I know I promised the second part of Songseeds for this month, but then I realized it was December and Christmas (and Chanukah, Kwanza etc.) was right around the corner. Thinking a more thematically appropriate column would be in order, I decided to postpone the second installment of Songseeds and go with a short adventure seed. I hope you enjoy it.

Pitch

Taken into the dream world, the heroes must prevent a mad god from robbing the souls of children to power his comeback.

Premise

As humankind advanced, the old gods lost their worshippers and, with them, most of their power. Reduced to shadows of their former selves, most of the ancient pantheons retreated to their home dimensions: Olympus, Asgard, Khem etc.

Some gods lived content in their exile - others... not so much. Case in point: Morpheus, Greek god of dreams. Once master of all of the dream world, Morpheus was now reduced to a simple oniric being living deep into the sleeper realms. True, he was still more powerful than most creatures made of dreamstuff, but still a far cry from his divine self.

This situation led to resentment, which led to anger, which led to hatred, which led to action. Morpheus knew acquiring more worshippers would be too difficult, so he devised a plan to circumvent the need for followers. Instead of waiting for the channeling of a small part of the human soul, he would go straight to the source.

Using the dream subrealms - pocket universes that formed in the dream world in response to humankind's collective unconscious --, Morpheus would lure unsuspecting dreamers and rob them of their souls, adding their essence to himself. And who is easier prey in dreams than children?

Who are the PCs?

The PCs are super-heroes recruited by Maya, Hindu goddess of illusion. The Hindu pantheon still wields a lot of power and Maya sensed what was going on in the dream world. Unable to act directly, she searched for champions who could thwart Morpheus' plans and save the young dreamers.

The characters' soul/spirit/mind is plucked from their sleeping bodies and sent to the dream subrealms where the Greek god is carrying out his devious plan. They show up in their sleepwear (or naked, if that's how they go to bed), so you have an opportunity to play with secret identity exposure and the like. A simple wish to change to their uniforms will be enough to make them appear in place of pajamas.

As far as the default assumption of this adventure, this will be the only dream manipulation the characters will be able to perform. Of course, this assumes your PCs have a regular array of super-abilities, things like super-strength, telepathy, flight etc.

If one of the characters is a dream-themed heroine, you might want to give her some leeway in how she uses her ability, but it can't be too much, otherwise she will overshadow the other PCs. Maybe you can allow her to stunt unrelated powers off her dream one more often during the adventure or in a cheaper way, systemwise.

In all other respects, the characters' super-abilities will work as they do in the real world and the dream subrealms will respond to them as if it were regular terrain.

A nightmarish plan

Morpheus' scheme was quite simple, but required an agent, since the god cannot act directly, both because he wants to conserve power and because a more direct interference would attract attention to the dream world from fellow deities (the little he has done has already alerted Maya, although Morpheus doesn't know that).

The Greek god needed someone who was familiar with the subrealms, physically formidable and had no problem dishing out destruction. It didn't take long for him to locate his recruit: the Big Bad Wolf.

Morpheus revealed to the Wolf that he was a slave of humankind's expectations, condemned to repeat the same actions again and again. The god fanned the flames of hatred in Wolf's mind and easily convinced him to take part in his nightmarish plan.

Wolf was made human (you can have him in wolf or werewolf form, if you want a more fantasy/horror/fairy tale feel) and infused with great power, becoming even more superhuman. Then, he was set loose in the subrealms to engage in a killing spree, ridding these places of their key characters.

Each character that was murdered was substituted by a mara, a dream creature that causes nightmares. The maras became perfect copies of the subrealm characters and when they got close enough to the sleeping children's spirits, devoured them and siphoned off their energy to Wolf, who functioned as a hub.

From him, the energy would go straight to Morpheus - another way to obfuscate his divine participation.

Little piggy, monstrous soul-devouring piggy

The PCs will first arrive in a picturesque subrealm whose main features are three houses: one built out of straw, one out of sticks and one out of bricks. And, of course, there are three little pigs next to them. These are not the "real" ones, they are mara replacements.

If the PCs approach them, the maras will play the part of the three little pigs. Their orders were to devour children, not adults, so they won't make threatening moves on the characters.

During their talk, a child of six or seven will show up in her pajamas. One of the pigs will leave the group to welcome the kid and take her on a "tour" of his house. If the characters object to this, the pigs will try to convince them they are harmless and just want to make the girl happy. If the PCs still object, the maras will abandon all pretense of being pigs and attack the characters.

If the PCs made no objection to the girl entering the pig's house, a few moments later there will be a flash of light from inside the house and the pig will exit it alone. If asked where the girl is, he will say she went back to her world. If the characters don't buy it, the maras will attack.

When attacking, the maras become feral things of claws and fangs that shapeshift out of the way of attacks. They want the PCs' blood and will fight to the death, but if they are taking a licking, they will resort to manipulating the dream stuff to hamper the characters and then move in for the kill.

Grim tales

If these maras are destroyed (they can't be stunned or be put unconscious; when their hits are gone, they disappear), the PCs will be left clueless. Mystical or sensory abilities will reveal an energy signature that can be tracked to another subrealm.

For these other subrealms, you can use any fairy tale or children's book you want: Little Red Riding Hood, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, etc. In all of them, the set up will be the same: the main characters will have been replaced by maras, who will devour the children that arrive and fight the PCs who attempt to stop them.

The idea is that the PCs will probably have another two or three fights before capturing and interrogating a mara. The creature won't exactly be forthcoming with information, but it will rave about the Master, his agent and how he will devour the souls of children and ascend again.

The same ability that detected the energy signature of the mara will identify an etheric connection emanating from the creature - it's the energy conduit that links all maras to Wolf. And it can be followed.

Showdown at the North Pole

Following the conduit will take the PCs to an arctic subrealm where a wooden sign states "Welcome to the North Pole". A few hundred meters away, they can see a nice house close to what seems to be a factory. The door is wide open.

Entering, the characters will find the place completely thrashed. However, what dominates the scene is Wolf holding a bloody Santa aloft by the neck. Wolf will notice the PCs and throw the not so jolly old man aside. He will make some remark about finding new meat and charge the characters.

Wolf is strong, fast and bloodthirsty. He is immune to illusions and has a high enough willpower that mind control will more likely than not fail. He should give the group a run for their money. If you think the battle is going to the PCs' way too easily, throw in a couple of maras.

If Wolf is in danger of being defeated, Morpheus will show up, suck all the energy stored in him and proceed to manipulate the hell out of the subrealm to destroy the PCs. Even without the extra energy, Morpheus is a tough opponent; with the boost, he should be a real challenge to the PCs.

To even the odds a bit, Maya will be able to do one thing for each character once in the battle. This would be like an extra-powerful drama/fate point that can do more than a regular one. Maybe it heals twice more points or ensures complete success of a skill roll.

Aftermath

If the characters win, Morpheus will seem to dissolve and fall into a dark abyss cursing the PCs. Maya will address them through a healed Santa and explain what happened. She will tell them that thanks to their actions, the dream world and the dreamers are safe again.

The subrealms will rebuild themselves and realm characters will be reborn to welcome the visits of the sleeping children. Afterwards, the PCs will wake up with full recollection of the events that transpired in the dream world, although they will seem vague and distant.

If the PCs are killed, however, they will wake up in the real world knowing only that they had a weird and intense dream, but having no memory of details. They won't be able to compare notes, because they don't remember anything.

A few days later, they will hear about several children around the country (and maybe the world) having died in their sleep. A couple of months later, Morpheus will rise as a new major villain in the campaign.

I hope you liked the adventure. It is short and straightforward, so it could probably be played in one night. If you want to extend it, you can add other subrealms, create other agents beside Wolf and make Morpheus' plan more far-reaching than just grabbing children. Maybe he is attacking all dreams! As always, share any comments, suggestion and criticisms on the forum. If you ever run A Dream of Christmas, let me know.

Oh, and Happy Holidays for everyone!