Tales of Gothic Transylvania - A Gothic Horror Campaign - Actual Play Part Four - In The Steps of The Vampyr

The PC's find themselves at a Romanian Inn and have been traveling across the countryside in pursue of the 'man from Lavanti'. 

 An old man enters  the room where the PC's are staying  and leaving a square packet on a nearby  table with "To be opened upon my death" written on it. One of the PC's  takes the package and walks outside finding shadows guiding him to an old castle where he sees several shadows dancing and wandering on their own.The PC also sees an elderly woman and encounters the village doctor.

The party find the PC and  leaves the castle and walks to a manor. Looking through one of the windows, PC sees the man who gave him the package earlier. This old man is suddenly murdered by gunshot. PC is let into the house by servants who rush to the aid of the fallen man but find it too late to save him. The servants have the party stay the night, where the Lord of the manor's youngest daughter, Giséle leads PC to the library where he learns that her sister, Léone is gravely ill. PC and Giséle then see Léone walking outside. They rush to her finding her lying unconscious with fresh bite wounds. They have her carried back up to the manor where PC remembered the parcel given to him. On opening the parcel, PCs  finds the book is about horrific demons called Vampyrs.
The PC's have realized that their in over their heads.
More coming up on Monday!
Random Carpathian Encounter chart 1d10

1. 1d6 brigands and thieves raiding the local villages for slaves and prey for their dark masters
2. A group of traveling nuns looking for a bit of charity. They're armed with pistols and are actually 1st level fighters. 
3. A traveling group of Rom looking to trade goods, herbs, and offering cures for some local diseases. 
4. A minor group of villagers taking their cows and goods to market in the next village. There is a 30% chance of them telling local legends. 
5. A group of small local warriors looking for a comrade whose fallen into the clutches of a vampire. Looking for adventurers to help them willing to pay 10 to 20 silver coins. 
6. A small cunning man willing to ply stories, charms, and some advice. Can cast most 1st level spells with little issue. 
7. A relic trader and  wizard with 1d6 pupils studying the mountain spirits & local small gods 
8. A hidden priest of the mountains calling down spirits from the high places. A second level clerical warrior of the Asra. 
9. A flock of harpies looking for easy victims and able to cast 2nd level wizard spells. 
10. A vampyr looking for his supper. Guess whose it!
    
    

The 1932 Movie 'The Vampyr' as Source Material 
 One of the PC's is named Allan Gray and since their traveling across Romania. 

The plot of this weeks adventure borrows very heavily from The Vampyr  which according to Wiki :

Vampyr (German: Vampyr – Der Traum des Allan Grey, "Vampire: the Dream of Allan Grey"; German pronunciation: [vamˈpiːɐ̯]) is a 1932 French-German horror film directed byDanish director Carl Theodor Dreyer. The film was written by Dreyer and Christen Jul based on elements from J. Sheridan Le Fanu's collection of supernatural stories In a Glass Darkly.

You can see the whole movie here. 

 The Plot according to Wiki: 

On a late evening, Allan Gray arrives at an inn close to the village of Courtempierre where he rents a room to sleep. Gray is awakened suddenly by an old man, entering the room and leaving a square packet on Gray's table with "To be opened upon my death" written on it. Gray takes the package and walks outside finding shadows guiding him to an old castle where he sees several shadows dancing and wandering on their own. Gray also sees an elderly woman and encounters the village doctor. Gray leaves the castle and walks to a manor. Looking through one of the windows, Gray sees the man who gave him the package earlier. This old man is suddenly murdered by gunshot. Gray is let into the house by servants who rush to the aid of the fallen man but find it too late to save him. The servants have Gray stay the night, where the Lord of the manor's youngest daughter, Giséle leads Gray to the library where he learns that her sister, Léone is gravely ill. Gray and Giséle then see Léone walking outside. They rush to her finding her lying unconscious with fresh bite wounds. They have her carried back up to the manor where Gray remembers the parcel given to him. On opening the parcel, Gray finds the book is about horrific demons called Vampyrs.

After reading the book, Gray discovers Léone is a victim of a Vampyr and that the Vampyr also can have humans forced into her submission. The village doctor visits Léone at the manor, and Gray recognizes him as the old man he saw in the castle. The doctor tells Gray that a blood transfusion is needed and Gray offers his blood to save Léone. Exhausted from blood loss, Gray wakes sensing danger, and rushes to Léone, finding the doctor who has just dropped a poison vial from his hand. The doctor flees the manor, as Gray finds that Giséle has gone missing. Gray follows the doctor, finding himself in the castle where he has a vision of himself being buried alive. After waking from this vision, he succeeds in rescuing Giséle while the doctor is able to get away. The old servant of the manor finds Gray's Vampyr book and discovers the way to defeat a Vampyr is with an iron bar through their heart. The servant meets Allan Gray by Marguerite Chopin's grave behind the village Chapel. They open the grave and find the old woman lying there and hammer a large metal bar through her heart, killing her. The village doctor has found refuge in an old mill, but finds himself locked in a chamber where flour sacks are filled. The old servant arrives and activates the mill's machinery, making the Vampyr's associate drown in the flour that comes crashing from above. The curse of the Vampyr is lifted when Léone recovers. Giséle and Gray cross a foggy river outside by boat and find themselves in a brighter clearing.

The PCs have stumbled into a quick two night side adventure which follows the gothic trappings of the Vampyr and the movie is very much infused with the 'Gothic Horror tropes' it seemed a natural. 
More to come!