the power behind the throne, and one day he expects to Artor is a good soldier, not overly cruel or be the power on the throne, as Crapaud's evil, but he generally follows commands mind is about to snap any day soon now. without questioning them. He's not too bright, but he is big and strong and good with Antak is a follower of the old Magyar that heavy axe that has been his since he was beliefs. He revers his ancestors and twelve. communicates with their spirits. And in return for revering them, and making regular Of late, a nagging doubt has cropped up sacrifices to them, they help him. As a in Artor's mind. He, like all the others, has shaman, he is able to contact and summon followed Crapaud to Perfosse in the hope that ghosts and have them do his bidding. He is they can build a new life far apart from the not a follower of Gol-Goroth, but he feels prying eyes of humans. Yet it is the very that the dark presence that speaks to them is actions ordered about by Crapaud that have more apt to help keep their followers in check brought prying eyes to the shunned valley. And vaguely, Artor knows that there is - 23 - than are the spirits of ancestors whom most The Army of the Dead has a collective of the tribe have never known. POW score equal to their number. This can Antak normally accompanies the warriors be used to engage in ghostly combat. on their outings, although he keeps a healthy Typically, they do not attack individuals in distance from the battle. He tends to cast Fury combat spirit, but engage their opponents as on several of the warriors to make them more group. To simulate this, use the sum of all reckless in battle. player characters' POW to oppose the ghost army’s collective POW. Any power points lost STR 8 CON 9 SIZ 14 INT 15 by the player characters in a round of ghostly POW 20 DEX 13 APP 11 EDU 16 combat affect the player character with the Hit Points: 12 lowest power points; while any power points Damage Bonus: +1d4 lost by the ghost army reduces their numbers. Size: 1m80 Move: 10 The Army of the Dead Attacks: Staff 45% The following statistics apply to the ghosts Armor: 2-point leather. as a group, not individually: Skills: First Aid 75%, Insight 75%, Knowledge INT 9 POW 1 x number of ghosts present (Herbs & Poisons) 60%, Language (German) 70%, Language (Magyar) 90%, Listen 65%, Move: 9 Medicine 70%, Persuade 65%, Ride 45%, Attacks: Strategy 65%. ❖ Ghostly combat POW vs. POW, 1d3 power Sorcery Spells (BRP / spells marked with * points damage. are from the BRP Magic Book): Contact Ancestors*, Control Spirits*, Fury, Heal, Muddle, ❖ Cause Fear: when trying to attack the Army of Summon Army of the Fallen (special, see below), the Dead, the attackers must first make a Undo Sorcery, Witch Sight. successful Will roll in order to advance. If the attackers are on horse back, a Will roll must also Spells (CDA): Augur, Compel Spirits, Contact be cast for their mounts. If unsuccessful, the Ancestors, Disembodiment, Fear, Fury, Heal, horse stalls; if fumbled, it bolts. Summon Army of the Fallen (special, see below). Sanity Loss: 0/1d6. Seeing the Army of the Dead Traits: aggressive: 60%, brave 50%, curious 60%, does not itself cause sanity loss, but realizing that one is communicative 60%, honest 30%, scheming surrounded by ghosts does. 80%, trusting 20%. The Army of the Dead is comprised of the ghosts of the slain Magyar warriors, and Spell: Summon the Army of the appear as they looked like in their moment of Dead death. Most are dressed in outlandish garb: Range: Sight Duration: 6h fur clothing, peaked caps, leather armour. Power (Magic) Point cost: variable, minimum 5. Much of the clothing, armour and weaponry Sanity: 1d2 seems old and dilapidated; and the warriors themselves seem to carry a good number of Summoning the Army of the Dead is a wounds. ritual spell that takes 2d4 hours to complete. The ritual must be held on a battle field or a The ghosts look solid, and it is impossible similar killing ground. to tell from a distance that the warriors are not corporeal. While the ghosts are not able The number of ghosts summoned is to fight physically, the do engage in Spirit dependant on the number of dead buried in combat and also use the Fear spell to frighten that particular place. Each Magic Point both the adventurers and their mounts. invested raises about four ghosts. Their presence generates noticeable The summoned ghosts do not act physical effects: the temperature drops by a individually but as a group entity. They move few degrees and a rush of air surrounds them, as one, and appear and disappear as one. The so that their appearance is always marked by summoner can issue simple commands which the rustling of leaves and a sensation of cold. they follow, but in general they do not do much more than move around. - 24 - Antak normally summons about 60 ghosts. Sample Warriors In preparation of the summoning, he sits Ogre 1 2 3 4 chanting in a drug induced trance on the site of the mass grave. STR 17 16 14 16 CON 11 13 13 14 SIZ 19 18 17 16 The Bear INT 9 10 13 10 The man everyone simply calls The Bear is POW 10 9 13 11 a giant ogre in whom generations of in- DEX 9 11 13 13 breeding have caused multiple mutations. APP 3 5 6 4 He is supernaturally tall and broad, and EDU 7 7 8 7 extremely ugly, being practically covered from HP: 15 16 15 15 head to toes with coarse black hair. His face is irregular, one side looking crushed, a result of DB: 1d6 1d6 1d6 1d6 his shocked father having dropped him as a Move: 9 9 10 10 new-born when he first held him in his arms. Size 2m05 2m 1m95 1m90 When taking part in the Wild Hunt, the Attacks: Heavy Club 60% damage 1d8+db; Spear Bear dresses in bear fur and wears the head of 55% damage d10+1+1Db; Thrown Spear 55% damage d10+1+ ½ db. a bear over his helmet. Armor: 2 point leather STR 20 CON 15 SIZ 21 INT 6 Skills: Brawl 65%, Dodge 35%, Hide 25%, POW 8 DEX 9 APP 6 EDU 6 Language (Magyar) 35% Language (German) Hit Points: 18 65%, Search 55%, Smell Humans: 65%, Sneak 25%, Track 80%. Damage Bonus: +2d6 Mutations: Enhanced sense: smell humans; Move: 9 Increased Characteristic: SIZ; Decreased Size: 2m15 Characteristic: APP; Metabolic Weakness: addiction to human flesh. All mutations are Attacks: Mace 65% damage d10+1+1Db. minor. Armor: 4-point leather with bits of metal. Traits: aggressive: 80%, brave 70%, curious 15%, communicative 15%, honest 50%. Skills: Brawl 70%, Dodge 40%, Hide 35%, Jump 45%, Language (German) 30%, Ride 45%, Search 45%, Smell Humans 75%, Sneak 35%. Seeing the Bear all dressed up costs 0/1d2 SAN Mastiffs points. The ogres are keeping a series of mastiffs, Mutations: Enhanced Senses: smell human beings. mainly as guard dogs, but also for hunting. Enhanced Attribute: Strength. They take a handful along on their Wild Traits: aggressive: 80%, brave 90%, curious 10%, Hunts, mostly for scaring their potential communicative 10%, honest 30%. victims. If required, they can also be let loose on the player characters. Typical Ogre Hunters / STR 13 CON 11 SIZ 8 INT 5 Warriors POW 10 DEX 13 Char. Roll Average Hit Points: 10 STR 2d6+6 13 Damage Bonus: - CON 3d6 10-11 Move: 10 SIZ 2d6+10 17 Attacks: Bite 5% damage d8+1/2Db (bleeding). INT 2d6+6 13 Armor: 2-point fur. POW 3d6 10-11 Skills: Dodge 35%, Listen 75%, Sense 90%, Track 80%. DEX 3d6 10-11 Traits: aggressive: 45%, brave 90%, curious 60%. APP 2d6 7 EDU 3d6 10-11 - 25 - Gol-Goroth Ignatius the Hermit “ ... a huge monstrous toad-like thing squatted on the top of the monolith! STR 9 CON 15 SIZ 10 INT 18 POW 14 DEX 13 APP 6 EDU 18 I saw its bloated, repulsive and unstable outline against the moonlight and set in what Hit Points: 13 would have been the face of a natural creature, its Damage Bonus: - huge, blinking eyes which reflected all the lust, Move: 10 abysmal greed, obscene cruelty and monstrous evil that has stalked the sons of men since their Attacks: none. ancestors moved blind and hairless in the treetops. Armor: none. In those grisly eyes were mirrored all the unholy Skills: Dodge 45%, various Knowledge (Val-du- things and vile secrets that sleep in the cities under Loup, Natural World, Potions...) 90%, Search the sea, and that skulk from the light of day in the 65%. blackness of primordial caverns. And so that Traits: aggressive: 10%, brave 80%, curious 40%, ghastly thing that the unhallowed ritual of cruelty communicative 40%, honest 95%. and sadism and blood had evoked from the silence of the hills, leered and blinked down on its bestial worshippers, who groveled in abhorrent abasement Tijan and the Grisroc Ogres before it.” Tijan and his ogre tribe are detailed in I, -- Robert E. Howard, The Black Stone. Ogre. The toad-like god does not make an appearance in this scenario, although there is a slim chance of him being invoked by De Padin's Men Crapaud. Generally, he works through the If required, these soldiers may either help dreams and visions of his followers. or hinder the adventurers, as the game master wishes. Other NPCs There should be some 4-6 men-at-arms and one serjeant leading them.

Baldwin, a Thief Men-at-Arms Baldwin is an gambler and thief who has STR 15 CON 14 SIZ 14 INT 11 fallen on hard times. He used to roam the POW 11 DEX 14 APP 11 EDU 9 world, and had even found fame and fortune Hit Points: 14 in the Levant, but his fondness for quick games, cheap wine, fast women and expensive Damage Bonus: +d4 friends led to his ruin. Now he roams the lost Armor: 6 point byrnie +1 point light helmet corners of the Empire. Whatever money he Attacks: Spear 70% damage 1D6+1+db makes through petty thievery, he pretty much (Impaling), Shield (Buckler) 55% damage loses again in games of dice. 1D2+db (knockback), Bow 55% damage STR 12 CON 12 SIZ 13 INT 13 1D8+½db POW 13 DEX 15 APP 8 EDU 14 Skills: Dodge 50%, Listen 55%, Ride 70%, Spot 55%, Stealth 45%, Track 40%. Hit Points: 13 Damage Bonus: +1d4 Serjeants Attacks: Sword 40%, Dagger 55%, Thrown Dagger 78%. Sergeants are mounted men-at-arms who Armor: 4-point leather with bits of metal. serve as light cavalry on the battle field. They Skills: Appraise 40%, Bargain 44%, Brawl 60%, are less heavily armed and armoured than Climb 86%, Dodge 70%, Fast Talk 70%, Gaming knights, and hence more agile. 40%, Hide 88%, Language (French) 60%, Language (German) 32%, Listen 72%, Ride Use the same characteristics as for the 35%, Stealth 88%, Spot 72%. men-at-arms, but apply the following skills: - 26 - Attacks: Long Sword 70% damage 1D8+db Special Guest Appearances (Bleeding), Shield (Buckler) 65% damage 1D2+db (knockback) The following personalities from Val-du- Skills: Command 70%, Dodge 50%, Listen 65%, Loup may make an appearance in this Ride 70% (55% after adjustment for the chain scenario. The Val-du-Loup monograph mail shirt), Sense 55%, Spot 55%, Stealth 35%, Track 40%. provides more background on these two men.

Edouard d'Ascalon, the Knight of Villagers Montfort Among the thirty or so refugees from STR 16 CON 16 SIZ 17 INT 17 Hauvent, the following people stand out and POW 15 DEX 16 APP 11 EDU 16 are likely to interact most with the adventurers: Hit Points 17 Damage Bonus: +1D6 Alois, a forester, who is the community’s Attacks: Battle Axe 92% damage d8+2+1Db, Shield de-facto leader. Traits: aggressive: 45%, 80% damage d4+1Db (knockback), Lance 75% brave 80%, curious 70%, communicative damage d4+2+1Db 45%, honest 90%. Skills: Spear 80%, Track Armor: 8 point chain & helm 85% (other attributes and skills as per a Skills: Command 85%, Dodge 55%, Etiquette 55%, typical villager). Knowledge (Religion) 70%, Knowledge (Occult) Anna, a former inn keeper, the most 55%, Knowledge (Val-du-Loup) 45%, Language (French) 80%, Language (German) 35%, outspoken of the villagers. Traits: aggressive: Language (Arabic) 55%, Literacy (French) 80%, 55%, brave 90%, curious 95%, Ride 90%, Status 65%, Strategy 75%, Tactics communicative 95%, honest 75%, shy 01%. 95%. Berthe, a farm girl, the only survivors of a Wild Hunt. Traits: aggressive: 05%, brave Roger de Padin, Constable of 70%, curious 65%, communicative 70%, Rocmort honest 95%, shy 60%. STR 14 CON 14 SIZ 14 INT 17 POW 16 DEX 15 APP 12 EDU 16 Typical Male Villager Move: 10 STR 15 CON 13 SIZ 11 INT 10 Hit Points: 14 POW 12 DEX 14 APP 10 EDU 9 Damage Bonus: +1D4 Hit Points: 12 Armor: 7 point chain mail with 1 point helmet Damage Bonus: +d4 Attacks: Long Sword 80% damage 1D6+1+1Db, Shield (Buckler) 70%, Bow 55% damage Attacks: Axe 65% , damage 1D6 +db, Improvised 1D8+½db Weapon 70%, damage d6-1 +db Skills: Command 85%, Dodge 45%, Etiquette 70%, Skills: Craft (various) 75%, Knowledge (Natural Knowledge (Val-du-Loup) 85%, Knowledge World) 60%, Knowledge (Occult) 35%, Track (Religion) 70%, Knowledge (Espionage) 75%, 55% Ride 65%, Status 70%, Strategy 85%.

Typical Female Villager STR 12 CON 13 SIZ 10 INT 10 POW 14 DEX 14 APP 10 EDU 10 Hit Points: 12 Damage Bonus: +d4 Attacks: Improvised Weapon 35%, damage d6-1 +db Skills: Craft (various) 75%, Knowledge (Natural World) 60%, Knowledge (Occult) 55%. Villagers

- 27 - Appendix: Maps

Fosse Valley

To Montfort

Perfosse (town) Perfosse Abbey 12km

Hermitage (road)

Fosse

Hauvent camp

To Rocmort

- 28 - Perfosse Village and Abbey 4 5 3 6 2 1 7 Village Fossebrook Bridge& path toabbey Church Monastery stairs Back Meadows& stables Road 8 Legend 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

- 29 - MONTFORT Hauback Grisroc km 40

Val-du-Loup Map Perfosse Beaufort Cracfer Trou-Du-Loup Mont Corbeau Basbois

Becblanc Rocmort Eonach River Loup River â Dentpourrie Roif ge è Cleve MONTFORT Hauback Grisroc Road to Li Sainsprit km 40 Gardeloup Perfosse River

Herbenoir Beaufort St. John's Trou-Du-Loup Mont Corbeau Basbois Inodin Becblanc Rocmort Eonach

River Loup River Loup River â Dentpourrie Roif Froideau ge è Hauterre Loufort Cleve Val-du-Loup Road to Li Sainsprit Gardeloup

River

Herbenoir St. John's MONTFORT Hauback Grisroc Inodin km 40 River Loup Perfosse Froideau Beaufort Epeedor Trou-Du-Loup Mont Corbeau Basbois Hauterre Val-du-Loup Becblanc Rocmort Eonach

- 30 - River Loup River â Dentpourrie Roif ge è Cleve Road to Li Sainsprit Gardeloup

River

Herbenoir St. John's Inodin River Loup Froideau Hauterre Val-du-Loup