Count Câbleon, Lord of Château de Velourese

As one approaches the Château de Velourese, the more simplistic observation is that it is merely a massive and grand castle. Those well traveled or well read however notice its peculiar structure. It's a very wide very short building; appearing to consist of only perhaps one floor with high ceilings, and windows only lower to the ground. These observations of oddness only become magnified as one actually enters the building.

The ground floor appears like a lavish palace fit for a noble of much higher standing than a Count, but the short second floor is what tends to draw the eye. Besides being completely open to the floor below it, it is also painted black and completely unlit. The best one can make out with a naked eye is the existence of catwalks separating the two floors, and using any light-casting device to look further would be a terrible rudeness to your host.

Count Câbleon after all, besides his peculiarities, is an excellent host. Formerly a man hardened by battle, he is now a flabby orb of a man. While still seemingly full of piss and vinegar, he's still quick to also share the luxury which has softened him to his guests. Even those dropping by to deliver a message at the very least receive a rather hearty-sized lunch. As long as guests are polite, the Count will treat them nicely in classical royal fashion.

In fact, these grand meals are probably how a party of players begin to understand the real secret behind the Château de Velourese. As they follow Câbleon through the halls, they may note how despite being a heavier man he's incredibly quick and light on his feet. They may note how the halls are seemingly devoid of any servants, yet any request they or the Count make is filled incredibly quickly just out of sight. They may notice the shifting black masses moving around the level above them, or the thin little strands they cast which occasionally catch the light.


A noble can be measured by many things- their gold, their estates, their possessions. In the case of Count Câbleon however, his worth is demonstrated by his never lifting a hand.


You see: Château de Velourese is home to a secret which quickly becomes obvious to visitors, but is never mentioned for the sake of manners. The Count doesn't lack servants, he has a horde of them- only his pride over his glory days has warped their presentation. Instead of being openly demonstrated, great lengths have been taken to conceal them.

They live within clever constructions within the castle- a hollow wall here, a little priest hole there- all connected by their living area in the inaccessible basement below and the catwalks above. They move around quietly, dressed in skin-tight black velvet garb, and hiding their faces behind black theater masks. Generations of servants, chosen and "bred" for stealth, skill, and speed, live this way in hiding. Among them are numerous skilled individuals: engineers, cooks, cleaners, and more. Perhaps the most interesting of them however, are puppeteers.

Count Câbleon serves as nobles not engaging in manual labor to its logical extreme. He does not walk around, does not lift his hand, does not move a muscle on his own beyond speaking and eating. His servants provide for him. Only... Câbleon still prides himself on his power and independence. So this scheme slowly developed, in which his servants literally puppet him around with thin-but-nigh-unbreakable threads of strange metal. In this way Câbleon has established a supreme act of cognitive dissonance for all involved; as servants are still openly displayed enough, but manners instead force people to complement his individual skill.

Those uncivilized enough to challenge these noble notions will quickly see some of Câbleon's classic royal sensibilities fade away, as they are informed by the Count that these servants are an extension of his power before being dismissed from the castle forever. If challenged further, Count Câbleon will not be able to handle cracks forming in his facade of normalcy. He will whimper and whine in his impotency, before lashing out.

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Count Câbleon

[On his own, Câbleon is quadriplegic. Whether this came from his use of servants, or his servants acted as a growing crutch to a medical condition, is unclear. With the aid of his servants however, he will act like a bombastic showman- like if Brian Blessed was in an anime- declaring his attacks loudly and chewing the scenery.

If he dies, but the party does not destroy his body / burn down the castle / kill all the servants; he will subsequently appear to still be living and acting in the Château de Velourese on later visits. He's actually being Weekend at Bernies'd by the servants; may actually be better this way. Though the ventriloquist still needs a lot of practice.]

HD: 6
Armor: 12
Move: 0'
Morale: 10
Save: 13

Quadriplegic: Câbleon cannot move, take most actions, etc of his own free will.

Commanding: Câbleon may use his turn to command a Servant to use "Move" or "Technique" on his turn for free.

Plotmetalium Wires: Câbleon is held up by some incredibly strong but thin wires, made of whatever weird super metal is appropriate for you (e.g. mithril, australium, grimacite, etc). Should these wires be removed by some means, or the people manipulating these wires removed, Câbleon is rendered helpless.

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Velourese Puppeteer Servants 

[Should combat start: all the non-Puppeteer Servants will retreat immediately. Only 2-4 Puppeteer Servants will be out on the catwalk at anytime, for subtlety. Killing the Servants normally doesn't really stop the battle, but effectively cycles the Count's abilities as new Servants swap in. Barring their entrances, destroying the catwalks or their wires, talking them down, manipulating them somehow, killing mass swathes of them, or just killing the Count will stop them though.]

HD: 0 (HP 1d6)
Armor: 12
Move: 120'
Morale: 8
Save: 16

Shank: 1d4; will really only use if players are right in their faces on the catwalk

Move: The Servant spends it's move action to instead move Câbleon up to 120'.

Technique: Each Servant may conduct one special move of the following:

1. "TELEKINESIS": One target must Save, or be moved up to 20' in any direction as it gets hooked on a wire and Câbleon acts mystical.
2. KNEEL!: One target must Save, or be bound as if by [Hold Person] as they get wrapped or clotheslined on a wire and Câbleon issues royal-sounding decrees.
3. BLINDING FLASH: One target must Save, or be blinded for one turn as a bright spotlight flashes their eyes and Câbleon claims God's protection.
4. POWER-PUNCH: Câbleon delivers a wire-assisted punch which deals 1d8 damage. If it lands the target is also hooked and moved 5' back, as they and Câbleon move in slow-motion style.
5. ARMOR, TO ME!: Upon use, a piece of armor on a wire flies onto Câbleon's person. His Armor increases by 1, up to a total of 18. This may also replace broken pieces of armor instead.
6. SMASHING THROW: Câbleon fakes throwing a sandbag, which really drops from the ceiling at a target as an attack for 1d6 damage.
7. "FIREBALL": Câbleon loudly acts as if he's casting a spell, when a lit firework as [Fire Bomb] is dropped from a ceiling on a point and detonated.
8. WRRRECKING BALL: Câbleon is curled up and launched forward like a cannon ball, dealing 1d10 to all targets in a straight line for 40'. After doing this, he cannot be subject to "Move" and this ability cannot be used again for a round.

Twinelings

[Terrible notebook doodles inbound...]

There are many folk tales about the Twinelings.

Some claim they were first created by a careless wizard, animating a piece of rope to create a toy for a child- but through an act of wild magic, creating an animated rope which could in turn animate rope. Others claim they were first created when fairies were so astounded by the large-folk's invention of jewelry, that they created little crowned golems out of necklaces as dancing partners. Yet others still claim that they are born from the dying words choked out of a strangling victim, dancing along their noose or garrote in search of revenge. While there are glimmers of truth in each of these stories, who really created the twinelings or why is something which may never be known. All that is known is the following:

Twinelings live on the fringes of society- hiding in the forest outside a village or living in an empty cupboard in an attic. They are mischievous, child-like, and surprisingly mobile. They sneak around in little hunting bands, poaching and stealing as they see fit. They may slide just outside your field of vision by flattening out and sliding around, unspooling and winding like a snake, or even coiling like a spring to perform a huge leap. They do this for two reasons: to steal materials for small spears, and to kill using rope to create more twinelings.

You see: twinelings themselves may cast a version of Animate Rope on any short length of material like vines, necklaces, rope, twine, chains, strings, and even links of sausages. These versions are hollow body-doubles however, and not "alive" as the twinelings are. The only way a twineling may create a true new twineling is to have this double choke the life out of a living being- most often a small animal or young child (with the latter often leading to people finally dealing with a twineling tribe, or at the least hanging someone for child murder).

Twineling tribes are often set up a bit like Lord of the Flies or Peter Pan's Lost Boys; with clearly visible childlike squabbling, aggression, and play amidst violent actions. One minute two twinelings may appear to be squabbling over a spear crafted from a set of shears, the next they'll be coordinating a garroting like little guerillas. The most authority in a tribe is given to the largest twineling of the bunch, which in some cases is a Twineking; which is essentially a rat-king composed of many tangled twinelings acting as if it were one massive twineling. These masses often break up quickly when presented with danger or petty issues. Many have speculated what might happen if enough twinelings organized in this way, and their conclusions usually center on some form of grey goo scenario in which twinelings go on a strangle-spree of all life to create more twinelings.

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Twineling

[Tactics as described above. TLDR: Coordinated guerrilla actions.]

HD: 0 (HP 1)
Armor: 18
Move: 80' ground, 60' leap
Morale: 12
Save: 16

Stealth: The Twineling has 4-in-6 on Stealth.

Spear: The Twineling stabs with its tiny spear for 1d4.


Launch: The Twineling uses its body as a slingshot or bow, shooting a rock or other nearby debris up to 60' for 1d4. If it uses it's spear, this damage becomes 1d6; however it loses use of its spear.

Garrote: The Twineling coils its body, grappling and strangling the target [as Garrote]. 

Is Rope?: The Twineling is immune to some forms of damage and susceptible to others depending on what it is made from. (e.g. A Twineling made from rope may instantly burn or be cut by a blade, but be immune to bludgeoning. One made of chain may have different vulnerabilities).

Animate Rope: Once a day: the Twineling may animate a length of rope, chain, etc. While animated: treat this length of material as a Twineling, however it only has the "Garrote" attack. Should this pseudo-twineling kill a creature, it becomes another Twineling.

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Twineking

[It will prefer to run away, or lead from the rear by creating more pseudo-twinelings. If it's forced to fight, it's preferred tactic is to ambush from above. If things are looking dire, it will begin to break apart into individual Twinelings and run away.]

HD: varies (HP varies)
Armor: 12
Move: 30' ground
Morale: 12
Save: 14

Massive: The Twineking is made up of multiple Twinelings, and has 1 HP for each twineling in it's mass. When it takes damage, the Twineking may choose to lose 1 HP to free 1 Twineling.

Garrote: The Twineking coils its body, grappling and strangling the target [as Garrote]. 

Is Rope?: The Twineking is immune to some forms of damage and susceptible to others depending on what it's Twinelings are made from. (e.g. as with Twineling, but feel free to mix it up with composites).

Animate Rope: The Twineking may animate a number of lengths of rope, chain, etc. equal to it's HP each day. While animated: treat this length of material as a Twineling, however it only has the "Garrote" attack. Should this pseudo-twineling kill a creature, it becomes another Twineling.

Concurrent Campaign: Ankisis Update

Originally I had planned on updating on this campaign as it happened, however I will likely not be doing this for a few reasons. Namely:

- As it only meets around once or twice a month, the pace of things is slow- so I feel regular updates likely will not have enough content to warrant a post.
- As it's a bit of a pickup game... it's not terribly interesting, in so far as unique observations in running concurrent sessions go.

So posts for this will be more staggered, but hopefully more interesting? Apologies.