Scenario: The Mulberry Inn and Tavern

"Coming around the bend, Pieter found the warm glow of the inn's windows a welcome sight. This deep into the forest the days seemed shorter, the shadows thicker, and he didn't like the queer buzzing he'd caught now and again. At night the insects almost seemed to chant murmured blasphemies and his dreams had been haunted by distorted figures cavorting about his slumbering form.

By contrast, the sweet voice drifting from the building comforted Pieter and drew him like a moth to a flame. What he really needed as a soft bed on which to rest his head. With a stomach full of fine food and maybe even some feminine company he'd sleep like a baby. The traveler let out a sigh of relief as he studied the sign. It depicted a mulberry bush dotted by bees.

"How quaint," he thought and his smile grew wider.

Pieter entered the Milberry Inn and Tavern. That was the last anyone saw of him."

Encounter Premise:

A Waning Cult has turned an abandoned roadhouse into a deathtrap for unwary travelers. A fey herald of the Waning Princes has provided the cult’s scion, Goddus Vetericus, with a Rachis Lantern to use as an icon. The cult abducts guests that will not be missed and sacrifices them to the Rachis Lantern at a nearby cave. Besides the cultists, the heroes will have to deal with ever-present direfly swarms and other otherworldly dangers in the dark forest surrounding the inn.

Location:

The Mulberry Inn and Tavern, located on the side of a trade road near the middle of a thick forest.

Suggested Presentation:

The waning cult can be used as a quick and dirty side encounter for a party traveling through a forest to the next major plot point. First, after a day or so of travel into the dark woods a swarm or two of direflies
harass the heroes. The closer the party gets to the end the more stray insects they come across, along with trees infested with their hives. Just before the party comes across the inn, perhaps when they first see the glow of its hearth through the windows, they come across a patch of blood on the side of the road and a locket hanging on a thistle bush.

Inside the Inn play up how unusual the locals are, prone to side-eye glowering and sizing the heroes up. The serving staff blow off any concerns about the direfly swarms. If the locket is presented the bartender, Otillia, will feign concern and offer to check to see if the owner she saw wearing it is in his room. As soon as she is out of sight the staff attacks.

In turn, Otilla lurks outside to gauge the outcome. Once the fight starts to sturn she flees toward to the cult's ritual cave deeper into the forest. The player characters should be able to catch up with her in the thicket. However, she is not alone. One or two lesser deadwoods animate to aid her.

From there the trail to the cult's cave will be rather obvious thanks to dead trees oozing blood-red honey and a sprinkling of human bones between them. In the clearing outside the cave awaits the cult's scion, Goddus, along with a handful more waning cultists he uses as fodder. After Goddus' defeat, all that remains is the cave itself. Instead of a meandering dungeon that the heroes might expect the cave only has one large chamber. Seeping honeycombs inhabited by a hopeless number of direflies blanket the walls. The floor is sticky and red, with the singed remains of recent sacrifice victims littered about. Toward the back is a crude stone altar over which Reccar, the cult's Rachis Latern perches. As the heroes approach the profane icon attacks and swarms of direflies pour from the hives.

Throw in a cache of treasure the cult has amassed from its victims at the back of the cave and a night or two of horror-drenched role-playing is complete.

Of course, encounters should be adjusted appropriately to the party's level, mostly in adding or subtracting waning cultists and or devouts. If the player characters are too low level then having the Rachis Lanter just be an inanimate icon might even be best. No matter what play up the spooky glow to the woods, the unhinged nature of the cultists, the complete destruction of its victims, and the cloying nature of the blood-honey and hives everywhere for maximum impact.

Alternatively, if you want to be a bit more devious have your players encounter the Mulberry Inn and Tavern on that trip, but have nothing nefarious happen. Sure, the locals are a bit weird but Otilla and the staff treat the heroes well. They may even warn the heroes about strange insects and trees in the woods and encourage them to hurry through. Note that there is a merchant wagon parked beside the inn. Then, once the player characters arrive in the next big city set up a job where a traveling merchant never arrived who was supposed to be on the same road they just traversed.

As the heroes travel back they are assaulted by swarms of direflies again. At the inn, Ottilia plays the damsel, and claims they have been harassed by a stranged hermit in the woods. She sends the heroes out to deal with said hermit, but in truth, it's right into a trap of gorsehounds . Afterward, the heroes come across the merchant's corpse and clear evidence Ottilia and rest of the inn are up to no good. This diversion, though, has given the cult time to fortify their position. Then the adventure can more or less run its course as above.

Antagonists:

Goddus Vetericus: A madman with insects living in his skull Goddus pays homage to the Waning Court within his every action. As a youth he struck a warlock pact with the Solemn Harvester, a princess of the waning court. As her agent in the world he has left a bloody path across the region and gathered a following of disenfranchised hillfolk as his congregation. As a reward for his devotion, a fey herald presented Goddus with a gift from his patroness, a Rachis Lantern, a few months ago. The waning cult Goddus controls uses the grisly construct as a sacrificial icon. They store it in a cave not far from the Mulberry Inn and Tavern.

See Waning Scion for stats.

Goddus cannot walk among polite company anymore. Bone spurs curl horn-like from his temples, riddled with hole-clusters. Direfly honeycombs cover his shoulders, and dip along his collarbone like a visceral medallion of office. He usually wears flowing robes open to the waist to display his glory, along with thick craftsman’s boots. Direflies constantly buzz about him, crawling in and out of the hive within.

Ottilia Vetericus: While she claims to be Goddus' daughter, there is no blood relation between the two. Ottilia was snatched up by the cult after they came across her lost and wandering in the woods. Enchanted by her beautiful voice Goddus taught hymns venerating the Solemn Harvester. In time, the archfey took notice of the little singer and blessed her with fits of glossolalia by which the cult learned new unholy songs. As she bloomed into maturity Ottilia took direfly eggs into herself and over a process of months was transformed into a rushlight chanter. Now a young woman of staggering sensuality Saratala scammed the funds necessary to renovate and open the Mulberry Inn.

See Rushlight Chanter for stats.

Ottilia is incredibly charismatic and works as the hostess and bartender of the Mullberry Inn and Tavern. A constant flirt she coaxes guests to drink their fill, stay for the night, and wiles them with her charms. At the end of every night, however, Ottilia excuses herself to tend to her 'ailing' father no matter the insistence of would-be suitors. That is, of course, unless the cult needs a sacrifice. Then she will tempt the unlucky soul out into the woods with promises of debauchery but lead them into the cult's clutches. Ottilia is a buxom woman who dresses in a white and plumb barmaid's outfit that shows almost too much of her chest and thighs. She keeps her flaxen hair in a plaited braid, her makeup perfect, and a smile always shining in her dark brown eyes.

Arnfried, Klaus, Roland and Siegmund.

These men are an assortment of Waning Cultists who work at the Mulberry Inn and Tavern. Arnfried is the cook, Klaus the stablehand. Roland poses as a local woodcutter and Siegmund is a bouncer.

Lankfrank and Veerle

These are the two Waning Devout of the cult. Lanfrank is always in the corner offering a game of dice or cards. He uses a few rounds of gambling to suss out good victims for the cult, ones that will not be missed. Veerle is the server, though she had Ottilia split the duty when it is slow. She is anxious to see Goddus fall so she can become a scion, but she is too afraid of he and Ottilia to step off line.

Reccar

The last warlock to fail the Solemn Harvest and 'donate' his bones to this Rachis Lanternwas Reccar. With a DC 12 Intelligence (History) check a character would recall that a warlock named Reccar attempted to kidnap a prominent religious figure’s son a decade ago. While a cadre of adventurers foiled the plot the fiend was never caught. Either Ottilia or Goddus can name drop the idol at some point during the adventure to add a little touch of backstory.

Ambiance:

Here are a few tidbits to help the scenario come alive.

The Mulberry Inn and Tavern sells a richly flavored, red honey mead. The staff claims that color comes from its use of mulberry and other herbs. However, the truth of the matter is that the mead is made with direfly honey. This surely is something the players might worry on afterward. The tavern carries a mishmash of ales and wines as well, all stolen from the cult's victims.

The kitchen serves venison and game hen at reasonable prices. For desert, they offer a 'mulberry' baked chunk of honeycomb. It sure is tasty. However, it has the same origins as the mead.

If you want to continue this theme the wax candles the inn uses can come from direfly hives as well, emitting a sickly, sweet smell. The dreams had in the inn due to the candles' scent are painfully vivid full of occult imagery such as painted animal skulls, malformed yet beautiful silhouettes in unnatural forests, and crops rapidly growing overripe before splitting with a spray of viscera.