Patreon Supported Adventures – Old Fey Bargains: A Short Scenerio for Eldritch Shadows

Fey Magic is a short adventure, a romp, to fill in the gaps between campaigns or major story points within a large, Eldritch Shadows game. This adventure is suitable for players of the third or fourth level and should take about on night of play. Fey Magic is an investigation adventure, requiring players to think and travel on their own accord. While some rolling is required this romp is more suited to discussion, roleplay, and critical thought.

Alister MacCuinn’s family has always been fortunate. Since the late 1800s they have prospered in the New World, leaving Scotland as poor dirt farmers only to become the most powerful coal family on the Eastern Sea board. When coal lost its throne to oil, the MacCuinn’s found in their mines veins of copper and far rarer material. Now, in the early years of the twenty-first century all seems good for the McaCuinn clan, except an old bargain and an ancient enemy are about to be broken, and all the good fortune of the MacCuinn’s will fall back on them and the town they built from the wilds of the Appalachians.

Nearly a century ago, Alister’s Great-Great Grandfather trapped a Fey deep in the pouching mines he dug. For all this time the creature, a woman of great beauty and dark heart, has remained chained far below. A Bargain was struck that should the family ever be blessed with the birth of triplets, who would number as two girls and a boy, born in an order of girl, boy, girl, the cold iron chains that bound the Fey would fall and she would be released. To seal this bargain, the MacCuinn bound the Fey’s power to a pendant that was passed sire to heir until now it rests against Alister’s chest.

Last week, Alister’s Daughter Moira, birthed triplets with the help of modern medicine. The order matched that of the bargain made, and as the babes slept their first night in their mother’s care, a mine collapse killed 40 of Alister’s men. The next day as shock rang across the country, Investigators claimed that MacCuinn had bribed safety inspectors and that the mine had been dangerously unsafe for years. The same day, Moira’s husband was killed when a sinkhole opened up in front of his car as he traveled to the hospital to see his wife and new born children.

While the players could be involved for any number of reasons here are several that could aid in convincing them to aid MacCuinn.

For whatever the reason the players soon find themselves involved with MacCuinn’s problems. Unfortunately, the old businessman doesn’t want them involved at all in his problems and is rather uncouth in his opinion (and statement of such) of the characters. When meeting with MacCuinn the players should be allowed several minutes of time alone in MacCuinn’s office while the old business man attends to other matters. The following are some of the things they may discover:

– There is a memo on the table that reads “For the tenth time, Roger, we aren’t expanding to the south. While we own that land it has already been savaged of all materials by poachers and wannabe teenagers.

– Pictures and paints on the walls depict the MacCuin men going down the family tree to the original immigrant. With the exception of the first MacCuinn all following MacCuinn men have the pendant.

– The pendant is laying on the desk, its chain broken and the stone in its center a deep red/black, different from the blue depicted in the storybook.

– A letter from accounting inquiring as to why a miner named Zeb Liben, who was fired thirty years ago was still receiving a weekly pay.

During the meeting Alister is hostile to the characters, believing them to be nothing but frauds and opportunists out to make a quick buck at the expense of Alister’s company. No matter the angle, Alister will storm out, alerting his security forces to have the character’s arrested.

While much can be gleaned in Alister’s office other information can be obtained by hitting the streets and mingling with the townsfolk. The following are some of the things they may discover.

– Zeb Liben is an old nut job who lives in the woods near the town and has a tendency to poke at people with a silvered butter knife.

– Despite being unused wild land, Alister maintains a high security presence in the area, and has gone so far as to install hidden cameras throughout that section of forest.

– A Few nights ago (the same night as Moira gave birth) a group of teenagers at a bush party in the forest near the MacCuinn property swear to hearing a laugh that seemed to come from the earth itself.

– A couple of the miners who escaped the collapse claim to have seen great hands of rock and earth ripping out the supports and collapsing the mine.

– Investigation into the inspector will reveal no sign of him as having ever been employed by the PA State Mines Commission (In truth the inspector is the brother of the trapped Fey disguised by Glamour).

If the players decide to find Zeb, they’ll locate him living in an old, broken to rust and mildew trailer in the forest near the hills of the MacCuinn property. Zeb is twitchy around those he doesn’t know and keeps his hands on an old shotgun. From Zeb the players can find out the following.

– Zeb believes that MacCuinn has hired assassins to take him out.

– The former company level inspector discovered the MacCuinn family secret and was paid-off to keep his mouth shut,

The southern boundaries of the town are edges of this huge section of wild lands owned and patrolled by the MacCuinns. If any character should study what they see with their eyes over Internet image searches they will discover that the ground has fallen away. A Successful Intelligence SR will reveal that is not the grounds but the hills that have moved, growing about 10 feet in height. While the cave is easy enough to find, a Successful Wisdom SR is needed to assure that the players do not get lost in the wild.

While traveling through the wild lands outside the town the player have a 3 in six chance of running into one of the following once:

Roll     Enemy

1 – 2    Bear

3 – 4    Fey-blooded ally

5 – 6    Rock Dog

The old pouching mines have long since been boarded up and concealed by years of scrub growth. However, the sense of mere presence acts to guide even the most magically dis-inclined character to its entrance once the players get close enough (within ¼ mile). Inside the caves the players will find a small, narrow tunnel leading deep into the mountain, the walls and floor are slick with water and a faint glow can be seen far ahead a long with the sweet sound of a woman singing in a deep Scottish lilt. Anyone who does not succeed a Wisdom SR will be under compulsion to obey the fey further in the tunnel.

At the tunnel’s end the players find an unfinished section of the mine. Mining tools and an old cart still waiting for their owner to retrieve them. Against one wall, a tall, lean, red-headed woman with deep violet eyes is bounded to the wall by a singular chain around her left wrist. Her right arm is free, but a broken chain can be seen danging from her right wrist. This is Fia, a Fey tricked into traveling across the waters and trapped by the MacCuinn generations ago. If she has any of the players under compulsion this is the moment she uses them, commanding them to free her, if any play not under her compulsion attempts to stop the enspelled player they should be attacked.

Fia is interested in revenge for her long imprisonment and demands the blood of the entire MacCuinn Clan to sate her. While it is possible to convince her to another route, Fia is spoiling for a fight and even trapped is a force to be reckoned with.

The bargain has been broken so whether Fia is once more imprisoned, killed, or freed the MacCuinn luck is long gone. Alister is none to happy about this but sees little he can do about it given his failing company and the loss of much of his wealth. Oddly, while Alister ends up in prison due to the mining accident and revelations of corruption and political bribes over the years, the reversal of luck doesn’t seem to affect Moira or her children. If the players should, in later years, follow up on the case they will find that Moira has named one of her daughter’s Fia and while her siblings have gray eyes she is gifted with deep violet ones. Unfortunately, Fia Brother, a power Fey Lord who has been searching for his sister for a long time will not be so forgiving to the players should they imprision her once more or kill her, and should become a force in the backgrounds of their lives for quite some time.

Bear – HD 4; AC 7 [12]; ATK Bite; MV 12; Save 13; HDE/XP 4/120; SPC Hug

Fia – HD 6; AC 4 [15]; ATK Unarmed; MV 2; Save 11; HDE/XP 8/800; SPC Spells 1^stlvl, 4 (Charm Person x2, Sleep x2); 2^nd lvl, 2 (Detect Thoughts, Phantasmal Force); 3^rd lvl, 2 (Hold Person x2). Fey Born abilities (Glamor at-will, Compulsion 3x/day)

Fey-Blooded Ally – HD 5; AC 6 [13]; ATK Handgun (1d6+1); MV 12; Save 12; HDE/XP 5/240

Rock Dog – HD 4; AC 4 [15]; ATK Bite; MV 12; Save 13; HDE/XP 4/120; SPC Slam