9568 Moonlight Madness.pdf - Free
9568 Moonlight Madness.pdf - Free
9568 Moonlight Madness.pdf - Free
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like are all possibilities. The animals can be real (attracted<br />
by Shap’s animal summoning spells) or illusionary (as will<br />
likely be the case if the DM opts for the more exotic spec-<br />
imens-e.g., tigers and crocodiles-rather than wood-<br />
lands equivalents like snakes and bobcats).<br />
“Excellent,” says the Burgomeister, beam<br />
the prosecution have any objection to the jury selection?”<br />
“No objection, your honor,” says Vandric, after a<br />
quick whispered discussion with Vanessa.<br />
“Please be seated in the jury pen,” says the Burgo-<br />
meister, pointing to the fenced-off area. The animals<br />
quietly file into the pen, and Theodora closes the gate<br />
behind them.<br />
”Make your opening statement,” says the Burgo-<br />
meister.<br />
Vandric steps forward. ”The charge of lycanthropy<br />
is easily proven,” he says grandly. “My own sword has<br />
the capability of detecting werebeasts. Let’s put it to<br />
the test.”<br />
With that, he flourishes the sword (to the “ooohs” of<br />
the assembled crowd) and points it at the player charac-<br />
ters one by one. It hums audibly each time, even if that<br />
character has actually not been infected with lycanthropy<br />
(no doubt disconcerting uninfected characters who’d<br />
counted on being cleared by this magical test). Alter-<br />
nately, the sword could remain silent when pointed to<br />
such characters, causing the Burgomeister to mutter<br />
something about “Guilt by association.’’<br />
inute,” interrupts the ranger. ”<br />
cross-examine that sword .” Vandric hands the sword to<br />
Stewart, who holds it out and stares at it. The sword<br />
hums up and down the scales, while Stewart frowns and<br />
shakes his head. Finally, it hums a distinctive melody<br />
(e.g., ”Moondance”). Stewart nods, hands the sword<br />
back to Vandric, and says, “No further questions.”<br />
Next, Vandric turns and addresses the crowd di-<br />
rectly. ”How many of you have been attacked by<br />
vicious werebeasts in Thornburg?” he asks. Nearly all<br />
the villagers raise their hands. ”Now, how many of<br />
you can identify at least one of the defendants as one<br />
of those werebeasts?” Afew hands go down. “Two?” A<br />
few more hands go down. Vandric continues in this<br />
fashion, until at last roughly half the townspeople<br />
have hands raised to identify all the defendants as<br />
their attackers. With a nod to the judge and a wave of<br />
his hand, he says, “The prosecution rests.”<br />
”Does the defense have any final statements?” asks<br />
the Burgomeister.<br />
“You guys might as well go ahead,” says Stewart<br />
”Can’t do yourselves any more harm now.”<br />
21<br />
T Ir~e characters may n~G,e hucl? nr-iet s:atemert, as cesired<br />
to the court. Their statements will be greeted by booing<br />
and jeering from the crowd (unless they make an abject<br />
confession, in which case their rapt audience listens with<br />
horrified attention). Sir Vandric objects to any requests<br />
from the characters to face their accusers directly, on the<br />
grounds that the characters will undoubtedly change to<br />
wereform and endanger innocent lives. Should any PC<br />
shift into wereform at any point for any reason, a rain of arrows<br />
(mostly illusionary, to conceal the sleep arrows hidden<br />
within) soon brings him or her down, leaving a<br />
convincing-looking corpse. The Burgomeister looks at the<br />
body and says ”Shot while trying to escape, note it in the<br />
record.“ He then moves to wrap up the proceedings.<br />
each a verdict,” announces the Burgomeister.<br />
”Considering the facts,” says Vandric, ”is there any<br />
need to deliberate?” The animals mill about in their<br />
pen, growling and spitting, then take their places<br />
again.<br />
”What is the verdict?” (asks the Burgomeister.<br />
One of the animals growls, as if in answer. ”Guilty<br />
as charged,” announces the ranger, knocking out his<br />
pipe and stowing it away. “I still say they should be<br />
hanged. We can always burn them afterwards, just to<br />
be sure.”<br />
The crowd surges forward, laughing and shouting.<br />
Under Vandric‘s direction, they thrust their torches<br />
into the dry wood underneath you. As the flames rise<br />
up to obscure your vision, the whole scene seems to<br />
swirl and then fall apart before your stinging eyes.<br />
Suddenly your vision clears. The crowd, the Burgo-<br />
meister, Vandric and the ladies, and Stewart all disap-<br />
pear and your ears ring with the sound of eerie laugh-<br />
ter receding into the woods in all directions. The<br />
flames seem to have all gone out and you’re lying, still<br />
tied, in the empty amphitheater atop the unlit bonfire.<br />
Rescue<br />
Muldoon, the local druid, makes a habit of periodi-<br />
cally clearing the area of Snap’s snam and pixie traps-<br />
they disrupt the natural patterns of the forest. As the<br />
characters struggle with their bonds, a lone leather-clad<br />
figure in a cloak enters the clearing and sits down in the<br />
last row of the amphitheater, where he strikes up a<br />
whistling conversation with a passing jay (or owl, if it’s<br />
still nighttime). Muldoon says nothing to the group,<br />
merely sits and watches them until addressed. He will re-<br />
lease the characters if asked, otherwise he simply<br />
watches them struggle and chats with the local wildlife.<br />
The characters must come up with some reasonable<br />
method of releasing themselves. Any reasonable plan<br />
will work, but they must come up with it themselves. If