#8 from Monstrous, I'm in the home stretch.
For inspiration I am using one of the guilds of Ravnica from Magic: the Gathering. Text in italics is from the book, text in bold is my own.
Izzit - Mob - Draugr
Fear Begets Fear
The progenitor of the draugr was created out of mortal folks' fear of running out of fuel in winter, forever marking the draugr with skeletal, frostbitten bodies.
To grow its ranks, the draugr need fear to spread and it needs frozen corpses.
Mobthink
The more fear spreads, the bigger the draugr grows. And the bigger the draugr grows, the more out of control it becomes.
The draugr starts with the first strength and weakness. When the size of the draugr grows beyond control of the common folk, it gains the second strength and weakness.
Strengths
- Vomit frozen water
- Cause terrible storms where they linger
Weaknesses
- Distracted by opportunities for cruelty
- Murderous jealousy arises in their ranks
Fearmonger
A craven bully, a foreign pyromancer, is benefiting from the fear and chaos that surrounds the draugr.
This force is controlling the draugr from behind the scenes in an effort to force the town to rely on their magic to stay warm.
They will lose control over the draugr if they see the pyromancer use fire magic.
Run Amok
The draugr sows fear and chaos among the mortal folk by sabotaging fuel supplies.
The process starts with freezing firewood, escalates to killing woodcutters, and culminates in burying the town in snow.
And now a quick adventure
Winter has barely begun and yet the northern town of Hvinir is freezing, a plague of draugr slowly killing everyone. It is obvious to all that someone from inside the city is helping them, how else could they breach the warded gates. Everyone is paranoid, neighbor steels from neighbor, friend accuse friend, and soon everyone will be dead.
The big players
The mayor - Haukr
The leader everyone is looking to for guidance but he is helpless to solve anything.
Appearance - A strong old man with a dour expression and eyes as gray as his beard.
Personality - He tries to be a just man but leadership wears down on him, he is always tired, he solves problems directly and without delicacy but not with aggression, he fears chaos above all and will not accuse anyone.
Schedule - In the day he is in the town hall, trying to quell the concerns of his people, at night he secretly dawns a black cloak with green trim (vestments of the old faith) and goes out to the draugr to try and convince them to leave (a fruitless endeavor and he knows it, but what else can he do), before the morning comes he returns and gets a few hours of sleep.
The pyromancer - Jürgen
Foreign in the way the conquistadors were foreign, he is responsible for the towns plight.
Appearance - Wears a fine outfit of orange cloth, eyes smolder like embers, old burns cover his hands, well oiled beard.
Personality - Ambitious and cruel but puts on a mask of charity, he uses the draugr in the hope that he can make the city rely on his fire magic, won't accuse anyone but will gang up on others accusations if it looks like most of the town agrees.
Schedule - In the morning he secludes himself in his shop crafting fire charms, during the day he gives them away for pennies, at dusk goes to the opening in the wall and lets the draugr in and tells them about the guard patrols and where fuel is stored.
The mayor's daughter - Unnr
Reckless but one of the few people here willing to change anything.
Appearance - Long dark hair like her father used to have, wears practical clothes offering good movement and warmth.
Personality - A firebrand, she spurns the help of others, not very talkative, can be very reckless, has no patience for assholes and the meek, considers her father a coward,, worries a lot, tries very hard to be a good person, won't accuse anyone openly but eventually will do something about them, currently most suspicious of the miller.
Schedule - During the day 50/50 chance she is helping the townsfolk directly or investigating who is letting the draugr in, during the night she paces around her room, thinking about how to save Hvinir.
The miller - Sigsteinn
Angry, scared, confused, she lashes out and trusts nobody.
Appearance - Beady blue eyes, a permanently worried expression, blond hair that has lost its luster.
Personality - She used to be a bit of an ass and a miser, now she is a paranoid wreck prone to shouting and screaming, exceptionally terrified of death, has accused everyone on this list at least once, will probably accuse you if you question them.
Schedule - In the morning she wakes up and stares at the ceiling, around noon she gets up and wanders town, raving to anyone who will listen to her, at night she struggles to fall asleep.
The orchardist - Auðr
Vengeful, they are already sure of who is behind all of this.
Appearance - Neat brown hair in a bun, a sour expression on their face.
Personality - Quick to anger and holds a grudge, normally a quite methodical and careful person, currently very stressed and driven by emotion, has a bad habit of thinking everything involves them, thinks all this is a plot by the miller to ruin their trees and will talk about this with anyone who asks.
Schedule - Wakes up early before the sun comes up and wanders town, restless and brooding, during the day rants to anyone who will listen about how wicked the miller is, heads to bed before the sun falls and almost immediately passes out.
The loud peasant - Stigr
Frustrated with this whole situation yet his presence will only lead to more problems.
Appearance - An average sized man with short brown hair and beard, hands calloused from woodcutting, muscular but fat body built for labor.
Personality - Angry, loud, willing to pick fights, his underclass charm makes him surprisingly popular with most of the people in town, mad at the mayor for not doing anything, mad at the miller for being an ass, commends the pyromancer for actually doing something, hasn't made any accusations yet but is close to it.
Schedule - Wakes up at a reasonable time, spends the morning riling people up, midday he and his small mob head to the town hall to pester the mayor, at night he goes to sleep.
Locations in Hvinir
Town hall: A large building within which the mayor takes in the plights of the town and works to fix them, currently it's mostly just full of shouting and arguing.
Wall: A wooden palisade made from thick trees, at each gate (on to the north, south west, and east) are wards and herbs which ward away the draugr, none of them will willingly pass through.
Opening in the wall: A small hole just big enough for a person to crawl through, most of the time it's plugged up by a block of wood, good enough not to be noticed from a distance but would be easily figured out if inspected. Found on the western section of the wall behind the mill.
Pyromancers shop: Simple and recently constructed building from which the pyromancer operates, currently selling small wooden fire charms which burn quite well and for a long time for pennies.
The mill: Powered by wind but hasn't been used recently due to the chaos and the miller's mental state.
The orchard: Once a quite prosperous apple tree orchard, the terrible winter has left all the trees dead, located to the north of town.
Wood stockpile: A large and simple building full of firewood to burn throughout the winter.
Timeline
Day 1: Everyone wakes up to find that half the wood in the wood stockpile has been soaked and frozen, leaving it useless, guards are set up outside the stockpile and wards placed around it similar to those at the gates of town.
Day 2: The orchardist exits town before anyone wakes up and walks through their orchard and broods about their loss for most of the day, gets very angry if anyone asks them what they were up to.
Day 3: The Pyromancer lets in a group of draugr at night, while they attack the guards he breaks into the stockpile and lets the draugr in to freeze the rest of the wood.
Day 4: The miller accuses someone on the streets of being the one letting the draugr in, after an intense screaming match she leaves and locks herself in the mill for the rest of the day.
Day 5: The draugr are strong enough to call down a terrible storm, one of their ranks rises as the king draugr which all the lesser draugr are murderously jealous of.
Day 6: The mayor's daughter kills whoever she is most suspicious of, this will be the miller without any intervention from the players.
Day 7: In the morning the pyromancer leaves town to attack the draugr, realizing the danger he is in, the draugr will end up killing him, the loud peasant and his mob become violent and try to kill the mayor and anyone who serves or is related to him.
Day 8: The snowfall buries the town, everyone dies.
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