Werewolf Weekend - play games and donate some money to charity

On Sunday this event is finally happening, and then I can stop bothering people for a year and stop worrying about how successful it's going to be. In short people will be coming along to play Werewolf, and donating a little bit of money for the 'privilege' to Stand Up To Cancer.

Last year we played Ultimate Werewolf: Legacy, a variation of the normal werewolf game wherein people have hidden identities and have to deduce who are the werewolves and vote them out (during day time 'lynches') before the werewolves all secretly kill the other villagers (during night time 'hunts'). Different versions of the game have additional roles that shake things up a bit - most have a Seer who is able to detect the werewolves and warn the villagers, as long as they can convince them they're not werewolves trying to sway them.

In the Legacy version, each game is set a year or so after the previous one, giving the village some time to get back to its feet after each frenzied werewolf attack, but also to enable people to play the same characters or, at least, members of the same family should they have died (in reality we found people just kept the same name), and certain results have knock on effects on the games that follow - for example, as a result of the villagers defeating the werewolves in two of the three games in Chapter One, a spellcaster settled temporarily in the village with the ability to silence people during the day time discussions. Had things have been different it could've been the leprechaun, who has a more direct way to thwart the werewolves.

We ended last year's session after playing the one game Preface and two Chapters of three games each. Ideally I'd like to finish off the final three Chapters (nine games) this year - and then next year we can change tact a bit, and play some variations on the werewolf theme (other options will be available this year but, realistically, unless we have a massive turn out we'll mostly be playing this game).

If you'd like to donate some money to play nine games of werewolf (or as close as we can get) then come along to the Bad Moon Cafe at 12.

Facebook vent is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2903372083070635/

Charity fund raising page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/game-on-werewolves-2019

Further details about the results of the game campaign we started last year follow below...

Ultimate Werewolf: Legacy - The Story So Far...

All entries in this font are supposed historical accounts - although it acknowledges that many of the stories are likely rooted in superstition, it does seem to paint a complex theoretical history of what the relationship between the werewolves and the village was.

All entries in this italic font are details told to the villagers as they experienced it as events unfolded, and so is based a lot less on background speculation, being based more on their choices and realisations.

All entries in this font, highlighted in yellow, are game related details.

Preface - 1688 - "The Journey"

There is little recorded history regarding the werewolves of New England, the village where it all started, and everything that came to pass.

What follows is the best account. Given the spotty records and the high incidence of fatalities, there can be no certainty of full accuracy. We have done our best to separate fact from speculation.

All the supernatural stories from this time cannot be true. Our conclusion is mass delusion brought on by extreme stress.

After your ship landed in Massachusetts, your small group made its way west, to settle inland. On the way, however, you had the feeling that you were being watched, and now some of your fellow travellers seem... different.

You all heard strange howling noises last night, and they seemed to come from the camp, not the surrounding woods. You’ve been eyeing each other suspiciously, but no one wants to openly accuse anyone else… still, you’re wary.

Werewolves win this first game, the Seer killed on the first night.

Interlude - "The Spell"

The decision to found the village on the ruins of a previous settlement was likely a practical one. This would mean fresh water, hunting grounds, and use of any remnants of the previous inhabitants. Little was known about the earlier town other than its dramatic and sudden extinction.

We, of course, know the reasons for the first town’s destruction and how the villagers were about to follow the same path. In fact, the village’s very first decision would prove to have tremendous significance in the years to come…

In the deep woods, you’ve founded your village on the ruins of an old, abandoned settlement. The Beinroth family is convinced that this part of the new world is haunted, possessed, latent with something mysterious.

Everything looks normal, but there’s a growing feeling of something sinister hiding among you.

In the settlement ruins, Aldus Heathrow finds an old book with a magic spell. You gather in the village square to debate whether to read it aloud.

The village vote to read the spell. In the first two Chapters of the game, from this point on, the four families in play are the Beinroths, the Eyzburgs, the Heathrows and the Poormans.

Chapter 1, Part 1 - 1689 - "Suspicion"

It appears that the village relied heavily on family cohesion, not always to the benefit of all involved. The humans saw themselves as hearty pioneers. This, of course, was foolish.

You have begun to see how the choices you make affect your lives, and the legacy of your village.

The darkness that surrounds your new village has crept up and into it. A glance towards the sky indicates something in the distance that’s different, and may herald your salvation… or your demise.

The spell unleashed the Sentinel, who protects the Seer for the village, and the Cerberus, who detects the Seer for the Werewolves and can turn two player characters into Werewolves at the start of the game.

Because Cerberus picked both the Seer and the Sentinel to be Werewolves, the Werewolves easily outnumbered the players, and won.

Most Werewolves in this game were from the Eyzburg family.

Technically the five surviving Werewolves, Patrick and Samantha Eyzburg, Fenster Beinroth, Mary Heathrow and Robert Poorman run into the woods once they've slain the villagers, and the village is resettled by other family members looking to find the original villagers.

The first stories of The Box arise at this time. Many books have been written about The Box - its supposed origins, whether the stories were true, or some sort of apocryphal myth composed of folklore common to the region at the time. We believe it to have existed and will discuss its proposed origins later.

Chapter 1, Part 2 - 1690 - "Mystery"

Things have not gone as planned. 

You have decided to elect a Mayor to establish order in the village and guide yourselves in what appears to be a troubled part of the new world.

Titania Beinroth was voted Mayor on the first day, only to become the first victim of the Werewolves.

There’s a Sentinel and a Cerberus again this game, but Cerberus has lost the ability to create new Werewolves.

The townsfolk killed the first Werewolf on the first day, and the second on the second day.

Because Samantha Eyzburg was the Cerberus, and Patrick Eyzburg was one of the Werewolves, the Eyzburgs were, once again, the most Werewolfy of families.

When digging the grave for (Mayor Titania Beinroth), the village gravedigger unearths a sealed box, covered with mystical images. It had been buried deep, away from prying eyes and hands. It’s probably nothing.

It was some time in 1691 that the contents of The Box were revealed. We think that it was a panicked move, perhaps by a villager with nothing to lose, perhaps by the (new) mayor with something to gain. A historical sketch of The Box shows a comet image on the front. Why this image was ignored is a subject of debate. Given what happened later, it should have given someone pause…

Chapter 1, Part 3 - 1691 - "Undone"

The mysterious Box found in the graveyard begins rhythmically pulsing, the top glowing in the shape of a comet. 

There doesn’t seem to be a way to open it… for now. You may not touch the box. You have other problems to deal with.

There was only one Werewolf, Robert Poorman, so the Poorman family were the most Werewolfy, albeit aided by Cerberus Aldous Heathrow.

The Box is opened through processes involving a Key which was not recorded - if The Key had no been used deliberately The Box would’ve opened anyway.

What did the box contain? Evil? Monsters? Sins? No one knows exactly. Likely sacred totems of some sort.

In fact the evil released leads to appearances of a Cult Leader, a Zombie, and Dracula in later years

Villagers win, with just one Villager killed by Werewolves

No one in the village could’ve known that The Key was a lure, bait if you will, to enrage the wolves. It was their Box, and it was meant to stay closed. Was it a rival wolfpack that produced The Key? Was there a human who knew what it would do? Sources are maddenly quiet on the topic, as if The Key magically appeared in a pocket.

These first three years of the settlement were later called “The Quiet Years” by the inhabitants.

At the end of Chapter 1, wherein the villagers have beaten the werewolves 2 to 1, the Beinroth family become Counts and Countesses. The Eyzburgs have been most werewolfy, the Beinroths least.

Interlude - "Visitors"

The opening of The Box set events in motion that could not be stopped. The Box contained something the werewolves wanted kept under lock and key. But now, whatever was inside was free in the village.

As a result, what had been a series of skirmishes was evolving into what some now call The Crimson Pelage. Census and land records recount other humans being drawn into the village around 1692, with notes suggesting the emergence of a cult. Some humans saw something to gain in the growing war between humans and werewolves.

Chapter 2, Part 1 - 1692 - "Charms"

The Box released strange energies. Mystical energies. What was once rare is now commonplace. Dark creatures live among you, inhabiting the bodies of your fellow villagers.

A hermit living in the woods arrives at sunset one day with an offer:

“I have lived in these woods my whole life. I have seen what walks here. I can fashion charms to ward off attacks. They will protect you. Yes, yes, you need the help. Of course, it will take time. Oh yes, it will take time. Stay alive and see what I can do for you!”

In this game a Cult Leader picks other villagers to join the cult each night, and a Spellcaster picks someone who may not speak during the day times.

Again, only one Werewolf, Aldus Heathrow, so the Heathrows were the most werewolfy this game. Cult leader and mayor Titania Beinroth was able to recruit Alice and Fenster Beinroth into her cult, and so the Beinroths were most culty, although the mayor was killed - records don’t state by who - and so the cult did not take over the village.

Villagers won.

Each surviving member, most of the village, received a charm at the end of this game - some players left.

Chapter 2, Part 2 - 1694 - "Refugee"

The Sorceress has made herself at home in your village but is frequently gone, wandering the woods for months at a time. Sometimes she steals food as she leaves. She always returns during a storm, slipping in unnoticed. For the past month, she has been agitating the village, talking about the arrival of a comet that will destroy us all. She has been staring at people with one eye and some of the cows haven’t produced milk lately. Plus it’s not raining as it should.

The question for the village is what to do about her?

The village decided not to kill her.

The Sorceress looks relieved. “Thank you for sparing a kindly old woman who has already helped you. I will do my best to keep you safe from the creatures of the night.”

The Sorceress was, in fact, Alison Beinroth, perhaps tapping into previously collected cult knowledge. Fenster Beinroth, the other surviving cult member, is now a zombie who eats brains but whose victims still survive, albeit unable to vote. The Werewolves were Mary Heathrow and Daniel Poorman, so no obvious family loyalty. There is no Spellcaster this year, though the remaining Beinroth, Titania, was mayor and Seer, and eventually guided the town to victory. 

A note was found amongst the ruins of the village, tucked under a floorboard. Whether it is from the first settlement or the second is unknown. “Comet came and this is when it started in earnest. None of us knows long it will last. The earth is opening. We are fleeing into the woods.” We suspect it is from the first village since the second one was too headstrong or oblivious to leave when all omens should have driven them away.

Chapter 2, Part 3 - 1697 - "Hush"

Terrible note-keeping for this game - didn’t even finish it off properly! Sorry!

I would be remiss not to mention the fantastical stories of Dracula which circulate around this time. Supposedly this vampire lord was imprisoned in The Box and escaped when it was opened. No one can ascertain the real story. This anecdote is included only for completion and should not be taken seriously.

The horrors of the mystic Box have taken a strange turn; the vampire known as Dracula has taken up residence in your small village, with the goal of finding three ‘wives’. If he makes it through an entire day with three uneliminated wives, he wins.

To help the village defeat Dracula, the Spellcaster has used her powers to silence the entire village, draining her so much in the process that she had to flee.

So, no Spellcaster in this game. It’s not clear if the Sorceress was in play, or who Dracula was, although he did claim Aldus Heathrow as a ‘wife’ before the Werewolves killed him. Regardless, Villagers won.

Records from the colonies show that a comet appeared at approximately this time on its usual cycle. The werewolves would be understandably upset at the village’s presence during this astronomical event, given their fears and beliefs.

At the end of Chapter 2, wherein the Villagers have beaten the Werewolves 3 to 0, one family needs to be selected as Earls between the Eyzburgs, Beinroths and Poormans - the Beinroths are, of course, already Counts.

Interlude - "Preparation"

Apocalyptic prophets are commonplace at the end of every century and this one was no different. One visionary, named Nostrodamus (likely no relation to the original Nostradamus - perhaps a confidence artist?) appeared in the village, certainly to profit from those who would pay for visions of the future. The comet in the sky would’ve given him an eager audience.

It was believed that werewolves’ hunger waned during the comet, and for many years after. The “false moon” was how they referred to it, and they treated the event with both fear and reverence. This holy time for them curtailed the wolves’ ability to exact revenge. Not that they didn’t hunt, but rather that they chose their targets carefully.

At the beginning of the next chapter, the following characters still have Charms that allow them to avoid a vote to be lynched: Fenster Beinroth, Samantha Eyzburg, and Mary Heathrow. One family is due to be made Earls too, and based on the fact there's little else going for them I may simply make that the Poorman family.