Delve! Issue 2 Sneak Peak

I pretty much spent all weekend at home.  No trips to castles, mountains, festivals or other such things.  No, this weekend Daisey and I opted to have our anniversary dinner at Zamboni's and then have a quiet weekend.  We both had a lot of projects to work on - I really needed to give some love to Delve!  I've been busy detailing Dustchapel Downs and its inhabitants this weekend.  It's been quite a bit of fun talking about the somewhat warped town.

Here's an excerpt from my current manuscript with some art.  Enjoy!



6.  The Grambling – A blustering, rough and tumble area the Grambling is a ramshackle collection of dwellings and shops that are inhabited by the working class of Dustchapel Downs.  There are a few rooming houses as well as modest eateries and taverns in this area for those seeking accommodation.  What the Grambling lacks in affluence and charm, it makes up for in dogged working class attitude.  The folk here are practical and less given to the drama that is so pervasive amongst the other inhabitants of Dustchapel Downs.  However, they do like a good story – especially if it involves the macabre or supernatural.  Not surprisingly then, there can be found all manner of fortune tellers, mediums, and psychics in this area.    

Legend/Lore:  Olswitch Macon has gained some small measure of fame by exhibiting some of his unusual finds from his travels.  For 5 copper pieces, Olswitch will gladly give people tours of his collection (which has taken over his modest three room apartment).  Amongst such items as mermaid’s tails, shrunken heads, etc. Olswitch has on display what he claims is the petrified body of an angel.  The angel appears as nothing more than a rough stone statue.  However, astute observers will note that the eyes move and tears will seep from the eyes.  Faint sobbing can be heard emanating from the statue.

Items/People of note:  Madame Lobelia Pearline Blatasky is the most prominent of the “gifted” that has set up shop in the area.  Madame Blatasky is a noted physical medium that specializes in summoning ectoplasmic phantoms from beyond the material plane.  Most often Madame Blatasky is called upon to commune with lost loved ones.  On occasion she has been retained by the constabulary to summon forth murder victims and the like in order to solve crimes.  In truth, Madame Blatasky is the head of the Amarok Spirit Wolf cult and seeks to bring forth the “Age of the Wolf” by summoning a physical manifestation of the Amarok – the spiritual essence of all wolves.  She has been successful in some small measure and has even used her physical manifestations to “infect” herself with a quasi-lycanthropic state.  Madame Blatasky is responsible for the wolf sightings in town and has created a pack from her devotees.  She seeks to infiltrate the upper echelons of Dustchapel Society at Brickhall Manor and the Freethinker’s League.  To this end she has been moderately successful but Kayle Gasterling, Reeve of Dustchapel Downs and head of the constabulary suspects something is amiss.

Madame Blatasky (quasi-lycanthrope) AC 5, HD 4+3, hp 23 #AT 2, D 2d4, SA spiritual lycanthropic possession, MV 150’, Save Fighter 5, xp 315.  Unlike traditional lycanthropes, Madame Blatasky can inflict her particular form of lycanthropy on a victim by an act of will instead of through physical attack such as a bite.  Victims must make a successful save versus magic or become “infected” with part of the physical essence of the Amarok wolf spirit.  The victim will take on a feral aspect and savagely attack all within range for 1d4 rounds.  At the end of that time, they will be permitted another save versus magic.  A successful save means the victim has successfully resisted the possession and cannot be possessed again for one day.  A failed save means that the Amarok has succeeded in its possession of the victim.  In most regards, the victims is similar to a werewolf, but is not susceptible to the phases of the moon or silver.  Cold iron, however does have the same effect as silvered weapons.   
 

Comments

  1. Good to hear Johnathan. Been working on mine as I write this. Looking forward to issue two.

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  2. Very nice. Looks like another promising issue.

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  3. I can hardly wait for some more 'zine goodness!

    ReplyDelete

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