Continuing my adaptation of the AD&D 2nd Edition Ravenloft module RQ1
Night of the Walking Dead to Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne, Robert E.
Howard’s Cormac Fitzgeoffrey stories, and the mid-14th Century Petite Camargue region
of France.
Part One can be found here. Note that this post is system and version agnostic. I am fleshing out NPCs useful for all version of all RPGs.
In this post I shall examine in greater detail the NPCs Mordu & Brucian and look for opportunities to flesh them out more. There is a “riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” in this adventure for the PCs to figure out. If they succeed, they will have a much easier time defeating the “monster.” In order to “peel back the layers of the onion,” they must cleverly interrogate the NPCs, oftentimes repeatedly going back to the key NPCs once the PCs have new information. The riddle, mystery, and enigma are of course Marcel, Jean, and La Mère de Crapauds. The key NPCs are Brucian, Gremin, and Mordu (and possibly others). Another way to look at the NPCs are the primary group consists of Marcel, Jean, and the Mother; the secondary group consists of Brucian, Gremin, and Mordu while all of the other named NPCs are in the tertiary group. When I conduct a deeper examination of the tertiary NPCs, some may get promoted to secondary depending on how the story emerges.
“MORDU” [SHMU’EL or HARELEY?]
I put the NPC name Mordu in quotation marks because I am changing the name. At the moment I am torn between Samuel (Shmu’el) des Garennes and Harley de Warenne. As I noted in Part VI of this series, I want to replace Mordu with either Harley Warren from Lovecraft’s short story The Statement of Randolph Carter or with Lovecraft’s friend Samuel Loveman whom Warren is based on. Mordu and Warren are both occultists. Loveman was not an occultist per se, but he did posesses a library of rare first edition antique books. For our purposes, the real question is whether the replacement for Mordu should be an Anglo-Norman (Harley de Warenne) or a Sephardic Jew from Toledo (Samuel des Garennes). Although it should be noted that “Garennes” is also Northern French name so Garennes does not exactly work for Shmu’el. The advantage of going with Samuel is that it gives me a chance to toss in a reference to both the alleged black magick taught in Toledo as well as the pogroms against the Jews. Whereas using Harley is a direct reference to Lovecraft’s character who also appeared in The Silver Key and Through the Gates of the Silver Key. At this point I am leaning more towards a Norman French (Normandean?) alchemist who found refuge in Crapuad Village and is seen as an eccentric conspiracy theorist rather than Sephardic Jew who studied the Kaballah. The memory of Kalkstein from the Witcher is still quite strong, and while he is an Ashkenazi rather than Sephardic Jew, I would rather keep the reference to a Lovecraft character than suggest elements of the Witcher.
One challenge I have with the character is, ‘how to present him as a viable suspect in the disappearances and murders?’ While Louise will admit that Harley is one of her best customers, it becomes readily apparent that Harley is harmless.
I think that in order to make him a proper “red herring,” I should play up a Dr. Henry Jekyll (pronounced Jee-kul) angle. In other words, a character who oozes Law and Good. A gentle and kind soul who performs all manner of alchemical experiments in his search for “scientific” cures but also provides much needed medical care for the villagers.
So despite being a Northener, Harley was trained in medicine at the Montpelhièr School of Médecine. He is literate in Greek and Latin and is a devotee of Hippocrates, Galen, and Averroes — although he is quick to point out that the late Etienne Tempier, Bishop of Paris condemned 219 theses of Averroes’s philosphy but not his medical knowledge.
The village should think very well of Dr. Harley and view him as above reproach rather than as the town eccentric. — Again, because his primary role in this story is to be a viable suspect. Otherwise, the presence of blood liquorice will directly point to Jean as the killer–at–large.
While Dr. Harley appears as above reproach, there must be at least three clues that hint if not outright suggest a motive for murder. What could they be?
First off, his bachelorhood can be suspect. Perhaps Dr. Harley is romantically and/or sexually frustrated. Would he not be the most elgible bachelor in the village?
Is his big secret that he is actually homosexual? But that he is in denial of his homosexuality? But if that were so, I should think he would be more likely to murder young men who arouse such forbidden feelings in him rather than young women. — Or at least that is what the PCs may come to believe since it is actually Jean doing the murdering.
But coming back to the idea of the local “crank,” eccentric, or “conspiracy-theorist;” I think he can still be a well-respected medicus and alchemist that has views and beliefs that the Players will dismiss out–of–hand, exempli gratia Humorism, the idea that the body is controlled by four humors, being black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood which in turn lead to four different temperments. And also the “benefits” of bloodletting.
But there remains two design issues to overcome — the first is to determine what other clues besides the blood liquorice suggest that Dr. Harley is the killer? And the second is whether or not he is part of the Toad Mother cult and if not, what is his knowledge of it, position on it, and how others view his knowledge (or lack thereof) of it?
With regards to the Toad Mother cult, it is tempting to depict Dr. Harley as a devoted Christian who is slowly coming to the horrified realisation of an ancient pagan practice similar to Sgt. Neil Howie in the film The Wicker Man. But I have a difficult time believing that a given village would tolerate a non-comformist for very long. Either he would have to join the cult or be killed out of fear of reporting the villagers to the Inquisition. After all, the Albigensian Crusade (Crosada dels albigeses) happened right here in the province of Lengadòc (or Provença) less then a century ago.
Lengadòc or Provença? On a parenthetical note, the area around Le Petit Ròze historically has fluctuated between the Viscounty of Nimes (later Lengadòc) and the Comté de Provença. It appears that by 1348, the Viscounty of Nimes has become Lengadòc and enfeoffed to the French Crown but the entirety of the Camarga region is part of the Comté de Provença. The current soverign of Provença is Joanna I Queen of Naples. However — and this is very important — my admittedly limited research is quite contradictory with regards to who actually controls our area of interest in 1348. I imagine that the locals gave up a long time ago trying to keep track of who’s who at that level. They know that Crapaud Manoir is enfeoffed to Aigas Mòrtas and that is that. It is most likely irrelevant to even Sieur Jean that Aigas Mòrtas belongs to the French Crown but that Crapaud Manoir iteself is surrounded by land claimed by the Queen of Naples.
Getting back to Dr. Harley… if he is part of the cult, then he would not speak of it to the PCs. In fact, if pressed he would probably do his best to misdirect the PCs. It is very important to remember that the PCs are strangers, foreigners, outlanders, and outsiders. While the villagers will soon come to trust the PCs in terms of dealing with the mysterious deaths, they will worry that the PCs will inform the Inquistion and The Church. It is only after (or if) the PCs strike a deal with the Toad Mother, can anyone in the village truly trust them.
Harley de Warenne need not be an active supporter of the cult. Like most of the villagers, he sees it as a practical relationship. The Toad Mother is a very real and present force in the village. Her force can be for good or for evil. Her power is greater than theirs and if angered could wipe them all out before any succor from ecclesiastical or civil authorities (who would most likely burn them at the stake even if they did “help”). Privately he could still be a Christian who fears for his immortal soul at supporting her. But if that were true, why does he stay?
Why does anyone stay? On another parenthetical note, why do any of the non-natives (Brucian, Gremin, Harley, & al.) who are obstensibly Christian or Jewish, remain in the village subject to the authority of the Toad Mother cult? Surely the reason must be the threat of death! Anyone who discovers the truth of the Cult must either join or die. That is of course as harsh as it can possibly get, but such harshness is justified (in the cultist’s minds) because their very survival depends on staying “off the radar” of both the Inquisition and The Church. And since the Toad Mother is a very real and active force, it is not going to just be the cultists that threaten violence, it will also be the Mother herself. I can easily imagine someone trying to sneak out in the dead of night, only to become entangled by the vegetation and then surrounded by a multitude of carnivorous frogs croaking in anticipation of a feast.
Now that we know why Dr. Harley de Warenne stays, perhaps he may drop some hints of his imprisonment. In fact, this gives us the opportunity for all of the non-natives to drop some hints of their imprisonment or conversion.
But getting back to De Warenne as a murder suspect, what else besides the sanguine liquorice would point to him? Perhaps somebody in the village suspects him of being disloyal to the Cult and wants to deflect attention from Jean? Could Harley get framed for the murders? I think that later on in this series, it is worth combing through the adventure to find opportunities to plant such seeds.
Does Dr. Harley have a familiar? If he did, it would no doubt be a frog keeping a watchful eye on him. I can imagine a creepy scene where Harley glances nervously at the frog whenever the conversation steers into dangerous territory.
I already covered his game statistics in Part VI, so let us have a look at how he views the other inhabitants of Crapaud Manoir (and perhaps how they view him as well):
Harley’s Views on other NPCs
I think it is very important to cross-reference all the major NPC interactions. This helps the both the designer and the Game Master to “bring the characters to life.
Frère Brucian: Harley is aghast at what he perceives as a gross hypocrisy of Brucian. A Scottish Blackfriar preacher who has come to this village and rather than rescuing it from pagan bondage, only strengthens it. Aside from that, he respects Brucian’s intellect and education but does his best to minimise his interractions with the preacher.
Deruno le Nain: Harley has a good relationship with the dwarf (not dwarven) merchant Deruno as he depends on him for many of his provisions, especially glassware. Harley and Deruno share a fear of retaliation if they dare speak a word against the cult or about the cult to anyone. Deruno is especially careful since he travels to nearby markets to purchase his wares and is undoubtedly watched. Perhaps Deruno is always accompanied by a frog…!
Fiora: Harley has very little to say about the widow Fiora due to their lack of interraction.
Serjeaunt Gremin: Harley gets nervous and anxious when Gremin’s name is mentioned. Gremin is the village’s enforcer and will undoubtedly come for him when the Cult no longer needs him.
Jean, Sieur de Crapaud Manoir: Harley believes that Jean has wed the Toad Mother in actuality and not just ceremonially. De Warenne also believes that Jean is the eldest son of the Toad Mother. He also believes that the bond between Jean and his twin brother Marcel is supernatural and extends beyond death. Which is precisely why Jean has sank into a black malaise.
Jordi le Forgeron & Nadine: Harley believes that Jordi’s mother was very controlling in an unhealthy way when Jordi was a child. Furthermore that Jordi experienced a traumatic event which has left him very quiet but De Warenne is not sure what that trauma was. Once the PCs tell Harley of Jordi’s reaction to Luc, Harley will get quite excited and press for details.
Katha the Barmaid: Harley finds Katha to be quite tiresome. Undoubtedly the PCs will figure out that De Warenne would rather do all the talking and none of the listening much like Katha but more in a stereotypically lonely old man way.
Louise la Boulangère: Louise is an extraordinary confectionary! Harley is an admitted sanguine liquorice addict. He contends that Louise has a good heart and a gentle soul. That she puts her affections for the villagers into each of her creations.
Luc: Dr. Harley regards Luc as a sensitive soul who became posessed by a demon when he witnessed Luc’s grisly death. After all, whenever anyone suffers a terrible shock, their psychic defences are worn down and thus become open to posession. Despite Brucian’s unwillingness to exorcise the demon from Luc, Dr. Harley believes that he can use medicine and alchemy to cure Luc of the posession if but given a chance. It will of course, take considerable time and money, but it will no doubt be successful.
Marcel: Marcel was a wastrel and a rake. He had always been cruel and petty with a unhealthy fixation on black magick. It was only a matter of time before he got in over his head and got himself killed.
Marcus le Charpentier: Marcus is a staunch and upstanding freeman of the village, a pillar of the community and serves as an acolyte to Frère Brucian as needed.
Pierrot le Sacrestain: Pierrot epitomises the maxim “ignorance is bliss.” He lives in his own world and denies everything that threatens it.
Tomas Levi le Tailleur: Tomas is very accomodating and does not wish to “rock the boat.” In spite of speaking lovingly of the Marselha fashions, he has never gone there (or anywhere for that matter), at least since Harley arrived. Like most men, Tomas is good in his heart but cowardly in his actions.
FRÈRE BRUCIAN
As I mentioned in Part IX, Brucian is a Dominican preaching Blackfriar originally from Scotland. He compromised his faith in order to protect the village from the wrath of the Mother. Brucian is wracked by guilt but does his best to hide it as well as hide the cult of the heleionoma from the PCs. He is good friends with Serjeant Gremin as they are both foreigners as well as social equals. I can easily imagine them playing chess with each other in their spare time, especially the during rainy days of winter. His standoffish attitude towards the PCs is due to the fact this parish is Christian in name only. The memory of the Crosada dels Albigeses is still strong here even if it is a century old. Brucian is however, a man of very good intentions hence his alignment/intent is Neutral/Good. He is able to traverse the wetlands to tend to Luc precisely because he has the blessings of La Mère des Crapauds.
In game terms, he is most certainly not a cleric! Remember that clerics have been repurposed as unarmoured & disarmed saints and that saints are a rare occurence. For purposes of NWN, I shall make him a Commoner but if I were using Green Ronin’s Medieval Player’s Manual by David Chart (of Ars Magica fame), I would make him a Canonist. However, for our purposes the difference between a 3e Commoner and a MPM Canonist are largely irrelevant as the latter deals primarily with political influence.
As for level, what level does Brucian need to be? For our purposes, he could be first level! In this adventure, Brucian is a source of information and motivation. He is not a combatant and there is no option of him joining the PCs in combat.
Rant: I really like the idea of 0-level NPCs as explained by Gygax in the AD&D DMG. The overwhelming vast majority of the NPCs in the world are not adventurers and do not need levels. The D&D 3rd Edition equivalent are 1st level Commoners. However, there have been many adventures written where the temple priests are always mid- to high-level adventuring clerics! And these are AD&D modules (T1 Hommlet) and Dragon Magazine adventures! My philosphy for a very, very long time has been to design areas and adventures to first be as mundane and historical as possible and only then to introduce the phantastic — in that way, the weird and magical has a greater impact due to the contrast. In a similar fashion, PCs should be able to wade through crowds of 0-level soldiers by the time they reach 4th level. So I try hard to limit the levels and/or hit dice of NPCs and monsters where I can. As an example, take the Wolf Man. A werewolf who was killed by a single silver bullet shot by a 0-level human. Does the Wolf Man need more than a single hit die?!? The fact that he could only be harmed by silver makes him almost unkillable! Oh sure, we could say that the 0-level human got lucky and scored a critical hit as well a rolling a 6 on the d6 for damage which makes a total of 12 points of damage. So the Wolf Man is a 3 hit dice werewolf? Or can we have him be just 1 hit die? What is wrong with letting the PCs take out a werewolf with a single silver-tipped arrow? After all, that is exactly what happened in the film.
Brucian’s Views on other NPCs
Mother of Toads: Brucian is quite conflicted about her. On the one hand, he is appreciative of her protecting the village (prior to Marcel’s death) and ensuring its fertility but on the other, she is a marsh nymph — a child of a fallen angel. To worhip her is to commit idolatry and heresy! But to scorn her is to invite death! And so Brucian does his best to preach the Gospel of Our Lord while acknowledging the Mother of Toads as the soverign mother of the village and its enirons. It is a very difficult line for him to walk and puts him under constant duress.
With regards to the PCs, he will not speak of her in any way until after they have met with her. Just like everyone else in the village, Brucian is afraid that the PCs will eventually alert the Inquisition even if unintentionally yet sees them as possibly helping with the latest menace.
Jean Crapaud: Prior to Marcel’s death, Brucian fond Jean to be a rather ordinary gentleman. Other than his uncanny empathy shared with his twin Marcel, Jean had not been particularly noteworthy in his virtues nor his sins. However, now Brucian is very concerned. After Marcel’s death, Jean no longer attends mass nor confesses his sins. Brucian is also concerned that Jean is neglecting his wife and mother, Our Lady of Toads although on this he is less certain. The nymph is a very lonely creature with a seemingly insatiable lust and always moans whenever Brucian visits her. The fact of the matter is, Jean avoids all contact with Brucian whatsoever. Brucian has tried writing to Jean, but nothing seems to get Jean to reply.
With regards to the PCs, initially all Brucian will say is that Jean is very busy. As the PCs prove their worth, he will share more of his concerns but cautiously and slowly.
Marcel Crapaud: Brucian never liked Marcel and judged him a wicked man. Marcel refused to attend mass or confess his sins of which there were undoubtedly many. That Marcel died as a direct result of his disobedience to Our Lord is no surprise. That his death has brought and continues to bring terror to the village is downright frightening. Surely Marcel did something to anger Our Lord so that now the village is paying the price… or that the Adversary is using Marcel to wreck havok upon the village.
But deep down, Frère Brucian fears that Our Lord has abandoned us because of our idolatry and heresy. That Marcel as a slave to the Adversary is free to wreck his vengeance and that the Mother is unable to do anything. And he blames himself for this. He who has been afraid to stand up to the Mere, afraid of martyrdom. He has been judged and found wanting. That he was sent here to rescue the idolaters from damnation and failed. Now it is time to reap what the village has sowed. Crapaud Village is now doomed like Sodom & Gomorrah.
Luc Crapaud: Prior to the incident, Luc has been a mild-mannered sheep, a gentle soul, a naïf who followed his brother around like a puppy dog. Jean was usually too busy for Luc but Marcel took advantage of him. Luc has always posessed a weak personality and always granted the last person who spoke to him too much influence. The only times Luc attended mass and made his confessions was when Brucian reminded him. Far too often, Marcel would take Luc away while on his way to church.
It would seem that Luc was the favourite of the Mother’s three living sons. He never left her hut of his own accord. It was always one of the brothers or Brucian himself who had to pull him away. In hindsight, Brucian thinks that they should have left Luc with her. He would never have been scared witless and the Mother would not be lonely.
Brucian freely gives his opinion on Luc except for the references to the Mother until after they have her support. Brucian genuinely fears for Luc’s soul and sees him as a lost sheep.
Interestingly, Brucian does not believe that Luc is posessed by a demon like Dr. Harley does. Why is that? Brucian must have some experience with lost souls. He might believe that Luc is being chased by demons or something similar to account for Luc’s attention being directed inward rather than outward like everyone else. In other words, that Luc’s spirit is in a fight which demands most of his attention or that his soul is untethered from the body or at least the tether has become extraordinarily long. In any event, Brucian prays for Luc during each mass.
The Bascolm Family: Jerald and Henrietta are faithful members of the congregation as are their children, Jerald junior and Lillin. It is a shame that despite their best efforts, we get so few travelers anymore. The guest rooms of the hospitale remain empty most of the time. In days past, pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land would stop here for the night and marvel at the dishes of sanguine rice.
Katha: Be careful with Katha for she is the village gossip. While it is easy to get her to speak, it is hard to get her to stop. And what she says is not always the truth. Katha is more concerned with a good story and shall not let the facts get in the way.
The Fairies [Vistani]: The are the children of fallen angels, condemned to walk the earth until the Day of Judgment. As such, many but not all of what they say are lies. Take everything they say with a grain of salt.
Louise la Boulangère: “Louise is a devout and pious soul who takes great pleasure in the joy her baked goods give us. Although sometimes I wish she were not so generous” jokes the good friar as he examines his girth.
Marcus le Charpentier: Marcus is committed and devout. Brucian depends heavily upon him in assisting the services. He also does fine woodwork. Our Lady has rewarded Marcus and his wife with a bounty of healthy children.
Pierrot le Sacrestain: Pierrot (“Pete”) is a quiet, modest, and humble man who does Our Lord’s work. He is one of the meek who shall inherit the earth.
Sgt. Gremin: Brucian has a great deal of respect for Serjeaunt Gremin. A foreigner like himself (Brucian is from Scotland and Gremin from “Russia”) who has fully integrated into the village. Gremin married a local lass named Sara and steadfastly supports Sieur Jean, the Mother, and the local customs and laws. Gremin has found a home here and protects it like a sow does her piglets.
The death of Gremin’s son Marc was tragic and horrifying. His body dessicated as if eaten by a titanic spider.
Dr. Harley de Warenne: Brucian has an uneasy relationship with Harley. Outwardly, the good doctor does his duty, attends mass, and worships the Mother as necessary. But Brucian cannot shake his feeling that it is all for show. De Warenne must posess some terrible secret and/or have ulterior motives.
Brucian willingly lets the PCs believe that Dr. Harley has some terrible secrets and/or plans and will even hint at it. That is because Brucian wants the truth to come out without himself having to be the one to confront De Warenne. Is Dr. Harley capable of murder? Everyone is, be assured. Harley may well be a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Deruno le Nain: Deruno also puts on a show of obeisance like Harley, but Brucian believes that Deruno’s motives are far more banal. Deruno is strictly concerned with his business providing for his family and has no further ambitions whatsoever. Brucian does not believe Deruno is particularly pious — namely that he is when it is necessary. Unfortunately this is true of most people, they only remember Our Lord when they are desperate.
Jordi le Forgeron & Nadine: The disappearance of the son Colin, is worrisome. He served at the big house. For that matter, no-one has seen or heard of any of the servants for some time now.
Fiora: Brucian checks in on her almost daily. Fiora is a widow and her daughter was working at the big house before her disappearance. Now there is no-one to look after Fiora.
Tomas Levi le Tailleur: Tomas and his family are lost sheep that shall one day return to the flock. They are good people even if they are misguided in their beliefs. By their insistent denial of Our Savior, they are condemned to Limbo at best and it breaks Brucian’s heart. He has not given upon on them.
NEXT UP
In the next post, I shall examine Gremin and other NPCs in greater detail with an eye to further developing the emerging story as well as uncovering clues for the players.
