Introduction

The PCs make their way along a nondescript dirt road flanked on each side with overgrown grass giving way to isolated copses of trees, which eventually thicken into a dark forest. A slight breeze rustles the leaves and the area is filled with a relaxing quiet. Smoke rises across the treetops some distance away, indicating the presence of a nearby town. In the distance, sharp-eyed PCs spot a cloaked man walking in the same direction they are headed. In the rapidly dwindling sunlight.rnrnSuddenly, the forest behind them shudders. Branches snap and leaves fly as the PCs turn around just in timernto view… Nothing.rnrn

Plot Description

Morning Child

Inside the thick, cloying branches that comprise the towns boundary can be found a single tavern, a forked river, a bank, a farm, various hovels and even a few manors for the wealthy or noble inhabitants. A gentle hill swells to the northeast of the entry road, on top which lay a group of marble seats clustered beneath a large pavilion. Ruins of an abandoned jailhouse lay to the west, windows broken and door askew, creaking noisily from a single functioning hinge. It is dark now, but the town is a bustle of activity crowds of people move to and fro, carrying lanterns and fussing around large tables as if in preparation for a festival. A few villagers can be seen lighting torches on tall stakes to ward off the gathering darkness.

Secrets

Rumors

*Foul spirits dwell within the ruins of the jailhouse. ThernTown Elders plan to ask a Priest to exorcise the spirits next time one visits Morning Child.

*There are an awful lot of well-to-do folk for such a smallrntown.

*The tavernkeep Markwald waters down his beer,rnbut his mead is worth every shilling.

*The working conditions at the Keller farm are little better than slavery. This would not be a problem normally, except the crop is not even that good this year.

*The cemetery is haunted. The groundskeep swears that he has heard a soft moaning for the past several nights as well as the ringing of many bells.

*A dark figure has been seen unearthing dead bodies under cover of night.

*The Keller farm has a serious rat problem.

Expanding the scenario