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Scene 3
As you prepare to continue your journey across the moor,
shrill manic laughter suddenly pierces the night from
somewhere off in the moor. McIntyre states that the winds
off the moor can play tricks on your ears. He tells you that
the sound you heard was a whippoorwill and nothing more.
He bids you all safe travels and shuts the door.
If the heroes continue on, or go to investigate the
laughter, the road quickly gets covered with a fog so thick
that visibility is reduced to less than 20 feet (3”) all around.
At around midnight the laughter can again be heard. As
the heroes travel along the road the laughter gets closer and
more manic, causing everyone great unease. The sound of
someone running will be heard shortly thereafter. Within
seconds of hearing the approaching footsteps, a figure
bursts into sight, his face and body bloodied. He croaks,
“Run! Save yourselves from the horror! Please just finish
me before you go,” before collapsing in a heap. The man
is dressed like a typical merchant although his clothing is
blood-soaked and his complexion is stark white. If Albert
tried to attack the characters in the previous scene and fled
into the moor, substitute him for the merchant.
The man is now unconscious and should be treated as
Bleeding Out (Savage Worlds rulebook, Knockout Blow
Table; treat him as having a Vigor of d6). Even if stabilized,
he will be incapable of answering any questions or thinking
rationally for quite some time.
Scene 4
The manic laughter is now getting closer and a cold wind
starts to blow, chilling you to the bone. Rasping sounds,
emanat ing from the fog, can now be heard and a faint glow
burns in the distance through the thick fog.
Suddenly, the manic laughter reaches a crescendo as a
creature not of this earth bursts thr ough the wall of f og! Its
pale, human-like form flies toward your group and its
burning red eyes chill your souls!
Deal initiative cards to the players. Before the first
person can act, each character must make a Fear check at
–2. If the check is failed, the character runs off into the
darkness in a random direction, as determined below.
If the hero’s initiative card is a face card, an ace, or a
Joker, he remains on the road and can attempt a second
Fear check. If this check is failed, he gains one level of
Fatigue and continues running.
On a numbered card, the hero has run off the road and
become ensnared in a quagmire. Make an immediate
Strength check. If the result of the check is greater than
the value of the initiative card (Jacks are 11, Queens are
12, etc.), there is no adverse effect; otherwise, he is stuck in
the quagmire! The hero will sink each round he remains
Shaken. It will take three rounds to sink beneath the
quagmire. Once beneath the quagmire, a character will
suffocate in a number of rounds equal to Vigor/2. Once
the character recovers from being Shaken he may try to
extract himself from the quagmire by making a successful
Strength check at –2. Any other non-sinking hero can aid
a sinking hero (if they can find them) adding +2 to the
sinking hero’s Strength check.
Any characters that do not flee are attacked by the
apparition! Weapons will pass right through the creature
(see NPCs and Creatures, below) and magical attacks do
only half their normal damage (round all fractions down).
Grappling is the only non-magical physical means by which
the characters can engage the creature.
Characters fighting the creature can feel it trying to rip
their souls apart—with nothing but pure hatred driving it
on. Make a secret Spirit test for each character who is
attacked. Any who pass will realize that they must deal with
the creature on its own terms—by engaging in a contest of
wills. Make opposed Spirit tests. The loser of the roll is
Shaken; with a raise, they also suffer a wound. Once a
character has been Incapacitated, the creature will no
longer attack them.
Every wound inflicted on the creature imparts a piece
of information to the heroes who are engaged in combat
with it:
• 1 wound: The creature was murdered on this
moor by someone it trusted. It is so enraged by the
fact that it can’t find its slayer that it attacks all
living humans it finds crossing the moor after
midnight.
• 2 wounds: The creature will continue murdering
all living people it comes across until justice is
done.
• 3 wounds: The creature’s name was Edmund
McIntyre. His brother, Albert, who had been
waylaying individuals traveling between towns,
murdered him. Albert buried their bodies in the
black moor and hid their goods under the
floorboards in his room. When Edmund found out,
he left to bring the law. Albert waylaid and
strangled him under a tree about a mile from the
house on the moor.
• 4+ wounds: The creature dissipates into mist. He
will reform the next night unless justice is done (see
below).
Scene 5
For “justice” to be done, the village folk must be made
aware of the crime committed and be convinced of Albert’s
guilt. This can be accomplished by revealing the murdered
wayfarers' items under the floorboards in his room. Then,
if Albert can be brought living to the tree where he
murdered his brother (a pathway where nothing grows leads
from the back of the house to the dead tree), he will break
down and confess everything. Laughter can then be heard
on the wind, coming closer.
If Albert is left tied to the tree, alive or dead, the ghost
of his brother will find him and be laid to rest as long as
Albert's crimes have become known to the village folk. If
Albert is alive, he will die of a heart attack when his
brother’s ghost finds him.
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