From: Convergence of the Currents
The Hook: Subtle, unsettling occurrences plague the festival. Attendees report lost memories, arcane experiments subtly go awry, and an undercurrent of unease settles over the attendees.
Investigation: These symptoms point to something insidious – a tear into the Void plane is slowly widening, likely caused by a reckless artifact brought to the Convergence.
The Challenge: The players must identify the artifact, deduce where the tear is located (potentially through dangerous divination), and conduct a ritual to seal it before the Void’s influence destabilizes the festival beyond repair.
Lore Expansion
- The Nature of the Void: In Saṃsāra, is the Void a true negative space, a realm of anti-magic, or a seething dimension of entropic entities? This impacts the urgency and the types of dangers involved.
- The “Whispers”: How do they manifest? Fitful dreams, fleeting mental compulsions, erosions of self, or chilling auditory hallucinations? They should grow more intense as the tear worsens.
- The Reckless Artifact: What is its nature? A coveted relic foolishly put on display, an experimental device with disastrous side effects, or something deliberately brought in with malicious intent?
- Festival Factions: Are there certain magical schools who specialize in Void knowledge, making them potential allies? Or are there those dabbling in such forces, making them suspects?
Tier One Character Considerations
- Essential Skills:
- Arcana: Knowledge of other planes, and potentially the Void specifically, is invaluable.
- Investigation: Noticing the subtle signs that something is VERY wrong with both people and magical experiments.
- Religion/Lore: Ancient texts might hold clues to the Void’s influence and rituals to counter it.
- Preparation:
- Protective Charms: Even minor wards might offer temporary mental clarity against the whispers.
- Divination Tools: Risky, but potentially the quickest path to identifying the artifact and the tear’s location
- Mental Fortitude: This quest takes psychological as well as magical skill, emphasize the importance of resisting the Void’s insidious influence themselves.
- Cost:
- The Void’s Taint: Even partial success might leave a mark on the characters’ minds and magic.
- Reputation Risk: Depending on the artifact’s owner, exposing it could incur powerful enemies.
- Missed Festival Knowledge: The investigation draws focus away from other opportunities at the Convergence.
- Positives:
- The Guardians’ Gratitude: Saving the festival puts them in contact with forces dedicated to combating Void incursions.
- Forbidden Lore: They gain unique (and disturbing) insights into the Void’s nature.
- Festival Infamy: They become known for bravery in facing a threat others would simply flee from.
- Negatives:
- Lingering Nightmares: The Void’s touch isn’t easily forgotten, sleep might be difficult for some time after.
- Targeted by the Void?: Do its entities now perceive them as a threat, or a potentially useful tool?
- Moral Compromise: Was a desperate sealing ritual necessary, potentially harming innocents or drawing on other unstable magic sources?
- Tags: Cosmic Horror, Mystery, Investigation, Potential for Sanity Loss Mechanics, High Stakes
- Rewards:
- Protective Amulet: A gift from those who understand the Void, granting some resilience to its effects in the future.
- Favor from the Powerful: Influential groups who work in the shadows, watching for Void threats, take notice.
- A Glimpse Beyond: The encounter grants a sliver of terrifying, yet potentially useful knowledge about another plane of existence.
Lore Twists to Consider:
- The Artifact is Sentient: Not just a tool, but a prison for something seeking escape from the Void, manipulating events to widen the tear.
- Unreliable Allies: A helpful scholar is subtly corrupted, their guidance partially self-serving to satisfy the Void’s cravings.
- No Perfect Solution: Sealing the tear might trap festival attendees in Saṃsāra… is there a way to evacuate them into another plane temporarily?
Guide-Manager outline for running “Whispers of the Void”, emphasizing the building dread, investigative deduction, and the weight of perilous choices:
- Step 1: The Whispers Begin
- Setup: Start subtle. Minor forgetfulness, an experiment misfiring in a way NOT due to operator error, a normally jovial scholar seeming off.
- Skill Opportunities: Perception, Insight to detect odd behavior in others, Arcana to sense something ‘wrong’ about malfunctioning magic.
- Variation: A player character experiences a disturbing dream, fragmented visions of a yawning, impossible abyss – are they more sensitive?
- Step 2: Patterns of Unease
- Setup: Incidents increase. A lost pocket of time, an illusion spell goes disturbingly wrong, a creeping dread in normally vibrant areas.
- Skill Opportunities: More investigation, seeking out others with similar experiences. Even Medicine checks can be valid – are there common physical symptoms?
- Variation: Rumors spread, making some dismiss this as mass hysteria. The players need to convince others something is truly amiss.
- Step 3: Tracing the Source
- Setup: The disturbances cluster around a suspiciously unremarkable relic on display, or an ongoing exhibition by a secretive scholar.
- Skill Opportunities: Stealth to observe the object, discreet inquiries about its origins, Arcana checks for traces of Void magic.
- Variation: The artifact isn’t the cause, but was drawn to the growing tear, making it both a clue and a red herring.
- Step 4: Dangerous Divination
- Setup: Traditional research fails. They need to risk scrying, seeking visions at the risk of further Void exposure.
- Skill Opportunities: Risky ritual casting, even desperate attempts with unreliable tools. Emphasize the mental strain.
- Variation: The vision is fragmented, confusing. They glimpse the tear’s location, but also horrific images from the Void itself…
- Step 5: Identifying the Culprit
- Setup: The visions and investigation point to the reckless mage/owner of the artifact. Are they oblivious, or in over their heads?
- Skill Opportunities: Social confrontation. The culprit might be defensive, dismissive, or even partially corrupted by the Void’s influence.
- Variation: They’re innocent! The object was tampered with, framing them. The true culprit is still at large among the festival.
- Step 6: Knowledge of the Void
- Setup: They need specific expertise fast. This leads to secretive libraries, contacting reclusive scholars specializing in Void lore.
- Skill Opportunities: Frantic research, deciphering ancient texts potentially with faded or coded passages.
- Variation: The ‘expert’ is also tempted by the Void’s power. Their knowledge comes at a steep price.
- Step 7: The Desperate Ritual
- Setup: The tear widens rapidly. There’s a proposed sealing ritual, but it’s unstable, dangerous, and might have side effects.
- Skill Opportunities: More Arcana to understand the ritual, potentially needing to modify it on the fly as things go wrong.
- Variation: They need rare components found ONLY within the festival, forcing them to make risky deals/thefts.
- Step 8: Confronting the Tear
- Setup: The ritual requires focus, yet the Void’s presence is strongest here. Each round risks whispers, sanity loss, spells going wildly wrong.
- Skill Opportunities: Willpower checks alongside spellcasting and ritual enacting. Each success weakens the pull of the Void slightly.
- Variation: They must defend the ritual from manifestations – minor Void entities drawn to the tear, or people losing it to the whispers.
- Step 9: Aftermath
- Imperfect Closure: The tear is sealed… for now. Was the cost too high? What lingering impact does this have on the festival, and themselves?
- New Guardians: They’re contacted by those who protect Saṃsāra from the Void – is this a recruitment, or a warning?