Post by Craig Oxbrow on Mar 2, 2010 20:34:31 GMT
Voices In The Dark
The Scottish Highlands. A group of backpackers trudge through a mist-shrouded valley, arguing over where the hostel is supposed to be and why they haven't found it yet, when one of them sees something gleam in the darkness, calls to the others and heads off to take a look. Then a scream echoes through the glen. Running up, his friends find no sign of him. And then something swoops down on them as well.
Two days later, Mountain Rescue are still searching along with local volunteers, including a group from St. Andrew's University lead by an expert in local history and mythology. He's heard stories like this before, legends of Fair Folk and unearthly spirits stealing people away, going back centuries, and reading a lot like reports of alien abductions from more recent decades. A group of passing travellers could be caught up in the search, or a call to UNIT could follow the reported disappearances.
The only village nearby is governed by the local Laird. He offers his manor house as a base camp for the search. He dismisses the lecturer's theory, but he knows more than he claims, revealing this accidentally when correcting the lecturer on a detail in one of his stories.
And some of the local stories involve lairds and other noblemen in league with magicians and devils. Such is the case here.
The Laird is harbouring the Liannan, an otherworldly psychic entity. Decades ago, he found the carved sacrificial stone she inhabited, broken after a cave-in, and took a piece in order to control her. He has been feeding her victims for years to give her the power to heal him of a fatal heart disease. The Laird is keeping the rest of the backpackers locked in the manor's cellar for now, hoping to barter their lives for a complete cure and an extended lifespan. But now she is powerful enough that with just a few more deaths she can take physical form and escape, kill him and take her revenge on humanity for her treatment.
Things To Do: Organise the search with the Laird's apparent help, find and free the surviving backpackers, stop the Laird and the Liannan before either of them can kill again.
Antagonists: The Liannan, a beautiful and deadly psychic "ghost". The Laird, and some of his staff like a ghillie armed with a sniper rifle. Wary local authorities might add to the complications if the characters lack apparent official backing, or if the Laird tricks them into action.
Action Scenes: Escaping through the misty woods, sneaking into Laird's manor, confronting the Laird and the Liannan.
Problems: If the Liannan escapes, she will escape to the caves under the hills, to bond with the stone she was born from. She could be impossible to reach, until she emerges at full power. If the Laird has a chance, he will raise a hue and cry among the villagers against the Liannan, or the characters if he thinks he can frame them for the deaths of the backpackers. A persuasive leader could stop this.
Things To Prepare For: Maps of the village and the manor could be helpful. The sense of isolation and wilderness, The Thirty-Nine Steps by way of The Wicker Man and The Descent, might jar with the knowledge that the group are less than twenty miles from a decent-sized city - so the Laird's men could sabotage their vehicle and cut off their communications.
Continuing the Adventure: Are there other unearthly beings waiting in the caves? Are the stories of a way to the land of the Fair Folk under the earth true? Are people taken there still alive, perhaps in stasis, years or even centuries after they vanished?
The Scottish Highlands. A group of backpackers trudge through a mist-shrouded valley, arguing over where the hostel is supposed to be and why they haven't found it yet, when one of them sees something gleam in the darkness, calls to the others and heads off to take a look. Then a scream echoes through the glen. Running up, his friends find no sign of him. And then something swoops down on them as well.
Two days later, Mountain Rescue are still searching along with local volunteers, including a group from St. Andrew's University lead by an expert in local history and mythology. He's heard stories like this before, legends of Fair Folk and unearthly spirits stealing people away, going back centuries, and reading a lot like reports of alien abductions from more recent decades. A group of passing travellers could be caught up in the search, or a call to UNIT could follow the reported disappearances.
The only village nearby is governed by the local Laird. He offers his manor house as a base camp for the search. He dismisses the lecturer's theory, but he knows more than he claims, revealing this accidentally when correcting the lecturer on a detail in one of his stories.
And some of the local stories involve lairds and other noblemen in league with magicians and devils. Such is the case here.
The Laird is harbouring the Liannan, an otherworldly psychic entity. Decades ago, he found the carved sacrificial stone she inhabited, broken after a cave-in, and took a piece in order to control her. He has been feeding her victims for years to give her the power to heal him of a fatal heart disease. The Laird is keeping the rest of the backpackers locked in the manor's cellar for now, hoping to barter their lives for a complete cure and an extended lifespan. But now she is powerful enough that with just a few more deaths she can take physical form and escape, kill him and take her revenge on humanity for her treatment.
Things To Do: Organise the search with the Laird's apparent help, find and free the surviving backpackers, stop the Laird and the Liannan before either of them can kill again.
Antagonists: The Liannan, a beautiful and deadly psychic "ghost". The Laird, and some of his staff like a ghillie armed with a sniper rifle. Wary local authorities might add to the complications if the characters lack apparent official backing, or if the Laird tricks them into action.
Action Scenes: Escaping through the misty woods, sneaking into Laird's manor, confronting the Laird and the Liannan.
Problems: If the Liannan escapes, she will escape to the caves under the hills, to bond with the stone she was born from. She could be impossible to reach, until she emerges at full power. If the Laird has a chance, he will raise a hue and cry among the villagers against the Liannan, or the characters if he thinks he can frame them for the deaths of the backpackers. A persuasive leader could stop this.
Things To Prepare For: Maps of the village and the manor could be helpful. The sense of isolation and wilderness, The Thirty-Nine Steps by way of The Wicker Man and The Descent, might jar with the knowledge that the group are less than twenty miles from a decent-sized city - so the Laird's men could sabotage their vehicle and cut off their communications.
Continuing the Adventure: Are there other unearthly beings waiting in the caves? Are the stories of a way to the land of the Fair Folk under the earth true? Are people taken there still alive, perhaps in stasis, years or even centuries after they vanished?
