Inspiration from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for the character of Aldwind and Belle from Beauty and

the Beast as Bonita, Golem used by way of Frankenstein’s monster

Story to take place at the “Edge of the World” somewhere near Aedirn, in the village of Giethoorn on
the edge of Dol Blathanna.

Preface
Aldwind of Giethoorn (age 27) was a recluse of a mage and had spent the last however many years
of his life, alone researching the possibility of bringing someone back from the dead. When Alwind
was a young boy, his mother travelled for academic purposes across the lands, accumulating a vast
wealth in knowledge and in literature, his father already passed many years prior. Visiting
Vengerberg, his mother was pointed in the direction of a merchant who had a large family and was
well renowned for his wares, his mother left her son with the family of this man to travel with this
lords caravan to Aldersberg in search of a rare tome. The boy found little comfort with this large
family as the boys were all far too old to interact with and the girls were all too vain to share any
kind of interest with him. All bar one, who was always in a book. Sharing a common interest, the two
bonded and spent the following weeks chatting and he formed a deep bond with this girl, so he
thought. After all his waiting, he finally heard some news, but from a second hand source. “What do
you mean we lost the cargo? I invested all our capital into that shipment, this will ruin me. Did
nothing survive? Anybody?” “As far as we know there were no survivors, but we just don’t have the
manpower to check.” “MANPOWER, I sent our best bodyguards with them, what could have hit
them?” Aldwind’s head was sent into a spin and he just started running, the young girl trying to calm
him as his glazed eyes didn’t even register her presence. He ran and ran until he could hardly breath,
a light rain cooling his cheeks as he sprinted towards his goal. Finally on the horizon, he saw the
remnants of an upturned carriage split in two by some creature or other. Looking at the wreckage,
he frantically searched for any sign of his mother’s survival. Clawing his way through the rubble, he
finds the upper half of his mother’s torso, clinging a book wrapped in a shroud, tied with a string and
with a small note attached to it. After several minutes of tears, he pulls the book from her fingers
and reads the note. “Happy Birthday to my greatest treasure, Aldwind”. Tears erupt once more, only
to be met by the stomping of hooves as scavengers arrived. They capture all the remaining wares
and discover the boy, forcing him to become a slave for a household in Aldersberg. One day whilst
cleaning he finds his mother’s book amongst the shelves in this gentleman’s personal library, still
stained somewhat with his mother’s blood. The gentleman approaches the boy, drinking a glass of
port, thinking he is cleaning his book. “Ah, that book is one of my priced collection. I foolishly sold it
to some woman collector, so I tasked my men with retrieving it. They lured a fiend of sorts to
intercept the caravan, which conquered her guard almost instantly, and though my men died in the
process, I sent a small crew of scavengers to rescue my book for me.” Aldwind filled with rage leapt
at the man knocking him on his back and taking the stem of the glass, kills the man in a brutal
fashion. He flees the house, with new passion coursing through his vein, now knowing that his
mother’s death was surrounded by greed, he means to seek the childish dream to bring her back to
life, through any means necessary and decides to pursue this by becoming a mage. He then returns
to his home town of Giethoorn, setting up a home within a storm illusion to keep people at bay and
sets to his research.

A widower merchant (male) called Falbin lives in a mansion with his twelve children (six sons and six
daughters). All his daughters are very beautiful, but the youngest, was named “little beauty” for she
was the most gorgeous. She continued to be named “Bonita” till she was a young adult. She was the
most lovely, as well as kind, well-read, and pure of heart; while the elder sisters, in contrast, are
cruel, selfish, vain, and spoiled. The merchant eventually loses all of his wealth in a monster attack,
losing all his wares in transport. He and his children are consequently forced to live in a small cottage
in a forest and work for a living. While Bonita makes a firm resolution to adjust to rural life with a
cheerful disposition, while her sisters resent her. The father trying to maintain his work himself has
to take to the road himself, he transports his goods alone with a sword on hip and fear in his heart.
While he travels he asks his daughters what they would like back from his journeys, the other sisters
ask for jewels and the like, while Belle asks if he would happen across a new book as she has all but
exhausted what she has. One night travelling, he got lost during a storm, he happened across a
castle and looked for shelter within its walls. He snuck inside and finds tables inside laden with food
and drink, which seem to have been left for him by the castle's invisible owner. The merchant
accepts this gift and spends the night there. The next morning, the merchant has come to view the
palace as his own possession and is about to leave to fetch his children when he sees a vast library
and recalls that Bonita had desired a book. The merchant quickly plucks a tome from the plinth he
can see and is about to remove it from the room only to end up being confronted by a hideous
“monster” who tries to kill him for stealing of his masters most precious possession (after accepting
his hospitality). The creature is halted by his master, the mage of the illusion covered manor house,
who has been watching the whole thing unfold, in hope of some company. The merchant begs to be
set free, revealing that he had only picked the book as a gift for his youngest daughter. The mage
agrees to let him take another smaller book to Bonita, but only if the merchant brings one of his
daughters to take his place without deception; he makes it clear she must agree to take his place
while under no illusions about her predicament. The mage hopes for some company and comfort as
he has lived alone for the longest time and still seeks a female influence after the traumatic death of
his mother.

The girl is held now by the mage, and though he recognises the girl from his childhood, he is too
pained by his past to interact with her so he has his golem interact with her, reaching up for high
books, serving her meals etc., while he investigates his research. After a few months she becomes
homesick and he allows her to visit her come, however asks she wear an enchanted ring, which
allows him to see what she sees so as not to lose her. She visits hope and her family are surprised to
see her well fed and well dressed and when she tells of her life in the manor, her sisters find
themselves jealous of her life. After half a year, he needs to leave the house as he wants to see if he
can confront his past and see if he can find out if she is this girl from his childhood after all. Her
father catches wind of his departure from the house and calls for urgent aid within the village. Since
the departure of his daughter from his house, he no longer has that positive influence to keep his
greed in check and all his daughters call for him to devise a way for them to get rid of the “beast” in
the house and take the riches within for their own as they so rightfully deserve, after all he was
going to claim it for himself anyway. After a year he has managed to regain some of his former
business and build up his reputation once more. He hopes to rope some adventures into rescuing his
daughter.

The mage will only be away from the house for three days. The merchant’s story will be along the
lines of Beauty and the Beast from the perspective of Gaston, saying that the house is home to a
horrendous beast that has taken captive of his daughter and threatens to bring destruction to the
whole village lest his appetite be quenched.
Introduction
Traveling east from the border you find yourself on the road south, spying Vengerberg in the distance
ahead of you. As you are walking the road, you are greeted by the sounds of hooves, a traveling
merchant calls out to those of you on foot.​ ​“Heading my way? Always better to travel the roads in
groups I’ve learned, mind if I tag along? Word is that groups of thieves like to lead trains of monsters
to the roads so that they don’t have to get their hands dirty and you look like a group who can handle
yourselves, there are even a few crowns in it for you.”

(Players have the choice to either walk with the individual, or not. It doesn’t really effect the
dynamic of the story as they will encounter him again in Vengerberg, however they may learn some
information for the upcoming adventure, but he will only tell them what they would hear later
anyway so it would only give them more time to think over the details of his life, remember, he does
not want to ask them to the job straight away, he is a con artist trying to lure in his prey, he wouldn’t
want to ask adventurers alone, he wants them to commit in front of others and where they are
comfortable to hopefully hold a better grasp over them). He will reveal that his name is Falbin of
Giethoorn, that he has a large family at home, that he has been a merchant all his life and that he
mainly trades in silks and furs, as he never thought much of trading weapons, even though that’s
where the money is these day. (These are mostly half trues that he tells people so they look well on
him, so if players want to make a Human Perception roll they can though they would have to exceed
DC20 to know he wasn’t all he held to be)

Hook​: ​It has been a while in your travels since you have seen the like of Vengerberg. A Royal Palace
dominates the landscape, lording over the bustling market below, as business seems to flourish no
matter the market. (You separate with Falbin with a smile and the exchange of 12 crowns for the
stroll down road to the city). Numerous dyeworks, manufactures of wool and textiles, malt mills and
distilleries fill this city as well as the Vivaldi ban, the ​Pinacoteca​ (picture gallery) and rumours have it,
a shop that sells beauty creams that make you look years younger.

After walking with or without the merchant to Vengerberg, players get a few hours. After this they
see the merchant wandering around, petitioning people for help by word of mouth, this should
create intrigue because the same gentlemen didn’t ask them if they were willing to help, only if they
could walk together in a group.

Ah, friends, maybe my prayers have been answered. So long have I been looking for a group of
capable adventurers that I somehow managed to overlook you, and yet here you are standing before
me. Many thanks for forgiving that transgression.

If the group choose not to approach the merchant then he will appear in the same in as them at the
end of the day, slump down next to them, only then to realise who he has sat down next to and
petition them help. He claims he has been travelling on the pretence of trading, but in fact he has
been desperately searching for a Witcher or mercenaries to help him deal with a very specific
monster problem.

Ah, friends, it seems maybe you too face a problem that means we must drown our sorrows. Maybe
it is something that we could face together? You see I have a dilemma on my hands, need for some
very capable individuals to help me overcome some great obstacle, and you my friends, in your line of
business could always do with more coin lining your pockets don’t you agree? I think we can come to
a very profitable arrangement.

Development​:
He continues for either of the above:

You see, one year past I was caught in a cruel contract with a beast you could only describe as the
devil. This horned beast lured me to his home during a terrible storm of his own devising. Once inside,
he threatened to kill me unless I brought back a beautiful girl of good favour and “noble” heart. As I
told you earlier I come from a large family with six daughters and he ask for my youngest after the
detail slipped my tongue. Since then she has lived with this creature, away from the arms of her
family, with no chance of return. In latest months however the beast has grown… disquieted…. He
wishes for the girl to become his bride and on that part she has refused, so he threatens now the lives
of our fair village of Giethoorn to convince her to go along with his mischievous scheme. Therefore
adventurers I implore you, will you rid us of this threat to our very existence and save my Bonita from
the clutches of this odorous beast.

He offers 1000 crowns for the death of the beast that holds his daughter captive in a manor near his
hometown of Giethoorn. He asks you to ride with him to his town which is just out of the way from
Aldersberg to its east. Riding south from Vengerberg in the morning, our heroes experience one of
these “monster trains”, however a much lesser one than you may expect to challenge the party. (2
bandits + No of party members Wolves and one warg). The merchant boasts that this will be no
challenge for his party; however a low human perception roll will show you he is sweating buckets.

Cliffhanger:​ If the bodies are checked of the bandits, they bear the sigil of the house of Clayton,
which has long been forgotten as the Lord of the Manor died bearing no family and no heirs near 15
years ago. Our adventurers will only know this on a successful well-travelled roll if they have a
merchant in the party, or else they will have to ask about the sigil when they arrive in Aldersberg.
With further research into this and possibly a trip back to Vengerberg they can ascertain that this
would be the remnant of the house of Clayton seeking riches after the destruction of the house all
those years ago, hiding in the woods in an old hunting lodge Clayton owned. (This would take some
business rolls as well as some deduction rolls over several turns, most likely at the bank were the
records are kept).

After a few more hours travel they encounter no more monsters or bandits, only coaches heading in
the other direction (One of these coaches will be our mage, who now seeing the father in tow with
adventurers will try and thwart their approach to his manor.)

Give adventurers a few hours in Aldersberg as the merchant has to sort out some business before
heading home and meet once more in the town centre. If adventurers choose to follow Falbin using
stealth checks, after 3 checks successful against his awareness (7+1D10) then you see him sneak into
the back door of a tavern. Therein he stands on a table in front of a roaring fireplace, telling the
villagers that the time is soon at hand, that the beast will soon be dead by the hands of adventurers
and that soon they will march on the manor to finish the job once and for all.
Talking to villagers in general to get a better idea of the beast leads nowhere concrete, they all have
different ideas of its appearance, whether its horned or haired, terrible fangs or fiery orange eyes,
everyone focus’ on a different element of its appearance.

Players could ask who used to live in the house before the beast took residence. They need to find
someone older for this as not many remember the family who lived there. On a luck roll of DC15,
they find an old man who is the villages oldest living resident. He recalls a great family used to live in
the manor. A woman and her son were the last living residents of the manor, however tragedy stuck
the family. They had gone out looking for rare books, as they often did, this time in the hopes of
getting book for the young boy. On the journey neither returned and word from Aldersberg was that
they both met with an untimely death as their caravan was overturned by monsters on the young
masters birthday.

Development:​ ​The Mage, Aldwind waits for them to head towards the manor, rumours can be
gathered from the towns folk about the appearance of this beast but all are hyperbole and create
the image of a horned beast that dons human apparel covered in fur about 6 feet high. As
adventurers approach the manor, the mage creates an illusion to match the creature as described by
the villagers and comes out of the woods as adventurers approach to try and dissuade them from
the path they are on as it will only cause them and the village great pain.

From within the woods ahead of you comes a fearsome roar the likes of which you have never heard
before. From the tree line you can make out a hideous creature much as the villagers tried to
describe. Standing at over six feet high this terrible beast breaks the treeline exposing himself to your
eyes revealing he is in fact a beast with two upturned horns, great big fiery eyes, horrifying large
fangs and covered in fur, yet wearing a green waistcoat over brilliant white shirt. The creature
motions towards you with his paw and says

‘You dare move to step into my woods! Surely the people of Giethoorn have warned you of me, yet
you still think yourselves great enough to challenge me. I give you this one warning before you
commit to the path you are on, face me at your peril. As you know well from Falbin, I only give one
chance to survive.’

The creature stands waiting for your response, exuding a powerful aura.

The creature is only an illusion, however if adventurers try to strike the creature, he casts the spell
Lightning Storm, which should keep them from advancing just long enough for the mage to retreat
to the manor. Adventurers can choose to look for tracks for the beast but shouldn’t be prompted ,
but the foot prints only last about 20m and then if they look back to where they began, they begin to
vanish, as the creature and its tracks were all and illusion. (See rules for Interactive Illusion if you
think the tracks could be real.) If witcher asks if medallion was going off during encounter, it was but
not for the reasons they think. If adventurers want to make a monster lore roll on the beast as they
now have seen it (or by the description given by the villagers) tell them it is no beast known to
them… yet!

Hook:​ ​By this point our adventurers should be slowly approaching the manor, different times of
day mean that Bonita, the girl they are set to rescue will be in differing locations based on the time
of day.
6:30 till 8, getting up dressed, sorting books in her room etc., 8 Breakfast, 9 till 11:30 she is reading in
the garden, 11:30 till 1 is lunch, 1 till 2 she is looking for new book in the library, 2 till 2:30 she goes
upstairs to put the books on her table for later in her room, 2:30 till 4 she is in the bath, 4 till 5 she is
getting dressed etc. 5 till 7 dinner in the main hall, 7 till 9 evening walk in the garden, asleep from 9
till 6:30 in the morning.

The golem will be with her at all times except when she is in her room or dining, when it will return
to the library.

Bonita has decided that the golem is her only friend in this place, and so will talk to the golem and
obviously get no response (Imagine Belle in Beauty and the Beast but Lumière was just a candle stick
she carried round). She will often be sympathetic of the Golems ugly appearance, using lines like
“Did I request thy Maker from clay to mould you mean?”

“Life, although it may only be an accumulation of anguish, is dear to me, and I will defend it, and that
includes yours, dear friend”

“There is love in me the likes of which you've never seen. There is rage in me the likes of which should
never escape.”

“How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the
excess of misery!”

If they see her in the garden they may go unseen and be able to observe her interactions with the
golem, likewise if they make their way into the manor unseen and spy the library. If players are
observed by the golem, they will be attacked unless the girl stops it. If you attack the beast
unwarranted, she will side with the beast 100% and will resist returning to Giethoorn freely. This
should be a turning point for the adventure one way or the other, either to drive the adventurers to
kill the beast or to see if they would follow their intuition and stay their hand.

If by some miracle she is approached without a hint of aggression, a dialogue can be opened
between her and adventurers allowing her to express that though life in the manor is confining, she
is treated well in the grand scheme of things and that the master of the house even let her out once
to attend a family wedding. She knows Aldwind is secretive, but he has never hurt her once. She has
also never seen Aldwind’s face up close and only sees him when at dinner, seated at the other end of
a long banquet table. If asked to return with adventurers to the village, she will politely decline, as
doing so would mean her father’s death. If she is told of her father’s plan however she will quickly
put two and two together and understand that he means for you to kill Aldwind and the golem to
claim the house, at which Aldwind appears and ​you can skip forward to the climax, leaving Aldwind
with full health and the golem alive in front of the arriving mob.

At this point to sets of NPC’s are acting in separate ways;

The mage, Aldwind, is watching on from high in the manor to see what the adventurers will do,
(having used up a lot of his magic trying to scare off the adventurers with high tier spells) thinking in
some way, if they kill him and his golem, he will meet with his mother another way, however if
adventurers make any moves to touch the girl, he will appear before them once more in the guise of
the beast using Polymorphysim (Stats of a werewolf) to try and draw adventurers away from the girl,
into the manor up towards the rooftops (in the vain hope he can either talk them down or dispatch
them away from the girl so she thinks no less of him than she already does)

The merchant, Falbin, is in the town of Giethoorn, rallying a mob, thinking that with the Golem out
of the way and the anger of a village under the illusion of great evil, he can call the village to arms
and kill the mage, with the Golem and hopefully the adventurers out of the way as well and take the
house for himself. The merchants stats are the same as Zoltan Chivay’s in the front of the game
book, and the villagers, numbering 20, all have the same stats as Bandits, however their health is
changed to 10 and their weapon is changed to Pitchfork (sword, dmg 1d6-1) and Torch (small blade,
dmg 1D6/2 with a 33% chance to burn (Roll a d6 and 5/6 succeed in burning))

Climax:​ After 5 turns of combat with the beast or the loss of 30 health for the mage/werewolf, the
mob will arrive. They will charge straight for the manor trampling the luscious garden outside and
will start throwing rocks and torches through windows after 1 turn of combat. If the mage/werewolf
loses 40 health or more (don’t let him die), he will fall to the ground and transform back into the
man that he is with only 20 health remaining. He is beg the people to stop and try and move to
rescue the girl from the oncoming mob and the chaos they bring with them. AT this point he has
used most of his STA and can only cast low tier spells or else he may die (however if casting one is
the difference between the death of Bonita or not, he would probably cast one)

This all become a bit chaotic for the GM so you should go with the rule that if the golem is alive still
during this attack, it kills 4 villagers per turn and only takes 2D6-2 damage from villagers. The
merchant is going to make a bee line for the mage, whether the golem is alive or not. He will bring
(number of players) Bandits with him (not villagers but mercenaries) and will try to kill the mage first
whilst the adventurers choose who to fight, but will readily be engaged by the wall of bandits
between them.

There are two or more paths to this: The mage lives, the merchant father dies, thanks the
adventurers for their understanding, appears to the girl and explains everything and they build a
new relationship, with slightly more freedom for the girl and he forsakes his research to become the
protector of Giethoorn.

The other is the father merchant gets what he wants, the mage is dead, the house though damaged
is a shade closer to his former life and his children come running in some minutes after the death of
the mage to look at what they have gained, the golem is dead and the adventurers get paid their
wage and leave the manor to the sound of inconsolable tears as the girl weeps over the lifeless husk
of the golem, who has been her nearest friend for the last year.

Downstairs floorplan
Library Great Hall/Ballroom

Entrance way Stairwell Kitchen

Drawing room

Dining room

Study

Second floor
 Tower West

Arcane Laboratory Masters Bedroom

Balcony Lower Stair well Landing

Bonita’s Bedroom Spare room

Tower East

Character Stats:
Wolves​: ​HP 20, Attack Bite 10+1D10 hit, 2d6 DMG, Dodge/Escape 10 + 1D10

Loot: 1D6 Dog Tallow, Wolf Hide, Wolf Liver, 1D6 Beast Bones
Warg​: ​HP 30, Attack Bite 11+1D10 hit, 2d6 DMG, Dodge/Escape 11 + 1D10

(Leader: +4 on all courage rolls while wolf alive in pack)

Loot: 1D6 Dog Tallow, Wolf Hide, Wolf Liver, 1D6 Beast Bones

Bandit: ​HP 20, Attack; Iron long sword, 12+1D10 hit, 2d6+2 DMG, Dagger, 11+1D10 hit, 1d6 DMG

Hand Crossbow, 10+1D10 hit, RNG 50m, Slow reload, 2d6+2 DMG. Dodge/Escape 10+1D10

Loot: Crowns (3D10), Mundane Items (1D6), Bolts (20), Double woven hood, Aerdirnian gambeson,
Padded trousers,

(Players will have to roll Awareness to notice the sigil embroidered on the gambeson)

Golem:​ HP 80, Attack; Punch, 15+1D10 hot, 8d6 DMG, Dodge/Escape 14+1D10

Resistance: ½ damage from piercing and slashing, Immune: bleeding, poison, fire or spells on mind or
emotions

Crushing force: Cannot be parried. Double ablation damage to weapons, shields and armour.

Loot: Golem heart, Random rune, Infused dust (1d6)

Aldwind:​ ​HP 40, Attack; Iron Staff 14+1D10 hit, 3D6 DMG, Spellcasting and Ritualcatsing: 20+1D10

Spells: Lightning Storm (25 STA), Polymorphism (22 STA), Aenye (5 STA), Static Storm (5 STA), Mind
Manipulation (3 STA)

Vigor 25, STA 40

Dodge/Escape, 16 + 1d10, Resist Magic 10 (Any other stats needed use Yennefer of Vengerburg in
front of book)

Rituals: Golem Crafting, Interactive Illusion

Loot: Crowns (5d10), Mundane items (1d6), Strange items (1d6/2), Fifth essence (1d6/2), Alchemy
set, Succubus’ breath

Only wears robes, so after transformation, Armour is 0

Aldwind (Beast) ​HP 60, Attack; Claws 17+ 1 D10 hit, 4d6+2 DMG, Bleed 25%, Rate of fire 2

Bite 17+ 1 D10 hit, 5D6 DMG, Bleed 75%, Rate of fire 1, Dodge 17 + 1D10

Resist magic +9
Regeneration: regains 5 hit points per turn (we are going to put this down to the fact that his
appearance is based on magic and not that he is an actual werewolf).

Falbin:​ HP 45, Dodge 10+ D10

Attack Crossbow: 13+ D10 to hit, 4D6+2, 2 hands, slow reload.

Axe: 16 + D10 to hit, 5D6 + 3, 1 hand

Armour: 16 for Head, Torso and Legs

Notes I referenced
“We're not safe until he's dead, He'll come stalking us at night, Set to sacrifice our children to his
monstrous appetite, He'll wreak havoc on our village if we let him wander free, So it's time to take
some action, boys, it’s time to follow me.

“It's a beast he's got fangs, razor sharp ones, Massive paws, killer claws for the feast, We don't like
what we don't understand in fact it scares us, And this monster is mysterious at least, Grab your
swords, grab your knives, Save our children and our wives, Save our village and our lives, Kill the
Beast!”

Girl to be taken hostage by mage, speaks highly of the golem that looks after her but thinks poorly of
the mage infatuated with the girl, “Did I request thy Maker from clay to mould you mean?”