04 Night's Watch.pdf - Chaos Bleeds

CHapter 4: Lords of the Long NightScenariosThe following is a selection of encounters that feature the handiwork ofthe Others, or even the Others themselves. They are provided as a startingpoint for a Narrator who wishes to introduce the alien horror of theOthers to their SIFRP chronicle.Dead Man’s FordThere are few safe places to cross the Milkwater due to its fast currentand lack of ice. One of the more commonly used crossings is the shallowford known as Dead Man’s Ford, which in actuality is little morethan a scattering of rocks in a particularly broad and shallow portion ofthe river. Located just north of the Fist of the First Men, it has been aheavily traveled area for centuries.Recent storms have brought an unusual amount of detritus down theMilkwater, much of which has become jammed in the rocks of DeadMan’s Ford. Among the branches and debris are a number of wightswho were caught in a flash flood or avalanche before being washeddown the river. Those that survived the ordeal have been caught atDead Man’s Ford and have begun attacking travelers who choose tocross there.TerrainOnce free flowing but shallow, Dead Man’s Ford has become a debrisfield of branches, animal carcasses, and other refuse. Dead Man’s Fordwas previously considered Treacherous Terrain, but with the added debristhat has collected there it has two Treacherous factors, meaning tomove 1 yard a character must spend 3 yards of Movement. For militaryunits it is considered to have the Very Slow Movement quality.The wights laying in among the debris gain +1B to Stealth and gain+2 to their defense, but cannot move without spending a Greater Actionto extract themselves from the detritus around the ford.Known FactsTravelers have been going missing near Dead Man’s Ford, but that isnothing out of the ordinary among the free folk. If someone importanthas gone missing local tribes may send scouts out to search the area,likely running afoul of the wights that now lurk around the ford. Theplayers may well be one such group sent to find a missing hunter, trader,or scout, or the players could simply be passing through the area.Unknown FactsThere are only eight wights washed up in the shallows of Dead Man’sFord, but that is more than enough to slay most who seek to cross. Dozensof corpses have been added to the ford since the wights arrived. Thewights lay in ambush among the debris that has washed up in the ford,using it as camouflage so they can get within arm’s reach of their targetbefore they are detected.A common tactic is to wait until travelers are around half way acrossthe ford before striking, using the difficult terrain to prevent their targetsfrom fleeing to shore. At night they tend to move around more,stalking around the Ford and the surrounding forest in the hopes offinding more victims. They frequently drive those they find toward theford, and the waiting arms of the other wights in such instances. Theywill pursue their prey up to a mile from the ford before returning.The OthersThe wights haunting Dead Man’s Ford are standard wights, though theyare unusually bloated due to all their time spent in the waters of theMilkwater. Their clothes and armor are continually waterlogged withmetal items quickly rusting.The wights use the standard statistics for wights from the Antagonistsand Allies section of Chapter 11: The Narrator, in the SIFRPcore book.WeirdnessThe wights have begun dragging in more branches and other detritusinto the blockage at Dead Man’s Ford, causing it to slowly creep up riverlike some manner of terrible beaver dam. As it spreads so do they, slowlyclaiming more of the river as they do so.The Stone Hair TribeThe Stone Hair tribe has long lived in the Haunted Forest, calling a crudelybuilt collection of unmortared stone buildings their home. Raising goatsand eking out a bare living from the soil, the Stone Hair tribe was stableand quiet for a free folk tribe. It had regular trade with its neighbors, butotherwise had little contact with the world beyond its borders.It wasn’t until a small group of young warriors from a neighboringtribe came sneaking into the Stone Hair village one night hunting forbrides that anyone realized something was wrong. No cook fires wereseen and no movement until nightfall, when shuffling forms movedthrough the unlit village in silence. The young men quickly fled, and thetribes have avoided the place ever since, feeling it is cursed, but on a coldand snowy night the players may not be so picky.While traveling near nightfall through the Haunted Forest the playerscome across the Stone Hair village, and even dark it seems it maybe a good place to seek shelter for the evening. No calls are answeredand no greeting given, and once in the buildings they find the remainsof the Stone Hair tribe. Those that did not become wights were mercilesslyslaughtered, and once this discovery is made wights soon beset theplayer characters. The Other who leads the wights, a patient and cruelcreature called Frostheel, waits for the wights to wear down any visitorsbefore moving in for the kill.TerrainThe Stone Hair village is a small settlement, once home to sixty people,and comprised of three houses, a granary, a meeting hall, and a lowstone wall mainly meant to keep livestock from wandering away. Theground within the village is kept clear, but inside the buildings is treacherousterrain due to all the corpses, debris, and other damage inflictedby the battle against the wights. For Warfare, it is considered a hamlet.When the characters arrive the lighting is considered Shadowy, butwithin an hour of arriving it becomes Darkness. An hour after that,characters will be under the effects of Extreme Cold if they have notfound shelter and heat.122