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The Hollowed Court

Gothic politics, decaying grandeur, ancestral horror

Party: 4–5 characters, level 4|Runtime: 4 hours
Page 1

The Hook

When the old noble house of Valecourt announces a midnight succession feast, half the city arrives to watch the family save its title or finally collapse beneath generations of debt, scandal, and rot. Lady Seraphine Valecourt hires the party as neutral outsiders to keep the peace through the ceremony, but the manor is visibly dying around its guests: plaster sheds like skin, bell ropes ring on their own, and servants whisper that the heir Cassian returned from the family crypt with soil still pressed into the seams of his gloves.

Before the night is over, the players must decide whether Hollowed Court deserves to survive at all.

Adventure Synopsis

Hollowed Court begins as a social pressure cooker and ends as a fight over who gets to define a family's legacy. House Valecourt is nearly ruined. Seraphine believes a clean public succession might preserve the family's estates and the livelihoods still tied to them. Brother Aldren Pike, the priest invited to bless the ceremony, suspects the house's decline is not merely financial: the family mausoleum has been disturbed, funerary offerings have gone missing, and the dead have become restless beneath the manor.

Cassian Valecourt, the prodigal heir, claims he alone can restore the family by invoking “the old obligations” between ruler and ancestor. Cassian is not wholly lying. Weeks ago he broke the seal on the crypt and awakened Chamberlain Merewyn, a once-loyal retainer now sustained as a wight by the vows he died protecting.

The core tension is political, not investigative. Everyone at Hollowed Court wants something legitimate: Seraphine wants survival, Aldren wants truth, Cassian wants strength, and the servants simply want a master who will not abandon them when creditors arrive. The best version of the adventure lets the players decide which values deserve saving.

Quick Reference
Immediate pressureThe succession feast begins in one hour and every faction wants the party before the first toast.
Hidden truthChamberlain Merewyn has bound several ancestors as unwilling enforcers beneath the great hall.
Strong opening imageRainwater drips through a fresco of past rulers while powdered nobles pretend not to notice.
Best use at the tableLean hard into whispered offers, interrupted conversations, and visible signs that the house itself is listening.
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Key NPCs

S

Lady Seraphine Valecourt

Human noble · Mastermind instincts · Matriarch of House Valecourt

Personality

Controlled, elegant, and painfully observant. She speaks as though every sentence is already part of the official record.

Motivation

Preserve the Valecourt lands long enough to negotiate debt relief and keep the surrounding tenants from being stripped for parts by rival houses.

Secret

Seraphine knows the family once relied on ancestor-binding rites during a civil war and deliberately suppressed the record because she believed the practice died out with her grandfather.

Roleplaying Tips

Maintain eye contact until other people look away. Praise competence immediately. When frightened, become even more polite instead of louder.

C

Cassian Valecourt

The prodigal heir

A

Brother Aldren Pike

Dwarf cleric of the grave

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This Is Just a Taste

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The full module continues with two more NPCs, a complete faction map, detailed encounter cards with skill checks and scaling notes, a three-act scene flow, and DM tips for running gothic political intrigue at the table.

Plus two more complete one-shots — The Last Caravan and Tidebreak Caves — in the Starter Pack.

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