Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

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Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

In my Inkubator game, I've been working on another backstory that we could flash back to and run as an adventure, and it concerns the poisoned water supply in Chateauxfaux. This would mean huge amounts of social gaming, what with the madness and the locals in denial, and Dr. Mikki trying to fix it and some of them blaming him, none of that is going to be fixed with a sword, there's no real bad guy. Then there's Mikki's Chief pupil Celeste d'Honaire who is supposedly trying to use therapy as a way to turn people into her puppets, that conflict may or may not end in actual combat; she's a noble, after all, and a master manipulator like her uncle. Finally, there's the Hamatula venom in the water supply--could that be extracted? How? Are the PC's supposed to create alternate water supplies for the whole town? For how long? If it hasn't gone away in 15+ years, I feel like something is keeping it there--a spell? A monster?

How would you plan the arc for this adventure? Where do you see opportunities for combat, spellcasting, and other non-social skills? I feel like there may be a great adventure here, but even my most social players will be itching to swing a sword at SOMETHING by the end.
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Five »

Possible sources for a "continuance" of the poisoned water supply:

1) A diseased (undead) Sea Spawn Master whose refuse reanimates as chewed-to-the-bone waterborne zombies, and/or whose undead miasma may be a zombie fog.

This option also comes in a sans-undead package whose spawn is more of a microbacterial agent that causes (possessive) madness...

2) Manipulative human influence in a "copy cat" sort of whodunnit (ie a power-playing mastermind with thugs that can be recognised, investigated, and put to any number of deaths: blunt, sharp, eldritch, public, lynch mob, etc.). An emotionally-attached/charged key NPC would be advisable just to help keep the PCs on their toes, on target, and on the clock all at the same time.

3) the original in a new strain, as introduced and maintained by a very sick and twisted group of kool-aid and spaceships university cultists. Too bad; there was such potential in them. Their source of "information" might very well be some kind of dominance through anonymity...



Extracting the venom:

1) adding an extrememly rare algae-eating-type organism to the water. Possibly from another domain. Especially if your group likes old school jrpgs, or if you want to simply expand the RL horizon.

2) it can't be done. Fence it off, put up some signs reading "Etang d'homme mort", and then roll up your sleeves and get to shovelling (organising, for those less, uhmm, physically gifted PCs). Classic PC/superhero "fail" yet mundane solution (that's hiding in plain sight).

IRL we constructed a 30+km alt water supply for a small city whose primary source was contaminated by an oil spill. 12 pumps and 30 (32?) km of pipe, and that took a crew of ten or a dozen (can't quite remember) with mechanical assistance the better part of a week to setup and tweak before we tapped into treatment. So you can only imagine the timeline needed for a lesser CL, so to speak. As long as you have some filler to keep the PCs busy (madness triage centres/community support missions) then this could be a RPG anticlimax sort of option. Depending on your table of course.

3)
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

Five wrote:Possible sources for a "continuance" of the poisoned water supply:

1) A diseased (undead) Sea Spawn Master whose refuse reanimates as chewed-to-the-bone waterborne zombies, and/or whose undead miasma may be a zombie fog.

This option also comes in a sans-undead package whose spawn is more of a microbacterial agent that causes (possessive) madness...

2) Manipulative human influence in a "copy cat" sort of whodunnit (ie a power-playing mastermind with thugs that can be recognised, investigated, and put to any number of deaths: blunt, sharp, eldritch, public, lynch mob, etc.). An emotionally-attached/charged key NPC would be advisable just to help keep the PCs on their toes, on target, and on the clock all at the same time.

3) the original in a new strain, as introduced and maintained by a very sick and twisted group of kool-aid and spaceships university cultists. Too bad; there was such potential in them. Their source of "information" might very well be some kind of dominance through anonymity...
All possible, but I'd like to stick closely to canon on the original source of the venom being a hamatula, or at least a fiend.

*checks online for hamatula stats*

What?! So...canon says it was "hamatula venom," but hamatula aren't poisonous?!

Okay, bonus points to anyone who comes up with a fiendish source for the contamination that actually makes sense. I'd like it to be fiendish, because the PC who is central to this investigation has a history of fighting fiends.
1) adding an extrememly rare algae-eating-type organism to the water. Possibly from another domain. Especially if your group likes old school jrpgs, or if you want to simply expand the RL horizon.
Meh, could work. Lamordia is close by, this type of biology is not impossible. But then, if it's supernatural, I'd like the solution to be supernatural as well.
2) it can't be done. Fence it off, put up some signs reading "Etang d'homme mort", and then roll up your sleeves and get to shovelling (organising, for those less, uhmm, physically gifted PCs). Classic PC/superhero "fail" yet mundane solution (that's hiding in plain sight).

IRL we constructed a 30+km alt water supply for a small city whose primary source was contaminated by an oil spill. 12 pumps and 30 (32?) km of pipe, and that took a crew of ten or a dozen (can't quite remember) with mechanical assistance the better part of a week to setup and tweak before we tapped into treatment. So you can only imagine the timeline needed for a lesser CL, so to speak. As long as you have some filler to keep the PCs busy (madness triage centres/community support missions) then this could be a RPG anticlimax sort of option. Depending on your table of course.
Actually, this works perfectly well with my table. The PC in question was translated to Inkubator in part because she was a cool character concept that did not adapt well to tabletop games. She doesn't fight monsters, she fights evil. There's a difference. Killing monsters is the easy part. Helping people repair the damage done to their lives, their souls...that's slow, but that's her specialty. Plus, we've already established that she moved into the community and lived there for years.

Even if there's some way to stop the venom from continuing, I figure they will have to do something like this in the interim. They could figure out the source of the madness is the water supply, spread the word, put up the signs, come up with alternate means of getting water, and then months later find and destroy the source of the contaminant. Even then, they may have to wait several more months before it was gone for good.
3)
Can't wait to here what 3 is. :lol:
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Five »

Just a few observations, or, highlights:

1) The two baatezu, who replaced Mayor Henri Melano and the captain of the gendarmes, were said (Gaz III) to have had their plan thwarted and both fiends were subsequently destroyed.

Obviously some person or persons pierced through the deceptive veil, pieced together the plot, and was powerful (or lucky) enough to have, in the least, banished the fiends from Ravenloft. Which leads us (me) to the obvious: Re-creating that trail is essential in future investigations.

Yet, what sort of trail would have been left?

Some sort of notation in an adventurer's society's book of exploits? A branch off the old Van Richten tree/social circle(s)? A personal journal that has either been recovered through auction upon a death (untimely?) or through inheritance (by a family member who values pocket change more than familial sentiment)?

And why didn't this knowledge go public? Why leave things...incomplete (the waters poisoned)? Worse still, why the cover-up?

Was there fiendish interference (new turf boss or bosses with a different MO, one perhaps that involves in-depth analysis of the human psyche? -wink-grin-)? Was the cleanup beyond the abilities of the unknown heroes, and is an ongoing yet still secretive investigation? Is the one percent chance of Madness in a twelve month period a natural dilution of the fiendish poison (the original investigator's conclusion)? Would knowledge of such a taint cause repercussive social damage to Chateaufaux, in the eyes of the original investigator(s) (a possible indication that they are/were local or local-based)? Did the investigator(s) fall victim to a retributive strike of a local occultist or cult?

2) The hallucinogen was derived from the fiend's experimention of or on a hamatula. As DeepShadow has already noted, there is no indication of the hamatula being or possessing a natural venom of any kind (other than a fear attack). So, this begs the question: what in the Hells (;)) was the process that led to Chateaufaux's ongoing taint?

Were the baatezu dabbling in alchemy? Science? As noted in a previous post, Lamordia is just up the way...were there others involved in this plot, making this a political strike (with fiendish ties), or was this an elaborate grudge match (of a disgraced and clearly deranged occultist-scientist)?

Did they (the fiends) leave behind any secret ritual/recipes/notes in the quarters/residences of their victims (the former mayor and the captain)? Could they possibly implicate/breadcrumb this hypothetical third party (perhaps even a "Dr. C__ " type reference)?

DeepShadow has put out a DM's bounty on alternative fiendish venoms/substances. Instead of replacement, are there any that could blend in/basejump a hamatula's natural fear-producing whatever it is they got?

I had more, but lost them while typing these two out. Maybe I should look into some sort of speech notation tech. This is annoying. haha (and this is a humourless laugh)
Last edited by Five on Sun Jun 18, 2017 2:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Five »

DeepShadow of FoS wrote:
Can't wait to here what 3 is. :lol:
This was me leaving the forum open to the next person and their ideas...

(bluff)

haha

Same thing, lost my train of thought. Makes sense now anyway. :)
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Five »

RE: Combat/Conflict

Depending on your fluff of the particulars behind the tainted waters of Chateaufaux (and the party or parties involved), then conflict should be easy enough to velcro to the adventure.

Digging through sensitive matters will, naturally and upon discovery, piss a certain portion of people off to no end. They are after all emotionally attached and thus wear horseblinds, regardless of "alignment".

The slightest whiff of family secrets being exposed may set off some individual (maybe even their closest friends) to quite literally beat any investigator off of the trail. Possibly an ongoing behind-the-scenes enemy/nemesis for the duration of the adventure, depending on this person's emotionally-externalised personality. Great unwanted/time-killing/nuisance combat that forces the PCs to think subdual, if they're good-aligned and/or who possess enough empathy to see the bigger picture.

A few encounters with the mentally-ill will reap similar results (Who the hell let them out/off the leash?? -wink-). Hesitance, reactionary (they're not bound to social expectations, or "norms"), tooth-and-nail, unfortunate/sad/tragic (potentially emotionally-scarring)...

Politics. What Mayor wants to openly deal with such mind-blowingly-bad PR? Sure, there are some, but in a country whose pillars are built on social perception and personal ambition this would probably be a rare individual. Double-down if there's an upcoming election (re-election). Such a situation might get you a few "allies" (careful, they are politicians!), but expect a few late night visitations with physical persuasion on the grim-faced thug's minds. "Le patron envoie ses salutations..."; a straight attack for the more effective of lackeys.

Or, an unscrupulously career-driven understudy of Dr. Mikki, concerned more with the study of the symptoms of madness than treatment or cures, catches wind of the PCs' investigation (it's inevitable that the PCs ask questions at the sanitarium) and decides to covertly run some interference through a campaign of disinformation...starting at the local public houses.

As the investigation begins to start turning leads expect doors, literally and figuratively, to begin to close (and open). You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make 'em drink it...a fitting thematic brainmuck/mental labyrinth for characters in this particular domain.

And that's just mundane conflict.

Throw in some quarter/half-fiend crazies (the original victims of the taint; before the baatezu decided subtle was better); some tainted animals (people aren't the only ones requiring water!). And here you can possibly inject some nasty brutes ala Warhammer FRPG if you're wanting to Howardise the adventure, or, if you're more of a naturalist/bleeding heart, then here is a great side mission of epic proportions: help balance the ecology of the surrounding countryside...which may lead back to more unwanted combat with the locals. Landowners whose earth needs to be scorched, farmers whose livestock needs to be put down, ignorant groups that are viewing the PC's actions as selfishly political (when they're actually selflessly benevolent), etc, etc.
Last edited by Five on Mon Jun 19, 2017 4:26 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Five »

Extracting the venom/taint:

3) The stonewalled PCs need to identify, name, summon/communicate, and strike some sort of faustian bargain with either of the banished(?) baatezu in exchange for the cure. Either the PCs make great personal sacrifice in doing so (a straight bargain), or with some ingenious lawyer speak in which they trick the baatezu into giving up their secrets.

The "Mayor" has an Intelligence score of 16, the "Captain" 6 (Chilling Tales). IF you want to be a "canoneer"...

Not very original, but the DM, with the help of the players (of course), could make it their own.

Either way, the Dark Powers murmur...
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

DeepShadow of FoS wrote:All possible, but I'd like to stick closely to canon on the original source of the venom being a hamatula, or at least a fiend.

*checks online for hamatula stats*

What?! So...canon says it was "hamatula venom," but hamatula aren't poisonous?!
It's not in their stats, but in the ecology section of their 2e writeup:
"A gland behind their ears produces a powerful hallucinogen that is harvested by greater baatezu and used to torment and interrogate prisoners. A few brave (or wealthy) sages have obtained samples of this secretion, though not enough to perform any meaningful experiments. They believe that greater quantities of this secretion could produce an extremely potent potion of illusion." (MC - Outer Planes Appendix)

Might be in other editions too, but got dropped in the 3e version. (I don't have a 1e or 5e Monster Manual, and only the first 4e MM, and it doesn't seem that they are in there.)
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Five »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:
It's not in their stats, but in the ecology section of their 2e writeup:
"A gland behind their ears produces a powerful hallucinogen that is harvested by greater baatezu and used to torment and interrogate prisoners. A few brave (or wealthy) sages have obtained samples of this secretion, though not enough to perform any meaningful experiments. They believe that greater quantities of this secretion could produce an extremely potent potion of illusion." (MC - Outer Planes Appendix)

Might be in other editions too, but got dropped in the 3e version. (I don't have a 1e or 5e Monster Manual, and only the first 4e MM, and it doesn't seem that they are in there.)
In 1E (Monster Manual I) they have a fear attack (save versus wands) but no mention of glands; in 5E nothing. They are stripped-down to the hamatula basics: they only(!) hurl flame, impale you on the barbs of their hide, or wipe the face off your grin with their tails.

Thanks Gonzoron for the clarification.

Edit: Misread. I looked up and quoted bearded devil instead of barbed. So scratch MMII reference. MMI remains the same. Post edited for thread clarity of use.
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

Okay, thanks Ron for the clarification of Hamatula venom. Makes a little more sense, although we still have to figure out how these two got enough of this stuff to poison the ENTIRE TOWN, plus enough to stay in the water for at least another decade. Geez.

I like the idea of copycats, or people trying to contact or summon them. My vote is the Black Watch. When those two fiends died, these guys lost all their power. Could some of them have been bonded to either of the fiends, like the Black Duke does with his troops? I think I may even have one of them be the reason the PC's had to move the Kyton device to the custody of the Order of the Guardians after de Penible was destroyed. He's lost his job in law enforcement in one city, heads to the next one over, finds out the police have a device that will transform him into one of the things that he and his buddies were serving? P'sheah. Why be a devil worshiper when you can just be a devil?!

We also know that the amnizu returned to RL, at least in webcanon, because he's forced to serve the Fraternity in the announcement leading to the Souragne Gaz. I'm not sure I want it in this storyline, but the fact that it escaped is telling. It was the more intelligent one, certainly the one who thought of using the venom in the water. Maybe it was some kind of bio-mancer devil, with class levels in something that allowed it to experiment with hamatula venom? Created a cyst of some kind in their infernal lair in the sewers, that constantly oozed this stuff into the water table?
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Gonzoron of the FoS »

Yeah, I think some sort of biomancy makes sense. Extract the gland, keep it alive, artificially grow it to obscene size and let it pump the venom out continually. Then just decide who dunnit
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by The Lesser Evil »

IIRC, the aminzu is also known as the (river) Styx devil. What if the madness agent was some warped pathogen from the River Styx, an entity of forgetting one's inhibitions?

Like, it lets out the inner darkness, perhaps like the recent Tetch virus arc in the Gotham series. (Which would be a good source to crib some ideas from).

(Of course, since the Styx pathogen involves forgetting, it might effectively destroying neural pathways, requiring them to be relearned entirely, if you wanted a more permanent affliction.)
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

Gonzoron of the FoS wrote:Yeah, I think some sort of biomancy makes sense. Extract the gland, keep it alive, artificially grow it to obscene size and let it pump the venom out continually. Then just decide who dunnit
Yeah, this is what I'm thinking. And I'm thinking a couple members of the Black Watch are the ones.
The Lesser Evil wrote:IIRC, the aminzu is also known as the (river) Styx devil. What if the madness agent was some warped pathogen from the River Styx, an entity of forgetting one's inhibitions?
Well, the madness was more hallucinogenic than amnesiac or lack of inhibitions. However, the fact that it's a Styx devil is a good point, that ought to blend somehow with the use of the waterway as a medium of attack.
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Five »

A DM could also have the original investigators, upon banishing the baatezu, realise that they had only taken care of half of the problem. Try as they did over the next decade and a half, they could not purify the tainted waters. So in desperation, and after every avenue of the investigation was (seemingly) exhausted, they established contact with the fiends and something went awry, leading them to the first steps of becoming the earthly extensions of the two (perhaps the amnizu and its new partner/mate?, one in which the DM can completely customise). After some vicious infighting there remained only two of the initial group (much to the delight of the then remote-viewing baatezu), who are currently undergoing the process of transposition, and who are unknowingly maintaining (they think it's a slow treatment?) the process that, to this day, taints the water surrounding Chateaufaux...

The two fiends are currently unaware that one of the now semi-possessed investigators has somehow lost/misplaced their notes (stolen?)from the original investigation (hook). In short time the baatezu will realise this fact (as they gain further control of their victim's minds/memories), and they will do absolutely anything to get that journal back, short of openly revealing themselves. An unusual death (perpetrated with a devil's glee; over-reaction perhaps from the new partner/mate?) or disappearance can be an alt hook.

Two more cents to the change jar.
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Re: Adventure Proposals: Cleansing Chateauxfaux

Post by Drinnik Shoehorn »

Aren't the two baatezu still around? As far as I can remember, the short adventure doesn't end with them being trapped in a mystik cage and there was no mention of phylacteries, so the two devils are technically still around somewhere. Perhaps in the guise of the person who is in charge of purifying the water?
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