Vaesen: A Wicked Secret and Other Mysteries - Review

This 112 page book (including endpapers and such) consists of 4 unrelated scenarios. No pre-gens are provided.

On the maps for each scenario, I've circled Upsala in green as a reference point. Red is the destination.

I really enjoyed all 4 scenarios. If run correctly, with some GM inspiration, all 4 scenarios can be really, really good.

Ranked in order of preference:

1. The Night Sow

2. The Silver of the Sea

3. A Wicked Secret

4. The Song of the Falling Star

Most of my sessions are 3 hours long. Different groups take different times, but my run times are here for comparison purposes. At conventions, I generally book a 6 hour time slot which includes time for explaining the system and a break for food.

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The Silver of the Sea

Location: Fjällbacka Archipelago
Pages: 22
Run Time: 3 sessions
Hook: A dead priest washes up ashore with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Another priest suspects foul play at Wrecker Isle.

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The Plot: Every new moon, Zacharias Amundsson sacrifices a human to his true mother, a mermaid. This brings herring to the island and makes the Amundssons wealthy. When he tried to sacrifice the priest, the priest in desperation committed suicide. The PCs with an NPC priest are the meddling kids who the Amundssons will try to sacrifice this new moon.
Vaesen: Mermaid (p.140, core book) and Kraken (new creature, only stat: Might 14)
Location of Note: Götta Canal

Of note, the map for Wrecker Isle on p.11, the labels for the Residence and Inn are swapped. The house should be far away from regular foot traffic going to the Inn. Also, the Inn should be bigger than the house. Of interest, there are two outhouses, one for the Residence, one for the Inn.

The Warehouse on p.19. Since the priest, Vicar Carl Eric Hedquist, was killed out at sea, it doesn't make sense that there's large blood stain here. I'd change this to having some blood on the pendant. Maybe he was hit over the head here and the blood is from a head wound. If that's the case, I'd tell the PCs there's some blood here, maybe from a minor cut, not the blood from a gunshot wound to the head.

Route through Götta Canal (in blue)

1832 Grand Opening of the Götta Canal

Modern view of the Götta Canal

In my run, the PCs went back and forth from Wrecker Isle to Fjällbacka multiple times. They checked with the Constable and Coroner. They even left Oscar Uddgren alone on Wrecker Isle, so I decided to kidnap him and put him in a herring barrel for the new moon sacrifice. The PCs rescued him. The PCs then leveled charges of kidnapping on Pete and Pace. The Constable arrested them. The Herring Baron hired a lawyer and paid their bail. The PCs understood what was happening with the sacrifices, but decided that prosperity and less ship wrecks in exchange for a monthly sacrifice was a good trade and decided to leave well enough alone. Weeks later, Oscar mysteriously drowns in his own bed and the charges against Pete and Pace were dropped.

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A Wicked Secret

Location: Färnsta
Pages: 32
Run Time: 2 sessions
Hook: An industrialist sent two trusted men to Färnsta to buy forestry land. One came back raving mad, the other is missing. The ravings sounded like Society business. Can the Society look into this for a handsome fee?

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The Plot: Secret cult members, elders of the village, sacrifice one of their own every generation to renew a pact with their pagan gods who enriches the forest. The cult leader, Märta Karlström, doesn't want her people to sell their land to the industrialist and sent the Grim to kill the industrialist's agents. One was murdered, the other escaped, but lost his sanity. Märta has decided to kill everyone against her, including the local priest and villagers. And also sacrifice Vilhemina Skytt in a ritual to renew the pact.
Vaesen: Church Grim (p.129 core book).

In my run, the PCs arrived in August von Meijer's coach, so the coach and coachman would be at their service while in Färnsta.

The PCs found Hammarström's body and the brushed over giant-sized cat prints. The body was at the edge of the graveyard, so that still matches with the Grim protecting the church grounds. They confront Ingvar Nyström who eventually tells the PCs about the Church Grim. The PCs ask the priest to take them to the local coffin maker and get a coffin made for Hammarström's body. While there, they find out more about Märta and Dorotea.

The PCs had also met Vilhelmina Skytt and were invited to her mother's house. They spoke to Dorotea and found that she was in the midst of bargaining with the two previous agents of von Meijer before they disappeared. She tells the PCs what her price was. PCs agree to inform von Meijer.

The PCs send Hammarström's body back with the coach and a letter to von Meijer with Skytt's offer to sell.

While at the Village Hall, the PCs learn about the old families of Färnsta, that Märta and Dorotea didn't get along. That the oldest structure was the church. It was there before the village. They also learn more about the Church Grim. The PCs got the stink-eye from one of the land owners, especially when one of the loggers talked about the Grim. They also learn that the locals think both of von Meijer's agents vanished two weeks ago when the church bells rang.

The PCs remembered that Lindesköld had said that the beast tried to get into the house where he was staying which was Karlström's house, no where near the church. They inspected the outside and on a success, I told them they also found brushed over giant-sized cat prints around the house. Suspicious of Karlström, they arrange to stay overnight at the Skytt house.

That night, the church bells ring and Nyström dies. The PCs stay indoors until morning. I put Handout 2C in Nyström's pocket as the PCs had already searched the standing stones and found nothing. They return to the standing stones and go east and find a boulder standing against a hill. Using a pry bar, the boulder easily slides away, revealing a tunnel. Following the tunnel, they find the ritual space underneath the church. They dig under the pentagram looking for the Grim's body, but don't find it. After a Challenging Investigation test, they find hidden in the foundation stones the Grim's body wrapped in cloth with ancient runes written on it. They set it on fire with their lantern oil. Smoke starts entering the tunnels and they feel an earthquake. The PCs flee. Outside, they see the church on fire and the stones collapsing.

The PCs decide to leave town before the villagers come after them. They go to the Skytt house to gather their belongings and leave town with the Skytts in their horse drawn cart. This also solves the issue of Karlström trying to sacrifice Vilhelmina which the PCs didn't know about.

The Skytts sell their land and accept the invitation of the PCs to relocate to Upsala.

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The Night Sow

Location: Mölle
Pages: 18
Run Time: 2 sessions (ran this twice, both times took 2 sessions).
Hook: A friend asks for help at the Mölle Seaside Hotel. The problem is a secret that can't be revealed until you show up.

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The Plot: Lighthouse keeper Magnus Lundin is the protector of Mölle. For generations his family has protected the strong magic available at the Hill. The Sisters of Satan (amateur witches) started tapping the Hill's power and accidentally turned Katarina Jönsson into the Gloson. Lundin decided to do something about it. He got control of the Gloson and has been eliminating the witches with it.
Vaesen: Gloson (new creature, full stat, p.74).
Location of Note: The Lighthouse

Of note is Molle Seaside Hotel on p.67, "moved all their beds into a single room." I'm looking at the map of the hotel and the only thing that makes sense is that they moved Olga's beds into the Satan's Sisters Room, not moved their beds into Olga's Suite. Then they converted Olga's Suite into a workspace. If that's the case, the two beds in Olga's room should be in the Satan's Sisters Room. I think that makes more sense and when the PCs enter the Satan's Sisters Room, it'll be wall-to-wall beds. I'd actually add a giant pentagram drawn in the middle of Olga's Suite's floor, possibly covered with an area rug.







In my run, my PCs decided attack Lundin at the Lighthouse. Lundin fired his pistol from inside the lighthouse while the Gloson TPKed the party, easily breaking every PC. A new set of PCs decided to investigate why the previous group disappeared in Mölle. This time, they discovered not only was there a Gloson, but there were 4 new piglet Glosons (the TPKed PCs). In some legends the Gloson is accompanied by piglets. The new PCs negotiated the transfer of ownership of the 4 piglets for a promise to find for Lundin a child-bearing wife (with the Sight), so he can continue his lineage. Undoing the Gloson curse was up the the PCs. Once that was figured out, Lundin promised he would undo the curse on Katarina.

I did change how the magic worked. I decided there were strong ley lines at the Hill. Lundin knows the spell for making a Gloson, the spell is written on the Rooting Cave wall, but not how to undo it. The Linden staff only controls the Gloson. I had Lundin claim that once the witches changed Katarina into the Gloson, it would ravage the area, indiscriminately killing everyone, so he took control of it and used it to eliminate the threat of the witches. He changed the TPKed PCs into piglets to teach them a lesson (for trying to murder him for no reason, at least from his viewpoint). He's been lecturing them and Katarina daily on morality.

Here's more on the Gloson: https://folklorethursday.com/folktales/gloson-the-swedish-ghost-pig-that-will-cleave-you-in-half/



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The Song of the Falling Star

Location: Arensburg on the island of Oesel
Pages: 16
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: A cousin's wife has gone insane and a priest says his newborn son is under an evil influence.

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The Plot: The von Kaiserling's child is actually a changeling. Hugo von Kaiserling didn't return a kantele as promised to a Troll village, Kaali Village. Until it is returned (with a tight deadline), his child will not be returned / exchanged.
Vaesen: A whole Troll village
Location of Note: Kaali Lake, a crater lake

Kaali Lake

kantele

In my run, the PCs got the children exchanged, but that enraged Father Cornelius and made an enemy of him. Soon after, Father Cornelius (Russian Orthodox Church) started picketing Castle Gyllencreutz with the other priest (who was Lutheran) that was already protesting the evils at the castle. Both were now joined in a common cause. Then one day, both priests suddenly disappeared....

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Morgan's VaesenCon 2024 Excellent Adventures

All Vaesen RPG, all the time.

I got into two games and then two seats opened up on waitlists, so I got into 4 games. 3 of the 4 games were run by Nellufy. So, this was really more of a NellCon for me.

Lots of different and new settings for Vaesen. I love that a lot of independent scenario writers are writing scenarios based on new locations and its local folklore.

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Thurs Sept 5, 5-9pm (4 hrs)

The Weeping Woods

GM: Nellufy [Nell]

4 Players: imaginationascendant (John Hall - Hunter), nova.nix (Sister Catherine Cohle - Nun), apontious [Andrew] (Ezra O'Connor - Vagabond), Morgan Hua (Remy Ledoux - Academic)

Pre-gens provided

Content Warnings: Body Mutilation, Racism

September 1884 Elias, Texas. The small farming town of Elias has been plagued with mysterious deaths. Edward Tuttle, the mayor, has been sending telegraph messages throughout Texas, Louisiana, the Oklahoma and Indian Territory for help hoping someone would come. Word spread that the town is cursed. Men turn up dead in the woods they say. Their corpses mangled within the branches of the trees. No one has stepped foot in Elias for 3 weeks until now. An odd band of people has just entered the small town of Elias. They associate themselves with “The Society” and they are here to help.

Yeehaw! We're in Texas with guns! A nice use of a new setting and lore for the wild, wild west.

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On the way into town, John and Sister Cohle notice an Indian girl look at us from a church window, but before they can react, the priest turns her away from us.

At the mayor's house in town, he tells us of his cotton farm and clearing of the forest to create more farming land. He has made sure that the land he is clearing is in his surveyed plot and NOT extended into Indian territory. There has been 3 incidents and 5 deaths and 1 survivor. The survivor was a hired gun who is now drinking himself to death in the saloon. The Indian girl is the only native in town. We are to go to his farm and talk to the mayor's son who is running the cotton farm.

John and Sister Cohle visit the church. They speak to the priest and question the girl. She tells them a giant bird killed her people and she fled and wound up at the church. She draws a picture of a gigantic owl for Sister Cohle.

Ezra and Remy go to the saloon. After buying more drinks for the hired gunman and some prompting, he tells of a giant white owl that killed the two men he was supposed to protect. He says bullets didn't hurt it. The gunman is healing from a horrendous wound to his face, one eye ruined, and chest. It looks like a giant talon strike. The workers were lured into the forest by the sound of a woman weeping.

At the farm, the PCs arrange to go with the mayor's son in the morning, deep in the forest, to see where the hired gunman was injured. The PCs question the workers at the farm. One worker is shunned, asking around, Sister Cohle finds that Eugene had changed and is a bit odd. Sometimes, out in the forest is the sounds of a woman weeping. Ezra talks to Eugene and is invited to walk with him in the forest, Ezra agrees without telling anyone.

Ezra walks with Eugene into the forest and stumble upon the decomposing body of Eugene. Ezra gets murdered.

John, Sister Cohle, and Remy wonder where Ezra went and use John's hunting dog to follow Ezra's trail into the forest. They find Ezra who is acting strangely and question him. Ezra complains about all the noise made by people and that he'd rather be left alone, but there was no place to go, people keep on showing up and disturbing his peace, then he transforms into the giant white owl.

The giant white owl spits its organs into the trees and attacks.

Sister Cohle starts quoting scripture and blesses John's rifle. Remy shines his lantern directly into the owl's eyes and spots where the owl's heart is and points it out to John. John shoots the heart. The owl tries to block the rifle shot with its body, but fails. The heart is destroyed and blood pours out of the owl's chest. It continues to attack the PCs. The PCs shoot each vital organ in the trees. In the end, John is broken, but not dead, a few teeth got knocked out of his skull. Sister Cohle and Remy are uninjured. The giant white owl dissolves into muck.

Ezra and Eugene's bodies are recovered and buried.

Calling the creature by its name gave it power, so the PCs decide to tell people it was a Sasquatch and not a giant white owl that was murdering people.

The creature was a Stikini or Man-Owl.

Fun moments: Realizing that the creature was attacking both Indians and farmers because people were encroaching on it. Ezra walking with Eugene into the forest without telling any of us because he knew if he did that we'd try to stop him. It's a trap! And it was! Realizing the reason the Man-Owl spit its organs into the trees was to protect them. The gunman said that his bullets didn't hurt it. So, we shot all the organs and ignored the creature's body. 

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Fri Sept 6, 11am-3pm (4 hrs)

A Town Called Nyvik

GM: Nellufy [Nell]

4 Players: cliodnaconnoree [Clio] (Klas Kvistad - Occultist) , mikc0666 [Mik] (Maud Magnusdottir - Writer), severin.fall [Severin] (Saga - Occultist), Morgan Hua (Anders Baltasar - Servant)

No pre-gens.

Content Warnings: Body Horror

A plea for help has arrived in Castle Gllyencreutz. It is a plea from a Pastor from a small town called Nyvik. There isn't much about this town only that it is a small fishing town along the Swedish coastline. The Pastor says in the letter that a mysterious plague has struck this town and it has been hard to control his flock. He hopes that the Order of Artemis can send help and salvation in his time of need.

I really enjoyed this game. It was very touching emotionally.

Of the 3 Nell scenarios I played in, this one had the best story beats and complicated conflicts. So, I'd say this was the better scenario of the 3.

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PCs arrive to find the town burning 4 bodies. Bodies had signs of plague that burst with the smell of sea water. There's an obvious group of red haired, blue eyed population that is shunned by the non-red haired townsfolk. A boy of 16 (red haired) and girl of 11 (non-red haired) are crying at the burning. They seem alone and no one is taking care of the orphans. Maud and Saga go and comfort the two children. The boy, Emile, tells the PCs that his father had told him he would meet his real mother, but he never met her. Freya at the shoreline knows of the old ways.

Anders and Klas speak to the Pastor privately. They get church records on the red haired population and notes from the town doctor who had left town unexpectedly. The doctor had left town with a baby girl with red hair. 11 deaths had happened, mostly to fishermen, all to non-red haired townsfolk. Deaths started after the doctor left town.

Visiting the doctor's wife revealed that he abandoned her and had some affair with someone nightly at the beach. Maud takes the doctor's journal and find that the Maiden of the Sea was upset that her people have stopped worshipping her. Letters from Gothenberg show that the doctor planned on visiting his parents with his new child.

PCs visit Freya who tell them to follow the singing at night, near the shore, that would lead them to the Maiden of the Sea. She ensures bountiful fishing. She would mate with those who have a good heart.

There's tension between the red haired and the non-red haired. Rolf Olsen is the main rabble rouser whose father had died.

There's singing at night and a few gunshots. PCs find Rolf trying to kill the Maiden of the Sea. Anders intervenes to stop the fighting. Maud talks both Rolf and the Maiden down. The Maiden of the Sea doesn't realize her unbounded grief for the missing baby girl has caused the deaths of 11 fishermen. The Maiden decides she couldn't live with what she has done and might do in the future and disincorporates herself.

Fun moments: Going through town looking for Rolf, and getting angry when he wasn't around, so I kicked his door in. Standing between Rolf and the Maiden of the Sea, arms outstretched between the two, yelling at them to "Stop! Stop fighting!" and the Maiden hits me for 2 conditions. Then Maud gets 4 successes and calm the two down, otherwise I would have been Mermaid chow. Saga stripping down and wiping the tears off of the Maiden of the Sea's face. When the Maiden of the Sea realizes she inadvertently killed 11 of the innocent fishermen, she disincorporated herself which was very touching.

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Fri Sept 6, 5-9pm (4 hrs)

The Gate of Izanami

GM: Thomas B (gmendlessgame)

5 Players (1 empty seat): codenameage [Age] (Akira - Policeman), wishmoon.5335 (Ryuu - Officer), penny676 [Martin] (Yoshiaki - Doctor), Morgan Hua (Taro - Professor)

Pre-gens provided

Content Warnings: none

In the Mountains of Shimane Prefecture lies the Higashiizumo a town that lies beside the gate to Yomi, the land of the dead. Mysterious deaths have occurred in the prefecture recently, ones driven by violence. The local Shrine Maiden, knowledgeable of such things has reached out to the Daisan No Me for assistance. Can you help solve the mystery before more deaths occur. Set in Meji Japan after the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate, this adventure makes use of the Community content released under Ukiyo-E you need none of this to participate in the game. Characters will be provided.

Another new setting and lore. I always enjoy a good Japanese game due to the social niceties and nuanced interactions (and breaking them when required). A fun game.

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Knowing we'd deal with the gate to Yomi, Taro brings some incense and strips of prayer paper for the dead.

Before arriving, the coachman notes that he might not be able to cross a bridge fully loaded, so the PCs disembark, unload the coach, and cross the bridge on foot. The bridge is badly burned with very intense burn marks and wheel markings. The coachman takes the coach across the bridge and barely makes it as it collapses behind him.

In the village, there are multiple family members in deep comas. Some of their houses were also burned. Examining their bodies reveals a wheel pattern burned on their skin. Their souls are also missing. Taro consulted his scrolls and found the symbol is for a Wanyudo. But not much information is found about it other than it was hard to "stop." It only vanished after it wiped out all the villagers. The treating doctor tells the PCs about the village headman and his mother, the shrine maiden. There is also Saburo, the copper mine owner.

The PCs talk to the headman and he confesses that he and his mother stole pieces of jade from the gate to Yomi, hoping to sell it to help provide for the village, his mother still has the pieces of jade. There's a confrontation with the villagers and Saburo that is deescalated. The PCs take the headman to see his mother, but the Wanyudo shows up, rolling down the path.

PCs destroy it with guns and prayer. But Ryuu and Taro are broken. Taro was broken by recovering Ryuu's soul from the Wanyudo through prayer.

The PCs confront the shrine maiden and rest. They take the pieces of jade up the mountain to the gate of Yomi, taking both the shrine maiden and her son. They repair the gate and force the Wanyudo back through the gate, but before that happens, the shrine maiden's soul is taken by the Wanyudo.

In the village, the people in comas died with the closing of the gate.

Fun moments: Bowing to the village headman and forcing him to bow back in reflex. Saving Ryuu's soul from the Wanyudo after his soul was captured using prayer (yeah, the incense and prayer strips came in handy). Seeing the Wanyudo for the first time. WTF is that!

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Sat Sept 7, 5-9pm (4 hrs)

It's Waiting

GM: Nellufy [Nell]

3 Players: wanderingwanderer.1887 [Joel] (Thomas Lester - Detective), Ross1stlevelDM (David Copper-Bottom - Writer), Morgan (Molly Sullivan - Occultist)

Pre-gens provided

Content Warnings: Grief, Loss of a Child

The members of the Society in Boston have found themselves summoned by a concerned family member from the small humble town of Fallen Oak that is nestled in the forests of Maine. The concerned family member mentioned that his sister has been found blind and is mad with hysteria. No one in the town wants to help her. When they arrive at Fallen Oak, the sacred holiday of Samhain is in full swing. 

Another new setting, but some popular lore with a new twist on it.

This was my personal favorite game because we had only 3 Players, so we had more screen time per Player. The Players were also excellent which made this a great experience.

Nell is going to rename this scenario to "The Fires of Samhain." (my suggestion after she said she wanted a new title).

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PCs go to Fallen Oak and notice a young man gathering massive bundles of firewood. The PCs cross a stone arch bridge and note a trail of horseshoe marks from a massive stallion that had raced across the bridge.

In the middle of town people are preparing a giant pyre. Children are wearing wooden and tree bark masks, and so are adults. The PCs notice a stern priest who dislikes all this.

At Shaun Donnelly's house, they find that Shaun's sister Ann has her eyes wrapped and blood is weeping through the bandages. Ann's daughter Fiona is 13 and upset. PCs learn that Ann and Fiona showed up out of nowhere 3 weeks ago. After speaking with Ann and Fiona, they learn that something is pursuing Fiona, that Ann was rescued by Father O'Harrin who had brought her back blind and stricken. The pursuers are riders of black stallions. PCs conclude that he Donnelly's should go to the church this evening for sanctuary.

PCs visit the Thistle Inn and find that the local school teacher tells a fine tale about a headless horseman. PCs visit her and find that she's just reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving, a favorite of hers, to her students. PCs also learn that a local craftsman makes the masks for all the adults and children. Monsters for adults. Animals for children. That it took years before the craftsman made one for her. We took a look and found protective runes inscribed inside the mask.

Next up, the craftsman, Kagen who is blind. He tells us of the Dullahan. The masks are to protect the villagers from the spirits who may cross over during Samhain. People take the fires from the pyre to light their own fires inside their homes and keep the fires burning all night to ward off evil. The masks are made uniquely for each person, he must touch and memorize the face to create each mask. We implore him to make a mask for both Ann and Fiona, he agrees. Kagen also mentions the last time he met Fiona, she appeared sickly and was in sore need of a doctor. Also in his shop are other wooden crafts including a headless puppet, for the school teacher's stage play of The Headless Horseman.

PCs bring Kagen to the Donnelly's. Molly does a seance trying to understand why the black riders are after Fiona. She gets a vision where an ancestor of Ann pleads with the Dullahan to save her sickly child. The Dullahan promise to do so, but the price is that the mother must burn as a sacrifice and this must be done every generation to save the child.

Thomas has a great plan. Can Kagen carve the likeness of Ann onto wooden head and attach it to a puppet? An effigy to fool the Dullahan? Kagen agrees, but says he might not have enough time to make the masks and puppet. PCs tell him to make the masks first, they'll take the family to the church, and delay the Dullahan as long as possible to allow Kagen to make the puppet and bring it to the large bonfire.

At the church, only the PCs and the Donnelly's are there for the evening service. The whole town is partying outside. When 3 headless horsemen arrive, Thomas at the church door, notifies the PCs. Molly slides the masks down on the Donnelly's, hoping that this would shield them and hide their identities. After a pitch fight with bibles, holy water, pistols, and an unwilling priest (who wore a gold St Christopher's medal, gold repels the Dullahan), the Dullahans are lured or pushed out of the church. Thomas falls dead, cut in twain by a Dullahan, as he helps Kagen with the effigy. Molly tricks one of the riders to leave the church and by pushing the priest forward, drove the last Dullahan outside. Thus David, the bible and holy water slinger, was able to escape the church and help Kagen with the straw and wooden effigy. With the effigy burning, the Dullahans are fooled and vanish.

Fun moments: Taking out my crystal ball at the Inn and conning the innkeeper with information that we had already figured out earlier. The real seance with the oh, shit moment as I find out what is really happening. The big fight in the church, especially after telling the priest that I was going to attend evening services (when we first met) and when we barged in, he said, "WTF are you doing here?" My answer, "Evening services!"

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