Salem (Quest)

DM: Ethan

PCs: Bor, De Leon

Questline: The Midnight Quests

Salem was the debut quest in the Midnight Saga. It was a contrast to previous quests due to its dark atmosphere and gory subject matter. the plot established the foundation of the entire questline.

STORY

Bor and De Leon find themselves in a murky swamp next to a steep hill with no recollection of how they arrived there. they climb the hill and find a small shack. Their curiosity takes over and they knock on the door. the fragile door almost falls in and an old hunchback comes to the door and introduces himself as Salem. Bor and De Leon ask about their environment without letting on too much information and Salem gives them a strange map with unusual markings in places of cities ( such as Billy crossed out multiple times.) Salem retreats inside and the duo contemplate the event. suddenly, the duo hears strange noises from inside. Bor bursts into the shack to see Salem laying on his side on his bed Growling madly. Bor signals for De Leon to distract Salem while he looks around. De Leon hears Salem hissing and spitting about someone named Billy who apparently wronged him. Bor looks around and finds a picture of a young pretty girl with a bloody razor hidden behind it. Bor and De Leon quickly make an exit and head to what they can only assume is called the town of "X Billy".

Bor and De Leon arrive in X Billy, which is a run down shanty town. they notice the lack of male children and the apathy of the residents. They make their way to the tavern and are put off by the behavior of the patrons. they get rooms and sleep through the night only to have severe nightmares. the next day, they look around the town at a few points of interest, neglecting to go see the doctor but eventually hearing of a rumor that every generation, a monster comes and devours 13 children. when asking for a description the monster is described to have a hunch and Bor and De Leon realize what's going on. Bor watched the 19 little girls (who are all sisters by the way) while De Leon sprints back to Salems shack. when De Leon gets there, Salem- and the blade- are gone. De Leon sees a door under Salem's bed and climbs in. he then sees a room surrounded by chests with one in the center. he opens a chest and finds compressed body parts of small children. curious, De Leon hesitantly opens the middle chest to find a perfectly preserved Head of the woman in the upstairs picture. De Leon immediately heads back to town while Bor watches the kids until their parents lead them inside during the night. De Leon arrives back in the morning and tells Bor whats going on. suddenly, they hear screams coming from the kids' house. they burst in to find noone in the house but De Leon finds a steel door. using magic, they shatter the door and rush down the steps. once to the bottom they see that four kids have been decapitated with numerous other heads scattered about the floor. the Parents, who are killing them, take the children and run. De Leon follows but Bor is knocked unconscious from behind. De Leon navigates a maze and then enters into a room with Salem, the parents, The Doctor, and a restrained Bor. plus the children. Bor wakes up and breaks free, surprising his captors while De Leon charges Salem. The Doctor is killed but the others are left alive. Bor and De Leon take the killers to the town square and declare their crimes to the people, who do not seem to care. in anger, De Leon and Bor kill the parents and before they can touch Salem, A man, the same who told them about the legend, jumps from the crowd and beats Salem to death. De Leon and Bor leave town and the quest comes to an end.

NOTES

This quest was completely improvised as itwent on with an emphasis on free play.