Fantasy Horrors of the Shadowy Unknown: Ship of Horrors Lore Thread

[Magnar]

The Endurance Main Deck

Technical Data

Length overall: 165 feet
Length on deck: 115 feet
Beam: 35 feet
Height of main mast: 130 feet
Sail area: 13,000 sq. feet
Catapults: 3
Heavy Ballistae: 10
Speed: 4 mph
Cargo: 150 tons
Armor Class: 15
Hit Points: 500
Officers: 6
Crew: 80

Main Deck

The numbers given here correspond to the areas on the map of the ship.

1. Bowsprit: The bowsprit is similar to a mast, except that it protrudes from the bow of the ship. It is 50 feet long and serves to strengthen and stabilize the ship as well as to anchor rigging.

2. Forward Catapult: The ships three catapults constitute its heavy artillery. When the ship was in military service, four more catapults stood on the deck, but Garvyn removed these when he converted the ship to cargo service. Each of the three catapults can be swiveled 90 degrees to the right and the left.

3. Forecastle Rail: This sturdy rail separates the forecastle from the main deck. It could be chopped apart by an axe or hatchet, but it is sturdy enough to support the weight of one man standing on it. It will not collapse if a character is thrown against it in a battle or storm.

4. Ladderways to Forecastle: These are short stairways with wide, shallow steps. The wood is painted and sprinkled with coarse sand to provide sure footing in wet weather.

5. Foremast: This mast is built from the trunks of several large trees and is encircled with iron bands. It is the shortest of the three masts at 90 feet tall. A small crow’s nest is positioned 50 feet up the mast.

6. Rigging: Fashioned of ropes ranging from one to three inches in diameter, the rigging can support the weight of several men. However, when climbing, the sailors distribute weight evenly on either side of a mast.

7. Rope Coils: These ropes range in diameter from one to five inches and in length from 50 to 200 feet. The coils are heavy and measure as much as three feet tall and four feet wide. The number of rope coils on deck varies according to which sails are in use.

8. Belaying Pins: These are thick wooden dowels on carved handles that fit into round holes below the rail. Ropes from rigging and the sails are wrapped around the pins to hold them in place.

9. Ladderway to Lower Deck: This is a narrow ladder with steep steps. It rises at approximately a 70 degree angle. The steps are painted and coated with sand like the steps leading to the forecastle. A wooden cap fits over the ladderwell to keep rain out of the lower deck. The cap can be removed for cargo loading.

10. Fire Buckets: These are large wooden buckets wrapped in leather. They hold approximately three gallons each. They are filled daily with seawater.

11. Mainmast: This mast is built of the trunks of many large oak trees. It is bound with iron circles. The mast is 130 feet tall and has two crow’s nest, one 60 feet from the deck and a second, smaller nest 85 feet off the deck.

12. Anchor Capstan: This great wooden cylinder is fitted with eight sturdy posts protruding parallel to the deck. Sailors work together to turn the capstan and raise the anchor. On the deck around the capstan, many wooden stakes are nailed flat to the deck. These provide footing on the smooth wood (important in wet weather).

13. Mizzenmast: This mast stands 120 feet tall. It is constructed like the other two masts on the Endurance, and it has one crow’s nest 55 feet off the deck.

14. Ladderway to Lower Deck: This ladder is identical to the other ladderway (area 9). Both ladder wells are capped by a wooden platform to keep rain out; a hatch can close off the well in foul weather.

15. Ladderways to Sterncastle: Identical to the ladderways leading to the forecastle (area 4).

16. Sterncastle Rail: Identical to the forecastle rail (area 3).

17. Ship’s Wheel: Typical of steering devices on ships, this oak wheel turns the rudder to control the ship. In rough seas, three men may be necessary to maintain control of the wheel.

18. Aft Catapults: Identical to the forward catapults.

19. Lockers: These lockers resemble enormous wooden trunks or chests. They are built right onto the deck and are not transportable. The lockers are held shut by enormous iron latches.

 

[Magnar]

Lower Deck

Lower Deck

1. Heavy Ballistae: These should each be manned by three crewmen and can be fired once every three rounds. If they are manned by fewer than three men, they fire more slowly: if two men handle a ballista, it can be fired once every four rounds; if manned by one gunner, it can be fired only once every six rounds.

2. Quivers: These large wooden cylinders are bolted to the deck. Each holds 25 ballista bolts.

3. Mess Hall: Long tables and benches fill this room. All furniture is bolted to the deck. The crew eats in shifts in order to accommodate all the men.

4. Galley: All cooking gear is stored here. An enormous wood-burning stove fills one end of the room. A stove-pipe exits the side of the ship.

5. Cabins: Experienced crew and those with seniority sleep in these small cabins. The cooks, carpenters, crack gunners, and others with important talents are among those inhabiting these quarters. The doors have latches but no locks.
These cabins consist of a stack of three bunks, barely three feet wide, running along the length of the cabin. The bunks are roughly six feet long. A narrow storage cavity is fitted beneath each mattress. Footlockers and sea chests fill the floors.

6. Guest Cabins: These are primarily for passengers, which the Endurance has ferried from time to time.

These cabins are fitted with a stack of three bunks, like the other cabins. They are also outfitted with a desk (bolted to the bulkhead) and three stools. Three small empty lockers line one wall, forming a bench.

7. Second Mate’s Cabin: This is outfitted exactly like the guest cabins.

8. Master Gunner’s Cabin: This is outfitted like the guest cabins, except that it has only two bunks.

9. First Mate’s Cabin: This is outfitted like the master gunner’s cabin.

10. Captain’s Cabin: This door is fitted with a sturdy lock and is the largest of all the cabins.

11. Ladderway to Main Deck: See the previous description of the main deck.

12. Hammocks: The greenest sailors bunk here. Hammocks are strung across the room, stacked two high, for a total of 22 bunks. Footlockers and chests line the walls of the room.

13. Ladderway to Cargo Deck: This ladderway is identical to those leading from the main deck to the lower deck.

 

[Magnar]

Cargo Deck

Cargo Deck

1. Sail, Line and Tool Storage: These compartments hold sails, ropes, tools, lamp oil, wicks, grappling hooks, fishing equipment, firewood and other gear. The doors are not locked.

2. Water Storage: Barrels of fresh water and rum are stored here. Any empty barrels are carried to the main deck during storms to catch rainwater. These doors are always locked; Grayn and the first and second mates have the keys.

3. Food Storage: These compartments are always locked. Grayn, the first and second mates and the cooks have the keys. Flour, oats, hardtack, dried meats, salt, onions, potatoes and other foods are stored here.

4. Ladderway to Lower Deck: This ladder is identical to the other ladders.

5. Open Storage: Large crates and cargo are kept here during shipping runs.

6. Secure Hold: Double wooden doors open into this storage space. Valuable cargo is carried here, and ordinary cargo is stored here if space is needed. Grayn and the first and second mates have the keys to this area.

7. Privies: Many sailors take care of their needs on deck, but the privies are necessary. Buckets must be carried to the main deck or a porthole to be emptied.

 

[Magnar]

The Dark Powers and Corruption:

Those who commit evil deeds are blessed and cursed by the Dark Powers: the enigmatic forces that hold sway over the land of the mists. When someone commits an evil or questionable act there is a random chance the Dark Powers are watching and will respond.

Whenever a character knowingly performs an evil deed there is a possibility that they will attract the attention of the Dark Powers and gain one level of corruption.

The Dark Powers are more likely to respond to deliberately evil actions, being less interested in unthinking or casual evil. Only truly evil acts call for a check: immoral, cowardly, or spiteful acts might not necessarily be evil and unworthy of a check.

Types of Corruption:

When a creature gains the Dark Powers attention through evil acts they become corrupted, gaining one level of corruption. Corruption can manifest in multiple different ways depending on the crimes of the creature. The type of crime determines the eventual benefits and curses that accompany the Dark Powers’ attention.

Crimes:

Evil acts can be loosely divided into one of four categories.

Betrayal. These are typically crimes against a person or organization. Betrayal results in social corruption. These include revealing deep secrets, perjury, character assassination, gaslighting, or selling-out an ally.

Blasphemy. These are crimes against a faith or a god. Committing blasphemy leads to spiritual corruption. Examples include violating a tenet, breaking an oath, grave robbing, defacing a holy item, and defiling a holy site.

Dark Magic. These are violations of the natural order. Practicing dark magic leads to mental corruption. Examples are laying a curse, raising the dead, allying with evil creatures, using dark rituals, creating the undead, or the use of an evil artifact.

Violence. These are crimes against a person. Acts of violence lead to physical corruption. Examples include bullying, extortion, assault, torture, and murder.

Mental Corruption:

Tainting of the mind is the result of dark magic. This is incurable mental deviation beyond mere madness.

The corrupted creature can gain an understanding of forbidden knowledge as the Dark Powers open the brain’s many locked doors. There is the possibility of a devious intelligence, unrestrained by morality and decency. Or the madness, could be all-consuming: the corrupted creature's mind is free but random, moving chaotically between ideas and possibilities without the grounding force of reality.

Physical Corruption:

Physical corruption alters the body. This type of corruption is obvious and apparent: there is little subtle about physical corruption.

Physical corruption can increases physical strength at the cost of agility or mental ability, changing the corrupted creature into a dim-witted brute. Alternatively, physical corruption can make a creature quick and agile, but frail. Agile corrupted creatures tend to be more impulsive, lacking caution and common sense.

Social Corruption:

Social corruption affects the personality and interpersonal abilities of the corrupted creature. While not obviously physically deformed, there might be some inhuman features and telltale traits that reveal their depravity.

The socially corrupt often excel at lies and deception, being preternaturally charming or always knowing the right thing to say. The corrupted might have unnatural abilities and powers that affect or influence others. Or the corrupted creature might be socially awkward and repulsive, repugnant to be around as their mannerisms betray their inhumanity.

Spiritual Corruption:

Repeated blasphemy results in the befouling of the soul. This is more than mere damnation -- but a total and almost infectious blackening of the spirit.

A creature with a corrupted spirit quickly forgets the difference between right and wrong. This immorality is paired with preternatural sight and wisdom. In contrast, a spiritually dead creature is dull and poorly motivated, yet relentless when pursuing their single-minded goal.

 

[Magnar]

Levels of Corruption:

Stages of Darkness

As a creature gains levels of corruption they advance through the stages of darkness. The curses and dark gifts bestowed upon the creature depend on their stage.

Level 0: Innocent
Level 1: Pure or Redeemed
Level 2: The Caress
Level 3: The Enticement
Level 4: The Invitation
Level 5: The Embrace
Level 6: The Descent

Innocent. This is a rare stage. They have never done anything to draw the Dark Powers attention. Often the creature has never been exposed to horror. Most adults lost their innocent not far into their adolescence.

Pure. The creature has never had a level of corruption bestowed upon them. However, they may have done something worthy of drawing the Dark Powers attention.

Redeemed. The character has had a level of corruption placed upon them but managed to atone for their sins, cleansing their soul. However, the creature will never be Pure again.

The Caress. The creature's soul is stained but they have not truly fallen to darkness, nor have they been overly cursed.

The Enticement. The Dark Powers have given the creature a significant reward for their actions along with an increased penalty.

The Invitation. The creature's gift increases as the Dark Powers offer a great boon, but the cost is much higher and apparent. A little piece of their humanity is lost.

The Embrace. Well on their way to true darkness, the creature is now much more than human, capable of inhuman feats. Sometimes this supernatural nature is apparent, but other times it is veiled. Regardless, a normal life is impossible for the creature's appetites or abilities are too monstrous.

The Descent. The creature is lost to darkness, as their soul is irrevocably tainted and they have become a member of the legion of the night.

 

[Magnar]

Dark Shadows

Some people become a hero despite an unnatural infliction, but some people become a hero because of one

Dark Shadows are small background curses chosen at character creation.

Dark Shadows are primarily a roleplaying tool to enhance your character.

Addict

You have a physical addiction to a substance such as alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, or opiates like laudanum or opium. You might be a regular user, a recovering addict, or casual user that has unknowingly become dependant on the drug.

Characteristics: You have an addictive personality and respond to stress and conflict by seeking pleasure, becoming depending on outside stimuli for relief. You have difficulty delaying gratification and may be impulsive or impatient. You might have low self-esteem or suffer from depression. Your addiction might also be a way of coping with uncomfortable feelings, such as crippling fear or impotency from being confronted by supernatural horrors.

When you are denied your drug, you become irritable and irrational, willing to do almost anything to end the physical and mental cravings. Use is often habitual, with little conscious thought needed.

Flaw: "Once is not enough. It will never be enough." No matter how much time passes, part of you will always desire your addiction and a single relapse is all that is needed to descend again into full addiction. Your cravings will always be worse during periods of stress or after times of failure.

Benefit: Accustomed to being intoxicated, if you are poisoned during the game you may remove that condition once, and once only. Additionally, you know unsavory people and possess some underworld contacts. Even if your particular vice is legal, you have crossed paths with unseemly characters and know how to get in touch with them.

Bitten

You have been savaged by the natural attacks of a supernatural creature such as a werebeast, vampire, or ghoul. Having recovered from any initial assault (and any related infection) the attack has left deeper scars than the ones that mar your flesh, tainting you with unnatural magic.

Characteristics: You experience heightened emotions and are prone to fits of passion and rage, especially when your territory or possessions are infringed upon. You feel uncomfortable when alone, preferring to be with others with whom you share a bond. Participating on a hunt inflames your blood, be it a rapid chase or slow stalking, and you have difficulty walking away from prey.

Flaw: "I long to hunt with my pack, to satiate my hunger." You desire to consume something based on the creature that infected you: raw meat, rotting flesh, or warm blood. This urge is not omnipresent and is easy to ignore when not confronted by the subject of your hunger. However, when the subject of your hunger is present you have difficulty focusing on anything else and might become distracted or irritable.

You also possess a kinship to those of your bloodline, especially the one who infected you. This does not extend to all creatures of the same type, only those of the same lineage. For example, if bitten by a wererat you do not have a kinship with all lycanthropes or even all wererats but only wererats of the same bloodline.

Benefit: By unleashing your inner beast your senses become heightened, increasing your vision, hearing, and sense of smell.

Cold One

An undead creature drained you of your life energy, almost killing you and turning you into an unliving monstrosity. Your assailant might have been a spectral undead, like a wraith or ghost, or a corporeal one, like a wight or vampire. Since the attack, you have regained your strength and vigor, but not your humanity and vitality: some ineffable part of your soul is absent.

Characteristics: You lack warmth, both physically and emotionally. Your body temperature is low and your skin is cool to the touch. While not entirely emotionless, you are lacking in joy and compassion and find happiness fleeting. Even your strong negative emotions, such and anger, as muted, as you lack the passion that fuels rage, jealousy, and hatred. But you are also calm and not easily frightened or unnerved.

Flaw: "I cannot hate but neither can I love. "

Without passion you have few hopes and little dreams, and there is the continued urge to succumb to your melancholy, to sink into inaction and surrender to crushing malaise. It is difficult to find the motivation to continue to fight against the darkness, both external and internal.

Benefit: It is near impossible to frighten you.

Additionally, animated undead such as zombies and skeletons pay you little attention.

Fugitive

You have earned the enmity of a powerful and formidable opponent who haunts their every action. Few heroes live for long without acquiring an enemy, but you have earned the attention a particularly potent and unforgiving foe. This enemy might be the ruler of a nation, a secret society, or even the law. Whomever they are, they will not forgive, and they will never forget.

Characteristics: You spend every waking minute wondering if your enemies are waiting nearby, ready to strike. You might hope to one day vanquish your pursuers, but that day is a long way off, and never seems any nearer. You can be suspicious and paranoid, and for good reason, having been betrayed in the past.

Flaw: "Trusting others leads to betrayal or disappointment." Survival is your primary drive. You do what you must to escape and survive. Your opponent has more resources and power than you, being virtually unassailable. Sometimes escape means sacrificing others as a distraction, or betraying others before they betray you.

Benefit: You have heightened abilities of perception, being constantly on the lookout. You might see objects or details that others might miss. You can also "read" people to a certain extent in conversation in order to divine hidden motives.

Gravesight

The spirits of people and events are visible to you as vague mist-like outlines. You can see both ghosts and the imprint left by strong emotions and dramatic events on a location. You are able to find places of ethereal resonance and witness events from decades past. This power is limited to sight and you have no special ability to hear or interact with ghosts.

Characteristics: You cannot turn off your sight and have witnessed many scenes of horror and tragedy, often without warning. At any time you might experience a vision of the past or encounter a ghost that does not wish to be disturbed. You are wary about entering new places, which might have witnessed uncountable horrors or be the home of several spirits. You are cautious and possibly a little nervous. You may also have grown detached, emotionally hardened after years of horror.

Flaw: "Having seen so much horror, I can be callous and unsympathetic." Knowing that at any time you might be subjected to visions without warning pushes you to withdraw, to isolate yourself in safe places where there was no death and unpleasant memories. There's also the danger of becoming emotionally dead and uncaring of the suffering of others.

Benefit: You can witness the ethereal resonance of a recent event. The event must have had some emotional significance and have occurred in your current location. Watching the ghostly reenactment might offer some clue as to what happened or provide new information regarding the past.

Haunted

The ghost of a loved one or family member follows you around, seldom leaving your side. You cannot see other spirits and no one else can see your ghost, but you can interact with the ghost as if it were a regular person.

Characteristics: You have likely been thought crazy for seeing and hearing someone who is not there. You have grown used to not being believed and have grown tired of trying to explain who you are talking to. You might have limited social skills from spending too much time talking with the dead, especially if you were isolated due to your perceived insanity. You might seem perpetually distracted, as if listening to multiple people at once or lost in thought.

Flaw: "I often forget the living, listening only to my spirit." Listening to the dead too much is also not healthy: ghosts do not have the same concerns as the living, and their advice cannot always be trusted. Your spirit may not be too concerned for your safety, possibly believing your death will release them or pushing you towards a goal they think will free them.

Benefit: You can consult with your spirit, learning otherwise unknowable knowledge.

Hollow

You are lacking a soul. You might have been born without a true soul or lost most of your soul as the result of a near death experience. As you lack a soul you cannot be resurrected by magic, and will not experience an afterlife.

Characteristics: You are prone to slips of morality ranging from antisocial to sociopathic. You are pragmatic, feeling little guilt for your misdeeds. With potentially no afterlife, you have fewer worries of final punishment but also no reward for a life well-lived. You might have the desire to make your actions count, or you might avoid danger to prolong the only life you have.

Flaw: "I am not burdened by guilt, shame, or remorse." With no worry of long-term consequences, there is the potential to forgo morality and the restrictions of polite society, to live hedonistically and consequence-free.

Benefit: You cannot be either charmed or stunned by creature attacks.

Lunatic

Your emotions are tied to the cycle of the moon. You grow increasingly excited and energetic during gibbous moons but become lethargic and depressive during waning moons. This lunacy might plague your bloodline, be the result of some trauma or illness, or have no understandable cause.

Characteristics: Your emotions are not your own, tied to a force beyond your control. You often feel impotent, not in control of yourself or your own life. You might go to extreme lengths to justify your free will and demonstrate your self-efficacy. You are also plagued by insomnia, leading you to distance yourself from the outside and the light of the moon, moving to windowless rooms lit by lamps and gaslight.

Flaw: "Not being fully in control, I take little responsibility for my actions." It is all too easy to surrender to the tides of emotion, riding them up and down with the moon. This is taking the path of least resistance, no longer fighting to contain your feelings and forfeiting all control of your emotions and letting your impulses and sudden desires drive your actions.

Benefit: During periods of where the moon is half full you can act quicker than others in a combat situation. Your strength and speed are both enhanced by the phase of the moon.

Possessed

You are the victim of fiendish or undead possession. The will of another entity imposes itself on you, pushing you to take actions that are not of your choosing. The other presence cannot yet take full control of your body, and you retain your free will and independence but it is a constant struggle. The entity cannot simply take command during a moment of weakness (such as when you are sleeping or injured): you must surrender control and give into its desires.

Characteristics: Waging a constant unceasing war for your soul, you are controlled and restrained, allowing yourself few indulgences and luxuries. Pleasures are few and fleeting, and you live an ascetic’s life, potentially bordering on monasticism. Because of the voices in your head or foreign urges, you often appear distracted or conflicted, unable to separate your emotions from those of the entity. You are prone to occasional outbursts or uncharacteristic behaviour as your restraint momentarily slips.

Flaw: "I cannot allow myself a single moment of weakness." You are directly tempted by the entity that shares your mind, as it whispers seductions to you, offering you power, riches, and pleasures of the flesh. At the same time you are constantly denying yourself luxuries common folk take for granted. You wonder if indulging just once would truly hurt.

Benefit: You can confer with your possessing spirit, learning some forbidden knowledge.

Redheaded

Having been touched by the fey, witchcraft, or other magical forces, you possess a minor magical talent. The superstitious believe you are the harbinger of ill-fortune, or made a pact with infernal forces. While not all redheads are touched by otherworldly forces - the majority simply have red hair - all those similarly "blessed" possess vibrant crimson locks.

Characteristics: Being met with suspicion and whispers, you have grown either withdrawn and shy or become defensive and defiant. You may be tired of being accused of witchcraft or evil deeds and grow angry and irate at the suggestion of impropriety. Or you may feel guilty and ashamed of your abilities, hiding them and your hair to the best of your ability. Either way, you seldom feel like you are seen for who you are and few people see you as an individual.

Flaw: "I see myself as others see me." Whether hiding your hair or overreacting to suspicion, there is a desire to define yourself solely by your hair, to let being touched by the otherworldly define who you are. You might decide it is easier to become the corrupt person many believe you to be, and ally with unnatural forces.

Benefit: You have a minor magical ability and can choose one of the below for use:

• Your voice booms up to three times as loud as normal for 1 minute.
• You cause flames to flicker, brighten, dim, or change color for 1 minute.
• You cause harmless tremors in the ground for 1 minute.
• You create a sound that originates from a point of your choice within range.
• You cause an unlocked door or window to fly open or slam shut.
• You alter the appearance of your eyes for 1 minute

Redeemed

After a lengthy inner struggle, you have escaped corruption. Your past misdeeds were so foul as to leave a physical or spiritual stain, which you have finally managed to erase. While you can never regain your innocence or purity of spirit, you are not longer mentally or spiritually tainted.

Characteristics: As you accepted blame for your past deeds, you are honest or responsible. You are not prone to denial or blaming others for your failings. However, you are wary of falling from grace again, overcompensating in your attempts to avoid sin, temptation, or prove your redemption. Because you succeeded where so many others have failed, you might be prideful and prone to egotism.

Flaw: "I look down on those who lack the strength to redeem themselves." Having given into sin once, there is always the possibility you will return to your evil ways. You also experience strong feelings of guilt and remorse for your past, potentially accepting blame for things beyond your control. Similarly, as you redeemed yourself, you might look down upon those unable to do the same, condemning or judging them for their perceived weakness.

Benefit: Having earned redemption once you are strong willed and refuse to give up or surrender.

Reincarnated

Caught in a choice of death and rebirth, this is not your first life and you have returned from the grave into a new body. You only dimly recall the events of your past life in a dream-like haze but occasionally you experience intense memories, feelings, and urges. It is also difficult for you to be resurrected by magic, as your soul is quickly reborn minutes after your death.

Characteristics: You seem more experienced than age would suggest: wise beyond years and possessing esoteric and varied knowledge. You likely appear book smart, having more historical and trivial knowledge rather than current events. You might be thoughtful and quiet, prone to silent reverie and introspection. You are also occasionally forgetful, calling people by the wrong name and referring to events long since past.

Flaw: "I'm more comfortable in days past than the present." The weight of ages tugs you to embrace elements of your past lives over the present: old friends might seem more familiar than current companions and old homes more comfortable. You experience an occasional loss of identity and sense of self. Past traumas, especially deaths, make you hesitant to do certain things or go certain places.

Benefit: Tapping into the knowledge of a past life, you can be considered proficient in a skill or tool that you would otherwise not be able to use for one minute.

Alternatively, you can choose to recall memories from a past life, potentially recalling some details of a person you have never met or place you have never been.

Second Sight

You have the ability to catch glimpses of the future, through visions, prophetic dreams, reading fortunes, or divining signs. You might rely on tools, such as bones or cards, or patterns found in tea leaves or chicken entrails.

Characteristics: Seeing events unfold in a nonlinear fashion, you can be erratic or mysterious: prone to non-sequiturs, cryptic statements, or even confusion over cause and effect. You might be distracted or have difficulty focusing on the moment, receiving images or impressions of different times or possible futures. You may also be fatalistic, having little belief in free will.

Flaw: "I find it difficult to believe my actions have meaning." There is the potential to abuse your visions and foreknowledge for personal reasons, selfishly using your gift to gain material comforts. Seeing inevitable future tragedies or failing to alter the future can lead to depression and pessimism, believing that you cannot alter destiny and people have no choice or real freedom

Benefit: You can take advantage of your foreknowledge to succeed at simple tasks.

Alternatively, you can use your gift to gain a brief vision of the future. This vision is cryptic and often veiled in metaphor, but useful when otherwise lacking direction.

 

[Magnar]

Greatest Fear:

In a gothic landscape, it is the characters greatest fear that defines who and what they are. Upon creating your character, I would like you to pick a greatest fear, either from the below or create one yourself. Of course, this being a gothic horror game, this greatest fear will certainly come into play.

The greatest fear characteristic is chosen at character creation, when determining your character's personality traits, ideal, bond, and flaw.

Your greatest fear is something that terrifies your character, and might drive them to inaction, cause them to act out of character, or send them fleeing in terror. In game terms, coming across this situation can go one of two ways. Either I will determine the effect of your greatest fear on you, or if you role play it sufficiently well enough, I will grant you a boon later on in the game. The choice is yours.

Your greatest fear might suggest some traumatic incident in your past, a personal demon you never overcame. Or your greatest fear might be something you worry about in the future.

1 Losing a loved one
2 Becoming seriously ill
3 Failing those I love
4 Being a helpless victim
5 Succumbing to temptation and becoming corrupted
6 Not achieving my dreams
7 Being abandoned by those close to me
8 Something moving inside my body
9 Becoming insane
10 Getting old and senile
11 Being poor or homeless
12 Getting trapped in a fire
13 Becoming lost in an unfamiliar place
14 Losing control of myself
15 Being covered in vermin (insects, rats, spiders)
16 Losing my reputation
17 Being paralyzed or not in control of my body
18 Trapped in tight spaces
19 Losing my faith
20 Being all alone in the dark

 

[Magnar]

Prologue: What Came Before

It was a fierce storm that hit the Endurance. They had been sailing for a number of days now on uncharted oceans. Over the last day or so, the crew had noticed a drop in the temperature. The wind carried with it now a frigid chill that caused the crew abovedecks to shiver from the cold. Strong waves battered the side of the ship, and the rain lashed down upon it mercilessly. On deck, the sailors worked tirelessly to keep water off the decks. The ships sails were lowered to half mast, both to guard against the wind, and also because the good ship Endurance had reached her destination.

A sudden flash of light illuminated the deck through the gloom. Standing at the forefront of the chaos, as the wind buffeted him, and rain lashed down, soaking him to the bone, Captain Garvyn held firm, hands on the wheel. Emerald coloured eyes regarded her crew without emotion. The corners of her mouth flickered upwards in a slight smile. Her left nostril was adorned with a piercing, and his white, ruffled shirt was soaked, damp cloth pressing against his skin in what was an unpleasant feeling.

The Captain let go of the wheel. Standing forth, he went down on the deck with all the experience and resolve that all his years of sailing the ocean allowed him to bring. As he stepped forwards, Captain Garvyn heard the mutters and sharp whispers echoing around each other. The crew as one stopped what they were doing and turned to regard her.

Captain Garvyn's smile took on a steely edge. She knew that there were murmurs of discontent amongst the crew. They did not agree with what she was doing. Mentally, Captain Garvyn discarded the malcontents. What they thought was of no matter. This was her ship, and her job. She would do it the best way that she knew how to do. Turning to a man standing at his side, she nodded his head.

"Brummett, bring me the bundle."

The ship's first mate, Brummett, was a handsome man whom, by his weather beaten features, was in his late thirties. His blond hair was bleached by the sun and was beginning to show a hint of grey. Deep green eyes usually sparkled out of his tanned face, however today they were dull, containing within them just a hint of resentment. Over his shoulder was a brown burlap bag. Kneeling, he placed the bundle on the floor next to the Captain.

***​

At that precise moment, far away, a black orb flickered into life. Pale, withered appendages touched the surface of the orb. Long fingers caressed it, ending in twisted, clawlike nails. The skin had a strange purplish tint to it.

The miasma within the orb cleared, showing the rain-swept decks of the Endurance within, and the scene even now unfolding on the ship. An ancient, gravelly voice whispered, "I see you......"

***​

Captain Garvyn picked up the bundle to the sound of muttered whispers. She could feel the anger directed at him. Facing the stern, she turned her neck to face the source of the malcontent directed towards her.

"I'm aware that some of you do not understand why we are doing what we are doing. You don't need to understand. Just know this, as your Captain, I would never do anything that would place this ship, or its crew in jeopardy. There are reasons why we are following this course of action. That is my judgement to make and my burden to bear. As your captain, I would ask each and every one of you to......"

She swallowed before continuing.

".......believe in me. I would never do anything to put any of you in danger."

Quickly, Captain Garvyn dropped the bundle overboard. There was a faint splash from the ocean below, masked somewhat by the wind and the storms.

"It is done."

The words were whispered. Noone other than herself could hear. And then Captain Garvyn, shaking her head almost imperceptibly, turned and walked away back to his cabin.

***​

The presence watched the events on the ship. They watched Captain Garvyn dump the bundle overboard. Withered, rotting features smiled coolly.

"It is done. Your fates are sealed. You belong to me now."

It waved its hand. The image vanished.

The good ship Endurance changed course that day. A course that would take her to darker lands than she could ever possibly imagine.