For the past half a year, the church bell of a deserted church at the edge of a village has been ringing by itself once every month. At first, the villagers dismissed it as a prank. Yet as the mysterious ringings persisted, they began to worry and naturely suspect the supernatural at work. Too afraid to visit the remote ruins, the villagers sought the help of the adventurers.
- The bell is warded to detect the passing of creatures invisible to the human eyes, such as faeries and demons. A vampire has come to prey upon the villagers; if the adventurers check the nearby woods and settlements, there would be cases of vampirism. However, the vampire has failed so strike in the small village because of the bell; its ringing causes the vampire to withdraw. By understanding the nature of the bell and observing the cases of vampire attacks on the surrounding regions, the adventurers should be able to piece together what is happening.
- After the bells have toiled, an animal, a dog or cow, is often found dead, beheaded and gutted. This may moves on to the death of young children and later, even adults. The murders and the ringing bells are part of a ritual murder which is used to destroy a ward which keeps a powerful vampire-mystic which is being interned over the thick flagstones of the church. After a year of sacrifices, the vampire will be freed. He is preying on the weak-willed, using them to do his bidding; without the presence of any priests of the True Faith to keep the church consecrated, the warding is also gradually losing its power.
- The village sits on the border next to Kurland. In the long past, the village had bountiful harvest and was along a profitable trade route but was often raided by the warrior-tribes from Kurland. The church had a double duty as a look-out post; from its tall towers, a sentry would ring the bell if he would spot a Kurland raiding party. This is now a distant history but the ghosts of the past sentries still linger, ringing the bell whenever raiders from Kurland are spotted. This time round, a couple of Kurland scouts had marked the village as a place for a raid again. The sudden ringing of the bell removed the element of surprise and thinking that the villagers would be ready for them, the raiders retreat. However, soon they may bring a much larger force and discover that the ringing alone would not stop them from a successful pillage.
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