This Episode Companion is based on Sanctum Secorum Episode 29: Creep, Shadow!, which discussed the novel by Abraham Merritt. The featured adventure was Bride of the Black Manse
by Harley Stroh.
Creep, Shadow! was a sequel to Burn, Witch, Burn!, which was discussed on the Appendix N Bookclub podcast here.
Disclosure: Four adventures I wrote (The Arwich Grinder, Creeping Beauties of the Wood, The Imperishable Sorceress, and The Portsmouth Mermaid) were discussed in this episode.
Within you will find:
Campaign Tools
Shadows, Followers, and Whisperers: "Sometimes the darkness has a will and a voice. And sometimes the shadows want things beyond the simple suffering of mortal men." Author Ari-Matti Piippo goes to town on the shadows presented in this novel, supplying everything you need to include similar beings/events in your home campaign.
Really, I cannot say too much about the job done here. In addition to general shadow mechanics, the author delves into specific shadow interactions. To wit:
- A Shadow of the Past: "A shadow of the past generations has stepped into the character’s soul sphere, and is slowly making itself known. This is not necessarily a bad thing, for there is much to learn from the bygone years. But the touch of a shadow is often painful to those who bear it, and results may vary."
- A Follower from Darkness: "Sometimes, a young shadow chooses to follow someone, to move to a better hunting ground and to discover the dark places of the world. Too weak to attack or to subsume the target, it stalks their steps, causing unlikely and unpleasant events unwittingly."
- The Uninvited: "The Uninvited are shadows only in the widest sense of the word: they are creatures from beyond the veil of this reality, existing solely in the void between worlds. They are sometimes able to reach out to the creatures of this plane, in places where the raw, umbral darkness is the deepest."
- Whisperers: "Being alone in a dark place can make you hear things, as your ears become more sensitive to the micro-sounds around you. These sounds are often scary, but usually just tricks your mind plays on you. But sometimes, they are the actions of trickster spirits called the Whisperers, also known as the Knockers or sometimes Pixie-Ghosts."
- The Loving Nightmare: "The Loving Nightmares are the memories and ghosts of those who died with unrequited love in their hearts. These forlorn creatures stalk the umbral realms in search for sustenance, forever hungering for the warm touch of a lover’s embrace. The only thing they remember from their past lives is the yearning; all other traces of who they once were are gone."
Curses
Two curses inspired by Creep, Shadow! are given game mechanics by Bob Brinkman. While it is unlikely that the PCs themselves will fall victim to these curses, because of the specifics of how they are cast, these can be used exactly as were their literary counterparts - as motivation when used against other characters in the milieu, and/or as a threat of their use against the protagonists.
The curses are:
Curse of the Captive Reflection: Although it can only be used under very specific circumstances, those who fall prey to this curse become "subject to every capricious whim of the witch who has them enthralled, so long as the witch holds the mirror on their person."
Curse of the Mason’s Knot: A killing curse that requires the victim's shadow to be measured.
Fiction
The Blood-Drinking Box, Part 5: Clifford Morton continues the tale started in Sanctum Secorum Episode #25 Companion: The Fallible Fiend. This is based of off Terry Olson's Elzemon and the Blood Drinking Box.
As with previous Companions, this volume can help the discerning Dungeon Crawl Classics judge determine how to stat up creatures from whatever movie or literature she likes.
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