TEXT: Half-
  Light
  Colin McComb
  
  1
  Credits
  Copyright © Melior Via, LLC 2014
  Accursed, Melior Via, and their associated logos are trademarks of Melior Via, LLC in Cleveland, Ohio.
  Contact us: info@meliorvia.com or visit us at www.meliorvia.com
  This game references the Savage Worlds game system, available from Pinnacle Entertainment Group at www.peginc.com. Savage 
  Worlds and all associated logos and trademarks are copyrights of Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Used with permission. Pinnacle 
  makes no representation or warranty as to the quality, viability, or suitability for purpose of this product.
  Lead Developer
  Ross Watson
  Writer
  Colin McComb
  Cover Artwork
  Kevin Childress
  Interior Artwork
  Kamil Jadczak
  Cartography
  Je� �reston
  Graphic Design
  Kevin Childress
  Publisher
  John Dunn
  Contents
  The Setup 
  2
  Ill-Met by Torchlight 
  2
  In Light of Day 
  2
  False Light 
  3
  SVETLANA 
  3
  Map 
  3
  
  Half-Light
  2
  The Setup
  A bloody assault on a mountainside church in 
  the Highlands near the border of Blackroot Wode has 
  horri�ed the �alley� �istant clan�cousins �aid a �isit 
  on the small sept who made their home in Whitetarn 
  Village on the shores of the Cloven Loch in western Cairn 
  Kainen, and discovered instead a scene of horror. The 
  village has been sacked and the villagers slaughtered. 
  The trail of destruction leads to the ancient church of 
  �t. Vitus. The cousins �ed home and reported their 
  �ndings to their village chie�tain, Angus �ac�uncan, 
  who saw the hands of Witches in the matter. Rather 
  than take his discovery to the �orrigan, �ac�uncan 
  sought the local �nochian priest, �ather �hugal, who in 
  turn has called a village meeting to seek aid. 
  Ill-Met by Torchlight
  The PCs may be local to Cairn Kainen or they 
  may be traveling through when they see the blazing 
  torches in the town square. If they investigate, they 
  �nd the �nochian priest on the platform at the head of 
  the town, begging for aid from the assembled villagers. 
  Most of them turn aside in fear, calling it “witch’s 
  work”, saying that they need to prepare their town’s 
  defenses against the possibility of a similar atrocity. 
  However, a striking woman steps forth to volunteer 
  her services. Her name is Svetlana Karlssen, and she 
  is both a �hampir and the leader of the small sect of 
  Adherents of Aliyah here.
  The townsfolk have little trust in her (though 
  �hugal has been a strong proponent of the notion that 
  the Accursed can regain divine favor). He spies the 
  PCs at the fringe of the crowd, and calls on them to 
  aid their “kinswoman.” It’s obvious Svetlana does not 
  want the PCs’ help, but the crowd urges them to help—
  by threatening them, as need be. �hugal promises to 
  speak for the PCs to the local bishop, extolling their 
  virtues, should the PCs agree to help.  Should the PCs 
  not accept, the townsfolk run them out of town. If 
  the party does accept, the townsfolk will out�t them 
  with basic supplies—including food, water, camping 
  provisions, and ammunition. 
  As the party travels the half�day to Whitetarn, they 
  discover that Svetlana is ambitious and charismatic, 
  though not exactly likeable. She has a dream of helping 
  to restore an old abbey in the Outlands, abandoned 
  in the Bane War, and establishing a bishopric for her 
  allies. She is occasionally intense and given to dark 
  moods when thwarted.Upon arrival at Whitetarn, 
  it becomes apparent that the ruined village was the 
  scene of unspeakable horror. The entirety of the village 
  lies slaughtered, yet not a drop of blood speckles the 
  ground. The trail of destruction leads to the church, 
  an ancient place constructed into the living rock of the 
  mountain itself.
  Father Saunders’ body lies draped across the altar 
  as a sacrilegious o�ering. Svetlana informs the PCs 
  that he was a great hunter of the night, and that he 
  used his mountain fastness to harry the creatures of 
  Valkenholm and Cairn Kainen alike (she denies that 
  he ever threatened her). She gently and reverently 
  removes the body from the altar.The church’s relics 
  were le�t largely intact (unlike the windows), but 
  a clean space on a dusty lectern shows that a large 
  tome was removed. A plaque at the base of the lectern 
  describes it as De Mysteriis Vitae In Solem. [About the 
  Mysteries of Life in the Light] It’s almost as if someone 
  came here looking speci�cally for this book...
  All signs point to the slaughter and desecration as 
  the work of Sanguinara’s minions. Svetlana suggests 
  that this was an attempt by the countess to remove Fr. 
  Saunders, one of her implacable foes in the Morrigan’s 
  kingdom as a �rst, covert sortie. 
  In Light of Day
  In reality, Svetlana lied about whether Saunders 
  had ever persecuted her. He was a purist, an extremist, 
  and he had vowed to end her when he had the chance. 
  In order to remove the threat to herself and her 
  friends, Svetlana contacted leech�men of Valkenholm 
  
  Half-Light
  3
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  villagers, and her guilt is beginning to overcome her. 
  The deeper truth is far more insidious. The abbey 
  in the Outlands was abandoned before the Witches’ 
  armies swept across Morden because of a deep 
  corruption that swelled beneath that church and 
  �lled its worshippers’ minds with madness. �aunders’ 
  book was a relic of his triumph over that corruption. 
  Svetlana has deluded herself into thinking that it was 
  a tome of light.
  She had hoped to frame the leech�men, capture 
  them, and retrieve the book in order to prove her piety 
  in the eyes of the Enochian church. As the PCs begin to 
  investigate, she will have to cover her crimes and paint 
  a picture for the PCs to convince them to aid her in 
  returning that book to the abbey in the Outlands. Her 
  curse is overtaking her mind, though she maintains a 
  careful outer control of it, and if the PCs are not careful, 
  they may be swept up in this corruption as well.
  False Light
  The �rst order of business is to search the 
  church for clues. Should the party do this instead of 
  immediately seeking a trail, they �nd Saunders’ diary. 
  In it, he describes his revulsion for unclean things, the 
  spawn of the Witches, and the unholy beasts spat forth 
  from the diseased minds of the Grand Coven. It seems 
  unlikely that he would have borne Svetlana much love, 
  but this is not enough to convict her of anything.
  If the PCs seek the trail of the leech�men, it is easy 
  to �nd. Those with knowledge of their kind know that 
  the harsh mountain passes are too dry to maintain the 
  leech�men’s viscous skins for long, and so they’d likely 
  be seeking a river trail. And though the leech�men 
  have a day’s head start on the party, they must travel 
  slowly until they reach a broader tributary or risk 
  drying out. Similarly, they must skirt the foot of the 
  mountains around the north of Cairn Kainen before 
  they can reach the safety of the Sunken Lands with 
  their treasure.
  The PCs should be able to �nd the leech�men before 
  the marauders reach the safety of Sanguinara’s lands. 
  The band of ten leech�men �see page ���, Accursed 
  Campaign Setting� �ght hard, and Svetlana seems 
  particularly keen on destroying the leader. If it takes 
  her too long, the creature will recognize her and ask 
  why she turns on them. Svetlana will try to play this as 
  if it recognized a kinship in her, as both are creatures 
  of Sanguinara.
  �ut even if they can stop the leech�men and 
  retrieve the book, Svetlana wants to take the book to 
  the Outlands abbey, its rightful home. If the PCs stop 
  to examine the book itself, they discover that it is a 
  thing of terrible, insinuating corruption dressed in 
  the veneer of Enochian truth. It is a heretic’s bible, and 
  reading it leads the Accursed closer to damnation.
  Other options exist as well: 
  • 
  The PCs can expose the leech�men’s incursion 
  to the Morrigan’s ravens, potentially sparking a 
  broader con�ict. 
  • 
  They can expose Svetlana to �ather �hugal if they 
  have uncovered enough evidence against her 
  (though they may choose to remain silent). If they 
  do expose her, �hugal can no longer support the 
  Adherents, and if they do not, they are complicit in 
  a lie (and thus tempted toward damnation again). 
  SVETLANA (DHAMPIR)
  Svetlana Karlssen’s curse has corrupted her 
  and and driven her mad through its depravities. She 
  still seeks a path toward redemption for herself, but 
  she has lost the ability to distinguish between good and 
  evil. Instead, she has simply decided that appearances 
  are all that matter.
  Attributes: Agility d10, Smarts d6, Spirit d10, 
  Strength d10, Vigor d8
  Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d10, Guts d8, 
  Intimidation d8, Notice d8, Persuasion d12, Streetwise 
  d6, Subterfuge d8, Taunt d10
  Charisma: +3,��a�e: 6; �arr�: 8; Toughness: 6
  Acceptance: Stage 2
  Edges: Acrobat, Charismatic, �irty Fighter, 
  Improved �odge, Improved Sweep
  Gear: Rapier (Str+d6)
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Savage Worlds System (SWADE) [multi]/Accursed/SWADE - Accursed - Half-Light.pdf