Contents

Introduction

October, 1919. Almost a year has passed since the ending of the Great War, but its scars are still raw. You have received a mysterious summons to the Yorkshire estate of Count Halfdan Selby, a reclusive and eccentric armaments manufacturer famed for his delusions of grandeur and obsession with his dubiously-established norse heritage.

Selby made the news just before the war, when a fabulous treasure trove of viking gold, thought to have been buried with a commander of the Great Heathen Army of 865, was discovered on his land by THE ARCHAEOLOGIST, who had been hired by the Count to inspect a barrow. Soon after its discovery, the gold disappeared and was never found. The initial suspicion of all involved, that it had been stolen by THE ARCHAEOLOGIST herself, was never proven.

For your own reasons, on the dark and stormy night of the 20th of October 1919, you arrive at the gates of Selby Manor; in your pocket is the single gold coin you acquired all those years ago…

The Curse of the Blood Eagle is a murder mystery party game for around 20 people. It revolves around a treasure hunt wherein the guests search for clues and solve the mystery.

⚠️ Note: This has been played once with some ad hoc modifications. Please see the 'errata' section.

The Story

Selby Manor, now an extensively-renovated National Trust property with a nice garden and tearoom, had stood empty for much of the 20th century after the terrible happenings of 1919…

The Great Heathen Army of 865

• In the year 865, the Scandinavian King Ragnar Lodbrok was killed by Ælla, the King of Northumbria, who cast him into a pit of serpents. The slow worms, not being venomous, were in more danger from him than he was from them; nevertheless, he was killed by the fall.
• Vowing revenge, his three sons Halfdan Ragnarsson, Ivar the Boneless and Ubba mounted an invasion of England. They landed at Thanet and were bribed with gold by the people of Kent in exchange for peace. For more than a decade, they marched up and down the British Isles, looting and pillaging. The conquered territories became established as what was known as the Danelaw in 878.
• The size of the Great Heathen Army, as it was known, has been the subject of debate. Despite the name, historians estimate based on the capacity of a Viking ship, that it could have consisted of no more than 1000 men. Yes these men were able to rampage up and down the country.
• Some less reputable sources refer to an object known as the Ring of Multiplicity.. Supposedly this artefact was referenced obliquely in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and gave its owner mystical powers, including the ability to transform base metals into gold, to prolong his life unnaturally, to be in many places at once or even to make phantasmatic copies of living people.
• This is indeed what happened. The three brothers set sail in three ships, with no more than 100 men in total. Halfdan, bearer of the ring, used it to create hundreds of copies of each of them, resulting in an army of 10,000 phantoms. In their terrifying white masks, they raided the monasteries of England.

The BLOOD EAGLE and the Selby Barrow

• Ubba secretly coveted the Ring. One day, he set off with his brothers into the woods near what would become Selby Manor. There, his trusted men waited in ambush, ready to slay his brothers so that he could take it for himself. Yet Ivar and Halfdan were able, through their own cunning or through the power of the Ring, to overcome their attackers. Ubba was captured and his men were slain. Ivar, however, was mortally wounded. For the slaying of Ivar, Ubba was dealt the ultimate punishment. He was taken to the woods, and staked to the ground, where Halfdan implored the gods to curse him forever. Legends tell of the BLOOD EAGLE which burst from his chest and flew away.
• Halfdan raised a barrow in which the remains of his brothers were interred. As weregild for the murder, all the wealth of Ubba’s household was confiscated; this hoard of coins was buried with Ivar. Along with the coins, Halfdan left the Ring – he blamed it for corrupting the heart of his brother. Ubba was interred at the opposite end of the barrow, impaled on a pair of swords.
• The gold is coveted by the angry spirit of Ubba, imprisoned in the form of the BLOOD EAGLE. All who touch it are cursed. The swords impaling Ubba keep his angry spirit in check. But if they are removed, he will come for all who touch his gold.
• The brothers Ivar and Ubba were said to have died much later. This is because they were copied using the Ring. Phantoms created by the Ring are under the control of the ringbearer that created them. Eventually Halfdan Ragnarsson and all of the phantoms had died in battle, and the Ring of Multiplicity passed out of history… Until now!

Halfdan Selby

• Halfdan Selby is an eccentric industrialist who inherited the family textile mill in Bradford, using this fortune to branch out into armaments manufacture. This proved lucrative during the Boer War, and he used the proceeds to purchase Selby Manor, an estate he believed to have previously belonged to his ancestors.
• He is obsessed with his family heritage, believing himself to be descended from a line of Jarls of the Danelaw. He pulled some strings with friends in high places aiming to get himself made an Earl; he had to settle with being a Viscount instead – he goes by Count hoping that nobody will notice.
• His real reason for wanting the Selby Estate is because he has stumbled on esoteric accounts of the Ring of Multiplicity. He believes that if it can be found, he can study it and use it for military purposes. (He also believes it to be rightfully his.) The last location where it was hinted to be was here…

The Incident of 1913

• Selby immediately began searching his lands, discreetly, for Viking burial sites. It was not until several years later, however, that he stumbled upon the entrance to the Selby Barrow. It did not take much poking about to find the Ring. Halfdan pocketed this, along with a gold coin and some interesting swords for good measure, and then contacted the ARCHAEOLOGIST about the barrow.
• The ring proved difficult to master. Selby, of course, immediately put it on, only for it to do nothing. It was just an ordinary gold band.
• It was not until he brought it into contact with the coin he had taken that he started to notice some effect. He was able to make a single phantom copy of himself which lasted for a few minutes. The coin was transmuted into lead. Immediately the night air was pierced by a shriek, and he heard a buffeting sound as if from the wings of some giant bird. Whenever he turned, in the corner of his vision was the image of the BLOOD EAGLE. He knew he had to recover the coins.
• He stole the Selby Hoard and sequestered it in the Manor, dropping hints to implicate the ARCHAEOLOGIST. The angry spirit seemed to have been placated. For now…
• Tentative experiments with ordinary non-cursed gold have allowed Selby to unlock some of the ring’s powers.

Selby Manor During the Great War

• Part of Selby Manor was taken over by the Government during the War and used as a hospital.
• Many people who were stationed there have bloodcurdling stories to tell of the place, though skeptics are inclined to disbelieve them.
• As the years passed, and the Great War only grew the coffers of Selby’s armaments factory, he began to see the BLOOD EAGLE more and more frequently. He knew that some coins were still missing, and that he would have to recover them…

The Mysterious Summons of 1919

• Through whatever means, natural or supernatural, Selby has tracked down all of the bearers of cursed coins, and has issued them with an invitation to his manor. An invitation they can’t refuse…
• The BLOOD EAGLE, the accursed spirit of Ubba, wants to recover all of the coins so that it can free itself and exact revenge on the world.
  • It can only be contained by returning the viking swords to Ubba’s remains.
  • It cannot fully manifest itself in the world without recovering all of the coins, but it can influence people and cause them to experience strange things. It is controlling Halfdan Selby.

Sequence

The scenario proceeds as follows.

Introduction

Instruct the guests to assemble in the dining room at 20:00.

The guests assemble in the dining room at the appointed time. Halfdan Selby is DEAD.

You see before you the body of Halfdan Selby, the man who invited you all here and whom you know only from his image in the newspapers; any previous dealings you might have had with him having been undertaken by his servants. He is slumped at a seat at the table in the grand dining hall, a room as baroque with gothic ornament as the shadowy entrance hall from which you just emerged; the walls, adorned with tapestries and armaments, loom upwards into darkness. Your surroundings are dimly lit by inadequate electric lamplight and from the glow of a fire in the great hearth; the occasional flash of lightning from the storm outside fills the room through enormous stained-glass windows that are hammered by raindrops and which rattle with the blowing gale.

Sound: storm
Sound: fireplace

Treasure Hunt

Out of the corner of your eye, in the shadows, you each occasionally glimpse the face of Selby. Are you imagining it? Or does his spirit yet linger here?

Read out the rules:

• Aim of the game is to search the house for clues
• If you see a padlock on something, that thing is LOCKED. You must not open or move it. Guess where the codes are…
• Notes represent ITEMS. Mostly these are texts, but if you couldn’t logically pick something up then don’t!
• You MIGHT be in possession of valuable information already.

Next to the body is a CLUE. Someone can READ IT OUT to the group.

Clue: The Body of Halfdan Selby
Clue: The Bloody Note

You are locked inside. You have no choice but to search the house and talk to your fellow guests for clues as to your predicament.

Prep

• Hide clues throughout house
• Four locks
  • Locked room A
  • Locked room B
  • Sword 1
  • Sword 2
• Locked room A
  • Sword 1, locked
  • Sword 2, locked
• Locked room B
  • Ubba’s remains
  • The hoard
• Main room
  • Laptop
  • Speaker
  • Lights
  • Suitcase with extra props
• Guests
  • Coin to each guest
  • Provide bird to GAMEKEEPER
  • Pens / paper

Puzzles

Lock 1

Door to the sword room. 2334, note on a scrap of paper.

Lock 2

Door to the hoard. This will be the hardest puzzle.

• Code is in an encrypted message.
• Secret key given by crossword puzzle.
• 9234

Lock 3

• Sword, 1143, BLOD note

Lock 4

• Sword, 3458, as letters ROT13 encoded.

Event: Murder in the Dark

Trigger: The guests open either the door to Ubba’s remains, or to one of the swords.

When it seems around the halfway point has been reached, sound the gong to summon the guests back to the dining room.

Explain what is about to happen

• You must stand facing the wall with a blindfold on (or go somewhere in the house, TBD)
• The lights will go out
• If the killer taps you on the shoulder, wait for the signal, which will be a sound
• At this point, make the most bloodcurdling scream you can! You are dead!

As you enter the dining room, all lights in the house go out. (Turn off the lights.) You find yourselves in complete darkness… One among you senses their moment!

• Tap a couple of people on the shoulder.
• Return to the laptop, and play the sound.
• Dead people die.
• Turn the lights back on.
• Place markers and clues for dead people.

Someone should read the clues.

Dead people accompany me to another room. I will go there and brief them shortly.

The others can continue their search.

Event: The Menacing Phantoms

Trigger: The guests open the door to Ubba’s remains (if they have unlocked a sword) or they unlock a sword (if they have unlocked Ubba’s remains).

The killing should have taken place at around the halfway point or after, when it won’t be long until the end of the mystery.

The dead people should equip themselves with masks and cloaks and run in to menace the other guests!

Event: End

• To contain the angry spirit of the blood eagle, the remains of Ubba must again be impaled upon the swords. This is what Halfdan Selby has been trying to do, when he has been able to resist the influence of the blood eagle.
• To release the angry spirit of the blood eagle, all of the coins must be placed near Ubba’s remains. This is what the blood eagle wants, and what it has been trying to force Halfdan Selby to do

If the curse is broken, the real Halfdan Selby, possessed by the Blood Eagle, is found dead in the dining room next to the original body. He has two parallel wounds in his skull, as if impaled on two swords...

Handouts and clues

Guest Introduction Handout

October, 1919. Almost a year has passed since the ending of the Great War, but its scars are still raw. You have received a mysterious summons to the Yorkshire estate of Count Halfdan Selby, a reclusive and eccentric armaments manufacturer famed for his delusions of grandeur and obsession with his dubiously-established norse heritage.

Selby made the news just before the war, when a fabulous treasure trove of viking gold, thought to have been buried with a commander of the Great Heathen Army of 865, was discovered on his land by THE ARCHAEOLOGIST, who had been hired by the Count to inspect a barrow. Soon after its discovery, the gold disappeared and was never found. The initial suspicion of all involved, that it had been stolen by THE ARCHAEOLOGIST herself, was never proven.

For your own reasons, on the dark and stormy night of the 20th of October 1919, you arrive at the gates of Selby Manor; in your pocket is the single gold coin you acquired all those years ago…

Clues

Each clue should be placed in an envelope and hidden. Some clues are more important than others; special care should be taken arround puzzle dependencies.

Characters

Errata

Things that aren't quite right.

Characters

Characters and clues have been anonymised, so things might look or sound a bit weird.

Source images

I need to go through and check I can actually use various source images, and change things where not.

Crossword

The crossword ended up in a scrambled order. The correct order is (now) annotated on the clue.

Cipher Puzzle

The final cipher puzzle proved to be possible, but too intricate for the party setting. It should be simplified to reduce the number of arithmetic operations you need to get right.

The source code of the script I used to implement it is here:

letters = [chr(ord('a') + i) for i in range(26)]
numbers = [chr(ord('0') + i) for i in range(10)]
punctuation = [" ", ",", ".", "'", "\""]
characters = letters + numbers + punctuation
mapping = {c:i for i, c in enumerate(characters)}
nchar = len(characters)

def l2n(l): return mapping[l]
def n2l(n): return characters[n]

def offset(secret, i):
    return (l2n(secret[i % len(secret)]) % (nchar - 7)) + 3

def rot(text, secret):
    chars = [n2l((l2n(c) + offset(secret, i)) % nchar) for i, c in enumerate(text)]
    mapped = "".join(chars)
    return mapped

def unrot(text, secret):
    chars = [n2l((l2n(c) + (nchar - offset(secret, i))) % nchar) for i, c in enumerate(text)]
    mapped = "".join(chars)
    return mapped

#secret = "f22"
secret = "deadbeef"
print()
print("********")
print("TABLE")
for c in characters:
    print("%s:" % c, l2n(c))
print()
print("********")
print("SECRET=", secret)
print("DIGEST=", "".join([str(offset(secret, i)) for i in range(len(secret))]))
print()

val = rot("the code is 9234", secret)
#val = rot("hello world", secret)
#val = rot("yes", secret)
print("encoded", val)
print("decoded", unrot(val, secret))
print("with bad key 'foobar':", unrot(val, "foobar"))

This is based on the 'rot13' or Caesar cipher, modified such that the value of the rotation for each letter is determined by the corresponding letter in a secret key at the same index.

One problem with this is that only programmers know about the modulus operator, other people aren't used to thinking in this way.

I think a good simplification would be to remove the -7 and +3 from offset(). These were indended to avoid the offset being too small. But I don't think that's really important since the secret key is chosen ahead of time. They aren't really adding anything, and contribute to a lot of error-prone arithmetic.

Missing clues

Some character sheets hint at clues that don't exist. I ran out of time to make them.

Clue formatting

Clues are currently jpegs as this was quickest; clue text should be transcribed and formatted properly.

Unused Ideas

Some things I thought of doing, but did not have time for or couldn't quite figure out.

• During the 'murder in the dark' section, whilst the murders are happening, play a suitably ominous snippet of music.
• Use remote control lights for flashes of lightning
• Use a short throw projector to establish atmosphere, project images of the house, fireplace etc.
• Use a portable record player as a 'gramophone' and pretend to play a recorded message on it.
• 'Sanity' or 'horror' system whereby certain clues become accessible to you after you have sustained sufficient 'psychic damage'
• Scatter speakers throughout the house with spooky sound effects. Use them for a jump scare.
• Have a room in complete darkness with unsettling sounds, a torch and battery can be found somewhere.