1

CONTENTS
THE STAIN
WHAT IS SOOTWYN BARROW?.................................. 8
WHY GO TO SOOTWYN BARROW?.............................. 9
THE SOOTWYN STAIN............................................... 9
▸ Effects of the Stain...............................................11
▸ Living with the Curse........................................... 13
▸ GMing Cursed Adventures.................................... 13
▸ Those Unaffected by the Stain.............................. 14
THE UNSANGUINE GATE...........................................16
TWILIGHT BETHEL..................................................17
▸ Ser Denith of the Rainsbury Court........................ 18
▸ Fetch................................................................... 18
2
HINTS SCATTERED ACROSS THE VILLAGE.................19
BESHIK AND HAUN: THE HUNTER BEASTMEN............21
▸ The Champion’s Grotto......................................... 22
▸ Senza the Cutthroat............................................. 24
▸ Roleplaying the Beastmen.................................... 25
DEFEATING THE BEASTMEN.................................... 26

THE CEMETERY
GMING THE CEMETERY............................................31
THE​ SKELETONS..................................................... 32
▸ Skeletons at Night............................................... 33
▸ Skeletons During the Day..................................... 34
▸ Varieties of Skeletons.......................................... 34
▸ Adeline............................................................... 35
▸ Temporary Undeath.............................................40
OPTIONAL RULE FOR PREMATURE DEATH................ 40
INGRID DRETHI’AL: THE UNLYING NECROMANCER....41
▸ The Birth of the Stain........................................... 41
▸ Ingrid’s Lair........................................................ 43
▸ Roleplaying Ingrid............................................... 43
DEFEATING THE NECROMANCER.............................. 45
▸ Revival Magic...................................................... 47

THE TOMB
GMING THE TOMB...................................................51
OUTSIDE THE TOMB............................................... 52
▸ The Tomb’s Doors................................................ 52
▸ The Tomb’s Roof.................................................. 53
▸ Dyzek as an NPC.................................................. 54
▸ Vasile’s Cairn....................................................... 54
▸ Ferdin Tallyview.................................................. 55 3
INSIDE THE TOMB.................................................. 56
VASILE ALBESCU: THE FALSE VAMPIRE.................... 58
▸ The Venerated Pumice.........................................60
▸ Where is The Stone?............................................ 61
▸ Roleplaying Vasile............................................... 62
DEFEATING VASILE AND UNMAKING THE STAIN....... 63
AFTERMATH........................................................... 64
 CHAPTER 1

THE STAIN

4
 Cursed to be Unsanguine
Lords of an Unholy Cemetery
A Stain on the Soil

There is a town astride a tomb on an earthen mound. This town is

sick. Its residents linger in unlife, serving the brutal lords of their
unholy barrow. The land is scarred with wicked magicks, and all
those who enter carry the Stain. There is no returning from Soot-
wyn Barrow.
When you enter this town, you are cursed with the Sootwyn
Stain. This mark renders you undying and unliving. Once scarred
by curse, there is no hope. The only end to the suffering is the un-
avoidable slow embrace of the void… not a true “death,” but a re-
duction to constituent parts: fear, bones, and a severed lifeforce in
the clutches of a vampire king. 5
Vasile Albescu and his consort Ingrid Drethi’al have construct-
ed these magicks to serve wicked aims. The Sootwyn Stain is a tap
that drains vitality from those foolish enough to enter the night-
marescape. Victims gradually degenerate into skeletons under In-
grid’s control while Vasile—a refined “vampire” who avoids drink-
ing blood directly when he can—feasts on the ambient lifeforce he
has stolen. The dark siphon is amplified by terror, and so Vasile has
tasked the beastmen Beshik and Haun to further antagonize any-
one cursed with the Stain.
The vampire king of the unsanguine, the unlying necroman-
cer, and the sporting beastmen duo. These four vile creatures are
Lords of the Barrow, and they have caused untold anguish for na-
ive travelers, captured criminals, and would-be heroes alike. The
town is a blight on the realm, but it is one that neighboring no-
bles and their knights have given up trying to cleanse. None have
overcome the Sootwyn Stain, and none could dare face the Barrow
Lords. There is no hope. At least the Barrow Lords never leave their
domain… or at least, they haven’t yet.
 OVERVIEW
WHAT IS SOOTWYN
BARROW?
Sootwyn Barrow is a bit different from our other boroughs. For
one thing: it’s much more dungeon than city. Yes, there is a town
and there are inhabitants, but most everything in Sootwyn Bar-
row is an immediate threat to the adventurers. This is a spooky,
gothic, Halloween-y town filled with classic monster tropes. As
such, there will be far more text in these three borough guides
concerning how you might actually run sessions here as opposed
to purely diegetic lore and NPC descriptions.
Mechanically, adventures in Sootwyn Barrow will tend to
follow a particular rhythm. The players wake up in the Twilight
Bethel, do their best to make their way into Vasile’s Tomb, and
then inevitably die, only to reawaken back in the chapel. An ideal
quest in Sootwyn Barrow will involve roughly 3 to 5 “loops,” with
6 each attempt dramatically different based on both chance and
the consequences of the players’ actions. In order to make these
sessions satisfying, it is strongly encouraged that you balance en-
counters such that the odds are stacked against the players. They
should only be able to succeed by exploiting weaknesses in their
foes, mastering their environment, and finding creative solutions
to the known threats.
There are a few keys to remember when GMing Sootwyn Bar-
row:
0 The players cannot die and will always reawaken in the Twi-
light Bethel at sunset.
0 The Barrow Lords and their servants also cannot die, but they
may begin each evening wherever they please.
0 Escaping before seeing the adventure through is possible but
comes with a massive drawback for the adventurers (see “The
Sootwyn Stain” below).
0 The other creatures remember the adventurers’ actions and
will change their plans and strategies accordingly. As the
players learn, so too do the monsters.
0 There should always be an element of randomness. This isn’t
Groundhog Day. The monsters aren’t locked into a set routine.
If you want this to be a truly scary adventure, the players need
to be frequently surprised.
0 Keep combat quick. This arc will get tedious if every casual
skeleton battle takes hours.
0 Failure is an option. If the players get defeated enough times,
you can decide that their PCs devolve into skeletons and then
tell them to roll up new characters. There’s no fun in running
this over and over until it gets boring.
0 Vasile Albescu is not really a vampire. However, you should
always refer to him as “the vampire king,” and it should be
exceedingly difficult for the players to discover the truth of
his pathetic existence before they reach his tomb.

WHY GO TO THE
SOOTWYN SOOTWYN 7
BARROW? STAIN
Most travelers know to avoid Once a traveler enters the bar-
the town. Some know to avoid row, they receive the curse. It
it but choose to enter the ac- does not matter whether they
cursed deadlands nonetheless. open the gate or hop over its
Some are deposited outside iron bars. It does not matter if
the gates as punishment for they tunnel below or soar over
a crime. None who enter ever in an aerostat. Any sentient be-
leave. ing that makes their way across
There are many reasons to that threshold gains the mark.
avoid Sootwyn Barrow, but if The Sootwyn Stain appears
you want to motivate an ad- somewhere on the traveler’s
venture arc in the haunted flesh (or scales, exoskeleton,
town, consider consulting the etc.) and cannot be removed
Adventure Motivation table on by any means. If the traveler
the following page. attempts to carve it off their
 D6 ADVENTURE EXAMPLES
MOTIVATION
Vasile has gathered quite a few luxuries.
His tomb was filled with fineries before
1 Treasure his death, including the Venerated
Pumice. He has also stolen countless
valuables from previous victims.

Sootwyn Barrow has claimed many

victims, and the Barrow Lords may be
2 Heroism planning to eventually extend their reach.
Valiant heroes might seek to vanquish the
lords and end the Stain once and for all.

In nearby villages, residents convicted

of particularly heinous crimes are
3 Punishment sentenced to enter the Unsanguine Gate
into Sootwyn Barrow. To most, this is
8 seen as a punishment worse than death.

Travelers find many dark ends throughout

the realm. When an adventurer is
brought to their knees in the vicinity
4 Roving skeletons
of the barrow, Ingrid’s minions will
drag their unconscious body into the
town for a new round of torture.

Foolhardy travelers may choose to

enter the barrow with the explicit
5 Seeking the curse intention of receiving the curse.
Perhaps they seek the void, or perhaps
they seek its unusual side effects.

When your younger brother enters

Sootwyn Barrow on a dare, will you
6 Saving a loved one
just let him wither away? Or are you
going to jump in and try to save him?
skin—or even amputate the
afflicted body part—the Stain GM NOTE: The Sootwyn
will reappear somewhere Stain is the central me-
else in a searing burst of dark chanic of this borough. It
will dramatically impact
magick. There have been tales
how you run sessions in
of travelers who have willing- Sootwyn Barrow, trans-
ly flayed themselves alive to forming the standard
remove the taint of the mark. pace and rhythm of your
Of course, by the next sunset, sessions. It will likely take
their torn skin had returned. some getting used to, both
The Stain appears like an for you and your players.
additional set of veins, rip- It also requires a bit of
pling and throbbing across buy-in. Once the PCs have
the skin of any it afflicts. Some entered Sootywn Barrow,
you are committed to see-
have also compared its ap-
ing this through.
pearance to that of a fungus, And if one of your
a lichen, the rings of a tree, or players says, “oh, but I
a spider web. The truth is that have a spell / item / class
the Stain is unrelated to any feature that prevents me
naturally occurring phenom- from getting cursed!” tell 9
enon. It is an eldritch drain them that this curse is far
that takes a uniquely profane more powerful than what-
shape. Once a traveler becomes ever they were planning to
afflicted, they will likely see use. Perhaps throw them
a bone and allow them to
the wicked pattern all across
avoid one of the effects…
Sootwyn Barrow. maybe the searing pain
caused by the sunrise.
EFFECTS OF
THE STAIN suffers immense pain and then
falls unconscious. This effect
The Sootwyn Stain is a com- persists no matter where the
plex curse. victim flees, and it does not
The first effect that victims matter whether or not they can
will likely notice is a profound see the sun. There are tunnels
weakness to the daytime. deep under Sootwyn Barrow,
When the sun rises, anyone carved by desperate travelers
who has fallen prey to the Stain hoping to escape the painful
 burst of energy that knocks them unconscious each sunrise. There
is no breaking free from the curse, no matter how deep one goes or
even if one can manage to escape the city. When the sun rises, the
10 victim falls. When the sun sets again, the victim rises.
This is the moment when many victims will discover a curi-
ous side effect of the curse: any injuries incurred during the night
gradually heal during the daylight hours. Amputated limbs regen-
erate, parasites wither, and potent toxins are purged. Even death
can reverse itself. The Stain will not allow one to find relief in pass-
ing. A slain victim returns to life between sunrise and sunset. A
destroyed body will materialize out of thin air if it has to.
Were it not for the rest of the curse, this would be an unbeliev-
able blessing. The Stain is—in one idiosyncratic way—a form of
immortality. Of course, there is a catch.
Over time, a victim of the Stain becomes increasingly unsan-
guine. The Stain saps the victim’s lifeforce, replacing hope and vi-
tality with malaise and weakness. Those bearing the mark lose fo-
cus, can’t think straight, and abandon prior convictions. In time,
skin, muscle, and organs slough off, though the victim is fully
numbed to the pain by then . In the curse’s final stages, all that re-
mains of the marked traveler is an animate skeleton, barely con-
scious and loyal only to the Lords of the Barrow.
 LIVING WITH the void of their own accord,
joining Ingrid and her skeletal
THE CURSE army.
For some adventurers, this
It is possible to live indefinitely
may be an acceptable outcome.
with the curse. If an adventurer
Traveling at night, recovering
manages to escape from Soot-
from grievous wounds, and
wyn Barrow and run far away,
putting off any concerns of a
they may escape the range at
true death until a much later
which Vasile Albescu is able to
time can seem like a fair bar-
steal their lifeforce. They can
gain. If that is a trade they are
bear the curse but remain san-
willing to make, there is no fi-
guine. They will, however, still
nal “gotcha.” One can live with
suffer the remaining conse-
the Stain, though they will not
quences of the curse. Injuries
be permitted to die with it. The
incurred during the night will
only ending available to those
heal. The sunrise will cause
who take the bargain is an eter-
them to fall unconscious.
nity of service to the Barrow
Death will not come.
Lords.
Yes, adventurers can free 11
themselves of death. All they
need to do is bear the curse and
GMING CURSED
escape the haunted village. ADVENTURES
Yet again, however, there
is a catch. Aging still occurs. Some players will decide that
A human who grows to 200 this tradeoff is totally fine. If
years old with the Sootwyn you’re okay with GMing a party
Stain will have little ability to of adventurers that fall uncon-
control their bodies, to think scious every day while the sun
straight, or to meaningfully is up and then heal back to full
interact with the world. This health: then great! It’s a weird
is a form of immortality, but way to resolve this quest, but it
as with all such magicks, that works.
immortality is itself a curse. If that sounds exceedingly
The few who have escaped with annoying and unbalanced, or
the Stain have all eventually re- if you just want to make sure
turned to Sootwyn Barrow so your players actually engage
that they may at least embrace with the Sootwyn Barrow con-
 tent you’ve prepared, have the
Barrow Lords hunt them down.
THOSE
You can act like the party has UNAFFECTED
found a fun loophole for a bit, BY THE STAIN
start a new quest, and then sic
two beastmen, a necroman- Certain malignant entities are
cer, and a “vampire king” on immune to the effects of the
them all at once. In the likely Sootwyn Stain. This may be
instance that the party dies due to the inherent wicked-
in this encounter, the Barrow ness of their being or perhaps
Lords can drag them back to the context of their creation.
Sootwyn Barrow so that the Skeletons, zombies, and other
initial quest can resume. barely sentient creatures have
One final option: have the no lifeforce to give and thus
curse mutate. Let the party cannot become unsanguine.
keep their immortality, but Demons and vengeful spirits
give them various random- have evil at their very core and,
ly determined debuffs each therefore, cannot be further
night. Have them act as lures tainted by the magicks of the
12 for monsters. Make them sick, barrow. Mystics from neigh-
or have them spread a zombie boring villages have theorized
plague. Let them mutate into about whether dragons, an-
unholy abominations. If you gels, or elementals could also
want the party to be punished bear the Stain, but there is
for their hubris, you can pun- simply no evidence one way or
ish them! You’re the GM! Just the other.
make sure your players don’t Notably, despite how the
feel as though they are the ones Stain manifests, flesh itself
being punished. This should does not seem to be a prerequi-
be a compelling game mechan- site. Automatons imbued with
ic for the characters, not a mid- sufficient lifeforce have fallen
dle finger to your friends in victim, as have sentient fluids,
real life. sorcerous homunculi, and car-
apaced crabmen. So long as a
creature is conscious and has
the capacity for moral reason-
ing, they will be vulnerable to
the Sootwyn Stain.
13
 THE
UNSANGUINE GATE
A gnarled, wrought iron fence surrounds Sootwyn Barrow, with
its sharp edges pointed inward. The Barrow Lords are not con-
cerned with keeping people out but with keeping them in. It’s triv-
ially easy to climb this fence from the outside and jump down into
the village beyond, thereby irreversibly cursing oneself.
However, the more ceremonial entrance is through the Unsan-
guine Gate. Any traveler that makes their way through this gate is
seen as honorable in the eyes of the Barrow Lords and is allowed to
choose where the Sootwyn Stain appears on their body. It is also
said that the beastmen are extra impressed by those who elect to
announce their presence with such an audacious arrival. Visitors
who travel through the gate often wake up with a few helpful doo-
dads in their pockets—tinderbox, slingshot, and a small mirror—
likely gifts from the sporting duo.
14 Regardless of how the party enters the city, the fun begins im-
mediately. If the sun is up, the adventurers will collapse and wake
up in the Twilight Bethel at sundown. If there is still night remain-
ing, the nightmare commences at once.
TWILIGHT
BETHEL
In most instances, new arrivals spend their first evening in Soot-
wyn Barrow terrified and running. When eventually the sun ris-
es, or they are slain by one of the town’s vile inhabitants, they will
awaken in the Twilight Bethel, a chapel on an upper floor of one of
the malformed towers of the barrow village.
Skeletal servants, now immune to the sun's harmful rays,
are tasked with tracking unconscious victims and hauling them
back to the Twilight Bethel each day. The Barrow Lords once left
their comatose subjects to remain where they fell, but after a few
too many complications, they decided it was best to collect each
Stained drifter and bring them to a more purposeful location.
Every night, the adventurers will awaken in the Twilight Beth-
el. They will see stone statues of the Barrow Lords, mocking them
for yet another failed attempt at escape. If there are other travelers
in Sootwyn Barrow who have yet to become fully unsanguine, they 15
will be in the small moonlit chapel as well.
The Twilight Bethel is, in some ways, a safe space. The beastmen
do not hunt indoors, and the haunted beings who live in town will
not terrorize their prey until the hopeless travelers exit the chap-
el. No one will attempt to kill the adventurers until they choose
to leave. Many terrified victims have withered away without ever
leaving the Twilight Bethel, emerging from the tower only when
they’ve become an unthinking skeleton.
 GM NOTE: Many NPCs in Sootwyn Barrow are listed as “op-
tional.” The intention here is to give you maximum flexibility
for crafting the horror experience you desire. You can totally
make Sootwyn Barrow a pure dungeon / combat challenge
with minimal socializing and maximally dread-inducing
isolation. Alternatively, you can treat this like a real town
with lots of inhabitants, only some of whom want to repeat-
edly murder the party. The latter option is generally better if
you want a “horror-lite” experience with plenty of goofy role-
playing interspersed throughout.
The only mandatory NPCs are the Barrow Lords. You can
run the entire dungeon with just those four characters and

SER DENITH OF THE RAINSBURY COURT

an army of skeletons.

▸
OPTIONAL NPC
Misguided heroes are the lifeblood of Sootwyn Barrow. Time and
time again, virtuous champions have entered the unholy grounds
in an attempt to purge the evil within. Ser Denith (he/him) is one
such knight, a decorated hero of some far-off king, a king he will
tell travelers about in extensive detail.
Despite his training and multiple successful tours of duty on
16 behalf of the kingdom, Ser Denith is ill-prepared for the dangers
within Sootwyn Barrow. He wields a blessed greatsword (impo-
tent against endlessly regenerating villains) and is well stocked
with holy water (useless against the dark magicks of the Stain).
Unfortunately, Ser Denith failed to bring adequate resolve. Each
night, it’s a coin flip of whether he will even muster the strength
to exit the Twilight Bethel. The beastmen consider him a non-
threat and are disappointed by his weak attempts to fight back.

FETCH

▸
OPTIONAL NPC
There isn’t much left of “Fetch” (she/her). She has minimal aware-
ness of her surroundings, few memories, and worryingly little
flesh. Her name isn’t even “Fetch”; that’s just what the beast-
men call her, as it’s the main word she says over and over. Fetch
has been in Sootwyn Barrow for a long time, but she has been
quite slow to deteriorate. She still makes her way into town each
night, usually slain quickly by a casual swipe of skeleton’s blade.
Though she is more-or-less nonverbal, she will make a point each
evening to gesture to the statues in the Twilight Bethel, pointing
out each of the Barrow Lords and saying their name reverently.
Who’s to say what she gains from this minor ritual.
HINTS SCATTERED ACROSS
THE VILLAGE
It is entirely possible to run Sootyw Barrow adventures without
doling out additional hints about how the party can progress.
However, it is generally advisable to provide at least a few insights
about how the adventurers might escape from Sootwyn Barrow
and rid themselves of the Stain. Consider presenting one or more
of the hints below to provide some direction.
0 There is an inscription beneath each of the statues of the Twi-
light Bethel. Each explains the identities of the Barrow Lords,
extolling their virtues as dark masters in needlessly flowery
language. Though these plaques may overstate some qualities
of the Barrow Lords, they at least provide useful epithets: “the
sporting beastmen,” “the unlying necromancer,” and “the
dignified vampire king of the unsanguine.”
0 Adventurers might recall a nursery rhyme that they heard in
their youth: 17
Sootwyn Stain, ever will it drain
Wash away the evil of the vampire bane
Down below the tomb, in a moonlit room
A rock atop the water surely wipes away the doom
0 Past victims of the Stain have left behind hastily scrawled
notes from what they had learned about Ingrid: details about
her illusory lodger, her tempestuous relationship with Vasile,
and her surprisingly non-magical control over the barrow’s
skeletons. The beastmen have not yet learned to read and thus
don’t recognize the significance of these notes.
0 Though the Sootwyn Stain drains adventurers of their aware-
ness and mental fortitude, the curse also fundamentally
brings its victims closer to Vasile. The party may find that they
have visions of Vasile’s Tomb and its unholy contents. They
may have nightmares of the creation of the Stain or of the fail-
safes Vasile created for himself.
 0 Malicious denizens of the barrow—serpents, minor devils,
lingering spirits, and the like—might betray the Barrow Lords
in a seemingly trivial way: spreading gossip. They may let slip
the name of the Venerated Pumice or perhaps nudge the party
to consider the fact that this town controlled by a vampire is bi-
sected by flowing water.
0 The crows are not truly genuinely to anyone. They can be
bribed, and they know much more than they let on. If the par-
ty can decipher their circuitous, riddle-laden corvine mono-
logues, they can glean quite a bit about Sootwyn Barrow.

18
BESHIK AND HAUN
THE HUNTER
BEASTMEN
Adventurers are likely to meet
their first Barrow Lords sooner
than they might expect. Beshik
(he/him) and Haun (he/him) are self-de-
scribed beastmen, creatures of incredi-
ble strength, neither human nor animal.
They do not remember their childhoods
or their parents, only that their earliest
memories were of hunting big game in
distant forests as a pair. Beshik and Haun
call themselves brothers, but who’s to
say? It is unclear whether they were tru-
ly “born,” or the twisted creations of a 19
long-dead sorcerer, or perhaps wicked
manifestations of the wilds.
Beshik and Haun are ruthless kill-
ers, exceptional trackers, and vora-
cious eaters. Each evening they set
out into the barrow to terrify anyone
bearing the Stain, killing them only
when there is no more fun in the chase. To
be clear: Beshik and Haun love to feast on
the flesh of their quarries—flesh which,
of course, regenerates at sunset—but they
get a far more primal pleasure from the
hunt.
 Though they were once their marks before the mid-
purely bestial, barely able to night hour.
speak, they have since adopt- Beshik and Haun love an
ed many of the affectations especially challenging hunt.
of their favorite former foes. On the rare occasion that an
Skilled knights, clever wizards, adventurer truly impress-
and dignified aristocrats alike es with their ability to evade
have provided the beastmen capture or fight back, Beshik
with challenging hunts. Now, and Haun will extend an offer:
Beshik and Haun don personae spend an hour drinking with
not dissimilar from those of them every other night. Ad-
past victims of the Stain. The venturers will wake up in the
beastmen speak articulately Twilight Bethel with a map, a
and walk through the barrow’s key, and an invitation.
alleyways with an air of swag-
ger and total command. THE CHAMPION’S
The beastmen have a role
to play in Sootwyn Barrow be-
GROTTO
yond just sating their urge to So long as Beshik and Haun
20 hunt and kill. Vasile and Ingrid have suitable drinking part-
have entrusted the duo with ners, they will delay their hunt
protecting them. Despite the by one hour on odd-numbered
power of the barrow’s magicks, days, choosing instead to re-
there is always the tiniest pos- lax in the musty cellar they
sibility that clever travelers call “the Champion’s Grotto.”
might escape the western vil- Should the adventurers accept
lage, charge through the cem- the invitation, they’ll be wel-
etery, descend into Vasile’s comed into the dank bar with
Tomb, and unmake the dark open arms. Beshik and Haun
majesty of the barrow. Beshik always hope to honor their
and Haun are thus the prima- most devious prey, not out of
ry defense against this threat. the goodness of their hearts,
While many more dangers but as encouragement. They
await adventurers who travel want competent adventur-
east out of the haunted vil- ers to keep trying, night after
lage, few ever make it that far. night, until, at last, they suc-
The beastmen rarely fail to kill cumb to the Stain.
 BEASTMEN
D8 STRATEGIES DESCRIPTION
The duo lies in wait atop one of the town’s
spires. When they spy the party, both
Leap from
1 beastmen let out menacing howls and
the rooftops
descend. They may attack the party or climb
back up to the rooftops for a second scare.

The beastmen divide the town into discrete

Methodical
2 zones and patrol each alleyway, nook,
patrols
and cranny with meticulous regularity.

Beshik covers himself in blood, appearing

The to have been nearly slain by one of the other
3 bloodied victims. When the party approaches to finish
bait him off, he gives up the ruse. Haun sneaks
in immediately after, and the fight begins.

Instead of hunting in the western village, the

Among the beastmen wait in the cemetery to the east,
4
skeletons plainly visible. As soon as the party exits the
village, they attack alongside Ingrid’s minions.

By whatever means necessary (traps, 21

Separate distractions, silent snatching), the
5
the party beastmen separate the party before
eliminating them one at a time.

The beastmen stealthily study the party’s

actions until they approach the edge
Study the of the village. Only when they near the
6
party cemetery does Haun attack. Beshik
will then watch and continue to study
unless he needs to join the fight.

The beastmen learned to fire crossbows

from a surprisingly deadly foe a few years
Ranged
7 back. They still prefer to fight up close,
strike
but they do occasionally switch to ranged
attacks to keep opponents guessing.

As soon as the sun sets, the beastmen

burst into the streets with their claws
All-out
8 bared. They savagely strike at anything that
assault
crosses their path, animate or otherwise—a
return to their bestial essence.
 The beastmen walk a difficult tightrope: they need to terrify
their victims to amplify the effects of the Stain, but they also want
to make sure that victims feel motivated enough to leave the Twi-
light Bethel. Over the years, they have found that an invitation to
the Champion’s Grotto is the best way to stoke that fire.
The Champion’s Grotto is a bar of sorts. It certainly was some
sort of drinking hole in the distant past before the town had been
remade with Vasile and Ingrid’s magicks. Now, it is little more
than a dusty cellar filled with stores of wine that are difficult to
replenish. The bar stays locked at all hours and is not protected by
any sort of protective hexes. The adventurers could break into the

SENZA THE CUTTHROAT

Champion’s Grotto, assuming they are never honored with a key.

▸
OPTIONAL NPC
Those whose hearts are already filled with a profound darkness
may find that one or another aspect of the Sootwyn Stain does
not take hold. Senza the Cutthroat (she/her) made a solemn
22 pledge to a dark God many moons ago, and thus her lifeforce is
“spoken for.” The Sootwyn Stain has still taken hold of the amor-
al assassin, but she is not slowly withering away like so many
other victims in the barrow. Instead, she regenerates night after
night, regardless of where she travels.
Senza still occasionally visits Sootwyn Barrow to check in on
her friends Beshik and Haun. They make for good company, and
she loves regaling the duo with tales of the outside world. Adven-
turers will either run into Senza in the Champion’s Grotto, shar-
ing a drink with the bestial hunters, or they’ll cross paths with
the efficient killer in the moonlit streets of the village.

Note that Senza can play two very different roles depending
on when you decide to introduce her. She can either be a neu-
tral third party during cocktail hour at the Grotto, or she can
add a wrinkle to battles with the beastmen once the players
feel like they’ve learned what to expect.
 ROLEPLAYING THE BEASTMEN
As the first Barrow Lords the party is likely to meet, Beshik and
Haun will almost certainly be frequently recurring characters in
Sootwyn Barrow. It is crucial for the tone of the adventure that
they are unpredictable and relentless. They ought never to attempt
to defeat the party in the same way twice, and should the party
avoid confronting the beastmen on their way to Vasile’s Tomb, the
beastmen should follow them east into the graveyard.
The beastmen are not efficient. Or rather: efficiency is not their
aim. Their aim is to scare the party. The beastmen will howl and
flash their glowing eyes before disappearing around corners, toy-
ing with the party as long as they can. However, they will not allow
the party to approach Vasile’s Tomb without a fight.
Beshik and Haun can speak, and they will taunt the party elo-
quently, though in their characteristic gruff voices. If the adven-
turers impress the beastmen and gain an invitation to the Cham-
pion’s Grotto, the beastmen will speak openly, asking questions of
the party’s origins, their travels, and their intentions for their re-
maining days before becoming unsanguine. More than anything,
23
Beshik and Haun will do their best to encourage the party, remind-
ing them that the best they can hope for while they wither away is
temporary glory as exceptional prey. There is no escape, but there
is virtue in fighting until the very end.
Beshik is the more talkative of the two and is generally the
more curious. Haun is softer-spoken but far more brutal in battle.
This does not necessarily mean that Haun is more deadly; simply
that he is more aggressive. In most instances, this increased pre-
dictability is a liability.
 DEFEATING
THE BEASTMEN
Beshik and Haun are Barrow Lords. They are akin to demigods
in the tiny enclave they’ve carved out for themselves. They can be
killed, but only temporarily. When the sun sets again, they will
rise anew. As such, permanently destroying Beshik and Haun is
impossible unless the party can unmake the magicks of Sootwyn
Barrow altogether.
Until the party is able to address the very curse itself, they
must confront the beastmen again each evening. Luckily, if the ad-
venturers are smart and powerful, the two hunters need not stand
in the party’s way. There are various ways to get past the beastmen:
0 The adventurers always have the option to kill the beastmen,
if only for the night. Battles against the Beshik and Haun are
brutal, but the party may find an advantage in numbers, ar-
cane trickery, or clever strategy.
24 0 If they are quick and stealthy enough, the party might be able
to evade the beastmen. It is possible to avoid confronting
Beshik and Haun altogether until the party is slain, achieves
their goal, or falls unconscious with the rising sun.
0 Should the party adequately impress the beastmen, they will
receive an invitation to the Champion’s Grotto. The beastmen
will wait at least one hour for the party to arrive. The party can
use this to their advantage and get a head start on the beast-
men. They should be warned, however, that the Beshik and
Haun don’t respond well to being snubbed. This opportunity
will likely only present itself once.
0 The bestial hunters are blessed with the magick of Ingrid and
Vasile, but they have no spells of their own. As such, the party
may be able to trap the beastmen, either with a potent hex or
even more traditional methods (a snare, a foothold trap, etc.).
It may even be possible to trap the beastmen for more than one
day at a time, though Ingrid will eventually send her minions
to attempt to free the duo.
 25

GM NOTE: Depending on the sort of campaign you’re run-

ning, you may allow for other means of permanently defeat-
ing the beastmen. Perhaps a particularly eloquent (or de-
vious) party can convince the duo that they will find more
pleasure in hunting dangerous foes in the wide world outside
the barrow. Alternatively, they may persuade the beastmen
to fight back against the other Barrow Lords. A sufficiently
potent cleric may even invoke their God to dispel the beast-
men’s immortality. For a standard horror campaign, though,
these options should only be considered as a last resort if the
players are beating their heads against the wall.