VILLAGE HARVEST FEAST, a quirky horror adventure set during not-Thanksgiving.
A map and a food-themed adventure for you to enjoy. I could make this be my day 7 prompt too, but I'm not a quitter, so you'll get another full adventure tomorrow. Maybe.
Long ago, the Village had a name. It was filled with people who had wonderful, beautiful, simple lives. But darkness fell when the fiends assaulted the Village. In the first Feast, all the living residents of the Village were killed and replaced with terrifying fiends, the hamlet itself being pulled into Hell and its name expunged from the earth. All the residents save one, the blackhearted Cain Abimelech, master of the Feast.
The Village is an isolated chunk of Hell that occasionally draws in visitors. When that happens, Cain and the residents begin planning on another Feast, to turn the new arrivals into fiendish villagers. Can the PCs stop this vicious cycle and prevent the next Feast before an innocent woman dies and they fall to darkness?
IMPORTANT NPCS
Cain Abimelech (KAYN uh-BIM-ul-ek)
...or, as he prefers to be addressed, Mister/Master Abimelech
The only survivor of the first Feast
Master of the Manor, and of the ritual to come during the Feast
Aneska Heimlich (uh-NESK-uh HEIM-leesh)
Thinks she’s marrying Cain
Has been drugged up by laced lemonade for so long she’s near senile…
...but she does know that the villagers just do the same things over and over again day in and day out
She also knows that Cain often disappears for hours at a time
She spends her time doing needlepoint, spelling out “help me” and then undoing it if she’s ever made aware of what she’s writing
She doesn’t know she’s the sacrifice at the Feast
Ipos Ballingsfoot (YEE-pos BALL-ings-foot)
The mute, one-handed Smallfolk butler to the Abimelech Manor
Disabled due to Cain removing his organs for disobedience during prior Feasts
A survivor of a previous Feast gone awry
Will try to help the PCs escape, but is terrified of Cain, and will always prioritize himself over them
Will he make a heroic sacrifice in the end?
The Villagers
Each of them are fiends in disguise
Are the fiends…
cloaked by illusions?
A skin suit?
Are they just brain tadpole parasites?
It’s up to you!
The villagers always do the same things over and over again if not disturbed
There are a total of 12 villagers, not including Cain, Aneska, and Billingsfoot
It takes 3 villagers to impersonate the Beast
There are a total of 4 more villagers in the basement during the Feast
That means there are anywhere between 5 and 8 in the village menacingly circling outside during the Feast
IMPORTANT LOCATIONS
Our Village
It is never given a name beyond this, the name was expunged when the village became a part of Hell
Sometimes referred to as “Our [adjective] Village” or “Our Home”
Always stuck in mid-fall, harvest season
Surrounded by an endless expanse of featureless fall forest
The residents speak of the Great Beast of the Woods to discourage escape
The Beast is actually a hoax perpetrated by the citizens of the Village, supported by elaborate costumes and effects
Stocked like as standard hamlet/thorp you can get
Literally nothing anywhere out of the ordinary…
The village always loops back on itself- travel far enough away, you’ll end back at its border
Call for a navigation roll or something so the PCs don’t get terribly suspicious
The only conditions under which you can escape the Village are…
...if the Feast is occuring
...if the shrine below Abimelech Manor is destroyed
The Abimelech Manor
The “idyllic” home of Cain Abimelech, and the site of the Feast
The central location of the adventure
ROOMS IN THE MANOR
I: Front Porch
A large set of double doors and open windows makes the Manor look idyllic
The doors lead in to the Entry Hall (II)
II: Entry Hall
This open space has coat hooks, warmly flickering lamps, and a large rug with a dragon woven in the old style
Typically, Ipos is standing, waiting silently to take the new arrival’s coats
Open doorways lead to the Parlor (III) and the Courtroom (VII)
III: Parlor
Plush leather couches line the walls in this spacious, yet cozy room
A fireplace sits cold in the corner
Dusk or later, the fire is lit, softly crackling away
A leering bear head is mounted above the mantle
The eyes are valuable rubies
At Cain’s command, or during the Transmogrification, the bear can talk and breathe fire
A door to the Study (IV) stands perpendicular to the passage to the Entry Hall (II)
IV: Study
Bookshelves line the walls
The books are across a variety of subjects, but many are of a debaucherous or sinful bent
If asked, Cain will say that one must know the enemy to defeat it
It’s actually because he’s a devil worshipping no good meanieface jerkhead
A desk with a plush red leather chair dominates the center of the room
The desk is coated in papers on ledgers and plans for new town buildings
If the top layer of papers are pushed aside, below lie notes on infernal rituals and magics
Doors lead off to the Parlor (III) and the Kitchen (V)
V: Kitchen
A large wooden counter and kitchen island are coated with half-prepared meals
Cupboards against the far wall are filled with spices and cookbooks
A successful roll notices that none of them are used
A large pantry stands against the wall
Inside are secret, stone-hewed stairs down to the secret underground Antechamber (XII)
If it’s before dusk, Ipos is frantically preparing meals
Doors lead out to the Study (IV) and the Dining Hall (VI)
VI: Dining Hall
8 chairs surround this table, slowly being laden with food
This will be the site of the Feast...
Doors lead into the Kitchen (V) and Aneska’s Room (VIII)
VII: Courtroom
This room has 9 wooden chairs against the walls and in rows facing a judge’s stand
This is where all the town meets to convene on issues
Given that this never happens, a successful roll can surmise that this room hasn’t been disturbed in years…
...save a secret panel below the judge’s podium, containing a valuable onyx
Why is it there, you ask?
Absolutely no reason
Fuck
You
VIII: Aneska’s Room
A large bed sits next to a nightstand with a pitcher of lemonade on it
The lemonade is drugged, and weeks of exposure has left Aneska placid and practically amnesiatic
The far wall contains a bookshelf filled with books of town history
Though being varied lengths, they all have the same content in them, and the content is self-contradictory and impossible
Aneska claims to have never read these books
Aneska placidly sits at the edge of the bed doing needlepoint and looking out her window here up until the Feast
Doors branch off to the Dining Hall (V), Courtroom (XI), and Gallery (IX)
IX: Gallery
Portraits line the walls in an ornate and old-fashioned style
The names on the portraits are of powerful and influential demons
The eyes follow PCs as they move
This is an optical illusion
The center of the room is dominated by a marble sculpture
An androgynous figure stands, armes outstretched, surrounded by piles of food and cournucopias
Cain calls it “the Bearer of the Catalyst”, but the plaque on the base slab reads “the Giver”
The figure can animate at Cain’s command, becoming a construct
The room has a door leading to Aneska’s Room (VIII) and the Dining Hall (VI)
X: Sun Porch
Large windows expose the backyard
Large animal hides line the walls, being dried to create clothing or rugs
A dog cage sits in the corner, occupied by a large black hound
A collar reads “Cerberus”
This is a Hellhound under Cain’s command
it can easily bend the bars of its cage back to escape if need be
A door to the backyard leads to the Outhouse (XIV), while the door back to the house is in the Gallery (IX)
XI: Cells
Rusted iron bars separate three small cells from a central corridor
Cell 1: A scared Smallfolk woman huddles near the back, refusing to trust the PCs
Her name is Tilldown Ballingsfoot
She is Ipos’s wife, but she claims he betrayed her and left her to rot here
Is it true?
She is the intended sacrifice for the next Feast
Cell 2: The cell is piled high with garbage and scraps
Most of the pile is filled with random shoddy equipment looted off of past victims
In the pile are two random pieces of treasure
Against the far wall is a slightly discolored brick
This brick is loose
Behind the brick is 30 coins and a small sapphire worth 50 coins, all stolen from previous victims
Cell 3: A corpse sits rotting against the far wall
On the wall is scratched a word: “Secretum”
This is the key to the fore field in the Altar (XIII)
The corridor leads back into the Antechamber (XII)
XII: Antechamber
This central chamber contains crates of bulk foodstuffs pushed against a far wall
At any given point, 2 villagers are lounging, discussing the upcoming Feast
They will attack on sight if not immediately placated with an incredibly well-crafted deception
Stone stairs lead up to the secret pantry in the Kitchen (V), while stone passages lead to the Cells (XI), the Altar (XIII), and the Outhouse and the Otyugh (XIV)
XIII: The Altar
In this room is a large, glowing pentagram written in blood and charcoal
It is protected by a force field, only undone by saying “Secretum”
This is the node that keeps the village trapped in Hell lies below Abimelech Manor
If it were to be destroyed…
...would the fiends vanish back, or stay in our world?
...would the Village remain intact?
....would Cain, Aneska, or Ipos survive?
Up to you!
An opening leads back out to the Antechamber (XII)
XIV: Outhouse and Otyugh
In the backyard sits a squat, hideous outhouse
In the chamber below the outhouse is a mound of garbage, offal, rotting food matter and sloughed-off flesh
Combing through can find a random piece of rotting, rusting equipment, 2d10 coins, and a random piece of Strange Loot (TM)
An otyugh inhabits the offal
If someone sits on the outhouse, a tentacle comes up and attempts to pull them into the chamber
The otyugh’s chamber leads back to the Antechamber (XII)
TIMELINE OF EVENTS
The PCs accidentally wander in just before noon, find themselves on the outskirts of the Village
Cain greets them, saying they haven’t had anyone new in a while, and invites them to the Feast later that evening
He tells them that they can show up whenever they so please, his doors are always open
He then leaves and begins to head back to the Manor
He first stops to tell a villager about the new arrivals, with instruction to “tell the others there’ll be a Feast tonight”
Then he arrives back and tells Ipos to begin preparing the actual meal
He will keep doing this until the PCs arrive, whereupon he will follow them around instead until instructed otherwise
He will check in on Aneska and tell her that there’ll be a Feast that night
Then he goes into the basement to prepare the ritual components
Upon dinnertime, if the PCs aren’t present, he will seek them out an hour before the Feast, inviting them to the Manor
He will get them to the dinner table by hook or by crook
He will spend the hour leading up to the feast circulating and talking to Aneska
Townsfolk mechanically circulate, doing the same tasks over and over again
They stop their mechanical repetition if…
… they assist with feast prep
… they impersonate the Great Beast
… they’re being disturbed from their standard tasks
… anything else sufficiently disruptive occurs
THE FEAST OCCURS. G_DS HELP US ALL
The table is 8 seats large, laden with succulent and beautiful local foods
During the Feast, Cain and Aneska occupy one seat each
Every chair not taken by a PC or the hosts is taken by a villager
Ipos stands aside to serve food and eventually lock doors
The Feast is an intricate, multi-stage ritual
It begins with the Benediction
“We give our thanks for your gifts, your shelter, our beating hearts and lucid eyes. Under your guidance, we grow, and under your gaze, we prosper. Grant us this harvest, as we drink your blood and feast on your bones. So mote it be.”
The attendees of the Feast look to the PCs to repeat “so mote it be” back, and will gently pressure them to do so
Every PC who does has a disadvantage/penalty to later rolls to resist the Feast’s corruption
The sky begins to roll into a dark grey
Then the Consumption
The guests begin to eat the food, as if they were ravenously hungry
The food tastes delicious, but a roll can detect that it’s somehow wrong
The delicious taste of the food is some sort of an illusion
Rain and thunder begin to echo against the walls
Then the Vitiation
Halfway through the feast, as the villagers being digging in with their hands and letting the food smear their faces, Cain stands up and says “it is time”
Ipos locks the two doors that lead out
He looks melancholy and afraid
Cain grabs Aneska and the turkey knife and begins to slit Aneska’s throat
If not stopped, he will rend her throat nearly in half and throw her body on the table
Outside, a torrential rain of blood hurtles down
Finally, the Transmogrification
The villagers will bite into Aneska’s body and begin to feast
The PCs must make a roll to avoid joining them
Any PC that fails will also feel compelled to dig in
If not forcibly stopped, within a matter of rounds, they will be transformed into an infernal villager
The food’s illusion reveals itself- the entire table is coated in rotting meat and mouldering vegetables, practically inedible trash
If the PCs try to flee…
d6 ways the Village tries to stop escape:
1 A nearby lamp ignites with a blast of flame
2 The walls warp to move exits away
3 A villager leaps from the shadows
4 The blood rain stings like acid
5 A portrait escapes its frame 6 A bloody, gory rift in the earth below opens
Make escape difficult! Cain and the Village have many tricks up their sleeves
Like the Giver in the Gallery (IX)
And Cerberus in the Sun Room (X)
TIPS FOR RUNNING THE ADVENTURE
Read through this adventure, but write down notes and summaries in your own terms with your own twists
This is an adventure with too many moving parts to read straight from the post
A recommended angle is to make the players think that vanquishing the Great Beast is the main quest
Cain introduces the Village’s plight, saying the players can stay over and partake in the Feast if they don’t vanquish it
If the PCs win the fight and realize it was just villagers (or even if they realize the villagers are puppets for fiends), they get a sense of dread about the upcoming Feast
If they fail, they go into the Feast totally blind to the horrors to come
This adventure is about peeling back the false pretenses of charm and benevolence to reveal the ugliness underneath, play that up
The wallpaper in the Abimelech Manor is peeling, revealing rotten and termite-ridden wood below
The shopkeep snarls and threatens the PCs if they refuse to buy their wares
The fiends remain astonishingly polite and accommodating even if they’re found out
I tried my best to make sure the map had all the necessary information, so if you print the map and reference the NPCs and Timeline, you can get by with improvisation
If the players google the names of the NPCs, they’ll have a lot of valuable information!
An excellent article general waste removal
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