Precariously perched on the bridge’s stone railing, Niómë peered through the window, the way she did most nights. “Tell the story with the Prince again”, she whispered, impatiently tapping the stone wall with one of her numerous appendages. Inside the house, the elderly woman sat down to tell the nighttime story to the assembled children. They all stared at their foster mother with vacant eyes, and really the story was wasted on the pitiful creatures. Their little souls had been sucked dry, and Niómë knew by whom, and that was just as it was.
Niómë herself, however, could well appreciate the stories, and here she learned all she could about the world beyond the murky waters of the canals, in which she lived with her brothers and sisters; learned all the things her mother had no time or inclination to teach her. Here she learned all about wolves, and witches, and best of all: princes.
Meet Niómë, one of the monsters in Serenissima Obscura. Niómë is a creature from the Venetian lagoon, with the upper body of a young woman and a lower body made of massive tentacles. She is a thing of nightmares that will snatch you from your bed and drag you into the canal. She is evil and completely crazy. But she is also a loving daughter and sister, who has dreams and wishes, who thinks and feels. She is a person, someone you will pity, if you see past her sharp teeth and murderous ways. Being so incredibly pathetic makes her even more horrifying.
Andreas and I have been developing RPG settings and adventures for ages, many of them rather dark or dramatic. In Serenissima Obscura, we create true terror by combining suspense, as well as horrific and eerie phenomena with actual danger. We also offer ideas on how to create a scary mood by using the environment effectively. But what we love most is our monsters and foes.
We very much enjoy creating backstories for even the lowliest creature in the shadows. We just find a monster with a set of motives and a history so much more interesting. It turns the creature into a character and incites the most vivid roleplay. As a GM impersonating such a being, you might not just attack the group, but will want to interact in some way. Or give the players the opportunity to witness the fiend in its normal habitat. By that, you can invoke nasty moral dilemmas within the adventurers. We know that in the end, it is „kill or be killed“, but a pitiable monster might make them stop and think for a moment: Is this poor wretch redeemable? Could this have been me, had I been born differently? Do I kill it instantly, or can I change it? Is it vile to slay such a poor creature? By making the characters relate to evil, they come to question themselves.
Ok, maybe your players are not into such psychological aspects of roleplaying and they will just be disgusted by Niómë.
So let’s talk about of the presentation of evil itself. The horror of any situation is strongly intensified, by making the monster more humane. Just remember the „Silence of the Lambs“: „Buffalo Bill“ Gump becomes so much more frightening as you watch him put on his makeup, talk to himself and give his victim something to eat. His insanity makes him unpredictable and heightens the suspension. Perhaps he will not kill the girl after all! And Hannibal Lecter himself! The striking contrast between what you know about him (eats his victims) and how he acts (polite and educated) makes you fear him most. If those two were just nameless and speechless murderers jumping out of the dark, the entire movie would have much less scary. Right?
Anyway. Serenissima Obscura will be full of fearsome situations and horrible creatures. You can use them in any way you like. If you just want to throw them at the characters for a good old fight, that’s fine too. We just want to give you as many options as possible.
To come to an end, let us get back to the lovely Niómë:
It was still dark in the narrow streets of San Polo, even though Pio Briani could sense the weight of night being lifted from the city. The moonlight provided little illumination, but then again Pio knew the way quite well. Turning towards the Campo San Polo, he heard that strange whisper again, just like the previous night: “My Prince”. He turned, panicked for some reason, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He made sure he wasn’t standing too close to the small canal at his back, and tried to see if there was anyone hiding in the shadows between the buildings. The last thing he heard before he was suddenly seized and dragged into the water was a wet scrabbling behind him, and the last thing he saw in a dim beam of moonlight before he lost consciousness in the icy water was a nightmarish face with a smile full of needle teeth mouthing “My Prince”.
Credits:
Blog by Melina Sedó
Vignette of Niómë by Andreas Wichter
Illustration by Simone Tammetta