vanity-delve/samples/pale-tally-737.md

THE VAULT OF THE SILENT MARGRAVE

nothing here is allowed to change, including you.

VANITY · Barrow · Depth 2 · 4 heroes · 6 areas + an authored ending Seed pale-tally-737 · generator 0.1.0 · catalog barrow@1

Skeleton seed, not a replay seed. It reproduces the fiction, the area order, the heat and the hoard tiers. It does not reproduce encounter composition, mood or hoard contents — those come from the Forge, which is not seeded.

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The truth (GM only)

The Vault of the Silent Margrave. The Silent Margrave bought the young from those with nothing left, so that nothing would ever age. The Silent Margrave is old now, and cannot bear it. The prize is a sealed jar holding one good year — the only thing here that has not aged. The Silent Host are still performing the ritual they were buried for; they are handled by courtesy. The motif is keeping, and the danger is preservation: nothing here is allowed to change, including you.

They will ask you: "Tell me I have not changed."

Pressure

• The clock. Roll 1d6 on a trigger, or every 3 Turns. 1 or under — something comes. Telegraph one Turn ahead.
• Triggers this delve: disturbed · lingering · seenTwice
• The tab. Target 5 Banes by the ending. Banes are offered by named beats, never hoped for.
• The danger is preservation: nothing here is allowed to change, including you.

The way through — the appeasement

Anyone may tell it that it has not changed. [VANITY: Flair — 2 successes] On success it hears that nothing has aged, and The Silent Host will not open hostilities first. Cost: +1 Vanity now, +1 Bane on the tab. Shine now, bill later. Repeatable in every area. Say the Bane aloud when it banks — the table must be able to see the route is open.

Factions

• The Silent Host (undead) — still performing the ritual they were buried for. Handled by courtesy.
• the Barrow-Wardens (undead) — sealed this place and stayed to make sure. Handled by proof of right.

Planned fights: 3 of 6 areas · base heat fight

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AREA 1 — The Mourners' Steps

approach · institution

Lamps trimmed and filled, all of them. A seal broken and the contents already spoiled. Two of the Host — repairing something that is not damaged. When you walk in, they set the work down and wait for inspection. None of it is accident — it was done this way on purpose.

GM. The standing order was to maintain, and there is nothing left to maintain. This is how the place was ordered, and it still is. They can: find them a genuine fault and they will fix a door you cannot. [Flair 2: tell it that it has not changed] also works here, as everywhere. Looking closer: [Observation — 1 success] buys who did it, and roughly when

A room you can search, or leave exactly as you found it. searching disturbs a preservation three centuries old — roll the clock. [Wits 2] → you search without disturbing the arrangement Miss → the preservation breaks: roll the clock, and something here begins to rot Or leave it exactly as found: nothing gained, nothing woken.

trigger: disturbed · bane beat: noticing · fallback: The Silent Host will receive anyone who behaves as a guest (one Bane on the tab, and they will expect it again) · if skipped: move its cue fragment into the next area so the motif still completes.

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AREA 2 — The Attendants' Row

complication · ritual · fight · cache

A meal laid out, still warm, for people long past eating. One preserved thing removed, leaving a clean shape in the dust. One of the Host — trimming a lamp that has never gone out. When you walk in, it will not stop, and speaks without looking up. None of it is accident — it was done this way on purpose.

GM. The task is what has kept it from ending. The office is still being performed, for someone who is no longer served by it. They can: take the task from it, and it will finally rest — and tell you something first. [Flair 2: tell it that it has not changed] also works here, as everywhere. Looking closer: [Observation — 1 success] buys who did it, and roughly when

A bed, made, and a body-shaped hollow that has not filled in. lie in it and you rest fully; you also stop, and the barrow prefers that. [Wits 1] → you see what the hollow is for and rest without lying in it — regain Grit, lose a Turn Miss → someone lies in it: they rest fully, and the barrow now counts them among what it keeps Or press on tired: no rest, no cost, no attention.

Fight — 1 Ghoul and 2 Skeletons. Harmed by anything. the Ghoul goes for court dress first — send someone plain.

Foe	atk	def	Grit	Nerve
1× Ghoul	4	3	4	5	on a hit, a free Called Shot to freeze for a round
2× Skeleton	3	2	1	5	fearless

Cache hoard. Flower — a flower that has not wilted: once, halt a condition where it stands. Take it free; using it costs +1 Bane on the tab; while you carry it, it also halts something you wanted to finish.

trigger: lingering · bane beat: relicUse · fallback: The Silent Host will receive anyone who behaves as a guest (one Bane on the tab, and they will expect it again) · if skipped: move its cue fragment into the next area so the motif still completes.

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AREA 3 — The Lesser Vault

complication · ritual · fight · cache

A clock wound by somebody, recently. A fire built recently, of furniture that was three centuries old. Something young — waiting, exactly as instructed, and has been. When you walk in, it asks whether it is allowed to stop now. None of it is accident — it was done this way on purpose.

GM. Nobody ever came back to release it. The office is still being performed, for someone who is no longer served by it. They can: release it, and it gives you what it was guarding. [Flair 2: tell it that it has not changed] also works here, as everywhere. Looking closer: [Observation — 1 success] buys who did it, and roughly when

A door held shut by nothing but the fact it has never been opened. open it and something that had not changed, changes. [Brawn 2] → you move it and it survives, just Miss → it does not survive, and the barrow notices what you cost it: +1 Bane Or squeeze past: one Turn and some skin.

Fight — 1 Ghoul and 2 Skeletons. Harmed by anything. the Ghoul goes for court dress first — send someone plain.

Foe	atk	def	Grit	Nerve
1× Ghoul	4	3	4	5	on a hit, a free Called Shot to freeze for a round
2× Skeleton	3	2	1	5	fearless

Cache hoard. Lamp — a lamp still burning on three-century-old oil: light that never gutters. Take it free; using it costs +1 Bane on the tab; while you carry it, nothing near it changes, including wounds you want to heal.

trigger: lingering · bane beat: relicUse · fallback: The Silent Host will receive anyone who behaves as a guest (one Bane on the tab, and they will expect it again) · if skipped: move its cue fragment into the next area so the motif still completes.

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AREA 4 — The Crossing

turn · demand · pocket

A room that resets itself if you look away. A clock stopped by hand — the pendulum caught and tied. A living robber, badly hurt — refusing to bleed, and frightened by it. When you walk in, they grab you and ask what is wrong with them. None of it is accident — it was done this way on purpose.

GM. The barrow has begun keeping them too. Here the want is explicit — the place asks something of whoever enters. They can: carry them out and the wound resumes; leave them and they stay perfect. [Flair 2: tell it that it has not changed] also works here, as everywhere. Looking closer: [Observation — 1 success] buys who did it, and roughly when

A preserved thing blocking the way, which will not survive being moved. move it and something here ends; leave it and lose a Turn. [Wits 1] → you open it having understood what changes Miss → something that had not changed, changes, and it was holding something back Or leave it shut; the way on is longer.

Pocket hoard. Shoes — a child's shoes, unworn, in your size: you do not tire; ignore fatigue for a scene. Take it free; using it costs +1 Bane on the tab; while you carry it, you have stopped ageing, and it shows in the wrong light.

trigger: lingering · bane beat: flattery · fallback: The Silent Host will receive anyone who behaves as a guest (one Bane on the tab, and they will expect it again) · if skipped: move its cue fragment into the next area so the motif still completes.

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AREA 5 — The Servants' Deep

descent · wound

Something kept so well it has forgotten how to end. Rot, in exactly one place, spreading. The room — undoing your presence, footprints filling behind you, dust returning. When you walk in, it works faster. None of it is accident — it was done this way on purpose.

GM. Nothing here is permitted to change, including evidence of you. This is the damage the want did to those who had to satisfy it. They can: leave something deliberately and see whether it is allowed to remain. [Flair 2: tell it that it has not changed] also works here, as everywhere. Looking closer: [Observation — 1 success] buys who did it, and roughly when

A sealed jar, and a way on that needs what is inside. breaking the seal spends the year it holds, in front of you. [Poise 2] → you break the seal cleanly and spend the year deliberately Miss → the year escapes all at once, in front of everyone: +1 Bane Or find another way: one Turn.

trigger: seenTwice · bane beat: relicUse · fallback: The Silent Host will receive anyone who behaves as a guest (one Bane on the tab, and they will expect it again) · if skipped: move its cue fragment into the next area so the motif still completes.

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AREA 6 — The Quiet Room

threshold · anchor · battle · chest

A casket sized for something smaller than a body. Something here has been eaten, which should not be possible. Two of the Host — setting a table for a meal that is always about to happen. When you walk in, they lay two more places. None of it is accident — it was done this way on purpose.

GM. The household was told to expect guests, and does. The thing the whole barrow is arranged around is close. They can: sit and eat — full restoration, and the barrow adds you to its inventory. [Flair 2: tell it that it has not changed] also works here, as everywhere. Looking closer: [Observation — 1 success] buys who did it, and roughly when

Food and water laid out, still good. eating restores you fully and the barrow adds you to what it keeps. [Poise 1] → you eat and are restored entirely Miss → you are restored, and the barrow has added you to what it keeps: +1 Bane Or do not eat; you keep your Grit as it is.

Battle — 1 Wraith and 3 Skeletons. Harmed by blessed, silvered or magical weapons ONLY — say so before initiative. it will take an appeasement over a fight every time.

Foe	atk	def	Grit	Nerve
1× Wraith	5	3	10	5	INCORPOREAL — chill touch ignores armour and drains 1 max Grit
3× Skeleton	3	2	1	5	fearless

Chest hoard. Jar — a sealed jar holding one good year: open it to undo a wound entirely, once. Take it free; using it costs +2 Banes on the tab; while you carry it, the year is spent in front of everyone, visibly.

trigger: seenTwice · bane beat: refusal · fallback: The Silent Host will receive anyone who behaves as a guest (one Bane on the tab, and they will expect it again) · if skipped: the ending opens with them holding nothing the bottom problem wants.

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ENDING — The Audience

⟨ AUTHORED SLOT — this is the seam ⟩

Areas 1–6 are what DELVE generates. This is what it hands over.

Cue — fragments

• jars along the wall, each holding a single year

The Silent Margrave — is old now, and cannot bear it. Wants: never to age. Handled by giving them what they want, at a price.

They open by asking: "Tell me I have not changed."

Party's route	The audience
Appeased it even once (tell it that it has not changed)	It listens. It will trade a sealed jar holding one good year for the real thing, done to its face. [VANITY: Flair — 2] or take Rattled.
Refused throughout, tab under 4	It offers a Vice — take the shine, bank the bill. Refusing starts the fight.
Carrying a sealed jar holding one good year	It wants that more than it wants you.
Fighting	Winnable by two engaged heroes. Name what harms it before initiative.

Before initiative, always say what can hurt it. Playtest 1 was unwinnable because the table discovered the immunity by failing.

Trigger glossary

• announced — entered somewhere grandly — the big doors, a shout, a herald
• seenTwice — reflected, echoed or witnessed twice over in one place
• loud — a raised voice, a broken door, steel on stone
• lingering — stayed in one place longer than it takes to search it
• disturbed — struck or moved something that had not moved in centuries

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Generated by DELVE for the VANITY RPG.