Monday, November 19, 2018

The Curse of the Watery Shroud

Here's another series of random tables to let you generate the outline for an adventure that was partly inspired by a drawing from Bryan Baugh.

THE CURSE OF THE WATERY SHROUD
The Whitehead family has been suffering under a curse since 1688 when the Angelina, the eldest daughter of Lord Elwyn Whitehead drowned mysteriously in water overflow tunnels beneath Castle Whitehead on what was both her 17th birthday and the celebration of her betrothal. Ever since then, if the eldest daughter of the Whitehead family has been unmarried on her 17th birthday, she has come to a tragic end by drowning.

This curse last asserted itself in the Spring of 1918, and it was ruled an accident. Now, just over 100 years later, another girl carrying the Whitehead family blood, Ashley Whitehead, has died in the waterlogged tunnels under Castle Whitehead. Is the curse real? And if so, what's behind it? Can the player characters solve the mystery and save a life... because Ashley's twin sister Emily has yet to fall victim to the curse!



OPTIONAL: HOW DOES THE PARTY GET INVOLVED? (Roll 1d6)
   1. They are friends of Emily.
   2. There were friends of Ashley.
   3. They are hired by the family to figure out what happened and save Emily.
   4. They are brought in by a contact in law enforcement.
   5. A contact in the paranormal investigation community asks the party to solve the mystery.
   6. One of the characters is a distant relative of the Whitehead family, and there have been mysterios deaths of teenaged girls in his family as well.


IS THE CURSE REAL? (Roll 1d6)
   1-3. Yes. Got to WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE CURSE
   4-6. No. Go to WHO KILLED ASHLEY


WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE CURSE? (Roll 1d6)
   1-2. Angelina committed suicide to avoid her forced nuptials. Ever since, her restless and bitter spirit is killing to stop other Whitehead girls from having the happiness she never did.
   3. Angelina was murdered by a jealous and jilted suitor whom she managed to kill even as he murdered her. His restless and evil spirit has been hunting and killing Whitehead girls ever since.
   4. Angelina hated the man she was being forced to marry. She conducted a dark ritual that called for a water demon, but instead of killing her would-be husband it killed her. And it's been claiming the lives of virginal Whitehead girls who don't marry young ever since.
   5- 6. Lord Elwyn made a deal with the Water Elemental Lord: He would be unaging until the life force of 333 girls of his line were claimed by creature as virgins on their 17th birthdays.

HOW CAN THE CURSE BE LIFTED? (Roll 1d6)
   1. A temple to the Water Elemental Lord at the center of the water-logged tunnels beneath Castle Whitehead must be destroyed, possibly collapsing the castle in the process.
   2. The water-logged tunnels underneath the castle must be excorsized of water elemental spirits, as well as the hate-filled ghost of Angelina (1-3), the man who murdered Angelina (4-6).
   3. Lord Elwynn Whitehead, who has been made unaging by the life force of each girl killed must be brought to the temple to the Water Elemental Lord under Castle Whitehead. Here, the angry ghosts of victims will destroy him and the curse will be lifted.
   4. The restless ghost of Angelina must be destroyed.
   5. The spirits of all the dead girls must be rescued from the grip of the Elemental Water Lord.
   6. Roll twice on this table, ignoring and rerolling results of 6. Both steps must be taken to lift the curse.

WHO KILLED ASHLEY? (Roll 1d6)
   1. Her secret boyfriend who got her pregnant and didn't want a scandal.
   2. A madwoman who believes she's the rightful heir to the Whitehead fortune if the twins are gone.
   3. A cultist who wanted to summon the legendary Water Elemental Lord and used her as a human sacrifice.
   4. Her psychopathic older brother wants to turn the castle into a "supernatural tourism" destination, and he murdered his sister to revive the legend of the Watery Shroud.
   5. Ashley isn't dead--Emily is. Ashley killed her sister and took her place.
   6. The butler did it. Ashley discovered he was replacing family art treasures with forgeries.

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