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The Vanishing Bordello of Long Meg

The grand and decadent bordello of  Long Meg appears and disappears every evening on the outskirts of small villages, large towns and occasionally in the center of the park of a great city. It nestles itself among the dunes of moonlit deserts and squats, with an inviting orange glow from the windows, in the darkness of fetid swamps. The Bordello is a welcome sight for a weary adventuring party, a place to stop and rest, relax and enjoy the mysterious pleasures of Long Meg and her offspring.

Those who enter her Bordello may not necessarily leave the same as they went it, if they leave at all.

The Impaled

The Prophet Luther was believed to be truly bound with God. When he spoke his golden voice would boom out with righteous vigour, telling of the paradise that awaited all who would lay aside their blasphemous ways and follow the good Lord.

Spreading the LotFP Bug

Here in sunny Milton Keynes today we had our first ever Sci-Fi Con, and +MK RPG were invited to run a few games, help spread the word that is tabletop roleplaying. I was asked to run a Lamentations game and I was only too happy to get stuck in. The only rub was that we had to keep our sessions to two hour slots, so I was looking for something to run that could really emphasise the simple rules coupled with the great themes. I ended up going for Tales of the Scarecrow with my Bulging Baby Filled Beauty mashed in (thanks to +Rich August for the suggestion!).

I ended up with three players new to LotFP (though two of the three were active roleplayers). The hook was simple: local eccentric had gone to London for the auctions several weeks previously and not yet returned with his group. The players were sent to investigate, and had found this suspicious farmhouse surrounded by a corn field in full growth despite the time of year.

Curse of Little Miss Flibbertigibbet

Rhyme of Little Miss Flibbertigibbet

"Poor, little Miss Flibbertigibbet,
All she did was rave and ribbet,
Til the day she spoke no more,
Her head went rollin' along the floor!

Tired of all the jib and jabber,
A lady cried and went to stab 'er,
A mighty slash, an arc of blade,
a headless corpse, the girl was made,

Then in the aftermath the head
Did speak as if it were not dead,
And Miss Flibbertigibbet hexed,
Whoever found her poor head next,

To gabber and jabber and scream and shout
without a sensible word about."

Burial Practices for Roleplaying Villages

Every NPC village needs a grim burial practice to freak out your players. This can be fun if your players are involved in the burial rites in some way; perhaps they need to do so to win the hearts of a suspicious town, or they need to take part because they killed the person being buried, or perhaps the selected Burial Practice is part of your characters culture. Whatever the reason, these should add a little bit of flavor to a role playing game.

D8 Table of Burial Practices for Roleplaying Villages.

1. The corpse must be buried in a mirrored box. The mirrors must line the inside and the outside. The belief is that the soul passes through the mirror into the afterlife. The mirrors on the outside prevent lost souls from entering the corpse. The glimpses in the corners of your eye are the shadows of the souls who have failed to pass through the reflection. If you stare into a mirror, your face might change or you might see movement, and that is when you have seen true reflection of the afterlife. Souls that aren't buried in a mirrored box are doomed to wander the earth. Some believe you can catch a soul in a mirrored jar and return it to the other world, but that is just silly, isn't it?
2. The killer or close family member of a corpse must lie in bed with the body from dusk until dawn First the corpse must be washed with lavender oils and then wrapped in silks. The Sleeper must comfort the corpse to help the soul rest with a familial embrace and comforting words until dawn. This is usually terribly uncomfortable for the Sleeper as the corpses eyes must not be closed or else their soul will be trapped forever.  The corpse is then buried in a coffin with the living Sleeper. The sleeper is usually not told about this, convinced they are going on a journey with the cadaver to ensure its safe burial. The elite of the town keep this a closely guarded.
3. The body is embalmed and then stuffed into the position of their occupation or role in life. If they were a potter, they will be stuffed and positioned at a potters wheel. If they were a parent, they might be holding a wrapped bundle. If the corpse was a prostitute, they will be in a position they were best known for. If they were a Soldier, they will be in a position of battle and so on and so forth. These corpses are then displayed in large underground tomb which also acts as a morbid museum. Some say that the corpses reanimate during the night and any left in the tomb will be adopted into the macabre display, usually during this time the tomb is sealed.  If a King or Queen dies with no heir, elected or through blood, then a long, slow process of embalming their entire court begins usually carried out by the military.
4. The corpse is roasted during a full days festivities in the town center. Music, dancing and a myriad of hot, succulent meals are enjoyed by all. Usually, if the death is not sudden, the deceased will have planned how they would like to be roasted and with what accompanying vegetables and paired alcohol. At the end of the day when dusk falls, the townspeople and villagers will dine on the corpse of the deceased. If the deceased is diseased, they will be dried and then crushed into a light powder to be sprinkled on a cocktail shot known as "The Shot In the Dark". It has a 1 in 4 chance of giving you one of the below sicknesses:

i. The Black Plague

ii. Dysentery

iii. Smallpox

iv. Rabies

v. Malaria

vi. Instant Death

5. The body is carried around either by the family or the individual who caused the death. If there are no family members and the death was natural, then a lottery will be taken to determine the "carer" of the corpse. The corpse is treated like a member of that persons family. They must carry it with them, feed it, clothe it, bathe it and act as if it is a real, living person for 1D20 months. If it loses a limb it must be stitched back on. If the limb is not replaceable then a crafted limb or head will need to be made for the corpse. This is just in case, on the off chance, the corpse is reanimated or decides to "wake up from its eternal slumber". If the corpse remains dead, as it usually does, then it is burned and spread over the space where it expired.
6.The villagers believe that the only way to truly reach the heavens is to have a "burial in the sky". The way this is achieved is the body is fired in a blessed trebuchet aimed at the sky. This is usually done when the sky is cloudy or even better, when it is foggy. To ensure the body reaches the "heavens" safely, the body must be strapped to a member of the town, or some brave adventurers, willing to take on the role of "Sky Guardian". The Guardian is dressed in a hide suit with "winged arms" and fired violently into the sky. Surprisingly, these Guardians never return to the village. The belief is that they are taken into the heavens as a reward for guarding the corpses journey to the clouds.
7. The corpse is turned into armour by a "Skinsmith" and worn a soldier who makes the best case to the corpses family or, if the deceased had no family, a group of town officials. The winner of the debate, showing the most respect and care for the deceased, will win the armour. The debates can last a while. If the corpse is a Fighter, the wearer of the Human Armour will gain a 1D4 bonus to their AC or Strength (your choice). If the corpse is a Specialist, they will gain 1D4 points to spend in their skills. If the corpse is a Magic User, the wearer will gain 1D4 spells (only one spell can be prepared a day) up to the wearers level. The armour does not last long and begins to decompose, losing its power, after 1D6 days when the soul is freed. A Skinsmith can repair the corpse with oils, and this will cause the armour to last a further 1D4 days. Skinsmiths in other locations are either rare or thought of in the same light as witches or necromancers.
8. The body is crushed into a thick, gooey jam, over several days, with clubs and knuckledusters by the townspeople. This is usually on an altar in the center of town. A guard rotation is set up to ensure that rats, wild dogs and birds do not devour the body whilst it is sufficiently pulped. The jam is then scooped into a metal box engraved with holy symbols. This carried by a Cleric or religious individual until the next full moon, then buried. Sometimes, it is said that the "jam" pulses in the night, letting off a faint red glow and if consumed the corpse jam will give the consumer vivid hallucinations of the past and future (it doesn't specify whose future). Opening the box and eating the remains is desecration and will condemn the soul. The carrier will need to make a Save Vs. Magic or Will save to resist the temptation of the Body Box. They will hear it whisper.

Images courtesy of wiki.commons 

Consequences of Leaving a Corpse

Consequences. You insult a robbed young woman you meet on the road?  Or do you help her? It will lead to a consequence later in the adventure. The woman  might turn out to be a dark sorceress who was testing you. Your kindness rewarded, your insults result in a curse.

The same should go for players leaving corpses lying around, desecrating a graveyard or wearing the heads of enemies on their shoulders in the hopes of gaining +1 Stamina.

Many cultures have burial rites. A corpse left without performing proper ceremonial funeral rites leads to disaster.

The Consequences of Leaving a Corpse Table

Apply this to all corpses or only a single cadaver of your choice.

Roll a D10, this will be the number of hours or days (your choice) it takes for the below effects to kick in.

Roll a D8 for the table below.

1. The body (or bodies) festers and becomes putrid. The restless soul reanimates the corpse. The soul driving the body is restless and vengeful; it has no hunger or thirst, it's a corpse, instead it only wishes to cause violence and chaos. The reanimated corpse functions differently depending on its decay. It may be a shambling ghoul or a day old body with unnatural strength. 
2. The player notices the corpse of their victim(s) slumped over tavern tables. They are dead, gaunt, staring. The corpse haunts from behind the bar, sprawled on the ground. The corpse stares in through their living room window. Eventually, they wake and find the corpse lying next to them in bed. The corpse follows them, from a distance at first and then they find it everywhere, all the time. It will follow them until it is properly laid to rest as per the victims custom.  You can make this a hindrance. If the players neglect the corpse (s) then they will begin to block doors during combat, or fall from great heights in order to cause harm to its victim.
3. The player decays at the same rate as the corpse(s). Their skin rots, their lips wear away from their gums and their eyes begin to shrivel in their head. It is a length process and a painful one. Each day the corpse is unburied then the player rots further until eventually they are nothing more than bone. The player rolls 1D4 each day and removes HP permanently from their HP pool. They also suffer 1D2 to their Charisma. 
4. The player inherits the memories and the personality traits of the victims they have left unburied. They are not being possessed or taken over, these are additional memories and traits on top of their pre-existing ones. They must make a Save VS Paralyze when one of these memories takes hold to avoid being temporarily incapacitated by the vision. If they fail, they cannot move for one minute. The personality trait is overwhelming; if the corpse is has an anxious personality, so will the player, to the point of it being a hindrance. A sarcastic personality will only ever be sarcastic, resulting in terrible results if a player is trying to have a decent conversation. 
5. The body becomes a Rib Walker. The body turns itself inside out. It cracks open from the back and the ribs straighten out and elongate into hooked legs. Skin and muscle stretch over the skin to form webbing between the bones. The head of the victim also splits open with the teeth shifting alone the now exposed flesh. The brain pulsates and the throat opens up with the tongue lolling out, drenched in saliva. The Rib Walker crawls at 2 x the speed of a human, but its bones are brittle and once its ribs are broken it cannot walk. The Rib Walker will actively hunt the person who killed it and they do not rest, day or night.
6. The bodies become portals for things to cross over from the dimensions of hell. Each body casts a Summon Spell. The demon erupts in an explosion of viscera from the bodies orifices. Use this link or have it summon a demon of your choice. 
7. Vengeful spirits haunt the character who killed or had a hand in killing them. The player must make a Save Vs Magic every time they go to sleep to avoid being possessed by the spirit. The spirit will then seek to commit suicide in the players body as quickly as possible, in the hopes of damning the players soul in the same way they have been. The possessions will stop when the victim is buried or a Dispel Magic is cast on the possessed player. 
8. The player experiences terrible nightmares and dreams at random times. They are haunted by the voices of those who have been killed. They are now unable to rest properly and recover health at half speed in comparison to others. After 1D10 days of leaving the bodies unburied, they no longer regain any health while resting and suffer permanent insomnia. If this continues for a further 1d10 days, their intelligence and wisdom quarters daily until they die.
   
   
   Rib Walker: HP/HD (Determined by type of corpse)  AC 12  DMG 1D6 ChargeCrushing Embrace: Once per day, the Rib Walker lunges, wrapping its ribcage around the player and crushing them for 2D6, The player can make a Dex save to avoid or a STR save to break free.

One of the only ways to negate these spells is to perform a burial for the body. Burials can be performed in a number of ways. The more morbid or disgusting the practice, the better. 

Artwork from  Wiki Commons. 

The Carnival

It's a working title. Last night we were two down for our usual World of the Lost game, so I decided instead to use the opportunity to play test a very loose scenario I'd been working on. I'm loathe to give too much away as the intention is to publish this one, but I'll post the introduction, along with a 'scene of the moment' - not the best scene, but a good stand alone one to share.

We ran it using +Chris McDowall's excellent Into the Odd, a light and easy rules system but one that worked so well with the scenario that I've decided to focus the scenario on being an ItO scenario. We had +Scott Dorward playing the town drunk and rat catcher, +Kathryn Jenkins as a sort of doctor role (complete with saw), and +Sarah Schiff as a whore and thief.

The Introduction

Moans of agony burbled into the night sky while the creatures of the woodland watched in silence at the procession crawling by. About twenty humans pulled themselves along the ground with a huge dome structure atop their backs; their legs had been chopped off at the knees and loosely bound, some leaving a trail of blood through the dirt as they hauled themselves forward.

Behind the group, several small caravans and wagons followed, also pulled by broken humans, their movements erratic. Atop the transport, kids laughed merrily and talked amongst themselves with barely a glance to the adults suffering ahead.

The carnival had come to town.

Scene of the Moment

Somehow, the kids were leaving the village and ending up in the carnival. Sarah ordered her dog (who she had a telepathic link with) to keep an eye on the kids while they explored the carnival at night. During the exploration, the dog told Sarah excitedly that it could see some of the kids leaving their homes, so Sarah ordered it to stop them.

A moment later, a yelp and a whimper sparked into Sarah's mind, and she could no longer telepathically speak to her mutt. The group rushed back towards the village to find two kids marching towards the direction of the carnival; both with blank expressions, but one covered in blood and holding bits of dog.

The group tried to stop the kids, but one stabbed Scott in the gut with a shiv, while the other beat Sarah with the bones of her own dog. Kat then shot both the kids as they marched onwards over her fallen comrades. The noise of course roused the villagers nearby as well as the folk in the carnival, causing the group to desperately try and hide the bodies of the children while they worked out what to do next.

Final Thoughts

First time running Into the Odd for me, and it was a delight. It's light, it's fast, but it still provides a good structure for resolution. The session itself went really well, and at the end we spent some time breaking it apart to find how to improve some of the scenes. I'm quite excited about this one, and look forward to getting it out to you all soon (hopefully with a better title).

The Gentle Art of Home Invasion (Part 2)

We were down our most combat-focused player, +Lucy Fricker, in this session. The expectation was that this would result in a less combat focused game, which only goes to show hilariously naive we can be at times. Read on for a tale of deception, slime monsters, and frozen fish in our World of the Lost/New LotFP Playtest Rules playtest.

Our last session had ended with the agreement to help a scholar from the palace; the group were to retrieve some sensitive documents from a local portuguese merchant, in exchange for information on the plateau.

After some blunders (one involving Audrey nearly being claimed as a slave), they found the merchants home. It's current staff level consisted of two guards and one elderly maid, with the rest of the house hold out. They managed to con their way inside by convincing the maid that they were distant family of the merchant, and that her master would be angry if she had turned them away.

Once inside (with Lexxi remaining outside, covering the rear exit), it all went wrong very quickly.

The group insisted on being allowed to clean up from the long travel, but the guard was reluctant to let large groups of people move around the house. He allowed Audrey the chance to use the sink in the servant's quarters, and guarded her, while the maid left to fetch some wine. During this brief moment, Sir Edmund slipped upstairs and sneaked past a guard to get to the third floor.

The maid returned and immediately called out for help when she realised that one of the guests had gone missing, her call turning to screams as the Reverend tried to restrain her. This prompted the guard from upstairs to come down, and the guard in the servant's quarter to drag a half naked Audrey back to the main hall.

A recreation of what happened.

Lexxi burst in at this point, entering behind one of the guards and immediately slashing at his throat with a dagger, dealing a healthy amount of damage. The guard returned the blow, nearly killing her outright, but she managed to finish the job on him (gutting his throat in a brutal tear).

Across the room, Reverend Wright shoved the struggling lady into the other guard before firing off his pistol (missing, sadly). Audrey decided this was the moment she was going to try casting one of her spells, "Maze", for the first time and it went delightfully wrong. She succeeded in teleporting the guard to an alternate reality for a few rounds but also managed to cast Summon, bringing into reality a Slime monster that rose up out of the ground, killed the maid then reanimated her to attack the group.

During this commotion, Sir Edmund managed to find the documents he needed (by smashing up a desk) along with a bag of 700sp. He returned to the carnage downstairs to see Wright and Audrey run into a side room while Lexxi stood frozen to the spot in surprise. He yelled for her to run, so she ran towards him, causing him to indicate that she should run away.

Once outside and regrouped, they headed back to the inn and tended to Lexxi's wounds. They learnt from looking at the documents that it appeared their scholar friend owed a large amount of money to the merchant for services rendered at "The Virgin Desert Flower".

The next morning they questioned the scholar, after returning the documents, and learnt more of the plateau and the silver offering. Sir Edmund was baffled however that he didn't understand the notion of magic and much to the surprise of everyone involved he proceeded to demonstrate by freezing the water in the ornamental pond. This caused the scholar to immediately call out to the guards.

Thoughts on the Playtest Rules

Combat just doesn't flow right. This whole "halve or double the armour depending on the weapon used" just adds an unnecessary complication to the combat, with the group unanimously agreeing that it was better the way it was before with different damage die depending on the weapon. I am not a fan, though I appreciate the attempt to try and make the combat more realistic.

The chance for spells to go wrong is delightful however. The scaling of spells kind of works but I need to tinker it a bit more; theres a fine balance for example in scaling down a high level spell to level 1 while still keeping it chaotic enough to reflect the lunacy of Summon.

The Party Killer by Kat and Sarah

We have a special surprise for you this time! A musical number performed by Fallen Guard Kathryn Jenkins and the very talented guitarist and Singer, +Sarah Schiff!

Two players in the song "discuss" the amazing ability one player has when it comes to wiping out the party.

Enjoy!

If you have trouble with the link please follow to youtube here...

Briar Rose - The End

This is the final installment of the FToaMG scenario Briar Rose designed for OSR games, specifically with Lamentations of the Flame Princess in mind, includes some graphic scenes.

If you would like to read Part 1 and Part 2 please click on the links below:

• Briar Rose - Part 1 - Click Here
• Briar Rose - Part 2 - Click Here

I would encourage you to come up with your own weird rooms where strange things are happening.

The Upstairs Hallway

Fairies usually avoid the upstairs and any fairy with the party will refuse to go up, stating "they know what is up there."

The upstairs hallway is plain and dusty. Servants and soldiers can be found sleeping here. Some have been half devoured by something, their corpses left to rot. This is the doing of the Creeping Nightmare. 

If the players are not quiet then the Creeping Nightmare will begin to follow them stealthily upon the ceiling. Roll its stealth, it will have a 3 out of 6 chance of sneaking up on the players. It will take some time for it to move from room to room as it is slow. Place the Creeping Nightmare in a random room of your choosing and have it move from there. The creeping nightmare will try to take on the form of the first player it sees. A mass of shields, swords, and rotting flesh and veins in the shape of a human.  If you would like it to be more of a challenge stat it as you please.  

The stairs lead up onto the hallway and directly in front of the stairs are three massive stained glass windows. These windows have changed since the queen had them installed.

1. The first window shows Uonaidh’s hunting party chasing young children and beautiful men and women through the woods. Once they are captured, they are shown to either be transformed into faeries and join the Bacchic fray, or they are handed to a dark figure with twisted horns and long groping fingers surrounded by great fires. Uonaidh is depicted with her deer hood, nude and dressed in a cloak of animals.
2. The second window depicts the queen hunting down faeries with the Knights of the Rose and hosting her ball only to be cursed by Uonaidh in her furs. They are tortured with hot needles and seem to be nailed to boards or crammed into hourglasses. There are a set of doors they faeries are not able to walk through and the image shows Uonaidh burning her hand when she tries to open it. 
3. The third window depicts Briar Rose entering the doors and rescuing Puck. It also shows her prick her finger and fall to sleep. The window then shows Uonaidh giving a baby to the devil at the end of the window and a continuous line of babies behind her held by faeries. 

If the players want to spend some time looking at these stained glass windows they will find that the images move slowly, acting out the scenes in a loop. 

The Balcony

These windows can be opened and lead out onto a grand balcony where several Moth Sprites are playing with the bodies of two collapsed lovers. They are arranging them into ridiculous poses. When the players enter, they are surprised and accidentally drop one of the lovers over the side of the balcony.

The Moth Sprites will leave the other unconscious lover, who had collapsed mid kiss, in favor of investigating the newcomers who are awake. They seem unconcerned with the person they tossed over the balcony moments before. Moth sprites are generally little kind creatures when they want to be and they will be quite happy to tell the players about Briar Rose and Uonaidh in exchange for anything shiny or a chance to ride on their shoulders. They will say that helping Uonaidh will allow the players to reap great rewards and if the players mention the devil they will laugh and recommend the players release the fairies upstairs, loot the castle and leave Briar Rose to slumber. 

They will refuse to go into the palace stating that they will only go downstairs. 

Moth Sprites

Beautiful men and women with strange eyes and moth wings, who stand no more than 15 cm high. Despite their size they are more than capable of picking up heavy loads. Their hands have ripping claws and they are fast moving and dexterous. If angered or attacked, the Moth Sprites are particularly adept at destroying armour and weaponry. Usually they attack in groups of three to six. They carry some silver between them and fairy dust.

Morale: Low HP: 6-8 AC: 12-14 DMG: 1D6 Ripping Claws

Spells: Consume My Bloomers - A moth sprite must roll against an enemies AC. If they succeed, they can consume one item. They rip the item to shreds and eat it. The item might be their armour, their weapon or their shield.

The Queen's Suite

You are not quite sure where it is looking. Its bulging eyes point in different
directions and its ears twitch erratically.

Two guards are slumped either side of the large red double doors. The door is barred from the outside to keep something in. There is grunting and heavy dragging on the other side of the door. The door looks like something has rammed it from the other side and managed to pierce the wood. If a player searches and looks through the holes in the door they might be able to see something very large shifting inside beyond the door.

If the players open the door they will find a beautiful room with a destroyed poster bed up against the far wall. On either side of the bed are large windows with tattered curtains drawn. 

In the centre of the room, crafted from thick wood, sits a cage that traps a filthy woman, wearing a decadent royal dress made of jewels and red silk. The dress (and the surrounding area) is covered in vomit, blood, and faeces. Her body is mangled as it has been thrown about and ripped apart. 

Feasting on one of her splayed legs is a massive boar with great twisting tusks. Its body is slick with viscera and blood and its great belly sways from side to side. Its lips smack as it throws back its head and flesh disappears past its pointed teeth and dripping tongue. As the beast is busy feasting it can be surprised and will not attack the players as it eat. The woman is the queen and she whimpers as the beast munches down on her flesh. She is still alive. 

If the players watch her they can see that her gaping wound where the full grown pig has erupted from her stomach. Where the full grown pig has been "birthed", the wound is slowly knitting back together to start the process again. Around the neck of the queen is a key made of iron. If a fairy touches the key, it burns them for 1d4 damage for every minute it is held against their skin.

She will beg to be put out of her misery. She is being used to give birth to Uonaidh's boars which the fairy queen hunts in the bramble forest before she gives her Tithe to the devil. The only way she can die is if Briar Rose is killed. The queen has a hatred for the fairies and does not believe she has done anything wrong by displaying them. She will tell the players about her treasure stash if they agree and give them the key. She will mention that the players will not be able to get her treasure if they release the fairies. She has a bitter love and resentful hatred for her "fool daughter" Briar Rose.

The players can leave her to continue birthing Uonaidh's hunting boars. There is 500 silvers worth of jewels on the dressing table and a few books on fairies on a nearby bookshelf.

Uonaidh's Prize Hunting Boar

HP: 20 - 25 AC: 12-14 DMG: 1D8 or 1D10 Drooling Bite. 

Charge: Rushes the player. +2 to Damage Roll, -2 to Attack Roll.

The Display Room

The doors to the display room are massive and they are made of iron. The door itself is locked tight. A few fairies have placed their hands on the door before in an attempt to open it and the flesh of their hands have been burned into the door. The flesh does not rot and occasionally one of the fleshy prints will sizzle. The door is locked and extremely heavy. The key is located in The Queen's Room.

The display room is huge, larger than the banquet hall downstairs. The walls are lined with iron plates. There are plinths and displays set throughout the room. These are made of glass and crystal. There are display cases laid out on the walls stretching up to the ceiling. Faeries hang from the ceiling, posed in flight with hooks of iron embedded into their bodies. Some alive, some stuffed. 

There are large display cases containing human sized fairies. Small displays pinning butterfly sprites, moth sprites, tooth fairies, and other faeries in the room. Each fairy has been tacked in place with iron pins, iron nails, or huge iron spikes shunted through their bodies. They have been contorted into a variety of positions.

The room is eerily quiet. A display case near the entrance contains hundreds of tongues all of them cut out of the fairies and labelled with numbers to show which they belong too. 

Chairs and tables are set out throughout the room with wine bottles and wine glasses set out for the viewers pleasure. 

The majority of the faeries are dead. Below is a table of fairies displayed throughout the room who are still alive and able to be freed. If the players choose to release the fairies they will come up against The Queen's Defenses. 

If successfully rescued the fairy will give a gift to the player who rescued them. Unfortunately, they will only give one gift to one player. Some fairy gifts are actually curses; the fairy believes they will be helpful, even when they are not!

1. A foot tall Tooth Fairy name Berrybottle. Berrybottle will reward the players with her pouch of teeth if she is removed. The pouch of teeth may seem worthless, but each tooth is encrusted with gold or jewels.
2. A tree nymph called Red Ivy. She will reward the players with a wish. The player can wish anything of her. Red Ivy is not the best at listening, however, and may interpret the wish differently. “I wish to be rich” might result in the player having particularly delicious and strong tasting flesh.
3. A 15 cm tall Moth Sprite called Yewshimmer. He will reward the players with a gift. During the night when the sun goes down, the player who has rescued Yewshimmer will receive an extra point in Stealth and an extra point in Slight of Hand. This effect disappears during the day.
4. A five foot tall female Butterfly Sprite called Aspen. She is an attractive bald woman with butterfly wings and three fingers on each hand. She will ask the player if they wish to become a fairy. If the player escapes the castle, she will appear again to grant them immortality and take them to the fairy lands.
5. A human size water nymph called Brine. She will reward players with the ability to breath underwater permanently. Unfortunately, Brine is not the best of spell casters and she will have a 1 in 6 chance of getting her spell wrong. The result will be that the player can ONLY breath in water.
6. A handsome young Wasp Sprite called Orsin. He will grant the players with a bell. If the bell is rung then the wasp sprite will materialise with two comrades and attack on the player's behalf. This can only be used three times before the bell disintegrates forever. Once per day use. HP: 2-4 AC: 8 - 10 DMG: 1D4
7. A human size male satyr called Zerotik. He will reward the player with “Maddening Beauty”. The player will become incredibly beautiful, however, anyone looking directly at the player’s bare face or body for more than a minute will need to make a Save vs. Magic or be driven insane.
8. A dark hair, green eyes woman called Morgan. She either a fae or a witch, it is not apparent and if asked what type of fairy she is she will simply smile.She will ask the players if they want her to help them with Briar rose. She will ask them there do they want her killed or do they want her to wake? The players must pick one and once they pick they cannot go back on it. Morgan will accompany them to Briar Rose room and case her magic. If they want neither, and wish to leave Briar Rose, Morgan will leave them with nothing.

If a fairy is selected to be released then the players will need to go up against the Queen's defenses. One of these goes off for every fairy released. If the players choose to release a fairy there will be a horrendous rumbling sound and the door to the Queen's Treasure will be sealed behind a stone wall.

1. A ticking noise sounds. Iron Spikes erupt from the floor through the carpet. Make a save or Dexterity roll to avoid being impaled. These do 1d6 damage. They slide back down and continue to erupt from the floor every minute.
2. The display case being opened begins to fill with a hot bubbling red metal. The player has to make a save to release the fairy inside before the hot metal engulfs it. The player may need to make a save to stop melted iron from pouring on their skin.
3. Iron bars slide up from the bottom of the case and seal the fairy in the case forever. 
4. Iron hooks fly from the ceiling at a rapid speed and hook the person attempting to open the case. These then drag the hooked victim to the ceiling where they are suspended. A dexterity or save is needed to dodge the hooks, and if hooked the victim will suffer 1d6 initial damage as they are dragged to the ceiling and a further 1d4 bleeding damage until they are released. 

The Queen's Treasure

There is a door at the far end of the room behind a tapestry. The queen will tell the players about it if they agree not to release the fairies and tell them there are great riches beyond.This door if opened will deliver a killing dose of iron to all of the living faeries in the room. There is a slit in the door if the players look in they must make a Save vs. Magic, if they fail, they see a room filled with jewels and gold. If they succeed, they see a chest on a table.

The queen's treasure room holds a single small chest on a small table. It is locked. The box is easy to break. Within, there is a family portrait of the queen, her husband and Briar Rose. 

There is nothing else in the room.

Briar Rose Chambers

Briar Rose Chambers are the furthest away from the stairs. The doors are overgrown with thick throny vines and sealed shut. Two guards lie asleep outside, their bodies have been pierced by the vines which grow through their open mouths and out through their eyelids. 

When entering the room, players must make a Save vs. Magic or they will fall asleep. 

Inside, there is a large double bed on which a beautiful young woman lies. She appears to be sixteen and dressed in funeral clothing. She is sleeping soundly and occasionally grimaces in her sleep. She as several vines protruding from her head and these are in turn connected to the victims on the wall.

The walls of the room are overgrown with thorned vines and dark, green ivy. There are large red roses which emit a strong, pungent odor. 

Around the bed standing like statues are previous adventurers and princes who have journeyed to wake Briar Rose. They have all been grown into the walls. Their skin is stretched and peeled away by the thorns. Each of them has a thick vine attached to their genitals which occasionally pulses, it gets bigger as it goes down to the floor. Each of the victims has a great distended stomach as if they are all heavily pregnant. If the genital vines are removed, the victim dies. The vine leads down into the ground and magic users may be able to tell that these vines do not lead downstairs but to another world. If a vine is removed the player can crawl into it and will find themselves in the fairy world. If the victims are cut open they have a human baby inside of them. 

That thing wants to have your babies.

If Briar Rose is attacked, the victims on the wall will reach forward to protect her. There are thick vines beneath Briar Rose bed which also act as guardians. They will try to add the players to the adventurers on the wall. 

Uonaidh's Tithe Drones

The lost adventurers and princes who have tried to rescue or kill Briar Rose before. They are now being used to give unnatural birth to innocent babies who Uonaidh then gives as Tithe to the devil. 

HP: 4-6 AC: 10-12 DMG: 1d4 Unarmed/1D6 Thorned Vine Whips

The Possible Outcomes

If Briar Rose is Woken (The "Happy" Ever After)

If you want to make it darker you could have it so Briar Rose can never be woken. You either have to leave or kill her. Alternatively, the below is a little lighter as an ending. 

If Briar Rose has her hand pricked on The Spinning Wheel or if Morgan is there to wake her up, she will wake from her slumber. 

At the point she opens her eyes the horrors on the walls of her bedroom will slowly disappear. The adventurers and prince's will fall to the ground in a heap. Everyone in the palace will wake; none of their wounds will heal. The animals will remain feral; however, any magical strength they had will disappear. All fairies will leave. The bramble forest will over the next few years begin to wither and die. 

The queen will die from her injuries immediately and the boar she birthed will turn back into the king; who will be a mad, gibbering wreck of a man. 

Briar Rose will thank the adventurers for waking her from her nightmare. She watched everything happen as she was omnipresent in her kingdom (she will have seen what the players have done). 

If the players haven't, she will release any of the captured fairies and set about repairing the broken and horrified kingdom. She will give them gold, or imprison them based on what they have done throughout their time in her kingdom, and their journey will come to an end. 

The player will find, however, that after a while they are kidnapped and taken to Uonaidh. She will confront the players about their idiocy and demand they pay the tithe for her this year to the devil. 

If Briar Rose is Killed

If Briar Rose is killed, whether her body is stabbed or Morgan is there to kill her for the players, a similar effect happens to the above.

Except, the death of Briar Rose comes with consequence. Uonaidh will require a player to pay the tithe, as soon as the players begin to make their way out of the room they will find themselves in the land of fairies in Uonaidh's throne room.

If the players have met and work with the devil, they the devil will reward the players in any way you see fit; it might be gold or favors, or wishes (always make these backfire, it's hilarious). The devil will not stop Uonaidh from enacting her vengeance. 

If Briar Rose is Left

The players can loot the castle and leave Briar Rose slumbering. This is if they survive the escape.

The Devil and Uonaidh

"So, now you owe me a tithe."

The devil and Uonaidh are outside plot points. Encounters with them can generate new scenarios in themselves. Perhaps the devil is not happy that the players left Briar Rose and has decided they need to do his bidding. Perhaps Uonaidh requires them to pay the tithe and that could be a new adventure in itself.

It is up to you how you want to use these NPC's and this aspect of the scenario. Create your own ending.

Oh the Manatee (Part 1)

First of all, credit to +Paul Fricker for this blog post title (it'll become clearer, hopefully, after reading this report). Anyway. The following is an account of our first session with World of the Lost, using the new Lamentations of the Flame Princess playtest rules. If you're interested in knowing the thoughts on the product and the rules, skip to the end.

Having been absorbed the wonderful delight that is World of the Lost by +Rafael Chandler I knew I wanted to run it. Written for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, it promises lots of fun with all manner of craziness including dinosaurs. This, I think, will essentially be a fun experience similar to The Islands of Purple-Haunted Putrescence but with a considerably more serious tone.

On top of that I also received the new LotFP Playtest rules, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity to test them out too.

The initial set up was straight forward enough: British troops had established an outpost just south-west of the city of Khirima (about 20 miles away), and the players would be doing some mild exploring.

Sir Edmund Burke (+Scott Dorward) and Audrey (+Kathryn Jenkins) were two citizens from London, famed magicians who had managed to secure travel to this unexplored land in search of Things of Interest. Sergeant Thomas (Lucy Fricker) and Corporal Lexi (+Sarah Schiff) had been assigned to the magicians to protect them, along with two privates. In addition, the outpost's Chaplain - Reverend Wright (+Paul Fricker) - had decided to accompany the group to help spread the word of God to the savages.

They agreed that the first point of exploration should be the city of Khirima itself. The outpost's captain had stated they were not to go beyond the city to the plateau - the local's were very touchy about this area, and he had no wish to set off a war in a hurry.

Travel through the forest was slow and tedious. At one point the group stumbled across a Gaboon Viper but Sergeant Tom managed to scare it away by yelling loudly at it. They got closer to a lake that was near the city and witnessed with some confusion a circle of crocodiles circling off in the distance, following a perfect circle endlessly.

They decided to set up camp for the night before pushing on to the city the next day but during the third watch Sergeant Tom became aware of a large black shape shuffling towards the camp from the lake.

Without hesitating he fired his arquebus but missed (though woke up the party and the surrounding wildlife). As the camp came to life they realised it was a loveable manatee who was now desperately trying to escape. Naturally the group killed it, chopped its head off before hauling it up over a tree to drain for the rest of the night.

The next morning while the privates butchered the carcass for steaks, the party found numerous human footsteps around their camp; it appeared they had been observed during the night.

They pushed on to Khirima, passing first through the outlying villages that surrounded the great city. They saw that the people were actively avoiding making eye contact with them, so while the chaplain made crosses out of reeds and handed them to the kids who were running around (who in turn promptly started using them as swords to hit each other) Corporal Lexi confronted a villager.

They found that the villager could speak passable English, stating that they wanted nothing to do with the players. He also mentioned that they weren't the first white humans to pass through here.

Inside the city they found a similar reception. No one was actively rude to them, but no one went out their way to engage the group. They made their way to the palace district, just in time to witness a royal procession through the streets.

They watched as the king was carried by, stopping briefly to give a merchant a present, back to his palace.

Sergeant Tom caught up with the merchant, demanding to know what he had been given. A small crowd began to form as the merchant frostily explained it was a present for him and of no concern to the sergeant. As the merchant turned to leave the sergeant grabbed him by the hem of his robe and snarled, telling the merchant that he had killed many like him and he should be a bit more respectful. The merchant held his gaze and said he had heard many threats similar before.

The sergeant shoved him, causing the merchant to stumble a few steps. By this point the crowd around the group were entirely silent, staring at the players. Sir Edmund intervened, apologising profusely to the merchant but the merchant simply shook his head sadly and walked off.

The crowd let the players leave, still not saying anything. The group decided that getting to the palace would be the best course of action.

When they got there they found a line of drummers on brass cauldrons, beating a repetitive tune while female guards watched on. The players tried to get in, wisely avoiding threats this time, but were told they certainly couldn't meet the king. After some discussion they managed to secure a meeting with a scholar.

The scholar explained that while he had no care for what the group could offer, he was happy to share his own knowledge regarding the area (and the plateau) as long as the players did a small favour for him first: a textile merchant by the name of Ewuke Afonso had some documents in his possession that he really shouldn't have, documents that'd be dangerous to retrieve by anyone with royal connection. Of course, some blundering white outsiders would be a bit more expendable.

The situation clear, the players agreed to do a bit of recovery work.

Thoughts on the Setting

World of the Lost has a lot going for it. As a group we've agreed to run through it for as long as we're happy, and I can't predict how long that will be seeing as there is so much to do. In this session, I used the city generator to create things as we went and it was pretty good - theres something quite exciting as a GM to have controlled surprises in the narrative.

Thoughts on the Playtest Rules

Everything is a lot simpler in the new rules; character creation is swift, the completed sheet is easy to reference, things work. The biggest issue I have at the moment is how combat works with the new armour modifiers (I've emailed +James Raggi for an answer, so hopefully have that cleared up before the next session!).

Unlike the original rules, skill checks are done by trying to get 6 or more on a dice roll, adding the skill modifier. This makes a bit more sense than filling in dots on a blank d6.

Please stay tuned for the next session report, two weeks today, to find out more on my thoughts on the new rules and the setting as well as to find out if the group manage to survive 24 hours in Khirima.

Briar Rose - Part 2

Please see Briar Rose - Part 1, if you have not read this the below may be very confusing! 

Once your adventurers have traversed the Bramble Forest and received a quest or two along the way, either to free or kill Briar Rose, or simply to loot the palace of its treasures, they will find their way out into the Slumbering Kingdom. 

Upon leaving the bramble forest, the players must roll a D6. If they get an even number, “Uonaidh, Queen of the Faeries” can see through their eyes. If they get an odd number, “The Devil” can see through their eyes. If a fairy is present, their actions are being watched. 

Here in Part 2 the Players face the slumbering palace and its gardens. As this is a lite scenario the palace has not been set out room by room, instead key NPC’s and rooms will be detailed and it will be up to you to come up with extra rooms and lay it out the elements provided how you like. 

Player Goals

If you are struggling in the beginning of Briar Rose to know what goals to give your players here are the some ideas: 

• Uonaidh would like the players to enter the palace and release the fairies that the Queen captured long ago.. She cannot herself and will not tell the players why. 
• The Devil requires the players to wake or kill Briar Rose to release the kingdom from Uonaidh’s curse. 
• Treasure. A noble knows of the palace and would like the players to bring back any treasures found there, including faeries. 
• Monarchy, the surrounding lands can't crown a new King or Queen without knowing what has happened within the palace. 

The Devil

“So if you meet me, have some courtesy 

Have some sympathy and some taste 

Use all your well-learned politesse 

Or I'll lay your soul to waste.”

- The Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil 

Uonaidh owes a tithe to the hell. The creature who rules over hell has many faces and many names; they appear in different cultures under a number of guises, what is consistent is their demand for souls and her complete dominion over the sinful and corrupted. The Devil, like the Queen of the Faeries, enjoys swapping gifts in exchange for souls. 

He seems trustworthy.

What they do not enjoy is when they are outsmarted. Uonaidh has managed to make it easy for herself plucking a slumbering mortal from the Slumbering Kingdom and handing it over to the devil in return for her immortality and reality bending cosmic power. This is too easy and not enough of a torment for Uonaidh, according to the Devil. Tithes should be a source of guilt or despair for the giver, and the slumbering knights and nobles of the palace are nothing to Uonaidh. His goal of course being that Uonaidh one day cannot fulfill her tithe and gives her his soul. The soul of a faerie queen is worth the world. 

The Devil wants Briar Rose woken or killed, releasing the palace from Uonaidh’s curse and forcing the Faerie queen to play by The Devil’s rules, not her loopholes. Due to Briar Rose’ innocence and the fact that Uonaidh technically has not actually broken any contract, he is not able to directly interfere. 

But The Devil is very convincing and deals can be made. 

The Devil can appear at anytime you feel they fit. They can be a man, woman, child, dog or Puck. I enjoy the idea of the devil being very much like the devil depicted in The Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil. Suave, fashionable, unpredictable and deadly. They appear outside of time and space; so can be from any time zone much to the confusion of your characters.

Please note, attacking the devil does result in immediate death or banishment to Hell (which could be a scenario in itself). 

The Valley

The palace lies within a valley. It is surrounded on all sides by a beautiful garden. Around the gardens, field and farmsteads some of which have burnt down a long time ago. A river runs through the valley and gardens. The bramble forest surrounds the palace and most of the valley. 

The fields are overgrown and wild. Wolves from the nearby forests roam among the wheat; they have grown fat and hungry for human flesh after devouring sleeping goat herders, farmers and soldiers. Animals have been unaffected by the sleeping curse and horses run wild in the fields in herds chased down by an occasionally over confident mountain lion. These animals the players might encounter as they move from the bramble forest down into the valley. 

The animals here dream-like. They have been contorted by Uonaidh’s magic and the dreams leaking from the minds of the sleepers. Their fangs are massive, their claws are serrated and their eyes glow with green fae magic. Even the sheep have fanged teeth and will charge players foolish enough to climb into their fields. 

Corpses and skeletons lie in the road where someone fallen asleep and been savaged by beasts. A group of sheep in the road gathered around a dead sheep herder might appear innocent enough, until the sheep turn on the party and charge with bloody muzzles and murderous bleating.

The Slumbering Gardens

The only entrance to the gardens is through the main road. The entrance is an archway of stone with two guards on either side slumped and sleeping. One is having his leg mauled by a rabid dog upon approach. 

The gardens have been left to expand and grow; nightmarish plants have taken root outside of the palace and the bramble thorns from the bramble forest have sneaked into the flowerbeds. Below are some of the plants that the players might encounter in the garden. They will also be susceptible to the "Fairy Dust" from the Bramble Forest if they come across any corpses of soldiers or gardeners. 

Grasping Thorns - These vines covered in hooked thorns snake out within the thick grass searching for prey. They belong to a bulbous red mother plant with large petals covered in long needles used to suck the viscera from the bodies of anything it catches. 1D6 HP, 1D6 Constricting Vines, AC 14. They attack in groups of two or three, and the Mother plant is has 10 HP, 1d6 Bite attack, AC 16. The Mother Plant cannot move.

Rank Cabbage - A twisted yellow plant whose petals have a strange sweaty texture. If disturbed, the Rank cabbage will emit a toxic plume of noxious gases designed to ward off predators. The smell is foul and lingering. Anyone within range will need to make a Save vs. Poison/Non-Magical effects. If inhaled, the Rank Cabbage gases will cause the body to go into spasm after a day, and eventually after two days will lead to the expulsion of all bodily fluids from every orifice, beginning with vomit, ending on the third day with the throwing up or defecating of vital organs. This can stopped if an elixir is made with the leaves of the Rank Cabbage or an alternative method of curing poison is found.

Giant Hogweed - A strange mass of green leaves and white flowers. If touched, a Save vs. Poison is needed or the Giant Hogweed will cause the skin to burn and melt away from the muscle doing 1D6 ever hour until the sap is removed. Attempting to wash off the sticky sap with normal water will result in the effect doubling to 2D6 damage. Holy water, oil, blood or urine will remove the sap easily.

Angel Trumpet - A beautiful flowering plant with trumpet shaped flowers either yellow or orange in colour. The Angel Trumpet emits a soft, sweet lullaby from its flowers which entice players to drink its nectar. Save vs. Magic is needed to avoid the temptation. Upon drinking from the Angel Trumpet, the player will need to roll a D4. 1-2 will result in the player falling unconscious for 1d20 hours and when they wake they will have access to the Sleep spell, once, for 24 hours. This is temporary, upon use the spell is forgotten. If the player rolls a 3-4 then they will become unconscious and their body will enter a murderously psychotic state for 1d20 hours in which the character will attempt to kill and devour anyone in sight.

Bleeding Hearts - A tree has grown out of the sleeping bodies of seven nobles who were walking in the garden when the queen's curse hit. They fell asleep, tangled together and the tree spread its roots and branches through their bodies. They are still alive and sleeping. Their hearts dangle, still beating, from tree branches. Plucking a heart will kill the sleeper. If the heart is burned or dried out and consumed it acts as a curative for all poisons.

Reverse Valerian - A black flowering plant that grows in the shadows of trees. These black flowers let off a rancid smell. They are Reverse Valerian and despite their ominous appearance are fairly harmless. When mixed into a potion they will cure victims of Sleep and can be used to wake those affected by Uonaidh's curse. Once one flower is plucked, however, the remaining flowers on the plant wilt and die. 

The Courtyard

The courtyard is filled with beautiful coaches which have been abandoned. Footmen and drivers still lie slumped beside these coaches, sleeping peacefully. Their clothes have rotted and their hair is matted from the elements having battered them. Some of these individuals have suffered, over the hundred years, from frostbite on their fingers, ears and noses. 

Some of the chariots contain silver and gold, or a noble or noblewoman who didn't have time to get out before falling asleep.

The Main Hall

The main hall in the palace has a beautiful grand staircase with red carpeting leading up to the second floor. Here, a row of soldiers on either side of the carpet have all fallen in their Armour and their spears in a heap. One or two are canoodling in their sleep and some might mutter something. Due to sleeping in armour for over a hundred years, they have sores and nasty bruising. 

Small winged gray creatures with orbed heads crawl over the armour. They are roughly two foot in height and hover with bees wings. Their mouths are comically large and would appear hilarious if it were not for the rows of gnashing hooked teeth within. They have no eyes and two large nostrils. They have three fingers on each hand with hooked nails which they use to pull the teeth out of the sleeping soldiers and deposit them in grimy satchels which barely cover their minuscule private parts. 

A couple of these fairies are trying to convince another to go up the stairs. It refuses and looks up the stairs in terror. 

No fairy will go up the staircase. 

Tooth Fairy 

HP 6, HD 2, Armor 12, Morale Low.
Hooked Bite: 1d4.
Tooth Missile: The tooth fairy will abandon its hoard in favour of its life if it feels threatened. It will fire the teeth it has collected at adventurers. This is more gross and a distraction than an actual attack. 

The Banquet Hall 

From the main hall, the players might find themselves in The Banquet hall. The hall has been set out for Briar Rose sixteenth birthday celebrations. Flowers, Standards and Banners, and great tables of food have been laid out. Guests crowd the dance floor and have fallen asleep bid dance leading to quite a few broken bones and tangled slumbering bodies. Occasionally, one or two of the sleepers will scratch themselves in their sleep or roll over. They are dressed in elegant clothing which is old and rotting. The food on the tables, on the other hand, is still as fresh as the day it was cooked and steaming hot. 

There is plenty of riches here. Golden cups, silver purses and jewelry. 

If the players eat any of the food they must make a Save vs. Magic or they will be unable to leave the palace. 

The Kitchen 

The kitchen staff are all asleep. Some have been burned or scalded after falling asleep mid preparation. Some serving staff have fallen asleep on the platters they were serving. The players can find a number of herbs and utensils needed for cooking. 

If the players eat any of the food they must make a Save vs. Magic or they will be unable to leave the palace. 

The Servants Bedrooms

There is not much of interest in this room. Some of the servants are asleep. In one bed, two servants have fallen asleep midway through sex, having been caught by a valet who was in the process of scolding them when he fell asleep midway through and face-planted the floor. 

The Main Library 

The main library is filled with wonderful books and grand bookshelves which stretch up to the ceiling. The players can find classifications of faeries or any short fairy-tales that you might like to include. A search roll will reveal a book containing the story of "Sleeping Beauty" written by Uonaidh to help her minions keep the palace in check. This will reveal that the spinning wheel is the source of the great sleep and how it can be destroyed. 

Here, one of Uonaidh's Banshees lurks in the darkness. She has been tasked with protecting The Spinning Wheel. 

A bookshelf of books about faeries and the Dione Sidhe hides a secret vault behind it. A search roll or a confession by the Banshee will be needed to open it. 

Banshee 

Beautiful ghostly woman who is either accompanied by Tooth Fairies or has a heavy pregnant belly which will split and birth Tooth Fairies if needed. She has the ability to melt into the shadows and sneak attack.
She might be convinced to speak if a tooth fairy is captured or a fairy is accompanying the players. She is loyal to Uonaidh and will not tell the players about The Spinning Wheel out of choice.
AC 16 HP 25 

The Queens Vault 

A great vault can be found behind a bookshelf in the main library. A set of twisting stairs leads down into blackness. Below, is a room that stretches on and on for miles. Here, piles and piles of spinning wheels have been stacked. Some of these piles of spinning wheels have been burned. On the piles, small red roses grow. 

A single ivory spinning wheel stands in the center of the room surrounded by a mountain of burned spinning wheels. 

The Spinning Wheel

A Save vs. Magic is needed if within 10 foot of the spinning wheel. The spinning wheel will encourage any player who saves to prick their finger. If they do, one of the below effects will occur. 

1. The adventurer has pricked their finger and their soul is forfeit. They will be collected by Uonaidh and gifted to the devil who will take them to hell. They are this years tithe payment. 
2. The victim collapses into an endless sleep. Nothing can rouse them from their slumber. Not only do they sleep, their dreams manifest physically outside of their body. Weather changes around them, monsters form out of the shadows and reality distorts. 
3. The adventurer falls unconscious briefly then wakes. Upon waking, any idioms or expressions said by the character will now happen as if they have been wished. So if someone says "That hit me like a tonne of bricks" the wall of the palace might very well fall on them. 
4. The adventurer falls deeply in love Uonaidh and is entirely devoted to her; their one driving wish is to receive a kiss from the faerie queen. 
5. The faerie queen falls deeply in love with the adventurer; they will not know this unless they meet her and she will actively attempt to have the adventurer kidnapped and brought to her. 
6. The adventurer explodes in a shower of fairy dust which other adventures will need to roll a Save vs. Poison to avoid ingesting. 

The spinning wheel is worth 1000 Silver Pieces, however, anyone who looks at it will need to make Saves, including NPC's who want to purchase the spinning wheel.

If the spinning wheel is destroyed then this will release Briar Rose from her sleep. The spinning wheel cannot be chopped up, burned or destroyed by an conventional means. The spinning wheel can only be destroyed if Briar Rose pricks her finger on it again.

Upstairs

The upstairs hallway is plain and dusty. Servants and soldiers can be found sleeping here. There may be more tooth fairies depending on how quickly the players have progressed through the adventure.

Fairies avoid the upstairs and any fairy with the party will refuse to go up.

The Creeping Nightmare

Once or twice during the hundred year slumber, a few princes and noblemen have come to claim Briar Rose as a bride and attempt to remove her from the palace. This has created The Creeping Nightmare. This is a terrible amalgamation of any prince or nobleman who has ever tried to harm, remove or kiss the sleeping Briar Rose.

The Creeping Nightmare moves from room to room on the upper floor via the ceiling. It is a grotesque gelatinous form of flesh, blood, thick ropey veins, many mouths and bits of sword and shield stick from various parts of it. It has no eyes and is alerted through sound. It will travel to the adventurers location if they are particularly loud.

It consumes fairies and the tooth fairies are terrified of it.

Armour 16/18, HP 35/40 , Morale: High, 1d6/1d8 biting and swiping damage.

Explosive Viscera: Upon death, The Creeping Horror explodes in a shower of acidic gore and sharp bone. Anyone within a 10 foot radius will need to make a save or take 1d6 damage.

Briar Rose - Part 3

Due to the length of this blog post, Briar Rose - Part 3 and the final installment will be available next week. This will include: 

• The Palace Upstairs
• The Display Room - A terrifying display of faeries
• The Queen's Fate
• Briar Rose Chambers
• The "Happy" Ever After - A Faeries Promise and a Hellish Outcome 

Briar Rose - Part 1

This is Part 1 of Briar Rose, a scenario for the use of OSR games. This is written with Lamentations of the Flame Princess in mind. 

"Specimen 9. Butterfly Sprite." by Kathryn Jenkins.

The Original Story

Little Briar Rose is the Grimm version of the famous story that we know as Sleeping Beauty.

A beautiful queen walks along a river one day, lamenting that she has been unable to have a child with the King. She comes across a fish, or frog depending on the account, who has flopped out of the river and is gasping for air. Alarmed, the queen rescues the fish and places it back into the water. The fish turns out to be magical (as many animals are, apparently) and rewards the Queen for her kindness by fulfilling her wish for a child. The Queen then gives birth to a daughter.

The celebration for the Princess's birth is a grand party and the Queen and King invite all nobles, peasants and and friends and neighboring allies to attend. They invited twelve fairies. There is a thirteenth fairy, but the King and Queen don't invite her because they don't have enough plates. Given that they are the King and Queen and could have ordered someone to bring an extra bowl, this seems a little ridiculous. The Thirteenth fairy was either a terrible guest or the Queen was simply scatterbrained and forgot to invite her. Regardless, during the party each of the fairies gift the princess with magical gifts such as beauty, wealth, kindness and so on. After the eleventh fairy gives their gift, the thirteenth fairy arrives, uninvited. 

Enraged, the thirteenth fairy lays a curse on the princess. On her sixteenth birthday she will prick her finger on a spinning wheel and die. She then leaves the distraught courtroom, cackling. The twelfth fairy quickly tries to undo the curse, but cannot. Instead, she changes is stating that the princess will not die but will fall into a deep slumber.

On her sixteenth birthday Briar Rose manages to find a spinning wheel, pricking her finger and falling into a deep slumber. Around the castle grows thick walls of brambles. The kingdom slumbers for one hundred years until a pathway opens in the brambles and a prince rides in. He kisses the princess or finds a way to wake her, and she marries him, releasing the kingdom from its spell.

The Backstory

The King and Queen were not the gracious rulers the original tale made them out to be. Like many in the kingdom, the King and Queen were terrified of magic and the fair folk who live in the woods surrounding the palace. Witches, fairies, goblins and gnomes are often hunted or burned alive. Any magic users are treated as abominations. 

The Queen had a morbid fascination with fairies. She ordered that any captured magical creatures be brought to her. She requested the captured fairies giver her a gift to save their lives, promising they would be released once their gifts were bestowed upon her and her unborn child. The fairies cast gifts but were betrayed. They were displayed by the queen in a manner of gruesome ways. Still alive.

It was then that the King made a mistake. The King invited a twelfth fairy to the celebration of his daughters birth; planning on having the fairy detained and displayed for her after the fairy bestowed her gift on the child. The fae creature they invited was not like those they had ever encountered before. She knew all about her kins ill fate. She was Uonaidh, High Queen of the Daoine Sidhe. Her other names, Mab, Morgan and Titania and she was angry. 

The ballroom darkened and Uonaidh placed upon the Princess a terrible curse; she would die on her sixteenth birthday, pricking her finger on a spinning wheel and upon her death the Kingdom would fall to into eternal nightmare. After the curse was sung, the High Queen of the Faeries granted the King and Queen a mercy. If they would release the captured Faeries, she would lift the curse. 

The Queen and King spent the next year hunting down every fairy and fae creature their Knights could find in hopes of capturing Uonaidh and reversing the curse. They burned all spinning wheels and cut the fingers off of everyone who hid them. 

The night before her sixteenth birthday, the young Princess, Briar Rose, discovered her mother and father’s gruesome collection. Unable help them all, Briar Rose could only rescue a single fairy from the displays. Thus, the mischievous Puck was finally free. Grateful for the kindness Briar Rose had shown him, he rewrote his mistresses curse so instead of death, the price was eternal slumber. 

Briar Rose pricked her finger on a spinning wheel and the entire Kingdom fell. Visiting diplomats, ambassadors and royalty collapsed where they stood and the King and Queen never rose from their bed. 

A great wall of roses and brambles grew around the enchanted palace sealing the now awakened soldiers of Uonaidh, who in the distorted world of Fae, enact their vengeance on the palace and its sleeping inhabitants. One hundred years have passed and the palace is now a realm of nightmare filled with riches and strange magics. If anyone dares to enter.

Uonaidh, High Queen of the Faeries

Uonaidh has been the queen of faeries since the beginning of time. She does not suffer fools lightly. In her mortal form she is a dark haired, pale skinned maiden with eyes that change colour with the seasons. Her body is draped with the furs of animals, who in her passing glory have skinned themselves to keep her warm. Human skulls adorn her shoulders and on her necklace hangs the skull of an infant. Her helmet is the head of a might goat, whose head is adorned with ivy, acorns and the antlers of a stag. 

When she is the Otherworlds, her skin is made of stars and the darkness of space, her eyes flash with lightning and filled with swirling storm clouds. She is both enormous and tiny, slim and voluptuous, her shape ever changing as she sits on a throne of twisted ivy and the heads of goats. To gaze on her too long is maddening. If she is touched by a mortal in this form, the individual is split apart and reassembled over and over for the rest of time. 

She is a trickster and she does not suffer fools. She is a vengeful goddess; believing herself above humans. She believes in “an eye for an eye”. She views humans as lesser creatures to be toyed with. Their souls are useful as servants. She delights in a few of their fancies; such as art, alcohol and festivals. She is intelligent and cold. However, like all Faeries, she cannot help herself when it comes to playing demented games and puzzles. She has an obligation to grant wishes; however, the fae are tricky and desire human souls to serve them in the otherworlds, so be careful what you wish for. 

She must pay a tithe to the devil every seven years; the reason why is not know, even she has forgotten and the price of her missing the tithe is cataclysmic for both human and fae. Her control of Briar Rose palace is strategic; every seven years she plucks a wrongdoer from the nightmare she has created and gifts her sacrifice to the devil. It is an easy place to harvest souls until she runs out of bodies. 

Over the 105 years the palace has been in slumber she has sacrificed 14 souls to the devil. She is due to gift her 15th soon. 

Uonaidh is a 18th level Elf or a 18th level Magic User. She is invulnerable in the Fae realm, however, she is vulnerable in the mortal world. The person who kills Uonaidh or accepts her duties as her Champion will enter into a pact with the devil. The player will gain her responsibility to fulfil the seven year tithe or bring about the end of the world. 

Bramble Forest

The Bramble Forest is Uonaidh’s first line of defence against intruders who seek to awaken the sleeping princess. It is a swarming mass of roses bushes and giant thorned vines. These vines are sentient and any damage to its natural habitat cause the vines to attack. The vines can be warded off with fire and torches. The thorns do not have leaves. There are great roses larger than a human growing from the enormous brambles. There are also smaller roses amongst the thickets about the base of the larger vines. 

Unsuccessful Bushcraft rolls will result in players becoming lost. The pathway through takes a full day to traverse, if it is correctly followed from the beginning. Players will need to roll a few times to ensure they are still following the same path as the vines move and change it. The path will never be the same and only a fairy guide can lead them through without the need for frequent Bushcraft or other skill rolls. 

The forest leads to the same place regardless of where you exit. It ends on the edge of a great hill that leads down into a valley where the castle sits. 

Once you enter the Bramble Forest, you are not able to find your way out again without the assistance of a fairy or waking or killing Briar Rose or Uonaidh. 

Encounters in the Bramble Forest

Here are a few random encounters for the Bramble Forest. 

1. Moonlit Pools

The party happen across a great shrine within a copse of trees. The shrine is a ring of stones carved into meter tall mushrooms. In the centre is a clear pool of water with a stone altar in the centre. The altar is decorated with flowers, berries, nuts and roses.. Regardless of the time of day outside of the copse of trees; a beam of moonlight falls on the water illuminating it. The water is waist deep and the pool has a 50 foot in diameter. 

When the players approach they will see nothing on the mushrooms at first from the outskirts of the copse of trees. If they enter, three beautiful water nymphs are sitting on the edge of the pool will fade into existence as if melting into the moonlight. If the nymphs notice the adventurers, they will beckon them closer and engage them in conversation. They will lament Uonaidh’s curse on the kingdom, expressing that it has completely ruined it for all Nymphs who just want to “have fun” with adventurers.

The nymphs intentions are either to sacrifice the adventurers to Uonaidh or to have sexual intercourse with the players. The latter may seem appealing, but remember, this is a weird tale and any kind of fun will often result in something extremely horrible. 

The nymphs will offer food. If the players eat any berries or nuts they will need to make a Save Vs Magic or they will not be able to leave the clearing without express permission from the nymphs. If the nymphs are killed and they have eaten any of the food on the altar they have a 2 in 6 chance of being unable to leave and be trapped in the clearing forever. 

If a player has intercourse with a nymph the nymph will turn into water upon climax and soak the player. The player, regardless of gender, is now pregnant and the player is now a nymphomaniac. The longer they go without sex the faster their HP and their strength deteriorates. If they have sex, the NPC or player they have sex with also experiences this effect. If their strength hits 3, they die. 

If the players attempt to leave without giving the nymphs what they want or eating the nymphs will become aggressive and attack. One of the nymphs knows the way through the forest. 

2. Knights of the Rose

The Knights of the Rose, lead by Knight Captain Perrault, are out hunting fairies. There are six left out of the original two hundred. They wander up and down the same road and have done for the last 105 years. They are aware of how long they have been walking but they have not aged a day. During the night they camp by the side of the pathway they have trodden for years and the path is now resembling a well word ditch. 

The Knights eat anything that wanders across their temporal path. Out of the two hundred, many starved, were eaten by their comrades in times of hardship or froze during the winter due to a lack of suppliers. Because the players are not part of Uonaidh’s curse, they can leave the path whenever they wish. If the Knights attempt to follow, they appear back where they started their hunt. 

Perrault is convinced the curse will lift if the Princess, Briar Rose, is killed. If the Knights are hungry there is a 2 in 6 chance that they may rob or attack the players in an attempt to get food regardless of honour. 

3. The Drinking Party

There is a grand party being held in a clearing. During the day, the party is being set up and prepared by Nymphs, Fae Folk and Satyrs. They are friendly and will ask the players to assist them in pressing the wine, setting out the banquet and cooking the meat. 

Search rolls will reveal the tabards, boots, swords and shields of the Knights of the Rose kept in barrels or containers stained with blood. What the players don't know if the meat at the party has been hunted by the Maenads and Satyrs from the eternally trapped Knights of the Rose. 

The players may also be able to find the severed heads of Knights. The tops of their heads have been removed and wine has been poured into the scooped out skull. These would be hidden by the fair folk. 

During the night, great fires burn, Nymphs, Fae folk and Satyrs dance playing lutes, pipes and drums. The adventurers are welcome to the alcohol and the food at the party (the meat is human). 

If the players sleep at the party and do not take shifts, they will wake to find themselves bound together with their weapons removed due to be chopped up and eaten for the next night's party. 

Any of the Fae at the party are able to lead the party through the forest. 

4. The Millers Cottage

A two story, quaint cottage sits abandoned by a stream. There is a large water wheel. Inside the cottage the kitchen is in disarray and the living room is covered in dust. The cottage has not been lived in for years. 

Upstairs, three skeletons dressed in rotting dresses lie impaled by swords on their beds. One wears red, one wears green and the other wears blue. 

There is a young girl's room with pictures of castles, butterflies and roses drawn in chalk on the walls. The bedroom is empty and full of cobwebs. 

If the players search the bedroom, they will be able to find a map through the forest. This map is years old and completely inaccurate. It has been drawn by a child. Following this map will only cause the players to become more lost. 

5. Puck

Puck is watching the players from the brambles and rose bushes. Puck loves to play tricks on players. As the players walk through the forest, they begin to experience some strange happenstances. 

Puck will cause one or more of the following faerie pranks to happen: 

1. Any food or drink has a human face and screams whenever it is consumed by the player. 

2. Any seats, stones or logs that the player sits on sinks into the earth or throws them off. 

3. Any metal the player holds becomes white hot and burns doing 1d4 damage for every minute the player touches it. 

4. Brambles and vines will raise up attempting to separate one of the players from the rest of the party and have them walk in circles 

5. Any fires or torches will be blown out followed by a childish cackling. 

If Puck is caught or convinced to speak with the players he knows the true story of Briar Rose. He knows that killing the princess will result in a fate worse than death for the players and the way through the forest to the palace. 

6. Fairy Dust

A copse of thick vines surrounds the bodies of five adventurers. They all appear to have been settled down to camp. Their bodies are a few days old and their skin is just beginning to rot. Their bodies are covered in a thick fungus. The fungus is bio-luminescent at night. 

The bodies have a few gold or silver pieces covering it and standard adventuring equipment. 

If the players search or touch any of the bodies they need to make a Save Vs. Poison. If they fail their Save Vs. Poison they will be infected with the fungal spores that have covered the body. These fungal spores are Ophiocordyceps Unilateralis. This fairy dust spread by the denizens of the forest.

The player is now immune to any ingested poisons and they are do not need to eat every day to survive. However, they are infected with a mind controlling fungus. The fungus begins to grow thicker over the body of the player eventually immobilizing them. Each day the player will need to make a Save Vs. Poison to delay the spread of the fungus. Eventually, a great fungal branch erupts from the players orifices and spreads further spores. Fairies harvest these fungi as a delicacy. 

An antidote by magic users or specialists on an intelligence roll. This will take a full day of research to concoct and require a clean working environment. Uonaidh can remove the fungus. 

7. The Wishing Fish

An emerald river runs through the great vines and rose bushes. The river is teeming with fat golden fish and croaking frogs. The river, if followed, does not lead anywhere. If the players follow the river, it has them walking in circles. 

If the players catch a fish it will shriek with a human voice and demand to be put back into the river. It will offer the player a wish if they agree. The player can wish for whatever they want however the fish will interpret the wish incorrectly. Only 2 in 6 fish are wishing fish.

If a player wishes for example "I wish I had I was rich" the fish will nod and grant it. The player will receive no gold but their flesh will taste very rich and delicious. Any wolves or creatures in the forest will instantly attack the player. If the player says "I wish I was immortal" the player will live forever, however they will age as normal to the point they are living dust on the wind and they will still die if wounded. 

If a player captures a frog and kisses it, the frog will turn into a grotesque half human half frog hybrid. It will be unable to move and its limbs will be swollen, slick with mucus and twisted horribly. Its human eyes will bulge out of its head and its gumless mouth will mouth "kill me!". 

8. Once Upon A Dream

The players might come across a young woman singing and gathering roses on the pathway they travel. She is a beautiful raven haired woman with red lips. When she meets the players she will seem

dazed and confused by her surroundings. She will fall asleep halfway through conversations and igf asked about the palace she will point in different directions for where it is.

She will offer the players roses that she has picked. If the players attempt to harm her, the brambles around her will leap to her defence. 

This is a shade of Briar Rose; the dreams of those in the castle often leak into the reality of the bramble forest. 

She might accompany the players if they ask her too however as soon as they begin their journey again after meeting her she will disappear. Then, the players will all wake up in the dead of night suddenly realizing that the woman was a dream. They will have no recollection of going to sleep.

Part 2

Part 2 will be coming soon! This will involve going into nightmarish palaces and meeting the strange Denizens of Uonaidh's court. 

Until then, enjoy!

Images from Wiki. Commons and by Kathryn Jenkins