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A restless night...

presents:
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MRQI I

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A
a game aid for Elric of Melniboné
by Arasmo

© The Scriptorium, all rights reserved

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Introduction
This game aid is intended for the second edition
of Elric of Melniboné, but can however be used
without problem with the 1st edition and the Magic
A of the Young Kingdoms supplement. It describes
the summer residence of a senator from the Ilmiorian
city of Karlaak and gives an introduction to a
scenario for two players.
The players are supposed to embody the senator's
“adopted” children, who stay with him in the house;
the scenario begins in the middle of the night when
the PCs' sleep is suddenly interrupted by a cry of
distress...
A summary plan of the manor is provided at the end
of the document.
Note : given that the atmosphere of Imio-ria is
very close to the Italian Renaissance, I took the
liberty of “Italianizing” all the names.
Karlaak thus becomes Carlazzio...
Context
2 whose facade is heavily decorated with bas-reliefs
In the city of Carlazzio, Senator Domenico Saletti
is a strong supporter of Arkyn's cause: he generously
funds the development of the cult and seeks to
eradicate all chaotic influences in the city. A few
weeks ago, the local cell of the chaotic cult of
Chardros the Reaper was destroyed by the city's
militia, at the cost of heavy losses. Of course,
Chaos does not intend to let this act go unpunished,
and agents of the cult of Hionhurn the Executioner
will take charge of revenge...
Domenico Saletti, a man not
so exemplary that...
Despite his exemplary reputation, Senator Saletti
has his dark side. First of all, he keeps at his side a
personal sorcerer, Giuseppe Fecci, - officially his
advisor - to protect him from the attacks of his
enemies. Secondly, he maintained a mistress for a
long time even though he was married: it was in
fact upon hearing the news after having followed
Domenico's movements that his wife committed
suicide... Taken back
the Scriptorium - Game aid - A restless night... by Arasmo
bit, Domenico stopped his affair with his mistress
but undertook to take care of the children he had
with her. Officially these two children would be
those of an old friend who would have gone in
search of Tanelorn and who would have entrusted
his offspring to Domenico, but no one is fooled,
especially not Marco Saletti, first child of the
senator and his designated heir . If Marco pretends
to tolerate his father's escapades, he intends to get
rid of the two children as soon as possible, now
young people aged 15 and 16.
Description of
Saletti manor
General
Outside
The senator's estate extends over a small plateau
located about 10 km from Carlazzio. A stone rampart
3 meters high and topped with a line of pikes marks
access to the domain. A paved path bordered by
rows of trees leads to the manor. The latter is a
large rectangular building of approximately 400m2,
evoking various exploits accomplished by the
White Lords of the Young Kingdoms. Behind the
, notably that of creation
manor are a wash
house, stables, a cistern and the guards' barracks.
This last building can accommodate sixteen guards
Interior
Lighting: in the corridors, light is provided by rows
of candles placed inside glass spheres, which rest
on supports that resemble hands protruding from
the
walls.
In the rooms, one or more candelabra provide
light.
At the start of the game, the only lit areas are the
first floor corridor and the wizard's room.
Masonry: blocks of gray stone that are both
smooth and perfectly cut; difficult to find a space
between the joints, whether outside or inside!
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The latrines (noted L on the map): questions of
public hygiene have always fascinated Domenico;
for years, he has been constantly rehashing his
sewer system project at the city council. His summer
residence serves as a sort of prototype for his project:
the waste is evacuated to an underground cavity
using a system of conduits.
Protections: three alarm runes were placed by
Domenico's sorcerer: the first protects the entrance
door to the ramparts, the second guards the front
and rear access to the residence and finally the last
is inscribed on Domenico's bedroom door.
Ground floor
Room of curiosities (90 m²)
In this meticulously clean room, rare objects , of the
are stored in rows of furniture under glass. Most of
the objects are bones of more or less exotic creatures,
but some stand out:
The Restless Jar: This fist-sized brain rests at the
bottom of a jar filled with amniotic fluid and on which
is inscribed a Sleep rune. If it is no longer in contact
with the jar or Giuseppe dies, the brain will start
jumping in all directions while emitting electrical
sparks. After about half an hour, he will stop
"brainstorming" and quickly waste away unless he is
bathed again in amniotic fluid.
The mechanical horse : this life-size steel replica of
a horse sits in the middle of the room on a pedestal.
This is the object of which Domenico is most proud:
he ordered it at a high price from the cult of Arkyn. It
is charged and ready to activate. Reminder: you must
know the Law and Beast Runes and invest magic
points to be able to activate the automaton.
STR: 20 DEX:10 CON:16 TAI:20 INT:1
POW: 1 CHA:1 AC:2 AP:1 HP:18
Athletics: 55% Brawl: 55% Escape: 45%
Endurance :
Attack Kick 55% 1d8 + 1D6
the Scriptorium - Game aid - A restless night... by Arasmo
Demonic Laughter : this humanoid skull is said to
be all that remains of the demon Alzarim the Laugher.
Special feature, all you have to do is tell a joke in his
presence for him to burst into demonic laughter that
resounds throughout the mansion.
A
Reception room
Rich tapestries with geometric patterns decorate
the walls; the center of the room is occupied by a
rectangular marble table 8 meters long with ten chairs
on each side.
On the west side of the room is a large fireplace,
the entrance to which is protected by a bronze screen.
Shared room 1
This is where the female staff sleeps.
The bedroom has two rows of two beds, with a
small wardrobe next to each bed.
The cupboards contain the servants' personal effects.
Shared room 2
This is where the cook and his assistant cook
sleep; the room is more richly decorated than that of
the female staff and the beds are much more
comfortable.
3
Kitchen
The kitchen is spacious, with a worktop that takes
up the entire north side of the room, and a huge
fireplace on the east side, which has neither leg nor
frame and is wide enough to accommodate three
large cauldrons.
Food warehouse
Salted meats and cold meats are hung on
butcher's hooks while the shelves are filled with rare
spices, fresh vegetables and other foods, each more
appetizing than the last.
others.
Wine cellar
Four rows of wine bottles, most of which
shares are worth a fortune.
First floor
Guest rooms and children's rooms
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These rooms are almost identical: four-poster bed,
thick drapes, clothes chest, bedside table and dressing
table...
Sorcerer's Chamber
It stands out from the previous rooms by the presence
A
of a shelf filled with esoteric books and an additional
chest containing a perfume of Distraction, two pills of Around 1:10 a.m.: they enter the house via the north
Invulnerability and three Balms of Insomnia.
The library
Domenico likes to bring his works with him to his
summer retreat; this piece brings together the
essentials of his collection. You can find everything
there: from the very licentious Erotic Reveries of Litello
to the very austere Economic Picture of the city of
Ilmar. Small braziers have been set up in the four
corners of the room and in the center: A coffee table
and four armchairs.
Domenico's room
It stands out from the others by its dimensions, but
also by the presence of a copper bathtub and a small
brazier.
4 A start of a
scenario
General informations
What is happening
Two chaotic agents arrived during the night. A
member of the cult highly placed in the city
administration has already been invited to the
residence and provided them with all the necessary
information. All agents applied the Curse of Grome, a
balm that allows him to pass through walls; They were
thus able to cross the ramparts and neutralize the
guards using poison darts. They will then progress
into the Saletti home and kill all the sleeping occupants
on the ground floor before going upstairs, where
Domenico, his two “adopted” children and his personal
wizard are sleeping.
Chronology
Around 24h: the cultists arrive near the do-
the Scriptorium - Game aid - A restless night... by Arasmo
maine and study the surroundings.
Around 1 a.m.: the cultists coat themselves with the
Curse of Grome and cross the walls. They easily
dispose of the four guards patrolling outside the house.
wall and explore the ground floor.
Around 1:15 a.m.: they kill the sleeping occupants of
the two common rooms.
Around 1:20 a.m.: they go up the stairs, the first
entering the guest room whose wall communicates
with the senator's room and enters directly into the
latter. The second runs along the corridor towards the
wizard's room.
Around 1:21 a.m.: the senator is assassinated, throat cut
chee. At that moment, the sorcerer Giuseppe, below
the effect of an Insomnia balm, is studying a work; he
immediately senses the loss of the link established
with his master via his Contact Rune and screams at
the top of his lungs “Guards, the senator is in danger!!”,
before leaving his room. Unfortunately for him, he is
stabbed by the cultist as he enters the corridor.
Meanwhile, the guards, alerted by Giuseppe's cries,
rush into the room and surprise the assassin; the latter
once again throws a dagger which luckily hits one of
the guards in the throat while the other guard rushes
at him sword first.
The scenario begins when the PCs are startled
awake by the sorcerer's cry.
The PCs
Players take on the role of Domenico's two children,
who will have to find a way to survive the upcoming
massacre. Preferably, the PCs will take the Civilized
origin and the Noble or Wizard profession. In the latter
case, it is the sorcerer Giuseppe who will have secretly
transmitted his knowledge to the PC; he will have to
choose three runes among the Alarm, Contact, Speed,
Beast and Law Runes and will not be able to take the
Ritual of Invo-cation skill during the character creation
phase.
If there are more than two players, the GM can bring
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players to play as guards or guests. otherwise hung on a wall.

Option: opening scenes
To make the introduction less brutal, the GM can
create a short individual scene for each player,
possibly supplemented by a collective scene. These
skits can be used to present the mechanics of the
Waking up, the PCs hear the sound of a death
rattle coming from the corridor: it is the wizard who is
stabbed.
If the PC closest to the wizard's room enters the A

game and/or to introduce Marco Saletti to show how corridor, he comes face to face with the cultist.
much he hates the PCs. Optionally, you can also Proceed as normal combat, this one with the best
design a scene showing the emotional bond uniting action rank starting first.
the father to his “adopted” children, for example a
hunting trip that goes wrong and during which
Domenico risks his life to save one of the PCs who If the PCs remain in their room, the cultist will
was going to be killed. to be skewered by a wild boar. enter the room of the PC closest to the wizard's room.

Cultist Tactics
Here are three suggested scenes: If the character appears frail, he will seek melee.
Wizard PC: In the evening, when everyone is
supposed to be sleeping, the PC is in the wizard's If the character appears physically impressive and/
room to follow his daily witchcraft lesson. But there is or well armed, the cultist will try to stay at a distance
something unexpected! Marco, who is staying in the to use his throwing daggers, taking advantage of his
nearest guest room, is suffering from insomnia and ability to pass through walls; he will try to flee as
hears the PC's voice. He then goes into the room soon as he is defeated in the confrontation.
and surprises the PC in the middle of incantation.
How can we prevent Marco from telling Domenico about it?
Noble PC: while his father is away tending to his If he has to fight against two characters, he will
municipal affairs, the PC must practice swordsmanship also try to keep his distance and will primarily attack 5
with a guard who takes great pleasure in insulting the one who appears less dangerous or who seems
him to the cheers of the other guards watching. to be casting a spell.
Depending on the PC's behavior, the GM may
subsequently give a positive or negative modifier to Tips for MJ
his interactions with the guard, which may be Do not hesitate to remind the PCs that they can
important during the "What to Do Now" scene. use the elements of the setting to help them: for
?» example, a PC attacked in his room can use his
Collective scene: important meal with Domenico, cover to protect himself, throw objects at the cultist's
Marco and the PCs, as well as many personalities. head, hang from the candelabra to swing a kick, etc.
Marco and the PCs are seated to the side, while Allow the PCs to use decorative elements that they
Domenico is at the other end of the table. The PCs have invented on the go, as long as it remains within
must endure constant barbs from Marco, who will reason (for example, “my character loves to play
criticize their lack of etiquette, make allusions to their marbles and keeps a bag of marbles on his bedside
“questionable” origin, etc. Then, in the middle of the table for the pleasure of admiring certain marbles
meal, the PCs become violently nauseous and vomit before going to bed. So, he takes the bag and throws
up all they can. No one else is affected. One of the the contents at the dark figure who rushes towards
PCs catches Marco's hint of a smile. him")

If the PCs are really in a bad position, the last

fight against the cultist
The PCs may have kept a personal weapon in their
room, in their clothing chest, or
guard - who will have killed his opponent - can
intervene at their side.
A quick description of the cultists is given

the Scriptorium - Game aid - A restless night... by Arasmo

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in the NPC section.
After the fight
If they wish, the PCs can search the slain cultist(s).
Apart from their leather armor and their weapons, the
cultists have a small copper ring inscribed with the
A symbol of a skull seen in profile, with a sword buried
between its jaws.
The PCs will be sure to notice the red-brown paste
covering the cultists' skin. If they try to coat themselves
with paste, the part of their body that is coated can
pass through walls; the effect will wear off after three
days.
Neither the symbol nor the face of the cultists are
familiar to the PCs or the guard.
As for the sorcerer, he is dressed in a simple black
robe and carries a simple dagger. Inside his room, a
book rests on his bed and his personal chest is open.
The work has the title “Treatise on Good Conduct for
the Honest Man”, but turns out to be in reality a work
of demonology. It takes about a week of intensive
reading (8 hours per day) to understand the essential
principles, which gives the advanced skill Summoning
Ritual (Demon) or a +10 bonus to the skill if it is
already known.
6 Request protection from a friend of Domenico
The only survivors of the estate are the four guards
who were resting in their barracks and the guard
upstairs. The others were obviously killed by the
cultists.
Option: to spice up the meeting
The cultists can be more numerous: in addition to
the two who are responsible for the building, four
others are responsible for guarding the barracks
before also going to the house. With the arrival of
these additional cultists, the PCs will have every
interest in using the sorcerer's potions: the chest is
open, given that the sorcerer had just used a Balm
of Insomnia to continue his study. to reach the room
of curiosities and to use the properties of the three
objects described.
What to do now ?
The PCs know that Domenico's death makes their
situation very delicate, because the family's
possessions now belong to Marco and they can only
rely on their own resources or
the Scriptorium - Game aid - A restless night... by Arasmo
about protecting a family friend.
Stay in the house
A guard immediately leaves at full speed to go to
Marco, who has a residence in town; After two hours,
Marco arrives at the scene with his four personal
bodyguards and a doctor, who will be responsible for
, examining the bodies.
After hearing from everyone and seeing for himself
the extent of the massacre, he will immediately return
to the city, telling the PCs to follow him. Along the
way, he will instruct his guards to execute the PCs.
If the PCs manage to escape the confrontation and
return to the house, they will be followed by Marco
and his men (if they too have survived)
Seeking protection from Marco
The sorcerer often told them to be wary of this
man, who never forgave his father for the humiliation
inflicted on his mother. The PCs have often suffered
Marco's barbs during family dinners and are well
aware that he hardly likes them, or even cordially
hates them. The GM must make it clear to the players
that such an option would be suicidal.
Domenico's best friend is Senator Amabile Voacinni
(Voashoon). After listening to the PCs and expressing
sincere sorrow at their news, he will explain to them
that he cannot keep them near him, otherwise he
would make Marco his enemy. He suggests that they
join an Ilmarian caravan leaving for the Desert of
Tears. The owner of the caravan is an old
acquaintance of Voacinni and will have no problem
agreeing to take the two young people with him.
The official objective of the expedition is to trade with
the Grom-Vyr-Naal tribe to obtain rare essences. In
reality, the leader of the expedition, Silvio Zaffini, is a
dream thief; he has heard many legends about the
fantastic dreams of the members of the tribe and
would like to seize them to sell them at a high price
in the Dream Bazaar.
If the PCs refuse, he will threaten to hand them
over to Marco, but he can also help them if they make
an alternative proposal ("give us some money so we
can win the Vilmir and possibly put us at
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service of a trusted man that you would have there, etc.)
Learn About the Cultist Symbol
If they tell Amabile about it, he will suspect that the
symbol represents a chaotic cult. He will advise them
with all the more urgency to leave the city.
If they tell Marco about it, he will also recognize the
symbol but will pretend to know nothing more than them,
he will ask them to give it to him so that he can have it
examined by scholars.
If they go to a temple of the Cult of Law to have a
cleric examine the ring, the cleric will immediately see
in the symbol the hated mark of a chaotic cult, most
likely a representation of Hionhurn the Executioner. If
the PCs don't explain why they came to be in possession
of this ring, he will ask them right away. If the explanation
seems convincing (of course it will be if the PCs are
telling the truth), the cleric will ask them to wait for him
so that he can inform his superior of the matter. The
“leader” of the temple could place the PCs under his
protection if they agree to join his cult...
If they want to consult a scholar, they can visit Felipe
Ambrazio, whom Domenico often asked to judge the
authenticity of works he had purchased. This one will
analyze the ring for money (10 Royales, 1 Royale
equivalent to a silver coin). Very rapid analysis will
reveal that the symbol is one of those used by members
of the cult of Hionhurn the Executioner, which includes
many professional assassins.
The cult of Hionhurn is often tasked with assassinating
enemies of Chaos when summoning the Mereghn is
not possible.
If no cultists survive, the cult of Hionhurn will seek to
find out what happened and will attempt to eliminate
the PCs as soon as they learn they have escaped.
He will also attempt to assassinate Marco when he gets
the chance.
Learn about the paste used by cultists
Only the scholar will be able to answer; he will reveal
that this paste is a balm nicknamed “the
the Scriptorium - Game aid - A restless night... by Arasmo
Curse of Grome,” and those who learned to create it
hold this secret from Grome himself.
If the PCs say that the balm was found on Chaos
worshipers, they will be perplexed: perhaps the balms
were stolen from a worshiper of Grome?
A
NPC
Giuseppe Fecci, the wizard
RA: 12 AC: 2 HP: 9 Attack: dagger 50% 1D4
BP: 0
Athletics 30%; Fight 30%; Perseverance 80%
; Stamina 40%; Perception 60%; Rune (Alarm)
90%, Rune (Speed) 80%, Rune (Contact) 90%
Rune (Law) 80%, Rune (Beast) 70%
The guards
RA: 12AC:2PV : 14
Localized PV :
Legs: 6 Stomach: 7 Chest: 8 Arms: 5 Head: 6
Attack : long sword 70% 1D8+1D2
AP : 3 ring armor
Athletics 60%; Fight 70%; Perseverance 40%
; Stamina 50%; Perception 60% Equipment: long
sword, ring armor
7
Cultists
Their skin is red-brown (because of the balm) and
they wear a black tunic under their leather armor as well
as boots and pants,
black too.
RA: 16AC:3PV : 10
HP located :
Legs: 4 Stomach: 5 Chest: 6 Arms: 3 Head: 4
Attack : Dagger & Throwing Dagger 90% 1D4 +1D4
poison. AP : 1 Soft leather armor
Athletics 60%; Fight 60%; Dodge 60%, Perseverance
60%; Stamina 50%; Mechanisms 60%; Discretion 90%
Equipment: Curse of Grome (balm that allows you to
pass through stone), 1 dagger & 4 poisoned throwing
daggers, soft leather armor, ring with symbol.
Marco Saletti
RA: 14AC:3PV : 14
Localized PV :
Legs: 6 Stomach: 7 Chest: 8 Arms: 5 Head: 6
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Attack : long sword 80% 1D8+1D2

AP : 2 linen armor
Athletics 60%; Fight 50%; Perseverance 60%;
Endurance 60%; Perception 60% Equipment:
long sword, linen armor, rich silk clothes.

the Scriptorium - Game aid - A restless night... by Arasmo