Doctor Polidori – A Historical NPC for Ghastly Affair

Tags

19th century, British, English history, English literature, Frankenstein, Free RPG, George III, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Romance, Historic Figure, Historic NPC, horror novels, nineteenth century, Regency, role-playing game, Romance, Romantic Horror, Romantic poetry, Stats, Vampire

Presenting the Father of the Modern Vampire, Doctor John Polidori. Although eclipsed in fame by the great authors and poets with whom he associated, it was nonetheless Doctor Polidori who was responsible for establishing the image of the vampire as a dashing, sexually irresistible aristocrat. Of course, Polidori’s bloodsucking “Lord Ruthven” was meant as a satire of the Doctor’s infamous employer, Lord Byron!

 

Doctor Polidori (June 16, 1816)

Lord Byron’s personal physician, and future author of “The Vampyre”

Full Name: Doctor John William Polidori
Aliases: John Polidori, Dr. Polidori
Class: Everyman
Level: 4
Appearance/Most Memorable Characteristic: A handsome young man of Mediterranean mien. He seems to be favoring one leg when he walks.
Age: 20

Charisma: 10 Intelligence: 16 Wisdom: 13
Strength: 9 Dexterity: 9 Constitution: 8
Perversity: 10
Assets: Handsome, Fast Learner, Natural Artistic Talent (drawing)
Afflictions: Sprained Ankle (temporary), Hot-tempered, Prone to Sickness, Compulsive Gambler

Speed: 9
Hit Points: 26
Attacks: 1 pistol, or caustic chemical splash.
Damage Bonus: +1

Special Abilities: Profession (+1): Physician | Avocation (+1): Writer | Affection (+1): Art | Academic Credentials (as the Mad Scientist Special Ability, instead of an Inheritance) | Social Contacts: Lord Byron (poet, employer); Mary Shelley (aspiring writer, recent acquaintance); Percy Shelley (poet, recent acquaintance); Claire Clairmont (Mary Shelley’s stepsister, recent acquaintance); John Murray (Byron’s publisher); Sir Henry Halford (King George III’s Physician-in-Ordinary); Gaetano Polidori (father); Frances Polidori (sister); John Soane (son of no-classical architect Sir John Soane).
Weaknesses: Phobia: Being Overlooked (Athazagoraphobia) | Prejudice: Homely People

Typical Equipment Carried: Stylish clothes, leather physician’s satchel (with vials of various chemicals), notebook, 1000p in local currency (55 Swiss francs).
Residence: The Villa Diodati, Lord’ Byron’s’ rented Villa on the shore of Lake Geneva.

Background:

• September 7, 1795: John William Polidori was born in London. His father was the Italian author and translator Gaetano Polidori. His English mother Anna Maria had been a governess.
• 1804: John began school at Ampleforth College in North Yorkshire. The school, run by Benedictine Monks, eventually became one of the premiere institutions educating the British Catholic elite.
• 1810: Child prodigy John Polidori entered the University of Edinburgh to study medicine at the age of 15.
• 1814: John graduated from Edinburgh University, writing his thesis on somnambulism (sleep-walking). At 19, John was the youngest person to ever to graduate from the school with a medical degree.
• April, 1816: Lord Byron hired Polidori to be his personal physician and traveling companion, on the recommendation of Sir Henry Halford. Shortly thereafter John is contracted by Lord Byron’s publisher John Murray to keep a diary of his travels with Byron, for £500.
• April 25, 1816: Doctor Polidori and Lord Byron sailed from Dover towards Ostend, accompanied by three servants.
• April 26, 1816: Doctor Polidori and Lord Byron arrived in Ostend, and took lodgings. John immediately witnessed Lord Byron’s sexually predatory behavior, writing “As soon as he reached his room, Lord Byron fell like a thunderbolt upon the chambermaid.” The pair set out with their servants for Switzerland the next morning. Lord Byron’s elegant carriage, brought over from England and overburdened with his possessions, broke down almost constantly along the way.
• May 24, 1816: At Morat, John and Lord Byron stole bones from a ruined ossuary holding the remains of 15th century Burgundian soldiers.
• May 26, 1816: Doctor Polidori and Lord Byron reached the outskirts of Geneva, Switzerland around midnight. They took lodgings in the Hôtel de l’Anglerre, popular with traveling Englishmen.
• May 27, 1816: After boating with Lord Byron on Lake Geneva, Doctor Polidori met Mary Godwin, Claire Clairmont, and Percy Shelley, who by Claire’s connivance had been waiting on the shore. Mary and Percy initially mistook John for Lord Byron. Byron was not pleased to see Claire, but nonetheless invited her, Percy, and Mary to dinner that night.
• June 2, 1816: John began giving Mary Godwin lessons in Italian (the Tuscan dialect), and took her son William to be vaccinated against smallpox.
• June 10, 1816: John moved into the Villa Diodati with Lord Byron. Percy Shelly and Lord Byron became increasingly abusive towards Doctor Polidori, referring to him as “PollyDolly”, mocking his affection for a local girl, disparaging his writings, and otherwise goading him into angry outbursts whenever possible.
• June 15, 1816: John severely sprained his ankle after being cajoled by Lord Byron into leaping from a wall in order to escort Mary Godwin up a slippery, rain-slicked path. That night, he had a conversation with Percy Shelly about the principles of life, and whether human life should be considered as a mechanical or spiritual process – “whether man was to be thought merely an instrument”.
• June 16, 1816: Lord Byron challenges the group, forced inside by the inclement weather, to write ghost stories. Several days later Doctor Polidori will begin work on a ghost story, but not “The Vampyre”.

Personality and Role-Playing Notes:

Doctor Polidori is hung-strung, and quick to take offense. Consequently, he is always being goaded and needled by the sadistic Lord Byron. He loves art, but has strong opinions on aesthetics, and can be extremely judgmental of peoples’ appearances. Doctor Polidori is immensely proud of his academic achievements, and often annoyed by the way others seem to fawn over his employer. Polidori will quick to point out he is a physician, not a surgeon (which is a much lower status position in the early 19th century). He has a great fear of being ignored, and will do foolish things in order to be noticed and thought well of. He has a passionately romantic nature, and is developing an infatuation with Mary Godwin.

Doctor Polidori currently has a sprained ankle, from impetuously leaping to escort Mary Shelley up a wet path. He therefore walks with a limp – which Lord Byron may point out as evidence that the doctor is trying to imitate the poet in all ways! Doctor Polidori wants to be taken seriously as a writer, but Byron makes a point of disparaging anything he writes (and encouraging others to do the same). Nonetheless, Doctor Polidori is currently being paid by Byron’s publisher to keep journal of his experiences with the poet, and so will be keen to insert himself into any social interactions at the Villa Diodati.

Doctor Polidori in Your Game:

Anyone visiting the Villa Diodati in the summer of 1816 is going to encounter Doctor Polidori. If the PCs aren’t there to meet Lord Byron, may be trying to meet the former child prodigy, in order to seek his advice on some bizarre medical problem. Perhaps one of the PCs (or one of their loved ones) is a sleepwalker, experiencing horrible nightmares, or prone to fall into debilitating trances – all of which are Polidori’s specialty. In any event, Doctor Polidori will try to turn any conversation towards those topics – so he can feel like the smartest person in the room!

Another possibility is that the PCs are agents of Lord Byron’s publisher John Murray, sent to make sure Doctor Polidori is actually keeping his diary – and not just indulging in orgies with Byron.

John Polidori committed suicide by drinking poison in 1821 (although the death was officially recorded as being from natural causes). The Presenter could explore the possibility that in 1816 Polidori was already in communication with an actual Vampyre, who later made John one himself.

In 1800 John’s sister Frances married the Italian poet Gabriele Rossetti, and eventually gave birth to four children destined for fame – author and nun Maria Francesca Rossetti (who wrote a biography of Dante), painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti (co-founder of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood), literary critic William Michael Rossetti, and the poet Christina Rossetti (author of the classic “Goblin Market”). The Presenter could explore the possibility that Doctor Polidori’s family was haunted by fairies, and the John never died, but was actually whisked away to the Otherworld – with an illusory “stock” made of wood, leaves and moss left in his place. Perhaps Doctor Polidori was never really an ordinary human being at all, but a Fairy Changeling unaware of his own true nature until 1821 (when he chose to escape the Mundane World altogether).

The Fire King – A Literary Demon

Tags

18th Century, blackpowder, Demon, dreadpunk, Eighteenth Century, English literature, English Romanticism, Georgian, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Literature, Gothic Romance, Gothick, Infernal, nineteenth century, Regency, Romance, Romantic Age, Romantic Horror, Romantic poetry, Romantic-era, Romanticism

About 120 years before H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard collaboratively created what has become known as the “Cthulhu Mythos”, Matthew Lewis (author of “The Monk”) and Walter Scott (who went on to write such books as “Ivanhoe” and “Rob Roy”) made an abortive attempt at a shared mythology based off Germanic stories of the elemental Fairy Kings. Snobbish critics have historically tended to downplay, or even completely ignore, Scott’s involvement with Gothic literature, but he contributed poems to Lewis’ popular anthology “Tales of Wonder”. Scott’s “The Fire-King” (which also appears in his collection “Translations and Imitations from German Ballads”) stands as a great and influential contribution to the literature of the weird. Those familiar with 20th century fantasy may no doubt recognize a precursor of Tolkien’s “Balrog” here.

The following depiction of the Fire King combines both Scott’s and Lewis’s ideas.

Fire King

A powerful ruler among the Fire Demons, sought out by the bloodthirsty.

Creature Class: Spirit (Demon)
Number Appearing: 1
Initial Impression: An enormous naked man wreathed in flames, exhaling smoke from his mouth and nostrils, and wielding a bloody falcion of blue steel.
Size: Large (12’ high)

Perversity: 30
Disposition: Aggressive
Charisma: 18 Intelligence: 15 Wisdom: 15
Strength: 50 Dexterity: 18 Constitution: 22
Speed: 13 walking, 20 Flying

Armor Class: 9
Hit Dice: 10
Attacks: 1 (Demoniac Falcion, or punch)
Special Abilities: Demonic Characteristics, Burning Hot to the Touch, Sage of Fire, Summon Fire Demon
Weaknesses: Demonic Weaknesses, Vulnerable to Water
Assets: Intimidating
Afflictions: Easily Angered
Preternatural Powers: Ball Lightning; Combust; Darkness; Detect Evil; Fireball; Flame Strike (1 time a day); Fog (Smoke) Cloud; Ghost Lights; Invisibility; Light; Lightning Bolt; Transform Self into Snake, Scorpion, Lion, Lizard, Salamander, or Jackal; Pyrotechnics; Stinking Cloud; Wall of Fire

Natural Habitat: The Outer Darkness, the court of the Elemental Fairy Kings, the upper atmosphere of Earth, volcanoes and lava fields
Level: 10

Fire Kings are the nominal rulers of the Fire Demons that inhabit the upper atmosphere of the Earth. Thankfully for the human race, even the powerful Fire Kings cannot keep the rebellious demons focused on their goals. Otherwise, all life on Earth might have been incinerated long ago.

The Fire King’s muscled body is always wreathed in flame, yet (like all Demons) they actually cause the environment around themselves to become colder, rather than warmer. Anyone who actually touches a Fire King, however, will be horrifically burned. A Fire King’s voice roars like an out of control conflagrations, and lightning will flash from his mouth. His eyes glow like white-hot metal, and despite the fire around him, the blade he carries is always covered in liquid blood. Although he lacks apparent wings, he can fly through the air at great speed. A Fire King is also 50% likely to be riding a Dragon when he appears.

A Fire King’s Falcion is actually a Demoniac Object inhabited by a Possessor Demon (with 3 Hit Die). Consequentially, the weapon does an addition 3 points of damage whenever it strikes, and can harm any supernatural creature. As is the case with any Demoniac Object, however, the Demon within the blade can be exorcised, or forced to flee with a successful show of Faith. If that happens, the blade will become an ordinary (if oversized) weapon. If the Fire King is destroyed, the Demon within the blade may agree to stay within the weapon and serve a new owner, if the weapon will be often bathed in gore.

Although they are Demons, each Fire King is also part of a regional Fairy court consisting of itself, an Earlking, a Cloud King, and a Water King. Together they conspire to inflict pain, suffering, and death upon humanity. The Fire King’s role is to rain burning meteors on the ground, cause the eruptions of volcanoes, and ensure that travelers are misdirected by roving lights. They are opposed in this work of malevolence, however, by the Good Fairies and Angels who watch over the world.

Only the most foolish or powerful Magician would dare try to Summon a Fire King. Nonetheless, their total knowledge of all subjects relating to fire, and ability to wreak destruction, can cause the unwise (or daring) to attempt their command. Likewise, Fire Kings have been sought out by desperate warriors, for the Demons are known to lend their Demoniac Falcions to those who wish to commit acts of slaughter.

Fire King Special Abilities

Demonic Characteristics: Fire Kings are immune to all weapons, except those which are made of iron, blessed, or otherwise enchanted. They cannot be harmed by cold, fire, acid, disease, or any Special Ability or Preternatural Effect which targets minds or emotions (except those that specifically target Spirits, of course). They can see perfectly regardless of illumination, are immune to blindness or any other debility caused by extremely bright light, retain the ability to distinguish colors in conditions of total darkness, and do not need time to adjust their eyes to changing light. Fire Kings can speak, write, and understand all languages and forms of communication.

Burning Hot to the Touch: A character that deliberately touches a Fire King with their hand (or other body part) will be burned for 1d6 points of Lethal Damage.

Sage of Fire: Fire Kings have perfect knowledge of all arts, sciences, and crafts involving fire – metallurgy, glassblowing, blacksmithing, artillery use, etc. They are sometimes Summoned expressly for their knowledge, but preternatural means such as Bind Spirit are usually required to force the Demons to answer truthfully.

Summon Fire Demon: Once during any fight a Fire King may Summon a Fire Demon to his aid. The Demon that responds to the Summon will appear the next Round, and can be anywhere from 1 – 8 HD in strength.

Fire King Weaknesses

Vulnerable to Water: Water-based attacks against a Fire King grant the aggressor a +2 Bonus on the Attack Check, and inflict an additional 2 point of Lethal Damage. Holy Water does double normal damage to Fire Kings. Fire Kings must Check Morale whenever they are damaged by water-based attacks.

Demonic Weaknesses: Fire Kings are burned by holy water as if it was acid, cannot enter holy ground or touch blessed objects, and are subject to the power of Faith. Like all Demons, they are Vulnerable to Iron, will not voluntarily touch it, and must Check Morale if damaged by it. Additionally, they are repelled by pure crystalline salt. As Spirits, they are susceptible to all Preternatural Effects that target spiritual entities. Strangely, they cause the entire Nearby Area to become discernibly cold rather than hot.

The Fire King’s Falcion

A Fire King is willing to give his Falcion to anyone who has murder in their heart, and who will use the weapon to cause suffering and bloodshed. Naturally, the Possessor Demon inhabiting the weapon will will not tolerate any expressions of piety or tenderness on the part of its owner. If the blade’s wielder shows any evidence of deviating from the path of destruction, it will fly from his hands and return to the Fire King (no matter where the demon currently is in the Universe). The Falcion is over five feet long, and requires a normal-sized person to use both hands when using it. Despite its size, the Demon within it causes the weapon to be as light as a feather.

Fire King (for OSR games)

Number Appearing: 1
Size: Large
Alignment: Chaotic (Evil)
Morale: 11 (or 17)
Intelligence: 10
Move: 240′ (or 24”, or 50 ft), Flying: 450′ (or 45”, or 85 ft.)
Armor Class: 1 (or 19)
Hit Dice: 10
Attacks & Damage: Falcion+3 (1d8 +10 total)
* Magic Resistance: 75%, or +7 on Saves vs. Magic.
* Immune to all weapons not Magical, Blessed, or Iron.
* Immune to Cold.
* Immune to Fire.
* Immune to Acid.
* Immune to Disease.
* Immune to mind-affecting magic (except that which targets Spirits)
* Perfect vision under all conditions.
* Can speak, write, and understand all languages.
* Strong as a Hill Giant
* Burning Hot: Take 1d6 Damage if deliberately contacted.
* Perfect knowledge of all arts and sciences relating to fire.
* Summon a Fire Demon of d8 Hit Dice (once per day).
* Cannot enter holy ground.
* +2 Damage from Iron
* +2 Damage from Holy Water (1d8+2)
* 50% likely to ride a small Red Dragon.
* Spell Like Abilities: Dancing Lights; Darkness; Detect Evil; Fireball (three times a day), Fog Cloud; Flame Strike (once a day), Lightning Bolt (three times a day); Invisibility; Polymorph Self {Snake, Scorpion, Lion, Lizard, Salamander, or Jackal}; Pyrotechnics; Stinking Cloud; Wall of Fire (three times a day)
Saves: As Magic User 10
Treasure: 50,000 gp value of coins, gems, and magic items, plus its magical Falcion.
Challenge: Four characters of at least 10th Level.

Kubla Khan and the Prison-Paradise Xanadu

Tags

chinoiserie, Eighteenth Century, English literature, Georgian, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Literature, Gothic Romance, Gothick, laudanum, Napoleonic, opium, Orientalism, Random Table, Regency, role-playing game, Romantic Horror, Romantic Literature, Romantic poetry, rpg

Samuel Coleridge’s poem “Kubla Khan” is one of the greatest works of English literature, but the writer famously insisted it was simply a fragment of a far larger vision that came to him in an opium dream. Kubla Khan (and his realm of Xanadu) are perfect vehicles for the “Ghastly Affair” Presenter to explore themes of addiction, retreat into delusion, and Western misconceptions of the “exotic East”. I have emphasized the implied darkness in the poem to create an insidious enemy who aspires to total control of nothing less than the imagination. Like all the Incarnations of spiritual powers in “Ghastly Affair”, Kubla Khan is a plot device to drive several Affairs (or an entire Saga), and not just another monster to be faced in combat.

Kubla Khan

The terrible master of Xanadu, and would-be Emperor of the Dream Worlds

Signs & Portents: The weather turns suddenly calm, sunny, and warm. The smell of flowers and incense wafts in the wind, even in winter. People are overcome with bittersweet memories of lost loves and times long past.
Initial Impression: An man of apparently Asian descent with a long drooping mustache, an arrogant bearing, and fierce eyes. His long hair seems to float in some otherwise imperceptible wind. He is dressed in an exquisitely embroidered robe of yellow silk, with an intricate crown of similar material. Sometimes he appears instead in ornate lamellar armor. The mingled scent of vanilla, musk, sandalwood, and jasmine suffuses the air around him. At his waist he wears a long dagger.
Size: Human-sized

Perversity: 15
Disposition: Aggressive
Charisma: 20 Intelligence: 20 Wisdom: 20
Strength: 20 Dexterity: 20 Constitution: 20
Speed: 9

Armor Class: 10
Hit Dice: 20 (120 Hit Points)
Attacks: 1 dagger
Special Abilities: Mythical Abilities, Transpose Minds
Weaknesses: Limited Power Over Spirits, Defeated by Encirclement.
Assets: Imposing Presence, Connoisseur of all Pleasures, Brilliant Strategist
Afflictions: Arrogant
Preternatural Powers: All Glamors; all 0 – 3rd Level Divinations, Evocations, Fascinations, Glamors Maledictions, and Transmutations; but no Blessings.
Favored Preternatural Powers: Augury, Disguise Self, Read Minds, Charm Person, Confusion, Hypnotism, Ignore Pain, Enhanced Hearing, Mirage Arcane, Phantasmagoria V, Programmed Phantasmagoria, Speak with Dead, Sleep.

Usual Surroundings: The Pleasure Dome of Xanadu; High Society parties with an “Oriental” theme; Chinoiserie Gardens and Pavilions; wherever opium is smoked, or laudanum consumed.
Level: 10

From his Pleasure Dome in the paradise-prison of Xanadu, Kubla Khan schemes to dominate all the Worlds of Dream. He is not the historical Kublai Khan, but instead walking nightmare born from distorted and half-remembered tales knit together in fevered opium dreams.

Closely studying Kubla Khans’s visage (and a successful Wisdom Check) will reveal that his facial features are not actually those of an East Asian, but a Caucasian wearing makeup to make him appear “Oriental”. Likewise, anybody familiar with Asian cultures will be able to tell that the designs on his robes are an amalgamation of psuedo-Chinese, Turkish, Hindu, and Persian motifs – beautiful, but inauthentic in every detail. The apparent Chinese characters on his clothing do not actually have any meaning. Everything about his attire, manners, and speech patterns will seem wrong to someone actually raised in Chinese culture.

The personality of Kubla Khan’s is imperious and imposing. Always, he pursues his ultimate plan of conquest. To that end he will offer whatever pleasure is most tempting to his future pawns. He might pass a jeweled opium pipe, hand off a goblet filled with sweet wine and an orchid, or present a perfumed concubine trained in every art of love.

Kubla Khan’s paradisaical realm of Xanadu is a valley ten miles in diameter, surrounded by high hills, and encompassed by a wall studded with towers. The sacred river Alph meanders through the land, erupting in a tumult from a chasm at one end, and running five miles before tumbling into caverns that lead to a Sunless Sea. On the banks of the Alph is a grand and movable Pleasure Dome of gilded wood and bamboo, whose exact location is constantly changed according to the whims of Kubla Khan. Within wait courtiers and courtesans who may assume whatever body the seeker of pleasure desires. Underneath Xanadu are the fabled Caves of Ice, providing cool drinks and frozen sweets. The land surrounding the Alph is a patchwork of gardens, fields, and ancient woods, cut through by sinuous streams. Tall pagodas dot a landscape patrolled by men with the heads of white horses, some ridden by simian archers in plumed helmets. The fields are thick with tall hemp and flowers – most of all opium poppies bleeding the so-called “milk of paradise”.

Xanadu might be found by anyone traversing Astral Plane to the Dream Worlds, but the most usual way to enter is directly through the ingestion of opium. Those who surrender to the sleep-visions of the drug may find their minds in the fields of Xanadu, confronted with wondrous visions of splendor far exceeding anything they have known in the mundane world. But Xanadu is the worst kind of trap for the soul. Anyone who sees it must Save versus Wisdom, or thereafter mentally revisit whenever they dream. At first this will seem a blessing, until the dreamer learns they can now dream of nothing else. The visions of loved ones and beloved places that once appeared during the night will be gone, replaced with the bewildering opulence of Xanadu. And as souls spend more time there, they gradually come to know its true darkness. They will see the pagodas where every variety and implication of pleasure and pain are explored for the amusement of Kubla Khan. They will wander the hidden gardens watered with the blood of tortured bodies. They will witness naked slaves hunted by Kubla Khan and his tigers. Eventually, they will discover the mutilated corpses frozen in the Caves of Ice. And after have succumbed fully to the poisonous pleasures of the realm, they will be be imprisoned in gilded cages for all eternity.

Kubla Khan’s Special Abilities:

Mythical Characteristics: Kubla Khan is immune to all mundane weapons, all poisons, all diseases, any effect of an electrical nature, and all Fascination effects. He can see perfectly regardless of illumination, is immune to blindness or any other debility caused by extremely bright light, retains the ability to distinguish colors in conditions of total darkness, and does not need time to adjust his eyes to changing light. Kubla Khan can speak, write, and understand all languages and forms of communication.

Transpose Minds: By looking into the eyes of another, Kubla Khan can Transpose Minds with them. The victim must save versus Charisma, or swoon into unconsciousness. When they awaken, they will find themselves in Kubla Khan’s body, sitting on his throne in the middle of the Pleasure Dome. The victim gains all the powers of Kubla Khan, and every inhabitant of Xanadu will address and treat them as such. They will be fed on honeydew, and generously given the “milk of paradise”. They will feel exhilarated, overcome with the splendor of their surroundings, and convinced that they have transcended the mundane world. Meanwhile, the mind of Kubla Khan will inhabit the earthly body of his victim, temporarily losing his own Abilities and Preternatural powers, but gaining those of the victim instead.

Time passes more quickly in Xanadu than on Earth (but inhabitants neither sleep nor age). For the first earthly day of the Transposition, the victim will live a full day in the Dream World, but only an hour will have passed on Earth. For every day that passes in the Mundane World thereafter, the amount of time the minds of Kubla Khan and his victim spend transposed increases by one earthly hour, and one day in Xanadu.

If the Transposition occurred while the victim was awake on Earth, the Incarnation of Kubla Khan will suddenly disappear from sight. Now inhabiting his victim’s body, Kubla Khan will proceed to to ruin their life. Friends, family, and lovers will be betrayed and abused, and the victim’s fortune will be wasted on every variety of vice. If the Transposition occurred while the victim’s mind was already in Xanadu, Kubla Khan will proceed to hide in the forests, gardens, and caverns of his realm. When the period of Transposition ends for that day, the victim will suddenly become aware of being back in their own body again, with no knowledge of what Kubla Khan did while wearing their form.

On the 25th earthly day, after the experience of 24 uninterrupted days ruling Xanadu, the victim will awaken in their own dream-body. They will be imprisoned inside one of the towers of Xanadu, however. Forever after they will be tended by courtiers and courtesans who will alternate between indulging the prisoner’s every sensual desire, and subjecting them to fiendishly inventive tortures witnessed by the true Kubla Khan. Meanwhile on Earth, their fleshy body will have fallen into a stupor from which it cannot be roused.

To undo the Transposition before their inevitable imprisonment, the victim must find and capture Kubla Khan and force him to look into their eyes again. Then their minds will switch back into the proper bodies, and the victim of the Transposition will thereafter be immune to the effects of Kubla Khan’s baleful gaze.

Kubla Khan’s Weaknesses:

Limited Power Over Spirits: Kubla Khan can only target other Mythical spirits of the Dream Worlds when he employs the Preternatural Powers Banish Spirit, Bind Spirit, and Summon Spirit.

Defeated by Encirclement: The Incarnation of Kubla Khan can be defeated by winding a length of specially-prepared cloth around his body three times. The cloth must first have been inscribed with the names of everyone the writer loves, and who loves them in return. The Master of Xanadu must first be be somehow held or restrained. Then the writer must close their eyes, and make three successive Dexterity Checks (with a -4 Penalty due to blindness) to successfully wind the cloth. If any of the Dexterity Checks are failed, the attempt will be wasted, and the cloth shredded. If they succeed, Kubla Khan is banished to his throne room in the Pleasure Dome, and all his current prisoners are released (either back to Earth, or on to their proper afterlife). If the Encirclement is performed on a willing victim with whom Kubla Khan has Transposed Minds, or on Kubla Khan while he inhabits a victim’s body, the Dexterity Checks do not need to be made. Kubla Khan would then be automatically banished back to his throne room, while the victim’s mind returns to their own body.

Concerning Astral and Dream Bodies

The Astral or Dream Body of a character possesses all of their characteristics and Hit Points, as well as copies of all the items they were wearing when they entered the Astral Plane (or Dream Worlds). Death on the Astral plane (or in a Dream World) does not usually kill the dreamer’s real body, however. If they were using Astral Projection the effect suddenly ends, and if they had been in slumber (natural or drug-induced) they awaken. This experience can be traumatic, however, inflicting the Affliction “Fatigued” until the subject experiences a full night of uninterrupted sleep.

Songs for Kubla Khan and Xanadu

Oriental Masquerade – Celtic Frost
Sweetleaf – Black Sabbath
Tomorrow Never Knows – The Beatles
Over the Mountain – Ozzy Osbourne
Xanadu – Rush
Shambala – Three Dog Night
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – Iron Butterfly
Magic Carpet Ride – Steppenwolf
I Don’t Like the Drugs (But the Drugs like Me) – Marilyn Manson
Snowblind – Black Sabbath
Heroin – The Velvet Underground
Sober – Tool
Master of Puppets – Metallica

Mary Wollstonecraft – A Historical NPC for the Ghastly Affair RPG

Tags

18th Century, British, Eighteenth Century, English history, English literature, Free RPG, French Revolution, George III, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Romance, Historic Figure, Historic NPC, pilosopher, Regency, role-playing game, Romance, Romantic Horror, Romantic poetry, Stats, Whig

Not to be confused with her daughter, who wrote “Frankenstein”, Mary Wollstonecraft was a founding voice of English Feminism, and certainly one of the most remarkable women of the eighteenth century.

Mary Wollstonecraft (December, 1792)
Radical Thinker, Champion of Women’s Rights, and Mother of Mary Shelley

Class: Everywoman
Level: 7
Appearance/Most Memorable Characteristic: A tall, attractive woman with light brown eyes and auburn hair powdered to a pale tan color, dressed simply but very neatly. She wears no perfume, but is notably clean smelling.
Age: 33

Charisma: 15 Intelligence: 17 Wisdom: 13
Strength: 9 Dexterity: 9 Constitution: 9
Perversity: 6

Speed: 9
Hit Points: 42
Attacks: 1 (punch, or improvised weapon)
Damage Bonus: +2

Special Abilities: Profession: Governess (+1) | Avocation: Writer (+1) | Affection (+1): Abused or Endangered Women | Inheritance: None (withheld by brother) | Social Contacts: Elizabeth “Bess” Bishop (née Wollstonecraft – sister), Everina Wollstonecraft (sister), Jane Arden (early friend), Margaret Moore (née King, Countess of Mount Cashell), George Ogle (conservative Irish politician), Joel Barlow (American writer and poltician), Ruth Barlow, Joseph Johnson (her publisher), Thomas Paine (radical political philosopher), Helen Maria Williams (radical writer), William Godwin (anarchist writer, and future husband), John Opie (painter), William Blake (visionary poet and artist), Thomas Holcroft (writer and radical), Aline Filliettaz (educator)
Weaknesses: Phobia (-1): Disease | Prejudice: High Society

Assets: Talented Writer, Brave
Afflictions: Prone to Melancholy, Fool for Love

Typical Equipment Carried: A simple but neat dress. 50 livres (500p) in cash. A small journal. A pencil. Practical shoes.
Current Residence: 22 Rue Meslay, Paris

Background (to 1792):

• April 27, 1759: Mary Wollstonecraft born in London to an upper-middle class family. Her father John was an alcoholic who aspired to be a country gentleman, and speculated away most of the family fortune while Mary was a girl. As she grew up she frequently had to defend her mother from being beaten by her drunken father.
• 1774: Mary first met eighteen-year old illustrator Fanny Blood. She is overcome with affection for the young woman.
• 1778: In Bath, Mary took a job as Lady’s Companion to a quarrelsome widow named Sarah Dawson.
• 1780: Mary left the employ of Sarah Dawson and returned home, where her mother was dying.
• 1782: Moved into the Blood household after her father’s remarriage to a woman Mary disliked.
• 1784: Helped her sister Eliza escape an abusive marriage and hide from her husband. (Mary would later fictionalize the incident in her novel “Maria: or, The Wrongs of Woman”, published posthumously in 1798.) With financial help from an window named Mrs. Burgh, Mary founded a school in the village of Newington Green, just north of London. She took up residence there with her sister Eliza, and Fanny Blood. Fanny left the school upon the advice of doctors that she she live in a warmer climate.
• 1785: Mary travels to Lisbon, Portugal to be with Fanny, who is living there with her new husband. Fanny died shortly after giving birth to a child, and Mary returned to England.
• 1786: After her school failed, Mary took a position as Governess to the aristocratic King family in Dublin. Formed a lifelong bond with the oldest daughter Margaret (who after her marriage in 1791 became Margaret Moore, Countess of Mount Cashell).
• 1787: Published “Thoughts on the Education of Daughters”, a set of fairly conservative exhortations about the upbringing of girls. After all her debts were paid off by a mysterious benefactor, she left employment of the Kings, and took a position with Joseph Johnson’s radical literary magazine, Analytical Review.
• 1788: Published “Mary: A Fiction”, a novel based loosely on her own life. The novel is notable in its portrayal of the deep “romantic friendship” between its protagonist and another woman, based on the Mary’s own relationship with Fanny Blood. Later that year Mary also published her children’s book, “Original Stories From Real Life”.
• 1790: Published “Vindication of the Rights of Men” a passionate refutation of “Reflections on the Revolution in France”, Edmund Burke’s screed against social equality. The book was a great popular success.
• 1791: “Original Stories From Real Life” republished with illustrations by William Blake. Mary Met William Godwin, her future husband, at a dinner given by her publisher Joseph Johnson. Mary and William did not get along at the time.
• 1792: Published her opus “Vindication of the Rights of Women”. The book was a sensation in liberal circles, but was viciously condemned by conservatives outraged by the suggestion that women might be human beings with rights. Mary met Henry Fuseli, painter of “The Nightmare”, and became infatuated with him. Mary asked to join the Fuseli household, but assured Fuseli’s wife Sophia that she would abstain from sex with John. Sophia was outraged, and insisted that Henry have nothing more to do with Mary.
• December 1792: Commissioned by her publisher to write about the French Revolution, Mary traveled to Paris. She took up residence at the home of Aline Filliettaz (née Bregantz), the daughter of the headmistress of a school were Mary’s sisters had taught. Aline and her husband were away when Mary arrived.

Personality and Role-Playing Notes: Mary is a conflicted soul who often seems torn between her deeply-held intellectual beliefs and sensual desires. Idealistic and sensitive, she loves and hurts deeply. She suffers from periods of deep depression, and will ruminate on insults. While she is polite and eloquent, Mary is also a fierce debater. She is exceptionally courageous for an eighteenth century woman, often traveling unescorted (in defiance of social convention), and deliberately walking city streets alone at night. She appreciates art and music, and loves to visit shows and converse earnestly about great painters and sculptors. Despite her previous work as a Lady’s Companion and a Governess, she despises the artificiality and pretension of High Society.

Mary is noticeably neat and clean in her appearance, although she lacks the funds to dress fashionably. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she tries to take a full bath (not just a sponge bath) as often as she can. Her concern with hygiene includes a distinct tendency towards hypochondria (ironic, since she will eventually die from septicemia after giving birth to her daughter Mary).

Although she can read formal French (as well as German) well enough to do translations, Mary’s comprehension of the spoken language is not good this point. She will prefer to converse in English if possible. She speaks with a slight Yorkshire accent, due to years spent there as a girl.

Mary Wollstonecraft in Your Game: Mary has just arrived in Paris, and is living alone in a large house with her hosts’ servants. She is always looking for a puzzle to solve, or an injustice to right. Mary may know of a woman who has been unjustly committed to a madhouse by her husband, and ask that the PCs help rescue her. Alternately, she could become involved in tracking down a perverse aristocrat attempting to flee France with a kidnapped peasant girl.

Mary should certainly be able to hold her own in a fight, if necessary. Mary’s Affection for abused and endangered women grants her a +1 Bonus on any action she takes on their behalf. Also, her low Perversity enables her to ward off creatures of supernatural Evil, even though will initially deny that such unreasonable things could exist!

Mary could become romantically involved for a short time with either a male or female PC. At this time she will be dismissive of the idea of marriage with a man, insisting that women should live together instead. Her great tragic romance with the American adventurer Gilbert Imlay will not begin until next year.

A Note on Mary’s “Romantic Friendships”:
It’s difficult to be certain whether the historical Mary Wollstonecraft was actually bisexual. The problem arises from the ambiguous nature of the “romantic friendships” which were common among 18th century women. It is unclear from the historical record just how often such “friendships” progressed beyond holding hands and exchanging passionate declarations of love, although many certainly did. While it seems fairly obvious that Mary was deeply in love with Fanny Blood, for example, we simply don’t know how physically intimate the two were.

What is “Romantic Horror”?

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English literature, French literature, Georgian, German literature, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Literature, Gothic Romance, Gothick, Horror Gaming, horror novels, Napoleonic, Regency, Romantic Horror, Romantic poetry, Romanticism, Romantics

Ghastly Affair is the “Gothic Game of Romantic Horror”. But what exactly is “Romantic Horror”? The “Horror” part of the phrase is generally understood, but how can “Horror” also be “Romantic”? The question is perhaps further confused by the three meanings of “Romantic” – one relating to love, the second relating to literary and artistic “Romanticism”, and the third relating to the historical period sometimes called the “Romantic Era”. In the case of Ghastly Affair, all three meanings are intended.

In the 18th century, the word “romance” was used to indicate what would be called “fantasy” today. A story that had fantastic and supernatural elements was deemed a “Romance”, and thus the original Gothic novels were (and are) called “Gothic Romances”. Romanticism was a historical movement of writers, artists, and musicians who promoted imagination, and free expression of personal truth. Literary Romantics included the poets Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Byron, and writers such as Novalis and Chateaubriand who followed Goethe. Beethoven was the premier musical Romantic. Artistic Romanticism was epitomized by the works of Friedrich, Turner, and Delacroix. The great Romantic artist E.T.A. Hoffmann composed music, wrote, and drew. Whereas 18th century Classicism valued order, symmetry, rationality, restraint, and the mundane world, Romanticism concerned itself with catastrophes, irregularity, emotion, freedom, and the supernatural. Classicism promoted the power and perfectibility of humanity – Romanticism instead emphasized the power and perfection of Nature. Romanticism also had a distinct tendency towards the morbid. In many cases, literary Romanticism was just a polite cover for writings that would otherwise have been tarred with the disreputable label of “Gothic”. Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, a cornerstone of Romantic poetry, is really a hallucinatory story of supernatural horror in verse. The modern Horror genre in fact is a development from the Gothic genre so heavily intertwined with Romanticism. It isn’t so much that Gothic is Horror plus Romance, as modern Horror is Gothic minus the Romanticism.

Love, to the Romantics, was the greatest force of all, and staying true to love was more important than life itself. Love and death for them were often the two heads of a single beast. The most thrilling kiss is delivered on a precipice, under threat of fatal punishment, in defiance of some terrible authority, because one obeys the supreme authority of Desire. The monsters that move through the pages of Gothic novels are the rampaging incarnations of desire – terrible and irresistible. The Horror of Ghastly Affair is Romantic, not only because it concerns itself with the dark corners of desire, but also because it works through the themes and motifs of Romanticism. It is the simultaneous stirring of terror and attraction, which erupts in an irrepressible expression. Characters in Ghastly Affair may find themselves bound in love to monsters of every kind, whose monstrosity itself is magnetic. They exist in a world where reason breaks down, and the shadows are alive with incomprehensible things. This world of horrors is filled with lovely people, places, and things, some possessed of a beauty so extreme it terrifies. Romantic Horror is being overcome with the feeling of arousing panic, of being uplifted by fear, of inviting the lovely darkness to consume you.

Playlists for a Night of Romantic Horror

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background music, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Literature, Gothic Romance, Gothick, inspirational entertainment, playlist, Romantic Horror, Romantic poetry, Samuel Coleridge

Appendix II of the illustrated Ghastly Affair Player’s Manual contains a list of classic Gothic and Romantic literary works, inspirational artists, and suggested movies. In that spirit, here is an essential playlist of ten songs that compliment the themes and motifs of Ghastly Affair:

1. Sadeness (Part I) – Enigma
2. Spellbound – Siouxsie and the Banshees
3. Don’t Fear the Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
4. Stand and Deliver – Adam & The Ants
5. Bark at the Moon – Ozzy Osbourne
6. Love Bites – Judas Priest
7. Total Eclipse of the Heart – Bonnie Tyler
8. N.I.B – Black Sabbath
9. Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
10. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Iron Maiden

And here are fifteen classical works to play as you read the illustrated Ghastly Affair Player’s Manual. These pieces also make great soundtracks for Affairs.

Danse Macabre – Camille Saint-Saëns (Composer)
Der Erlkönig (The Erlking) – Franz Schubert (Composer)
Der Freischütz (The Freeshooter), Overture – Carl Maria von Weber (Composer)
Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden) op.7 no. 3 – Franz Schubert (Composer)
Die erste Walpurgisnacht (The First Walpurgis Night) – Felix Mendelssohn (Composer)
Mephisto Waltz – Franz Liszt (Composer)
Moonlight Sonata – Lugwig van Beethoven (Composer)
Night on Bald Mountain – Modest Mussorgsky (Composer)
Piano Sonata No 2 (Funeral March) – Frédéric Chopin (Composer)
Requiem in D Minor – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer)
String Quartet No. 14 in D Minor (Death and the Maiden) – Franz Schubert (Composer)
Symphonie fantastique – Hector Berlioz (Composer)
Symphony No 5. (First Movement) – Lugwig van Beethoven (Composer)
The Isle of the Dead – Sergei Rachmaninoff (Composer)
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor – Johann Sebastian Bach (Composer)

Lord Ruthven – The Original Aristocratic Vampyre

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19th century, British, English history, English literature, Frankenstein, Free RPG, George III, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Romance, horror novels, literary monster, nineteenth century, Regency, role-playing game, Romance, Romantic Horror, Romantic poetry, Stats, Vampire

Lord Ruthven is the original literary Vampyre aristocrat, created by John Polidori as a direct parody of Lord Byron. He is also a product of the same storytelling contest at the Villa Diodati that inspired Mary Shelly to write Frankenstein! Relatively young, and not particularly powerful for his kind, Lord Ruthven makes a good early antagonist for characters not yet ready to confront the likes of Carmilla Von Karnstein or Count Dracula. He he is written-up for use with Ghastly Affair, the Gothic Game of Romantic Horror.

Lord Ruthven
High Society seducer, and cold-blooded killer

Full Name: Lord Ruthven (his true full name is unknown)
Aliases: The Earl of Marsden
Class: Libertine / Vampyre
Level: 2 / 4
Appearance/Most Memorable Characteristic: A well-dressed but distressingly pale man, with black hair, and dead gray eyes.
Age: Late 20s (apparent)

Charisma: 17 Intelligence: 11 Wisdom: 9
Strength: 12 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: 9
Perversity: 18
Assets: Master of High Society
Afflictions: Compulsive Gambler

Speed: 9
Hit Points: 25
Attacks: 1 (dagger in human form, teeth and claws in Vampyric Form)

Libertine Special Abilities: Disguise (+1) | Dueling (+1/+3) | Fraud (+1) | Sneak (+1) | Seduction (+1)
Vampyre Special Abilities: Assume Vampyric Form | Revenant Immunities | Rise From Death |Supernatural Combatant | Preternatural Powers: Hypnotism, Inspire Dark Devotion, Inhuman Strength, Unnatural Charisma
Libertine Weaknesses: Faithless Lover | Fascinated By Innocence
Vampyre Weaknesses: Blood-Lust | Vampyric Debilities: Cadaverous Skin Color, Strange Eyes, Obsessive Love, Restored by the Moon

Typical Equipment Carried: A set of clothes in the latest style. High boots. A fine hat of beaver fur. An ataghan (long, curved Turkish dagger). A walking stick. 1000p in bank notes.
Residence: London, but enjoys traveling to Italy and Greece.

Background: Lord Ruthven’s actual background before 1812 is unknown. Nothing about any personal history he reveals will stand up to investigation. He will claim various titles to impress women, but none of them can be verified. All anyone will ever be able to uncover is that he seems to owe considerable amounts of money to various creditors, all of whom believe different things about his actual identity.

• January 1812: Lord Ruthven appears in London. He makes the acquaintance of a young man named Aubrey.
• June 1812: In debt, Lord Ruthven leaves England for the Continent. He is followed by Aubrey, who decide to make the trip his Grand Tour. Lord Ruthven visits every gambling house he can along the way.
• Early July, 1812: Lord Ruthven arrives in Rome, where he begins the seduction of a Countess’ daughter.
• Late July, 1812: Aubrey quarrels with Lord Ruthven about the latter’s dishonorable intentions towards the Countess’ daughter, and leaves for Greece. Lord Ruthven secretly follows him.
• August 1812: Under cover of night Lord Ruthven murders Aubrey’s beloved, a young Greek woman named Ianthe. He is surprised by Aubrey, who does not recognize him in the darkness of a hut where the two accidentally meet. Lord Ruthven is about to kill Aubrey when he is surprised by villagers bearing torches. He flees into the night. Later, Lord Ruthven appears and tends to Aubrey as the young man lies delirious in bed.
• September 1812: Lord Ruthven and Aubrey wander Greece, visiting ruins.
• Late September, 1812: Lord Ruthven and Aubrey are ambushed by bandits during the day. Lord Ruthven is mortally wounded, but he makes Aubrey promise to expose his body to the moonlight after death. He also makes Aubrey swear not to reveal his crimes, or the fact of his death, for a year and a day.
• January, 1813: Lord Ruthven appears again in England, and begins using the title “The Earl of Marsden”. When Aubrey sees him, Lord Ruthven reminds him of his solemn oath. Lord Ruthven begins the seduction of Aubrey’s sister.
• Late September, 1813: Lord Ruthven marries Aubrey’s sister, making Aubrey so furious and distraught that he bursts blood vessel in his brain, and dies shortly thereafter. Lord Ruthven murders his new wife, and leaves for the continent.

Personality and Role-Playing Notes: Lord Ruthven is an aggressive seducer of women, who takes great delight in corrupting innocent maids and happily married women, but is bored by wanton ladies. He appears to take little actual pleasure in life, but acts with desperate intensity. He can nonetheless be quite charming when he cares to, and will appear to be a great friend. In fact he is a heartless manipulator, and will eventually betray any companion. He especially loves to kill those beloved by his misguided associates. Lord Ruthven loves to lavish gifts upon criminals, drug addicts, and others despised by society, but will not show the least charity to the guiltless poor.

Lord Ruthven in Your Game: Lord Ruthven is likely to be found haunting London High Society (the “Ton”), but could also be encountered at parties in Rome or Venice. Travelers to the ancient ruins of Greece could find him there, apparently sight-seeing (but actually looking for his next victim). Any True Innocents will naturally be singled out for seduction and eventual murder. If any of the players have actually read Polidori’s “The Vampyre”, have Lord Ruthven initially use a new alias. The ideal time for PCs to encounter Lord Ruthven is after October of 1813. If PCs encounter and destroy him before 1812, however, that just means that John Polidori’s tale was inspired by a story he heard regarding the “real” Lord Ruthven!

Source: “The Vampyre: A Tale” by John William Polidori

Lord Byron: A Historical NPC for the “Ghastly Affair” RPG

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19th century, British, English history, English literature, Frankenstein, Free RPG, George III, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Romance, Historic Figure, Historic NPC, horror novels, nineteenth century, Regency, role-playing game, Romance, Romantic Horror, Romantic poetry, Stats, Vampire

The notorious poet Lord Byron was a troubled (and troubling) personality whose shadow looms over popular culture to this day. The PCs could be caught in one of Byron’s twisted games of love, fall victim to his fearsome rages, or even be immortalized in gorgeous verse! Here he is presented for use as an NPC in Ghastly Affair, the Gothic Game of Romantic Horror.

Lord Byron (June, 1816)
The Great Romantic Poet:“Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know”

Full Name: George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
Aliases: George Noel Byron
Class: Libertine (Aristocrat)
Level: 10
Appearance/Most Memorable Characteristic: Dark haired and handsome, with heavy-lidded eyes, an expressive mouth, and strong cleft chin. Walks with an obvious limp, and usually leans on a walking stick. Often wears Turkish and Eastern-European inspired clothing.
Age: 28

Charisma: 20 Intelligence: 14 Wisdom: 13
Strength: 13 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: 13
Perversity: 14
Assets (+3 Bonus): Genius Poet, Skilled Boxer, Great Shot, Strong Swimmer
Afflictions (-3 Penalty): Club Foot, Notorious, Prone to Melancholy, Easily Angered

Speed: 9 (-3 Penalty on all Speed Contests on land due to Club Foot)
Hit Points: 60
Attacks: 1 punch or pistol (+5 total Bonus if fighting unaided, +7 if a desired lover is watching)

Special Abilities: Disguise (+1) | Dueling (+1/+3) | Fraud (+1) | Aristocratic Skills (+1) (instead of Sneak) | Seduction (+1)
Weaknesses: Faithless Lover | Fascinated By Innocence

Typical Equipment Carried: A loose, white shirt with a frilled front and puffed sleeves. A banyan. A walking stick. A pistol. A locket with a miniature portrait of The Honorable Augusta Leigh (his half-sister). He may have an exotic pet (such as a monkey, crow, or fox) on or near him.
Current Residence: Villa Diodati, on the shore of Lake Geneva

Background (to June 10, 1816):

• January 22, 1788: George Gordon Byron born
• 1791: George’s father, “Mad Jack” Byron, died in France.
• 1798: George became the 6th Baron Byron upon the death of his murderously eccentric great-uncle William (popularly known as “The Wicked Lord”).
• 1801: Attended Harrow School.
• 1805 – 1809: Attended Trinity College, Cambridge. Fell in love with Trinity Chapel choir singer John Edleston.
• March 13, 1809: First attended the House of Lords as a peer.
• 1809 – 1811: Went on his Grand Tour, but due to the Napoleonic Wars primarily visited the Eastern Mediterranean instead of the usual sites on the Continent. Took advantage of the Ottoman Empire’s comparatively more relaxed attitude towards homosexual activity.
• 1811: Returned to England.
• 1812: Published the first two cantos of “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”, which made him famous. Began a tempestuous affair with Lady Caroline Lamb (who would later deem him “mad, bad, and dangerous to know”). The two would show up up at events with Lady Lamb dressed as a pageboy. Lady Lamb’s husband (the future Prime Minister William Lamb) knew about the affair.
• 1813: Published “The Giaour” and “The Bride of Abydos”. Began an affair with his half-sister Augusta Leigh.
• 1814: Published “The Corsair”, an instant success. Augusta Leigh gave birth to a daughter Medora, likely Byron’s.
• January 2, 1815: Married the extremely religious Anne Isabella Milbanke (often called “Annabella”).
• December 10, 1815: Annabella gave birth to Byron’s daughter Ada (who as Ada Lovelace will later create the conceptual basis of modern computer programming).
• April 25, 1816: In debt and facing public exposure of his bisexuality and incestuous affair with his half-sister, Byron separated from his wife, and fled England.
• May 1816: The jilted Lady Lamb published her Gothic novel “Glenarvon”. The villainous “Lord Ruthven” of the book was instantly recognizable as a thinly veiled caricature of Lord Byron.
• June 10, 1816: Byron takes up residence in the Villa Belle Rive, on the shore of Lake Geneva. He renames it “Villa Diodati”. As the weather turns cold and stormy, and reflecting the growing public hysteria that the sun will be extinguished in July, he begins writing the poem “Darkness”.

Personality and Role-Playing Notes: Moody, vain, and wildly passionate, Lord Byron is by turns loving and cruel. His appreciation of beauty is matched by his snobbery and egotism. He will casually belittle friends and lovers, then shower them with affection. He can fly into irrational rages that are followed by periods of tender concern – and vice-versa. His eating habits alternate between near fasting and over-indulgence (followed by induced vomiting). He is an animal lover, and will often have an exotic pet nearby. Above all, Byron is obsessed is transgressing boundaries of all kinds. He is proud of his aristocratic status, and unlike his acquaintance Percy Shelley, has no interest in fundamentally reforming society. Byron wants there to be rules, so he can have the thrill of breaking them. When playing Byron, remember that he is the archetype for every “Byronic Hero” from Heathcliff to Lestat. He is the original sexy “bad-boy” with a haunted heart and smoldering eyes.

Lord Byron in Your Game: The above describes Lord Byron during his self-imposed exile in Switzerland in early June of 1816. Soon the poet Percy Shelley, his eighteen-year old mistress Mary (daughter of radicals Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin), and her stepsister Claire Clairmont (obsessed with becoming Byron’s lover) will come for an extended visit. Perhaps the PCs are another group of visitors, unrecorded by history. They may even witness the wild night of June 18th, when Mary has her famous vision of a man reanimating a creature assembled from corpses! Maybe some of the ghost stories famously told that night simply recount the PCs’ supernatural misadventures. One or more of the PCs could be bringing Byron news from England, or be be rivals for his affections. Byron is bisexual, so he is likely to pursue both beautiful women and handsome lads. Maybe one of the PCs is a journalist who wishes to titillate their readers with scandalous stories of the infamous Lord Byron. Villa Diodata may be haunted, and the PCs come to investigate (either on their own or at Byron’s invitation). One or more ancient evils (such as a Possessor Demon) may have followed him home from the East, and have plagued his life ever since. Lord Byron is an excellent candidate to actually be (or eventually become) a Vampyre, since the creator of the first aristocratic vampire in literature, John Polidori, was Byron’s personal physician at Villa Diodati in the summer of 1816.

Byron’s limp suggests the legendary lameness of Asmodeus, the Demon of Lust. Presenter’s may wish to play up an atmosphere of Satanic menace whenever the PCs encounter the poet.

Incidents and Scandals of the 1810s – Part III (1816 – 1819)

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Bourbon Restoration, First Empire, Ghastly Affair, gothic game, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Literature, Gothic Romance, Gothick, Historical, History, Napoleonic, Regency, Romantic Horror, Romantic Literature, Romantic poetry, rpg

Including Important Events, Scientific Discoveries, The Lives of Significant Personalities, Cultural Milestones, and Sundry Oddities.

This is the third installment and conclusion of “Incidents and Scandals of the 1810s”. The last few years of the decade witnessed the genesis of two of the most influential works of Gothic fiction, while Europe recovered from disasters both natural and man-made. While the series is intended to provide story ideas for Gothic role-playing, it can be useful resource for any game set in Napoleonic-era Europe.

See also Part I and Part II.

A Page From the Original Manuscript of “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”

1816
“The Year Without a Summer”

• January: In Hungary, brown snow falls over the course of two days.
• January 30: 1,000 drown off Ireland when three ships run aground during a gale.
• April 25: Lord Byron flees England to escape debts and scandals (including the revelation of his bisexuality, and his incestuous affair with half-sister Augusta Leigh). He will never return.
• May 18: Iconic English Dandy “Beau” Brummell flees to France to escape his debts.
• May 25: Samuel Coleridge releases “Christabel, Kubla Khan, and the Pains of Sleep”. The narrative poem “Christabel” prefigures the lesbian vampirism of La Fanu’s “Carmilla”, “Kubla Khan” is a fragment of an otherwise forgotten opium dream, and “The Pains of Sleep” recounts restless nights consumed with guilt and foreboding.
• Summer: Unusually cold temperatures and heavy precipitation across Europe. Crops fail, leading to widespread starvation. The weather is widely blamed on unusually large spots observed on the sun. Panic erupts in Europe due to the “Bologna Prophesy”, which predicts that the sun will be be extinguished and the world end on July 18th.
• June 6: Reports of snow falls in the United States of America. Extreme cold, snow, and ice plague that country all summer.
• June: Mary Godwin, Percy Shelley, and Mary’s stepsister Claire Clairmont spend the summer visting Lord Byron at his rented chateau near Geneva, Villa Diodatti. Also present is Lord Byron’s physician, John Polidori. Seventeen-year-old Claire eagerly wants to pursue a relationship with Byron, who alternates between apparent interest and cruel dismissal of the girl. Constant rainfall keeps the group indoors much of the time, so among other things, they tell each other ghost stories at night. After midnight on June 18th, Byron reads aloud Coleridge’s “Christabel”, which causes Percy Shelley to experience a terrifying vision of a woman with eyes in place of her nipples. After her own nightmare vision, Mary creates a memorable tale about a scientist who experiments with the reanimation of dead flesh. The same summer also includes a visit from Matthew Lewis, author of “The Monk”.
• July 18: The predicted end of the world does not occur. Nonetheless, religious fanaticism increases.
• August 13: Scotland struck by an earthquake.
• Autumn: Publication of Lord Byron’s apocalyptic poem “Darkness”, depicting Earth after the death of the sun. He had written the poem in early June.
• September 2: Snow begins falling in England.
• September 5: King Louis XVIII of France dissolves the “Chambre introuvable” (Unobtainable Chamber). New elections are called.
• November 10: Lord Byron arrives in Venice. There he becomes the cicisbeo (recognized lover and escort) of his landlord’s wife, Marianna Segati. As is usual for Venice at the time, Marianna’s husband knows about and approves of the arrangement.
• December 15: Percy Shelley learns that his abandoned wife Harriet, pregnant by an unknown man, has drowned herself.
• December 30: Percy Shelly marries Mary Godwin, who legally becomes Mary Shelley.
• Publication of Lady Caroline Lamb’s Gothic novel “Glenarvon”, containing many thinly-veiled portraits of her fellow aristocrats. The character “Lord Ruthven” is a blatant caricature of Lord Byron. Lady Lamb is barred from Almack’s Assembly Rooms in London, and becomes persona non grata in English High Society.
• As in 1812, the Chase family burial vault in Barbados is opened for an internment, and the coffins inside are again found to have been seemingly thrown about. Strange sounds are heard emanating from the vault, and local horses begin drowning themselves.
• Income tax of 1803 abolished in the United Kingdom.
• Dramatic, colorful sunsets are seen all year as a result of volcanic material in the air.
• Joseph Bonaparte, former King of Spain and brother of deposed Emperor Napoleon, relocates to a country estate in Bordentown, New Jersey. He lives there until 1832. While out hunting one night he encounters a strange animal that he is afterwards told is the legendary “Jersey Devil”.

The Mysterious “Princess Caraboo”

1817
The Uncertain Year

• January 12: Claire Clairmont gives birth to Byron’s daughter Alba, later renamed Allegra.
• February: In Vienna, Franz Schubert composes the lied (piano song) “Der Tod und das Mädchen” (“Death and the Maiden”), inspired by a poem by Matthias Claudius. The song is not actually published until November of 1821, however.
• April 3: A mysterious, strangely-dressed woman appears at the door of a cottage in Gloucestershire, England, speaking an unknown language. She is taken to the magistrate, Samuel Worrall, who brings her home to Knowle Park in Bristol. A man who claims to be a Portuguese sailor named Manuel Eyenesso translates the woman’s language as Malay, and says her name is “Princess Caraboo”. Many members of the “Ton” (British High Society) come to see Princess Caraboo over the next ten weeks, until a woman claiming to be the Princess’ mother come forward to say that Caraboo is actually Mary Willcocks of Devonshire.
• April 16: An earthquake strikes Palermo, Sicily. A glowing ball of fire is seen streaking towards the epicenter.
• June 21: Heat wave strikes England, with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (about 38 degrees Celsius).
• June 30: An earthquake strikes Inverness, Scotland, and hot rain falls.
• July 14: Death of Madame de Staël, after a surprising conversion to Catholicism.
• November 7: Put back on trail for murdering Mary Ashford after a dance party (a crime for which he had already been previously acquitted), Abraham Thornton claims the medieval right to have his guilt decided by combat. Since Mary’s older brother William declines to fight to the death, Abraham is again acquitted. The ancient practice of “appeal to murder” under which Thornton was re-tried, and its associated right of trial by combat, are not abolished in the United Kingdom until 1819.

Caspar David Friedrich’s “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog”

1818
The Year of Dark Powers

• January 6: The British East India Company gains control of most of India following the defeat of the Maratha Empire at the Battle of Koregaon on January 1.
• February: The Laufmaschine (also known as the “velocipede”, “draisienne” or “dandy horse”) is patented by Baron Karl Drais. An early forerunner of the bicycle, it is not pedaled, but propelled by kicks from the the rider’s feet on the ground. The machine is meant to address a shortage of horses caused by the poor harvests of the previous two years.
• February 23: Storm over most of Europe, with gale-force winds.
• January 11: Percy Shelley anonymously publishes “Ozmandius”, his poetic take-down of the pretensions of the powerful, in Leigh Hunt’s weekly London newspaper, The Examiner.
• March 11: Publication of “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”, by Mary Shelley (née Godwin). The first edition is published anonymously, and generally savaged by critics. Many critics discover that they dislike the book even more after they eventually learn the gender of its author.
• July: Thomas De Quincey becomes editor of the conservative newspaper The Westmorland Gazeette, which began publishing earlier in the year. He attends to the work in between bouts of opium consumption. By 1819 the owners begin to complain of De Quincey’s erratic behavior.
• April 10: John Cleves Symmes Jr. of Saint Louis, Missouri sends his “Circular No. 1” to all the governments and major universities of Europe. In it he states that the earth is comprised of hollow concentric spheres that are open at the poles, and all inhabitable.
• November: Publication of Thomas Love Peacock’s Gothic satire “Nightmare Abbey”.
• Founding of the Royal Coburg Theatre in London. In 1834 it will become Royal Victoria Theatre, eventually known as the Old Vic.
• Caspar David Friedrich paints his melancholy masterpiece “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog”, The work depicts a mysterious man with his back to viewer, standing atop a high peak and staring off across the mist-shrouded rock before him.
• Jacques Collin de Plancy publishes the first edition of his “Dictionnaire Infernal”, a catalog of demons and occult lore.

“Procession of Flagellants” by Goya

1819
The Year of Opened Veins

• January 22: In Ravenna, Lord Byron meets newly married, nineteen-year old Contessa Teresa Guiccioli. He soon becomes her official cicisbeo.
• August 16: British cavalry charges a crowd demanding parliamentary reforms in Manchester England, killing 15 people and injuring hundreds.
• March 23: Outspokenly conservative writer August von Kotzebue is stabbed to death by German nationalist student Karl Ludwig Sand in Mannheim.
• April 1: First publication of John Polidori’s “The Vampyre”, in the New Monthly Magazine. The work is wrongly credited to Lord Byron. Polidori names the Vampyre “Lord Ruthven”, after the thinly-veiled caricature of Lord Byron in Lady Caroline Lamb’s novel “Glevarvon”.
• April 16: Near the town of Ostrach in the Grand Duchy of Baden, notorious bandit Xaver Hohenleiter is arrested with his gang, who had been terrorizing the southwestern German states since 1817.
• Summer: Kick-propelled velocipedes become briefly popular in France and Great Britain.
• July: For a third time the Chase family vault in Barbados is opened, and the coffins inside are found to have been mysteriously moved around. The vault is sealed.
• July 4: Hailstones up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) across fall on La Baconnière in France.
• July – August: A great comet appears in the Northern sky.
• August 25: Théodore Géricault’s painting “Le Radeau de la Méduse” (“The Raft of the Medusa”) causes a sensation at opening of the Paris Salon. The work depicts the survivors of the frigate Méduse which had been wrecked off Mauritania three years prior. Viewers are alternately shocked and thrilled by the sublime depiction of death, desperation, and Nature’s overwhelming power. Ingres’ “Grande Odalisque” also premiers, and is heavily criticized for discarding naturalistic anatomy.
• Late Summer: Women in Paris are targeted by a serial stabber (or group of stabbers) employing rapier blades fastened to umbrellas and walking sticks. Attacks continue until December.
• In Augsburg, Bavaria the “Madchenschneider” (Girl-cutter) begins slashing young women on the street.
• September 20: At the behest of Austrian Minister of State Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, press censorship is imposed throughout the German Confederation, new restrictions are placed on universities, and committees to investigate “revolutionary plots” against the government are created.
• November 2: Red rain falls in Blankenberge, Holland.
• John Keats composes his poem of dark fantasy and fatal love, “La Belle Dame sans Merci”.
• Francisco Goya completes his paintings “Escena de Inquisición” (“Scene of the Inquisition”), “Casa de locos” (“The Madhouse”), and “Procesión de flagelantes” (“Procession of Flagellants”), three protests against superstition, cruelty, and religious fanaticism.

The Incarnation of Life-in-Death

Tags

Christian Folklore, Georgian, Ghastly Affair, Gothic Gaming, Gothic Horror, Gothic Literature, Gothic Romance, Gothick, literary monster, Regency, Romantic, Romantic Horror, Romantic poetry, Undead

Life-in-Death will be familiar to those who know Samuel Coleridge’s classic poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (and a certain Iron Maiden song inspired by it).

Life-in-Death
The night-mare who denies the peace of death.

Signs & Portents: A dramatic drop in temperature. Rising mists and fog. People will be afflicted with dreams of horror that alternate with periods of insomnia. Monsters in the environment will move in the direction of Life-in-Death.
Initial Impression: A woman with a skeletal body, and leprous white skin. Her eyes are lustful, her long hair is golden blond, and her lips are deep red.
Size: Human-sized

Perversity: 30
Disposition: Scheming
Charisma: 20 Intelligence: 20 Wisdom: 20
Strength: 20 Dexterity: 20 Constitution: 20
Speed: 9

Armor Class: 10
Hit Dice: 20 (120 Hit Points)
Attacks: 1 (slap)
Special Abilities: Create the Deathless, Revenant Characteristics,
Weaknesses: Banished by an Open Heart, Limited Power Over Spirits, Undead Weaknesses
Assets: Skilled Gambler
Afflictions: Poor Self Control
Preternatural Powers: All Evocations, all 0 – 3rd Level, Divinations, Fascinations, Glamors, Maledictions, and Transmutations, but no Blessings.
Favored Preternatural Powers: Animate Dead, Conjure Monster V (Sea Serpent, Giant Octopus, or Dragon), Fly, Gambler’s Luck, Invisibility, Scare, Summon Spirit III (Wraith), Unseen Servant

Natural Habitat: Wherever wicked people have abused Nature, or suffered unnatural deaths.
Level: 10

Life-in-Death is the mother of Ghosts and Revenants, a perverse abomination who delights in spreading misery and disrupting the order of Nature. She is drawn to any place where human beings have committed acts of cruelty against innocent living things, or have wantonly polluted the landscape. Her Incarnation accompanies the Incarnation of Death, gaming with her mate for the right to condemn humanity to restless un-death.

Special Abilities

Create the Deathless: Life-in-Death can transform a target (living or dead) into any type of Ghost or Revenant (including Vampyre). Living victims receive a Wisdom Save to resist. The body of a living victim transformed into a Ghost will fall down dead while the soul separates from the flesh.

Life-in-Death can also grant (or inflict) living immortality, transforming ordinary people into Immortal Wanderers. People so gifted (or cursed) do not age, are immune to disease, and cannot die of natural causes. If slain by weapons they will awake whole and intact in a new location the next morning. They gain the use of a single Preternatural Power (usually Protection From Evil, Banish, or Continual Flame), but are condemned to never sleep in the same location for two consecutive nights.

Revenant Characteristics: Life-in-Death is immune to poison, disease, paralyzation, and stunning. She is also immune to Preternatural Fascination effects, as well as any magic that causes instant death. Life-in-Death can see perfectly regardless of environmental illumination.

Weaknesses

Banished by an Open Heart: Life-in-Death will be banished if someone sincerely blesses or embraces a terrifying creature (including one she has created, Summoned, or Conjured) in her presence. If a character’s sincerity is in doubt, they must make a Wisdom Check. Failure indicates that the character acted from fear, not a genuine feeling of kinship with all living things.

Limited Power Over Spirits: Life-in-Death can only target Ghosts when she employs the following Preternatural Powers: Banish Spirit, Bind Spirit, Summon Spirit.

Undead Weaknesses: Life-in-Death is affected by the power of Faith, as well as all Special Abilities and Preternatural Effects which target Ghosts and Revenants.