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Candela Obscura - Assignment 701 - The Beast in The Binding v1.3
Candela Obscura - Assignment 701 - The Beast in The Binding v1.3
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Premise
Threats
Dramatis Personae
Exploration
Exploration I: The Bungalow
Escalation
Escalation I: The Enforcers
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Premise Hooks
Professor Touring of Briarbank College had been tasked Read this section to the players as the hook for this
with the study of an ancient, pre-war tome. Badly in debt, he adventure:
instead attempted to create counterfeits of the tome to sell
to the highest bidder. The secret behind the tome: it
contains the bound spirit of a terrible, primordial evil, which The silence is a living thing in the halls of the Social
is eager to break its binding. Sciences wing of Briarbank College. After dark, all but
the most diligent students have gone to their dorms or
alight in the bustling city. In a small, wood-paneled office,
Threats lamplight is burning.
dramatis personae The thing in the mirror watches from darkness as the
man ignites.
The Chief Librarian:
Dr. Artemis Huxley (they/them)
Feel free to use one of these hooks to further customize the
The Graduate Assistant: assignment to your Circle of investigators.
Isabella Vargas (she/her)
Academic Interest:
The Ex As a colleague or student of Professor Touring, you have a
Ashley Versasine (she/her) keen interest in the tome he was studying: An Account of
the Exorcism of the Magus Obediah Whately, a pre-modern
The Morgue Apprentice: first-hand account of the capture and interrogation of a
Ida Lee (she/her) notorious alleged wizard. The investigation represents an
opportunity to gain the knowledge you desire.
A Friend in Need:
You haven’t heard from your friend Ashley Versasine in a
while, and she is normally the life of the party in the city’s
Bohemian speakeasies. When you hear that her beau has
been found dead, you jump into the investigation to help.
Understanding this chain of events will surely bring your
friend peace.
Dr. Artemis Huxley, the Chief Librarian As always, customize these assignment hooks to make a
compelling investigation that suits your Circle!
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Beast, and intermittently reintroduce signs that The Beast is
You’re called in by Candela Obscura to investigate the If the players opt to question Dr. Artemis Huxley, they find
disappearance of a rare tome on the campus of that the head librarian is eccentric on the surface, but that
belies a seriousness of purpose required of a professional
Briarbank College. Professor Touring in the History who guards dangerous relics in the library’s Lower Stack
Department had possession of the tome until his untimely vaults. Play the character how you think the players will like,
death two nights ago. As the professor’s office is fairly but that eccentricity might play out as sitting on the floor
radiating with bleed, the Head Librarian has sent word to barefooted or having all manner of medieval weaponry on
your circle’s Lightkeeper for a team of investigators. the walls of their office.
Reveal: Professor Touring frequented a speakeasy known If the players opt to question Dr. Touring’s graduate
for its hallucinogenic scarlet cocktails - a place known as assistant, Isabella Vargas, they will find that she is a
The Black Cat Club. serious-minded and even severe student of history working
to make her career in academia. The players can find her in
the very tight quarters of the Graduate Students’ Office. This
Professor Touring’s office is a comfortable, if cramped, windowless room is packed with students, and so she might
wood paneled office in the stately Social Sciences wing of suggest they carry out their conversation on the quad. She
Briarbank College. It is furnished with a long hardwood desk is shaken, as she is the one who discovered the body.
covered in ungraded undergraduate assignments, a full
waste bin, a lounger, and a somewhat distorted wall mirror.
There is also a chalk outline on the floor where the Isabella does not know what to make of the Doctor’s corpse
professor was found. - the body was terribly scorched, with the scalp almost
entirely burned away. She recommends that the Circle see
for themselves by visiting the Morgue, located nearby in the
If the players choose to investigate the desk drawers, on a basement of the Physical Sciences Building.
successful test they discover a secret compartment at the
back of the bottom drawer. The compartment contains a
mostly empty bottle with a few drops of reddish liquor, two
glasses, one of which has lipstick marks. The compartment
also contains an empty withdrawal envelope from a local
bank for roughly one month of salary. Whatever the
professor was up to, it was thirsty work that required large
amounts of cash.
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speakeasy once - although she forgets the name of it, she
remembers the location if prompted. She is further aware Once the players indicate that they are ready to leave the
that Dr. Touring often takes work to his house on campus. location, that is an ideal time to introduce a
counterbalancing force, such as the OUP officials or
criminal enforcers looking to learn what the Circle’s
Exploration I: The
investigators have found.
At your option, you can have one of the tome pages be truly
Bungalow from the tome, rather than a counterfeit. Upon reading the
true tome’s writing, the reader is marked by The Beast in
the Binding, and begins to develop the symptoms described
in the climax section.
Reveal: Professor Touring was badly in debt, and planning Read this section to the players:
to leave town with a female companion.
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day, she will look like she has been recently crying and be
more acutely observational. Exploration III:
The Morgue
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the tome for further study. Secondly, they want to collect
When the Circle have concluded their investigation of the and destroy any evidence of magickal phenomena.
body, or at any narratively convenient moment, Professor
Touring’s body surges to life and shambles toward any living Utilize these counterparty forces to raise the tension and
creatures in the room. The husk will prefer any target that quicken the pace of the investigation. They also create
the Professor knew in life. convenient foils to demonstrate the danger of The Beast in
the Binding.
To destroy the animated husk, severing the right hand or
damaging the diagram branded into it is the most immediate
Mark
excellent way to wrap up this scene! If the husk is not
destroyed, it shambles to the places that the Professor
knew in life, with a preternatural ability to avoid detection by
the authorities.
If no member of the Circle is already marked by The Beast The Beast in the Binding corrupts everything that it touches,
in the Binding, touching the Professor’s remains is an and that corruption lingers. If your investigators or an NPC
opportunity to mark an individual as we head towards the touch an object tainted by The Beast, they are considered
climax. marked if they fail their associated test to avoid
contamination. Commonly encountered objects would be a
page of the true tome, a reflective surface where The Beast
Escalation I: The
has recently manifested, or the husk of a corpse killed by
The Beast.
The criminal enforcers have two goals while interacting with The mark can be removed by successfully binding The
the party, and they are not adverse to using violence or Beast in a ritual, surgically removing the mark, or
intimidation to reach those goals. Firstly, they want to unleashing The Beast by destroying the true tome. Beware
confirm that Professor Touring is dead, as debtors fake their that the last outcome may result in thorny problems for the
deaths fairly frequently in Newfaire. Secondly, they want to investigators later on!
collect the amount of money owed, or something of
equivalent value.
The OUP agents have two goals while interacting with the
party, and they can wield considerable institutional power to
achieve those goals. Firstly, they want to locate and control
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The Beast in the Binding
Climax: The The Beast in the Binding itself is a primordial force of
ancient magick, bound in the tome some 400 years ago.
The corpse of the book binder lies in the center of the circle,
in much the same condition as Professor Touring. Their
A version of The Beast in the Binding
right hand has been badly burned, preventing their corpse
from returning as a husk.
As a central character in the story, you will want to introduce
The Beast in the Binding as early as possible. The Beast
The true tome sits next to the corpse, its pages bound in a
can appear on any reflective surface, although it prefers
new covering. Depending on how your Circle has fared thus
mirrors, wet ink, and blood. The Beast can also manifest
far, The Beast in the Binding is beginning to break free from
from the true tome’s pages, as the magickal wards have
the tome.
weakened with time.
There are several likely scenarios that may occur from here:
Once the Beast in the Binding has appeared, it may attempt
to raise the stakes, have The Beast hound the investigators
to mesmerize a character, like it did with Professor Touring
each time they attempt an action. Try to instill a feeling of
in the introduction. This mesmerism results in the character
limited time and high stakes!
suffering a similarly lethal fate if it is not interrupted. The
character can rescue themselves by passing a related test
Likely scenarios include the characters attempting to finish to break free, although they should suffer a mark of multiple
the protective ward. The Beast might try to knock something types for each test that they fail. The narrative stakes
into the salt circle to disrupt their efforts. The characters should be raised with each successive failure - for instance
might also try to bind The Beast using their own occult by the temperature of their eyes rising or by their scalp
skills. The Beast might attempt to mesmerize any starting to steam. Alternatively, another character can
characters leading such an action. Finally, the characters attempt to rescue them, although this is also a hazardous
might try to destroy the book. This is easy, and The Beast activity, as they may become marked themselves!
welcomes such strategies. If The Beast is freed, it does not
intentionally harm the investigators, although it may
inadvertently trample them while heading towards the exit.
In such a scenario, any marked character is not destroyed
by The Beast, but it is up to you whether or not their mark
ever fades.
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Epilogue
Epilogue Questions:
1. Did they unbind The Beast in the Binding, or
were they able to successfully contain the thing?
2. Did they help anyone during the course of their
investigation?
3. Did they bond with any NPCs, and if they did,
what became of them?
4. Did they form any alliances or enmities with the
criminal elements, government agents, or
supernatural forces chasing them?
5. Did they return the tome to the Chief Librarian
for safekeeping?
Credits
All artwork was generated using AI, like ArtFlow.
Thank you for playing this game - I do this for fun, and it
brings me joy to be a part of your storytelling world!
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