Fobin's Haunted Tower Mystery

SETTING	Caer Fobin
AIDS	HM: Religion, Ghost Stories, Cinderella
SUGGESTED READING	Thardic Republic Kingdom Module, Alternate Army

This adventure is for 3-7 characters of begining to medium skill either in the legion, or visiting the Caer Fobin on legitimate business. It is not recommended for escaped slaves, navehians or nationals with problems with the law, for a successful conclusion to this adventure will necessitate some assistance from the legionnaires of the Caer. Many of the characters in Fobin and the legion shoul be available in the character section of this web page.

Maps:

Fobin [PC: 1329x1917 COLOR JPEG 327KB] [GM:1327x1911 B/W JPEG 331KB]
Courtyard Layout [298x370 B/W GIF 4KB]
Villa Equestria All: [564x864 B/W GIF 21KB ]
Villa Fabrica All [768x995 B/W GIF 54KB]
Stables and Mash House All [556x864 B/W GIF 22KB]
Haunted Tower Floor Plans [Forthcoming]

Characters:

Nevil, the Master Engineer of the Caer
Llwyen the bard
Aerost the Wanderer
Miscellaneous Legionnaires and Townsfolk

The Story

Everyone knows the southernmost tower at Caer Fobin is haunted. A few have seen the ghostly female form haunting the battlements of the tower, and an unlucky few have even heard her crying and running forlornly along the upper most corridors. This tale is reserved for the darkest and stormiest nights.

Her name was Elise Dubrak, and she died in that very tower.

Long before the founding of our Republic there was another Empire. And where that tower now stands there was a small keep. The residents in that keep were minor land owners who made a good living between fishing the river and farming the land. River Thard ran deep and fast but not so fast that it could sweep away the boats, as it does now.

She was the only child of a landed equestrian family that inhabited the little keep. And by all we know her life as a happy one. Then one very cold winter her mother took the fever and died. A pall fell over the house, and everyone mourned. Elise became the woman of the house and worked hard to fulfill her mother's duties. Her father was away most of the time, negotiating trade and good prices for his wares. One day her father brought home a new wife.

The new wife was as beautiful as the old, but there was something cold and dark about her. Elise tried to obey her new mother in all things, but her step mother was strange, and from a different land. The marriage would forge a strong bond between her father and another group of merchants to the far west. Some say the new wife worshipped the dark, or perhaps just the mysteries. Regardless of whether it was just a difference of lifestyles or one of religions, a rift began to form between new mother and daughter. At first it was just a mild dislike that made them seek other company.

When her step mother gave birth to a son, her father insisted Elise marry. Being a dutiful daughter she agreed. Her husband called for her the next morning and caught Elise at prayer. Her fiancee flew into a rage. He tore the symbol of the Restorer from her hands and backhanded her so hard her lip split. She cried out, but none came to her aide. Her step mother had cleared all the servants and her husband out of that part of the keep so that the new couple could be better acquainted in peace.

Her fiancee stayed for a fortnight and got along famously with her parents. But she and the family servants quickly became wary of the man's temper. When a servant died under his hand, the father accepted the excuse that the servant deserted it. And when another died from a mysterious fall, it was an accident. And Elise began to worry for her life.

The marriage was to be a grand affair and the planning began early. Elise was seen less and less. Servants avoided her to avoid her fiancee, but late at night they could hear her crying and walking the halls of the keep. She always ran away when ever a servant tried to stop and talk to her. Her father went away promising to return before her wedding. She begged him not to go, knowing in her heart of hearts that she would never see him again. But away he went - for he had business to conduct, and she, as a dutiful daughter did not detain him.

With her father gone the fiancee became more reckless, beating slaves without reason or intent, but just because they were there. His hand rose regularly against Elise too, even though she did everything to try and please him. Her step mother never interfered. Instead she counseled Elise to obey him in all things. If she was beaten, the step mother concluded, it must be Elise's fault.

The night before her wedding, the fiancee broke into her room. He was furious to find the bolt thrown and began breaking things in her room. When Elise tried to escape he grabbed her and threw her to the floor. His hands ripped away her clothes. She screamed, and he collapsed atop her with a crack.

A storm, brewing all day, broke at that instant - hiding the sound of a solid oak chair breaking against the fiancee's back. Elise looked up to see a fearful servant, one who'd been her companion almost since birth. She took the servants hand and raced from the room. But the fiancee was up and upon them as they reached the doorway. He grabbed the servant and spun her away into the door. Her head smacked the frame and she fell in a pool of blood.

The fiancee roared his anger as Elise cried.

Servants say they saw Elise later running in a torn night gown along the corridors, heading for the roof. Her hands and feet were bloodied and her hair was matted. As if she'd been made to lie in a pool of blood. Shaking she climbed to the top of the tower.

There, amidst a spring storm, she flung herself off the tower, begging both the Restorer's and her father's forgiveness. Soon after her death the servants fled like rats from a sinking ship. And the fever returned.

When Elise's father returned home he found a dark and empty tower. He never entered, but rather set the place aflame. For news of the fever reached him in his journeys, and he thought everyone dead. When the fire was at last out, her father rode away, never to be seen again.

It does not matter that fire, famine, plague and war have ravaged her place of death. Elise walks the halls still - waiting for her father's return.

Getting Them There

Anyone staying in the Caer, or the town, will have a good chance of hearing the story. A few bards liked Llwyen's telling (the one listed above), and have carried the story as far away as Kaldor and Orbaal. Legionnaires tend to avoid the tower as much as possible, but the ghost is never seen on the ramparts. Servants who live in the tower work hard to assure they are well tucked in their rooms (holy symbols clutched tight) before the full moon rises. On nights of the full moon, when they can't sleep in the mash house, the slaves will run from the ground floor to their room as fast as humanly possible.

Adventurers presenting themselves at the Caer will be taxed (see Bribery & Barter, Surviving Tharda 2 for an approximate price) to enter and see the haunted tower. In the day the legionnaires are absolutely fearless about the building. At night they act ... uncomfortable near the tower; usually legionnaires will trade duty on the wall for almost anything, except cleaning the jacks. But anyone who claims to want to put the ghost to rest will be made welcome. There are guest rooms in Villa Equestria for nobles, and Villa Milities usually has a spare bed or two for commoners. If the keep is full - there's always the stables, or the haunted tower itself.

The Nightly Appearance

Elise Dubrak's ghostly form walks the halls of the tower each full moon. She has approached elderly or fatherly looking men in the past - her ghostly visage full of hope. But as she approaches the face becomes more and more sorrowful, and when she realizes the man is not her father, her hope becomes a bitter wail that makes even the bravest of men run from the tower. (Willx1 test to resist) Those who do run, will test at 1/2 will for any successive tries to enter the keep during the full moon. She may appear several times each night. Her appearances are seemingly random, although never twice on the same floor. She will disappear after she wails for up to 1d6 hours.

Elise can harm any living being. Her touch does 1d6 Frost damage + 1/2 impact. She strikes at ML54 with her fists and ML62 with her feet. Animals will automatically flee her presence (test at Will*1/2). Her scream does 3d6 IP specifically to hearing. Treat as blunt damage to the head (ears specifically). Elise cannot talk to the living, but someone with telekinesis (or a similar magical spell or ritual) will be able to communicate with her as if she could speak. Otherwise, if the PCs leave some sort of gift a young girl might like in the cellar for Elise (or try to give her the gift when she appears) she will not attack, but will still wail her despair, but at half damage to the gift givers.

Elise will also respond favorably if the PCs can name her father. If there is a Navehian in the party Elise will center her attacks on him (or her). She will disappear after receiving 30IPs. She can only be harmed by magical or blessed weapons. All other weapons do 1/2 damage. She is unarmoured.

The Morning After

Anyone able to "sense" ghosts (i.e.: they have the sensitivity psionic, or have some sort of spell or ritual or talisman that detects ghosts) will be able to find the ghost at any point in the night. During the day the spirit rests in the cellar of the tower below the flagstone floor. Elise was never buried, nor were prayers said for her spirit. She remained peaceful until recent construction disturbed her bones (about 10 years ago). A few of the elder servants are able to remember a time when the ghost story was just a story. They believe it is an evil warning and that the keep will become a center for bad luck and foul events.

Each morning after her appearance, the slaves who slept in the tower appear shaken. There is regular talk about trying to have the ghost excised. Fortunately for Elise, Nevil strongly disagrees with the idea. He believes Elise must be put to rest. This means finding volunteers to dig up her body and rebury it after it receives a blessing from the local peonian priests. To date he's not had much time, or luck with the volunteers.

The Body

The bones of Elise are all but gone from beneath the caer. The dust that links her to this mortal realm grows weaker each year, and yet she has not changed since her bones were disturbed 10 years ago. The bones are beneath the center-most flagstone in the cellar. If the flagstone is shifted, a tunnel descending into darkness can be found. The drop from the floor is about 10' straight down into a mortared tunnel 3/4 filled with water. Her bones are nearly impossible to find in the dark water. Pumping the tunnel dry will require Nevil and a squad of legionnaires at least 100 man hours to complete.

There is no living soul that remembers the truth to the story. If Llwyen can be found, he'll admit to hearing the story from a wandering Sindarin bard. The bard, Aerost the Wanderer, tries to make it to Coranan each year for the feast of Halane. He heard the story from a local bard who heard the tale from several sources and pieced it together from Elise's father (Zantis) and the few surviving members of the household. Aerost and Llwyen both know how to put a ghost to rest.

What Happened

Elise's spirit has been more disturbed by the local Navehians practicing rituals. If the Navehians are stopped, she will return to rest. If her body is blessed and reburied, she will be able to speak to the PCs and tell them where to find the Navehians.

Rescuers, Brave heroes all.
Heed my plea, head my call.
Evil lurks among the town,
They call doom down
Upon us all.

Evil crepeth upon the lands,
Evil flows from their hands
Seek makers of light
And brewers of might
Evil they be.

Stop them and set me free.

Her little rhyme speaks of the chandler, Remis and the Tavernkeeper George. They are the two most active members of the Navehian sect. If the Navehians are not stopped, her plea will reappear in dreams of the townsfolk who helped rebury her body, then as messages scrawled in lakeese in water in the courtyard (which will unseasonably freeze in place until read aloud). Refer to the Fobin Navehian article for more information on this merry band of cut-throats.

Putting a Ghost to Rest

The skull is still entacked and a thin gold necklace is rapped delicately around the dust that was her neck. The skull and what dust and fragments can be found must be gathered with the necklace and reburied.

The other alternative is to banish, or excise, the ghost. If banished by religious or magical means, the warning about the Navhians will not occur and the tower will return to normal.

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