Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Merry Christmas to everyone!  With the coming of the new year and the hectic pace of holidays I'm taking a few days off until next year.  I hope you and yours have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Vase of Katzu Part 17

The Vase of Katzu
The third room on the right is bare.  There is no furniture or trappings, not even bones. There is a small scorch mark in the middle of the once fine carpets where there was an intense fire.

For the GM, this was the nursery of the two youngest children, one and three. The master, before the curse took him completely, wanted to spare the babies the pain of the curse so he killed them then burned all their belongings and them in a hot, magical fire, so he would not be burdened by his deed.

The Vase of Katzu Part 16

The Vase of Katzu
The second room on the right hand side has been ripped apart. Once fine furniture is busted into dozens of pieces. Silk drapes are in shreds.  Vases and sconces are smashed.  Blankets are strewn about, dotted with blood. The room holds many skeletons and rotted corpses, some of which come to life at your entrance.

For the GM this is one of the daughter's room who has gone completely insane. When the party begins to fight the undead, she will appear and attack the party.  She is slightly higher level then the party, but level can be adjusted as needed.  If they by-pass her room she is in the sitting room with her brother.

The Vase of Katzu Part 15

The Vase of Katzu
The first door on the right is unlocked, but the door is shut.  Inside is a large sitting room with an adjacent sleeping room and a bathing room.  The doors for those rooms are wide open.  The room's furniture is in good shape, books sit on the tables as if in the process of being read, and lamps glow, illuminating the room.  There is a small chest to one side, which is locked.  The bathing room has a large tub, (big enough for two people to stretch out in it), and towels and rugs.  The bedroom has a well made wood framed bed, with lots of lovely blankets upon the bed, along with a clothing closet with clothes that are actually in good shape but centuries out of faashions.

For the GM, the occupant of this room, one of the sons, named Peter, is in the sitting room, at the moment, reading a book.  If the group makes enough noise he will come investigate.  The chest has some good, a few magic rings, and some books with spells. The lock is a medium challenging lock.

The Vase of Katzu Part 14

The Vase of Katzu
The second floor is just as large as the floor below.  This floor is clearly bedrooms and seems to be fairly dust free.  The hall way is very large and ends in an open sitting room.  The doors are closed, except for the one nearest the sitting room.

For the GM, most of the rest of the family are up here, though you can adjust the number as needed.  The only one not on this floor is the master of the family. He is up stairs, in the master suites.  There are six bedrooms, three of which have occupants.  Jarvis does come up stairs and dust and clean on occasion, so it's not to dirty up here.  There are some fresher corpses up here and a few live victims that have not been drained yet.

The Vase of Katzu Part 13

The Vase of Katzu
From the kitchen one can reach what must have been a dinning or ball room.  There is door on the far side of the ballroom that leads to what appears to be a coach entrance, so guests don't have to come in through the house.  The ballroom is unlit and enormous.  Hundreds of people could fit in the room, easily.  There is not furniture, though there are a few broken tables and chairs here and there.

This is where the twin boys, Zac and Toren stay much of the time.  They have gone completely insane and seem to have lengthy conversations with skeletons, (which were once their betrothed ladies).  If the skeletons are attacked, (or just approached) or if they are attacked, they will attack back.

The Vase of Katzu Part 12

The Vase of Katzu
The kitchen is trashed, though it appears that the hearth has been used recently.  All the pots and pans are cracked or thrown around the room.  There is no visible food, not even any rodents scurrying about.

For the GM, the hearth was used by one of the family members to roast one of their victims. If the group digs through the ashes, they will find human bones.  Those cursed usually just suck out the victims blood, but a few have taken to eating their flesh, as well.

The Vase of Katzu Part 11

The Vase of Katzu
The end of the hallway ends in a door, which is unlocked.  If opened, it squeaks only a little, and leads to a stairway on the left and a door to the right.  The stairs do not appear dusty and looks used, but it is hard to see as the stairs reach into the dark.

The stairs are a hazard. Though Jarvis has done a good job at dusting and keeping things clean, he has not been able to keep things structurally sound.  There are three steps to the next floor that will break if stepped on.  Roll a D6 for each person on each step to see if they fall through or at least get stuck until you have three broken (there are 16 steps total) or they make it to the next floor.  The door leads to a kitchen, which I will detail tomorrow.

The Vase of Katzu Part 10

The Vase of Katzu
The second door on left opens up into a library, who's contents are untouched by time.  The tables and shelves are dust free, the drapes, in perfect condition, are drawn back to let the light in and no critters scuttle from the light from the doorway.  No one, whether alive or dead, appear to be in here.

For the GM, the moment the group enters they will draw the ire of the master of the house.  He will not appear himself, but send his son to deal with the group.  They have a while to search the room before he enters.  Treat him like a vampire of slightly higher level then the group.  If you need more of a challenge, bring a few skeletons with him.  The master has left this room untouched because it is the one place he can remember being human and he comes here to relax when need be.  A single difference between these people and vampires is that sunlight does not affect them, (if that is a rule in your campaign), so the window being open will not hurt them.  Jarvis comes in here to dust on occasion and tidy up, as well.

The Vase of Katzu Part 9

The Vase of Katzu
The first door on the left is a storage room, with shelves, coat racks, and even some brooms to sweep up after any messes.  A single skeleton, dressed in a shredded uniform, rises as the group enters.  But he doesn't attack, he simply extends his bony hand, his jaw working as if he is talking.

For the GM, this skeleton, though affected by the curse that grips all those killed by the family to feed their need for death and souls, the butler did not become a brutal killer.  He is forever devoted to his task of welcoming guests and making sure their gear is stored.  Though he can not talk, (since he's missing his larynx), he is ever polite, even if the group attacks him.  If there is a priest that puts him to rest, his soul will thank the group, tell them his name is Jarvis, and that most of the family has closeted themselves through out the building, only coming out to find some unfortunate soul in the surrounding area to keep them self alive an somewhat sane.

The Vase of Katzu Part 8

The Vase of Katzu
The second door on the right is a smashed up parlor.  There are several skeletons in this room, strewn with broken furniture.  Mice scurry from the light, disturbing the skeletons, causing them to rise, weapons in hand.

For the GM this room has little in the ways of treasure, other then in a corner, under the floor board, is a small treasure one of the family hid from the others in one of his moments of clarity after the curse was brought upon them.  The skeletons are the same as the others, but they have breast plates that elude magic, giving them a +1 to armor. (Or the equivalent in your game.)

The Vase of Katzu Part 7

The Vase of Katzu Part 7
The first door on the right is locked, but once opened leads into a small study.  There is large, mahogany desk, bookshelves, beautiful tapestries, candle holders and fine rugs.  Strangely, they are all in fine shape, as is a young woman who wakes up at their approach from where she sits in the chair behind the desk.  She speaks at your entrance.

"You can not break the curse that father brought upon this family and killed the lovely city of Katzu without killing us all.  He always wanted too much.  If you don't, you will become our source of power or become part of the curse."  She pauses and sighs sadly.  "Or both.  I don't know which is worse.  I've lived too long like this.  I want it all to end."

For the GM, Sarah Katzu appears to be in her mid thirties, though clearly she is centuries old.  She is the youngest of five children born by Kasey Katzu and her husband Theodore Katzu.  They are the ones who brought about the curse to save their oldest son.  It only affected their oldest son, Sam, at first, but eventually the whole family was brought into the curse as the dark power grew.  Sarah will answer any question the party asks honestly, for she truly does want the curse to end and the natives to be able to reclaim their island without fear.

The Vase of Katzu Part 6

The door from the greeting room leads to a hallway which ends in a set of double doors.  There are two single doors spaced equally on each side.  All the doors seem to be intact.  When you go into the hallway the light stones come to life on their own, showing a hallway with a dusty carpet, niches with small statuettes, and broken furniture along with skeletons strewn along it's length.

For the GM, these skeletons are the same as those in the greeting room, but with no weapons to attack with, just claws.  The doors are all locked and are protected by strengthening magic, thus they can not just be busted in easily.  The statuettes are just what the collector is looking for and have a small taint of dark magic upon them from the curse.

The Vase of Katzu Part 5

The Vase of Katzu
The greeting room is about ten by ten feet.  Strangely there are still rotting tapestries and furniture, along with two skeletons with long swords at their side and pikes still in hand.  They appear to have been attacked without giving fight and with their flesh gone, it's hard to say exactly what killed them.  There are some vases and other fine decorations, which if they are cleaned up, would be exactly what your patron is looking for.

For the GM the two skeletons are harder then normal skeletons, because of the curse, but they were killed by the royalty of the manor who had run out of people to kill for their life saving blood and souls.  The guards didn't know what hurt them and since they were not really affected by the curse before their death, but created as undead because of the way they died, they are only nasty, non-reasoning skeletons.

The Vase of Katzu Part 4

The Vase of Katzu Part 4
The trip to the giant mansion in the middle of the ruins takes some time.  Small villages could fit in this building.  Strangely, no plant life has taken over the ruins and it seems to be completely intact, compared to the other buildings.  The main doors are a set of double doors and all the ground floor windows are shuttered, though some of the other floors have windows that are open.  The building is 3 floors tall.

For the GM this building has a curse upon it, as well as the people who once lived in the building.  In the later years of the city the leaders of the city were performing blood sacrifices of innocents to keep their youth so they could live for ever.  The manor will be filled with ghosts, undead and other creepy fellows.

The Vase of Katzu Part 3

The Vase of Katzu
The ruins of this city rise out of the jungle all of the sudden. A lot of the buildings are intact, though the walls and the roofs are slightly holey. The jungle has grown up on the roads and through the buildings which are painted in once beautiful frescoes that have faded with time.  There doesn't appear to be any people, but there are sounds of wildlife from inside.

For the GM the ruins are huge, so you can have as many, or as few intact buildings as you wish.  The ruins will hold all sorts of pottery, day to day objects, some statuettes and even a few coins here are there.  There is also a lot of wildlife, so you can have as many, or few, encounters as you want or need. In the center of the ruins is a mansion of huge proportions, (which I will describe in the following posts), and this is where the fun will begin.  You should also be rolling for a small chance for encounters with the "natives".  They are descendants of the people who lived in the city, who do not want anything to do with the ruins but don't want anyone else disturbing them.  Until they group goes into the ruins, the natives will not harm them. But if they go into the ruins, the natives may follow and attack the group.

Happy Halloween!

Well, another Halloween!  As the kids run around in their costumes, getting charged up with all sorts of sugar, and parents hand out candy and scare little kids, I hope you all have a fun and a safe day!
Happy Halloween everyone!

The Vase of Katzu Part 2

The Vase of Katzu Part 2
The island itself is overgrown with tropical trees, underbrush and strange wildlife.  When the group lands, (or crashes as your GM decides) the group finds traces of a very old paved road.  The paving stones, for it isn't smooth, are missing in places, or trees and other plant life have burst through the road way, though the group can see where it was once traveled heavily.  There are heavy ruts in places where the stones are still in place, so heavy freight traffic must have once run on this road.  It heads east from where the group lands/crashes. 

For the GM, on the way to the ruins this would be a good time for the group to be attacked by the local wildlife and you can hint, subtly, at the possibility of people on the island. More on the "natives" to come.  There is plenty of fruit trees to gather food from, but you should have the party make gathering rolls to ensure they know, (or don't know) the fruit is good for them to eat.

The Vase of Katzu

The Vase of Katzu
The vase the collector found has a map to an island off the eastern coast of Taina and north of the Dwarven Islands.  This island is supposed to hold a city that has been forgotten to time, though it does not say why it was abandoned or who originally lived there.  The collector wants to send an expedition there to see what can be found.  Though he's sure there is all sorts of treasure, he would like those he hires to bring him back precious items such as vases, weapons, or other sort of mundane items.  The gold coins and the like are of little interest to him.  He plans on paying for any equipment a group may need and the boat that needs to be hired to get there.

For the GM you can have the party make it without issue to the island or be attacked on the boat ride by all sorts of monsters or pirates, that's up to you.  There is always the option of smashing the ships when they reach the island too and having them have to figure out how to get back home.  More to come on the island itself next post.

Timeline for After Chaos (AC) Part 246

Year 246 AC
Water flows out of the banks of many rivers this spring because of the good snow pack and very warm spring.  Some areas are unable to plant crops and food, though not scarce, is not as easy to come by for winter supplies.

A vase is bought by a collector and he finds a map wrapped tightly inside.  It supposedly leads to an ancient city who was known for its magic.