Campaign Starter: Tales From The Bonecart

Campaign Starter: Tales from the Bonecart

Whether it's due to superstition or a distaste for a toilsome and muddy trade, folk tend to pay little attention to gravediggers. This makes for an awfully convenient cover for your travelling troupe of tombrobbers as they tour around the realm's backroads filling their pockets with mementos purloined from the dead.

Planning adventures for "evil" campaigns can be tough, but sometimes you and your players just want an excuse to get your hands dirty. What better opportunity to get DEEP down in the dirt than to hand out shovels and have them start out as a group of travelling undertakers/thieves?

Setup: A handful of crews have run the bonecart scam over the past several generations, tempering their skullduggerous actions with a bit of honest gravemaking. This dichotomy is no better represented in the current heads of the operation: Dour and hardworking Heliana, who minds the cart's reigns and keeps the crew on track, and the knavish academic Benjamin Eelpot who loves delving into things that should best stay buried. These two have taken the party on for a series of jobs that will likely require a cold heart and a strong stomach, stealing from both the living and the dead and hoping not to get caught in the meantime.

Adventure Hooks:

The party's first outing on the bonecart should be a meat-and-potatoes sort of job, used to set the tone of the campaign, which happens to sound like "Someone old and rich and lonely has died, leaving their house haunted and their valuables unguarded".

While being stewards of the dead is a great cover, it sometimes attracts the wrong sort of attention, such as when a nobleman offers the party a great reward to investigate an abandoned necropolis and the source of the terrifying dreams that haunt him. Gold is gold though, and surely this couldn't have too many long reaching complications for them.

Irony of ironies, Shortly after one of their scores the party is setupon by a group of bandits disguised as dead men, who manage to make off with a good portion of their illgotten gain. There's no way to recover their goods through official channels, so they'll have to do it themselves.

Throughout their early adventures the party will need to avoid the attention of the heavy handed sheriff hired by the local nobility to quietly and brutally dispose of criminals like themselves.

You get a lot of weird jobs being a gravedigger, but "limo service" is not usually one of them. Still, money is money, and when a bloodsoaked countess offers to pay the bonecart well to defend and transport her coffin across the lands so she can attend a gathering of the great and the ghoulish who are they to say no?

Heliana will eventually approach the party once they've gotten enough shared time , experience, and nightmarish close calls under their belts. She's got some personal matters to attend to, which involve a list of names belonging to an old secret society and a series of graves across the countryside that may contain clues to the locations of some great treasure. Its a bolder job then the crew usually pulls, and will draw unwanted attention, but they can rely on eachother to pull through, right?

Art 1 Art 2 Art 3

"Alchemy of Immortality: Unveiling Honore De Balzac's 'The Elixir of Life'"

"The Elixir of Life" by Honore De Balzac, elegantly translated by Clara Bell and James Waring, is a literary elixir that transcends the boundaries of time, weaving together elements of mystery, alchemy, and human desire. This enigmatic work, originally part of Balzac's magnum opus "The Human Comedy," delves into the quest for immortality, blending the ethereal with the tangible in a narrative that both captivates and challenges the reader's perception of life and death. The title itself acts as a beckoning potion, inviting readers to partake in Balzac's exploration of the mystical elixir that promises to unlock the secrets of eternal life.

Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, "The Elixir of Life" follows the protagonist, Don Juan de Manara, as he embarks on a quest for the legendary elixir that promises to confer immortality. The title encapsulates the allure of this mythical substance, resonating with the age-old human desire to conquer mortality. Balzac, through his vivid prose and masterful storytelling, weaves a tapestry that intertwines the mystical and the mundane, challenging readers to ponder the boundaries between reality and the supernatural.

As Don Juan delves into the world of alchemy and esoteric knowledge, the title becomes a metaphor for the elusiveness of the human pursuit of eternal life. Balzac navigates the realms of science, philosophy, and the occult, crafting a narrative that dances on the fringes of possibility and imagination. The title, "The Elixir of Life," becomes a key to unlocking the symbolic layers within the text, inviting readers to decipher the allegorical significance of the elixir as a metaphor for the elusive nature of true fulfillment and meaning in life.

Balzac's exploration of immortality is not confined to the literal quest for a magical potion; it extends into the psychological and emotional realms. The title serves as a guide through the labyrinth of human desires and ambitions, prompting readers to reflect on the nature of their own pursuits and the lengths to which individuals may go in search of fulfillment and transcendence. Balzac, with his keen insight into the human condition, unveils the complexity of the human psyche, making the title a portal into the depths of existential contemplation.

"The Elixir of Life" also delves into the theme of sacrifice and the moral implications of the quest for immortality. The title resonates with the alchemical symbolism of transformation and metamorphosis, suggesting that the pursuit of eternal life requires a profound alteration of one's being. Balzac challenges readers to question the ethical considerations of such a pursuit and to ponder the consequences of tampering with the natural order. The title becomes a moral compass, guiding readers through the ethical dilemmas woven into the fabric of the narrative.

In conclusion, "The Elixir of Life" by Honore De Balzac, translated by Clara Bell and James Waring, is a literary alchemy that invites readers to partake in the quest for immortality, both literal and metaphorical. The title, with its alluring promise of an elixir, encapsulates the essence of Balzac's exploration of the human desire for transcendence and fulfillment. Through rich symbolism, philosophical depth, and intricate storytelling, Balzac invites readers to sip from the chalice of his narrative elixir, challenging them to reflect on the mysteries of life, death, and the eternal quest for meaning.

"The Elixir of Life" by Honore De Balzac is available in Amazon in paperback 12.99$ and hardcover 17.99$ editions.

Number of pages: 76

Language: English

Rating: 9/10

Link of the book!

Review By: King's Cat

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y2kbelly

1 year ago

a philosophy of solitude

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y2kbelly

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y2kbelly

11 months ago

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y2kbelly

11 months ago

when things are not FINE / ma.c.a

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y2kbelly

1 year ago

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y2kbelly

1 year ago

I Think I’m Obsessed With The Mysticism In This Film. So Much Powerful Imagery.

I think I’m obsessed with the mysticism in this film. So much powerful imagery.

I think a lot of it references abrahamic religions. End of times scenarios hold themes of transformation and redemption. However, End Of Evangelion also incorporates heavy usage of the Sefer Yetzirah’s Tree of Life.

The End Of Evangelion (1997) 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン劇場版

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y2kbelly

11 months ago