MASTERING THE VAULT

Copyright © 2003 Philip Reed and Christopher Shy. All Rights Reserved. The Whispering Vault is a trademark of Philip Reed and Christopher Shy. The Sanguine Seal is a trademark of Alex Gray, used with permission. The Whispering Vault created by Alex Gray. MASTERING THE VAULT

WRITTEN BY Nigel Findley with Chad Brinkley and Mike Nystul

EDITED BY Aaron Loeb, Mike Nystul, and Philip Reed

Proofreading by

COVER AND BACK COVER ART BY Christopher Shy

INTERIOR ART BY Earl Geier, Larry MacDougall, Dave Mackay, and Thron

PRODUCTION BY Philip Reed

WELCOME After years of waiting patiently, the mate- rial in this book is finally ready for your next game of The Whispering Vault. Inside these pages are: • GM advice by Nigel Findley. • A timeline by Chad Brinkley. • A hunt by Nigel Findley. • Unbidden as Player Character rules. • A few adventure hooks. GAMEMASTERING THE WHISPERING VAULT by Nigel Findley

Gamemastering The Whispering Vault involves some very specific chal- lenges, not necessarily found in other games. The game brings with it some characteristic pitfalls into which GMs – new and experienced – find it all too easy to fall. On the other side of the coin, these same challenges bring with them some significant rewards that might not be found in other games. This section discusses some of these pitfalls and ways to get around them, and provides some specific techniques gamemasters of The Whispering Vault can use to get the most out of their games.

MOOD GENRE More so than many games, The But what mood? It’s time to take a Whispering Vault is a game of mood. A look at that. What makes up the charac- game of Vault lives or dies by how well teristic mood of The Whispering Vault? the gamemaster – and, secondarily, the S HE HISPERING AULT A players – build and maintain the mood. I T W V If you look at The Whispering Vault “HORROR”GAME? superficially, there’s not that much Strictly speaking, I’d argue “no.” unique about it. “Let’s see,” you might (Caveat: This and other opinions say, “take elements of horror and fantasy expressed in this article are mine. Not – with maybe some superhero gaming necessarily those of the publisher, and tossed in for good measure – add some not necessarily yours – you gamemasters extra-dimensional bounty-hunters, and and players of the game. Personally, I you’ve got it.” Looked at that way . . . think it’s important to remember that. what’s so special about The Whispering Your game of The Whispering Vault is Vault anyway? Sounds pretty boring, all yours, after all – not mine, not anyone in all . . . else’s. As long as you’re having fun But The Whispering Vault isn’t bor- doing what you’re doing . . . well, keep ing – or, at least, it shouldn’t be. It can be on doing it. What I’m providing you – and should be – compelling, evocative, here are guidelines you can try to dark (but notably distinct from the many increase the pleasure you get from your other “dark” games on the market), even gaming sessions, not hard-and-fast rules, disturbing . . . and, in a sense, magical. graven inn stone, specifying precisely What is it that sets The Whispering how the game is to be played right. End Vault apart from a game of “whacked- of sermon.) out bounty hunters on steroids”? Mood, Certainly, there are horrific elements pure and simple. in The Whispering Vault. Many conven- tions used in the game are similar – though generally not identical – to con-

3 ventions used in horror fiction, cinema are everyday types – not heroes (or, at measure of luck, and a knowledge of and gaming. There’s the mysterious, least, not people who’d ever consider how to exploit the foe’s weaknesses. often inscrutable foe, defended by themselves to be heroes). They’re drawn (Case in point: Van Helsing meets guardians that are often monstrous. into a mystery, usually against their will, Dracula at midnight . . . and has care- There are enigmatic, arcane forces at and then almost immediately put in dan- lessly left his crucifix at home. Would work – often, forces that the player char- ger for their lives. The archetypal horror you bet on the “powerful” vampire acters understand only inadequately. plot-line is one where the protagonists hunter to survive until dawn . . . ?) There are elements out of nightmare – have no choice but to pit themselves Powerful Protagonists familiar faces concealing hideous intent; against overwhelming odds – a coven of And that’s a major way in which transformation and transmogrification, vampires, a shopping-mall full of zom- The Whispering Vault diverges from the until it’s impossible to be sure that any- bies, or Great Cthulhu himself – because archetypal horror story or game. thing is what it seems. There are flashes the alternative is simply unacceptable. Whatever else they happen to be, the of brutal violence, inhuman destructive- Death (or worse) for themselves, death protagonists, the heroes – the Stalkers – ness, pain, loss, death. There are inno- of innocents the protagonists care about, are not helpless innocents. They’re about cents drawn into things beyond their often the destruction of the human race, as far as it’s possible to get from “normal imagining; and those who consider the entire universe, or even the multi- people drawn into something too big for themselves predators, suddenly realizing verse. them.” The Stalkers are heroes – or that they’ve become prey. And, through- Horror heroes generally know maybe “champions” is the better word. out, there’s the mass of “innocent” they’re outmatched, too, and that knowl- How does this fact affect a Vault humanity, blissfully unaware of the pri- edge affects every aspect of their behav- story? Stalkers are going to be driving mal forces struggling and striving ior. They know that the only way they the plot to a much greater extent than the around them, threatening to shatter their can survive to “win” the conflict – what- “heroes” in a horror story/game. The comfortable worlds and lives forever. All ever it is – is to keep a low profile, to Stalkers are – or should be – agents: peo- of these are mainstays of the horror keep their location and actions, even ple who act, rather than people who are genre, and key parts of The Whispering their very existence, a secret from the acted upon. Once the Stalkers are Vault. antagonists. That’s one of the central involved – once they’ve answered the But then there are two central con- challenges of the horror genre: finding Call – they drive the events of the story. ventions of horror that are directly con- the weakness in the antagonist that They should be acting, making things tradictory to the mood of The allows the heroes to survive. happen, rather than standing back and Whispering Vault. In the familiar horror Even seemingly “powerful” horror waiting for something else to happen to story (or game), the protagonists – the heroes are actually weaklings when them, or around them. (This is as impor- player characters – are almost always compared to their foes. The only way the tant a point from a character point of totally outmatched by the antagonists, heroes can survive and triumph is view as it is from a story standpoint. by the opposition. Most horror “heroes” through stealth, cunning, a healthy

4 Stalkers are the servitors of the Primal And horror? Well, horror is defined Powers, the guardians of the Dream . . . as a sensation of abhorrence or repug- and, by all they once held holy, they nance. Usually, this abhorrence is cou- know it. Stalkers are the ultimate agents, pled with fear, but not necessarily. At its and agents must act. For a well-played core, horror is the sense that something Stalker, hanging back and waiting for is terribly wrong, that the world is out of events to develop should be totally joint, that the natural order of things has inconceivable – as inconceivable as for a somehow become perverted. For mor- hunting tiger to wait for prey to walk tals, this realization is more than enough directly into its jaws.) to cause fear; that’s why horror and fear Fear, Terror and Horror are identified with one another in com- Although most people use them mon parlance. For Stalkers, however? interchangeably, these three words have Stalkers do feel horror – the (possi- very distinct meanings. Fear is a reaction bly self-righteous) realization that the to a direct threat. It’s the natural reaction Unbidden has deserted its duties to inter- to danger, the energizing response that act with the Realm of Flesh, to pervert drives the “fight or flight” response. the entire Dreaming with its unbridled Although there are irrational fears (pho- passions and hunger. They feel the bias, for example), fear can be a rational abhorrence and repugnance that lie at the response to circumstances. Just as a core of horror . . . but they don’t feel the character in a horror story feels fear, so accompanying fear. In a sense, it’s hor- to might a Stalker (so I’d argue, at least). ror – this sense of inexorable wrongness The nature of the fear would be very dif- – that motivates a Stalker’s actions. ferent, of course. A dedicated Stalker (Looked at this way, perhaps The might have no personal fear of nonexis- Whispering Vault is more a game of true tence. Yet still, the Stalker might still horror than those more commonly bear- fear the consequences – to the Dream ing that label . . . ) and the Dreaming – if he were to fall in THE “FOUR-COLOR TRAP” the battle against the Unbidden. Also, a Stalker and a normal human would prob- Gamemasters and players might ably respond quite differently to fear. A also “skew” The Whispering Vault clos- well-played Stalker wouldn’t let her fear er to the genre of the superhero, the control her, wouldn’t let it turn her aside genre of the four-color comic. After all, from right action, and certainly wouldn’t there are crossovers between these two be paralyzed by panic. But fear is, and genres as well, just as there are between should be, a part of a Stalker’s existence. Vault and horror fiction. What’s to dis- tinguish between the Stalkers and a band Terror is defined as overwhelming of super-powered heroes from the or overmastering fear – an uncontrol- comics? After all, aren’t many of a lable emotion that’s a mainstay of horror Stalker’s powers similar to those a self- fiction and gaming. Characters flee in respecting four-color hero might enjoy? terror, or are so overwhelmed with terror that they collapse in a gibbering heap. The Sense of Wonder Would a Stalker ever feel terror? I’d say, The difference between the genres is, “categorically not.” The experience of to me, one of the most vital elements in terror – of being “undone” and overmas- The Whispering Vault: the sense of won- tered by fear – is a weakness of the flesh, der. Comic-book characters might be able one that Stalkers have long since left to change their form (Morph), control the behind them. minds of mundanes (Dominate), extrude

5 when a Stalker summons an Essence Hound? In game terms, the answer’s simple: the Stalker’s player makes an Evocation Challenge and loses a point of Vitality. The Essence Hounds respond – assum- ing the player made the necessary dice roll – and go about their business. But how does that manifest itself in the game world? My suggestion is that the player summoning the Servitors explain exact- ly how her character is going about the process and precisely how the Servitors respond. Consider the following example:

“From the folds of my robe, I extract a tiny flute, carefully carved from the bone of an animal long claws and tear an opponent (Savage), and that happens “off-stage.” In The extinct from the world. I raise it to even heal wounds they’ve suffered Whispering Vault? The Circle must sum- my lips and blow, feeling the pierc- (Weave). But in the four-color universe, mon the Navigator, pass along the ing note shiver through every fiber these abilities are accepted, if not as mun- Winding Path, dispel the Guardian who of my Vessel. I step aside as the first dane then certainly as the character’s tends the Barrier . . . and only then can the of the hounds emerges into the “due,” in some sense – taken for granted. Stalkers actually enter the Realm of Realm of Flesh, seeming to materi- Not so in The Whispering Vault – in Flesh. In all but the most unusual of my view, at least. Nothing in Vault should cases, there won’t be any complications. alize from the floor and walls that ever be taken for granted. Stalkers should The Circle will reach the Realm of Flesh surround me. Red-rimmed eyes never become blasé about their abilities, without difficulty. look at me expectantly.” should never accept them as “just one of Why, then? Why bother with the those things.” Every time a Stalker uses a entire rigmarole of being consumed by an Even this kind of detail can become Discipline, the event should be attended infinitely-long worm? The answer given formulaic – and hence boring – after with a sense of wonder. Every ability of a in the rulebook is “to get the players into awhile. Consider asking your players to Stalker is special – an alteration in the the proper mindset to play Stalkers.” I’d ring interesting changes on the details fabric of the Dream. How could this not take it further: I’d say, “To establish the each time they use a particularly power be important? sense of wonder – the sense of shadowy, (or at least every few times). This sense of wonder is innate to the infinite forces – that should infuse the Make sure to keep the sense of won- entire Whispering Vault paradigm, or entire game session.” der alive – for your players and for your- world-view. Think about the process of One way of maintaining that sense self (believe me, your players will sense passing from the Realm of Essence to the of wonder is to visualize and describe immediately if you’re not fully Realm of Flesh. Crossing the Rift in exactly what happens when a Stalker engaged). Staying true to this major ele- response to the Call is basically just pre- uses a Discipline, evokes a Servitor or ment of the genre stops the game from amble: a preface to the “real” events of whatever. (I’ll have more to say about sliding into the “four-color trap,” and the game. In another genre, another visualization and description in a later from drifting into the related problem of game, the passage across the Rift could section.) Let’s take the latter example as “just another fantasy game.” be instantaneous, automatic: something a case in point. Exactly what happens

6 DEUS EX MACHINA Even when their true nature is masked, Whispering Vault is full of unknowns and they stand out from the crowd. They know imponderables . . . and that’s just the way it A common trap in gamemastering – they’re different from the run-of-the-mill, should be. and in writing fiction, for that matter – is and everything that occurs around them – Why, for example, can the Stalkers the “deus ex machina,” the “god from the the reaction of every mortal they encounter cross the Rift only in response to a Call? machine.” The term itself comes from – should reinforce that knowledge. Why are the Stalkers categorically forbid- ancient drama; what it means is a conven- den to harm the Supplicant? To players, ient occurrence that concludes the plot – these constraints often seem arbitrary. (To usually saving the protagonists and defeat- Stalkers too, perhaps . . . ) Within the logic ing the antagonist – totally unconnected of The Whispering Vault, however, they’re with the protagonists’ actions. Examples of not arbitrary. They make perfect sense; deus ex machina in gaming and fiction are they’re natural outgrowths, necessary con- legion: the hyper-powerful non-player sequences, of the way the Dreaming character who shows up from nowhere just works. Of course, understanding why in time to save the day; the meteor or earth- they’re necessary required a comprehen- quake or whatever that frees the player sion of the entire Dreaming – something characters from the villain’s death-trap; the that’s beyond the capabilities of everything “coincidental” fact that the runaway train but the Primal Powers themselves. The ran out of fuel; or, the archetypal example, Stalkers can only accept these things as the phrase “and then the little boy woke “givens,” as the axioms of their existence . up.” Normally, deus ex machina is the sign . . and hold to the certitude that everything of bad plotting, both in fiction and game “THE COSMIC MACHINE” proceeds as the Primal Powers wish. design, and thus something to be avoided. Though the Stalkers are of a different It’s up to you, as gamemaster, to con- The interesting twist is that, in The order of existence from the mortals that vey this gestalt – this overall world-view – Whispering Vault, the Stalkers are the surround them in the Realm of Flesh, to your players. The symbolic, ritualistic deus ex machina. They are the “hyper- they’re still only small cogs in a much big- aspects of the Hunt’s beginning – the Call, powerful characters” who show up to pull ger structure: the “Cosmic Machine.” If we the summoning of the Navigator, the ban- the Supplicant’s fat out of the fire. The use the human body as an analogy for the ishing of the Guardian, etc. – are great Stalkers are the mechanism used by the entire Dreaming, then the Stalkers are ways of reminding the players of their Primal Powers to “make everything right leukocytes – white blood cells – sent forth characters’ place in the grand scheme. again,” to counteract the perversions into the bloodstream to combat “perver- Throughout the Hunt, take any opportuni- caused by the Unbidden. The Stalkers sions” in the cosmic order. (Following this ties that arise to bring this point home. know what their position in the cosmic analogy, the Unbidden can be thought of as When the Stalkers use Disciplines or sum- scheme is; they know they’re the deus ex cancerous cells . . . ) Though unarguably mon Servitors, feel free to describe the machina, and this knowledge should affect important, the Stalkers/leukocytes are still sensations the characters feel (above and just about every aspect of their world-view. but a tiny part of the Cosmic Machine. beyond the descriptions the players them- This is an important facet of the mood of Is it reasonable for leukocytes in the selves give). Disciplines let the Stalkers The Whispering Vault. bloodstream to expect to understand every- alter the fabric of the Dreaming – on a Perhaps even more important, howev- thing about the body in which they’re func- minuscule level, of course – and they er, is the reaction of mortals who come to tioning? Of course not. Similarly, I’d should feel this. They should feel the enor- understand even an inkling of what the argue, Stalkers can’t expect to understand mity of the structure around them – the Stalkers are and what they represent. In everything about the Dreaming, about the structure that is the whole of existence – many cases, only the Supplicant herself Realms of Flesh and Essence, about the and sense the workings of the other parts of will sense that the Stalkers are something Rift. They know their own place in the the Cosmic Machine. (It’s important to use special. But her response to them – awe, grand structure; they know their purpose; this sense of enormity, of immanence, judi- amazement, fear, denial, or whatever else and they understand the constraints put ciously; otherwise, it’ll become formulaic is appropriate – is also vital to the game’s upon their actions (the Forbiddance). and meaningless through repetitions.) mood. The Stalkers are something special. Beyond that, though? The world of The

7 MORALITY – Should Be, a perversion of the Dreaming. And so the Stalkers would hunt the “AN INVENTION Unbidden with the same fervor as if the OF THE FLESH” Enigma caused innocent children to spon- Stalkers are – or, at least, should be – taneously combust. amoral individuals. Not immoral – To help get this idea across, you as amoral: totally beyond the scope of gamemaster have to be careful in the morality as humans understand it. words you choose to describe the Morality, after all – the distinction Unbidden and the Enigma. When a between good and evil – is a mortal con- Stalker uses Sensitivity, tell the player her cept, an “invention of the flesh.” In the character senses “wrongness,” not “evil.” Realm of Essence, the terms “good” and Instead of words like “wickedness,” “bad- “evil” are totally meaningless. ness,” “vileness,” etc., use terms like Certainly, Stalkers may occasionally “transformation,” “mutation” and “perver- lapse into seeing things in terms of con- sion of the natural order.” Again, this is a ventional morality. They were once mor- subtle distinction, and sometimes a diffi- tals, after all, and the good/evil dichotomy cult one to communicate. But when you is drilled into mortals from the day of their do get it across to your players, you’ll find birth to the moment of their death. The it’s certainly worth the effort. Aesthetics, the Unbidden, and the Primal Powers don’t view things in terms of TECHNIQUES morality, however . . . and that means you, Here are some techniques and tools as gamemaster, can’t either. you can use to build the mood and main- It’s an easy trap to fall into; it’s con- tain the atmosphere so necessary for The venient to class the Unbidden as “evil” Whispering Vault. (I won’t bother with and the Stalkers as forces for “good.” But obvious tricks and trappings; you already that’s simply not true to the mood of The know you can play by candlelight, and put Whispering Vault. The Stalkers pursue eerie music on the stereo . . . ) the Unbidden, mend the Enigma, not because the rogue Aesthetic is evil . . . but SYMBOLISM because what it does is wrong: counter to A good game of The Whispering the cosmic order. It’s a subtle difference, Vault should have many similarities with a but a vitally important one. nightmare. The familiar appears in trans- Conceivably, the Unbidden could cre- formed, often monstrous, guise. The mon- ate an Enigma that mortals would consid- strous is revealed to be benign, if not out- er “good.” Perhaps the Enigma is that right helpful and beneficial. The world of everyone is kindly toward his neighbors; The Whispering Vault is our world, viewed that people forgive, rather than holding through a dark and distorting mirror. How, grudges; that cruelty and violence are as a gamemaster, do you get that nightmar- unheard of; that sickness, and death, are ish feel? One way is through the use of eliminated. Would the Stalkers be justified symbolism. in turning a blind eye to this kind of In this context, a “symbol” is some- Enigma, in calling off the Hunt because thing that is representative, not objective. It the Unbidden’s actions obviously aren’t denotes, or depicts, something beyond its “evil”? Of course not. What matters is that physical existence. It carries extra meaning the natural order has been altered by the – meaning that can bring enlightenment to very presence of the rogue Aesthetic. The a Stalker able to decipher its significance. Enigma is a rent in the fabric of What

8 THEME AND “THROUGH-LINE” of a recently-vacated house. A child wan- ience (and the cop-out) of two-dimen- Before you start tossing symbols into dering lost through the noonday crowds sional characterization. Even archetypes your game, take some time to think about on a city sidewalk. An obviously-prized – or maybe “especially archetypes” – the theme, the story “through-line,” that doll dumped unceremoniously in a need distinct, differentiated personalities. you’ll be dealing with in your adventure. garbage can. Although these symbolic Your players have no doubt encountered The Hunt you’re about to play is a story. scenes don’t necessarily have to have a Fallen Hero before; that doesn’t mean What’s that story about? If you had to anything whatsoever to do with the plot that they should ever have met this Fallen describe to a friend the key “feel” of the of the Hunt, they are – or can be – emo- Hero. “Archetype” doesn’t mean famil- story in one word, what would that word be? tionally evocative, underlining the cen- iar, or mundane. tral theme on which you’ve decided. If you’re having trouble figuring out If you do decide to use an archetype the theme of your story, take a look at the Archetypes in your adventure, it’s important to make motivation or goals you’ve assigned to Situations, events and objects can be sure that he or she is closely connected to the Unbidden, at the nature of the symbols. So can people. “Archetypes” the theme of the plot. Enigma. In abstract terms, what is the (in this context, at least) are individuals Recurring Symbols Enigma? What’s at the heart of it? Is it who represent an entire category or Be careful of recurring symbols – associated with any emotions? “class” of people. Familiar archetypes particularly between Hunts. Recurring For example, a Hunt that revolves from movies and fiction are “Everyman,” symbols within a particular adventure around an orphanage or children’s hospi- the Madonna, the Fallen Hero, and the can greatly enhance the emotional effect tal where the Unbidden is performing Doubt-Wracked Priest. Like other sym- of that story’s theme. But be aware if twisted experiments on innocent chil- bols, archetypes can evoke strong emo- you’re falling into a rut of using the dren, might have a theme of betrayal, or tion that supports the theme of the story. same symbols – or even the same class of corruption of innocence (or of both, There’s a particular risk associated of symbols – in different adventures. depending on how your story’s put with using archetypes. If used improper- The first time your players say some- together). A Hunt for an Unbidden holing ly, archetypes can easily slip into stereo- thing like, “Oh, an abandoned animal. up in a movie studio might revolve type, or – worse – caricature. The value Guess this is another betrayal story,” around reality and fantasy, and the diffi- of archetypes doesn’t justify the conven- you’ve lost the mood. culty of telling them apart. Other common themes are loss (of a loved one, or of innocence); betrayal; sacrifice; truth and lie, and how one can sometimes become the other; transcen- dence; flight or escape; and many others. Once you have your theme – once you know what your story’s about – take a moment and list images associated with that theme. What words and images come to mind for you? Those words and images will become the symbols you weave through your story. As an example, let’s say the theme of your story is abandonment and betrayal. As your Stalkers seek the Unbidden and try to mend the Enigma, they observe or overhear seemingly-unrelated events that actually reinforce the theme and atmos- phere of the Hunt. A bedraggled kitten, mewling desperately at the closed door

9 SUBTLETY of the Neitherspace from which he’s tions of combat abilities in the rulebook It’s easy to take symbolism too far – calling the Servitor? Does he hear his are purposefully vague. Whenever a so far that your players will look for voice echo off into infinity, beyond the Stalker uses some combat Discipline – symbols in everything, assume every physical bounds of his actual location? If Frenzy, Rend or Savage – make sure the item you mention is symbolic of some- the action is strenuous, costing him a Stalker’s player describes exactly thing else. On some Hunts, maybe this is point of Vitality, does he feel the expen- what’s happening. What kind of weapon the case. In the majority of cases, diture of energy? Does he feel lassitude does the Stalker manifest with the though, use symbolism sparingly – as a after? Exhaustion? Physical or mental Savage Discipline? What does it look way of refining, of bringing into sharper pain? like, sound like – what does it feel like focus, what you consider to be the key And, once the player has visualized for the Stalker to suddenly create a concepts of the Hunt. As soon as your what’s happening, encourage her to weapon out of its Vessel? players start expecting symbols to be describe it to you and to the other play- What form does the ranged attack everywhere, you’ve lost that tool. ers. Most gamers being at least some- of Rend take? Do spiked chains shoot Remember, even Sigmund Freud – one what competitive, your players will out of the Stalker’s eyes? Does her hair of the “fathers” of the symbolic lan- probably feel the urge to outdo their turn to razorwire and lash out? Again, guage – admitted, “Sometimes a cigar is companions when it comes their turn to what does it look like, sound like, feel just a cigar.” take some supernormal action, to stretch like . . . ? their descriptive abilities to the utmost. It’s so much easier to fall back on VISUALIZATION Not only can this be very enjoyable, in the tried and true than to come up with One of the central aspects of role- and of itself, but it also can dramatically something new and exciting all the time. The playing is that all the action takes place heighten the high-dramatic mood of Thus, even the most creative players Whispering Vault. in the players’ (and gamemaster’s) Depending on your will probably fall into familiar “licks” minds. Everything is visualized. players, some of the finest, most evoca- or “chops” when it comes to combat. tive visualization can come before the always Visualization is even more impor- Rend will manifest as chains Hunt even begins, when your friends always tant in The Whispering Vault – partially, from the eyes. Savage will describe their Stalkers sojourning in but not only, because the rule mechanics involve fingernails turning into scalpels. their Domains, awaiting the Call . . . are so brief and abstract. To go back to Consider giving your players some very an earlier example, just because evoking real benefits for trying something new. VISUALIZATION/DESCRIPTION After the first attack in any given com- a Servitor requires just a single dice roll IN COMBAT doesn’t mean it should be a simple, run- bat, maybe you could enforce a +1 or Traditionally in role-playing games, of-the-mill event in the game world. even +2 penalty to any attack where the where visualization and description Think about it. What is the Stalker player’s description of his Stalker’s tends to break down is in combat. As doing? He’s calling across the Rift, action is “boring” (as judged by the soon as the dice start to roll, and the fists sending forth his will to attract the atten- gamemaster, or perhaps by the other and bullets start to fly, the most evoca- tion of a distinct, semi-sentient creature players). If a certain player always tive description degrades to, “I swing at with its own needs and wants. He’s sub- defaults to Rend-via-optical-chains, you him,” and, “This round I’ll use Rend.” tly – or not so subtly – altering the fabric might slap a +1 penalty on each subse- of reality, affecting the warp and the Don’t let your players off the hook quent Rend attack where he doesn’t weft of the Dreaming. This isn’t superfi- just because they’re fighting for their come up with something innovative. cial stuff! lives. This is the time when the drama (There’s even a logical rationale for this should be at its height – not the tension kind of penalty. Once an opponent has Any time a Stalker uses a Discipline that comes from wondering how the seen – or experienced – a chain-from- or similar “supernormal” ability, encour- dice are going to fall, but the true drama the-eyes attack, he’ll certainly put at age the Stalker’s player to visualize that arises from identifying with your least some effort into figuring out some exactly what’s happening – what his character, putting yourself in her posi- way to counter or dodge that kind of character sees and hears and does, and tion, and experiencing the world attack. Only by constantly trying some- (most importantly) what his character through her senses. As with so many thing unexpected can a Stalker keep her feels. Does the Stalker sense the vastness other facets of the game, the descrip- combat effectiveness at a maximum.)

10 GAMEMASTER DESCRIPTION Supplicant, etc. – are enigmatic in and of While your players can and should themselves. The Stalkers themselves be responsible for a lot of the visualiza- should have a decidedly distinct view of tion and description in the game, you as reality and their own place in it. Viewed gamemaster must bear the brunt of it. If from the standpoint of a normal mortal, it’s easy for a player to get lulled into the that point of view is definitely alien. familiar routine of “I swing and miss,” But where the exotic, the truly alien, during combat, it’s even simpler for the comes into play is in the world-view, gamemaster. Keeping it novel and inter- motivation and actions of the Unbidden. esting can be difficult, but again it’s well Remember, the Unbidden is the Other, worth the effort. A Minion attacks a in every sense of the word. It was never Stalker. Fine. How does it attack? a mortal human, as the Stalkers were. Cautiously, probing for a seam in the The Unbidden was an Aesthetic: a cre- Stalker’s defense without committing ation of the Primal Powers, the out- itself prematurely? Or in all-out attack, growth of those Powers’ hunger for the closing the distance between them in a wonders of the previous Cycle of exis- rush, to tear and bite? Both attacks are tence. In turn, the Realm of Flesh – the the same from a rules-mechanics point world we call “real” – is a creation of the of view, but the difference descriptions Aesthetics, the outgrowth of their like this make to the overall experience Dreaming and imagination. Forsaking is obvious. its place among the host of the Evocative, moody description is Aesthetics, the Unbidden has crossed the particularly important when a Minion is Rift to interact directly with the world wounded and the Husk tears away to that it participated in creating. The reveal the creature within, or when the Unbidden’s conception of reality, its Unbidden itself drops the Veil. These view of its own place in the Dreaming, events are often high points in the game will be totally incomprehensible from – the kind of scene that would be includ- the once-mortal standpoint of the ed in the cinematic “trailer” that adver- Stalkers. tises a new horror movie. You should Remember, the Unbidden has aban- take care in describing the horrific man- doned its place in the cosmic scheme to ifestation of the Minion or the Unbidden satisfy its own hungers and desires. – as much care as, if not more then, the Basically, some aspect or aspects of the players themselves take describing the Realm of Flesh are so enticing, so event when their Stalkers drop the Veil. engrossing, that it’s perverted the entire structure of reality to satisfy its wants. In “THE ALIEN” essence, then, the Unbidden is virtually a The Whispering Vault should be a deity that has set aside its own godhood, game of the strange, of the weird – the and put itself into direct conflict with the alien. The Stalkers themselves, and the Grand Scheme. procedures they have to follow during a Why? Obviously for reasons that Hunt, are outré enough. (In other games, seem good and sufficient to the player characters rarely travel via the Unbidden. To anyone else, though – gastrointestinal tract of colossal pan- specifically, to anyone who still carries dimensional worms, after all . . . ) The the limitations (the “taint,” almost) of seemingly-arbitrary restrictions on the the mortal condition (in other words, the Stalkers’ actions – no crossing the Rift Stalkers)? These reasons will and should without the Call, hands off the be totally incomprehensible.

11 THINGS TO WATCH Here are some areas of concern to which you might want to pay special attention – typical pitfalls into which I’ve seen Vault gamemasters fall (or into which I’ve fallen myself . . . ) HUMOR This is a touchy subject in a lot of games. I’d argue, though, that it’s even more of a delicate issue in The Whispering Vault. Humor is valuable. As playwrights, novelists, and good gamemasters know, an ebb and flow of tension throughout a play, story or game session is vital. If everything’s always happening at an emo- tional fever pitch – if the tension’s cranked up tight and never released – then readers or players “overload.” Their emo- tional “circuit breakers” trip, and they This is another distinction between destruction – just to observe the results. withdraw from what’s going on. the genre of The Whispering Vault and In other words, the Unbidden should If you plot the level of tension in any more typical horror or fantasy stories. As have an agenda . . . but an overwhelm- good work of fiction – and I definitely with all “good” – that is, well-realized ingly alien one. include a good game session in the cate- and well-plotted – antagonists, the As a guideline, then, if you find that gory of “fiction” – you’ll see something Unbidden has strong motivations. It’s the Unbidden in a plotline you’re con- that looks like a roller-coaster. Not a doing what it does for reasons that make sidering is acting from familiar, easily- steady, unrelieved ascent to a climax. Not perfect sense to it, not “just because.” understandable motives . . . seriously a plateau, where the tension is maximal Unlike other genres, however, in The consider changing things around. The from start to finish. Instead, you’ll find an Whispering Vault those strong and “log- actions and motivations of the Unbidden ebb and flow of tension – peaks and val- ical” motivations should be completely should be outré, disturbing, eerie. You’re leys. Certainly, the average level of ten- obscure and arcane to the Stalkers (and doing a good job if your players think sion increases from the start to the climax, to the players). The Unbidden doesn’t they can almost sense the logic behind but there are plenty of respites – moments come to the Realm of Flesh to amass your Unbidden’s actions – almost but where the players (and you, the gamemas- wealth or power, to become famous or not quite. If they have the niggling, dis- ter) can catch they collective breaths. feared, to wreak vengeance or settle old turbing feeling that they almost under- Humor can be useful to momentarily scores – familiar human motives. stand, then you’re definitely on the right decrease the tension, setting your players Instead, the Unbidden might strive to track. (If, in addition, you can intimate up for another, higher, peak of stress. If alter the thought-processes of certain that finally coming to understand would you use it judiciously, humor doesn’t have children – seeming to drive them be dangerous in some sense – that if the to break the mood. Even in Macbeth, one “insane,” while actually skewing their Stalkers ever fully understand the of the bleakest tragedies in Western perceptions of self and of reality. It Unbidden’s motivations, then they’re in drama, Shakespeare tosses in a scene of might toy with the distinction between danger of following the rogue Aesthetic comic relief. Rather than “spoiling the fiction and reality. It might remove or into apostasy – then you’ve encapsulated mood,” instead it “softens the audience alter the national inhibitions of mortals – perfectly the atmosphere of The up,” preparing them to react with renewed including those that protect from self- Whispering Vault in your game.) sensitivity to what follows.

12 Conversely, nothing can wreck the is appropriate; “goofy” isn’t. It’s a fine line supernatural abilities outside the carefully-established mood of a Vault to walk, sometimes, but you’ll soon find Temporal Isolation, or when they drop the game than inappropriate humor. “Boffo” the balance that works for you and your Veil. The Forbiddance is also important, comedy – the kind of over-the-top situa- players. however, when the Stalkers are consider- tion-based humor you’ll find in most TV Of course, as with everything else, it’s ing taking innocent blood, or manipulat- sit-coms – generally isn’t appropriate for entirely up to you and your players how ing the minds, actions or lives of mortals this kind of game. More ironic humor – you use humor in your games. If every- unrelated to the Unbidden or Enigma. based on an understanding and apprecia- one’s laughing themselves hoarse through- Stalkers are so much more competent tion of contradictions in a situation, or aris- out your game of Vault, then they’re obvi- at most things than the mortals that sur- ing from character rather than event – is ously enjoying themselves. And enjoyment round them on a Hunt. Even without using much more in keeping. Speaking personal- is the main purpose of gaming anyway. Savage or Frenzy, a competent Stalker can ly, I find that the best form of humor is that slaughter a bodyguard, a hostile street- where the players recognize the humor in a INNOCENT BLOOD gang, or an inquisitive policeman before situation but the Stalkers they’re role-play- One of the unwritten axioms of a the mortal opponent even knows what’s ing don’t. This kind of dry, “multi-level” Stalker’s existence is “tread softly.” The happening. For many players, this ability comedy, most often based on misconcep- Circle’s task is to correct a disturbance, a seems to be a strong temptation. I believe tion and “conceptual mismatch” can light- perversion, in the fabric of the Dreaming. it’s a temptation that should be held in en the mood without betraying the genre. In effect, banishing the Unbidden (or check. Despite its horror aspects, and its Here’s an example of what I think is destroying it) is secondary to the major flashes of brutal violence, The appropriate humor (with a follow-up task, healing the Enigma. Following this Whispering Vault is at heart a game of “twist”) from a recent game I played. The logic, then, it makes sense that the problem-solving. A lot of the challenge, player characters are approached by a Stalkers should go to great lengths to min- the flavor and the interest is lost if the slightly-scattered little old lady, who’s con- imize their impact on the Dreaming them- Stalkers can solve any problem that arises cerned that her husband’s gone missing. selves. They aren’t, strictly speaking, part by tearing off a few heads. The She takes cookies to her husband every of the fabric. Their very presence causes Forbiddance can – and perhaps should – afternoon, she explains, but today her hus- slight aberrations in the pattern around come down hard on anyone who kills, or band just wasn’t there. She’s worried, and them. Generally, the Living Dream is fluid otherwise interferes with, innocent mor- wants some help in finding out what’s hap- and adaptable enough to reconcile minor tals. pened. The player characters ask around, changes, to re-weave itself so that the pat- Think of it from the logic of the and quickly learn that the woman’s hus- tern isn’t substantively harmed by the Dreaming. The Dream is a fabric; each band died seven years before. Quietly Circle’s actions. It’s obvious, though, that mortal is a thread within that fabric. amused, the players send their characters the Stalkers should keep their impact to a Stalkers have no way of recognizing forth to break the news to the obviously- bare minimum. That’s the importance of which threads are important to the pattern, senile old woman that her husband’s well the Forbiddance – a reminder to over- and which are irrelevant. They should rec- beyond enjoying her cookies any more. It’s eager Stalkers that they’re contemplating ognize their ignorance, and this under- only when they’ve stumbled through a an act that could endanger the Dream. standing should make them circumspect. careful, oh-so-tactful explanation, that they Usually, the Forbiddance comes into After all, it’s easy to imagine how a discover that yes, the woman knows her play when the Stalkers use obviously- Stalker’s ill-considered action can be as husband’s dead. Every day since his funer- damaging to the Dream as the presence of al, she’s been delivering a plate of his the Unbidden. Thirty years in the future, a favorite cookies to his gravesite . . . and major, world-changing development will today, she found that his body had been be made by a scientist or artist (remember, exhumed. A touch of humor, combined there’s no past or future as the Primal with a way of revealing a major plot-point Powers perceive the dream) . . . except that – the stolen body – in a surprising, and an overeager Stalker has just cut down the hence more effective, way. cop who was to be that innovator’s father. Be particularly careful with the That ill-considered action has torn a great Unbidden and the Enigma. Weird and alien rent in the fabric of the Dream.

13 This kind of hypothetical situation is larly if you define matters strictly (as I central to The Whispering Vault. You described in the previous section). If can and your players need to keep it in mind also provide major clues to the Stalkers throughout the game. Feel free to use the as to where the Unbidden is hiding, and Forbiddance as a not-so-subtle reminder the nature of the Enigma. If circum- that the Stalkers should “tread softly” on stances seem to be leading toward an the Dreaming while they’re in the Realm event or development that isn’t “appro- of the Flesh. priate” within the pattern of the Chronosphere, it’s a sure bet that the THE CHRONOSPHERE Unbidden is involved. (For example, if The Whispering Vault isn’t a time- it looks as though World War II is going travel game. The “grandfather paradox” to break out four years “early,” that and other twists and turns of temporal gives the Stalkers at least some idea of logic are beyond the scope of the game. the Unbidden’s activities.) Of course, Nevertheless, some players’ first this makes the History skill incredibly response to a Vault scenario set in a his- valuable for Stalkers . . . torical time-frame is, “What if we kill Once the Stalkers have found the Hitler when he’s a child?,” or “What if Corrupted area around the Unbidden, we prevent Lincoln’s assassination?” and entered the Temporal Isolation, then In short, the answer should be – all bets are off. Anything that happens within the logic of the game – that this within the Temporal Isolation isn’t kind of thing is categorically impossi- “real” as far as the Dreaming is con- ble. The Chronosphere is a fabric, a pat- cerned, and there’s no concern about tern, which the Primal Powers view in triggering the Forbiddance. its entirety. The concept of “time” is a simplification, a convenient fiction CONCLUSION embraced by those who can’t compre- In essence, then, there are four basic hend the Chronosphere as it truly is – “rules” for gamemastering The i.e., mortals, and Stalkers. Hitler is part Whispering Vault: of that grand pattern, as is Lincoln . . . 1. Keep it strange. Vault is a game as, to some degree, is every mortal who of the Other, of the Alien. ever lived (or will live). Tearing Hitler 2. Keep it internally consistent. from that pattern, or reweaving the fab- The Stalkers are part of a cos- ric so Lincoln’s thread doesn’t end in mic machine that operates by its 1865, is as much a perversion of the own laws – admittedly arcane, Dreaming as anything the Unbidden but nonetheless unbreakable. might do. Therefore, the Forbiddance 3. Keep it “focused.” The sole pur- should come into play – immediately pose for a Stalker’s existence is and categorically – to forestall anything to mend rents in the fabric of the Stalkers might consider along these the Dreaming. To cause rents – lines. (This is another one of those even small ones – should be seemingly-arbitrary aspects about The totally anathema for a Stalker. Whispering Vault, which is actually a Use the Forbiddance to keep the logical necessity arising from the under- Stalkers on track. lying paradigm.) 4. Keep it fun. That’s what it’s all This inviolability of the about, after all . . . Chronosphere can be a major restriction on the actions of the Stalkers – particu-

14 INVISIBLE HISTORY by Chad Brinkley

The events described in this timeline are certainly not an exhaustive record of the activities of Unseen creatures in the Realm of the Flesh. They are, how- ever, some of the more significant events – some because they took place over several years or decades and others because they had lasting effects. None, of course, changed the course of world history: History is determined by the Aesthetics, and its key events and characters are protected by the Forbiddance.

6538 B.C.: An Enlightened sage sees written and similar symbols of life - all, of course, in the stars an ancient codex describing the unpleasantly warped. A small measure of true nature of the universe and the dreams the Unbidden’s Essence is concentrated of the Aesthetics which create it. Her cave- into the Great Bowl, and whenever it is drawings symbolically record her insights, subsequently filled with blood she may though few mortals subsequently under- may manifest her entire Avatar at the stand her pictorial scrawls. bowl’s location. This even allows her to return from the Vault - as she often does 3228 B.C.: A “prophet” (Stranger) appears in over the next 5,000 years. She can influ- the Mesopotamian city of Ashur, promis- ence the bowl’s mortal owners, encourag- ing to lead the people to “the home of the ing them to recall her from the Vault. After gods beyond the stars.” Its demented plan - a dozen manifestations, each time being to somehow free the Essence of its follow- Bound and returned to the Vault, a Circle of ers and then to lead them into the realm of Stalkers finally deduce the bowl’s signifi- Essence to wage war on the Powers - is cance and destroy it. foiled by a Circle of Stalkers. But the Essence-remnants of many of its followers 2310 B.C.: Shriekblack and Guzz make their endure in the Rift. earliest appearance on Earth, in China. (They had actually begun their careers later 2742 B.C.: The Aesthetic formerly known as in history, and travelled back to this point.) Kho-Phe-Thak (He Who Waits Beyond) They offer the Chinese Emperor the secrets absconds and settles as an Unbidden of magic in return for an ancient stone amongst the emerging cities of the Indus tablet found buried underneath the palace. Valley. Fearing that her presence will The Emperor refuses, believing the tablet attract a Circle of Stalkers, she instructs a to be some powerful artifact. Shriekblack group of mortal magicians to create and and Guzz offer their magic to a small group enchant a broad marble bowl, five feet in of Enlightened mortals if they will agree to diameter and carved with vines, animals steal the tablet. The mortals agree, take the

15 tablet and trade it for Shriekblack’s be amongst the Shadows.) The Masters’ floating in the Rift. It subsequently knowledge of sorcery. This small group leaders are slain and their books are becomes the lair of a renegade Circle of will later become the basis for the Secret destroyed or carried off by the barbar- Stalkers, and eventually disintegrates. Masters. ians. The remaining members, with what treasures they can carry, scatter through- 179 A.D.: The screams and shouts of an 1904 B.C.: An Architect called Rhifor’ydg out the east. unwanted newborn child left by its par- becomes vizier (lieutenant) to the Kings ents to die on a hillside allows Abballor of Egypt. Unable to defeat it, an c.700-c.100 B.C.: A recurrent and appar- the Butcher to manifest for the first time. Enlightened magician named Abanar ently natural Enigma, based around an The ritualistic murders draw the atten- imprisons it within its own Vessel and isolated river valley near the Black Sea, tion of the Enlightened mortal hunter slays the body. With the Unbidden still renders the surrounding mortals virtually Tiberious Furianus. Tiberious tracks within, the corpse is buried in one of the unable to die. The people, gripped by Abballor using his hedge magics, and greatest tombs of Beni Hassan, where extreme age, injury or disease, are not manages to destroy the Butcher’s shell. the nobles of the period were often overjoyed, but the Enigma’s effects lead Tiberious dedicates the rest of his life to interred. to legends of a “spring of youth.” The accumulating knowledge about the evil Enigma is continually Mended and spirits he believes lurk within his world, 1260 B.C.: Lorboroz, a shadow, is acciden- reMended by various Stalkers, often and founds a lineage of mortal hunters tally awaked when Etqhuczi, a South opposed by mortal sorcerers and others which will span nearly 20 generations. American king, wishes in a moment of who wish to exploit or alter the valley’s despair that he were never born. The “enchanted” waters or its Enigma. 237-351 A.D.: China’s Yellow River often mortal king vanishes and is replaced by beats with the sound of a heart (audible Loboroz, who creates a kingdom which 212 B.C.: The ruins of the former library of only to Sensitive characters), probably as comes to be known as “The Land Where the Secret Masters is discovered in the result of a mortal sorcerer’s experi- Wishes Come Real.” The area is soon China, and the remaining texts begin to mentation. rejected by the Dream. circulate. Emperor Shihuang, afraid of these new ideas, orders all scholarly 443 A.D.: The Aesthetic known as 813 B.C.: Immigrants in Ireland, led by a materials which are not of immediate use Khalibrymboro (The Dust of The Sensitive war-leader and her magicians, to be burned. During the destruction of Foundation Stone) abandons its post. He clash with several small groups of Ogyrs, the texts the infamous Shriekblack and desires to indulge himself by reversing who manage to cooperate to present a Guzz are Awakened. Shriekblack later the order of things such that the founda- united front against the mortals. The explains that it was in “breathing the tions are freed. He creates an upside tales of the conflict form the basis of fumes of so many burning books” that he down fortress of snow, fog and water much Irish folklore and later influence gained his wisdoms. hanging on the underside of a rock slab folk and faerie beliefs. suspended in the sky above Australia. 17 A.D.: An Architect constructs a lush Rejected from the Dream, the castle 771 B.C.: A small group of Shadows, fear- paradise in the deserts of Arabia, luring shifts into a state of Temporal Isolation. ful of the knowledge gathered by the human colonists to its green and pleasant A Circle of Stalkers Bind the Unbidden Secret Masters, manifests and joins a land only to destroy them so that their and cut the Shadowland off from the band of barbarians in sacking the Essence maintains its creation. A Circle Flesh. The castle continues to exist in its Chinese capital, guiding the mortals to of Stalkers Bind the Architect and the own Realm, however, and several of the attack the Masters and their library. paradise slips off into a Temporal creature’s human proteges - demented (Shriekblack and Guzz are rumoured to Isolation, unconnected to the Flesh, Aboriginal Shamen - still have enchant-

16 ed stones which allow them to pass into with the creature, and although they eas- 1099-1291 A.D.: The barbarities of the the realm. ily defeat individual insects they cannot Crusades Awaken and attract scores of destroy all of the thousands amongst Shadows. The creatures’ leaders begin to 511, 521, 531 . . . 571 A.D.: On one night which the creature’s Essence is spread. squabble over the latent power of the every ten years a crystal horse appears in Eventually one Circle tricks the shrines and cities of the area - and partic- the forests of Bavaria. Wherever it pass- Unbidden into concentrating itself into a ularly Jerusalem, the spiritual centre for es the mortals experience prophetic human host and Binds it. three major religions: through their faith, dreams, but plagues and blights spread in the Essence of millions of worshippers its wake. 971-2 A.D.: The Unbidden calling itself and martyrs is channelled into the city Muse appears in the South Pacific. As an and surrounding shrines and waits to be 641 A.D.: The Shadow known as The Aesthetic it created the impossible tapped. The Shadows’ squabbles soon Librarian first appears, salvaging books dreams and fantasies of mortals, and it break into wars which reflect (and, some during the Arab sacking of the Library of uses its store of dreams of a lost conti- Enlightened folk speculate, may have Alexandria. nent to forge a kingdom in the South. been influenced by) the mortal wars in The “continent” that it tries to raise is the area. The leaders, controlling vast 644 A.D.: A Navigator is glimpsed through rejected by the Dream, and the Unbidden stores of Essence, have considerable the Veil in Japan, leading to its worship and his subjects vanish into the power, and in their squabbles the fac- as a worm-deity by the desperate peas- Shadowland. Praying to their “gods,” tions’ misuse of the Essence creates sev- antry. neighbouring islanders alert a Circle of eral Enigmas which require the interven- Stalkers. But the Unbidden assails the tions of Stalkers. 692 A.D.: The death of Lin So, China’s Stalkers with their own lost dreams and greatest sorcerer, aged 149. He leaves hopes, and deludes them into serving 1212 A.D.: After abolishing a number of behind him dozens of enchanted arte- him. Several other Circles are then dis- restrictions on membership, the Order facts. patched before he is finally Bound. Most opens a school for the study of magic in of the Stalkers who succumbed to his Athens. Their hopes are to gain enough 779 A.D.: A “dying” Navigator causes temptations are punished by being initiates so that they can enter directly havoc by sucking whole areas of land returned to the Dream in human form. into combat with the Unbidden. and numerous mortals from the Realm of Unfortunately, the Order’s teachers lose Flesh as it connects randomly with vari- 1016-1377 A.D.: In 1016 an Architect control of the forces they are attempting ous points in the Dream. Several Circles evades a Circle of Stalkers, vanishing in to harness and a powerful ritual invokes of Stalkers are busied recovering lost the area of Salt Lake (in what would later the forbiddance. The school and every- mortals from the Navigator’s body and become Utah). It managed this by dissi- one it is destroyed utterly. Mending the resulting Enigmas, until the pating its Essence through the Lake, creature finally connects with an area of from where it continued to exert an influ- 1293-1326 A.D.: In the West African high population and is destroyed by the ence over nearby mortals and Shadows Kingdom of Benin, the harvests of Kola Forbiddance. until another Circle realised that it was nuts (usually used as mild stimulants) are within the lake and Bound it. However, a found to provoke hallucinations. Any 880 A.D.: A Unbidden manifests in the trace of its Essence (and power) mortal eating the nuts gains “insights” bustling city of Baghdad, taking as its remained for several centuries. and “messages from the Ancestors” - Vessel a swarm of rats, living only to believed by the Enlightened to be mes- feed and to reproduce. Successive 1028 A.D.: First contact between The sages sent from a nearby Unbidden, Circles of Stalkers are summoned to deal Order and Stalkers. whose destruction ends the effect.

17 1305 A.D.: Creation of the first Aegean 1616 A.D.: The prayers of a starving ous misguided magicians, occultists and Codex. Puritan Colony in North America are religious cults across Europe, colonised answered by a confused Circle of North America and the Middle East. 1364 A.D.: Burako the Faceless, an Stalkers. Before the circle can realize Aesthetic concerned with maintaining that there is no rend in the Dream, the 1655 A.D.: Inspired by the Parliament of the apparent continuity of time, aban- colony’s leader - Jonathon Van Horn - Cromwell’s England, the numerous dons its post. It appears in the city of manages to steal a key from each Stalker. shadows residing about the London area Mankeweni, in East Africa, as an He binds them into his service and forces decide to form their own “Shadow Unbidden. Its defection creates numer- them to help build his colony. Parliament,” which long after tries to reg- ous minor Enigmas across the Dream, in Unfortunately, the power of the stolen ulate the activities of Shadows across the many times and places, and it proves keys corrupts Van Horn and he forces the surrounding lands. extremely difficult to Hunt down: once Stalkers to slay all of the colonists whom its Vessel is stripped away, Burako exists he feels are plotting against him. 1756-1783 A.D.: The French sorcerer Jean only in the gap between the past and the Realizing that they are almost out of de Bois-Couteau indiscriminately hunts present, and so it escapes Binding sever- time, the captured Stalkers use the little creatures of Essence across France and al times, until at last a Circle of Stalkers energy they have left to summon a new northern Europe. He defeats numerous realise that they must Bind it exactly as Circle which manages to defeat Van Shadows, two Stalkers and an Unbidden. its Vessel is destroyed. Horn. 1797 A.D.: The wooded hills of western 1376-1408 A.D.: The rules of Edgar 1619 A.D.: A Portuguese vessel vanishes at France are ravaged by supernatural Murell and “Sharp Beth” over the sea in the East Indies. The few survivors “wolves,” believed by the Enlightened to European Secret Masters. speak of a giant squid with hundreds of be Shadows Awakened by the bloodshed tentacles. The creature - a Lurker once of the French Revolution, or the rem- 1436- A.D.: An Arabic merchant ship, attached to the Bone Ship destroyed a nants of Jean de Bois-Couteau’s enchant- blown off course by storms off Sumatra, century before - continues to prey on ed hunting-pack. drifts into an area of becalmed sea, in shipping until the 20th century, when it is which hundreds of funeral barges are destroyed by the Forbiddance. Rumours 1822 A.D.: The first instance of an slowly rotting. The area, swarming with of sea monsters multiply after every Unbidden taking up residence within a morbid Shadows, is subsequently attack. mechanical “Vessel.” Weaving machin- encountered by further traders and ery in Lancashire, England, becomes explorers over the next two centuries. 1620 A.D.: A group of self-proclaimed host to a Stranger and begins to produce “Pilgrim Bastards” arrive in North lengths of clammy cloth with unusual 1527-8 A.D.: The coasts of Korea and Africa, intent upon establishing a com- powers. Japan are terrorized by a living ship, built munity to worship certain “gods” - of bone, captained by an Unbidden and apparently Unbidden imprisoned in the 1849 A.D.: A group of Secret Masters crewed by Shadows. The “pirates” are Vault. Their magics and rituals establish attempt to create a powerful enchantment finally destroyed by a Circle of Stalkers, several unstable Enigmas. It is later called the Black Cage, near Boston, Mass. but the bone wreckage of the ship is sal- believed that their leader, an Awakened The Masters performing the ceremony vaged by mortal magicians eager to con- Pain Mother, established the colony just vanish, along with their enchanted Cage. tact the imprisoned Unbidden or the for the pleasure of watching a group of Shadow crew. Stalkers eradicate it. Fragments of their 1863 A.D.: Establishment of the first Black writings survive, and later inspire numer- Harvest under Ethan Price.

18 as its new Vessel it makes its way to the Sudan, where it tries to establish a king- dom along the lines of Ancient Egypt’s. Several Occultists and mortal magicians travel to the kingdom, where the Unbidden teaches them secrets forgotten for thousands of years: in return for its greatest secrets, the creature demands the heart of Abanar, the magician who imprisoned him so many years before. Intuitively, Rhikor’ytg knows that the Heart is still whole.

1932-1936 A.D.: Revival of the Black Harvest under Clarence Beddows and, subsequently, Simon Clarke.

1968 A.D.: Internal conflict leaves several Secret Masters dead. The struggle seems centred around three factions within the Masters, each apparently “led” by one of 1867-1900 A.D.: America’s Secret Masters puppet theatre, which outlives him by the warped books stolen from the British are led by the notorious Honorable nearly a century. Library in 1893. Delany, responsible - amongst other things - for the Inspired Feast of 1887. 1920-46 A.D.: An Awakened Pain Mother 1993-2007 A.D.: Proving that knowledge calling herself Magda Klein holds court is power, and it’s who you know not 1893 A.D.: A Stranger takes up residence in Berlin, Germany, posing as a minor what you know that matters, Tzusiki in the British Library, London, and mortal artist. Her stranger artistic cre- Ikiro becomes preeminent amongst begins to “modify” many of the books ations, never revealed to the mortal North America’s sorcerers. If he can’t stored there, gradually rewriting the world, initially gain her an unparalleled handle a situation personally, then he can Library’s entire stock. Its activities are reputation amongst the city’s Shadows. find a magician who can . . . at a price. discovered by The Secret Masters, who She has numerous followers, both manage to steal several of the more Shadows and decadent Sensitive artists, 1996 A.D.: The first time that an Unbidden interestingly warped texts before a Circle and rules over the city as their effective takes a computer as its Vessel. The crea- of Stalkers Bind the Stranger and restore leader. From the mid 1930s her works ture occupies the mainframe of a data the Library’s remaining texts. become increasingly horrific. processing firm in Denver, Colorado, manipulating other computers by 1894-1953 A.D.: A manipulative magi- 1931 A.D.: An archaeological expedition modem rather than being restricted to a cian calling himself Ebenezer Wonder opens a large tomb at Beni Hassan, fleshly body. tours North America with a travelling Egypt. Within is the Architect, circus in which he works as a pup- Rhifor’ydg, who has by now escaped his 2004 A.D.: The disappearance of the peteer. He is slain by his own malign Vessel. Taking one of the archaeologists Order.

19 AND A CHILD SHALL LEAD THEM . . . by Nigel Findley

Setting: A small English town, c.1965 (Amersmede, Buckinghamshire)

In the 1990s, stories – largely apoc- Over the last several months, ten of ryphal – abound concerning ritual abuse the children who attend the Windmill have and Satanism at child-care centers. In 1965 started exhibiting strange behavior. Three England, these stories are far in the future. have sunk into an almost-cataleptic state; The core event – around which many of two have started showing the symptoms these “urban myths” might have accreted – of what will later be labeled “autism”; actually takes place in this era, however. four have exhibited “fugues,” alternating The Windmill is a “nursery school” with fits of almost homicidal rage; and (day-care center) well-known in the coun- one has killed himself, by flinging himself ty of Buckinghamshire, some 28 miles out- onto the tracks of the commuter train that side London. It was run for more than connects Amersmede to London. twenty years by a married couple, Rebecca The police have begun investigating, and Graham Burhouse. In 1963, Rebecca but they haven’t found anything to explain Burhouse died, and for the last two years the behavior changes. Graham Burhouse her husband Graham has been continuing claims he has no explanation for the the Windmill’s operations as a kind of liv- strange events, and visitors to the ing legacy for his wife. Windmill have found nothing that Things have changed at the Windmill. might have caused the spreading insanity In years gone by, the facility rang with the among the children. (In a later era, suspi- innocent laughter of children. Now it’s a cion would have fallen immediately on quiet, almost somber place. There are still Burhouse; here and now, however, the ten- children present; families still send their dency is to automatically believe the state- children there, based on the nursery ments of trusted care-givers.) school’s reputation. For the children who Help arrived from an unexpected attend, however, it’s no longer a bright and source. Since before the turn of the centu- joyous place. A pall of depression – per- ry, an insane asylum, the Blackthorn haps fear – hangs over the nursery school. Institution, has stood on the slope of the When children return home at the end of hill that leads down from Amersmede to the day, they no longer speak of the happy the older village of Old Amersmede. For hours they’ve spent at the Windmill. They almost a century, Blackthorn had been never talk about what they’ve done during home to various dangerous “patients” the day, and any direct questions about how beyond the ability of contemporary psy- they’ve spent their time are met with chiatry and medicine to cure. A year or uncomfortable silence. two ago, a new individual – one Dr. Jonas

20 Stead – took over Blackthorn, and THE SUPPLICANT all too little, in reality – to try to bring his changed its mode of operation. The dan- beloved wife back from the grave. The gerous “inmates” were moved to other The Supplicant is a child by the name Unbidden, who was nearby and had its institutions, and Blackthorn became a of Jeanie Hawkshaw, five years old and a own plans, sensed the working of minor research establishment, purportedly dedi- one-time student of the Windmill. She has and undirected magic, and decided to use cated to pushing the frontiers of psychia- summoned the Circle . . . using ritual Burhouse in its own hidden agenda. try. Dr. Stead, it turned out, claimed to magic! When the Stalkers are summoned, have experience as a child psychiatrist, they know that they’re answering the call and suggested that he might be able to of magic, and will no doubt expect to face help the children of the Windmill. Under a skilled sorcerer capable of reaching his direction, the nine survivors of the first between the worlds. To their surprise, “epidemic” – and several more children they’ll find themselves facing a five-year- who have since shown similar symptoms old child who’s absolutely shocked to find – have been committed to Blackthorn for that the words and rituals she repeated observation and treatment. Over the last have actually worked! six weeks, two of these young patients Jeanie Hawkshaw – who has latent have been discharged, apparently “cured.” eidetic memory – has seen someone There’s some debate over whether working some form of summoning magic. these cures are complete, however. The Although she didn’t really understand children no longer show the disruptive and everything that was going on, she inferred self-destructive tendencies they initially that this person was calling for help from exhibited, but their personalities have def- some source. Now she believes she needs initely changed. They are quiet and help herself, and has duplicated the reserved, and seem incapable of smiling, process she witnessed. laughing and playing as they once did. To Jeanie can’t tell the Circle where she some observers, they seem as though the saw this magic; a binding spell prevents distinctive features of their personalities her. If the Stalkers remove or somehow have somehow been stripped away. Dr. circumvent this spell – or perhaps Stead, however, claims that the damage learn what they need to know through has been corrected, and that – with time – investigation – they’ll discover that she they will return to normal. saw Graham Burhouse performing ritual Few children now attend the magic at the Windmill. Windmill. Although there’s no open talk about the topic, some people believe that THE TOOL Graham Burhouse is somehow responsi- The Stalkers will probably conclude ble for the children’s afflictions. Others that Burhouse is the Unbidden they must point out that the spreading “taint” is no confront and control, and the madness longer limited to children who ever spreading among the children the focus of attended the Windmill, however. At the the Enigma they must mend. They’re present time, some twenty Amersmede wrong on both counts. Burhouse – whose children have shown similar symptoms, own sanity is seriously in question – is just and most of them have been given into the the tool of the Unbidden. care of Dr. Jonas Stead. It is in the midst Rebecca’s death hit Graham hard, and of this strange situation that the members unhinged his already doubtful sanity. He’d of the Circle find themselves. always dabbled in the occult, and now decided that he’d use what he’d learned –

21 Pretending to be a shade of Rebecca tool, Graham Burhouse, have driven some flesh. The Temporal Isolation is currently Burhouse, the Unbidden co-opted children mad, and their parents have will- limited to Blackthorn Institution, but it Graham, teaching him some new spells ingly given them into the hands of “Dr. may well spread. that would – supposedly – truly and com- Stead” for “treatment.” (The Unbidden pletely return his wife to life. Of course, appreciates the irony: his subjects’ parents THE INVESTIGATION there would be some cost . . . but Graham are giving their children to him of their The Stalkers may well seize on didn’t really care. So far, Graham has own volition . . . ) The children who have Graham Burhouse as the perpetrator of been unable to bring his “wife” back to been discharged from Blackthorn have the Enigma, and bind or destroy him life, although he keeps trying, believing had their personalities “re-engineered” without looking any further. If so, then that he’s well advanced along the lines the Unbidden desires. the Unbidden is safe, since the Circle Unbeknownst to their parents, they too are with the long process that will do this. can’t come after it again if once they’ve practicing sanity-blasting magics, spread- The spreading madness among his failed (I think that’s the case . . . ). Even ing the “contagion” throughout the coun- charges at the Windmill is the result of his if the Stalkers do extend their investiga- ty faster than Burhouse could on his own. workings. tion, Burhouse will still serve as an Blackthorn Institution is the center of excellent “red herring,” giving the THE UNBIDDEN the Enigma. The actual Focus is a dark Unbidden warning that the Circle is on and echoing tiled hallway in the basement And who is the Unbidden? Dr. Jonas its way, and time to prepare its defenses. of the old stone building – a hallway that Stead, of course. (This is why the Unbidden decided to extends many times further than the foun- use Burhouse in the first place.) “Stead” has a grand goal in mind: dations of the building should allow, and The Stalkers may learn that there’s basically, the “re-engineering” of human that opens onto different nightmarish something strange about “Stead” by society. He knows he must start small, and locales depending on who traverses it and talking to one of the doctors who used to has decided to begin with the children of when. The “practical nurses” and the other work at Blackthorn – who was Amersmede (“And a little child shall lead employees at Blackthorn are the “squeezed out” when the new owner them” . . . ). The magical workings of his Unbidden’s Minions, cloaked in Husks of arrived. This doctor – William Blackthorn, a distant descendent of the person who founded the asylum – has tried to investigate Stead’s background . . . and has been unable to find anything at all about him. Apparently, Stead had no recorded existence before he appeared to take over the asylum. The Unbidden has been present for almost two years, and it’s been using this time wisely, suborning or recruiting many of the Unawakened Shadows in the area. These “recruited” Shadows will not fight the Circle directly, but they’ll certainly do what they can to mislead the Stalkers. One of the few Unawakened Shadows not under the sway of the Unbidden can be found in the graveyard of an old church, St. Martin of the Fields, in Old Amersmede.

22 THE UNBIDDEN AS PLAYER CHARACTERS by Mike Nystul Eventually the Circle will encounter an Aesthetic whose perspectives chal- lenge their ethos and test their dedication to the Dream. Most Stalkers know full well that this time will come and steel themselves agaist temptation but the Unbidden can be compelling. Many Circles have turned from their duty, led astray by a charismatic renegade who promises them a better world and free- dom from the Forbiddance? This Aesthetic can be a useful non-player char- acter but the gamemaster may choose to allow one of the

Regardless of what stage it has Some Aesthetics become obsessed reached, the first step in creating an with some favorite aspect of their cre- Unbidden is determining its motivations. ation and long to sample some of its Every Unbidden is an Aesthetic who delights for themselves. Like a painter has, for some reason, cast aside its for- who refuses to sell his greatest canvas or mer self. a computer programmer who obsessive- The Unbidden admire the Stalkers ly plays the games that he writes, they because they have both freedom and want to revel in their creation. power- a rare combination. THROUGH ALIEN EYES Why give up vast power and No matter how much an Unbidden immortality for the tenuous player character learns about the Realm of Flesh and the people in it they will vulnerablity of the Flesh? never truly understand it. Like it or not the Unbidden are perpetual outsiders. Sadly, the simplest and most com- mon answer is “lust.”

ALEX WANTED So much to see. So much to do. The Shining Ones were good to me but they TO BE A REAL BOY – kept me locked up tight to watch after the JUST LIKE PINNOCHIO falling leaves for them. The Grey Man says I have the right to dream my own dreams. I don't really know what he means but I like how it sounds. He is a good friend. I want to be like him one day. The puppet did it but he had that strange little cricket to help him. Talon tells me I don't need a cricket but he may be telling a variant truth (he doesn't seem to like me very much). I remember being hungry and a lot of blood. Maybe that is why they look at me funny sometimes. I hope they can forgive me. I don't want to go back.

23 “I WAS CREATED - NOT BORN” track it down; these schemes should also Think about what the prey embod- One experience all mortals and help to determine the Unbidden’s local ies, and then select incidental characters Stalkers share is birth. The Unbidden power and reputation (if any). A creature (mortals and Shadows), settings and were created out of whole cloth by the with aims and goals, allies and enemies, plots which contrast with or mirror these Primal Powers so they were never is far more interesting than one which issues. young. This gives them a very different merely sits waiting for the Stalkers to For example, if the prey is a Beast, perspective on things. They are often stumble upon it. then it is a being who destroys in order intolerant of the young and the immature to live. To reflect this, you could set the because they have no empathy for what SYMBOLS AND Hunt in a famine-plagued valley where it is like to be METAPHORS bandit gangs scavenge for food, and every meal a mortal eats is stolen from The Unbidden must be epic villains Y KIND ARE ETERNAL another. Have the Calling occur in a mis- “M ” who provide the reason and climax for sionary Church, where the faithful will- A defining aspect of the human the Hunt. They should also be more than ingly starve themselves to give food to experience is the knowledge that we are that. Each embodies an extreme craving the priests. all going to die. We begin running from considered perverse by most mortal the reaper the moment we first feel his societies. In a sense, they embody natu- Compare and contrast; try not to breath on our neck and don’t stop until ral desires gone out of control and out of preach. (Your players aren’t likely to he catches us and we are layed low. Six proportion. appreciate it.) Have fun playing with feet under and no more tomorrows. ideas and images and exploring issues How different it must be for the that interest you. Unbidden who have no fear of death until they learn it from the Stalkers or from the mortals they encounter. ADVENTURE HOOKS “YOUR WORLD WAS MY Here’s a few more adventure hooks gamemasters should feel free to expand into hunts. DREAM” The Unbidden were once COLONISTS OF THE NEW WORLD Aesthetics. Now, consider that the rene- gade could potentially cross over any- Entire native village populations are destroyed as the European settlers where and anywhen. Where would it begin their expansion on the North American continent. The natives blame the most easily pursue its passion or conceal settlers at first, until one of the natives escapes a destroyed village with a tale its activities? An Aesthetic with a pen- of a great animal spirit which attacked his village out of a mist. The Unbidden chant for decadent art might choose has taken the form of a grizzly bear and the Enigma is focused on the tribal 1920s Berlin or 1940s New York, for totem located at the first destroyed and abandoned village. example, but an Aesthetic fascinated by the “science” of destruction might man- GANGLAND SLAYINGS ifest in a modern war zone. Both the federal government and the leaders of Chicago’s organized crime syndicates are worried. There appears to be something supernatural which is “YOU ARE AS DERANGED AS I” killing members of both sides in a most gruesome fashion. The bodies of the Lastly, think about what the dead are found filled with sawdust, and all money and contraband missing. Unbidden wants to do; what its plans The Unbidden is masquerading as a local cop on the take, and the Enigma and goals might be. What Special is lost. The Unbidden cannot yet feel it, but searches for it. The Enigma is Powers, Minions, and Mortal allies does focused on a diamond which has been stolen. The renegade Aesthetic is killing it need to serve it? How do its plots in an effort to find the diamond. The corrruption enhances feelings of aggres- affect the local mortals? How do its sion, which is unfortunate, because the stolen diamond has been stashed in a activities lead to the Stalkers being zoo. Called? How do the prey’s schemes pro- vide clues which Stalkers can use to

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