The fifth Down Darker Trails: Bag of Nails scenario was completed the first Saturday of September. This issue was titled “Siesta, Forever” and sent the characters to the Dreamlands. It also set a few possible shifts to the game in motion, but we’ll have to see how things play out.
Scenario: Siesta, Forever
Religious, Right?
The town is still wounded and the bodies of the dead parents and children have yet to be buried when the town is visited by a large number of acolytes from the Church of the New Lord. They are joined by their leader, Reverend Joseph White. The religious speaker was invited by Sheriff Gragg to allay any further suspicions about their group and to provide services for the dead.
Joseph White is a tall man in his early 40s with collar length chestnut hair. Unlike the other members of the Church of the New Lord, the minister does not wear yellow robes, but the simple, black clothing of an everyman, though on his lapel is a gold symbol.
Reverend White’s face bears the weathered look of a man who has spent much of his life outside. Though he doesn’t carry a firearm, his overall posture suggests that prior to being a pastor he drew a pistol more often than not. His voice is a gentle baritone that still manages to carry in a crowded hall or town square. And the town square, or Capital Square, of Virginia City is where the preacher and his disciples go. The robed acolytes quickly set up a pulpit for the reverend to speak and answer questions.
The Speech, the Service, and the Calm
Much of the town gathers to hear Reverend Joseph White. Some because they have suspicions about the group, some because they are Christian and the town has no church, and some because it’s a diversion from their daily tasks.
The leader of the Church of the New Lord explains that they worship the Lord of the New Testament, the Son of God who died and rose from his grave, the man who was also a god. Upon his resurrection he became the New Lord. It may be noted that he never uses the name “Jesus Christ.” If asked about it he will declare that was the name of the teacher who walked the earth and not the being he became. Many of his followers, on the other hand, will say the New Lord is Jesus.
They may be asked about their compound. Joseph White will state that the camp they are building is an assembly to all those in Alder Gulch and beyond. They have forsaken most worldly things and for those new to the experience a place away from the towns allows the avoidance of temptation. In the afterlife they will be adorned with the holy gold of the New Lord and the yellow they wear symbolizes the pale reflection and reminder of their eternal rewards.
The New Lord does not demand the sacrifice and blind obedience of the Old God; he wishes for his followers to sing, to dance, to act. And it is harder to dance when burdened by the excesses of man.
The reverend will hear and answer any questions the townspeople have before leading a prayer for the dead:
Hear our prayer, oh Lord, oh Living God
May these souls enter your realm,
Where twin suns sink behind the lake,
Where moons circle through the skies,
May their hearts be unburdened,
Let them dance in your glory forever!
Amen.
Following the prayer, the dead will be taken to the New Cemetery and buried. The acolytes of the church will sing a soft song. About half of them carry thuribles, and the smell of the incense will spread throughout the city and beyond.
Once the service is complete, the inhabitants of Virginia City will be calm and reflective. The great tragedy of the schoolhouse on their minds, but no longer haunting or infuriating them. Joseph White and his disciples will return to their encampment as night begins to fall.
Perchance to Dream
As the characters go to sleep they will dream about being at the top of a great tower, the only path being stairway leading downward. Though they will not see each other in the tower, they will all find themselves on the plane outside the tower at the same time regardless of when they fell asleep.
The land they are in is clearly a dreamland of some sort. Though the ground around them is a muted gray, the skies are a swirl of purples. While they did not open a door to exit the tower, there is a closed door to the tower behind them. The tower sits at the crossroad of a path. As the characters acclimate they will be approached by a young woman in yellow robes. She announces herself as Persephone and tells the dreamers she is here to welcome them and point them to salvation.
Persephone will note that they are on a road that leads one of two directions but it is important to not leave the road, or they may be trapped in this realm forever. Which direction they follow is up to them, but the destination and trials are different. One path will take the dreamers to the Bell, the other to the Lantern. She follows her introduction with, “The Bell will ring in new strength, but the journey may weaken your resolve. The Lantern will light the way to serenity, but your path may end along the way. Once you have chosen you must follow your path and only by drinking from the Chalice will your trials end.”
The Bell
The path to the Bell is a journey of intimidation and fear. At first, the characters will hear noises just beyond the edge of hearing. Menacing whispers and scratches, these rise into frightening sounds like the tearing of limbs, the crunch of bones, and wild growls. The closer the characters get to the Bell, the more the path turns from simply ominous to terrifying. They will begin seeing shadowy monsters running towards them. Leaving the path will bring calm and the further the players may stray from the path the calmer they’ll feel. Of course, leaving the path means being stuck in the Dreamlands.
While the players may be forced to make a POW role to resist running from the path once the Bell is in sight, the idea is for atmosphere and role-play to have players make the wrong decision. However, the goal isn’t for characters to be trapped in the Dreamlands but to role-play their characters in a nightmarish landscape.
The Bell looks much like a large cast iron dinner bell on a pole, with a crank handle to ring it. The sound it makes, however, is more like the bell from a bell tower. Loud, with deep and sonorous tones. The characters ears will ring for a moment, but then they will find themselves in their beds (see Waking Nightmares and the Chalice).
The Lantern
For the journey to the Lantern, characters will be tempted to stray from the path by desires, not fear. Like the path to the Bell, this is more about role-play than POW challenges. Illusions of things the characters want will appear in the distance off the path. The closer the characters get to the Lantern the more personal the visions will become.
The Lantern appears to be a standard street lantern on a pole. Beside the lantern are a box of matches and a candle lighter. Once lit, the lantern will shine brightly enough to temporarily blind the characters, and when they open their eyes they will be in their beds (see Waking Nightmares and the Chalice).
Waking Nightmares and the Chalice
The characters seemingly awake from the dream world in their own beds, but they’ve only moved to a new part in the Dreamlands, sharing the same experiences. To end the dreams they’ll need to drink from the Chalice in the Capital Square. Depending on time or how much the Keeper wants to heighten the characters’ (and players’) paranoia, the town as a dream could reoccur multiple times, so that the characters won’t be sure when the dream-state ends and reality begins. Possible town dreams:
- Virginia City is empty but shadow hands grasp from walls and the ground pulling the characters into the surfaces
- Entire town is sleepwalking and if woken they go mad and attack the player characters
- Everyone is asleep and can’t be woken, but the town is sinking into the ground
- Everyone is awake and the town seems normal… until an impossible amount of rats and spiders begin crawling out of everything
- Everyone is awake and the town seems normal… but the characters’ teeth start falling out when they talk
A Changed Populous
Eventually, the characters will wake from the Dreamlands and back into normal life. Well, as normal as life can be in their world. Virginia City stands as it always had, but the majority of the people are no longer concerned about the growing religion that has reached throughout Alder Gulch. Many will even revere the Church of the New Lord and some may begin attending Sunday services at their camp. As weeks go by, more of the people of Virginia City and other towns of Alder Gulch may join Reverend Joseph White.
Strength or Serenity?
Keepers Eyes Only
The effects of the Bell or Lantern won’t be notable until the final scenario of the campaign. If the players chose the path of struggle and rang the Bell they will be given a bonus to a future (specific) POW roll. If they lit the Lantern, they have chosen the path of serenity and it will be harder to oppose the upcoming POW challenge.
Session Recap
The scenario began on the heels of Issue #4. Doctor Hiram Blake was tending to the wounded, including Lieutenant Corwin Blackstone. Arlene Hunnell was still writing the story for the newspaper, Kathryn Plum retired to her hotel room, and Levi Richmond was calming himself with whiskey. Ellis Gentry returned to the town but, understandably, few people were in the mood for a game of poker; Levi informed the gambler of what he missed.
Charlotte Thurman busied herself by cleaning the blood from the floors of the school. With every scrub, the scenes of what occurred replayed in her mind. The teacher was most concerned with the death of two of the students at the hands of the soldier. She spoke to Julius Rhodes, one of the deputies in the town, and spoke of the actions and child deaths at the hands of Corwin Blackstone. Rhodes informed the teacher that he would speak to Gragg about this and investigate the matter further.
Everyone was distracted from their work by the parade of yellow-robed acolytes streaming into town. Reverend Joseph White and 30 or so members of the Church of the New Lord had visited the city to calm the nerves of the living and lay the souls of the departed to rest.
One of the acolytes was prevented from collecting the bodies of the dead by the suspicious Dr. Blake and questioning Lt. Blackstone. The disciple was sent away and told to return with “Sheriff” Gragg if he wanted access to the dead. It didn’t take long for Gragg, the acolyte, and a few other church members to return. With Gragg’s “OK,” the doctor released the bodies for burial. Blackstone continued to question the acolyte, frustrating the lad as he attempted to transport the bodies in a somber fashion.
The town gathered for the ceremony. What was to be a solemn, silent occasion was disrupted as the school teacher and soldier began to argue. It erupted in an accusation from Charlotte that Corwin killed the two children being buried—an accusation that the soldier did not deny but tried to justify. Gragg and his deputies quickly brought order back to the event; he took Corwin to the town jail while Julius escorted Charlotte home to allow her to compose herself.
Fearing other outbursts, Gragg returned to the ceremony. Corwin was left in the jail cell opposite Ben Lewes. The three year old simply sat and stared, his eyes filled with hate.
Fortunately, no further outbursts transpired. The burial was followed by a calming ceremony performed by the acolytes. While the characters had learned a little more about the Church, they continued to debate the idea of possibly infiltrating the institution. Showing an extreme lack of wisdom, Corwin decided to free himself from the jail but not actually leave the prison—simply to show the sheriff that he could. Gragg, however, was under the effects of the calming and did not return to the jail that night.
Eventually, all the characters fell asleep and dreamt of being at the top of a tower staircase, heading downward. They were surprised to all see each other at the base of the tower and were unsure of how real the dreamscape actually was. After being greeted by Persephone, they argued the potential pros and cons of each path, especially given the nebulous phrasing by their greeter. They decided to choose the path to the Bell.
The Investigators weren’t sure of what was real or not. While they could not see anything, they could hear the scratches and growls of feral beasts and wails of torment. Charlotte decided to try to block her ears and only look down at her feet. This was somewhat successful, until Levi’s dog appeared, causing additional confusion to the reality of the screams. The characters didn’t want to ignore the cries for help from school children but also did not want to leave the path. The decision was made for them when the screams ended in the sound of death. They also thought they were rescuing Maximo Gaspar from a buffalo, but that turned out to be a dream. Phantom dire wolves could be heard but not seen.
Not sure how long the path was or what other trials would await them, the characters’ hopes grew thin. They were extremely grateful to see the Bell. And the gong seemed to wake them up.
Ellis quickly realized the world they woke to was not the world they lived in. No hotelier was at the foot of the stairs to greet him and it was readily apparent that only the Investigators were in the town. The Investigators remembered Persephone’s words that they needed to drink from the Chalice, but Persephone never stated where the Chalice would be. They decided to travel to the Church of the New Lord, but would swing by the graveyard along the way. The detour saved them time as they saw the Chalice in the neighboring Capital Square. Drinking from the Chalice seemed to bring them back into the real world. They hoped.
Gragg was annoyed with Corwin’s “I could get out of jail” antics, but also understood why the death of the children was not exactly his fault. The sheriff issued a warning to the lieutenant: keep your head down or you will be sent back to Fort Ellis. Arlene decided to check in on Ben Lewes but was greeted with the same malevolent silence the child displayed to the soldier.
While the rest of the town seemed more at peace than it had been in months, the Investigators decided to visit the Church and determine once and for all their complicity in the oddities that had begun to plague Alder Gulch.
Keeper’s Thoughts
The scenario played out much as it was written, though I do wish there had be a little more time for the “Waking Nightmares” section of the game. With little time left, I rushed it a bit and there was only time for a single instance. On the flip side, this means that I can save some of the ideas for future nightmares.
The players asked me how locked in to using Virginia City for the campaign. Only a few of the characters had strong ties to the town and, given the evils they faced, felt that it would be only natural for their characters to go elsewhere. This was not unexpected. While I have a number of scenarios prepped for Virginia City, I can move many of them. And the characters may find leaving Alder Gulch more difficult than they thought. Insert evil laughter.
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