The Field of Winds, a Hearts Aglow Adventure
This is what I ran for my players for sessions 10 and 11 of And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow. It went very well! The premise is inspired from Where the Wheat Grows Tall, with one location taken from The Sun King's Palace, one from The Valley of Flowers, one character from Rackham Vale, and a few descriptions of locations from The Monster Overhaul. I won't link to them, I'm too tired. :>
Regarding Elfland
The long field is where the winds live, the southern wind which brings summer and the northern wind which brings winter. Though the winds are very powerful spirits, they haven’t been here forever. They were “nailed” in place by Apollo, who lassoed both of them and put them here, planting a tree so that “they would have root and bear fruit”.
At that time, in those days before days, the Northern Wind was in love with a woman and tried refusing Apollo’s gift, but this enraged him and he declared the woman should never touch the trees. Ever since then she’s been learning witchery and trying to trick humans into freeing her beloved, known as Anna la Nera.
Due to the ebb and flow of Enchantment, she was unable to contact humanity for a long time. She tried it 3 times: once when Alexander ruled, once when Beli Mawr ruled, and this time when Artù ruled. The previous times she was too desperate and her vessels ended up getting killed and Apollo intervened; this time around she got craftier and played the long game.
It started back when Artù was king, around the 550’s and 580’s.1 Anna introduced herself in Avelia as a beneficial fairy, and took great care in the first generations to only appear every so often, as the Round Table (or its remnants) were abroad and strong. As their power waned and Artù faded into myth, she became more proactive.
Around 605, in the generation of the great grandparents, she agrees to a pact with the matriarch, Great Grandmother Galeassa, trading one of her eyes for the protection of her and her family.
In the next generation, around the 630’s, Galeassa’s daughter Cordelia (who inherited the property) marries Grandfather Borso, a man of science who thinks the fairies are a great waste of time and forbids communing with Anna. Grandmother Cordelia teaches her children the ways to talk to Anna in secret and then vanishes one day.
The following generation, in the 650’s, Great Grandmother Galeassa dies, and the witch lets their lands be unprotected, causing a famine that nothing seems to heal - more people die of accidents, locusts appear, etc. Eldest Borso (born in the 650’s) is raised in this generation of struggle and duress, knowing that many of the serfs are leaving. Not to mention that the title is officially held by the Count of Trusca, who was perfectly content with letting the entire province die to undermine their power and swoop in later.
Borso is then approached by the witch to come to Elfland and ‘discuss terms’. She tries to use his human hands to chop down the tree of the Northern Wind, but he doesn’t think to remove the stump, and Apollo sends down word for the Southern Wind to smite him (as he cannot affect him due to him being Christian).
The father, Antor, uses the knowledge his mother taught him and goes off into Elfland after his boy, and his wife runs after him. News that Sir Antor has disappeared (presumed dead) spread over Marcarda and the youngest, Calcante (13), unwilling to let the nobles do as they please since the count is dead, dresses up one of the handmaids as his mother and puts a veil over her face, so nobody suspects anything yet, and she says she’s in mourning and will not entertain proposals yet from the suitors who flocked to his house.
Calcante knows how to send someone to the Field of Winds by drawing with chalk on a wall, though he'll be reticent to do it, especially if the players present as one of the self-interested suitors.
People in the field
Borso, the eldest, yoked to plow.
Antor, the father. Has pledged his sword to the Southern Wind in an unresponsive, crazed state, likely enchanted. He wears a bronze cicada-shaped armour gifted by the Southern Wind.
Elena, the mother, currently abducted by the trolls and turned into a scarecrow.
Watches
The day and night passes more quickly in the Field of Winds, so each has 5 watches, each passing in 1 hour:
Day
Twilight (Golden Hour)
Morning
Noon
Afternoon
Twilight (Golden Hour)
Night
Twilight (Blue Hour)
Evening
Midnight
Early Morning
Twilight (Blue Hour)
Encounters
I ran it as 1 in 6 every time they travel, but that's quite a bit. 1 in 6 every other turn would work just fine.
The Devil. Will pretend to be a helpless person to try and suss out who the players are and what they want, and once he knows that, will try to offer it to them at a cost.
Anna la Nera. Will try to persuade the players to remove the stump, but will be cagey about it.
1d10 Feral Dwarfs, ex servants from Nevrune and from the Winds, now freed. In my setting these are basically ape-like goblin things, use a baboon or equivalent. Act like Lurulu in The King of Elfland's Daughter.
Scarecrowed Elena, will attack strangers but not her family.
Day: 2d6 Giant Cicadas, big as people, act like bossy bullies but don't speak. Night: Giant Moths, hate light, fly around despondently.
The Virgin Mary or another suitable saint. Will try her best to help briefly. I usually held the encounter down until they tried doing something, then Mary would appear and help them.
Originally encounter 4 were the priest and midwife who are missing, Andronico Moretti and Stefana Ferrara. I rolled that encounter twice and changed it to Elena instead.
Key
The map is divided into 4 spaces themed around the seasons, but it wasn't big enough for that difference to really matter.
Also the Northern Wind is to the south and the Southern Wind is to the north. Lol. It was unintentional but I rolled with it.
Summer
Palace of the Southern Wind - A massive tree (a pink jequitibá) looms at least 50 metres. There are always 2d6 cicadas the size of people on its bark, singing along. At the bottom, in front of it, is a large throne of bronze on top of a dais where the Southern Wind sits her court, and in front of it is a lower wooden platform for petitioners.
At night she sleeps under the earth, impossible to wake up, as do her cicada guards.
The Southern Wind herself appears like a beautiful and fiery elfin woman with tanned skin and bright red hair. With the half-made unbalance, she has become tyrannical and violent, her eyes in the shape of spirals and her hair dishevelled. If either balance is restored or destroyed completely, she will turn back into an energetic but benevolent being. Currently she is mostly interested in flexing her power and being pampered. For an image I used Queen Kushana from Nausicaä but themed with cicadas rather than snakes.
The Cicada Holes - A clearing in the field with a bunch of holes, inside each of which is an infant giant-cicada. Sitting watch over them is Sir Antor, his armour turned bronze and his helmet in the shape of a cicada’s head. Inside his heart, he still understands Chivalry, but the Southern Wind has used her connection with him to reduce him into this. If defeated in combat, his lucidity will briefly return. He knows that balance must either be restored or quenched for the madness to stop.
The Barn - A tree grows from the inside, branches grow out with shriveled oranges weighing them. Inside, the roof is broken, and under its dappled light is a wooden banquet table; the tallest branches have ripe, fresh fruit. Deep in shadow is the base of the tree, with the low branches yielding stunted, sour fruit, and a large urn that holds the tree is painted with the face of each sister, the roots breaking the face of the Southern Wind.
Eating one of the ripe apples gives you a vision of a giant that shines like the sun planting a tree in an open field.
Dinner Table – An ancient wooden dinner table lays under the shadow of a tree, offering respite from the metallic, oppressive heat around. Whoever sits at the head gets a vision of Grandmother Cordelia teaching Antor and his brothers and sisters about the old ways around a table.
Abandoned Village – An old Arthurian village made of wattle and daub, doors closed and a hot, light rain pours. The only remaining inhabitants are the battle-scarred cats inside the buildings, sleeping in hammocks. Whoever sleeps here for a night learns the language of cats, but also has 1 in 6 chances of developing the Insomnia Disease. This prevents them from sleeping (although they don’t feel tired or anything), but they slowly begin to forget things.
Coppiced Forest – A forest with coppiced, thin branches growing from the ground. The humid heat here is almost unbearable.
Spring
The Chapel of Fireflies - The ruins of an ancient wooden chapel, the ceiling collapsed long ago and the walls cured by the sun. Every dusk the fireflies dance around here. Inside is the elfin Sir Idris, dying from a wound that never heals for almost a thousand years. He was cursed to this fate by Apollo, every dusk the fireflies come and every time he fends for himself, sticking to the hope that he might be saved yet. He can be cured either through conversion to Christianity (which will ward off Apollo’s power and let the wound heal) or something else that drains it.
- This one was taken from The Sun King's Palace by Snow but changed severely, as I found that the original one didn't take the knight's plight seriously at all.
Nevrune Hall - A vast, cross-shaped manor in the middle of an estate dominated by weeds. In the circular, palatial approach, Flower Knights compete in daily contests at midday for the glory of their sister-suzerain. Each of them has been commanded to kill the other sister, but Chivalry stops them from attacking a defenceless woman, so they fight for them instead.
On the eastern wing of the deteriorating hall is Lady Jemna, a small, plump, and lackadaisical elfin woman who decorates her wing with monstrously large flower bouquets and her own brightly coloured - and terribly gaudy - paintings of herself.
On the western wing is Lady Scarlova, a tall, gaunt, and acerbic elfin woman who’s drowned her wing in black decorations, maintaining a perpetual air of mourning for their lost family and herself.
If asked about what happened to the rest of the family, they will explain how Uncle Valus poisoned Aunt Rubicunda, Grandfather Stolidus strangled Nephew Iago, etc, all tragic accidents of course.
One accuses the other of the silliest things - stealing her pet parrot Cornelius (long dead), killing their parents by failling to cook papa’s favourite dish correctly / harvesting poisonous mushrooms for that same dish, besmirching the family’s good name by being oppressively dull, etc. They try to enlist the knights on killing the other, each offering a casque of gemstones (worth around $2000), the family sword (+1), the assistance of her champion on any valorous quest, her hand in marriage, and the hall itself upon their death.
If anyone actually manages to kill the other sister, the sister will receive the news with shock and grief, reward the champion, and then direct her anger towards them in the future.
The only way of permanently brokering peace between them is by bringing the ghost of Hiram, their father, buried somewhere else. The Flower Knights will be relieved by this and will offer their assistance in the future.
Each of them has a Rose Knight, a Peony Knight, a Lily Knight, and a Sunflower Knight. Each rides a bumblesteed and is observed by a maiden of the same corresponding flowers. The roses are sanguine and love fights, the peonies are shy and love stories, the lilies are morbid / goth and loves romance, and the sunflowers are exuberant and loves beautiful, shiny things.
The Rose Knights joust upon their bumblesteeds.
The Peony Knights play chess on the verandah.
The Lily Knights compete by singing.
The Sunflower Knights wander in search of the most beautiful and shiniest thing they can see today.
- *This one was stolen from The Valley of Flowers but rewritten, and the one below was added, as it isn't present in the original.
The Dead Hiram – Hiram Nevrune, a massively fat and loud elfin man of good character and firm handshake, has been laid to rest in a crypt in the family’s graveyard, but they forgot to put a coin under his tongue (they thought a diamond would be better, except that’s not how any of this works), so his angry ghost now haunts the crypt.
Tilled Field – A freshly tilled field. Among the dusty furrows are strange constructs built of tools who work tirelessly. There is something hypnotic about watching them, and spending a while here observing their work gets a vision of Borso chopping down the Northern Wind’s tree during the day.
If not found before, Borso is here, yoked to a plow and dizzy from the sun, trying to drag a massively heavy plow.
Butterfly Pond – A shallow pond covered in algae and reeds, a few catfish can be seen swimming in the muddy bottom. A crooked tree bends over it, and a gigantic butterfly dries its wings over it. Anyone who looks into the pond will notice that the wings of the butterfly can align with your back if you incline yourself up to the middle of the pond. If you do, the butterfly simply vanishes and the person or armour who looked in now has butterfly wings.
Sugarcane Field – A vast sugarcane field covers the area like tall grass. A few of them have been chopped down, and one in particular appears succulent and glowing. Anyone who sucks it gets a vision of Anna la Nera visiting the Northern Wind’s tree and crying while touching it
Autumn
The Court of Toads - The bridge that connects autumn to spring over a rivulet of water. A choir of toads of all sizes - up to the size of a small dog - sing here overnight. There is a 2 in 6 chance of the Toad Prince being here.
The Toad Prince, Marius di Caii, who was turned into a toad by Anna la Nera. He was freed from it by a kiss from a princess and hated it, the politics, the courtly life, the ceremony. He now hates Anna la Nera and wants her to turn him back into a toad, but she refuses to talk to him due to how rough he is. He doesn’t know that, if a princess kisses him again (which any daughter of the nobility or gentry counts as, as do any of the cicadas and moths), he’ll turn back into a toad, though good luck convincing him of that.
He wears a proper armour from the olden days which allows him to breathe underwater. His spear (+1) lets him knight any amphibian into a giant toad until the next sunrise or sunset, whose bite induces hallucinations for 1d4 hours.
- This one is taken from the Rackham Vale zine.
The Scarecrow Tree - A small, lone tree stands in the middle of the field. Hanging from it is a body enveloped in straw with a pumpkin for a head and scythes instead of fingers. Under it is Elena’s face with her mouth sewed shut and buttons in her eyes. She will pretend to be dead and then come off to stalk the characters, ambushing with muffled screams. She can be cured by a full night under her roof.
Cleared Field – A field cleared by the self-moving tools. Coffee beans lay drying on the ground. The rows between the coffee plants are slippery. To the side of the beans is a little present box with an Elfin Cloak and Boots inside (fit for a tall person).
- Elfin Cloak and Boots - A set of enchanted boots and a matching cloak, of fairy origin. The wearer of the boots is able to move silently, and the wearer of the cloak is rendered almost invisible: there is only a 1-in-6 chance of them being spotted. Anyone who actually spots the character can see them until they get out of their line of sight.
Orange Grove – The ground here is thick with low trees heavy with oranges. Between them are the red leaves fallen from the forest that surrounds this place. The wind blows the leaves high and they almost seem to want to stick to someone. Letting them do it gives a vision of Antor on his knees, entreating to an audience of giant cicadas
Lightning Blasted Tree – A lone bald hill in the middle of the field, uncultivated, with a lone lightning-blasted tree atop it. Crows spy from the top and caw on occasion. Anyone who talks with the crows gets one trying to land on their shoulder. If they allow it, they get a vision of a male fairy in ancient clothes (the one in the Firefly Chapel) getting struck under the ribs
Rocky Overhang – A tall, shale outcrop with a surprising amount of overhand underneath. 2 in 6 chances of there being deer mating here. Does flee, but stags roll reaction at -1.
Winter
The House of Anna la Nera - An ancient stone building with a single room and no windows. She has a little garden to one side and a pond to the other. This is basically the Room Which is Sacred to Magic, a round thing deep in shadow surrounded by books in all languages and on pretty much all subjects. On a fireplace lives a fire spirit, and on the mantle all sorts of strange ingredients and medicine.
There is 1 in 6 chance she is not here.
Anna la Nera is an elfin witch from the time of the giants, cloaked in shadows who knows terrible medicine. Life has made her hard and unbelieving of kindness, so she tries to trick people into doing her bidding. She often takes people’s shadows.
The Southern Wind’s Tree - A beautiful pine tree covered in snow lies on its side on the ground here. The stump remains. At night, massive moths float by, swarming any light. The Southern Wind herself sleeps during the day and is only here during the night, sitting on the stump and pondering her predicament. The half-imbalance has made her melancholic, languid, and forgetful, so she spends her time crying.
Putting the tree back on makes her whole again, though she will ultimately be sadder for it. Anna la Nera will get very, very angry at this. The Southern Wind will go back to normal, as will the dwarfs and the enchanted people lost in the field.
Digging the stump out will transform here into a beautiful fairy that looks something like a silk moth. She'll leave with Anna la Nera and turn the people who have been lost in the field back. The Southern Wind will grant each a boon for their participation. This will also turn the world outside tropical.
Frozen Lake – A frozen lake with a single island of earth at the centre where a rose bush grows with 3 beautiful, huge roses which smell sweet even from far away. Smelling them for a long time will heal anything. To cross the lake requires a Valour test at 12.
Silent Field – An empty, silent field covered in snow with twinkling snowflakes falling from the sky. It feels hypnotising to watch. Whoever stays watching gets a vision of Borso meeting with Anna la Nera at dusk in the cemetery.
Bothy – A tiny bothy with a bit of timber left. A few brownies live here and come out at night. They look like this:
.
Icicle Cave – A shallow cave teethed by icicles. The Mourning Dove is here, hugging his knees, looking at the wall.
- *This is an NPC from the game. I recommend putting your own here instead, someone who has been trying to escape their responsibilities or something like that.
The game took place in 680.↩