We’re getting back from four days at the cabin where we managed to slip in several hours of tabletop gaming in-between our outdoor activities. Speaking of which, we found morels on our land! So, all in all, a very profitable time indeed…

3 hours session

Castle Xyntillan, by Gabor Lux. https://emdt.bigcartel.com/products

Set in Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne

TTRPG System used: Worlds without Number, by Kevin Crawford

Adventurers – Player Characters (PCs)

• Noah (Isaac), crafts stuff, has a repeating crossbow and a magic sword called Scrupulous, Expert lvl 5
• Pierrot (Isaac), caravan hand, dealmaker extraordinaire, Warrior lvl 2
• Monmon (Edmond), has a powerful antique spear, Warrior lvl 5
• Paul Nareff (Olivier), friend and sponsor of the numerous Jean clan, Warrior lvl 5
• Paul-Jean Paul (Olivier), apprentice alchemist, don’t confuse him with Jean-Paul Jean, Warrior lvl 4>>5
• Constant Jean (Olivier), vigorous member of the Jean clan, heavily armored, Warrior lvl 3>>4

Retainers:

• Raymond (Isaac), Man-at-Arms, gruff, vassal of the Comte de la Frenaie, Morale 7
• Raoulet the Pimp (Marjorie), undead pimp with a semblance of life, Morale 12
• Georges (Edmond), militia man, Morale 7
• Valentin (Isaac), shoemaker, Morale 7

Crypt

• Zachary, Elementalist, electrocuted in front of the Anteroom (corpse in castle)
• Pierre-Jean Pierre, ex-monk, clawed to death by a dark monk (RIP)
• Edgar, daytaler, throat slashed by a dark monk, (corpse in castle)
• Charles, daytaler, skewered by a drunken skeleton (corpse in castle)
• Hercule, caravan hand, seized off the raft by the Lake Monster (MIA)
• Pierre Laroche du Rocher, mason, pierced by the Huntsman’s arrows (corpse seized by Charon, RIP)
• Alphonse, crusader, savaged by Count Giscard’s Children of the Night. (corpse in castle)
• Jacques, daytaler, got hit in the face by an Empty Armor’s halberd (corpse thrown in the lake)
• Stuffed Jean-Paul  killed by stuffed animals, stuffed himself, bursted into flames (RIP)

Previous Infractions in the Château:

Eliminated Tristano Malévol the Love-Lost. Eliminated Merlerik the Ancient. Eliminated Aranéa Malévol. Eliminated Runcius the Dark Man of the Woods. Eliminated Countess Maltricia Malévol (+1)

Smoked the Ruined Quarters: 1/2 Angered a werewolf washwoman: 1/2 Stole the Reliquary of Bygone Kings: 1 Failed to convince Jean-Honoré the butler of their lies: 1/2 Stole a treasure chest full of gold from the Lake Grotto treasury: 1/2 Interrupted Runcius Malévol’s pagan ritual: 1 Slightly annoyed Count Giscard Malévol while he drank « wine »: 1 Stole the Scepter of the Merovings: 1 Defaced living portraits with holy water: 1 Bullied Jean-Honoré the Butler: 1/2 Smashed the busts in the Bust Gallery: 1 Stole the Oil of Cleansings: 1 Stole the Crown of the Lost: 1 Burglarized Count Giscard’s room (+1) Put holy water in Count Giscard’s « wine » (+1) Total: 12 1/2

Vanquished Aranéa Malévol’s retributory patrol -5

Played ball with the werepups -1

Current Infractions rating: 6 1/2

Rumors:

• There are multiples libraries and laboratories in the Castle. A magic-user’s delight… or doom.
• Some strange folks still pursue the work of the Heretic.

A small return on the end of the last session: the PCs had met former retainer Jacques fortuitously, as unpleasant as ever and now a zombie – as he was roaming in the corridors of the Château. As they got out though – after maybe a hundred yards from the gatehouse – poor Jacques faceplanted on the ground, dead as a rock. The cold-hearted adventurers decided to dump his corpse in the lake with the idea that the monster would make him disappear.

We start in Ximes. Paul-Jean, with the help of Luc le Chaudronnier, prepares another dose of lethal poison. Also, the master alchemist has finished analysing the mysterious flask of Oil found earlier: is has astounding properties – when applied on one’s eyelids it enables to see 10 minutes of a probable future. This Oil of Revelation will come in handy!

The PCs then proceed to hire more retainers. Monmon hires Georges who was part of the townwatch until recently. Noah hires Valentin, a shoemaker.

Grand Entrance

• The PCs would like to reach the third floor of the Gothic Wing for the first time and they enter at the Grand Entrance. The two statues do their usual thing but nothing special happens.
• Waiting for them in the Vestibule is the horrible Béatrice the Jilted. She’s accompanied by Agénor, a tall, gaunt pale-looking old man who seems a little lost. There’s also the late Countess’ galant knight, now undead, surrounded by four flirtatious undead ladies. Quite the sight.
• Béatrice tells the adventurers that they will pay for having slain the Countess. Unless… Would any of them accept to be her suitor? No? Noboby? You can die then!
• Béatrice is supernaturally fast (always acts first) and jumps on Monmon claws first. She rakes him twice, wounding and paralysing him. Noah hits her twice with his repeating crossbow, hurting her. Pierrot swings an axe at her, connects and she’s down! Is she really dead? Georges is asked to stab her some more to make sure. Paul does a whirlwind attack and slay all four of the undead courtesan ladies. Constant and Paul-Jean attack the zombie knight but he’s a more resilient foe. After a brief moment of hesitation the decrepit Agénor joins the fray and attacks Paul with his bare hands but misses. Paul, Paul-Jean and Noah all try to hurt the old man but to no avail, normal weapons don’t affect him! But Monmon shakes off his paralysis and pierce him with a mighty stab of his spear. Paul hits him with his magic dagger but Agénor touches him in return, wounding him and draining some of his strength. Several hits later and Agénor is incapacitated and gets a stake through his heart (as he’s evidently a vampire) and is hurled outside to be burned by sunlight. The undead knight, surrounded, is the last to fall (he had a backstory but, well… too bad!).
• Béatrice though doesn’t seem to be able to stay dead for very long. The PCs decapitate her and burn her corpse for good measure. They looted her body prior to that and found a pearl necklace and an amber brooch.
• They continue with their exploration plan and go to the stairway west of the Vestibule and go up into the Gothic Wing.
• They’re trying to find the stairway leading to the 3rd floor (the highest). They go through the Feasting Hall and go north into a zigzagging corridor, find the latrine’s « throne » and then open a door to the west.
• They’re inside a boudoir. Inside a closet they find a silver mirror and a puzzle box. There’s also a dressing screen and something behind but at that moment they hear a very angry Béatrice shouting at them: « You killed me and now you’re stealing from me! » and more that is lost in a primal scream as she runs towards them, claws at the ready. She hits Monmon (again) but this time he resists the paralysis. Noah pierces her with two crossbow bolts and then Monmon pierces her through with his spear. They wander briefly what to do with the unkillable crazy Béatrice but then they find a casket with chains behind the dressing screen and just proceed to toss her corpse in and lock it up. Without her head. Her head is thrown through the window and into Tristano’s pond.
• Thence the PCs resume their search for a way up. Checking their map (Isaac) they figure that the 2×2 square space in the middle could well be what they seek and indeed, it is the stairway leading up!
• In front of the stairway the party hears some noise coming from the east, several creatures are coming up from the 1st floor.
• Constant uses the Oil of Revelation to see a probable future. Thus, he sees another party of adventurers, rough men armed mostly with axes. The leader asks the PCs to leave the Castle, it’s their turn to loot the place. Battle ensues, the PCs have the upper hand but suffer some losses. Still in the vision, the party go to the 3rd floor, breaks open a stuck door and gets into a library.
• With this knowledge in mind, the PCs hurry to the 3rd floor (Gothic Wing II). Monmon breaks open the door and the group wait in ambush as the newcomers, alerted by the sound, come after them. The PCs win initative, Noah kill two adventurers just like that with his crossbow. Monmon kill another with his spear and then Georges jumps into the action and wounds another but he’s struck in return and dies. Paul takes his place and kill the wounded man and then gets into a duel against the leader who’s no match for him. The two remaining opponents fight to the death (morale check) which is not very long in coming.
• The PCs loot the bodies and find a few hundreds gold pieces.
• Thence, the PCs get into a library, don’t look much at the books but find a secret door on one corner with the help of Noah’ sword Scrupulous. Once opened they see a man standing right in front of them. He looks just like the one on the dead or alive wanted portrait of Claude Malévol. The PCs tell the man so but he denies being Claude, he claims to be his twin: Olivier Malévol! After a short deliberation the PCs decide that as the spitting image of a 3000gp reward, well… he would do. Of course, that doesn’t go very well with the would-be ransomed and, in a weird turn of events, the latter’s body melts and turns into a Slime! It lashes out at Monmon who was in the process of seizing him. The pseudopod hurts Monmon and ruins his mail hauberk. This is quite disconcerting to the adventurers and they decide that caution is the better part of valour.
• They retreat and soon leave the Castle.

Closing Comments:

• With the current Infractions level, first encounter rolled was to be with the retributory patrol (1d4+1 encounters together). With how the results went I figured that Béatrice was the more strong-willed opponent and would be the leader. She’s not much more than a beefed up ghoul but she’s very persistent…
• And it so happened in one of those amazing emerging coincidence that they found Béatrice’s Boudoir and put her back inside her very own chained casket!
• Very clever reading of the map by Isaac to find the stairway, I’m very proud. They’re getting good at this dungeon-delving stuff.
• XP: Participation: 1 Treasures: 2 Secrets: 2
• Treasures: Pearl Necklace, Amber Brooch, Silver Mirror, Puzzle Box
• Fatalities: Georges, struck by a rival adventurer’s axe
• New Infractions: Vanquished Béatrice’s retributory patrol (-4). Eliminated Agénor Malévol. Eliminated Béatrice Malévol.