[DitV] My first town: Gerdenshaw
Axhead:
I would love to get some feed back positive or other wise, so lemme know what you think. I have some ideas that I will post after the posting the town.
Axhead:
Setting the Scene for the Town of Gerdenshaw
Sister Jeraldine Jonas a young woman of 15 years and is not properly accepting suitors. This is because she is in love with Brother Cleamus a handsome but simple minded young man who is virtuous in his own simple way. Brother Cleamus Cobb’s family are dirt poor farmers at the edge of town who have had a hard time getting by since Ma Cobb died giving birth to the youngest child Sister Emily who has a limiting palsy but is mentally acute (think Jewel in Deadwood). Pa Cobb is elderly and has a hard time getting things done, Cleamus who has recently turned 16 and had a massive growth spurt is workhorse. This years crop is the first in many years that their has come in ok as Cleamus was able to really help. Jeraldine and Cleamus grew up next to each other and have grown into their love although Jeraldine is slightly embarrassed by it (think Forrest Gump and whats her name although Jeraldine is not filled with the same kind of self loathing).
Brother Ezra Jonas has the most successful farm in the area and it is adjacent to the Cobb farm. Brother Ezra knows that his daughter likes Brother Cleamus but has forbidden her to follow her feelings as Cleamus is “…too stupid to properly court her and it ain’t seemly for her to court him.”. Brother Ezra is also concerned about what would happen to his farm if Cleamus were to marry into the family in terms of social status and maintenance. Sister Jeraldine knows enough to run the farm, especially with the physical help from although Cleamus, although this would not be a proper role for a woman to fill.
Brother Alden Siphus is Jeraldines is Jeraldines main suitor and he is angry that Sister Jeraldine wont accept him. Brother Martin Siphus is the towns Blacksmith and Alden is his son. Brother Martin and his wife Sister Alma have found out that Sister Jeraldine is sweet on Cleamus which has enfuriated Sister Alma Siphus.
PrideSister Jeraldine feels that since she and Brother Cleamus love each other, they should be able to marry despite what her father says. She is not willing to openly defy her father but is engaged in passive aggressive behaviour by not accepting suitors.
Brother Ezra feels that his daughter is too good for Brother Cleamus.
Brother Alden feels that Sister Jeraldine should love him since he “aint no gimpy head”. This view is supported and encouraged by his parents Brother Martin and particularily by Sister Alma.
Brother Martin suffers from greed in that he covets the Jonas farm for his family. He is also starting to realize that if the Cobbs are gone their land could be absorbed into the Jonas farm.
The injustice is that two young people who are in love can’t marry.
Lies: Sister Alma has begun saying that Sister Emily is a witch as proven by the success of their crops and the birth defects of the baby recently born to the Samuel family. The unusual growth of Brother Cleamus is also a cause for speculation and accusation. Sister Alma is also concerned about the virtue of poor Jeraldine, after all who knows what would happen if Cleamus was taken by fit of demented lust.
Demonic Attacks: A recently born baby deformed with a badly clubbed foot and a cleft pallet, poor girl. Although the Cobb crops are more successful than normal partly due to Cleamus now being big enough to be a real help to his pa, they seem unusually successful compared to a number of other crops which have blighted. The Jonas crops have not failed. The demons have been making Emily seem more disturbing/freakish in order to inflame predjudice against her and her family.
False Doctrine
The Siphus family has been spreading talk of how “the unfit ain’t clean in the eyes of the Father of Life”. With the demonic attacks folks are starting to heed the hateful words of Sister Alma. Almas Pride is enflamed by the social power she is gaining as a result.
Corrupt Worship
The Siphus family has taken to praying that the unclean Cobbs be washed away by the Father of Life. Their words are of course heard by demons.
False Priesthood
Sister Alma has or will become a sorcerous leading the cult that starts out with the three members of the Jonas family. She tries to recruit others to the cause to further her power base. The easiest target is of course the Samuel family due to their deformed baby girl and any others who have had problems with crops.
Sorcery
Sister Alma is a behind the scenes kind of Sorcerer. She doesn’t yet want to directly attack the Cobbs and would rather have others do the work for her. Some tactics she might try:
• Getting a demon to possess Emily to make her do evil and make others believe she is a witch. She might try to steal the Samuel baby before it can be named by the Dogs.
• Possessing Cleamus with a demon that forces him to rape Jeraldine.
Hate and Murder
Possessing Brother Ezra Jonas so that he will try to harm the Cobbs. Ideally he will succeed and wind up dead or mutilated which will allow Alden to marry Jeraldine and Ezra will be out of the way paving the road to a take over of the town.
Another possibility is that if Emily is possessed to get the town Steward (Beuford) to Kill Emily and ideally declare the family a cult then the whole town can become a mob performing mass murder.
Named Characters and what they want
Brother Cleamus Cobb: Loves Jeraldine Jonas and wants to marry her. He also wants to look after his family.
Sister Emily Cobb: Wants Cleamus to marry Jeraldine as this gives her hope to find love as she wants to have a family of her own although she doubts this will ever happen.
Brother Pa Cobb: Is concerned about the grumbling around town and is worried about what will happen to his family when he passes.
Sister Jeraldine Jonas: Wants to marry Cleamus but she does not yet want to go against her fathers wishes.
Brother Ezra Jonas: Wants his daughter to accept Alden Siphus as a suitor, or failing that another “proper” fella.
Brother Alden Siphus: Wants to marry Jeraldine and is angry that he has been rejected in favour of a simpleton.
Brother Martin Siphus: Is ashamed for his sons “humiliation”. He wants the Jonas farm, and is starting to feel that the Cobb farm is his due for the humiliation his family is suffering.
Sister Alma Siphus: Doesn’t want people to know she is a Sorcerous. She wants the Dogs to declare Emily a witch and the Cobb family a cult, then go away leaving the town to her.
Brother Asmoda Sammuel: Wants his baby named by the Dogs and somebody to blame for his families misfortune.
Steward Beuford: Wants the Dogs to think he is doing a good job. He knows something is wrong but has not been able to figure out what. He is a good man but is out of his depth.
Axhead:
This is the first RPG I will have played in about 15 years as it is the first game that has gotten me excited to play. So I want the first game to rock to really get the players into the world and get them equally excited about the game. Here are some questions that I have:
Is the injustice and pride sufficient to warrent the demonic escalation?
How far along should Sister Alma be on the dark path? I want things to be exciting but I dont want to be over the top to soon.
How hostile should the town be to the Cobbs? I guess that will be determined by the previous questions answer right?
In another post Vincent reccomended that there should be three sides to the conflict which is what I have tried to have here, but I am worried that it will be too transparent. I am also kind of wondering if that is a problem...
Axhead:
Man the crickets around here are deafening... :)
Well I will be gaming this Thursday or Friday, some of the other towns posted here are very appealing so I might just cherry pick one of those instead.
lumpley:
No! No! Warning! Warning! Always use your own town.
But go over the top right now, before play starts. Sister Alma's a sorceress, and she's caused hate and murder. This business of "tactics she might try" - choose one and make it to have happened. The Dogs show up and whatever she's planning, she did it yesterday, and the town is in shock about it.
Transparency in your town is your friend, so is over-the-topness. The dice rules will muddy things plenty, all by themselves, that's their job.
-Vincent
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page