BEYOND THE GRAVE
An attempt to write a murder mystery for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, for first level characters. Set in a working castle. I dont think it turned out very well, but it should be suitable for those who like to roleplay. This is not a hack and slash dungeon. This is copyright free. Do what you like with it, (you will anyway), but if you make money with it let me know, I need a job. wellardobbit@freeuk.com Talysarn Feb. 2001
WARBIRD CASTLE Way, way up north, so far north that the locals consider Yorkshire people as "southerners", starts the Northern Pine Forest. Just at the edge is an escarpment. Perched on a finger of rock is Castle Warbird, home of the Dukedom of Doff. Consisting of one castle and lots of pine forest, the Dukedom is not well known, but is happy, stable. and moderately wealthy. Although sadly on his deathbed, the ageing Old Duke leaves a happily married daughter and a grandson Heir, the little Duke. Until yesterday.
MAPS
The dying Duke woke from his afternoon nap, screaming "Poisoned", "I've been poisoned". "That bastard of a son in law couldn't wait for an old man to die quietly, impatient sod" When a guard appears, the guard is told to fetch the Priest, "Pretty dam quick". The growing crowd in the bedroom is dismissed when the Preist arrives. From his deathbed the Old Duke forces the Priest to Promise that he will Reanimate his dead body and use it to wreck vengeance on his poisoner. As the Priest agrees the Old Duke vomits on the bed and dies. The Priest leaves the bedroom as the Duchess (Daughter) arrives. The Priest announces in a strained voice that the Duke is dead. The Priest then flees the commotion and spends the rest of the day getting drunk in his room and reading his holy book.
OLD DUKES CAUSE OF DEATH He has indeed been poisoned, accidentally. The Scribe heard the Gardener complaining about Peach Fly on the Dukes peach tree in the greenhouse and being an amateur alchemist the Scribe was able to give the gardener a packet of arsenic sulphide. Mixed with water and sprayed liberally in the greenhouse it cured the problem. Two weeks later the gardener proudly presented the Duke with the one peach the tree managed to grow that year. He will be horrified to find that he has Done For the Duke. The packet of arsenic sulphide is still in the gardeners tool shed. The Serving Maids remember the gardeners peach.
TIME LINE
DAY ONE, SUNDAY Old Dukes Funeral.
EVENING: The Old Dukes Wake in the Dukes Hall. Everyone gets drunk in the memory of the old Duke.
ENTER PARTY : The Party have heard that the castle is always in need of a hired sword, or have seen the recruitment posters further south. The party will be welcomed with open arms, given cubicles in the barracks, and told that their kit is safe because "we chop the 'ands of thieves round 'ere". Not drinking at the Dukes wake is considered a grievous insult. Only devout religious people who can show both a religious symbol and a religious book will be excused. Anyone else will be either held down and forced to drink, or escorted outside, either way not a good start to the dungeon. After the Old Dukes funeral the wake is a strained affair. Half way through being given a meal in the main hall, the party will hear the Duchess scream "there will be no trial, Murderer, I could not bear to see you acquitted" and storm out. The silence in the hall will last a full three minutes, before the Duke storms out as well. Conversation will gradually reassert itself.
DAY TWO: MONDAY, Just after midnight The Duke returns with a bottle of brandy in his hand. "You Newbie come ere", he slurs, and motions with the brandy bottle. He pulls his sword out {drunkenly, roll vs dexterity or take 2 points of damage} "I will give you this when you find my Dukes murderer." and hands sword over before staggering off sobbing. Sword is a +1 magic short sword, +2 vs Goblins and Kobalds. The Duke goes to bed and is tucked in by his manservant. A serving maid will testify that he was well drunk. Priest goes back to the chapel. Last seen by a serving girl who passed chapel about 02:00, she heard noises in the dark chapel, turned out to be the priest, sat on floor, drunk talking to god. Entire castle asleep by 02:30. Party hopefully as drunk as rest of the castle. Nobody sees the priest exit at 02:45, the priest is trying to avoid people, and will go round the party if need be. If stopped he is only going outside for some air. His personal moral dilemma has sobered him up to complete lucidity, no matter how much he drinks. He will go down to the mausoleum, let himself in with a key, and animate the corpse of the Duke. He only needs a couple of rounds undisturbed.
SPECIAL CONDITIONS AND RULES Maybe because the Old Duke has asked to be animated as a zombie, maybe because the animation was done soon after death by a Chaotic Good cleric. In any event what wakes up in the Mausoleum is a Zombie with the mind of the Old Duke, not your normal everyday brain dead zombie. The Zombie Duke is delighted, he has a fully working body and a clear mind. After years of bedridden senility he is dead chuffed. The Gods do indeed play dice.
So 03:00 has the Priest entering the servants entrance and going to the chapel. At the chapel he is met by the Zombie Duke who entered via secret passages up ivy covered wall and across the roof. Then via passages to kitchen. Priest gets head cook into passage in the kitchen wall, he will tell the cook he has something important to show him. He is murdered by the zombie duke. A single sword thrust to the heart. The head is hacked off and taken into the kitchen, placed in a big saucepan and set on the argar to simmer. The word "TRAITOR" is daubed in the cooks blood on the wall. At 03:25 The Priest changes the Holy water in the font for normal water and goes to bed . Zombie duke steals a mop and bucket and goes to clean up the blood. Body eventually dumped in the sub cellar at point labeled CK.
04:00 Baker arrives to start the day, and discovers the cooks head. Hue and cry, the castle is woken up. Hung over? No sleep? the party must feel terrible.
05:10 The Duchess has decided she and the heir are going to "stay with some friends" for "a week or so". If the party does not witness her departure, castle gossips will lovingly detail how the Duke still in his nightshirt, begged and pleaded, holding onto her reigns. Her lady in waiting had to physically prise the dukes hands from the stirrup. Duke now getting drunk in his rooms. There has been a robbery! the washer upper in the kitchens is complaining that some drunken git has nicked his mop and bucket.
BEDTIME DAY THREE, TUESDAY Castle staff in bed by midnight, with the stragglers in bed by 01:00 02:50 Zombie Duke and the Priest pays a visit to the old retainer Bill. He persuades him to commit suicide and the Priest animates him there and then. When the Priest sees that Bill the zombie has not retained a personality, he will start to crack up. He tells Bill to obey instructions from the Zombie Duke. There will be about a pint of blood spilt on the floor, both the preist and the Zombie Duke are careful not to step in it. Bill stops bleeding just after animation. In the event of there being someone hanging around or on guard near the servants quarters, the Priest will distract them by asking them to investigate a ghost in the Chapel. He will be very convincing. A live Bill will then follow the Zombie Duke into the secret passages.
06:00 Non appearance of Bill at breakfast leads to the blood in his room being found.
EARLY DAY FOUR WEDNESDAY 00:25 Screaming can be heard from the Scribes room. Horrid screams of pain which are still continuing when the Duke and some grunts arrive and start to batter the door down. Unfortunately the weird goings on have convinced the Scribe to bar the door well. It takes a couple of minutes to batter it down. The screaming abruptly stops about 30 seconds before the door is breached. The Zombie is doing this for the effect. The Scribe is decapitated when its time to go. His small laboratory is destroyed. The Duke will deposit about two pints of vomit over the body and the scene of the crime by the time the party get to view the scene. Duke turns to the Grunts, gives them a bag of gold and tells them to get the Witch Sniffer from his cave nearby.
22:30 After a hard ride all day the Witch Sniffer arrives to be met on the front bridge by the Priest. Voices are raised, the Witch Sniffer points at the Priest and screams that he will "not sleep under the same roof as a servant of the Dark. Repent brother it is never too late." He then storms off saying he will stay at the Halfway Inn, and the Duke can see him there.
DAY FIVE THURSDAY 09:20 A serving girl from the halfway arrives at the gate saying that Daemons have killed the Inn keeper and stabbed the Witch Finder to death with his own crucifix. Lots of blood. The landlord was killed by a trap set by the Witch Sniffer, another firetrap is waiting for the person that tries to open the shutters. Rigor mortis has set in on the body of the Witch Sniffer indicating death some while ago (last night). The explosion that killed the inn keeper was heard by everyone at the inn at 08:45
10:00 Priest slits his own wrist and on the floor of the chapel, in his own blood, writes the following suicide note. I have sinned, It is wrong, He was right, I am sorry.
NOON Three of Dukes best men set out for the city a day and a halfs hard ride away. Duke and parrot go "hunting".
DAY SIX FRIDAY
DAY SEVEN EARLY SATURDAY MORNING 02:15 A High Priestess of Diana shows up with six paladins. Evil characters have 2D8 minutes to leave the castle or be hauled up in front of The Lady and asked what they are Guilty of. Dungeon ends.
"NO PLAN EVER SURVIVES CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY"
A major problem in writing dungeons is the party that refuse to play ball. The Dungeon is north of them, so they walk south off the map. They get drunk and miss important meetings, and when they do show up for that all important "random" encounter, they never b***** listen! Well in this dungeon the script is set so that short of finding the passages and "doing" the Zombie, it should run on like a steamroller. During the daytime of day two (and hopefully day three) the Zombie Duke will be laying down on the table on the alchemists Laboratory, not moving. He is playing dead. On day three, when hopefully Bill is with him. Bill will be sat in a chair. Since the blast doors are closed, the noise of their opening will give the Zombies time to get in position. You know your players (Know Thine Enemy). You have to sell them the idea that the murderer/instigator is still roaming the Castle, and the Dukes body on the table was destined for some diabolical necromanical plot. Unless your players are exceptionally dim or drunk, its best to let them come to this conclusion unaided. Spelling it out is suspicious. Once the Priest is called/involved the body will be whisked off to the Chapel for "cleansing". Messing the body about in any way will be considered desecration by most of the Castle staff. A full post mortem/autopsy will need the permission of the Duke. Roll for charisma of character asking. If the Priest finds out about a proposed post mortem, he really will go off his head. There is less objection to Bill being hacked up. Dropping holy water on the Zombie will do it damage and have him attack you. The Priest has nobbled the Holy water in the Chapels font. A successful turning will have both Bill and the Zombie Duke scrabbling for the door.
MAIN POINTS The Priest has Promised (to a dying man), that he will animate the Duke to wreck vengeance on his prisoner. If the Zombie hears of the (correct), accidental insecticide poisoning theory, he will take it as firm proof that the New Duke is involved, since the new Dukes Scribe gave the gardener the poison. So the Scribe Has To Die, and the Zombie needs the help Bill will provide. The Witch Sniffer is sent for because the Scribe is murdered. The Witch Sniffer is murdered because he is a threat. The Ecclesiastical rapid reaction force is sent for because the Witch Sniffer is dead, this ends the dungeon. Incidentally the Zombie fully intends to kill the New Duke, when his grandson is old enough to take charge. I am including a Rumour Mill to help throw up a bit of a smoke screen, the more the party have to think about the less time they have for thinking about important things.
THE GOSSIP MACHINE
All castle staff share information. The lowliest kitchen wash-up will know within minutes what the chambermaid overheard the Duke say to the Duchess in the main hall, faster if its interesting. Unless the party make an effort to be secretive, everyone will know what they did, and have an opinion about where they went wrong.
Gossip at the Wake: A surprisingly accurate description of the Dukes death. {The poisoned peach will not be known about} They are very shocked that the Duke named the Son in law Murderer. Most people are disappointed that they didn't say good-bye to the old Duke. The Butler did it, Major Domo wants the fortune left him in the Old Dukes will.
Gossip after the murder of the Cook: The New Duke was displeased with his midnight snack and killed the cook. The Duke has gone mad and killed the cook. The cook was killed by the ghost of a wild boar. The Scribe killed the cook so that he could use his blood in them funny experiments he does. A high level Witch has just moved into the village and is plotting for the Dukedom. The witch is a little old lady that presses wild flowers. She has recently moved to the country for a quiet retirement, (DM choice or an Evil Mage on the run from the authorities).
Gossip after the disappearance of Bill. Daemons took him. They said they would, Daemons have got long memories and the one he killed said he would come back to get him. The Duke killed him. He is visiting his mother. The Cavalry Officer saw a Vampire bat last night. {He saw a large bat}
Gossip after the Scribes Murder. The Witch that lives in the village has called up foul Daemons that murdered the Scribe. The Butcher, the Baker and a Kitchen Washup all saw a Vampire leave the castle that morning. They were stood by the back stairs. That bat again, it lives in the woods. The Scribe killed himself in some black magic ritual.
Gossip after the Witch Sniffers Murder. The Witch DEFINITELY needs burning out the village. It takes an eighth level Daemon to kill a Witch Sniffer. We are in deep trouble. The Witch Sniffer had a fight with the Vampire and lost. The castle is built on an ancient Pict burial ground, and the spirits have awoken.
Gossip after the Priests suicide. Suicide is a sin. The Priest did not commit suicide. Vampire killed the Priest. (In broad daylight!) Anyone up for a Witch Burning? OPTIONAL sideline, with mob of castle staff descending on the village, and a burning. Be sure to mention that anyone with a guilty conscience had better not be around when The Lady arrives with the Paladins.
CAST LIST
ROOM DESCRIPTIONS
SERVANTS BLOCK The walls are made from a plastered wooden frame. Such walls show as a single black line on the plans. The rooms are quite large and are usually split into partitions by wooden or stretched canvas screens. Typically they contain wooden chairs, table and bed, maybe some books, or the signs of a hobby {eg, flower arranging}. Sanitation is by chamber pot, slopped out in the cubicles in the wash room. Rooms are lit by a continual light spell in the roof, they are fitted with wooden shutters. Some have a red glass filter instead.
GATEHOUSE Between the castle and the gatehouse is an eighty foot wide, hundred feet deep gorge. It is crossed by a bridge, the central section of which is wood. The castles horses, hunting dogs and hawks are kept in the gatehouse. Access to the upper first floor is via a moveable wooden staircase. The winding gear here raises a section of the floor so that carts can be raised to the upper level. Usually though, supplies are winched across the cargo lift directly into the ground floor. There is a firewood pile against the wall by the servants door at the back of the castle.
CELLAR Nothing of real note. The cold room has something to do with an imprisoned ice elemental. Lots of flour, dried beans and potatoes.
SUB CELLAR The Mausoleum is entered from outside the castle. CK Marks the position of the cooks headless body. The shaded area marks a canvas floor. It is liberally coated with dust and covers a fifty foot pit. Spikes at the bottom do an additional 2D8 damage. Clear areas are the only way across the cavern. The Zombie Duke knows the paths of course. In the cave below the castle cells the wall labeled "this" is a Permanent Illusion. On the other side of the illusion is a cave with a steel door at the far end.
A poisonous snake lives here and like most snakes is only interested in live food. Being carrion the Zombie Duke and Zombie Bill can pass unmolested. ARMOR CLASS 4,MOVE 6", THACO 16, HIT POINTS 19 (3 hit dice), TREASURE nil ,No. ATTACKS 1, DAMAGE/ATTACK 2D6, SPECIAL ATTACKS nil, SPECIAL DEFENSES nil ,MAGIC RESISTANCE normal,INTELLIGENCE animal, ALIGNMENT neutra,l SIZE large.
The three steel doors are easily cranked open to reveal a magic users laboratory. The lab belongs to a long dead castle alchemist. The Zombie Duke is now using it as somewhere to hang out during the day. When the party come investigating the Zombie will lie on the table and pretend to be dead. The hope is that the party will re-inter the "body" to the Mausoleum and so give the Zombie a second chance. He is laid on a table with magical designs drawn round him. His sword lies at his feet, rat bones dead twigs and leaves litter the floor. The small forge in the corner is on low. There is an eight inch diameter tunnel which leads to the surface, this and the blast doors are insurance against the castle being blown up by a duff experiment by the alchemist. The rotting cupboards contain three random potions, which rightly belong to the Duke.
THE HALFWAY INN Halfway down the finger of rock the castle is built on lies the Halfway Inn. A normalish D+D Tavern. The front bit sticks out from the cliff it clings to and the rooms extend into the rock. The back wall of the penthouse room is covered with a wooden panel. This is a secret door that leads into what looks like a wardrobe or cupboard. There is another secret door here which after about a mile ends up in the secret passages in the castle. A previous Duke had it cut so that he could cheat on the Duchess.