Terror in the Darkness.pdf

T ERROR

IIN THE

THE

D ARKNESS

ARKNESS

A compleate encounter under the surface of the Old World

Written by Carl Sargent

Artwork by Kevin Walker

Updated for WFRP 2nd edition by Alexander J Bateman

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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

Page 1

ERROR IIN

Written by Carl Sargent

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

A compleate encounter under the surface of the Old World

Over Land and in the Firmament doth Chaose marche, and the Beneathe is not free from

it. Consider the Skavenne with their windinge secret wayes, and the Ambulle, that with

his fearsome Jawes and Clawes doth his owne Tunnelles make, clearing cold Stone from

his path as a Man doth sweepe grass aside in the Forests.

- the Bestiis Chaotis

as ascribed by Luther Maclntyre the ninthe

Introduction

This is a Complete Encounter designed to introduce

experienced players of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay to

the fearsome subterranean Ambull from beyond the

Realm of Chaos. Roleplaying skill and tactical battle

planning will both be needed if player characters are to

be successful in this encounter!

Noises have also been heard recently, coming from the

deepest recesses of the mine. The villagers are now

terrified and dare not enter the mine. They are desperate,

since they have no other source of income, and if the

mines are not maintained, they may fall into disrepair and

become unworkable (this means the Characters cannot

delay if they are going to help out). Johann offers each

Character 30 gc if they locate the creatures that killed or

captured Axel and Kurt, and kill them. If a successful

Haggle Skill test is made he can be pushed up to 40 gc

each, but the village cannot afford to pay more. If the

Characters are prepared to help, Johann (and the other

villagers) will be prepared to give them all normal

supplies, and they will also provide the two Mill Lanterns

that they have, if you want to bring these into the

adventure. The Characters may also want to talk to

villagers, and notes on Roleplaying encounters with

Villagers are given later.

The action takes place in the small mining village of

Karstenberg, located in Grey Mountains, although you

can relocate the scenario to any hilly or mountainous

terrain, to suit the circumstances of your own WFRP

campaign.

There are two ways to get the Characters involved. They

could be passing through the village for some reason, in

which case the mayor of the village, Johann Mulderbrek,

will approach them and try to hire their help, as explained

below. Alternatively, Johann may approach them in a

tavern in a larger town, offering to pay for their

assistance. This may be easier, since it avoids Character

worries about getting places on time if they are just

passing through. Johann approaches the Characters

rather than the authorities because the villagers of

Karstenberg have not paid full due taxes on their silver

for some years (having declared a lower income than

they actually obtained), so he is extremely reluctant to

have officials - even militia - anywhere near the place.

Karstenberg

Karstenberg has some 30-40 adult occupants, most of

whom are miners (women included). No map of the

village is given here, since it will not be needed in play.

There are no notable buildings (no temples, etc) and the

average house is a modest affair. Make it clear that this

village is certainly not conspicuously rich! There is one

tavern with a common room called the Pit Prop, which

has a small stable beside it, and a smithy, which doubles

as a trading store. There is no Priest (or Initiate), and no

militia as such, in the village.

Adolf Schultz runs the Pit Prop with his barmaid

Gretchen; both are surly sorts, but honest. Josef

Hartmann is a jack-of-all-trades who owns the smithy; he

can forge iron (and makes simple items for use in

mining), shoe a horse, construct a fair wagon, and

suchlike. He and Johann take care of the maintenance of

the mines (Kurt and Axel used to help). Wilhelm Koch,

the village loony, and Martin Kurtz, a miner with a guilty

secret of sorts, are special cases, and are dealt with in

the section on Village Enquiries.

Karstenberg

Not that he will tell the Characters this, of course!

Briefing for the Characters

Johann's story is simple. He is the mayor of Karstenberg,

and the sole source of the income for the villagers is a

small silver-mine. The yield is meagre, but it is just

enough to get by on. However, two men have recently

disappeared in the mine. Axel Muller vanished 19 days

before the Characters meet Johann, and Kurt Zondervan

vanished 8 days ago. They were alone, doing

maintenance work, when they vanished. No trace of their

bodies has been found, but some of their equipment was

recovered, littered over some distance.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

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Introduction

Briefing for the Characters

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

A compleate encounter under the surface of the Old World

Village Enquiries

The Characters will almost certainly want to ask some

questions of the villagers; if your players make no

attempt to do this and just want to get down the mine

immediately, hold them up for a little time while Johann

gets the equipment they may need (such as lamps and

ropes, and the Mill Lanterns - if you want to bring these

into play). Then you can have anxious villagers badger

the Characters with questions and introduce some of the

information here.

that such spells as Fireball and Lightning Bolt may ignite

the gas, but more of this later. See Down in the Mines).

Other Enquiries: Bandits have not tried to raid the

village in years - the money is not worth it. Hence, no

militia. The working men of the village have leather jacks

and can use pickaxe handles to good effect if needs be.

There are two important NPCs whose information may

help and intrigue the Characters, and these are now dealt

with.

Wilhelm Koch, Village Loony

Wilhelm will impose himself upon the Characters at any

time, as you see fit. He is some 60 years old, with

unkempt grey hair and beard, a stooping 5' 8" tall, and

built like a scarecrow. He suffers from a form of paranoia,

and while he sounds rational to begin with, he slowly

slips into his deluded monomania. He believes the end of

the world is at hand, and that the creature in the mines is

a monstrous Daemon called Yeldir who is stalking souls

for his infernal masters. Lay this on thick after introducing

Koch as quite sensible and soft-spoken at first meeting.

If any Character listening to this hypothesis manages to

avoid laughing at Koch, the loony will impart the one

useful piece of information he does have. This is not the

first time that something has appeared down in the mine.

Fifty years ago, four men were devoured in the mines by

a huge creature (another Daemon, according to Koch).

Shortly before, a wizard had been down the mine,

searching for some magical treasure trove he believed

was hidden there. (If he is asked, Koch claims that the

wizard never found it.) Koch asserts that the wizard

summoned the Daemon to the mines, and he believes

that another wizard must be responsible for summoning

Yeldir. He may even accuse a Character wizard if one is

present - at a pinch, any Spell Caster type will do.

Wilhelm Koch, Village Loony

Village Wealth: If the Characters enquire, make it clear

that the villagers do not have much money, that they

cannot afford more lost mining time; get their desperation

across. A sanguine villager could say something like;

"We all hope one day we'll find the big one, the vein of

pure silver - but it's been scavengings only for as long as

anyone can remember, and the big one is just a dream"

Greedy players may consider taking the village over and

running the mine themselves. If they try this, the best way

to deal with the situation is to let them seem to get away

with it. Then, while the Characters are still resident, have

Imperial tax collectors arrive, with escorts, having

discovered the villagers' falsified tax payments. They will

inevitably hold the party responsible.

The Missing Men: If the Characters ask about either of

the missing villagers, they will discover only that there

was nothing unusual about the men, nor about the time

of their disappearances. Axel was a married man of some

35 years, Kurt a youth of 17 years. Axel was a drunken

lout, while Kurt was a solitary, introverted and spotty

youth. Axel's wife Etelka is still suffering from depression

after the death of her husband, despite his

unpleasantness, and can give the Characters no useful

information. Map 1 shows the areas where the equipment

of the two men was found, if the Characters ask for this

(irrelevant) detail.

Now this is mostly nonsense, of course, but it does

contain a germ of truth. The Ambull in the Mine provides

full details. The important thing is to try to get the

Characters interested in the fact that this has happened

before, and that a wizard was somehow involved. If they

ask other villagers, then one or two aged folk will confirm

that 50 years ago, four men did disappear from the mine,

and a huge shambling creature was sighted (unlike the

present, when no one has seen anything). They may

remember something about a visiting wizard, but no one

knows anything about a buried magical treasure.

Mapping the Mines: Johann does have a map of the

mines and is bound to offer it to the party. Map 1 is the

GM's Map of the mines, which shows the areas tunnelled

by the Ambull as well as the worked tunnels within the

mine. Johann's map only shows the latter. You should

prepare this map, on rough paper, for the players

(omitting all symbols shown on Map 1). The mines are

safe enough, although small pockets of gas build up in

places, from time to time. It's harmless to breath this gas

but is inflammable, making the careful use of proper

lamps essential (a very important ramification of this is

The link between this and the present can be reinforced

in two ways. First, by the use of the Mill Lanterns (see

Getting Equipped). The other is by a role-played

encounter with Martin Kurtz (see below).

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

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Village Enquiries

"We all hope one day we'll find the big one, the vein of

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

A compleate encounter under the surface of the Old World

There is one final detail that Koch will reveal if a

Character at least pretends to take his story seriously

and acts in a friendly manner towards him. Koch will

whisper, conspiratorially, that he has a 'magic page' about

the Daemon, and will show this to the Character after

fetching it from his home. This is a filthy and aged vellum

page (without any magical properties; Koch is just

deluded) from Libram Libris Bestiis Chaotis, an extended

work of which De Bestiis Chaotis is a condensed version.

If the Characters gain access to this, show them the

scroll from the introduction to this encounter - they cannot

keep this, Koch will not allow it, and they may not copy it

either (Koch will only show it to the favoured Character,

and read it to them - painfully slowly, since Koch can read

only with some difficulty).

Wilhelm Koch

Vagabond (Ex Miner)

-- Wiillhellm Koch --

WS BS S T Ag IIntt WP Fell

34% 33%

33% 41%

41% 45%

45% 34%

34% 32%

32% 43%

43% 38%

38%

A W SB TB M Maag IIP FP

1 1 12

12 4 4 4 0 5 0

Skills: Animal Care, Common Knowledge (Bretonnia,

The Empire), Drive, Gossip, Haggle, Navigation, Outdoor

Survival+10%, Perception, Performer (Storyteller), Scale

Sheer Surface, Silent Move, Speak Language

(Reikspiel), Trade (Miner, Prospector)

Talents: Orientation, Rover, Seasoned Traveller, Sixth

Sense, Specialist Weapon (Two-handed), Strong-minded,

Very Resilient

Insanity: Profane Persecutions

Combat:

Armour (Light): Roughspun Robes over Leather Jerkin

Armour Points: Head 0, Arms 0, Body 1, Legs 0

Weapons: Dagger (1d10+1)

Trappings: Page of the Libram Libris Bestiis Chaotis

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

A compleate encounter under the surface of the Old World

Martin Kurtz

ask him questions about the mine, they may get to learn

more.

Martin has a guilty secret of sorts. A month ago, Martin

was approached by a man called Karlinsel Spedklingeln -

a wizard traveling with his warrior henchman, who asked

him to show them the layout of the mine, paying him 30

gc for the information. These two had failed in their

attempts to get Johann to let them in to the mines (see

Getting Equipped for details). Karlinsel Spedklingeln said

that he was searching for a lost magical treasure in the

mine, but if Martin spoke of this to anyone, he would be

very sorry afterwards. Martin showed them Johann's

map, and went down with them on two evenings, after

normal working hours. They went alone a third time - and

never came back. Martin has no idea what happened to

them, but Axel disappeared soon afterwards. Martin

knows about Wilhelm Koch's rantings. Although he never

took them seriously in the past, he is afraid that the

wizard he took down the mine did indeed summon a

Daemon, which is now devouring villagers. Martin is even

more afraid that someone may find out what he has

done.

Foreman (Ex Miner, Ex Peasant)

-- Maarrttiin Kurrttz --

WS BS S T Ag IIntt WP Fell

39% 28%

28% 44%

44% 50%

50% 29%

29% 36%

36% 46%

46% 41%

41%

A W SB TB M Maag IIP FP

1 1 15

15 4 5 4 0 0 0

Skills: Animal Care, Charm, Command, Common

Knowledge (The Empire), Concealment, Consume

Alcohol, Drive, Evaluate, Gamble, Gossip, Haggle,

Navigation, Outdoor Survival, Perception, Performer

(Singer), Scale Sheer Surface, Secret Language (Guild

Tongue), Set Trap, Speak Language (Reikspiel), Swim,

Trade (Cook, Miner)

Talents: Hardy, Orientation, Public Speaking, Specialist

Weapon (Sling, Two-handed), Streetwise, Sturdy, Very

Resilient

Obviously, he is not going to release this information to

the Characters easily. It will have to be done in stages.

Although his information should be made available to

Characters, they will have to approach him carefully to

learn what he knows.

Combat:

Armour (Light): Sturdy Leather Jack and Leggings

On first contact, allow the Characters a Perceotion Skill

Test to detect that Martin is unusually tense and nervous,

even by comparison with other villagers. You may decide

that if and when the Characters go to consult Johann's

map, they find it missing. Johann knows that Martin is the

only person who has access to it. (In fact, Martin did

borrow it and has forgotten to return it.) This will worry

Johann, and he may set up an interrogation of Martin,

although you should try to explore subtler possibilities

than this. If the Characters get Martin drunk, for example,

he might let something slip, or even confess his story to a

sympathetic Character who promises not to tell Johann

or to let other villagers know. To arouse Character

suspicions about Martin, in addition to his general anxiety

you can have him hang around the Characters a lot. He

is very ambivalent, fearing that they may learn of what he

has done, but also desperately hoping that they can sort

out the terrible mess he thinks he has landed the village

in. If he confesses to them, and they then shop him to

Johann, angry villagers will probably run Martin out of

town.

Armour Points: Head 0, Arms 1, Body 1, Legs 1

Weapons: Pick (Great Weapon, 1d10+4, Impact, Slow)

Trappings: Whistle, Leather Hipflask, Pick, Spade,

Storm Lantern, Lamp Oil

Martin Kurtz, Mine Foreman

Martin is a strong young man of 26, 6' 2", with short black

hair and green eyes. He is a miner, and does not dress

conspicuously - he looks like any other miner. He is,

however, the foreman of the mine, and Johann will

introduce him to the Characters in this capacity. If they

Martin Kurtz, Mine Foreman

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - Terror in the Darkness

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