Witchcraft Citta di Morte

Contents

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 4

FOR THE CHRONICLER ..................................................................... 5

LOWER WOODBURY.......................................................................... 7

ACT ONE: AN UNFORTUNATE OCCURRENCE ...................................... 9

ACT TWO: COMETH THE NIGHT….................................................... 17

ACT THREE: FALSE DAWN ............................................................... 20

ACT FOUR: BELTANE DOWN THE DRAIN .......................................... 33

ACT FIVE: CLEANING UP ................................................................. 41

APPENDIX ONE: SUPPORTING CAST................................................. 42

APPENDIX TWO: ADVERSARIES ....................................................... 43

ACT FOUR ...................................................................................... 44

APPENDIX THREE: HANDOUTS......................................................... 49

APPENDIX FOUR: THE CAST MEMBERS............................................. 62

MELISSA HARDCASTLE ........................................................................ 63 SAMANTHA NORTON ........................................................................... 71 JAMES MCDONNELL ........................................................................... 79 DARIUS BENDZERAK ........................................................................... 86

Città di Morte by Dave Moore

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Preface

CJ CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT and the CJ CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT logo are © CJ Carella 1999-2001 and are used here by kind permission, This product is not an official CJ CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT product and has not been reviewed or approved by Eden Studios, Inc (Publishers of CJ CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT). ‘The World of Witchcraft’ article reproduced by kind permission of Eden Studios, Inc. Spell and Power Descriptions are taken from the CJ CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT hardback and are © CJ Carella 1999-2001. Reproduced by kind permission. Character artwork © Eden Studios, Inc 1999-2001. This scenario is copyright Dave Moore 2002-2004.

Visit the author’s website at http://www.valinor.freeserve.co.uk/visions.html or e-

mail him at [email protected]. The Eden Studios, Inc. website is at http://www.edenstudios.net.


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Introduction Città di morte is a CJ CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT convention scenario designed for

four players set in modern-day England. It is loosely based upon the Story Idea “Town of the Dead” on P.296 of the CJ CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT hardback (2nd Edition).

Although most of the information needed to run this adventure is included, Chroniclers

may wish to consult the CJ CARELLA’S WITCHCRAFT hardback during play. Chroniclers may also wish to note that due to some of the subject matter contained in this scenario it is advisable that Cast Members should be at least fifteen years old.

March 2004 Author’s Note: This scenario was originally written for the Conception

2002 games convention (http://www.wessexgaming.org) back in February 2002 where it was run three times to much acclaim and applause. It was run again at Conception 2003 where it went down well again but I have not got round to releasing it until now onto the web – despite having promised to do so over a year or so back. So enjoy! The author’s next Witchcraft Project will be to convert the “Rekindling” story idea into a full-blown convention scenario. Look for this later in 2004.


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For the Chronicler Scenario Background

Situated in a remote corner of the English Countryside in the Cotswolds, the village of Lower Woodbury seems to the outsider to have lain undisturbed by the modern world for hundreds of years.

Nestled in a small valley, surrounded by forests, and hemmed in on three sides by hills rising to almost 1000 ft. in height, Lower Woodbury has a population of approximately 150 people. There is no train station, no bus station, no supermarket – indeed, there are very few of the modern conveniences that city-dwellers take for granted nowadays. The nearest towns and cities are Stratford-upon-Avon, which is 15 miles away, and Oxford, which is 30 miles away.

Lower Woodbury has a long history of magic and metaphysics. The earliest recorded magical activity in the area was a gathering of Celtic Druids, hundreds of years before the Romans. They left a legacy in the form of a circle of stones, known locally as the Merry Maidens, on top of the highest hill overlooking the village, called Maiden Hill. When the Romans arrived, they built a fort on top of one of the other hills, but this was destroyed during Boudicea’s rebellion in the first century AD, and very little trace of it remains (the ruins are known locally by the colloquium Maiden’s Mound).

During the Dark Ages, the Church established a monastery in village, and this was in

use right up until the Reformation, when it was burnt down. The ruins are still there, next door to the church.

In the Puritan era, a Wicce covenant was established in the village. One of their

members, a rich businessman by the name of Rupert Williamson, built an opulent manor house, Maiden Manor, on the lower slopes of Maiden Hill. For five years, the Wicce remained safe from the witch-hunters. However, due to treachery, Matthew Hopkins, the Witchfinder-General himself, found out about the magicians, and in perhaps one of the most shameful acts ever in English history, on the night of Beltane (May 1st) 1645, he and his associates descended en masse to Lower Woodbury, and murdered all the members of the Wicce Covenant, including Rupert Williamson. The witch-hunters tried to burn the house down, but a sudden storm blew up and defeated their flames. They contented themselves with defacing the property and left.

The ownership of the manor house passed to a local noteworthy, a doctor named John

Arbuckle. He moved his family in, but abandoned the house quickly, when it became clear that the house was haunted. A ghost, matching the description of one of the murdered magicians, was seen prowling around the upper floors of the building. Arbuckle moved his family out of the house immediately, and put the house up for sale.

But no one would buy it. Every time someone would come to have a look at it, the

ghost would make an appearance, and the prospective buyer would be scared off. This went on for decades. Arbuckle died in 1670, and ownership of the house passed to his only surviving child, his daughter, Emily.

Emily moved to London soon after her father’s death, and never got around to selling

the house. After her death, her descendants forgot all about the derelict house hidden away in


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a remote corner of the English countryside. For the next three hundred years, the house remained in the Arbuckle name, derelict and decaying. The villagers didn’t approach the place because of the ghost, and gradually it became a place of terror, a place to be avoided.

And so the house remained deserted, and haunted, until World War II. An infamous

black magician called Alistair Crow, stumbled upon the existence of the house, tracked down the incredulous owners of the house, descents of the Arbuckles of Lower Woodbury, and bought the house for a pittance. He thought it would be the perfect place to conduct his rituals.

He arrived at the house in June 1944, and immediately discovered that it was haunted.

He tried to banish the ghost, but could only temporarily imprison its spirit, for it refused to leave the place of its death. Any relief that the villagers had of finally being rid of the ghost soon evaporated when they found out who Crow was and what he was involved in.

Before his death in 1967 due to unnatural causes (he lost a magical duel with a angry

demon he had summoned), Crow founded a Dark Covenant, the Brotherhood of the Black Void, dedicated to the study of the Mad Gods.

Over the next three decades, the Brotherhood broadened its studies into the Mad Gods,

lead by Crow’s successor, William de Villiers. A Wicce covenant in Oxford found out about the existence of the Brotherhood in the mid-eighties, and attempted to stop the Brotherhood’s activities but de Villiers single-handedly wiped out all nine members of the Wicce in a magical duel atop Maiden Hill.

Last year, de Villiers found a 15th century grimoire in a second-hand bookshop in

Paris, which described the Mad God Saltier and how to summon it to this reality. The power required to summon Zaltais was almost beyond even such a powerful magician as de Villiers. He calculated that the summoning could only be achieved if it was done at a place of power, on a day of power, and if practically the entire Brotherhood, including himself, were involved. Thus for, the last six months, de Villiers and the Brotherhood have been making preparations for the summoning ritual. They will carry it out, in the stone circle on the top of Maiden Hill, at sunset on Beltane (May 1st).

Scenario Synopsis

So where do the Cast Members come into this? Well, as luck (or the deranged mind of the author) would have it, on the afternoon of April 30th (the day before the ritual is due to take place), they are travelling through Lower Woodbury on their way to a Shakespearian conference in Stratford-upon-Avon when their bus breaks down. They are forced to spend the night at the local Public House. When they wake up in the morning, they discover that every single villager, with the exception of a young child and an elderly man, is dead (a result of a ritual employed by the Brotherhood). By lunchtime, as a result of the Essence released by the rituals, the dead animate, and the result is a village full of zombies! In between avoiding zombies, the Cast Members discover the history of the village, and the presence and aims of the Brotherhood, just in time for sunset, when they will hopefully stop the final ritual and the summoning of Zaltais into our reality!


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Lower Woodbury Lower Woodbury is a small village set deep in the heart of the English countryside, in

the Cotswolds. Nestled in a small valley, it is surrounded by forests, and hemmed in on three sides by hills rising to almost 1000 ft. in height, Lower Woodbury has a population of approximately 150 people (including those living in outlying farms). There is no train station, no bus station, no supermarket – indeed, there are very few of the modern conveniences that city-dwellers take for granted nowadays. The nearest towns and cities are Stratford-upon-Avon, which is 15 miles away, and Oxford, which is 30 miles away. At one end of the village is a 17th Century pub, called the Merry Maiden. At the other end is a small church, which is part Norman. Most of the inhabitants of the village commute to work in Oxford or Stratford every day.

The area is rich in history and mythology. A stream called the Devil’s Stream runs

through the valley, and the village, which is built along the only road, runs parallel to the stream. On the other side of the village from the stream there is a ruined monastery, abandoned since the reformation.

Of the three hills surrounding Lower Woodbury, the tallest is Maiden Hill, to the north.

Its flat grassy summit lies 1044 ft. above sea level, and on it is a stone circle, known locally as the Merry Maidens. On the heavily forested hill to the west of the village, Grene Hill, are the ruins of a Roman fort. The hill to the south, known as locally as The Geap, is bare, and one side is a 200-ft. chalk escarpment known locally as the Witches’ Leap. On the hillside of Maiden Hill, about half a mile from the village, is Maiden Manor.


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Chronicler’s Map of Lower Woodbury


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Act One: An Unfortunate Occurrence

Cast Member Handouts for Act One: Symbol carved into the bar of the Merry Maiden inn. Information on Dr. John Dee. Supporting Cast Members for Act One: Reverend Matthews, Mundane Human Clergyman Adversaries for Act One: None

Synopsis: Act One starts off with the Cast Members on their way to Stratford-upon-Avon via bus. Due to roadworks, the bus has to take a diversion through the Cotswolds, and through the village of Lower Woodbury. It is here that the bus inexplicably breaks down, and the Cast Members are forced to stay the night in this seemingly quiet and peaceful village…


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In the Beginning… To start the scenario, after the Cast Members have settled down and introduced their

characters to each other, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following introduction to the Cast Members:

It’s been a long, long day. Due to yet another train strike, you found out that the trains from Oxford to Stratford-upon-Avon weren’t running today. Due to your tight schedule (the conference on Shakespeare starts later tonight), you decided to take a bus instead. Unfortunately, the only free seats were on an old rickety bus belonging to an outfit called the ‘Oxford Omnibus Company’. Despite your reservations, the price convinced you to take the seats. Setting of at lunchtime, at first, your journey went swimmingly, even if the bus you were travelling on was at least as old as any of you are. You made good progress through the beautiful countryside of Warwickshire and Gloucestershire.

Alas, that was the highpoint of your journey. First you hit major roadworks, thus necessitating a diversion deep into the Cotswolds. Then, mid-afternoon, an intense thunderstorm set in, one that hasn’t abated for the last hour. Seeing the elderly bus struggle through the mounting mud has left you with a increasing feeling that you’ll be lucky to reach your destination tonight.

Your fellow passengers seem to share your apprehension. All conversation on the bus has stopped as people wait with a grim sense of foreboding as to what happens next. The only noise is the beating of the rain upon the windows and roof of the bus, and the incessant whine emanating from the engine. Flashes of lightning illuminate the dimly lit interior of the bus, turning everything into stark monochrome for the briefest instant.

Other than the Cast Members and driver (a youngish man by the name of Brendan Ferrin), there are nine other people on the bus. They are:

• Two elderly women, both wearing long overcoats (one brown and one blue). During the

bus journey they have been chatting quieting amongst themselves. If approached politely, they will tell the Cast Members that their names are Ethel Jameson and Jean McCaughey. Both are in their late seventies, and are members of a Shakespeare Appreciation Society in Oxford.

• A woman and her young daughter. The woman is in her late twenties, with long brown hair and dressed in a floral skirt and a denim jacket, and her daughter is five years old. If a Cast Member attracts the attention of the child, she stares back intently, with unusually green eyes, until her mother notices and verbally reprimands her for staring at strangers. If any of the Cast Members attempts to initiate conversation, the woman will refuse to engage in conversation with strangers, telling them in no uncertain terms to mind their own business. However, with a successful Simple Perception Test (Challenging) any magically aware Cast Member can detect a concentration of Essence surrounding the young girl – the obvious conclusion being that she is has the Gift. A further successful Difficult Perception Test (Challenging) indicates that her magical power is wild and unrestrained. The mother is a mundane, as are all the other people in the bus.

• A middle-aged couple with their teenage son. The boy has been complaining the whole journey about having to come along on the trip, and it is obvious that he would rather be somewhere else. If approached politely, the couple (both are in their early fifties, he has got short silver hair and she has graying black hair; both are wearing matching blue anoraks) introduce themselves as John and Helen Brown and their rather troublesome son, who has long black hair and who is wearing black clothing of a non-descript nature (including a top advertising a group, obviously heavy metal of some sort, called rather


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controversially, Rotting Christ) is called Iain. They have came up from London to visit Stratford-upon-Avon.

• Two young female Japanese tourists. These two are dressed in what appears to be in rambling gear – anoraks, woolly hats, compasses hanging around their necks, maps and guidebooks poking out from various pockets, etc. If approached, the two (who are called Midori and Sami) are very sociable and proceed to tell the Cast Members, in extremely broken English (a successful Simple Intelligence Test (Challenging) is needed to work out what they are saying), and in extreme detail, all about the wonderful time they’ve been having in the UK, and also, if the Cast Members allow them, will show them endless photographs of themselves at various tourist attractions in the London area (for example, Sami & Midori in front of the Tower of London, Sami & Midori in front of Big Ben, Sami & Midori in front of the Houses of Parliament, Sami & Midori on Tower Bridge, Sami & Midori taking a ride on the London Eye, and so on and so on).

Into the Snare After a couple of moments or when the Chronicler sees fit, he or she should call for a

Simple Perception Test (Average) from all Cast Members. A successful result indicates that the storm outside is showing no signs of abating and indeed is getting worse: the sky is getting darker, the rain is getting heavier, and the lightning flashes are getting more frequent. The speed of the bus as it winds its way through the narrow country loads has dropped to about 25 miles and hour on average.

If the bus driver is asked about their current progress, he will reply that, weather

permitting, they will reach Stratford within an hour. He is obviously concerned about the bad weather. If asked about their current location he replies that they are just entering the village of Lower Woodbury. He knows nothing else about the village, except that there is one public house, the Merry Maiden.

If the Cast Members don’t talk to the driver, they see that the road straightens

somewhat and descends into a small heavily wooded valley, ringed with hills. A signpost indicates that they are entering the village of “Lower Woodbury”.

Just as the bus enters the village, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the

following to the Cast Members:

As you enter the village there is a loud bang and a high-pitched screeching noise starts coming from the engine. You hear the driver mutter a curse, and you feel the bus slow down as the engine grinds to a halt. It comes to a halt in a torrent of mud at the side of the road, opposite a small stone church.

After a moment, the driver turns and makes an announcement to you all. “Erm, could I get your attention Ladies and Gentlemen please!” he starts, in a

slightly shaky voice. “Don’t be alarmed. We’ll have this problem fixed in no time”. He puts on his cap, exits the bus. And makes his way around to the front of the bus

and you see the engine compartment being opened, and he starts examining the engine After a moment, the driver comes back into the bus, his uniform soaking from the

heavy rainfall. Sheepishly, he asks if anyone has got any experience with diesel engines, as they can’t work out what is wrong with theirs.

Any Cast Member can go and examine the engine. A successful Mechanic/Perception

Task (Challenging) or a successful Difficult Intelligence Test (Difficult) reveals that the driveshaft has somehow sheared in two. This sort of damage renders the bus useless until it


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can be towed into a garage for major repairs. If the Cast Members don’t mange to work this out, have John Brown examine the engine and tell them this.

Immediately after recognizing that the bus has broken down, the village vicar, a Father

Matthews, will approach them. He heard the bang and has come out of the church to investigate. The Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following:

Before you can do anything else, above the patter of rainfall you what sounds like a

door slamming. Looking up you see a figure coming down the entrance path of the church, walking slowly towards you. From its gait it appears to be an elderly man, though you cannot make out his face yet as he has the hood of his cloak drawn over it to protect himself from the elements.

The vicar will take a couple of moments to reach the bus, unless the Cast Members go

and meet him halfway. When he reaches them, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following:

Withered hands draw back the hood of his coat. You see the face of a kind old man.

Despite his obvious age his eyes are blue and sparkling, his cheeks a ruddy red glow. What sparse gray hair he has left is blowing furiously in the breeze. At his neck you can make out the white collar of an Anglican clergyman.

“Are ye having problems with yer bus then?” he asks, in an accent that you can’t immediately place.

The Reverend Timothy Matthews is the local Anglican cleric for the village. A WW2

veteran (Desert Rats) in his early eighties (but surprisingly vigourous for his age), he moved to Lower Woodbury in the 1950s, after his wife died in an accident. He lives in the manse opposite the church. He has three grown-up children, all living in London. Matthews is aware that something is magically afoot in the village, and doesn’t trust de Villiers (and didn’t trust Crow at all), but does not know any details. For several decades, he has kept a secret diary of strange and unexplained events in the village (rightly) believing that they all stemmed from Crow. Matthews himself is a polite, kindly old gentleman with a soft accented voice, and is almost deaf, which could lead to interesting roleplaying opportunities as the Cast Members struggle to make him understand what they say. He will survive until later in the scenario and perhaps become a valued ally to the Cast Members. For now, he will play the part of a kindly old vicar who helps the Cast Members out of a spot.

Although Matthews is not Gifted in any fashion, he is unusually sensitive towards

matters of a magical nature for a Mundane, due to his long theological training and practice. It was this ‘talent’ which allowed him to work out that both Crow and de Villiers were involved in what he terms ‘black magic’. He can also sense that the Cast Members can work magic, although of a different nature to the Brotherhood. The Chronicler should alert the Cast Members, via a successful Difficult Perception Test (Challenging) or a successful Notice/Perception Task (Challenging), that Matthews is giving them the occasional strange glance.

Matthews will ask to see the engine, and as he is fairly au fait with engines of all sorts

(one of his hobbies is building model planes), he can quickly determine what is wrong with the bus (indeed, the driveshaft has sheared in two). He immediately offers to go indoors and call the Bus Company.

If any Cast Member offers to call the Bus Company using a mobile phone, they cannot

get any signal at all. If Matthews is present he will tell them that there is no mast in the


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village, and that the surrounding hills block any signals. The bus driver will give Matthews the phone number of the Tour Company, and he

leaves the Cast Members and goes back inside the church. After a moment he comes out with a worried look on his face. He shrugs and tells the Cast Members that he cannot get through as his phone is dead – the storm has probably toppled a tree breaking the phone lines in the woods south of the village. He then suggests that the Cast Members and their fellow travellers retire to the village pub whilst he sorts the situation out.

He will attempt to herd the Cast Members and the other passengers off the bus and into

the village towards the inn:

The rain seems to be easing off slightly as you make your way into the village centre. Lower Woodbury is like any other stereotypical English village – a narrow main street, just barely wide enough to let two cars pass each other, lined on both sides by cottages built out of grey stone. The church end of the village is slightly lower than the other end, so the main street is on a gentle slope. In front of you, the road turns gently right, and in front of you is a neatly manicured village green, complete with cricket pitch. Massive grey-boled oak trees surround the green. Behind the oaks, peeping out from between the gray trunks is an inn. By the looks of it, it appears to be of Elizabethan construction.

By this time the rain is easing off somewhat, although the ground underfoot (apart from

the road itself) is still fairly muddy. As the Cast Members and others reach the Inn (“The Merry Maidens”), they and the other passengers will be shooed in:

As you enter the pub you seem to step back into time to the 17th century. The ceiling is

low, dominated by large wooden beams. The atmosphere is smoky, barely allowing you to see the long low bar on the other side of the room. This smoke is produced by a dozen tables’ worth of villagers, talking quietly amongst themselves whilst sipping their drinks. Some of them look up briefly at you before returning their attention to their drinks and the conversations they were having. You seem to catch parts of muttered conversations with the subject being yourselves. In any case, the only concession to the modern era is a fruit machine standing lonely in one corner, multi-coloured lights flashing away,

As they enter the inn, the Chronicler should have each magically aware Cast Member

make a Simple Perception Test (Challenging). The Chronicler should take those who made it aside and read or paraphrase the following:

Your senses are assaulted by a strong concentration of magical energy to your left.

By instinct, you look around and see a small group of men and women sitting around a small table in the corner of the room having a close and quiet conversation. Each one of them is surrounded by a glowing crystalline aura that looks like a robotic exo-skeleton so beloved of Science Fiction writers – the telltale signature of a magical Shield.

There are three middle-aged men and women sitting around the table, all dressed in

non-descript black clothing (these are members of the Brotherhood of the Black Void). They will ignore the Cast Members for the time being.

Allow the Cast Members to find an unoccupied table or to approach the bar (the other

passengers will approach the bar and order a variety of drinks). There is a quite a wide range of alcoholic beverages available, along with a fair range of bar meals. The barman is a large, elderly gentleman with a florid face with a thick accent who will gladly serve the Cast Members and the other passengers (he is actually the landlord, a local called Norris Hastings).


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The bus driver will talk to him a moment and disappear into a back room, behind the bar. Let the Cast Members relax for a moment. The other people in the pub are obviously

keeping to themselves, and are occasionally giving the Cast Members little glances out of the corner of their eyes. None of them will engage the Cast Members or their fellow passengers in any sort of conversation.

If the Cast Members examine the bar closely, they will see a large symbol carved into it

(Handout 1). A successful Occult Knowledge/Intelligence Task (Challenging) or a successful Difficult Intelligence Test (Challenging) indicates that the mark is the magical sigil of Dr. John Dee, the famous Elizabethan mathematician and occultist (Handout 2). If the landlord is asked about the symbol, he tells them that Dr. John Dee passed through the village in 1602 and stayed the night in the Inn.

At an appropriate moment, the gifted little girl lets out a piercing scream:

Suddenly, your ears are assaulted by a high-pitched scream. Along with the rest of pub, you turn around and find the source of the scream to be the little girl from the bus, who is pointing and staring at the group of men and women in the corner. She appears to be muttering to herself and tears are pouring down her face. Her mother springs into action and picks her up and starts to mutter profuse apologies to the rest of the pub. After a moment, she heads off to the toilets, and you can hear the sound of the little girl being given a severe ticking off. This is the only sound you hear, as the whole pub is silent.

A successful Difficult Perception Test (Average) or a successful Notice/Perception

Task (Average) reveals that the girl was muttering the phrase “Bad mens” over and over again.

Some thirty seconds after the incident, the targets of her ire, the black-clad men and

women will get up and leave the pub, bumping into Father Matthews as he enters the room.

You see Reverend Matthews enter the pub carrying an umbrella. He shakes it off, carpeting the floor in raindrops, and closes it and walks up to you. Just as he gets to you, he stops, looks around the pub, and a quizzical expression forms on his face. ‘What’s happened?’ he asks you.

If the Cast Members tell him what happened, the Reverend will take them aside for a

quite chat. If not, he will approach the Cast Members and ask for a quiet talk.

In both cases he will order ale from the bar and will proceed after taking a long sip from it. In the first case, he will address the Cast Members as such:

‘Well’, he sighs. ‘She may be more perceptive than either you or I. I’ve had my eye on

them lot for a while. They know it of course. They know that I know that they know… They’re not nice people, but what can I do? I know, I know, Why am I telling you this, you’re no doubt wondering. Well, as soon as I saw you earlier, I know that you were all, shall we say, walkers on a different path than I. Not that I mind. Freedom of religion and all that. But I sense no malice or evil intent from you. Quite the opposite in fact. That’s why I’m siting here with you now. There are things you need to know, and no one else will believe me.’

In the second case, he will address the Cast Members as such:


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The Reverend sighs and addresses you.‘ We need to talk. There are things going on which you are not aware of. Why I am telling you this? Well, as soon as I saw you earlier, I know that you were all walkers on a different path than I. Not that I mind. Freedom of religion and all that. But I sense no malice or evil intent from you. Quite the opposite in fact. That’s why I’m siting here with you now. There are things you need to know, and no one else will believe me.’

Matthews will impart the following information to the Cast Members, in a resigned and quiet (to him anyway) manner. Again, the Chronicler should make use of the fact that he is hard of hearing in any conversation.

• The men and women belong to some sort of commune that is based in the old

manor house above the village. There are about eight of them in total. • They are lead by a stockbroker from London called William de Villiers. They’ve

been here since he moved into the village in the 1950’s. • None of them attend church at all, despite repeated invitations. • Matthews thinks that they could be a coven of Satanists. • Matthews has always been able to sense things of a spiritual nature. • The Villagers ignore them completely. Matthews does not know why. Perhaps the

coven has cast a spell upon them?

After he has imparted this information, he will take out a cigarette and light it, offering one to each investigator.

Caught! The bus driver will interrupt the conversation that the PCs are having with Matthews.

He will sit down and tell the Cast Members that: • Due to bad weather, the Bus Company cannot get another bus to them tonight. • They (him and the Inn landlord) have tried to phone up Taxis but they can’t get through

– the storm must have downed the Phone lines. • The landlord has offered to put the Cast Members and their fellow passengers up for the

night (courtesy of the Bus Company), and the Bus Company will send another bus in the morning.

At this point, the Cast Members may come up with various ideas to get themselves out

of the village. For instance, they may try and hire some locals to drive them out the village towards the nearest town. If they manage to do so (and the locals won’t be that keen on the idea), then a couple of miles down the road a tree has fell, blocking the road. At this point, the driver will refuse to go any further and head back to the Inn. The Chronicler should empathize that the storm is now getting worse, and it is dangerous for the Cast Members to be out in it. He or she may wish to press the point home by having the electricity cut out momentarily in the Inn on a couple of occasions. If the Cast Members don’t take the hint, and try and go outside and climb one of the nearby hills to get a reception for their mobile phones, for example, the Chronicler should let them try, but the storm will get worse, with frequent lightning, and it should be very made very apparent very quickly that it is dangerous for the Cast Members to stay out in the storm.

So the Cast Members have to spend the night at the Inn. The landlord will show them

and other Passengers to various rooms in the first floor of the Inn. Whilst the accommodation is crowded, the Cast Members share the same (large) room, but have a single bed each


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Effects of Alcohol upon Cast Members Mildly Drunk: -1 to any task that requires detail or concentration. -1 to Willpower Tests to resist any Mental Drawback effects (like Covetous), as well a normal impulses and emotions (anger, happiness, etc). Drunk: -1 to all Tasks, -2 to any task that requires detail or concentration, -3 to Willpower Tests, as above. Smashed: -2 to all Tasks, -4 to any task that requires detail or concentration. Tasks are required to perform even routine actions. -4 to Willpower Tests, as above.

(various beds have been jammed into the room). The room is en-suite, and centrally heated, but the ceiling is low, with large beams.

Matthews will say little more that night, bidding the Cast Members goodbye and telling

them that he would like to see them briefly in the morning, before they set off. The Cast Members are free to do what they want the rest of the evening. If they do

downstairs to the common room and continue drinking, the Chronicler should bear in mind the effects that Alcohol has upon the Cast Members (see the box for details). The Chronicler should also bear in mind that the villagers are deeply suspicious of outsiders (the Cast Members and the other Passengers). He/she she should also bear in mind the heavy storm raging outside, of which there is no sign of it letting up. Last orders in the Inn are called at 11.30 PM. In any case, nothing much more of interest will happen until midnight, when the Brotherhood will unleash a ritual that will result in most of the townspeople being killed.


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Act Two: Cometh the Night…

Cast Member Handouts for Act Two: No Handouts Supporting Cast Members for Act Two: None Adversaries for Act Two: None

Synopsis: Act Two is quite brief, and consists of three parts – the first part should be directed towards those magically-aware Cast Members who are awake at midnight when the Brotherhood of the Black Void casts a ritual which results in the death of everyone in the village apart from the Cast Members, the Reverend Matthews and the little girl. The second part is directed at those magically aware Cast Members who are asleep at midnight. The third part is directed towards mundane Cast Members.


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Night Owls Should any magically aware Cast Members be awake at midnight, then the Chronicler

should separate them out from the Cast Members who are asleep and read or paraphrase the following to them:

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a wave of Essence sweeps over you, surprising you

completely. But this isn’t any normal Essence. No – it’s a wave of sheer and utter blackness, an Essence so dark and twisted it could have come from the Mad Gods themselves. It twists and weaves itself in patterns around you, and you can feel the malevolent and the presence of sheer and utter evil. Your mind is cast back to the stories you have been told about the Pits of Gehenna – this must surely qualify as a taster of those foul realms.

At this point, the Chronicler should ask the Cast Member(s) concerned to make a

Difficult Perception Test (Challenging) and a Difficult Willpower Test (Challenging). The results don’t actually matter, but the Cast Members don’t know this, and the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following:

You are still speculating on the cosmological significance of the Essence when you

stagger backs under the stench of the Death Realms and you are cast into unconsciousness and know no more…

At this point, the Cast Members who are awake and who have experienced this will fall into unconsciousness wherever they are currently situated.

In the Land of Nod… Those magically aware Cast Members that are sleeping at midnight, the Chronicler

should separate them out from the Cast Members who are awake and read or paraphrase the following to them:


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In your sleep you experience an unusually vivid dream. No - nightmare would be a better term for it. You are floating over the English countryside at night. You do not appear to have any body – just a fleeting invisible presence in the moonlit sky. The silvery translucent light of the full moon illuminates your path over forests and lakes, till you drift over a range of low hills. These hills surround a narrow wooded valley. In the bottom of the valley are the twinkling lights of a village.

On one of the hills is a bonfire. Floating closer without any conscious effort, you see a group of cloaked figures dancing and chanting around it. The chanting gets more frenzied, and slowly darkness begins to form at the centre of the fire. It writhes almost hypnotically in time with the chanting, until the chanting reaches a crescendo and then stops. There is silence. The darkness hovers in the middle of the fire, like a ball of ebony.

From one of the cloaked figures, a scream. A scream of exultation and terror. As if at a signal, the ball of darkness explodes into many swirling fragments that hover momentarily over the village, before they career off down the hillside towards the village.

A wave of darkness sweeps over the village. Essence. But this isn’t any normal Essence. No – it’s a wave of sheer and utter blackness, an Essence so dark and twisted it could have come from the Mad Gods themselves. It twists and weaves itself in patterns around you, and you can feel the malevolent and the presence of sheer and utter evil, as if the Pits of Gehenna themselves had opened up and consumed you…

You sense no more, as a wave of darkness overtakes you and casts you back to sleep…

At this point, the Chronicler should make a secret Fear Test for every Cast Member

(whether asleep or awake) - every success level gained loses that Cast Member 1d4 Essence Points (which will not start to be regained until the Cast Members are conscious, i.e. at 8 AM the next morning). There are no other effects. The Chronicler should individually take each Cast Member’s character sheet and mark down this loss and hand it back to the Cast Members, with instructions to each Cast Member not to discuss the Essence loss until they awake in the morning…

Ignorance is Bliss

Mundane Cast Members, if awake, will experience a brief tingling sensation in their heads before feeling momentarily violently ill and collapsing into unconsciousness. Mundane Cast Members who are asleep will have a restless night but will not experience any other side effects. They will still suffer from the Essence loss, but only a 1d2 Essence Points per success level gained on the Fear Test. The only reason that they are still alive is their close association with their fellow magically aware Cast Members.


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Act Three: False Dawn

Cast Member Handouts for Act Three: Information on Beltane. Cast Member’s map of Lower Woodbury. Gravestone of Mary O’Toole. Tactical Map of Graveyard. Information on the ‘Green Man’. Amulet on person in the Museum. Brief History of Lower Woodbury. Supporting Cast Members for Act Three: Reverend Matthews, Mundane Human Clergyman Lucy Smith, Gifted Human Child Adversaries for Act Three: 2 Graveyard Zombies (Undead Supernatural Creatures) 1 Acolyte of the Brotherhood of the Black Void (Lesser Gifted Human Male) <as many as needed!> Dead Townspeople (Undead Supernatural Creatures)

Synopsis: Act Three is very much more freeform than the previous acts. It is by-and-large location based, and in it the Cast Members will explore the village, and discover that the only survivors are the little girl and the Reverend Matthews. In between dead bodies, which start to animate, they discover the history of the village. This part of the Scenario ends when the Cast Members break into Maiden Manor.


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Morning has broken At eight o’clock the next morning, the Cast Members awake, either from sleep or from

unconsciousness. If they had alarm clocks or other means set to wake them any earlier, these have malfunctioned and inexplicably fail to go off.

Cast Members will know that something bad is up, given the probable Essence loss

(they will soon recover the lost Essence however) and the dreams. In any case, on awakening (or coming too), a successful Difficult Perception Test (Moderate) means that a magically aware Cast Member can detect the faint tinge of Essence in the air. A further successful Difficult Perception Test (Average) reveals that the Essence trace is tainted with evil and malice, and pervades the whole area. Mundane Cast Members can, with a similar Test detect something wrong with the air but they will not know what exactly is the problem.

Yet it is a quite, calm, clear morning. If they don’t already realise, a successful Simple

Intelligence Test (Average) makes magically-aware Cast Members realise that it’s Beltane, one of the four magical days of Power in the Year it (Handout 3). Mundane Cast Members can work this out with a successful Difficult Intelligence Test (Average).

At this point the Chronicler should make a secret Difficult Willpower Test

(Challenging) for each Cast Member and note down the results – failure indicates that that Cast Member will start to suffer mild migraines (with effects similar to being mildly drunk) after 1d20 minutes exposure to the twisted Essence. This headache cannot be magically cured, but will go away after a further 1d30 minutes.

As the Cast Members open the doors of their room, they will hear faint sobbing coming

from down the hallway. If they choose to investigate it they find the sobbing is emanating from behind a door, and that the sobbing is reminiscent of a child’s sobbing. Gifted characters can detect, with a successful Simple Perception Test (Challenging) any magically aware Cast Member can detect a small source of emotion-tinged Essence from behind the door. No amount of shouting or banging on the door or any other sort of communication will stop the sobbing.

The door itself is locked and is made of stout oak. It can be opened in any of the

following ways: • Barged in. This requires a successful Difficult Strength Test (Difficult) and will

result in the door violently coming off its hinges. Each unsuccessful attempt inflicts 1d2 points of Life Point damage upon the person(s) attempting to barge the door in and 1d3 points of Endurance Point damage.

• Removed from its hinges. With a suitable tool (e.g. screwdriver, Swiss Army knife) and 1d10 minutes, the hinges can be removed and the door kicked in or levered out of the way without any problem.

• The lock could be picked. This requires a successful Lock Picking (Mechanical)/Dexterity Task (Challenging).

• The lock could be magically picked by someone with the Mindhands power, and requires a successful Mindhands Art/Dexterity Task (Very Difficult).

Once they get through the door, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following:

As you enter the room, which is decorated in a similar fashion to your own, you are


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surprised to find the source of the sobbing to be the little girl from the bus. She is standing at the foot of the bed with her back to you, staring at something on the bed. This something turns out to be her mother, who is lying silent and still on the bed. The girl does not seem to register your presence.

The woman in the bed (naked, but with most of her body lying under the duvet) is

indeed the girl’s mother, and a cursory check reveals her to be dead. Any attempt by anyone with the Death Speech power to contact the spirit of the dead woman fails – her spirit has completely vanished (this should alarm the Cast Members). Once in the room, any Gifted Cast Member can detect the field of Essence surrounding the girl automatically, as it is extremely strong. There is no obvious cause of death – a successful Medicine (Surgery)/Perception Task (Difficult) or a Difficult Intelligence Test (Difficult) indicates that death was extremely quick and sudden – it was as if her body just stopped functioning.

A quick search of the room reveals a couple of bags of personal effects (clothes and the

like), one for the woman and one for the child. In her handbag, which is lying at the side of the bed, is a purse with some identification. The woman is a Jacqueline Smith, aged 27 and from London. Her daughter, the little girl is called Lucy, and is 5 years old. Also in the purse is a half-empty bottle of tablets marked “Rohypnol (Flunitrazepam)”, which a successful Medicine/Intelligence Task (Challenging) or a Difficult Intelligence Test (Challenging) indicates is a powerful prescription tranquliser. There is no indication of a specific address or place of residence in London.

The little girl (Lucy) is in a state of catatonic-like shock (her eyes stare blankly into the

distance). If left to her own devices all she will do is stand and sob quietly, and take no notice of the Cast Members. Magic such as the Wicce’s Affect the Psyche will not bring her out of her shock, and the usage of Mindsight or Mindtalk reveals only a jumbled flash of emotions (terror, sadness, loneliness). She will need long-term psychiatric care to bring her out of her condition. If she is picked up she will put her arms around the person carrying her. Similarly she will walk if led by the hand, but will do nothing much else.

Almost certainly during the scenario the Cast Members will want to protect and look

after Lucy. They will eventually have three choices as to what to do with her: • The first and the preferred option is to leave her with the only other living person in

the village, the Reverend Matthews. • The second is to carry her around with them. This is much more dangerous, and

may result in her being injured at the Chronicler’s discretion. • The third is to abandon her. If the Cast Members are heartless enough to abandon

her in the village, the Chronicler should teach them not to abandon small children by having her show up at the most inopportune time, e.g. in the middle of combat.

It is up to the Chronicler what the long term consequences of Lucy’s situation are,

although it is suggested that near the end of the adventure she may come out of the shock just enough to show a particular Cast Member some affection and preference, and potentially save the Cast Members lives by giving them some indication of how to defeat the summoned Emissary of Zaltais. For now however, she is literally a millstone around their necks, although of course the Cast Members won’t know this yet.

After finding Lucy, the Cast Members first reaction will probably be to try and raise the

alarm. However, everyone else in the Inn is dead. All their fellow passengers, who were staying in other rooms on the first floor, are also dead. Again, they appeared to have died


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suddenly, with no obvious signs of death. Again, their spirits are missing. The Landlord is also dead, his body lying in a downstairs bedroom, again with no sign of his spirit.

By now the Cast Members should be very worried! They have an inn full of dead

bodies with their spirits mysteriously missing. Not an everyday occurrence! The Cast Members may try and raise the police, but the phone line downstairs does not work (due to the previous night’s storm of course). Mobile phones do not work, and there is no CB radio or other form of communication in the Inn.

A Shot in the Dark (Light)

At some point, the Cast Members will leave the Inn. When they do, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following and give them the Map of Lower Woodbury (Handout 4):

You step out into the village, and realise that there is nary a sound. No birds, no

sounds of cars, no people – nothing except the gentle burbling of a nearby stream. The bright, blue-skied sunny morning belies a scene of utter, perhaps too much tranquility. Nothing seems to be moving in the village.

A gentle breeze strikes up, gently pushing a collection of cumulus clouds temporarily over the Sun. A shiver passes down your back, although you do not know why.

Perhaps it is a premonition, as just at that very moment you hear a terrible cry coming from what seems like the other end of the village. It dies away slowly, and is followed moments later by the unmistakable booms of a couple of shotgun blasts…What on earth is going on here?

Suddenly it hits you - there are about a dozen dead birds of various sorts lying on the ground in front of you…

The cry and sound was the result of a buried denizen of the graveyard of the Church

reanimating and attacking the Reverend Matthews (as a result of the ritual of the Brotherhood) and getting blasted by a shotgun in return. After about a minute, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following to the Cast Members:

A minute or so after the blast, you hear footsteps…someone is running down the main street of the village. You are extremely surprised to see the Reverend Matthews dressed in night clothes wheezily running down the street for all that he’s worth…carrying a shotgun!

His eyes widen in surprise as he sees you and stops, and bends down to catch his breath…After a moment he strides up to you. You can see tears streaming down his face…

‘Thank God you’re alive…’ he begins. Before you have a chance to answer, he cuts you off... ‘Quickly, come with me…you have to see this…’

The Reverend Matthews will turn around and run (rather unsteadily) back to the

Church at the far end of the village. On the way he will refuse to answer questions, instead shaking his head emphatically saying ‘Not now…wait until we get there…’

As he leads the Cast Members through the village emphasize how quiet and still the

village is. Apart from the Cast Members, Lucy and the Reverend Matthews, there is no sign of life in the village. As they approach the Church, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following:

As you approach the Church, the Reverend surprises you. He reaches into a pocket of


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his pyjamas and pulls out a couple of shotgun shells. Before entering the graveyard, he loads these into the shotgun.

As you enter the church graveyard, you can see what frightened the good Reverend. Lying by the left-hand side of the path is a half-decomposed corpse, with its upper body and head torn into shreds. Behind it is appears to be a freshly dug grave. You feel your skin crawl as you read the inscription on the gravestone behind the grave…

The inscription on the gravestone is Handout 5 and a large-scale map of the area is

Handout 6 (a copy of the large-scale map is included on the next page with additional markings for the Chronicler). The Reverend Matthews will impart the following information as soon as he catches his breath and composure:

• It all started with a very bad dream he had overnight in which he dreamed that

some hideous black shape swept down from the hill tops and flattened the church and started suffocating him.

• He woke up this morning in a cold sweat and as he looked out the front window of his house he saw movement in the graveyard.

• He went to investigate and found something clawing its way out of a grave! • He ran back to his house and grabbed a gun he keeps under his bed and ran back

and filled the ‘thing’ full of shot but it still kept coming after him! • Finally he battered it into seeming submission with the butt of the shotgun. • For the first time in his life since WW2 he is afraid. Something terrible is

happening in the village and he is terrified because he is completely helpless. He is not sure his faith is enough to see him through. He bought the shotgun several years before because he was concerned about the ‘Satanists’.

If the Cast Members tell him about the Inn, he’ll turn pale and start praying softly to

himself. If they have Lucy with them, he’ll quickly offer to take her to the manse and put her to bed upstairs.

Attack of the Killer Mutant Zombies! However, before anything else can happen, two more corpses start reanimating and

attack the Cast Members:

You are interrupted by the Reverend’s face turning a curious shade of white. His eyes are almost bulging out of his head – he appears to be staring at something behind you. At the same instant he starts bring the gun up and you hear curious shuffling and scraping noises coming from behind you. Looking around, you see semi-skeletal hands clawing their way out of two graves. The soil is brushed aside and two half-decomposed corpses quickly and silently start to rise out the grave, clawed fingers outstretched towards you. The stench of decay is everywhere as you feel the malevolent gaze of the dead sprung to life turn upon you…

A Fear Test for every Cast Member is called for here. The two Zombies will start to

appear from the graves marked on the map and attack the Cast Members (in preference to the Matthews). These two graves belong to two sisters called ‘Liddington’ who were buried in 1867 and 1880 respectively. The Cast Members will have a free turn of actions before the zombies can escape fully from the graves and attack. Matthews has two shells left in his shotgun and will use them (6d8 points of damage per shell, he has a Shotgun skill of 1 and a Dexterity of 2). At the start of combat, the Cast Members and the Reverend are approximately 10’ from the two Zombies. The Chronicler should remember that the purpose of this combat is to scare the Cast Members and to remind them that they are not invincible. If this means


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both zombies ganging up on one Cast Member then so be it. Once both zombies are destroyed (taken to -30 life points will do it), a successful

Simple Perception Test (Difficult) by any magically-aware Cast Member will reveal a tinge of dark and bitter Essence in the air over the graveyard, which rapidly disperses.

Matthews, although shaken, will recover his composure and suggest that he take Lucy

(if they have her with them) to the manse and lock himself in while the Cast Members check out the village to see what’s up. He will give them the shotgun if asked, and if not he will offer it anyway, but in both cases, Matthews warns them that he doesn’t have any more shells and that they will have to go the General Store and ask Bob Flannery (the owner) for some more. He also suggests that they visit the Museum while they are in the shop – the museum is upstairs from the shop.

Chronicler’s Map of Graveyard

From this point on, the scenario becomes location-based - the Cast Members are free to

go where they want, whenever they want. The Chronicler should however, remember the following:

• If the Cast Members try and leave the village, they start getting headaches the

further they get. At about a half-mile from the village, Cast Members, whither magically aware or Mundane, will collapse from the pain.

• There is no one else alive in the village apart from some members of the Brotherhood - everyone else is dead, and will eventually arise as Zombies.

• Eventually the Cast Members will be drawn to Maiden Manor and subsequently to Maiden Hill where they will have the showdown with de Villiers.

• Any location not specified specifically on the map is a residential house. The Chronicler is free to make up details as required. No dead bodies in a residential house will animate and attack in these unspecified houses. Again, all phones are down, and there are no visible means of communication.

• If the Cast Members decide to hole-up in the Church or the Manse then the


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Chronicler should let them. But they will feel an increasing unease and sense of dread throughout the day. Eventually the location where they are holed-up will be attacked by hordes of zombies. If the Cast Members still insist on staying holed-up, then literally force them out through sheer weight of numbers of zombies. Think George A Romero!

The Village: Anglican Church This is typical, small country Anglican Church, dedicated to St. Leonard, belonging to

the diocese of Coventry. From the outside it is obvious that it was built in two phases - the lower parts of the building are constructed from large stone blocks, whereas the upper part and the roof (sloped and with a pointed spire with a cross on top) appear more modern. The exterior walls, lintels and window frames are ornately carved with various nature motifs. Predominate amongst them are many carvings of a face enshrouded in foliage – the Green Man. A successful Occult Knowledge/Intelligence Task (Moderate) reveals this carving to be that of the Green Man (Handout 7). Matthews knows about the carvings, and despite their pagan leanings, considers them ‘quaint’.

Indeed, a small bronze plaque beside the front door tells the visitor/supplicant that the

church was first built by the Anglo-Norman baron Nicholas de Mandeville in 1167, and that William Scott restored it in 1814. A one story building with a high roof, inside are toilets, a small crèche room, a couple of back offices and the relatively small main hall, which is decorated with:

Chronicler’s Map of the Church of St. Leonard

The Village: Ruined Monastery Set back slightly from the main road, and accessible via an overgrown path, is the


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overgrown ruins of an ancient monastery. Nothing much remains now apart from a veritable maze of low stone walls, but the Cast Members can find out, either from the Museum, or from Matthews, that the monastery was originally built in about 800 A.D. and was burned down in the Reformation. If they ask Matthews, he will add, almost in an offhand way, that people in the village ignore the site, as if it was haunted. But he is quite sure that it isn’t.

Any magically aware Cast Member can, with a successful Simple Perception Test

(Challenging), detect a faint echo of Essence here. A further Difficult Perception Test (Challenging) reveals the Essence to be a remnant of a long decayed burst of intense sorrow and suffering. A successful cleansing ritual of any type with at least 15 points of Essence spent is sufficient to remove the memory of the Essence.

There is one important piece of information that can be gained from the Monastery.

The Chronicler should pick one Cast Member at random and take him or her aside briefly – that Cast Member will have a vision whilst they are at the site of the Monastery. The Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following:

Your head swirls for a moment and your vision clouds. When it clears you can see

shadowy forms in robes moving in front of you in formation. Hoods cover most of their heads, and you can only see their mouths. These are moving, and the figures appear to be chanting, but you can hear no sound. They don’t appear to have noticed you, and they start fading. But as they fade, a quiet almost whispering voice enters your head. Was it from the ghostly figures? You’re not sure. But you do remember what the voice said…

“The Power of the Dead will triumph over all Evil, Friend”. There is a flash and your head swirls again. The figures are gone.

Whilst the Cast Member concerned is having that vision, he or she will be standing still

and not be able to do anything or interact with anyone.

The Village: The Hunter’s Pond

Nestled in a clump of trees and bushes is a large pond, edged by bullrushes and other semi-aquatic vegetation. The surface is tranquil and still. It would normally be fed via a small steep-sided brook leading off into the woods, but you notice that the stream is blocked off by a decaying wooden sluice gate, which appears to serve to keep the water in the pond.

A trip to the Museum reveals that the pond (which is about 80’ in diameter and 3’ deep

and contains a few small goldfish) is called ‘The Hunter’s Pond’. A successful Occult Knowledge/Intelligence Task (Challenging) or a successful Difficult Intelligence Test (Challenging) indicates that the ‘Hunter’ is Herne the Hunter, the Anglo-Saxon horned god who was also known as Cernunnos.

The Village: Devil’s Stream Running parallel to the village is a small stream (4’ wide); the banks of which are quite

heavily wooded. A trip to the museum reveals that the steam is called the ‘Devil’s Stream’. The stream is quite shallow and the bed consists of mud and gravel. If the Cast Members investigate it in any detail they find a child’s doll, half-buried in the mud at on the stream bank. Near the Inn, it flows through a culvert as a lane crosses it.


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The Village: Museum and General Store Lower Woodbury’s one shop is located in the centre of the village. The large restored

17th century building also contains the local Museum. A large sign above the door reads “Flannery’s General Store and Lower Woodbury Historical Museum”. A plaque beside the door reveals that the museum is located on the first floor above the shop, and that the only entrance is through the shop.

The door to the shop is ajar. Indeed, if examined closely, there are signs of a recent

break-in - the door was forced open. Inside, the shop is in effect a small mini-supermarket, with aisles of food and general-purpose goods (e.g. DIY equipment and the like), and a small meat and fish counter near the back. On first glance, everything seems normal and nothing seems out of place. However, a detailed inspection reveals that the till has been broken open, and an undetermined amount of money has been removed. Further inspection reveals that the cabinet containing alcoholic drinks behind the till has been broken open, and several cans of beer have been removed.

Behind the till is a padlocked cupboard. This can be broken open with a crowbar or the

like or it can be kicked in. Picking the lock requires a successful Lock Picking (Mechanical)/Dexterity Task (Challenging). Alternatively the lock could be magically picked by someone with the Mindhands power, and requires a successful Mindhands Art/Dexterity Task (Challenging). Inside are bottles of various chemicals (including various acids and pesticides), and a box of 12 shotgun cartridges. From the shop there are three internal exits (see the accompanying map) - one leads to the spartan living quarters of Bob Flannery at the back of the store, one to the store room for the shop, and one leads upstairs to the museum. If the Cast Members enter the living quarters, they find the body of Flannery, again, quite dead and without spirit. At a convenient point, the Chronicler should have each Cast Member make a Difficult Perception Test (Challenging) or a Notice/Perception Task (Challenging). Success means that they hear slight movement (like footsteps) upstairs.


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Chronicler’s Map of the Ground Floor of the Shop/Museum

On the first floor, and the cause of the footsteps, is an Acolyte of the Brotherhood,

who is currently doing a spot of exploring the village (incidentally against orders of de Villiers). He is currently engrossed in some of the exhibits and will not notice the Cast Members downstairs unless they make an extraordinary amount of noise. However, once on the first floor, to sneak up on him successfully requires a resisted Dexterity and Stealth Task for each Cast Member versus the acolyte’s Simple Perception Test. Failure will alert the acolyte and he will attempt to hide and ambush the Cast Members. As he has Essence Channelling, he will spend as much time as possible creating an Essence Shield, using a Shielding Invocation, and putting in up to 10 extra Essence points, to give a Protection Level of up to 19 in total.


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Chronicler’s Map of the First Floor of the Shop/Museum

Upon entering the Museum, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following

description: The ‘museum’ consists of a cluttered room filled with tables bending under the weight

of various historical artifacts such as farm tools and antiques. Lining the walls are glass display cabinets containing shelves of rare books and what look like medieval torture devices!

If the acolyte is surprised, then add the following to the description:

On the opposite side of the room, partially within an alcove, and thus only partly visible to you, is a figure dressed in black, who appears to be intently studying one of the exhibits. He seems unaware of your presence.

If the Acolyte is aware of the Cast Members:

Suddenly springing out from behind an exhibit is a young man dressed in black.

Holding a gleaming dagger he advances towards you, sneering and with eyes shining in wild hatred.

‘You shouldn’t be here - you should be dead! Well, it’ll make no difference. You’ll be dead soon one way or another. Might as well end it here and now...’


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Any magically aware Cast Members can detect the glowing aura of a magical Shield surrounding him.

The acolyte will launch bolts of Soul Fire and attack with the dagger (in his right hand).

He will fight to the death, but he should not be too hard to defeat for the Cast Members. When he finally dies, as he falls to the ground, a small stone statue rolls out from beneath his body.

Close examination of this statue, which is about 4 inches in size, and shaped like a

female anamorphic human (think Venus de Milo) by any magically aware Cast Member reveals that it is an Item of Power and is able to store Essence! A successful Perception/Occult Knowledge Task (Challenging) reveals that it can store up to 25 Essence Points (it is currently empty). However, it is also cursed. If a magically aware person takes the artifact into his or her possession (i.e. carries it on his or her person or in her or her property) he or she will suffer blinding headaches after it has been in his or her possession for more than one hour. Any person suffering from these headaches has -1 to all Tasks and -2 to any task that requires detail or concentration whilst suffering. The headaches will stop if that person throws the artifact away or removes it from his or her possession.

There are no distinguishing marks on the acolyte’s body, nor is he wearing any distinctive clothing. However, around the neck of the acolyte is an amulet (Handout 8). The amulet is made out of silver and the pattern cannot be identified at this time, nor can the Reverend Matthews identify it (the Cast Members will learn its meaning when they reach Maiden Manor).

If the Cast Members look around the museum, they will come across various exhibits -

including a brochure giving a brief history of Lower Woodbury (Handout 9), an ancient Iceni Coin referred to in the brochure, and a ceremonial Celtic headdress recovered from the top of Maiden Hill. The other exhibits are concerned mainly with farming and other agricultural matters. They can also find out that the name of the stream that runs through the village is ‘The Devil’s Stream’, and that the name of the pond is ‘The Hunter’s Pond’.

Once they’ve left the museum, three Animated Corpses - these ones freshly dead

residents of the village, will ambush them:

As you leave the museum, from your left you hear a set of shuffling noises. Looking around, you are horrified to see three humanoid figures limping towards you ungainly, with arms outstretched towards you. There is a red glowing malevolence in their eyes as you realise that they are the dead townspeople coming to life!

The animated corpses are very slow, and the Cast Members can outrun them if they so

wish. However, if they take refuge in any building in the village, the dead residents of those buildings will attack!

The Chronicler should play this part of the scenario much like a stereotypical cheap

Zombie-flick - there are now literally dozens of animated dead in the village, all lusting after the flesh of the Cast Members! The only sure escape is to leave the village and head towards Maiden Manor, which by this point the Cast Members will have figured out is the home of the Brotherhood. If they do this, the animated corpses will wonder aimlessly around the village.

Of course, the Cast Members may remember the Reverend Matthews and Lucy (if they

left her with him). Should they go back to check up on them (through a village full of animated corpses), when they get to the Manse, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following:


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As you approach the manse you are horrified to see that it is surrounded by more

dead townspeople! Some are aimlessly wondering around outside, while others appear to be hamming on the doors and windows, which you notice are bolted and barricaded. Every now and again, one of the dead persons recoils back from the door, and falls on the floor, as if struck by something heavy. You can see the end of a hatchet being waved and poked through a gap in the barricades. However, with a start, the corpse regains its footing and starts hammering on the door again.

There are two dozen animated corpses here, and some of them are attempting to break

into the Manse where the Reverend Matthews (and Lucy, if she is there) is holed up. It is up to the Cast Members whither or not they would help the Reverend, although if they don’t, the animated corpses will eventually break down the doors, and kill him (and eat him of course).

When the Cast Members leave the village and head up towards Maiden Manor, then

this is the end of this Act. The animated corpses will continue to aimlessly shuffle about the village.

If the Cast Members prove reluctant to go investigate the manor house, the Reverend

will prompt them. If the Reverend has been “inconvenienced” then they can detect the overwhelming bitter taint of dark twisted essence building up on the hilltop above the manor house. The Chronicler should play up the dark oppressive nature of this buildup of energy.


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Act Four: Beltane down the Drain

Cast Member Handouts for Act Four: Grimoire of Zaltais in Altar. Rhyme inscribed on Altar. Supporting Cast Members for Act Four: None Adversaries for Act Four: 6 Acolytes of the Brotherhood of the Black Void (Lesser Gifted Human Male) William de Villiers, head of the Brotherhood (Gifted Human Male) Emissary of the Mad God Zaltais (Extra-Dimensional Supernatural Creature)

Synopsis: Act Four covers the Cast Members approaching Maiden Manor, entering the manor, fighting off cultists and finding evidence of the dastardly ritual of the Brotherhood. From then they will go to the Merry Maidens, where the ritual will take place and have a showdown with William de Villiers, head of the Brotherhood of the Black Void.


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It looks so peaceful and quiet from the outside… Maiden Manor is located halfway up the side of Maiden Hill, approximately half-a-

mile from the village. It is surrounded by trees and is fenced off. The Cast Members can sneak up to the Manor and gain entry without any problems, as most of the Brotherhood are currently on top of Maiden Hill preparing for the Ritual which will free Zaltais.

Maiden Manor itself is a two-story 16th-century manor house with a modern garage

block adjoining (there are currently two black BMWs parked within). A paved path leads from the back door up to the summit of Maiden Hill and the Merry Maidens. The front door is currently not locked.

The following descriptions are keyed to the internal maps of Maiden Manor on the next

couple of pages. All rooms have beamed-ceilings (high on the ground floor, low on the first floor), polished and lacquered wooden floors and wood-paneled walls. Modern electrics and plumbing has been installed.

Ground Floor Main Hall: this is a large hall with a high (10’) beamed ceiling. The floor is polished

and lacquered wood and the walls are wood paneling. The walls are decorated with tapestries and paintings showing scenes from every-day life in the 17th century (if examined these are all genuine). There are various mahogany cabinets, dressers and drawers scattered about the periphery of the room - these are genuine 17th century and contain various items of clothing and textiles. In the middle of the room is a large rug approximately 12’ across - the pattern on the rug is identical to that of the amulet worn by the acolyte in the Museum (Handout 8). The windows are stained glass (containing various heraldic symbols) and a large wooden banister leads up to the first floor. In the middle of the ceiling is an extremely expensive looking and impressive crystal chandelier. Various (thick-oaken) doors lead off to other parts of the house.

Dining Room: contains a large polished wooden table with several sideboards filled

with cutlery and tableware. There are the partially cleared remains of breakfast still sitting on the table - breakfast for eight people.

Kitchen: contains many modern appliances, and cupboards and walk-in larders filled

with food. As the Cast Members enter the room, they will surprise an Acolyte who is currently in the process of washing up - he has headphones on listening to music and is completely unaware of the presence of the Cast Members. The acolyte is wearing rubber gloves (for washing up), and is wearing the same non-descript black clothing and amulet as the Acolyte in the museum. Playing on the headphones is the latest album by Marilyn Mansion. Should the Acolyte be incapacitated he will give no information away, even under torture. Attempts to read his mind only result in a jumble of images of a stone circle on top of a hill.

Study/Altar Room: once a study, this room is dominated by a massive stone and

marble altar, some 6’ high. Before the altar, inscribed into the wooden floor, is a massive carving (8’ square) with an identical pattern (the double-S sigil) to that of the amulet that the Acolyte in the museum was wearing (Handout 8). On the altar itself, which takes the form of a stone monolith, there is a carving of a Tarot rhyme (Handout 11). Beside the altar is a table draped in a blood-red silken cloth. On the table are several black candles, a golden jeweled


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tiara, a ritual dagger (made of silver and capable of inflicting d4 x (Strength-1) Life Points Damage) and a leather-bound book that is currently closed with a clasp. Opening it reveals that most of the book is incomprehensible gibberish, but that there is one page which contains English writing – Handout 10.

A successful Occult Knowledge/Intelligence Task (Challenging) or a successful

Difficult Intelligence Test (Challenging) indicates the following: • Geburah is the Sephiroth or realm of Death and the Dead. • Gehenna is a part of this realm ruled by the Fallen Angels. • Kether is the highest level of reality and is thought to contain the Creator. • Elysium is in the realm of Binah, and is the abode of the Seraphim, the Angels. • Zaltais is a particularly nasty Mad God, a being thought to be either from outside

our reality or from another dimension. • Malkuth is the occult name for the present reality, where Essence becomes flesh.


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Chronicler’s Map of the Ground Floor of Maiden Manor.

First Floor Bedrooms: these are low-ceilinged bedrooms with luxurious double beds. There are a

few personal effects scattered about each room, including CDs (invariably of Industrial or Rock music), books (various Occult topics), and magazines (including some pornographic ones). Most rooms have a TV.

Bathrooms: modern bathrooms including showers, baths, bidets and toilets. All show

signs of being used. Library/Games Room: the walls of this room are lined with bookshelves, and there is

a pool table in the centre of the room. The books on the shelves cover a wide range of subjects, with the occult being prominent amongst them. Some of the rarer and more valuable books (all first editions or originals) include:

• “Arcanes De La Vie Futre Devoiles” by Alphonse Cahagnet, 1848 (in French). • “Archidoxes of Magic” by Paracelsus, 1656 (in German). • “The Book of Black Magic and of Pacts” by Arthur Edward Waite, 1898. • “Clavis Alchemiae” by Robert Fludd, 1619 (in Latin). • “Crystal Gazing” by Theodore Besterman, 1924. • “De Daemonialiate” by Lodovico Maria Sinistrarti, 1875 (in Latin with a French

Translation). • “Isis Unveiled” by Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, 1877. • “Magick in Theory and Practice” by Aleister Crowley, 1929. • “Malleus Maleficarum” by Jakob Sprenger and Heinrich Kramer, 1486 (in Latin). • “Principles of Nature, Her Diving Revelation and a Voice to Mankind” by Andrew

Jackson Davis, 1847. • “Les Propheties De M. Michel Nostradamus” by Michel de Nostradame, 1555 (in

French, Greek, Italian and Latin). • “The Holy Kabbalah” by Arthur Edward Waite, 1929. • “The Secret Doctrine” by Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, 1888. • “The Witch-Cult in Western Europe” by Dr. Margaret Murray, 1921. • “The Wonders of the Invisible World” by Cotton Mather, 1692. • “The Zohar” by Moses de Leon, 1280 (in Aramaic).


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Chronicler’s Map of the First Floor of Maiden Manor. de Villier’s Bedroom: Furnished in plush velvet in red and black, this is the bedroom

of William de Villiers himself. The walls decorated with various totemic and occultic carvings, paintings and sculptures and there is an opulent four-poster bed. A walk-in cupboard dominates one side of the room. This contains various items of clothing, including ceremonial robes marked with the double-S sigil. Mounted on one of the walls is a stainless steel Katana, which is capable of inflicting d10 x (Strength) Life Points Damage if wielded. There is a plaque alongside the mounting indicating that this is a genuine 17th century Japanese Katana. If one of the Cast Members wields it, it could be a very lethal weapon.

Sitting on a dresser next to the bed, on a golden stand is a large crystal that pulsates and


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glows a curious yellow-white light. This contains the ghost that de Villiers defeated, and it is currently imprisoned within the crystal. That the crystal contains a spirit can be deduced by an magically-aware Cast Member with a Simple Perception Test (Challenging). If a Cast Member with the Death Speech power tries to communicate with the imprisoned spirit, all he or she will get is a sad, plaintive voice repeating over and over again “Hopkinsssss killed usssss…”. Breaking the crystal will free the ghost, which will immediately materialize in the room as a softly glowing, translucent female figure, dressed in 17th century clothing. The figure will stand there and defy any attempts at communication even via necromancy. The ghost cannot be expelled or banished.

Not quite Armageddon, but close… Once the Cast Members have explored the whole manor, the Chronicler should have

each magically aware Cast Member make a Simple Perception Test (Challenging). Success means that they can detect a build up of Essence coming from the top of Maiden Hill.

The top of Maiden Hill can be reached from the back of Maiden Manor via a steep

path. For about four hundred yards it snakes and zigzags its way through dense deciduous forest. About half-way up the path, the Chronicler should have each Cast Member make a Difficult Perception Test (Challenging) or a Notice/Perception Task (Challenging). Success means that they hear someone coming down the path. This is a Acolyte walking down the path from the Merry Maidens to the Manor. If the Cast Members hide the Acolyte will walk on by, oblivious of their presence. If he makes it to the Manor, and the Cast Members did not hide the evidence of their presence in the manor, he will come back up the path in 3d6+6 minutes and raise the alarm. If the Acolyte and the Cast Members surprise each other, he will attempt to flee back up to the Merry Maidens and warn the others – not strictly necessary, as de Villiers already knows about the Cast Members.

In any case, when the Cast Members reach the top of the hill, the Chronicler should

read or paraphrase the following:

The path comes to a halt in a clearing on top of the hill. About one hundred yards across, and covered by sheep-grazed grass, it is dominated by a circle of small and medium-sized stones – this must be the Merry Maiden stone circle. Everything seems suprisingly peaceful and tranquil – but where is everyone?

The Chronicler should give it to the Cast Members, then the Chronicler should call for

a Simple Perception Test (Challenging) from any magically aware Cast Member and a Difficult Perception Test (Challenging) from any mundane Cast Member. Success means that they detect a massive concentration of Essence centered on the stone circle.

The Merry Maidens is a place of power – every day there is a total of 100 extra ambient

Essence Points available on a first-come first-served basis, but de Villiers has already used 50 of those. The other 50 are available for the Cast Members to use. In addition, there is the extra 30 from today being Beltane, which de Villiers hasn’t used yet, so these extra points are also available for the Cast Members to use (Simple Intelligence Test (Easy) by any magically aware Cast Member to work this out).

This Essence that the Cast Members detect is the result of an illusion cast by de Villiers

– he and his acolytes and standing in the circle but are currently hidden from view. They can be detected with a further successful Simple Perception Test (Challenging) for a magically aware Cast Member or a Difficult Perception Test (Challenging) from any mundane Cast


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Member. If by some unlikely fluke, all Cast Members fail to detect the illusion in this way, then the Chronicler should allow them to detect it by other means.

When the Cast Members detect the illusion, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase

the following to the Cast Members:

Slowly your eyes adjust – you can see shadowy and blurred forms appearing in the middle of the circle. In front of your very eyes you can see five robed and cowled figures, materialize seemingly out of thin air, one of which is holding a gleaming curved knife. Lying on the ground at the figure’s feet is a naked woman, bound securely with ropes and gagged. They are all standing in the circle and are illuminated by a swirling mass of lights which hovers above them. These lights are a multitude of different colours and patterns and never stand still – their ducking and diving, like a school of fish is almost hypnotic. There is a strong feeling of deep sadness and anger emanating from the lights.

A booming voice comes from the figure holding the knife. “Welcome, fools! You are just in time to witness the final triumph of the Father of

Lies! There is nothing you can do to stop us! With that, the robed figure bends down with the knife, and over the muffled screams

of the woman, slits her throat. Blood is sprayed everywhere and the woman slumps to the ground, her lifeless body lying sprawled at the feet of the robed figures. A light springs from her body and rises up and joins the swirling mass, which seems significantly brighter.

The centre one speaks again. “Behold! The hour is at hand! Kill them and bring their bodies to me! They will be the final sacrifice!”

With that last command, the other four robed figures advance upon you whilst the central one continues chanting. Each one of them is wielding a wicked looking dagger.

These are the four remaining Acolytes and their job is to hold off the Cast Members

while de Villiers finishes the ritual to summon Zaltais. The Cast Members should not have too many problems overcoming them. If they attack de Villiers magically, he will retaliate but will continue chanting and holding his position in the centre of the circle. If they attempt to attack him physically, he is surrounded by a invisible physical shield with stops all attacks.

The swirling mass contains the souls of all the dead villagers, a fact that can be

determined with a successful Simple Perception Test (Challenging) by any magically aware Cast Member. The ball of light remains in its position, 10’ directly above de Villiers for the time being.

Oops we didn’t want that to happen now did we? Once the four Acolytes are taken care of, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the

following to the Cast Members:

The Robed figure stops chanting and lowers his hood to reveal a middle-aged man with long grey hair. His eyes are black, without pupil or iris. When he speaks to you the words sink into your very soul and the voice is one of terror and command.

“Behold, the Zaltais has come!” he screams. His body starts spasming violently. You are aghast as his clothes disintegrate as his

skin grows, bulges and splits to reveal a dozen barbed long, black tentacles writhing violently about him. The rest of his body metamorphoses into an obsidian, amorphous writhing mass, some 8’ high. A pair of baleful, glowing white eyes glares out at you from the centre of the monstrosity as it soundlessly advances towards you, tentacles writing in a hypnotic dance of death. A set of deep, rasping voices, all speaking together, yet each one slightly out of tune,


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fills your heads, yet you cannot see where it is originating. “Behold, we are an Emissary of Zaltais the Destroyer, an Angel of the Seventh

Circle, and we have come to reclaim what is rightfully ours. Your time upon this world is finished, ape-things. Prepare for your final annihilation!”.

The Chronicler should call for Fear Tests (with a –4 penalty) from every Cast

Member here. This is not Zaltais, but a mere Emissary of Zaltais. It is strongly emanating Taint, which magically aware Cast Members can detect easily and automatically.

Still, the Cast Members will have a very tough time defeating it themselves. If they do,

it will dissolve into a puddle of white goo, with a few human-like bones half-dissolved in it. There will be an explosion of Taint, automatically infecting each Cast Member present with 4d10 points of Taint, which will be gotten rid of normally. If they defeat it any other way (see below), this explosion of Taint will not occur.

A much easier way to defeat the Emissary than through brute force is to persuade the

collective souls of the dead villagers in the swirling mass of light to attack the Emissary. This can either be done by anyone with the Death Speech or Mindtalk powers. If no Cast Member has these skills, then the other Cast Members can simply ask the souls to attack. The Chronicler should, if necessary, drop hints that this is the only course of action that will succeed. If Lucy is still alive then perhaps she can make an appearance on the hill (along with the Reverend if necessary) and she could point out the souls.

If this is done, the Chronicler should read or paraphrase the following to the Cast

Members:

The ball of light pulses for a moment, and then you can see individual motes of light break off from it and dive towards the Emissary. As each mote of light impacts upon the tentacled abomination, it is forced backwards, but each light is extinguished. More and more motes of light strike the beast, and you can see the ball of light getting smaller, but great rents open up on the Emissary, and black smoking ichor starts pouring out. With a final sweep the remaining motes of light in the ball dive towards the staggering beast in a synchronized formation and blow it apart – pieces of slimy black tentacles and ichor fly off in all directions. There is a monumental scream and both the Emissary and the motes of Light disappear.

As a feeling of gratitude pervades the whole hilltop, a silence descends upon the countryside, broken only by the sound of distant thunder and the gentle patter of raindrops as rain begins to fall…

If they do, and the Souls are still present, they will swirl up into the sky and disappear.

Any Cast Member with Necromancy will realise that the Souls have crossed finally into the Threshold and are finally on their way to wherever their final journey takes them.


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Act Five: Cleaning Up Once they destroy de Villiers and Zaltais, they have defeated the attempts of the

Brotherhood of the Black Void to summon Zaltais into our reality. When the Cast Members get back down into the village, they find it swarmed by police and paramedics, who don’t have a clue what’s going on, and arrest the Cast Members on suspicion of mass murder. If the Reverend Matthews is still alive, he will provide an alibi for the Cast Members and they will be released without charge. If he is not alive, they will eventually be released without charge due to lack of evidence and the forensic reports which will come back. In either case, the media will be told that what happened in the village was a case of “mass suicide” and the Cast Members will be warned not to say anything.

If Lucy is still alive then she will want to see one of the Cast Members (the Chronicler

should pick the one who was most kind to her or paid her the most attention). She will run up to that Cast Member and give him/her a hug and cling on for dear life and refuse to let go…the Scenario will end on a sentimental note with the little girl whispering “Are you my new Daddy/Mummy?” into that Cast Member’s ear…

THE END


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Appendix One: Supporting Cast Act One

Act Three

Supporting Cast: Reverend Timothy Matthews Mundane Human Clergyman

Strength: 2 Dexterity: 2

Constitution: 2 Intelligence: 3

Perception: 2 Willpower: 3

Life Points: 26 Endurance Points: 26

Essence Points: 13 Speed: 8

Qualities: Charisma +1

Drawbacks: Honourable -2, Impaired Sense (Hearing) -1

Skills: First Aid +1, Humanities (Theology) +4, Mechanic +3,

Supporting Cast: Lucy SmithGifted Human Child






Qualities: Gift

Drawbacks: None


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Appendix Two: Adversaries Act Three

Adversary: Graveyard ZombieUndead Supernatural Creature




Life Points: 46 Endurance Points: N/A


Qualities: Regeneration (5 Life Points per Hour)

Attacks: Claws (5d4 damage per Swipe)

Adversary: Brotherhood AcolyteLesser Gifted Human Male






Qualities: Gift, Increased Essence Pool (3), Essence Channelling (2)

Drawbacks: Zealot (Mad Gods), Obsession (Mad Gods)

Skills: Brawling +2, Dodge +1, Hand Weapon (Dagger) +1

Powers: Shielding +2, Soulfire +2

Attacks: Dagger (1d4, doubled after penetrating armour) Soulfire (variable damage)

Città di Morte Dave Moore

Act Four Act Four

Act Four

Adversary: Dead TownspersonUndead Supernatural Creature






Qualities: Regeneration (5 Life Points per Hour)

Attacks: Hands (3d4 damage per Swipe)

Adversary: Brotherhood AcolyteLesser Gifted Human Male






Qualities: Gift, Increased Essence Pool (3), Essence Channelling (2)

Drawbacks: Zealot (Mad Gods), Obsession (Mad Gods)

Skills: Brawling +2, Dodge +1, Hand Weapon (Dagger) +1

Powers: Shielding +2, Soulfire +2

Attacks: Dagger (1d4, doubled after penetrating armour) Soulfire (variable damage)


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Adversary: William de VilliersGifted Human Male and Leader of the Brotherhood






Qualities: Gift, Essence Channelling (5), Increased Essence Pool (10), Hard to Kill

(2), Charisma +2, Resources +3.

Drawbacks: Zealot (Mad Gods), Obsession (Mad Gods), Cruel (2)

Skills: Dodge +3, Occult Knowledge +4, Rituals (Black Magic) +4

Powers: Affect the Psyche +3, Elemental Fire +3, Lesser Curse +3, Shielding +4,

Soulfire +3, Warding +4, Gateway +3.

Attacks: Dagger (1d4 x 2, doubled after penetrating armour) Soulfire (variable damage)

Although de Villiers and the Brotherhood are dedicated to the summoning of a Mad God to this

reality, they are for the time being, not affected by Taint, and thus neither he nor his acolytes have

a Taint Pool. When de Villiers is transformed into the Emissary, his Essence is destroyed and he/it

becomes a full creature of Taint.


Powers of the Emissary The Emissary of Zaltais is a Tainted creature. Taint is the very antithesis of Essence,

and is explained in detail in the ABOMINATION CODEX sourcebook. For the purposes of Città di Morte, the Chronicler can run the Emissary using Taint in the same fashion as a Cast Member uses Essence. The Emissary has the following powers:

Infection: With but a glance, some Tainted can infect others. This has a number of painful mental and physical effects. This power requires a Resisted Simple Willpower Test, or Willpower and the Infection Skill. If the Tainted wins, the victim suddenly has as much Taint as was spent in the attack. Being infected with Taint is a hideous experience. The victim feels pain, nausea and a generalized feeling of misery comparable to a nasty attack of the flu (or flying coach on a modern airliner). In game terms, the target has a -1 penalty for every 5 Taint Points (rounded up) in her system. This penalty applies to any mental Task or Test the victim attempts, including using Magic or other Gifted powers. Furthermore, the victim cannot regain Essence until the Taint has been purged from her system. Getting rid of Taint is difficult. Humans eliminate Taint at the same rate they regain Essence.

Negaphysics: This power allows the Tainted to violate or invert some laws of physics for brief periods of time, mainly gravity and kinetic energy. If successful, the Tainted force people to “fall” upwards by reversing gravity, to stop a bullet in mid-flight or even to have it reverse course, and perform incredible feats of strength. This power costs 5 Taint Points to use. Duration is usual brief (1 Turn). Some effects are detailed below:

Reverse Fall: The victim falls upwards for 1 yard (meter) per Success Level. If an obstacle is in the way, she takes normal falling damage on impact. The '1'ainted can also reduce damage from falls by 1 point level per Success Level.

Negate Impact: Physical attacks can be slowed down or stopped. Each Multiplier level in any such attack (a punch, a bullet, a speeding car) is reduced by 1 level per Success Level in a

Adversary: Emissary of ZaltaisAvatar of a Mad God





Taint Points: 250 Speed: 5

Qualities: Taint, Taint Channelling (5)

Powers: Infection +3, Negaphysics +2, Negalightning +5, Tainted Touch +3


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Simple Willpower Test. Once the Multiplier is reduced to 1, damage is reduced by a number of points equal to the remaining Success Levels. The Tainted character must be aware of the attack to use this ability.

Reorient Gravity: The character can decide which way is "up" for her. In this manner, the power can be used to walk on walls and ceilings as if they were the floor. Alternatively, the character can "fall upwards," as per the Reverse Fall power, but in a more controlled way.

Deadlift: By removing inertia and gravity, the character can lift enormous weights temporarily. For 1 Turn, the character can move any object weighting up to 1,000 pounds (400 kg) times her Strength level with tremendous ease. Once the power's influence is over, the object once again becomes subject to gravity and the laws of momentum. Used as weapons, the "lightened" objects are not very effective, however. They do a mere DIO(5) points of damage per 1,000 pounds (400 kg) of weight. If they can be maneuvered to drop on someone, they inflict damage equivalent to Falling Damage, but add +1 to the D6 roll for every 250 pounds (100 kg) of weight. Negalightning: This power is related to Negaphysics, but applies to electromagnetic forces. The Tainted can negate, reverse or twist the flow of electromagnetic currents, for a number of bizarre effects, the most common being the disruption or even destruction of electronic devices. Note that this is not actual electricity control, but the twisting or negation of the natural forces of electricity. This power costs 5 Taint points per use; effects usually last 1 Turn.

Lights Out: The character can cause any electronic device to cease working for a few seconds (1 Turn). This affects an area of 1 yard (meter) per Willpower level of the character, or a specific object up to 10 yards (meters) x Willpower away from the Tainted. The objects are not damaged, and resume working as soon as the effect passes. Any unsaved information in a computer is lost, however.

Magnetic Surge: A powerful magnetic field surges around a selected target, causing nearby metal to either be repelled or attracted with great power. If repulsion is chosen, any small metal object in the target (from guns and ammo to keys and coins) is flung away at great speed, ripping through pockets and pouches on their way out. The victim can try to hold on to an object in her hand by passing a Difficult Strength Test with a -12 penalty. If the target is near a large metal object (a car, or a bank vault), she is flung away instead. Treat this is as Resisted Simple Strength Test, with the magnetic force having an effective Strength of 5. If the target attracts metal, any small (under 1 Ib/0.5 kg) metal object within 10 yards (meters) flies towards the target at near-bullet speed. The availability of metal objects is up to the Chronicler. This power is particularly devastating in hardware stores, construction sites, and the like, and fairly useless in the middle of a virgin forest. Damage ranges from D6(3) points (a few keys and loose change) to D6 x 5(15) slashing (a bucket of nails). Creative players may devise other uses for these powers; treat the magnetic force as having an effective Strength of 5 and an effect radius of 10 yards (meters). Burn: The character can destroy one electronic device with a destructive surge that melts any circuits or transistors. Any one item within 10 yards (meters) of the character can be affected. The Taint causes the item to overheat, and the object may melt or even start electrical iires around it. People nearby suffer D6(3) to D10(5) points of electrical or fire damage. Some military or high-tech items have a chance to survive the effect. At the Chronicler's discretion, those objects resist destruction unless the Tainted character passes a Simple Willpower Test with penalties of -1 to -5, depending on the level of protection or hardening in the system.


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Shield: The Tainted character can twist electromagnetic forces around her, providing her with some protection against metal and electrical attacks. This works like a force field with an Armour Value equal to the character's Willpower x 10 against metal and electrical attacks. The shield works for only 1 Turn. Tainted Touch: This power allows the character to heal D6(3) Life Points for every Taint Point spent. The character can heal herself or other Tainted people or creatures. Attempting to heal a normal person with this touch not only does not work, it inflicts 1 Life Point of damage for every Taint Point spent. In both cases, the character must touch the subject -- unwilling victims must be held down (a Resisted Simple Strength Test, with the victim gaining a +2 bonus) or restrained in some other manner.


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Appendix Three: Handouts Act One: Symbol carved into the bar of the Merry Maiden inn. Information on Dr. John Dee. Act Two: No Handouts

Act Three: Information on Beltane. Cast Member’s map of Lower Woodbury. Gravestone of Mary O’Toole. Tactical Map of Graveyard Information on the ‘Green Man’ Amulet on person in the Museum. Brief History of Lower Woodbury from the Museum.

Act Four: Grimoire of ‘Zaltais’ in Altar. Rhyme inscribed on Altar.

Act Five: No Handouts


Handout 1 - Symbol carved into the wall of the Merry Maiden pub

John Dee (1527-1609) was an eminent Elizabethan mathematician and astrologer. His studies into the Occult took him abroad on many

occasions, and this has added weight to the suspicion that he was also a secret government agent. He was employed teaching navigation to Naval Captains for 30 years, but is most well known for his active involvement

in occult thought and practice. He is credited with inventing Enochian magic.

Handout 2 - Information on Dr. John Dee

Beltane (Beltaine, Belltaine, Bealtaine, Beltain, Beltine, Bealteine, Bealtuinn, Boaldyn), meaning 'bright fire' or 'lucky fire' is held on May 1st and celebrates the start of summer, the crop and pasturing season. Although scholars are non-committal, many of the Wicce believe Beltane honors the ancient continental Celtic sun and healer god, Belenus (Bel). Bel gained victory over the powers of darkness by bringing the people to within sight of another harvest. At Beltane, all fires were extinguished, and Bel's fire was created from the sacred rays of the Sun, "the sacred fires of Bel." This Fire was then carried to all the hearths of the land. It is recognised as one of the four most powerful days of the year, magically wise. The others are Samhain (the Celtic New Year), November 1st, Imbolc, February 1st, and Lughnasad or Lammas, August 1st.

Handout 3 - Information on Beltane

Handout 4 - Lower Woodbury

Handout 5 - Gravestone

Handout 6 - Graveyard

Citt� di Morte Dave Moore

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Who is the Green Man? The answer to this riddle is certainly not straightforward.... Some theologians like Rabanus Maurus (8th Century) said they represented the sins of the flesh- lustful and wicked men doomed to eternal damnation. This seems to be a long way from the meaning they must have held for those who used them on the memorials to their dear departed six centuries previously: In fact, they continued to be used as tomb carvings long after the church masons stopped using them inside their buildings. This link with death has led some to describe the Green Man as the symbol of the natural cycle of mortal life- birth, life, death, decay. To Christians it is this cycle that the soul can overcome, with Faith. To some others the cycle continues - from decay back to the soil, to food from the soil, back into life- a symbol of the continuous regeneration of life and the interdependence of all things. Another direction we can take when looking for the meaning behind the Green Man is to study the character known in England as 'Jack-in-the- Green'. This was a figure who joined the May-Day revels in the 19th Century, becoming particularly associated with the chimney sweeps who along with many other trades, used this national holiday as an opportunity to boost their lean income with a little begging. In return, they provided some entertainment of rowdy variety. This involved them dressing up in gaudy tinsels and ribbons, with blackened faces "like Morris dancers" and performing a rough and ready dance around a Jack-in-the-Green to the music of shovels, sticks, drums, and whistles. The Jack was a man inside a conical framework of wicker covered with leaves. A stall gap was left in this, through which the occupant could peer- very like some of the Green Man figures in the churches. The Jack had to be built by the sweeps. If any rival group of tradesmen appeared with one, a bloody fight often ensued. There were many complaints of the rowdy and drunken behaviour on May Day, which my have been one factor in its eventual decline. At the turn of the century, however, he was rescued from these unseemly and common clutches to become the leading figure in many May Pageants organised by middle-class revivalists. Their pageants looked back to a distant 'merrie England" wholesome and pure, where everyone knew their place and was happy with their lot. Many "folk" activities were taken up with interest at this time, and many were in fact saved from decline. One such was the Morris dance. One of the few pieces of documentary evidence we have of the existence of the Jack-in-the-Green outside these 19th Century sweeps' revels links him firmly with the Morris. An account of Sir Humphrey Gilbert's third voyage to North America in 1583 includes a description of the entertainments taken across the ocean for the solace of our people and allurement of the Savages". It goes on to describe the cavortings of the Morris dancers, hobby horse, and jack o' greens, which apparently went down well with the audiences. Whatever he was before he met the sweeps, and wherever he came from, he ended up as a symbol of the May- the traditional beginning of the Spring. This symbol of regeneration as part of the life cycle again bring us back to the ideas behind the Green Man in church-carvings. while we cannot prove a direct historical connection between the carvings and the pageant-figure, it is apparent that they are connected. That the Jack-in-the-Green is more directly associated with the celebration of the life force is argued in Sir James Frazer's massive work, The Golden Bough. He described the Jack as our own version of the typical leaf- clad mummer found throughout Europe. Though in England his history and meaning. are unknown (no-one ever asked the sweeps!) similar figures in other parts were certainly explained by their celebrants as being representations of the spirit or god of the yearly renewal of life.

Handout 7 - Information on the ‘Green Man’

Handout 8 – Strange Design

Lower Woodbury and the Woodbury Valley have a long history. Perhaps the earliest inhabitants of the area were Neolithic Peoples around 3500 BC. However, they have left little trace of their existence. The earliest recorded history belongs to the pre-Roman Druids, who had a holy site on top of Maiden Hill some 300 years before the Roman Invasion. They left a legacy in the form of a circle of stones on top of Maiden Hill. This circle of stones, which still stands today, and is now under the care of English Heritage, has been called The Merry Maidens since at least the 17th Century, although the origin of this name is now lost. The Romans conquered the Cotswolds in AD. 61. A group of Iceni warriors made a last stand on top of the Geap during Boudicea’s rebellion, and an Iceni coin (which is on display elsewhere in this museum) was found in village in the 1960’s. Subsequently, the Romans built a fort on top of the battlefield, but it has long since decayed into a mound. After the Romans left, and with the arrival of Christianity, one of the first monasteries in England was established in the village. Dedicated to St. Stephen, this monastery survived for almost 800 years, but it was burnt down and all the monks exiled during the upheavals of the Reformation. The Village Preservation Committee is currently fund-raising to have an archaeological dig take place in the ruins. One building which does (partly) survive from this time is the local Anglican Church/ Its foundations and lower walls date back to Norman times, but it was restored in 1814 by the famous architect William Scott. However, sad to say, the name of Lower Woodbury is not best known for its long and fascinating pre-Reformation history but for the tragic events of May 1st 1645. The Witchfinder General himself, Matthew Hopkins and his associates descended en masse to Lower Woodbury and in a unparalleled bout of savagery murdered ten villagers who had been accused of sorcery. These villagers, who have long been known to have been completely innocent of any wrongdoings, had holed themselves up in the manor house (Maiden Manor) built by one of their members, Rupert Williamson, on the lower slopes of Maiden Hill. The Witchfinder General and his associates, after slaying the villagers in cold blood, tried to burn the house down but a sudden storm blew up and defeated their flames. Maiden Manor still stands to this day, but is now in private hands. Visitors to the village should note that the present owners of the Manor have requested that they be left alone and not disturbed. Moving forward to the 19th century, there were reports of poltergeist activity in the village. This centred on three women, one, a refugee from the Irish Potato Famine, Mary O’Toole, and two locals, the Liddington sisters. These outbreaks were investigated by the Royal Society but were deemed to be hoaxes, a claim that the families of the women still deny. Lower Woodbury sacrificed seven men for King and Country during the Great War. These heroes were: George Fox, John O’Toole, Charles Liddington, James John Flannery, James Boole, Samuel Dixon and Robert Smith. The rest of the Village will always remember their bravery and skill. During WWII, Lower Woodbury provided men and women for all the services. One of them, Jack Flannery, father of the current owner of the Village Shop, was awarded the George Cross for bravery in the North African Campaign. Fortunately, none of the brave men and women from the village involved in action were killed. In recent times the village has gone from strength to strength. Next year will be a major milestone in the history of the village when Lower Woodbury Primary School will open its doors. A site on Geap Lane has already been purchased and construction is due to start in September.

Handout 9 – Brief History of Lower Woodbury

Handout 10 – Grimoire of ‘Zaltais’

Hail Accursed One!

Hail the Eternal One!

Hail the Lord of Outside!

Hail the Father of Lies!

Hail the Dragon of the Night!

Hail the Lord of Darkness!

Hail the Angel of Death!

Hail the Serpent!

Hail the True Lord of Geburah!

Hail the True Master of Gehenna!

Hail the Conqueror of Kether!

Hail the Ravager of Elysium!

I call upon thee, Zaltais, Angel of the Seventh Circle, to come

forth and reclaim your rightful place on Malkuth!


forth and obliterate and crush your enemies!


forth and reward your faithful servants!

Handout 11 – Altar Rhyme

I. The Magus WILLS with bolts of fire II. The Priestess SHAPES her hidden desire III. The Empress BIRTHS beneath the sun IV. The Emperor RULES the four as one V. The Pope BLESSES the narrow way

VI. The Lovers TEMPT by night and day VII. The Chariot CONQUERS with iron mind VIII. The Balance WEIGHS and pays in kind IX. The Hermit LIGHTS the right-hand path.

X. The Wheel TURNS, the gods laugh XI. The Strength of FAITH shuts savage jaws

XII. The Martyr BOWS to hell's laws XIII. The Reaper FREES the souls from earth.

XIV. The Alchemist BLENDS and finds true worth XV. The Beast TESTS with earthly blow XVI. The Tower FALLS if built for show

XVII. The Star gives HOPE of things to come XVIII. The Moon WARNS of the dangerous sea

XIX. The Sun WARMS the world with fire XX. The Trumpet WAKES the sleeping boy XXI. The World COMBINES the all in one

XXII. The Dead CONQUERS the eternal foe 0. The Fool's ROAD ends where it's begun

Appendix Four: The Cast Members Città di Morte comes with four pre-generated Cast Members, for use when the scenario

is run at a convention. The Cast Members are: • Melissa Hardcastle - Gifted Wicce Survivor. Age: 27. Birthplace: London,

England. Occupation: Geologist. • Samantha Norton - Lesser Gifted Wicce Student. Age: 21. Birthplace: Oxford,

England. Occupation: Student. • James McDonnell - Gifted Twilight Order Wanderer. Age: 30. Birthplace:

Aberdeen, Scotland. Occupation: Computer Consultant. • Darius Bendzerak - Lesser Gifted Cabal of Psyche Warrior. Age: 28. Birthplace:

Melbourne, Australia. Occupation: Bodyguard.

Melissa Hardcastle

Age: 27 Birthplace: London, England Occupation: Geologist Height: 5’ 7” Weight: 156 lbs Covenant: Wicce

The World of Witchcraft By John Buczek

Welcome to the world of CJ Carella's WitchCraft Role-Playing Game. It is a world very like our own but with a much darker side. The monsters and horrors that fill our legends and "fairy tales" walk the earth, hunting and using us for their own purposes. The spirits and vampyres, demons and angels, shapeshifters and things unimagined, all move through our world just as they have since time immemorial. And we have helped them remain hidden for we no longer believe in the unseen. Long ago our ancestors prayed to their gods for safety and life. They used magic for rituals and charms to bring them luck and to protect them from the creatures of the night. Today technology and science have replaced magic and faith as the tools we use to protect ourselves from the dangers of the world. The horrors of the night still walk, but we no longer believe in them. They are free to do with us as they will. Of course you don't need to be a supernatural force to create mayhem. Humanity also creates monsters of its own. There has never been a shortage of regular men and women, Mundanes, that are willing to sacrifice their humanity for profit or chaos or power. But we are not powerless. The dark and evil are not the only unseen forces that remain in our world. The noble and divine exist here as well. There are those among us who have not forgotten that the horrors are real. Some still have the ability to draw upon the Essence of creation to fight back for the side of Order and Light. These are the men and women that you will play in this game, those chosen by fate or decision to walk the thin line between the darkness and the light. They are known as the Gifted for they have re-discovered the power and ability to fight back using the magic and gods that have never really left us. Some use magic to bend the world to fit their will. Some use the powers of the mind to see and know and do things to carry them through both the small battles and the coming war. Even among the Mundane there are those who have seen the truth and chosen to give themselves to the fight. There are many different groups of Gifted and Mundane fighting the good fight together. They are known as Covenants. Each has different strengths and weaknesses as well as different beliefs. Some follow the One God. Some strive for a balance with nature. Others view their Gifts as a means to force the world into Order. Often the Covenants do not agree or get along, but they all know that the War needs as many soldiers as it can get. Be they witch or psychic or faithful they all fight on the side of Light. And those soldiers are badly needed in this time of crisis. The one thing that all the Gifted agree on is that there is a Reckoning coming. The cycle of the ages is coming to a climax and the Gifted may be the only thing standing between our world and its destruction. Those on the side of Darkness know this as well. Some are hastening its coming. Some are trying to carve out as large piece of the world as they can before it arrives. Others have reasons and agendas beyond our ability to comprehend. Welcome to the world of WitchCraft. It is not an easy or entirely pleasant world to live in, much like our own. The fight against the forces of Darkness is a noble one, however. With luck and perseverance your characters may be the ones to tip the balance and help to save the future of our world.

History and Description You were born Melissa Caitlin Hardcastle on the 14th December 1975 to David and Sandra Hardcastle, of 13 Elsborough Avenue, London SW8. An only child, the early years of your life were spent in an idyllic childhood. The accident changed that. At the age of seven, you and your family were travelling back one night from the cinema when your father lost control of the wheel of the car, and crashed into another car coming the opposite way. The resulting smash turned into an inferno, from which you and you alone managed to escape. You can still hear the screams of your parents in your dreams as they were burnt alive, unable to escape from the flaming wreckage... This ordeal scarred you for life. You developed an intense phobia of fire, and feel deeply guilty for surviving where others did not. A couple of years after the accident, you manifested the Gift, and this opened up a whole New World for you. You found about the Wicce, who took you in and showed you how to use your powers for the benefit of all. But it brought it’s own share of problems as well as benefits. For every benefit your powers bestowed upon you, there seemed to be a drawback. For a long time, you cut yourself off from the outside world, only having contact with your foster parents. Despite this, you did reasonably well at school, well enough to have gone to Oxford University. There you found your true interest - rocks. The few friends you have look funny at you when you tell them about the fascinating world of rocks. Personality and Psychoanalysis: • Artistic - you have a talent in producing modern sculpture. • Emotional Problems (Fear of Rejection) - you have difficulty making friends in case they reject you when they

find out that you are not exactly “Miss Sociable”. • Recurring Nightmares - you often have nightmares of and flashbacks to the accident that orphaned you. • Humourless - you don’t see point in jokes, after what you’ve been through. • Phobia (Fire) - you are deathly afraid of fire. Is it any wonder? That’s why you learned Water Magic. • Cruel - whilst you would never harm the few friends you have, your enemies might be a different matter. • Loyal - the few friends you do have - you are incredibly loyal to them. Equipment: Wet Weather Clothing Rucksack with Camera, Paperback Books Purse/Handbag Mobile Phone The Others: • Samantha Norton – Samantha is a member of the same Wicce covenant as you. A typical student really –

penniless and always drinking. You are concerned about her drinking however – she shows signs of being an alcoholic. This is already affecting her judgement as she has a noticeable tendency to be reckless and get involved in things that don’t affect her. Her band though is promising, even though you can’t stand the music they play.

• James McDonnell – James is a kind fellow who has been unfairly afflicted throughout his life. He carries his burden with good grace and some humour however. You are currently helping him discover his magical side – you think he has a lot of promise in this area. For a Medium, he is a pleasant fellow.

• Darius Bendzerak – brash loud Australian friend of Samantha’s. For a Psychic he’s surprisingly restrained in the use of his powers.

Powers - Invocations Magic involves the channelling of Essence to affect the real world. Essence, a primordial element of reality, is the unifying link between matter and energy, life and spirit. By manipulating Essence, the sorcerer can make and unmake things, can release energy and effect matter, can cause wounds with a touch or heal the injured. The work the Magic, the Gifted must use Invocations – ritual actions and words that help focus the Magician’s will and imagination to produce the desired effects. Having the ability to manipulate Essence is not enough. The raw energies of Creation need focus, or their potential remains unrealised or, worse, produces effects at random. Invocations are the tools used to weave Essence into the desired shape. As the Magician learns his Art, he acquires a transcendental understanding of how Essence is used to Create specific things. One can think of Essence as a fine thread, a thread that can be used to weave anything. The pattern of the weave determines what the final result will be. Each Invocation helps the Magician to understand one specific pattern or matrix. To imprint that understanding in his memory, the Magician uses a "code" of words and signs that will, when properly spoken or gestured, "remind" him of the pattern he wishes to weave. So, the Elemental Fire Invocation is learned to weave Essence into fire shapes and forms. The amount of Essence available limits how large or destructive the fire is, but the same Invocation will serve to light a match or to turn a building into a blazing inferno; both effects are part and parcel of the same Invocation. Unless otherwise specified, most Invocations have an effective “range” equal to line-of-sight; if the Magician can see the target, he can affect it. In theory, one could cast an Invocation on a target over a mile away, but if the Magician cannot see the target, a –3 penalty is applied to all Tasks. Casting an Invocation through a remote viewing device, like a television camera, only works if the Magician knows exactly and intimately the location the device is showing. Even where possible, using an Invocation through such a device would be at a –4 penalty.

Blessing Essence can be used to alter probability, increasing the chances that one specific, beneficial outcome will take place. Blessings alter probability in favour of the subject of the Invocation, making the person luckier and more successful. The Essence spent on all Blessings must come from the Magician himself. Ambient Essence, Times and Places of Power, or other sources may not be used for this purpose. Furthermore, the Essence spent is not regained until the Blessing benefits end. For example, a Magician who gives himself or someone else a +5 Luck bonus has his own Essence Pool depleted by 15 points until the bonuses are used up. Good Luck: This effect gives the recipient Luck. A +1 bonus is an gained for every 3 Essence Points spent that may be used on any Task or Test. The bonuses may all be applied to one Task/Test, or may be split as desired among many such attempts. Once the Luck bonuses are spent, the effects of the Blessing stop. Success Blessing: This effect guarantees success in some small matter involving mundane affairs, such as a business ma deal, school examination or sporting event, provided the recipient had a chance to succeed anyway. This effect costs 5 Essence. Blessing of Protection: This effect protects the subject from Metaphysical harm. Each 4 Essence Points spent gives the subject a +1 bonus to resist one supernatural attack of any kind. This protection is activated whenever a hostile attack is taken against the recipient of the blessing. The protection is only good against one such attack; after helping defend against one attack, the protection ends. A Blessing of Protection can also be oriented against all forms of supernatural attack (including Magic, the Sight, Vampyre powers, and so on), at the cost of 6 Essence per +1 bonus.

Elemental Water This Invocation allows the caster to control water in all its forms, be it liquid, gaseous or frozen. It is often used to increase the chance of rain, although careless use of this powerful effect will produce droughts in other areas. Water Flow: A Magician may slow or speed up the flow of water. By spending 2 Essence Points per 1 gallon (5 liters) per minute, the character can halve or double the speed of water. This can cause pipes to burst. Create Fog: One Essence Point per cubic yard (meter) creates a thin mist that imposes a -1 penalty on Perception-based Tests or Tasks. Tripling that cost gives rise to a thick fog that blocks visibility to a couple of yards (meters) and makes most vision Perception Tests or Tasks nearly impossible. The fog forms during the time it takes to cast the

Invocation; with sufficient Essence Channeling, it happens in one Turn. The duration of the effect depends on local weather conditions (obviously no weather conditions exist inside most structures). Create Ice: A sorcerer can create 1 pound (half a kilogram) of ice for every Essence Point spent. If water is available, 2 pounds (1 kilogram) of ice are created per Essence Point spent. The ice can cause the ground to become slippery, seal doors by freezing them over, or anything the player's imagination can devise (except materializing inside a living being and similar abominations). Once created, the ice melts (or remain) depending on the ambient temperature; creating a lot of ice in an enclosed and well-insulated space effectively creates a refrigerator, for a while at least. Cause Rain: This effect causes rainfall over a small area. It costs 5 Essence Points for 1 minute of light rain over a radius of 3 yards (meters) for every level of Willpower and Intelligence combined. Increase the Essence Point cost by one for each additional 3 yards (meters) of radius. Add 4 Essence for hard rain or sleet, 6 Essence for light hail, or 10 Essence for heavy hail (enough to inflict D4 points of damage on unprotected humans every minute or so). If the day is sunny, double all costs. During a dry spell, in a desert, or similar area where rain is unlikely, triple all the costs. Like all weather effects, a separate Dismissal Task is required to restore weather patterns to their proper and natural conditions. Destroy Water: Eliminating 1 gallon (5 liters) of water in its natural state costs 2 Essence. Using this effect on a cor-poreal being inflicts D4 points of damage for every 2 Essence Points spent. The target must be in sight of the character, and he resists the Focus Task with a Willpower and Constitution Test. Armor does not protect against this attack.

Insight All the Gifted are sensitive to the supernatural, Magical activity, and other psychic phenomena. Insight allows the Magician to go even further and understand another being's true nature -- even uncover its deepest secrets. Perceive True Nature: This effect allows the sorcerer to see a person's true self. Humans subjected to this ability resist with their Intelligence and Willpower. If the Invocation works, the Magician gains a degree of understanding about the person's wants, fears and flaws. Basically, the Magician knows all of the character's mental Qualities and Drawbacks, as well as his main goals and fears. On supernatural creatures, this effect (also resisted by the creature's Intelligence and Willpower) reveals the being's species in addition to his goals and personality. This effect costs 6 Essence Points. An Essence Shield blocks this power. The Insight will show the presence and strength of the Shield, but nothing else. This power comes as an instant flash of knowledge, and must be cast on each person one wishes to "scan."

Lesser Healing This Invocation can restore minor wounds, reduce the severity of major wounds and cure minor diseases or maladies. It requires the Magician to lay hands on the wounded or sick person. During the Invocation, the Magician feels the pain and the ailment of the victim. Severe wounds and painful ailments require the Magician to pass a Simple Willpower Test to endure the second-hand pain and discomfort. If the Test is passed, the Magician can continue unimpeded. Otherwise, the Focus Task is at -5. If the first attempt does not com-pletely cure the wound or disease, any further attempts are at a -2 penalty on both the Focus and any Dismissal Tasks necessary (this only occurs when the Focus Task fails). A failed Dismissal Task means the Magician is affected by the wound or disease he attempted to cure! Heal Wounds: This restores 1 Life Point for every Essence Point spent. The victim loses 1 Endurance Point for each Life Point restored; this accounts for blood loss and the energy cost of the accelerated healing process. This effect will close cuts and puncture wounds, mend broken bones and even reattach any fresh body part (provided the Invocation heals the entire damage inflicted). It will not restore missing limbs or organs, especially long-gone ones. In other words, a severed finger can be grafted on if the finger is fresh and available; a ruined eye cannot be fixed. Lost Endurance Points can be restored, at the same Essence cost as Life Points. The subjects feel refreshed by the infusion of Essence. Obviously, this effect causes no drain of Endurance on the subject. Cure Disease: Only any minor, non-terminal disease can be cured - anything that can be treated with antibiotics or is no more severe than a cold or the flu. This costs 10 Essence Points.

Shielding

Most Magicians who put themselves in harm's way know this Invocation. Shielding weaves pure Essence around the Magician, protecting him from harm. Most Shields work only against hostile Essence effects; at great cost, Magicians can also weave Shields that protect against physical harm. A truly powerful Magician may be virtually bullet-proof thanks to Shielding. Further, Essence and Physical Shields can be combined; the Magician must pay the Essence cost for both. A Shield can be woven around another person, but at great Essence cost. To the Gifted, Shields may be seen with a Simple Perception Test. Their actual appearance is up to the casting character. Some Shields are simple spheres of light, while others appear like suits of armor, complex crystalline structures, organic-looking shells or exoskeletons. By spending more Essence, the Shielding can be made invisible, hiding its very existence. With such a Shield, a powerful Magician could pass himself off as a Mundane, fooling even the senses of other Gifted. In addition to protecting the victim from harm and perhaps sight, Shielding also hides the person's emotions and thoughts. The main drawback of Shields is that they must be "fed" by a continuous stream of Essence, which must come from the Magician's internal supplies (not ambient or from consecrated objects). This means that the energy used on a Shield cannot be used for anything else until the Shield is dispelled. The character can keep the Shield around himself indefinitely, until an outside force destroys or neutralises it, or until he switches it off with a second Focus Task. Essence Shield: This is the simplest Shield available; it blocks Essence-based attacks. For 3 Essence Points, the char-acter gets a Shield with a Protection Level of 10 plus the Success Levels of the Focus Task. Each additional point of Essence spent adds 1 to that Protection Level. Any hostile Magic, Seer Power, or other supernatural or Gifted power aimed at the protected character must have a Focus result higher than the Protection Level of the Shield, or the Metaphysical effect will not work at all. Only powers and effects that directly affect the target are resisted by the Shield. Attacks that drain Essence (like Soulfire, and the powers of some supernatural beings) can damage the Shield. Any such attack reduces the Shield's Protection Level by 1 for every 3 points of Essence : damage inflicted. In addition to this protection, the Essence Shield blocks any attempts to sense anything about the Magician (except that he is surrounded by a Shield). Physical Shield: Physical Shields deflect any attack that seeks to damage the subject directly (i.e., by wounding him). It works against bullets, punches and laser beams, somewhat like armor does. A Physical Shield can have an Armor Value and a Damage Capacity. The Armor Value subtracts from the damage inflicted by an attack. The Damage Capacity acts like a cushion, deflecting some of the energy of an attack but getting weaker with every attack it dissipates. In game terms, each Essence Point used in this effect gives the character either 1 point of Armor Value or 5 points of Damage Capacity. Any damaging attack that hits the Shielded character must first get through the Armor Value and then must exhaust the Damage Capacity of the Shield. Any remaining damage is applied normally. The maximum Armor Value possible is equal to the character's Invocation level times 10. There is no limit to the Damage Capacity of the Shield. All Physical Shields have a major drawback. They do not stop the effects of any movement or action taken by the Magician. The Magician can walk without bouncing off walls or people, and he can shoot or attack without interference from the Shield. However, the Magician could also run into a spike and impale himself, and the Shield would offer no protection. For the same reason, Shields are of no use against falling damage. Invisible Shield: Any type of Shield can be made invisible at the cost of 15 Essence. Nobody will be able to see or sense the Shield until it flares up to stop an attack. Sensory Invocations and abilities will sense neither the Shield nor any special powers of the character. Insistent mental probing may pierce the invisibility. This is a Resisted Task, pitting the character's Willpower and Shielding Invocation levels against the Gifted or supernatural entity's abilities or Invocations.

Soulfire Pure Essence can be used as a weapon. This Invocation allows the caster to fire bolts of pure Essence. To the mundane, the bolts are invisible; the Gifted see them as swirling streams of blue-white energy. Soulfire is extremely lethal when used against supernatural beings; against humans, it causes Essence loss, which may be dangerous. Like all destructive magicks, Soulfire attacks used maliciously require Dismissal Tasks, at the Chronicler's discretion. Soulfire Blast: Soulfire inflicts D6 x Essence Points of damage. Human beings struck by Soulfire lose 1 Essence Point for every 3 points of damage inflicted by the attack. Corporeal supernatural entities (like Vampyres and manifested spirits) take Life Point and Essence Point damage at the same time (the same amount of damage is applied to both pools). Immaterial spirits (like ghosts) lose Vital Essence. Soulfire can strike any target within line of sight. Mundanes cannot Dodge the attack, because the Soulfire is invisible; Gifted and supernatural beings can see Soulfire,

and may Dodge normally.

Symbols of Protection This Invocation imbues Essence into an amulet that can be used to protect against Magical or supernatural attacks, including other Gifted powers. The amulet must be hand-made by the Magician or Magicians imbuing it with Essence (unless the character is a competent craftsman or artist, the amulet will not look very nice). As long as the amulet is worn close to the skin, the character can use its protection. Each symbol or amulet created reduces the Magician's Essence Pool by 1 point until the amulet's Essence is depleted. This makes it difficult for Magicians to mass-produce symbols Protection Against Magic: The Essence stored in the symbol will oppose any hostile Magic used against the wielder. This works like any Essence-based defense. The Essence in the amulet can be brought forth instantly to block any Magical effect. Up to 5 Essence Points can be used in this way. The creation of this amulet costs 3 times the amount of Essence stored in it. Protection Against Supernatural: This amulet will help the wearer against any Gifted ability or supernatural power that can be resisted. The amulet, alas, will provide no protection against physical attacks. This effect costs 3 Essence Points per +1 bonus on Resisted Tasks or Tests against a particular type of being or power (such as Vampyres, or all mind control effects), or 6 Essence Points per +1 bonus on Resisted Tasks or Tests against any and all supernatural attacks. Every time the amulet is used, its strength is reduced by one (i.e., an amulet that originally conferred a +5 bonus against the supernatural is reduced to +4 after the first use, and so on, losing all power after 5 uses).

Samantha Norton

Age: 21 Birthplace: Oxford, England Occupation: Student Height: 5’ 9” Weight: 146 lbs Covenant: Wicce



History and Description You were born Samantha Helen Norton on the 1st February 1981 to George and Helen Norton, of 13 Cowley Avenue, Littlemore, Oxford. You have three brothers and sisters, During your early years, you always knew that you were different from them. You could tell things about people, things that only they knew. This got you into a lot of trouble when you were young, but you managed to survive with your dignity intact. Just. After leaving school, you went to Oxford University to study physics. This was a major achievement – you were the first one in your family to go to University. But there you found out that you are not alone – there are others blessed (or cursed) with your talents. There you found the Wicce, and they showed you how to use your powers. These came in handy one night last year when a fellow student sexually assaulted you. The third-degree burns he suffered taught him a lesson he will never forget. The police later told you that he was wanted for multiple rapes. You guess there is some justice in the Universe after all, for now he will never be able to walk properly again. Recently, you and some of your friends have formed a band “Children of the Night”, which plays Goth music in the style of Two Witches and London after Midnight. You are the lead singer. Personality and Psychoanalysis: • Artistic - you have a talent for painting. • Alcohol Addiction – you like drinking, even more than the usual student. • Reckless – you often wade into a situation without first thinking through the consequences. This happens more if

you have been drinking. • Covetous – you’re a poor student and you wonder why you have to live a life of poverty while other, richer

students can swan through University on the backs of their rich parents without incurring any debts at all. • Attractiveness – you are very attractive. Men are immediately attracted to you, a situation that although you find

somewhat flattering, has caused you problems in the past. • Photographic Memory - your eidetic memory is very, very useful for exams. Equipment: Wet Weather Clothing Rucksack with Physics Book Hip Flask containing Vodka Purse/Handbag Mobile Phone Pepper Spray The Others: • Melissa Hardcastle – Melissa is a member of the same Wicce Covenant as you. On the surface she is stand-offish

and humourless – this you can understand considering what she has been through. Underneath she has a heart of gold though. She does like rocks though – a passion which you can understand.

• James McDonnell – A friend of Melissa, James is a kind fellow who has been unfairly afflicted throughout his life. He carries his burden with good grace and some humour however. Unlike most Seers.

• Darius Bendzerak – your friend, and the bodyguard of one of your classmates, who is a rich girl from somewhere in the Middle East. Loud and brash, and definitely an all-action type, you think the others have accepted him. Terrible accent though.

Powers - Invocations Magic involves the channelling of Essence to affect the real world. Essence, a primordial element of reality, is the unifying link between matter and energy, life and spirit. By manipulating Essence, the sorcerer can make and unmake things, can release energy and effect matter, can cause wounds with a touch or heal the injured. The work the Magic, the Gifted must use Invocations – ritual actions and words that help focus the Magician’s will and imagination to produce the desired effects. Having the ability to manipulate Essence is not enough. The raw energies of Creation need focus, or their potential remains unrealised or, worse, produces effects at random. Invocations are the tools used to weave Essence into the desired shape. As the Magician learns his Art, he acquires a transcendental understanding of how Essence is used to Create specific things. One can think of Essence as a fine thread, a thread that can be used to weave anything. The pattern of the weave determines what the final result will be. Each Invocation helps the Magician to understand one specific pattern or matrix. To imprint that understanding in his memory, the Magician uses a "code" of words and signs that will, when properly spoken or gestured, "remind" him of the pattern he wishes to weave. So, the Elemental Fire Invocation is learned to weave Essence into fire shapes and forms. The amount of Essence available limits how large or destructive the fire is, but the same Invocation will serve to light a match or to turn a building into a blazing inferno; both effects are part and parcel of the same Invocation. Unless otherwise specified, most Invocations have an effective “range” equal to line-of-sight; if the Magician can see the target, he can affect it. In theory, one could cast an Invocation on a target over a mile away, but if the Magician cannot see the target, a –3 penalty is applied to all Tasks. Casting an Invocation through a remote viewing device, like a television camera, only works if the Magician knows exactly and intimately the location the device is showing. Even where possible, using an Invocation through such a device would be at a –4 penalty.

Blessing Essence can be used to alter probability, increasing the chances that one specific, beneficial outcome will take place. Blessings alter probability in favour of the subject of the Invocation, making the person luckier and more successful. The Essence spent on all Blessings must come from the Magician himself. Ambient Essence, Times and Places of Power, or other sources may not be used for this purpose. Furthermore, the Essence spent is not regained until the Blessing benefits end. For example, a Magician who gives himself or someone else a +5 Luck bonus has his own Essence Pool depleted by 15 points until the bonuses are used up. Good Luck: This effect gives the recipient Luck. A +1 bonus is an gained for every 3 Essence Points spent that may be used on any Task or Test. The bonuses may all be applied to one Task/Test, or may be split as desired among many such attempts. Once the Luck bonuses are spent, the effects of the Blessing stop. Success Blessing: This effect guarantees success in some small matter involving mundane affairs, such as a business ma deal, school examination or sporting event, provided the recipient had a chance to succeed anyway. This effect costs 5 Essence. Blessing of Protection: This effect protects the subject from Metaphysical harm. Each 4 Essence Points spent gives the subject a +1 bonus to resist one supernatural attack of any kind. This protection is activated whenever a hostile attack is taken against the recipient of the blessing. The protection is only good against one such attack; after helping defend against one attack, the protection ends. A Blessing of Protection can also be oriented against all forms of supernatural attack (including Magic, the Sight, Vampyre powers, and so on), at the cost of 6 Essence per +1 bonus.

Elemental Air One of the classic elements, Air or Wind is a powerful force. Most Elemental Air effects change wind direction and speed, but the Magician can also create air where none existed before. Creating and maintaining steady winds for long periods of time has been discovered to have severe effects on the weather. Even a relatively small wind, if not Dismissed, can trigger storms, tornadoes and worse hundreds of miles away. Most Magicians (especially the Wicce) are advised to always be careful about the use of wind and weather effects. Furthermore, all weather effects require a separate Dismissal Task or cause both Random Essence Effects and random weather patterns.

Stirring Air: Creating a brief stirring in the air (roughly equivalent to a low-powered electric fan) costs 1 Essence Point per Turn. Gust of Wind: This effect uses 1 Essence Point for every 5 miles per hour (8 kilometres per hour) of the wind gust. The wind only affects a small area -- about two to three yards (meters) in radius -- and will only last for a couple of seconds. Very strong winds (over 50 mph/80 kph) knock people over, throw objects around, and inflict D4 points of damage on people for every 10 mph of speed over 50 mph. The wind can be created within 10 yards (meters) per level of the Invocation. The wind gust will only travel some 10 feet (3 meters) per 10 mph (15 km) of base speed. Steady Wind: This creates a continual wind rather than a gust. This costs 2 Essence Points for every 2 mph (3 kph) of speed, plus 1 Essence Point for every minute the wind lasts, and 1 Essence for every 10 yards (meters) of width of the wind. Calm Wind: Changing the speed of a natural wind is possible. This has the same cost as the Steady Wind Effect, except that the modifier reduces the wind speed in the area affected. The effect will last a limited amount of time, but it would create an area of relative calmness around the character. Whirlwind: This costs 3 Essence Points for every yard (meter) of radius of the whirlwind, with a minimum of a 5-yard (meter) radius. The same cost must be paid every minute to maintain the effect. A tornado can lift objects of up to 30 pounds (15 kg) per yard (meter) of radius. It can be used to carry a person or passengers, but piloting it requires a Focus roll every minute if travelling in a straight line, or every Turn if attempting complex manoeuvres. A whirlwind or tornado obscures vision, breaks and tosses around objects, and can inflict damage on buildings, trees and other fixed structures. Damage is equal to D6 x 2 times the radius in yards (meters) of the twister. People and small objects take no direct damage from tornadoes, but are lifted up and eventually hurled away, taking damage from the fall. People picked up are lifted up to one half the tornado's width, rounded up, in yards (meters). Also, objects in the tornado are likely to hit victims nearby, inflicting half the normal damage of the tornado, as noted above. Cleanse and Create Air: With this effect, the Magician can transform pure Essence into normal air, and remove any impurities and poisons in a volume of air. He may avoid suffocation even if locked in a small airtight room. It costs 2 Essence Points to create enough air fur a person to breathe for a minute. The Magician can also neutralise the effects of smoke, poison gas and other hazards. By spending 1 Essence Point per Turn, the Magician can create a "bubble" of clean air around himself at a higher pressure than the surrounding area. This bubble allows the Magician to walk through areas filled with toxic gases without suffering ill effect. Additional targets could also be protected in this way, at the cost of 2 Essence per Turn per person. The Magician can either spend the Essence beforehand or maintain the Essence expenditure continuously, if his Essence Channelling is high enough. Lightning Bolt: The Magician can ionise a section of air, and channel a powerful electrical discharge that can shock people, destroy electronics, and start fires. The lightning bolt inflicts D6 points of damage per Essence Point spent. The Armor Value of metal armor is divided by 5 before applying it to these attacks. Furthermore, machines with electronic parts take double damage from the bolt. The base range of the effect is 20 yards (meters) times the Willpower of the caster. This can be extended at the cost of 1 Essence per extra 10 yards (meters).

Elemental Fire This powerful Invocation gives the Magician control over combustion and fire. Many Magicians favour Elemental Fire, for it is a powerful and lethal weapon. As a weapon, however, it is assuredly a two-edged sword, for it will just as happily consume the caster and his friends as it will his enemies. Failure to Dismiss a Fire Invocation almost always ends up with the caster feeling the agonies he inflicted on others. Many "fire Magicians" have nasty scars on their hands, bodies, and (sometimes) faces as a result of their dangerous games. Flicker: With this effect, a Magician can produce a weak light, or cause existing light to flicker. This costs 1 Essence Point per Turn. Fire Protection: A Magician may reduce the impact of fire, heat and flames on a subject. This can be a man-sized person or object, or smaller. Larger objects require double, triple or even more Essence, based on their size. Basically, anything larger than a person but smaller than a car would require double the Essence, and something larger triple the Essence. Anything larger than a small aircraft or a truck requires ten times the Essence! Reduce the damage imposed by one Multiplier level per Essence Point spent, for 1 Turn. Flame: This effect produces strong light, causes flammable objects to ignite, or creates a brief flame (equivalent to a cigarette lighter's flash). It costs 3 Essence Points per Turn. Extinguish Flame: A flame, fire or heat source may be extinguished for a cost of 3 Essence per 1-yard (meter) radius, plus 1 Essence per additional yard (meter) radius.

Striking Flames: The Magician can summon flames to strike down his foes. The flames can be manifested either as a jet or blast of flame originating from the Magician's hands, or as a rolling wave of fire starting at the Magician's feet, which is more expensive to maintain but difficult to avoid. This is a very destructive Invocation -- the flames readily ignite flammable substances and may spark deadly conflagrations. Careless or malicious use of this power requires a separate Dismissal Task, with an additional penalty. Rather than a Random Essence Effect, the caster suffers D6 points of damage times the total Essence spent on the Effect! It costs 1 Essence Point to create a jet or bolt of flame, inflicting D6 x 2 points of damage with a range of 10 yards (meters) per Willpower level of the caster. Additional Essence Points may be spent to increase the Damage Multiplier by 1 per point, or the range by 10 yards (meters) per point. A jet of flame can be Dodged. A wave of flame is 1 yard (meter) wide for every 4 additional Essence Points spent on it. Dodging a wave of flame incurs a penalty equal to the width of the wave in yards (meters).

Farsight This is the power to see into other places and to search areas by projecting a fraction of one's Essence beyond one's body. The principles of magic involved in Farsight are similar to those of Soul Projection but are more limited and do not require the Magician to relinquish control of his body. Failure to Dismiss the Invocation after a Focus Task failure often causes inconvenient visions and flashbacks that bother the Magician for D4(2) hours. Farsee: This ability allows the Magician to look into a distant area. Five Essence Points allow him to look into any area within range, but he must be aware of the general location of the area. The Magician decides the viewpoint of the vision, limited by the range (for example, the magician can select a bird's eye view, to look in a specific direction, and so on), but the viewpoint cannot be changed, unless the Invocation is recast. The base range is 100 yards (meters) for each point of the character's Perception Attribute. This can be raised to 1 mile (1.5 kilometres) times the Perception Attribute for another 5 Essence, and an additional 1 mile per Essence Point spent thereafter. The vision lasts for up to a 1 minute. Search Person: Using Perception instead of Willpower, this effect searches for a person in the area covered by the Invocation. The Magician must know the target, either personally or by contact with his Essence signature. The more powerful the person being searched for is, the easier it is, as his Essence acts like a beacon for those with the right senses. This effect costs 10 points to search for a Mundane, 5 points for a Gifted person with less than 30 Essence, and 2 points for a Gifted person with more than 30 Essence Points. If the person being sought has used Magic or other supernatural abilities during the past few hours, all Focus Tasks gain a +1 bonus for every 5 Essence Points used by the target. If the Gifted character is Shielded his Essence is hidden and he must be sought out like a Mundane. The base area has a radius of 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) per level of Perception. Each additional 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) costs 1 extra Essence Point.

Insight All the Gifted are sensitive to the supernatural, Magical activity, and other psychic phenomena. Insight allows the Magician to go even further and understand another being's true nature -- even uncover its deepest secrets. Perceive True Nature: This effect allows the sorcerer to see a person's true self. Humans subjected to this ability resist with their Intelligence and Willpower. If the Invocation works, the Magician gains a degree of understanding about the person's wants, fears and flaws. Basically, the Magician knows all of the character's mental Qualities and Drawbacks, as well as his main goals and fears. On supernatural creatures, this effect (also resisted by the creature's Intelligence and Willpower) reveals the being's species in addition to his goals and personality. This effect costs 6 Essence Points. An Essence Shield blocks this power. The Insight will show the presence and strength of the Shield, but nothing else. This power comes as an instant flash of knowledge, and must be cast on each person one wishes to "scan."

Shielding Most Magicians who put themselves in harm's way know this Invocation. Shielding weaves pure Essence around the Magician, protecting him from harm. Most Shields work only against hostile Essence effects; at great cost, Magicians can also weave Shields that protect against physical harm. A truly powerful Magician may be virtually bullet-proof thanks to Shielding. Further, Essence and Physical Shields can be combined; the Magician must pay the Essence cost for both. A Shield can be woven around another person, but at great Essence cost. To the Gifted, Shields may be seen with a Simple Perception Test. Their actual appearance is up to the casting character. Some Shields are simple spheres of light, while others appear like suits of armor, complex crystalline structures, organic-looking shells or exoskeletons. By spending more Essence, the Shielding can be made invisible,

hiding its very existence. With such a Shield, a powerful Magician could pass himself off as a Mundane, fooling even the senses of other Gifted. In addition to protecting the victim from harm and perhaps sight, Shielding also hides the person's emotions and thoughts. The main drawback of Shields is that they must be "fed" by a continuous stream of Essence, which must come from the Magician's internal supplies (not ambient or from consecrated objects). This means that the energy used on a Shield cannot be used for anything else until the Shield is dispelled. The character can keep the Shield around himself indefinitely, until an outside force destroys or neutralises it, or until he switches it off with a second Focus Task. Essence Shield: This is the simplest Shield available; it blocks Essence-based attacks. For 3 Essence Points, the char-acter gets a Shield with a Protection Level of 10 plus the Success Levels of the Focus Task. Each additional point of Essence spent adds 1 to that Protection Level. Any hostile Magic, Seer Power, or other supernatural or Gifted power aimed at the protected character must have a Focus result higher than the Protection Level of the Shield, or the Metaphysical effect will not work at all. Only powers and effects that directly affect the target are resisted by the Shield. Attacks that drain Essence (like Soulfire, and the powers of some supernatural beings) can damage the Shield. Any such attack reduces the Shield's Protection Level by 1 for every 3 points of Essence : damage inflicted. In addition to this protection, the Essence Shield blocks any attempts to sense anything about the Magician (except that he is surrounded by a Shield). Physical Shield: Physical Shields deflect any attack that seeks to damage the subject directly (i.e., by wounding him). It works against bullets, punches and laser beams, somewhat like armor does. A Physical Shield can have an Armor Value and a Damage Capacity. The Armor Value subtracts from the damage inflicted by an attack. The Damage Capacity acts like a cushion, deflecting some of the energy of an attack but getting weaker with every attack it dissipates. In game terms, each Essence Point used in this effect gives the character either 1 point of Armor Value or 5 points of Damage Capacity. Any damaging attack that hits the Shielded character must first get through the Armor Value and then must exhaust the Damage Capacity of the Shield. Any remaining damage is applied normally. The maximum Armor Value possible is equal to the character's Invocation level times 10. There is no limit to the Damage Capacity of the Shield. All Physical Shields have a major drawback. They do not stop the effects of any movement or action taken by the Magician. The Magician can walk without bouncing off walls or people, and he can shoot or attack without interference from the Shield. However, the Magician could also run into a spike and impale himself, and the Shield would offer no protection. For the same reason, Shields are of no use against falling damage. Invisible Shield: Any type of Shield can be made invisible at the cost of 15 Essence. Nobody will be able to see or sense the Shield until it flares up to stop an attack. Sensory Invocations and abilities will sense neither the Shield nor any special powers of the character. Insistent mental probing may pierce the invisibility. This is a Resisted Task, pitting the character's Willpower and Shielding Invocation levels against the Gifted or supernatural entity's abilities or Invocations.

Soulfire Pure Essence can be used as a weapon. This Invocation allows the caster to fire bolts of pure Essence. To the mundane, the bolts are invisible; the Gifted see them as swirling streams of blue-white energy. Soulfire is extremely lethal when used against supernatural beings; against humans, it causes Essence loss, which may be dangerous. Like all destructive magicks, Soulfire attacks used maliciously require Dismissal Tasks, at the Chronicler's discretion. Soulfire Blast: Soulfire inflicts D6 x Essence Points of damage. Human beings struck by Soulfire lose 1 Essence Point for every 3 points of damage inflicted by the attack. Corporeal supernatural entities (like Vampyres and manifested spirits) take Life Point and Essence Point damage at the same time (the same amount of damage is applied to both pools). Immaterial spirits (like ghosts) lose Vital Essence. Soulfire can strike any target within line of sight. Mundanes cannot Dodge the attack, because the Soulfire is invisible; Gifted and supernatural beings can see Soulfire, and may Dodge normally.

James McDonnell

Age: 30 Birthplace: Aberdeen, Scotland. Occupation: Computer Consultant Height: 6’3” Weight: 140 lbs Covenant: Twilight Order



History and Description You were born James Alexander McDonnell on the 17th March 1972 to Alain and Liz McDonnell, of 3 Glenfern Drive, Aberdeen. You have one sister. You were always a frail child, suffering from a multitude of illnesses and being kept indoors while other children were out in the streets playing football and enjoying themselves. To amuse you, your parents bought you a series of computers, and from these you developed your fascination with computers which you maintain to this very day and which provides you with a livelihood. At the edge of 16 your life nearly fell apart when you were diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. The cold weather of Scotland proved too much for you so you moved south to Oxford to catch the warmer weather. Despite this, your MS got worse, and so you started experimenting with various drugs, both illegal and legal, in an attempt to relieve your pain. This almost proved your undoing, as one bad batch of heroin and an argument with a local drug-dealer resulted in your near-death. During your lengthy stay in hospital, you had a near-death experience in which you discovered you could see the souls of Dead People all around you and you could communicate with them. This was a major revelation to you, as you had previously not believed in the paranormal one bit. After you recovered, you were contacted by one of those Dead People, and he guided you to a group of people who shared your power and abilities. From then you have not looked back, and although your MS is still troubling you, you have found a way to keep it under control. Personality and Psychoanalysis: • Obsession – You are obsessed with the laying the dead to rest – the Dead wandering this world is unnatural. • Honourable – You are honourable and straightforward and would never lie or cheat if you can help it. • Addiction (Marijuana) – not so much an addition as a necessary evil to treat your MS. • Adversary – the Drug Dealer still does not like you, and recently send someone around to rough you up – he

blames you for a decline in his traffic after word of your ordeal got out. The person he sent around has still got nightmares from seeing all those Dead people…

Equipment: Wet Weather Clothing Rucksack with Camera, Bag of Marijuana and Painkillers Walking Stick Laptop PC Mobile Phone Knife The Others: • Melissa Hardcastle – Melissa is a member of a local Wicce Covenant and has been helping you with some

magical training. On the surface she is stand-offish and humourless – this you can understand considering what she has been through. She is obsessed with rocks though.

• Samantha Norton - a member of the same Wicce covenant as Melissa. A typical student really – penniless and always drinking. You are concerned about her drinking however – she shows signs of being an alcoholic. This is already affecting her judgement as she has a noticeable tendency to be reckless and get involved in things which don’t affect her.

• Darius Bendzerak –a friend of Samantha’s, and some sort of bodyguard. Loud and brash, and definitely an all-action type. Terrible accent though. For a psychic he’s all right.

Powers - Necromancy Necromancy evokes visions of dark magic, the raising of the Dead for unspeakable purposes, and worse. In reality, for most of human history, Necromancy was merely a form of divination, involving communicating with the spirits of the dead to learn about the past, present or future. Necromancy is the power Mediums use to traffic with the spirits of the dead. Necromancy at its lowest levels is mostly used for information on the past, and to some degree about the future. More powerful Mediums can also control spirits, harm and even destroy them, and tap into their power. Popular mythology to the contrary, in the world of WitchCraft, Necromancy is not inherently evil, nor does it involve dealing with demonic forces. Like all other Gifted Powers, it can be used for good as well as for evil. Necromancy combines some elements of Magic with aspects of the Sight. At its root, it is an inborn power. One can either work Necromancy, or one cannot. At the same time, however, developing the Art requires learning and achieving a greater understanding of the forces of the cycle of life and death. The higher-level powers of Necromancy are enabled by Essence, which requires either Essence Channeling or the use of rituals and other mystical aids. Further, all the Sources of Power, and all things that benefit or hinder Essence in Magic also help or bother Necromancers. Unlike Magic, most Necromantic powers will only work on the spirits of the dead, not on elementals, nature spirits and the like. Unless specified otherwise, assume that a given Necromantic power only affects the dead.

Death Lordship Death Lordship is the power to manipulate the Essence of spirits. The Necromancer can use this power to either reward good deeds (by paying the Spirit with Essence Points) or force spirits to do his bidding. The character can force spirits to depart an area, or force them to perform simple actions. Higher power levels allow for greater control, as well as an ability to harm the Essence of a spirit, which may cause permanent destruction. Expel Spirit: The Medium can try to force a spirit to leave an Area. The spirit resists with a Simple Willpower Test. This ability costs 2 Essence Points per attempt. Non-human spirits (like Elementals or Fiends) may also be commanded, but the spirit gains a +2 bonus to resist, and the attempt costs 4 Essence Points.

Death Speech Death Speech is the basic power of the Necromancer, allowing him to communicate with and perceive the spirits of the dead, and to summon specific spirits from the Otherworlds to Earth. A spirit that is called may answer questions about his life and death, and can provide any knowledge he had in life. Spirits who have travelled to the Otherworlds are also able to see the future, or the most likely Glimpse the Dead: By spending 1 Essence Point and using a Perception and Necromancy Task, the Medium can see a spirit within the range of the power, and mentally "hear" what such a spirit says to him. The range is 10 yards (meters) for each level of his Willpower. The Glimpse lasts for 1 minute per Success Level in the Task. See the Dead: Although the Gift itself allows a character to sense the presence of a supernatural being like a spirit, Death Speech pinpoints the appearance and location of the spirit. Recall the Dead: The Necromancer can see spirits of the dead without needing to spend energy or make Perception Tasks, unless the spirit is trying to make itself invisible, in which case a Resisted Task (using the Medium's Perception and Necromancy versus the spirit's Willpower and Intelligence) is necessary. Command the Dead: The Medium can try to summon and communicate with the spirit of a recently dead person (no more than three days after his death). This costs 3 Essence Points. If the attempt is made in the presence of the body of the deceased, the Task has a bonus of +3; many spirits linger near the location of their bodies for some time after their deaths. The Task uses Willpower and Necromancy; if the spirit is unwilling, treat this as a Resisted Task, and the spirit uses its Willpower, doubled. Once summoned, the spirit can be asked questions. Most answer willingly; those who refuse may be forced, but this is only possible at higher levels. The Necromancer can summon the spirit of anybody who died within the previous month, at the cost of 5 Essence Points. If the spirit has not gone Beyond or reincarnated, the spirit may come. Also, the Necromancer can compel an answer from a spirit. This Resisted Task uses the Medium's Willpower and Death Speech level and the spirit's Willpower and Intelligence, and costs 6 Essence to perform. If the Medium wins, each Success Level guarantees one answer to one question. In all cases, the spirit only answers with either "Yes," "No," or "I don't know." Only simple questions will be answered; asking an improper question still counts as a question.

Death Vessel: By using this power, the Medium voluntarily surrenders his body and lets a spirit inhabit it. This sur-render is temporary, although there is always the risk that a malicious spirit may try to make it permanent and shove the Necromancer's soul into the Otherworlds. At low levels, this channeling leaves the Medium helpless and gives total control to the spirit. The possession typically only allows the spirit to speak and perform some minor actions. At higher levels, the Necromancer remains in control of his body, and can actually tap into the power of the dead, using the spirit's knowledge, skills and Attributes. Invite Spirit: The Medium temporarily surrenders control of his body and allows a spirit to inhabit it. The spirit can only stay in the Medium's body for 1 to 4 minutes, after which time it is forced to depart. During that time, the spirit can answer questions (as per Death Speech) and converse with other people. The Necromancer remains in a state of stasis during this process and retains no memory of the event. This Task uses Intelligence and Necromancy. This ability has no Essence cost.

Powers - Invocations Shielding Most Magicians who put themselves in harm's way know this Invocation. Shielding weaves pure Essence around the Magician, protecting him from harm. Most Shields work only against hostile Essence effects; at great cost, Magicians can also weave Shields that protect against physical harm. A truly powerful Magician may be virtually bullet-proof thanks to Shielding. Further, Essence and Physical Shields can be combined; the Magician must pay the Essence cost for both. A Shield can be woven around another person, but at great Essence cost. To the Gifted, Shields may be seen with a Simple Perception Test. Their actual appearance is up to the casting character. Some Shields are simple spheres of light, while others appear like suits of armor, complex crystalline structures, organic-looking shells or exoskeletons. By spending more Essence, the Shielding can be made invisible, hiding its very existence. With such a Shield, a powerful Magician could pass himself off as a Mundane, fooling even the senses of other Gifted. In addition to protecting the victim from harm and perhaps sight, Shielding also hides the person's emotions and thoughts. The main drawback of Shields is that they must be "fed" by a continuous stream of Essence, which must come from the Magician's internal supplies (not ambient or from consecrated objects). This means that the energy used on a Shield cannot be used for anything else until the Shield is dispelled. The character can keep the Shield around himself indefinitely, until an outside force destroys or neutralises it, or until he switches it off with a second Focus Task. Essence Shield: This is the simplest Shield available; it blocks Essence-based attacks. For 3 Essence Points, the char-acter gets a Shield with a Protection Level of 10 plus the Success Levels of the Focus Task. Each additional point of Essence spent adds 1 to that Protection Level. Any hostile Magic, Seer Power, or other supernatural or Gifted power aimed at the protected character must have a Focus result higher than the Protection Level of the Shield, or the Metaphysical effect will not work at all. Only powers and effects that directly affect the target are resisted by the Shield. Attacks that drain Essence (like Soulfire, and the powers of some supernatural beings) can damage the Shield. Any such attack reduces the Shield's Protection Level by 1 for every 3 points of Essence : damage inflicted. In addition to this protection, the Essence Shield blocks any attempts to sense anything about the Magician (except that he is surrounded by a Shield). Physical Shield: Physical Shields deflect any attack that seeks to damage the subject directly (i.e., by wounding him). It works against bullets, punches and laser beams, somewhat like armor does. A Physical Shield can have an Armor Value and a Damage Capacity. The Armor Value subtracts from the damage inflicted by an attack. The Damage Capacity acts like a cushion, deflecting some of the energy of an attack but getting weaker with every attack it dissipates. In game terms, each Essence Point used in this effect gives the character either 1 point of Armor Value or 5 points of Damage Capacity. Any damaging attack that hits the Shielded character must first get through the Armor Value and then must exhaust the Damage Capacity of the Shield. Any remaining damage is applied normally. The maximum Armor Value possible is equal to the character's Invocation level times 10. There is no limit to the Damage Capacity of the Shield. All Physical Shields have a major drawback. They do not stop the effects of any movement or action taken by the Magician. The Magician can walk without bouncing off walls or people, and he can shoot or attack without interference from the Shield. However, the Magician could also run into a spike and impale himself, and the Shield would offer no protection. For the same reason, Shields are of no use against falling damage.

Invisible Shield: Any type of Shield can be made invisible at the cost of 15 Essence. Nobody will be able to see or sense the Shield until it flares up to stop an attack. Sensory Invocations and abilities will sense neither the Shield nor any special powers of the character. Insistent mental probing may pierce the invisibility. This is a Resisted Task, pitting the character's Willpower and Shielding Invocation levels against the Gifted or supernatural entity's abilities or Invocations.

Soulfire Pure Essence can be used as a weapon. This Invocation allows the caster to fire bolts of pure Essence. To the mundane, the bolts are invisible; the Gifted see them as swirling streams of blue-white energy. Soulfire is extremely lethal when used against supernatural beings; against humans, it causes Essence loss, which may be dangerous. Like all destructive magicks, Soulfire attacks used maliciously require Dismissal Tasks, at the Chronicler's discretion. Soulfire Blast: Soulfire inflicts D6 x Essence Points of damage. Human beings struck by Soulfire lose 1 Essence Point for every 3 points of damage inflicted by the attack. Corporeal supernatural entities (like Vampyres and manifested spirits) take Life Point and Essence Point damage at the same time (the same amount of damage is applied to both pools). Immaterial spirits (like ghosts) lose Vital Essence. Soulfire can strike any target within line of sight. Mundanes cannot Dodge the attack, because the Soulfire is invisible; Gifted and supernatural beings can see Soulfire, and may Dodge normally.

Darius Bendzerak

Age: 28 Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia. Occupation: Bodyguard Height: 6’0” Weight: 192 lbs Covenant: Cabal of Psyche



History and Description You were born Darius Bendzerak on the 5th June 1974 to Lech and Helena Bendzerak, of 245 Gillespie Rd, Melbourne. You have two sisters. Since you can remember, you were always able to manipulate things by the power of thought alone – a talent you later found out was shared by certain others. In your childhood you were the epitome of the all-action Australian – good at any sport you chose to play. You were about to get a scholarship to Sydney University in Athletics when you were injured in a road accident. Although you recovered fully, it ruined any chance of you going into professional sport. So, looking for a new career, you found one in “personal protection services”. The biggest difficulty was learning how to handle weapons. But this training saved your life. One night in Adelaide, your “principal”, a Middle-Eastern Businessman, was attached by hired thugs (you still don’t know who they were hired by), but you single-handedly managed to fight them off and save the life of your “principal”. Your burgeoning psychic powers, up until that point nothing but a distraction, burst into full bloom that night and you now use them to aid you in your job. Never openly of course. Your employer, who is aware of your skills and powers, has sent you to protect his daughter, who is currently studying at Oxford University here in England. The Cabal over here in England accepted you straight off into their local branches, recognising your valuable skills. Personality and Psychoanalysis: • Show Off – You’re good at your job. Very good at it. So what harm is there in letting other people know this? • Honourable – You are honourable and straightforward and would never lie or cheat if you can help it. • Addiction (Nicotine) – ah, nicotine. Helps keep you going during a long-hard day on duty. You do not know

what you would do without it. • Emotional Problems – you do not let people get too close to you. You can’t afford to, in your job. • Nerves of Steel – you are not easily frightened at all. After all, you wouldn’t be a very good bodyguard now

would you? Equipment: Wet Weather Clothing Rucksack with Camera Mobile Phone Cigarettes & Lighter Palmtop PC The Others: • Melissa Hardcastle – Melissa is a friend of Samantha, and her senior in a local Wicce Covenant On the surface

she is stand-offish and humourless, but deep down she has a heart of gold. She is obsessed with rocks though. • Samantha Norton - a member of the same Wicce covenant as Melissa, and a classmate of your employer’s

daughter.. A typical student really – penniless and always drinking. You are concerned about her drinking however – she shows signs of being an alcoholic. This is already affecting her judgement as she has a noticeable tendency to be reckless and get involved in things which don’t affect her.

• James McDonnell – quiet Scotsman. It’s a shame about his MS – it does get him down. You can’t quite work out his fascination with dead people though. Guess that’s Mediums for you.

Powers – The Sight Since humankind gained the gift of self-awareness (and perhaps before then), some people have been blessed with senses and abilities beyond the physical. A select few have always been able to see into the minds of others, to catch glimpses of the past and future, and even to affect the world directly with no tools but their strength of will. These powers have long been known as "the Sight" or "the Second Sight," since many such abilities involve sensing or seeing things beyond the scope of the five senses. Science has also labelled those powers, calling them ESP (short for Extra-Sensory Perception), and psychic or psionic abilities. Of all the powers of the Gifted, the Sight is the most widely accepted by the general public. Its existence is no longer doubted among most people, although the scientific community still strongly denies it. Most people have not been exposed to these powers, however, and they are likely to react to such displays with fear or hatred. The Sight does not require rituals or Invocations, although some Seers have Magical training and can use both Arts. Unlike Magic, the Sight does not involve invoking outside forces to perform Tasks; the power is entirely internal. Also unlike Magic, mundanes cannot neutralize these abilities. Each Seer ability has two elements: Strength and Art. The Strength of the ability represents the raw power the psychic has. This governs how far away the Seer can reach others with his abilities, the amount of damage he can inflict, and how lasting the effects he creates are. The Art represents the degree of expertise a psychic has in using his abilities The Art of a power determines how skilled the Seer is at its manipulation.

Mindhands This is the power to move objects with the mind alone, often called telekinesis or psychokinesis by psychic researchers. A character with Mindhands can move objects, throw them and even manipulate them. A highly skilled psychic can play the piano at a distance, or use a typewriter without having to touch it physically. The most powerful psychics can casually toss cars around, crush objects and people with "invisible hands" and bring down houses. Fortunately, such powerhouses are rare, at least now. Using Mindhands: Moving an object in a relatively straight line uses Intelligence and the Mindhands Art. Any object within line of sight can be grabbed by Mindhands. The maximum weight that can be lifted and moved (slowly) is determined by the Strength of the power. In this case, the Strength of the power works just like the Strength attribute. To determine the speed of the object being moved, subtract the Strength level needed to lift the object from the total Mindhands Strength. Take the difference (rounded up) and multiply it by 10; that is the Speed of the object in miles per hour. Using the same method, the psychic can levitate himself. Tossing objects uses Dexterity and the Mindhands Art. Thrown objects can be dodged normally. Most small objects (hand-sized or smaller) inflict D4 x Mindhands Strength points of damage. Long distance throwing is subject to range penalties. Massive objects (which require a large Mindhands Strength level to throw around) do D6 to D12 points of damage multiplied by the Mindhands Strength level minus the Strength Level needed to lift the object in the first place. That is because very heavy objects, which require a great deal of power simply to lift, will not fly as fast, inflicting less damage. See the Mindhands Thrown Object Damage Table nearby for the damage inflicted by objects of a given weight, and the minimum Mindhands Strength needed to lift them. If the character's Mindhands Strength is below this number, the character may be able to lift and move the object around very slowly, but the object inflicts little or no damage. The Seer can also toss invisible "punches" by projecting hard streams of telekinetic energy. These blows use the Mindhands Art and Brawling to hit. Mundanes cannot see the blows coming, and cannot defend against them except by jumping around and hoping to make the psychic miss (their only defense becomes a Difficult Dexterity Test, and that only if they realize what is happening). Gifted characters can see the Essence in such attacks, and can Dodge or defend normally. Telekinetic punches inflict 1 point of damage per Mindhands Strength level. Object Weight Base Damage Less than 10 lbs (5 kg) D4 Up to 50 lbs (25 kg) D4+1 Up to 100 lbs (50 kg) D6 Up to 250 lbs (125 kg) D8

Mindsight Thought is an expression of Essence; basically "thought waves" are on the same wavelength as the flow of Essence.

This means that any Seer Power that works on the minds of others has similar effects on creatures and constructs of Essence, including Magical effects. Characters with Mindsight have the ability to see the thoughts of others; they can also see the normally invisible flows of Essence and spirit beings. Even 1 Strength level of Mindsight is enough for the character to see any spirit entity that comes within 10 yards (meters) of the character, unless the entity is trying to remain hidden (a Resisted Task using the Seer's Perception and Mindsight versus the spirit's Simple Willpower Test is needed in that case). Using Mindsight: The most common use of Mindsight is to peer into the minds of others. The target of the mind probe must be within range (which is determined by the Mindsight Strength of the psychic) and within line of sight of the Seer, unless previously contacted. This Task uses the Seer's Perception and Mindsight Art level. The Success Levels of the Task determine how deep the psychic sees into the target's mind. Mundanes who pass a Difficult Perception Test can sense something strange, a feeling of being watched or a disturbance at the back of their minds, but unless they are experienced and knowledgeable in the area of psychic phenomena, they will not know exactly what is happening. Gifted characters may resist the intrusion in a number of ways. In such a case, this would be treated as a Resisted Task, with the Gifted using their own Seer Powers, Magic or other abilities to fight off the mind probe. Most of the time, Mindsight produces short-lived flashes of information. A successful attempt reveals images and words from the subject's mind. Prolonged contact can be attempted, but it is fatiguing and difficult. To maintain mind-to-mind contact, the Seer must succeed at a new Willpower and Mindsight Art Task. Each Success Level allows for 1 minute of constant supervision. Each minute of mind contact drains the Seer of D4 endurance points, and requires a great deal of concentration. Should the Seer be attacked or distracted, the contact will be lost. During that time, the psychic can peruse the target’s thoughts and memories at will. Mindsight Defences: Characters with Mindsight can try to resist mental attacks. Any Magic, Seer Power or ability that controls, probes or influences the mind is resisted by using Willpower and the Mindsight Strength level. This works as a Resisted Task against whatever force is being used to attack the character. Specific Limitations: Can reach the mind of others, up to 1 yard (metre) for each level of Willpower plus Mindsight Strength. Can Sense Emotions and Surface Thoughts

Mindview This power allows the psychic to transcend the limits of the senses. Characters with Mindview can "see" things unimpeded by distance or barriers. Usually, these visions are triggered by intense emotions or releases of Essence. The psychic often sees crimes being committed, supernatural beings preying on helpless humans, and other disturbing events and incidents. Generally, these visions also have a purpose -- many times, the psychic is in a position to do something about the situation he sees. Gifted of a religious bent see Mindview as being messages from Gods or orders from Fate. The more cynical consider this to be a curse where the victim has two choices -get involved in dangerous and horrifying situations, or live with the terrible images of the things he allows to happen. Mindview can also be used actively by the character. These clairvoyant effects allow the psychic to see through walls or containers. The ability is thus very useful for spies and investigators -- provided they accept the terrible price for these powers. Using Mindview: All characters with Mindview are subject to random visions of danger and horror; Visions may alert the Cast Members to possible threats and enemies, and, if interpreted correctly, may provide valuable clues and information. Random Mindview flashes are also a burden, as the character is often plagued by visions of vicious crimes and disasters, and sometimes he may not be able to do anything to prevent them. Mindview Tasks use Perception and Mindview Art. There are two types of activities possible. The first, visions, are flashes of insight about ongoing events. Often, the character sees through the eyes of a victim or perpetrator, or from a worm or bird's eye view. Each vision works differently, but the point of view is often confusing, and most visions are short. Typically, the character will get multiple related visions each adding a little more information to the overall puzzle. The range of the visions is irrelevant; the vision could be of events occurring halfway across the world. Viewings are attempts to see past barriers or beyond the range of the normal sense of sight -- looking inside a safe, or a place the character has never seen but knows about. The range of viewings is based on the Strength of the power. Using Mindview Defensively: Characters with Mindview often get flashes of nearby danger or threats -- a sniper on a roof, a group of assassins waiting for the character to come out of a building, a speeding car just turning the corner. Specific Limitations:

Only brief glimpses of events are seen, equivalent to the blink of an eye. The range of a viewing is 1 yard (metre) per level of Perception plus Mindview Strength. ,

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