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ree branches claw across thewindow pane, lights flicker as thestorm intensifies, and the windwails like a banshee in the night.The hour of fear is once again uponus, calling us back to the shores ofRavenloft for another terrifyingadventure. Are you ready to enterthe demiplane of dread?

This is an adventure for four tosix players with characters of 1st to3rd level. A good mix of charactersis required to survive the eventswhich unfold herein. A cleric isessential. Further, the party'sexperience levels should total atleast nine.

Be forewarned! TheRAVENLOFT™ campaign setting is no place forthe weak or squeamish. We have done ourutmost to make this adventure suitable forstarting-level characters, but the denizens ofthe demiplane remain ready, willing, and eagerto end heroic careers before they've even had achance to begin. Do you and your players stillwish to continue? Then step forward and enterthe Mists . . .

For the DM

T he material that follows is for the DM only.Players should stop reading now!

As DM, you should read the entireadventure at least once before attempting torun it for your gaming group. The players andtheir characters should enjoy being surprisedand mystified during game play; you shouldnot. You need to know what's happening inorder to best utilize pacing, tension, andmood—the prime elements of any RAVENLOFTadventure. The better you prepare, the betteryou and your players will enjoy the gamingsession.

This is an introductory-level adventure,designed specifically to open the demiplane tonew players, new characters, or both. That

doesn't mean the adventure is a cake walk—farfrom it. If the PCs try to go toe-to-toe with everymenace that awaits them without first findingout all they can and preparing themselvesthoroughly, then feel free to show them theerror of their ways.

Night of the Walking Dead takes place inSouragne (pronounced soo RAW nya), an islanddomain first introduced in the RAVENLOFTboxed set. (See Chapter XII, "Islands of Terror.")Don't reveal this to your players. They shoulddiscover where the adventure takes placethrough the actions of their characters.

Story Background

M arais d'Tarascon is a small village on thesoutheastern edge of Souragne's greatswamp. Pierre Tarascon founded the

village many generations ago to support hisvast plantation (no one can remember exactlyhow old the settlement is, but it has existed atleast two centuries). Today the village is fairlyprosperous, and the Tarascon family still runsthe nearby plantation. But nothing escapes theshadows forever in the demiplane of dread.Recently a darkness has descended uponMarais d' Tarascon.

Until three weeks ago, the Tarasconplantation was administered by Marcel andJean Tarascon, twin brothers and the directdescendants of Pierre. Both brothers wereformally in charge, but it was Jean who spenthis days running the family business. Marcelwas too intrigued with his family's past to offermuch help to Jean. Years ago, Marcel foundPierre Tarascon's tattered journal locked in anold trunk. After reading the journal, Marcelcould not stop thinking of the details within.

Pierre's words painted a picture of the earlydays in Marais d'Tarascon. Moreover, they told ofa strange visitor named Hyskosa, whom Pierrehad befriended. According to Pierre, Hyskosawas a famous Vistani seer whose visions of thefuture were remarkably accurate, especiallysince most gypsy seers were then (as now)

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women. The last entry to mention Hyskosa toldof his most powerful revelation, a presciencecalled the Six Signs. The journal did notdescribe the vision in detail, but Marcel'sforefather did record a tantalizing notation: thatthe Vistani had left behind a scroll on which thevision was recorded. Pierre hid the scroll, butthe journal did not say where.

As years passed, Marcel became increasinglyobsessed with finding that scroll. He was sure itcontained the secrets of power and immortality.The demiplane fueled his obsession, fillingMarcel's dreams with visions of the power hecraved, night after night.

Jean and Marcel had a brother, Luc, nearly15 years younger. (Their mother died givingbirth to him.) Luc was exceedingly devoted toMarcel. A few months ago, Luc joined Marcel inhis quest to find the scroll of Hyskosa. Luccared nothing for power or visions of the future,but he idolized Marcel and wanted to help hisbrother in any way he could. Jean attempted tosway them both. He warned Marcel that hisobsession would lead to nothing but despairand death. Jean did not, however, foresee howtruly horrid the future would become.

Three weeks ago, Luc saw a Vistani wagonparked on a road just outside the village, andhe paid a young gypsy named Valana to tell hisfuture. She recited a cryptic verse which guidedLuc to a hidden passage at the edge of thevillage. The passage led into the old cemetery.Together Luc and Marcel followed the tunnelinto the ancient burial grounds. There, hiddenwithin an above-ground crypt, the two brothersfound the scroll of Hyskosa.

Luc was reading the ancient verses aloudwhen zombies emerged from the shadowsbetween the overgrown burial chambers. As theyoung man watched in horror, the foul undeadstruck down and mutilated his older brother.Luc was shattered. The dreadful scene,combined with the knowledge that he had ledhis brother to his death, drove Luc into atrancelike state. He became what manyinhabitants of Ravenloft call a "lost one." (See

"Men" in the RAVENLOFT™ MonstrousCompendium Appendix.)

As Luc stood helpless in the old cemetery,Jean Tarascon arrived, saving young Luc fromthe zombies. After driving off the undead, Jeanlifted Marcel's mangled form and carried itthrough the cemetery's secret passage. Lucfollowed, but his vacant stare never altered, andhe never let go of the scroll.

Jean took Marcel straight to the villageshaman, who attempted to raise Marcel, butfailed. Jean cried out in pain and left with hisbrother's body. The shaman did not understandthe true outcome of his failure, but Jean did,for his bond with his twin was strong. Instead ofregaining life, Marcel had become an undeadcreature of the foulest sort. Marcel Tarasconhad become a zombie lord!

Jean blamed himself for the fate which hadbefallen Marcel and Luc. He became mad—notin the mindless fashion of his younger brother,but in the way of intelligent fiends whocarefully hide their insanity from others. In histwisted mind, Jean felt he still needed to"protect" his twin from the obsession which ledto this terrible event. (Though Jean knewMarcel was a zombie lord, in his madness hestill felt the scroll would bring Marcel furthermisery.) First, Jean took the scroll from Lucand hid it. Then, when he noticed that the onlywords Luc spoke were twisted versions of theHyskosa scroll, he sent the youth into theswamp. Jean promised to locate the scroll forMarcel, swearing to search for it as long as hedrew breath. Never did he reveal to Marcel thathe had hidden it, nor did he reveal to anyonewhat his brother Marcel had become.

Marcel now resides in the old cemetery, intenton creating undead servants while Jean continuesto search for the scroll. For three weeks Marcelhas used his powers to kill villagers; when theyrise, they become zombies under his control.Though Marcel does not have the scroll, hebelieves that an army of undead will help himtake over this island of terror. (To date, the truelord of Souragne has not intervened.)

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• • • • • • • ; ' • • « • •

The village has to contend with more thanjust Marcel, however. Jean has become amurderer as well as a madman. He takesvictims to the zombie lord as both an offeringand a sign of his growing affection for theundead.

The Hyshosa Scroll

D espite Marcel Tarascon's delusions, thereis no power to be gained by finding theHyskosa scroll. The scroll only portends a

time of terror—a time which is fastapproaching the demiplane of dread.

As noted above, Hyskosa was a Vistani seerwho lived more than two centuries ago. At thepeak of his power, Hyskosa foresaw a cataclysmand the six signs which would mark its coming.He wrote a cryptic and dissonant verse aboutthe signs, and recorded it on many scrolls.Throughout the rest of his life, he left copies inevery domain he visited. The scrolls are oftencalled "The Six Signs" or "The Hex Signs ofHyskosa." Many of the scrolls were destroyed,but a few, like the one in this adventure, stillsurvive. Men of power throughout Ravenlofthave sought to unravel his verse over the years.Some, like Marcel Tarascon, erroneouslybelieve the verse holds the key to untold power.

See page 15 for a copy of Hyskosa's verse.The first paragraph is written in a different stylethan the others. The verse ends abruptlybecause the paper has been torn away. Onlyfive signs remain intact; one is missing.

Each sign has been (or will be) revealed in aseparate RAVENLOFT" adventure. The first signof Hyskosa refers to the Crown of Souls found inFeast of Goblyns. The second sign was revealedin Ship of Horror as the child ghost of CharlotteStern. The third came to pass in Touch of Deathwith the seventh rising of the pharaoh Anhktepot.The fourth sign appears in an adventure set in SriRaji ('93 release). The fifth sign, a lunar eclipsewhich occurs while the dead walk the land, is anevent in this adventure. (The sixth sign will berevealed in another product.)

In Night of the Walking Dead, the scroll ofHyskosa is important because of Marcel'sobsession. While one of the signs does come topass in this adventure, the scroll has no directimpact on the adventure's outcome. Togetherthe signs foretell a future event in Ravenloft,which will be featured in another product.

Aduenture Synopsis

A s the adventure begins, the PCs findthemselves lost in a swamp (presumably inwhatever campaign world they call

"home"). Soon the Mists of Ravenloft transportthem into the eerie swamps of Souragne, wherethey encounter a crocodile, giant frogs, andmysterious Vistani. After days, when in alllikelihood they are feeling hopelessly lost, thePCs happen upon a house on stilts. In the housethey meet Luc Tarascon, a young man in atrancelike state, who has severed his link toreality. The only clue to this youth's identity is abook of poetry that he holds, which bears thefollowing inscription: "To Luc, my belovedbrother." The note is signed "Marcel."

Luc is not completely silent. From time totime, he spouts nonsensical rhymes, which areactually twisted verses from the Hyskosa Scroll.If the PCs leave the little house, Luc followsthem. (He is not completely oblivious to hissurroundings.) If they wait at Luc's house,Shaman Brucian arrives in two days, bringingmore food for the young man, and leadingeveryone back to the village.

During their entire journey through theswamp, a strange storm is building. Eventuallythe PCs reach the small village of Maraisd'Tarascon, just as the storm seems about tobreak. However and whenever they get to thevillage, the PCs arrive in time to witness abizarre funeral procession in the village square.A coffin wrapped in heavy chains is beingcarted toward a nearby cemetery. Though everyvillager seems to be ignoring it, the PCs canclearly hear a noise coming from inside thecoffin, as if someone is trying to get out. The

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village adventure (Part II) has begun.After dealing with the zombie in the

coffin—or watching the coffin be interred—thePCs may try to find someone who knows Luc,or they may decide to ask questions about thestrange burial. The storm continues to threatenas the PCs explore the village and talk to itsinhabitants, but no rain falls. Throughinvestigation, the PCs learn of the strangeevents that have gripped the village in recentweeks. Tales of gruesome murders, mysteriousdisappearances, even word of the walkingdead—all are soon whispered in the PCs' ears.What's worse, someone tries to murder poorLuc (who follows the PCs from place to placelike a faithful hound).

Before long, the PCs should deduce that thetroubles began with the Tarascon family. Bysearching Jean Tarascon's house in the village,the PCs can find the Hyskosa scroll as well asevidence of foul murders. From the localshaman, the PCs can learn of Marcel's deathroughly three weeks earlier. They can evendiscover that many of the recently deceased arebecoming zombies. This portion of theadventure, "Marais d'Tarascon," comes to anend when the PCs encounter the madman andmurderer that Jean Tarascon has become.Snuffed out by the bold player characters,Jean's reign of terror comes to an end.

At this point, the player characters probablythink the worst is over. They have a chance torest and heal. As Part III begins, the stormfinally breaks, battering the village with large,slimy drops of rain. From out of the stormcomes an army of shambling shapes—Marcel'szombies! They seek the scroll and young Luc,both of which happen to be in the PCs' care(provided, of course, the PCs have beensuccessful so far).

As the zombies attack, Luc prattles throughhis verses. He has added a few new lines to therepertoire which by now is familiar to the PCs.Luc finally reveals the clue which led him andMarcel to the secret passage behind thecemetery's hill.

The PCs must enter the old cemetery toconfront Marcel before the entire village isdestroyed. They must deal with zombies, rats,and skeletons to reach the zombie lord's lair inthe ancient Tarascon mausoleum. Can they stopMarcel, or will the PCs be forced to submit tothe zombie lord's will and become members ofhis undead army? To find out, you must bearwitness to the Night of the Walking Dead.

Center

P ages 15 to 18 in the center of this bookletcontain props and references for useduring play. To remove them from the

book, carefully bend the staples open, lift thepages, and then bend the staples back. You maywish to photocopy the Hyskosa scroll and givethe copy to players when their PCs discover thescroll. (Or you may simply show them thatpage, and allow them to copy the text by hand.)Never show the players page 18, the clue sheet.That's your guide to information revealedduring the course of the adventure.

SOURAONE

1 inch = 2.25 miles

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