The Worm In The Rose

AmberCon UK 2004 Game


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GAME DESCRIPTION

It is just short of the first anniversary of King Random being crowned in Amber, some thirty-two years after the Elders went to fight in Chaos and about eighteen months after they returned. Benedict, Fiona and Caine are Amber's viceroys in Chaos, ruling until matters stabilise there; there is no such power as the Logrus.

Major celebrations of all kinds are being planned for this auspicious day, and the City is crowded with visitors from across shadow. You, as the younger generation of Amberites, are required to present in Amber for the celebrations; how involved you are in their preparations is up to you, but you will be taking part in the celebrations. But everything seems well as the first year of the Age of King Random comes to its end. What could possibly go wrong?


STATUS OF THE ELDERS AND OTHERS


AMBER

The realm of Amber had quite a hard time while the Elders were away and Gerard was Regent. The shadow paths that linked Amber to the shadows of the Golden Circle shifted with the re-drawing of the Primal Pattern, cutting most of the Golden Circle shadows off from Amber, and from one another. There was famine and unrest both in Amber, in Rebma, and across the Golden Circle before Gerard, in a heroic effort lasting more than a decade, was able to map the new shadow paths and re-establish contact, albeit in a rather changed form, between Amber and the shadows around it.

When the Primal Pattern was re-drawn there were many foreigners stranded in Amber, and many of them were rather shabbily treated during the hard times that followed. Likewise, with the re-opening of the shadow paths, many refugees have come into Amber seeking new and better lives for themselves. They did not always find a warm welcome. Thus, by the time the Elders returned from the War, a number of large ghettos and rookeries had grown up in various of the poorer parts of Amber, or outside the walls of the old city, forming what are largely no-go areas for the more law-abiding citizens of Amber. Apparently a similar situation exists in Rebma.

The people of Amber came to respect both Gerard and Vialle a great deal during Gerard's Regency. As such they have not been entirely enthusiastic about the change of leadership caused by the return of the Elders. However, as there have also not been any problems with the new regime so far, and Gerard and Vialle remain involved in the running of the City, there have not been any problems with unrest. With the coming of Random to the throne, attempts have been made to remove the rookeries and so on that blight the City, but so far to little effect, mainly due to the relatively short time that has elapsed. People do seem to be looking forward to the anniversary celebrations, largely because it is a good excuse for a free party...


THE COURTS OF CHAOS

The war against Amber seems to have been a last attempt by the Noble Houses of Chaos to maintain control of the Courts. With their defeat by the forces of Amber, the common folk of Chaos rose up against their rulers in something not unlike the French Revolution, toppling the old order of Chaos and killing many of the nobility of Chaos. The forces of Amber have taken over there, and stopped the slaughter but still, the situation in Chaos remains tense. This is why Benedict, Fiona and Caine have remained there while the rest of the Family have returned to Amber.


CHARACTER GENERATION GUIDELINES

Characters all members of the Royal Family of Amber built on 100 points, with Basic Pattern for free. They can have been with the Elders at the war in Chaos and thus only recently returned to Amber, have been involved with Gerard and his Regency, or have come to Amber since the return of the Elders from Chaos. You can choose your parents (Amberite and other) or leave them as unknown.

Statistics start at Amber Ranked, but can be bought down below that. Psyche and Endurance can be bought down as far as Chaos; Strength and Warfare as far as Human; doing either of these will give the character a big deficiency in that area. No statistic can have a value higher than 101 (this is possible if other statistics are bought down). Note that Psyche does not allow mind-raping or mind reading. It does allow limited mind control abilities. Stuff is limited to 5 points in either direction. No contributions are available.

The powers available are Shapeshifting, Trump and Magic. Advanced Pattern, Shapeshifting and Trump are possible, but not advanced Magic. API, Advanced Shapeshifting and Conjuration (which no longer exists, being replaced by Empowerment) in particular are different to the powers in the ADRP rulebook. Partial powers, both Basic and Advanced, are allowed.

Creatures and Items are entirely possible, but must be vetted by me. Deadly Damage weapons and Invulnerable Armour do not exist, at least for PCs.

Magic is weak in Amber. Power Words, slow weak magical rituals and one point active Powers and Qualities (that is, magical powers, mental abilities, creature shapeshifting and the like) are the most that work there; passive things such as armour and weapons work normally.

See my Amber Powers pages at ../rp_amber_top.html#rules for more details of all of these, or ask me.

Some sort of character description and background before the game would be appreciated. An extra 10 character points are available for getting a character to me before the 'con. Also, note that I do not intend to run a separate game for each player - characters who can (and do!) co-operate to some extent would thus be appreciated.


THE PLOT

This is a game based on the plot of the Hellboy comic 'The Conqueror Worm' by Mike Mignola and published by Dark Horse Comics.


The Serpent of Chaos and its eldest children, the first Lords of Chaos were present when Dworkin drew the Pattern, as Dworkin says:

"Anything you like. Have you any preferences? My flight from Chaos to this small sudden island in the sea of night? My meditations upon the abyss? The revelation of the Pattern in a jewel hung round the neck of a unicorn? My transcription of the design by lightning, blood, and lyre while our fathers raged baffled, too late come to call me back while the poem of fire ran that first route in my brain, infecting me with the will to form? Too late! Too late... Possessed of the abominations born of the disease, beyond their aid, their power, I planned and built, captive of my new self."

Dworkin to Corwin (as Oberon), 'The Hand of Oberon', Chapter 5, by Roger Zelazny

However, the drawing of the Pattern itself made an impenetrable shadow barrier about itself, and the drawing process tore the Serpent and all of the old Lords of Chaos apart into bodiless spirits, swirling forever around Amber, trapped there in that barrier, advanced shapeshifting powers holding them together, but unable to fully die or fully live, unable to escape or do anything to change their state or have their revenge. And they want their revenge. How they want it.

The fact that the Serpent is trapped near Amber is partly why Chaos hates Amber so much, and partly why Chaos itself is in such bad shape.


As part of his advanced studies of the Pattern with Dworkin, Brand studied it, and Amber, and so learned of the presence of the bodiless Serpent and Lords of Chaos. He found out more in Chaos. He was able to contact the Serpent and the old Lords of Chaos and talked to them, but they could not convince him to let them go free. He was not that mad. However, he made them a deal. If he lost, and the universe was not rewritten as he required, then he would set them free.

And so he did lose. And he had set things up so that if he lost, and died, he would give the Serpent a chance to have it revenge. And so his plan was set in motion.


Out in shadow, Rinaldo, Dara and Martin are plotting against Amber.

All of them are willing to co-operate to achieve their goals, although they realise that it is entirely possible they will be at each others throats once they have achieved them. They intend to worry about that when and if it happens.

Studying Brand's old papers and so on in Chaos and the Keep of the Four Worlds, they come upon his notes. At least, the ones he had planted for them to find. In them he claims that he has set a part of his spirit into the world of Amber itself, to watch, and learn, and spy, particularly on the re-drawing of the Pattern, but also on Amber itself. Thinking this would be a useful thing to have, to learn from and to use, and because Rinaldo wants his father back, even if only in part, the three conspirators have set out to retrieve this 'watcher', this 'part of Brand', for use in their plans.


A baroque clockwork space capsule, specially treated with Magic and Real Empowerment, containing a specially treated body, has been created. The capsule has exposed machinery on the outside, and also panels engraved with Real sigils of spirit summoning, containment and binding (those with magical skills will be able to figure these out, at least partly). There is a door, and an obvious lever next to it to open it; however, it will open anyway in two hours if not manually opened before then. It has been launched from the Keep of the Four Worlds (if the PCs go there, there is a launch tower visible in the Keep) and flown through shadow on a 'ballistic' trajectory to Amber. This is entirely possible with normal Pattern, as it is just shadow-shifting to the borders of Amber's 'shadow' in the same way as can be done by land or by sea. The body inside is Corwin's. He was chosen as he is the toughest of the Amberites and the most able, to handle the presence of 'Brand's spirit' (that is, the Serpent) in him. Also, using him lets Dara have some of her revenge. His body has been treated with strange alchemical mixtures to prepare it for the spirit that is to inhabit it; this would kill any normal person, or even most Amberites, but Corwin is just too tough.

Flying through the shadow veil around Amber, which is thicker and fundamentally somewhat different to those between other shadows, it has also flown through the spirit of the Serpent, summoning it in, and binding it into Corwin's body. The capsule has then de-orbited and come down to Amber. It is first visible as a meteor, but visibly changes course several times. Then parachutes open. Stormy weather comes with it


Where does it land? Not the sea - that would be too close to Rebma for Martin's liking. Arden has Julian in it. So the conspirators have prepared a location in Amber City, in the Crow Street rookery, one of the hideous slums that have built up in Amber city during Gerard's regency, of people immigrating into Amber and trapped there by shifting shadow paths. Rinaldo, as an API, has brought soldiers from the Keep of the Four Worlds there directly from shadow and taken over, starting with local crime and building up from there, turning the area into a well-defended fortress. No-one has noticed these developments (partly due to API again). They have prepared a landing site, an open space some hundred feet across, in the centre of the Crow Street rookery; this is definitely an anomaly to anyone going there - rookeries do not have such open spaces.

The troops wear unmarked military uniforms in dark red-brown. Their leaders - Dara, Rinaldo and Martin - wear the same but, in Amber at least, also masks in the same material. Jasra has magically 'treated' the soldiers so that they will die if questioned or probed. This also includes protections against people tracing her magical signature. Sufficiently acute PCs will sense that the troops and the capsule are not from Amber.

And in the rookery the conspirators are waiting. When the capsule lands they will open it, and release the Serpent to have its revenge and summon down the Old Lords of Chaos. Brand's tools do not know of this part of the plan! However, they are also not ready to die for a 'piece of Brand'. Thus if it appears that they are losing they will abandon their troops and the capsule and run.


If it emerges in Amber, the Serpent - the Conqueror Worm - will generate transformational clouds using its Exalted Shapeshifting. These will convert all life in Amber into frog/reptile entities (freptile men), then eat them; the freptile men are an ancient pre-Chaos race used as food by the ancient Lords of Chaos. They mumble its name, Amom Züggor; this mumbling could also give clues if necessary; some could mumble things like 'Ourobouros', or 'Naga-Set', or 'Tiamat'. It will also suck in air to build up its mass, but this does not boost its non-physical power.

How to get rid of the Elders? The PCs are sent off to investigate the capsule. The Elders, being higher profile, cannot leave the anniversary celebrations as easily. As the first thing it does after being released, the Serpent inhales and vomits a 'bomb' of transformative stuff at the Castle. This turns everyone there into a freptile person.

As for the three Elders who are Viceroys in Chaos, when the Serpent is freed every Priest of the Serpent in Chaos becomes aware of its return, and this news quickly spreads. This causes enough problems for the Elders in Chaos that they cannot really help the PCs.

If the Serpent succeeds in transforming the Real population of Amber as it wishes, and them to build up its power, it will be massively potent. It will use the power of that life, and Corwin's Amberite body, to snuff out the Patterns before calling down its comrades to destroy all of Amber, and then the rest of shadow.

The crowds in the rookery are the ideal initial food for the Worm.

If the capsule is moved out from Amber, the Serpent is actually happier the further from Amber it goes, and will recover and grow strong correspondingly more quickly, although it will take longer to ingest the Real power it needs to become as strong as it would wish. The exception to this is if it should be moved into or close to Chaos, where the population is as Real as in Amber, but the conditions much more to its liking.


The Serpent can be trapped again (along with Corwin's spirit) if an API or similar makes a shadow where the veils match those around Amber and set things up to trap the Serpent in them.

The capsule is too big to fit into the Amber or Rebma Pattern rooms.

It is not a full moon, so Tir-Na Nog'th is not accessible.

Dworkin goes catatonic or flees at the sight of the Serpent. If he flees, it will be to the Primal Pattern, which he will seal. And Corwin's Pattern cannot kill Corwin's body.

Corwin is still alive inside the Serpent. He can be contacted and fed power if necessary. Given sufficient power (perhaps from the Jewel of Judgement or his Pattern) he will surface and fight the Serpent from within.

Also, the Serpent wants its Eye - the Jewel of Judgement - back before it does anything else. This also allows it to be lured in to traps of some kind.

There may well also be clues in the Keep of the Four Worlds. There are certainly the faked notes Brand left to be found. Further investigation may also find his real notes, perhaps in a hidden shadow pocket. Only an API will have any chance of finding this, though. There may also be a few useful things in Rinaldo's laboratory. The plans for the space capsule, and perhaps some Pattern-powered items such as a dagger and/or an arrowhead. Brand's real notes include the quotation from Dworkin given above, and also some other relevant quotes:


"Nor is it to be thought that man is either the oldest or the last of earth's masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone. The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again."

H.P. Lovecraft, quoting from the 'Necronomicon', in 'The Dunwich Horror'


"I shall never sleep calmly again when I think of the horrors that lurk ceaselessly behind life in time and in space"

H. P. Lovecraft, in 'The Call of Cthulhu'


What about Merlin? He can also help. He has been imprisoned after the plan went 'too far'. He was happy to help his mother and the others up to a point, but using his father and destroying Amber was too much for him. Thus he was 'removed'. He is now a statue (well, in magical stasis anyway) in a dungeon in the depths of the Keep of the Four Worlds. If found and rescued he can help with information and so on.

When it becomes obvious that their plans have gone awry and they have been duped by Brand, it is possible that the PCs could talk to Jasra, Dara and so on, and perhaps they will help to undo the damage they have done. Or not. This depends on how they are treated. They might also flee to the Keep of Four Worlds. Perhaps one confesses all before their final transformation.

All of the Amberites the Serpent transforms will not be eaten. Instead they will be used as vessels for the spirits of some of its children, the old Lords of Chaos, when they are summoned down.


The Serpent is named Amom Züggor. It is a powerful shapeshifter, but unable to move through shadow around Amber unless in a Pattern-blooded body. Which it is. In addition to this it is very skilled in Real Magic, but is also Lovecraftian, old, and Mad. It has 'exalted' shapeshifting, allowing it to use all of its powers at range (even through Trump and other psychic links), create transformative clouds, gain strength from mass absorbed and so on. Perhaps even weather control by shapeshifting the air. It can also control its Eye at range. What can stop it? Lightning? Pattern weapons will certainly have a bad effect on it. Waking Corwin from within it will also work.


The higher the Psyche and Endurance of people the less affected they are by the Serpent's transformative powers. However, after being exposed to it, even if they are affected, shapeshifters can figure out how to 'immunise' themselves against it, and teach other shapeshifters too. Non-shapeshifters cannot be so immunised, though, although, in the long term, using the immunisation as a basis of research will give a possible route to the curing of the freptile people.

Pattern or Trump defence also helps against the powers of the Serpent.

It is possible that the Jewel of Judgement can undo the Serpent's change. Even if it does, though, those so saved will be unconscious for days due to the shock.


Descriptions


Obviously the name of this game comes from the fact that the Serpent of Chaos (the Worm) is inhabiting the body of Corwin (the Rose)...


Hellboy | 'The Conqueror Worm' | Mike Mignola | Dark Horse Comics
The H. P. Lovecraft Archive | The Works of H. P. Lovecraft | H. P. Lovecraft Quotations

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