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

[Prince Charon]

Recently, I was watching a video by Lindybiege about lighting fires - and more importantly, about how they generally didn't light fires: it's apparently very difficult in anything other than ideal circumstances (rather more-so than RPGs have lead me to believe), so what they did was never let their fires go completely out. Even if they did, you mostly had neighbors who you could bum a light from, on the assumption that if they ever needed it, you'd do the same for them.

I'm pretty sure GURPS has rules somewhere for 'carrying glowing embers with you all day so you can light a fire when you arrive at the next camp,' but that's not what I thought of for this thread. Suppose that one night, every fire in the village goes out all at once, and when they search for embers to relight their fires with, they find that all the hearths are stone cold. It's not winter, so this is not a complete disaster, but they still need to get someone to the next village in a bloody great hurry (if there's a castle nearer, of course, that's the first place they'd go, but let's say that the lord of the manor, if any, hasn't got any fires or embers, either). They also go and look to see if anyone is missing, or if any strangers are about, and send runners to outlying farms and such to see if they've got any fire.

Regardless, this is a bigger problem for them than it would seem to us, even if they do have someone who still knows how to get a fire lit without an ember. They know fire, and they know that hearths all going stone cold like that does not happen. They are very scared, and scared people are dangerous, especially if the PCs just got in last night (strangers in the village are likely to be blamed for things suddenly going wrong after they arrive, especially if they're very strange).

Let's say that they get the fires lit, things are normal for a few days, and then it happens again. The local priest (or priests, and/or priestesses) is likely thinking that some deviltry is afoot, everyone is looking for someone to blame, and the local lord wants answers. If it keeps happening, and especially if folk start dying or disappearing, you've got some serious problems.

You could get a pretty good ancient, medieval, or even renaissance horror game starting from here, but what are some other examples of spooky things that don't directly cause damage, but would be more threatening and frightening at lower tech levels - especially things that would actually be more inconvenient and/or scary than we would expect?

EDIT: Important thing I forgot to say about the scenario, the hearths stay stone cold unless actual fire (or a glowing ember, or a red hot piece of iron) is applied to them. Not red hot tin or something, has to be iron.

[David Johnston2]

One thing that witches were particularly noted for is souring milk in their vicinity. (also causing impotence, stillbirths and turning animals vicious)

[starslayer]

While the base concept, all fire in an entire town goes out at once, is interesting enough. I find the basic premise a bit flabbergasting. Starting a fire from nothing, while not the most fun thing in the world, and far more miserable in poor conditions is not hard.

The stick and bow technique is very old, and somewhat reliable. If you can wait to morning glass exists, so sun focusing spheres cab exist. With that said 'borrow a light', or 'carry the embers' were probably great time savers, but the basic premise that most people in the midevil era could not light a fire seems suspect.

[PTTG]

Certainly, the spookiness of the fires all going out at once is the key element here. If the PCs are cursed so that fires won't stay lit in the whole village so long as they're around, then that's annother matter entirely.

On a related note, rot. Wood rotting overnight and iron rusting away after a day in the shed would be a big problem.

Reliably competent people getting confused and lost on familiar roads could be a problem. "We sent Bill to the manor, but he came back hours later and said he got lost and never reached it... It should have taken him only some minutes!"

Metallic, clearly artificial cubes in the hen's eggs -- just small enough to fit in the shells. Not harmful, but how did they get in there? Are the eggs safe to eat? If not, are the chickens? Are the cows?

[Flyndaran]

I get lost very easily. And I have once when going in a straight line from home to school during daylight hours. I wasn't feeling well, but still, it doesn't take severe brain damage to lose one's way that easily. If a not insignificant minority suddenly became like me, that would start a riot.... that would get lost on the way to the local witch's house.

But lots of spooky stories involve chills and cold type aches that remain even when it should be warm. Imagine seeing your breath indoors when it's warm. 2spoopy.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I get lost very easily. And I have once when going in a straight line from home to school during daylight hours. I wasn't feeling well, but still, it doesn't take severe brain damage to lose one's way that easily. If a not insignificant minority suddenly became like me, that would start a riot.... that would get lost on the way to the local witch's house.

Meh. Everyone knows that the fae do that to people a lot - you should carry an iron nail in your pocket to protect yourself, or, on finding yourself inappropriately lost, turn all your clothes inside out to break the spell.

As noted, the sudden staling of bread, spoiling of ale, souring of milk or curdling of butter of cheese can all be symptoms of magic at work.

For more spookiness: general unexpected behaviour by animals, becoming unnaturally fearless or fearful ... or aggressive. All of the villages dogs bark at nothing, or hide indoors refusing to go out, rats and mice go abroad openly in daylight and attack those who interfere with them. Livestock in the fields tries to run away and goes wild, battering itself against fences if penned - sheep attack their shepherds. All the local songbirds vanish.

Plants blooming at the wrong time or season, dying off or growing with unnatural vigour (as per The Colour out of Space).

As already noted, deformed births were often seen as omens as well...

[Christopher R. Rice]

There is a tall tale about candle wax running in spirals when Death is coming close/to claim someone. Also, putting shoes n a table is a sign of Death - perhaps someone's boots keep ending up on a table?

An owl seen during the day is an ill omen in just about every Native American culture there is. Oh, moths flying upside down are a sign of demonic activity. Roses that wilt but for a single petal are said to be in the presence of a geist or similiar violent spirit.

There's a lot you could do. It depends on what you want to adapt and from what sources you want to borrow.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

There's a lot you could do. It depends on what you want to adapt and from what sources you want to borrow.

Lots and lots. Pretty much anything that doesn't happen very often or usually isn't seen when it does is probably already an omen somewhere.

I've personally always liked the mirrors tarnish as an evil omen and things bloom or fruit out of season as a more neutral one - one side of a tree in summer fruit while the other goes winter bare is a fairly common one in stories about the fae.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Ghostdancer

There is a tall tale about candle wax running in spirals when Death is coming close/to claim someone. Also, putting shoes n a table is a sign of Death - perhaps someone's boots keep ending up on a table?
...

I remember an issue with someone struck by lightning waking up to all the household's shoes being lined up from the front door. It turned out that he'd developed a sleep disorder and was doing it himself.

Unusual bouts of sleepwalking would probably be spooky especially to those not experienced with such disorders.
Classic sleep paralysis and accompanying hallucinations/delusions are the most likely real reason for night hags, alien abductions, etc. Even without the visions, it's scary enough to make one a bit phobic about going to bed at night.

[Polydamas]

Firestarters are Low Tech page 35. You can use any appropriate container (pp. 33-34?) to hold a few coals and avoid having to roll to start a fire ... I think a Pyramid article discussed it briefly. Anything from birch-bark to baked clay can work, with some ashes for insulation and to control the flow of air so that the coals don't go out or burn up.

Deformed births also tend to be omens, and a community with lots of stock and no scientific vets or synthetic medicines will have a lot of those.

Many cultures had hearth gods or goddesses like Vesta. If they are offended/driven away/killed by the squid-things from another dimension, problems with the fire should be an early sign.

Originally Posted by starslayer

While the base concept, all fire in an entire town goes out at once, is interesting enough. I find the basic premise a bit flabbergasting. Starting a fire from nothing, while not the most fun thing in the world, and far more miserable in poor conditions is not hard.

The stick and bow technique is very old, and somewhat reliable. If you can wait to morning glass exists, so sun focusing spheres cab exist. With that said 'borrow a light', or 'carry the embers' were probably great time savers, but the basic premise that most people in the midevil era could not light a fire seems suspect.

Burning glasses famously show up in a joke by Aristophanes in the 5th century BCE.

On the other hand, in agrarian societies you can list everything that most people own on one side of a piece of paper, and changes to buy a broad range of goods are infrequent. So if you pawned your firesteel to pay for your wedding, and never learned to make a firebow and stocked some good tinder to dry in the rafters, you may be out of luck as far as tools go.

And remember that the FP cost of friction-based methods are calories in a world where most people don't have enough to eat and you have already lost FP to cold or hunger.