Lost Souls Theater of Blood.pdf

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An Adventure for Lost Souls

By Joe Williams & Kathleen Williams

Email me at: freeRPGs@comcast.net

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Theater of Blood

Central Character

car. He promised he’d pay double if you bailed him

out. You hung up and hurried outside.

Akmar’s partner was Zelda, a swarthy, heavy

set woman with black hair and green eyes. A faint

mustache hung beneath her nose, and you thought

she had a spider on her chin, until you realized it

was just a hairy wart. She wore layers of silk cloth

and a glittering assortment of baubles. On the

drive, you learned she was a gypsy fortune teller

who opened for Akmar. When you asked her to tell

your future, she said, “Your picture, it will soon be

in all the papers. This job will make you famous.”

When you reached the Morpheus Theater, you

found a restless audience already waiting. You met

briefly with Akmar behind the stage. He showed

you to a small dressing booth with a full length

mirror on one wall, and telling you to hurry, he

gave you a revealing outfit to change into. As you

stripped, you heard the audience hooting and

hollering. They were very impatient.

The outfit was much too small. Checking the

mirror, you saw that the thin straps barely covered

you. Well, it was too late now for a proper fitting.

The audience was almost in a frenzy, and you had

to hurry before they got violent.

As you stepped from the dressing booth, you

saw Zelda operating a video camera from the

wings. As she set the camera up on a tripod, she

said she was taping the show for public cable

access. You asked if you could get a copy of the tape

for your portfolio, but she merely grinned in reply.

Taking a deep breath, but not so deep that you

popped out of our leotard, you stepped onto the

stage.

It had been painted with hokey magic symbols

like you would expect to find on a cheap magician’s

hat. There were stars and planets and astrological

signs and a few squiggles thrown in for good

measure. At your feet, a large red circle was

painted encompassing a five pointed star.

The show started well. First Akmar, who was

billed as the Masked Magician, placed you in a box

with your head and arms sticking out. He then

inserted steel swords into the cabinet. You heard

This adventure is designed for a female

Performer whose cause of death was, “The old

sawing a lady in half trick didn’t quite work this

time.” The other players can take any characters

they choose. The central player receives a copy of

the following background story.

Cbdlhspvoe!

You knew you were taking a chance when you

left your friends and family in Oklahoma to make it

big in the city. Yet you never realized it would be so

hard. Eventually, you were reduced to answering

ads in the back of the Daily Star. The advertisement

you found was vague, yet provocative. “Wanted:

Single Female who knows how to perform. Must be

lonely, unattached, and acrobatic. Apply at the

Morpheus Theater for good times and good pay.”

It sounded good to you.

As it turned out, the Great Akmar was looking

for an assistant to help with his magic act. The job

seemed easy enough. You wore a skimpy outfit,

wheeled out heavy objects, and gestured at Akmar

as he performed tricks. You even got to star in a

illusion or two.

There was no audition. Akmar told you to

complete a questionnaire, which asked many

personal questions, such as whether you were

living with anyone, if you had close relatives in

town, and so on. You answered the questions

truthfully, with no. Akmar told you he’d give you a

call if he could use you. He never looked directly at

you, and the whole time he seemed distracted, as

though his mind were elsewhere. The next night,

he called to ask you to do the midnight show. You

said you’d be there in an hour, but he said there

was no time, the show was starting in just a few

minutes, and he had already sent his partner with a

! ! !

The Pineville Horror

gasps from the audience as the swords went in.

When he removed the swords and you stepped out

whole and healthy, the gasps turned to groans.

There was no applause. This was the deadest

crowd you had ever played to. You could see their

shadows behind the footlights, but you could not

make out their faces.

Next was the guillotine trick. Akmar cut a

cabbage in half with it, but when he used it on your

neck, the blade seemed to pass right through.

When your head didn’t pop off, you heard catcalls

from the audience. A few people laughed

nervously. The excitement was thick, but still, no

applause.

The expectant rustling grew louder as Akmar

tied you to a board painted with a bulls eye. He

then blindfolded himself and hurled knives at you.

They came uncomfortably close, and you screamed

as one drew blood from your arm. Akmar threw

the final cleaver and it thumped into the board

next to your ear, severing a lock of hair. Obviously,

Akmar needed more practice.

For the first time, the crowd cheered, and you

smiled. You would have curtsied if you hadn’t been

bound. Glimpsing the red light of the camera in the

wings, you hoped Zelda was getting your good side.

“Act it up,” Akmar whispered to you as he

tilted the board so that you were horizontal. “This

audience wants blood. Pretend like this next one

really hurts.”

This was your biggest part of the night. Akmar

lowered a box over your torso, so that your head,

arms, and legs stuck out, and proceeded to cut

through the box with a handsaw. You writhed

dramatically, as through you were in pain, acting it

up for the audience. They loved it. Their screams

were a bedlam, and you could barely keep a smile

from your lips. Until something went wrong and

you felt the saw rip through your stomach. You

screamed for Akmar to stop, but he must have

thought you were acting. He continued sawing, the

sweat dripping down his black mask, and when the

blood started pouring from the box, the audience

went wild.

The next thing you knew, you were on your

way to limbo.

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In order to return to earth, the central player

must make a ghostly vow not to rest until

completing a task based on her back story. Here

are some suggestions:

•

I will not rest until I learn why Akmar

killed me.

•

I will not rest until I gain revenge on

Akmar.

The other characters have been sitting around

Limbo, reading old magazines and watching re-

runs of Gilligan’s Island, when the central character

stumbles in, looking for spirits to help her fulfill

her ghostly vow. Anyone who doesn’t want to help

can continue reading old magazines while the rest

play the game.

The Morpheus Theater

The players find themselves in an alley next to

the Morpheus Theater. The buildings on either side

protect them from the sun’s melting rays. It’s about

two hours before sunset.

On the street corner, a newspaper machine

sits in the sunlight. A color photo on the front page

shows a small boy standing on a river bank, a straw

hat atop his head and a fishing pole in one hand.

His hook is snared on a pair of legs, not a full body,

just the legs, like those of a topless mannequin. The

headline over the picture reads “Little Boy Catches

Big Surprise!” The paper is dated one week after

the central character’s death. To read the article,

the players will have to remove the paper from the

vending machine and unfold it. It reads:

Wee Willy Mathers caught an unexpected

surprise yesterday. While fishing in the river, his

hook caught on something heavy. “I thought it was

a whale,” he explained. “I kept tuggin’ an’ pullin’,

and out came this thing. I sure hope they let me

keep it.”

Authorities have not identified the owner of

the legs. “Whoever she was, she’s dead now,” a

detective disclosed. “She’s been in the river so long

it’s hard to tell the cause of death. There’s a lot of

marks on her, but we won’t know what caused

! ! !

The Pineville Horror

them until the coroner gets finished with her. My

guess is she was swimming and got caught by a

ship’s propeller.”

Police are still looking for the woman’s top

half. Anyone finding a woman’s upper body should

notify the local authorities.

You may suggest a new ghostly vow to the

central character: I will not rest until I find my

upper half!

outside, the place looks one day away from being

condemned. The players will have to get through a

locked door or window to enter the building.

Inside, the building smells of rot and

dampness. A leaking pipe dribbles water on the

floor of the lobby. From the wet carpet, a cluster of

fungus sprouts. The dim lighting is perfect for

spectral prowlers.

Basement

As the characters explore the ground floor,

they hear a moaning from the stairs to the

basement. At the head of the stairs is a fire door

which must be opened should they wish to

investigate. Once the door opens, the moaning

below stops.

The stairs lead down to a concrete furnace

room. Heaps of lumber, broken chairs, and a tangle

of air ducts block the characters’ view. As the first

player descends the stairs, a spine tingling shriek

fills the room. All characters in the area are

paralyzed with fear for (Strength vs Good) x 2

turns. A moment later, a monstrous howl nearly

deafens the characters. Those who have not been

paralyzed must bolt from the basement for (Sanity

vs Good) x 2 turns.

From out of the darkness, a pale shape glides,

taking the form of a woman, her leotard torn and

her hair matted with blood. A meat cleaver

protrudes from her split skull. The woman

wrenches the cleaver from her skull and comes for

the players . . .

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Type: Evil lost soul (banshee).

Consistency: Translucent/Incorporeal.

Defense: Passable.

WTL: 20

Skills: Passable Agility, Good Strength, Feeble

Intelligence.

Appearance: A haggard woman with a cloven

skull.

Personality: Violent and hysterical. The meat

cleaver in her head has caused significant brain

damage. She is quite insane, and seeks only to

destroy those she can lure to the basement. Her

body is hidden behind the furnace, and her blood

has been spiked to the concrete floor, binding her

to this room.

The windows of the Morpheus Theater are

boarded over, and the doors are bolted. From the

! ! !

The Pineville Horror

Combat: In hand to hand combat, Beatrice

inflicts (Defense vs Passable) x 3 damage with her

cleaver. The players gain +1 Karma each for

reincarnating her.

Powers: Cackle (Uses = 2): The target must

cackle insanely for (Intelligence vs Poor) x 10

minutes.

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A woman’s badly preserved head rests upon a

nightstand, serving as a hat rest for the feathered

turban Zelda wears during her act. When the

players try to lift the head, they extract an

ectoplasmic duplicate of it. The ectoplasmic

version bears none of the decay of the original,

leaving the unmarked face peaceful and

surprisingly beautiful.

The head belongs to the headless woman who

is roaming the ground floor of the theater. Once the

ectoplasmic head has been handed to her, the

phantom will place it upon the stump of her neck

and her eyes will blink. Smiling with gratitude, she

proves to be a lovely woman, with considerable

charm to match her good looks. She provides the

players with the following information:

“Thank you for helping me. My name is Renee.

I used to be Akmar’s assistant, until the accident.

“When I met Akmar, he was perfectly willing

to be a second rate magician all his life, and I

wanted only to be his assistant. Zelda, his former

assistant, never liked me. She was jealous, I believe,

of my beauty and the attention Akmar paid to me.

She was especially infuriated by the way I accepted

him as he was, instead of badgering him to make

more money like she always did.

“One night, when Akmar was performing the

guillotine act, something went terribly wrong. The

blade didn’t pass through my neck as it should

have. I don’t know whether it was a grim accident

or an even grimmer plan. In any case, Zelda must

have taken great satisfaction in watching Akmar

unintentionally kill me before an audience of two

dozen appalled witnesses. Though my head was

severed, I held on to consciousness, resisting the

blackness of death. I watched from the floor, seeing

Akmar’s horrified expression as he looked down at

me. I tried to tell him that I forgave him, but no

sound came out of my twisting lips. I must have

looked quite the sight, for Akmar covered his eyes

and turned away. The last I saw, before my vision

narrowed to a gray pinprick, was Zelda bending

over me, lifting me by my hair, and secreting me

under her cloak. After that, I was in complete

darkness. I felt a pull to Limbo, but I could not find

the way. Nor would I have gone even if I had

stumbled across the passage. I wanted freedom

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Searching the auditorium, the players find

black masks resting on the seats in the front three

rows. From the auditorium, they can see the

dressing booth where the central character

changed clothes on the night of her death. On

closer inspection, they discover it is outfitted with

a one way mirror. When the light is on inside the

booth, its interior is clearly visible to the audience.

Above the stage, the players hear ropes

creaking and scratching sounds that might be rats

skittering among the rafters. A catwalk runs above

the stage, affording access to the lights and the

ropes that lower and raise the backdrops.

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While exploring the first floor, the players

glimpse a white figure from the corner of their

eyes, but when they turn to look, it’s gone. Later,

they think they see a shape standing in a doorway,

but once again it vanishes.

The third time the players spot the white

figure, it doesn’t disappear. They clearly perceive

the headless phantom of a woman wearing a

skimpy outfit much like the central character’s. She

roams the halls, groping blindly as through

searching for something. Any attempts to

communicate with her are futile; the players pass

right through her, and even their supernatural

powers have no effect on her. She, in turn, seems

completely oblivious of them.

The headless phantom is a reoccurring visitor

as the players examine the theater. It’s not until

they locate Zelda’s bedroom on the upper floor that

they find the answer to her quest.

! ! !

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