[Horror] [Low-Tech] Hearthfires going cold and other Low-Tech spookiness

[fredtheobviouspseudonym]

Originally Posted by Jasonft

Hearthfires going cold and other Low-Tech spookiness

Livestock giving birth to perfectly normal livestock -- of another species. A sheep will deliver a goat. A cow delivers a litter of piglets.

And people think that these odd-borne have special powers. Don't give them any -- it will drive the PCs nuts to think about what's hidden.

Squirrels in the high branches with what appear to be human faces. [From HP Lovecraft.] But when they're shot with bow or hit with stone when they hit the ground they seem perfectly normal.

Faint sounds, such as groans, coming from beneath the earth. [A materialist would simply attribute this to freezing/thawing or minor earth tremors. An early Low Tech person might consider demons.] [Also Lovecraft.]

A peddler comes through the ville. He seems perfectly normal as do his products -- but some, which he offers only when one and no more of the villagers are . . . special. Magic beans that produce no avenue to giants but lots of oddly colored fruit -- very tasty. Perhaps . . . too tasty. A folding knife that never gets dull -- as long as you feed it with blood once a week. Animal blood . . . at least to start with. A hair ribbon that makes the owner irresistible to the opposite sex. At least the wearer thinks so.

Just a few coppers a purchase, and an X-signature on a piece of paper with some writing on it. "Nothing important . . . a mere formality. You'll never miss it -- excuse me, I meant to say something else."