The Curse of Ravenwood

The village of Ravenwood has been plagued by a mysterious series of deaths. Each victim is found with a blackened handprint on their chest, and within three days, they are dead. Whispers of an ancient curse spread through the town, while the local church, under the leadership of Father Gideon, continues to stoke fear among the villagers by accusing witches of causing the blight. Amidst this turmoil, the innkeeper, Mara, has sent out a desperate plea for help after her husband fell victim to the curse. The party arrives in Ravenwood, unaware of the depth of darkness that grips the village, but they soon realize that not everything is as it seems.

As the party begins their investigation, they encounter immediate hostility from the church and its enforcers. Father Gideon, a zealous leader, maintains that the village’s salvation lies in rooting out heretics and witches, yet the deaths continue. The villagers live in fear, too terrified to speak out, while children speak of a mysterious "fun land" they visit at night, a place of sweets and toys, led by a woman who promises them joy. The party is caught between the oppressive church and the strange happenings surrounding the children. Suspicion falls on the church as the true source of the curse, and the players are faced with the challenge of uncovering who or what is really responsible.

The investigation deepens as the party explores Ravenwood, uncovering clues from Mara, Old Tom, and the children, each of whom offers fragments of the truth. They discover that Father Gideon has a dark past—an orphaned tiefling child raised by the previous leader of the church. His connection to the village’s history casts further doubt on his intentions. The party confronts the church and may battle its enforcers, believing them to be the source of the curse. However, their discoveries point them towards an even darker force—the hag who has been manipulating the village children. She has convinced the children to mark villagers with the Blackened Hand, unknowingly sealing their fates.

The party tracks the source of the curse to the Lost Forest of Whispering Fog, where they confront the hag in her decrepit hut. As they approach, they hear the joyful laughter of children that turns into pained cries. The hag, disguised as a beautiful woman, manipulates the children into marking their neighbors, all while promising them a "fun land" that is nothing more than a hallucination induced by psychedelic mushrooms. The party must make difficult moral choices: do they punish the children for their role in the deaths, or do they confront and kill the hag, the true mastermind behind the curse? In an intense battle, the hag reveals her tragic past—a once-kind woman who turned to dark magic after the loss of her child.

With the hag defeated, the curse over Ravenwood begins to lift, but the truth of the village’s history remains hidden from most of its inhabitants. The players may find her diary, revealing that the hag’s lost child might have been Old Tom, though no proof remains. The village begins to recover, but not without scars. Father Gideon, either exposed as a fraud or forced to admit his own failure, loses his grip over the village, though the church’s influence remains in the shadows. The children, free from the hag’s manipulation, begin to return to their normal lives, though the psychological toll on them remains a haunting reminder of the events.

As the party prepares to leave Ravenwood, they are left with a bittersweet feeling. Though the immediate danger has passed, the church takes credit for lifting the curse, and the villagers remain blissfully unaware of the truth. The players are faced with the decision of whether to reveal what truly transpired or let the village cling to its fragile peace. With the mystery of the Blackened Hand resolved, the players move on, but the memories of Ravenwood will stay with them. As they depart, the fog lingers, a silent reminder that some shadows never fully disappear, and the darkness in Ravenwood may yet return.