Deep Sleep

In Sleep we lie all naked and alone, in Sleep we are united at the heart of night and darkness, and we are strange and beautiful asleep; for we are dying the darkness and we know no death. 

There is a house, an old house that most avoid. Who would break in just to go to sleep? And why isn’t he waking up?

Sleep: Sleeping inside or near the house triggers a dream starting in the basement, unable to escape outside. Sleeping underground makes the dream start where you lay down to rest. When asleep, you are able to see dead people and you have no needs. But you cannot backtrack, you cannot read, you cannot carry possessions. The only way to wake up is to die in the dream.

The house: Made of wood, mostly empty, plain furniture, air smells of wet soil. Furniture have no distinct boundaries with the floor, the walls or each other. Anything that touches something is stuck on it, as if composed of wax that was melted and frozen again.

➤Outside: An inscription carved next to the main door reads:

SEEK NOT FOR REASON OR CAUSE

 FOR CAUSA SUI IS A BLESSING

AND IT RESIDES IN ALL THINGS

Upon closer inspection, the part that says CAUSA SUI is filled with dried blood.

➤Bedroom 1: Ropes tightly tied around the stained bed. The corpse of convict #1 rests deep within the walls.

➤Bedroom 2: Convict #2 lies on the bed, deep in sleep. His flesh is merged with the mattress underneath, looks submerged.

➤Basement: Wooden columns, rock or dirt for walls, solid ground underneath, littered with old and broken stuff, air smells like dirt.

➤The entrance to the corridor that leads to the prison is buried underneath here. It can be dug out with the proper tools.

➤(dream only) The entrance to the corridor is already dug out.

➤The holy symbol is among the junk on the floor. It's easier to spot the more glyphs you've seen. Becomes obvious to spot if you've been told about it.

➤The skeletal remains of the priest, the bride and her unborn rest in the walls.

➤How to explore underground: Check the map on the left for the type of room you are in. What is the room size? That depends on how many rooms you’ve already visited in this go. The size is measured in distance between the entrance and the closest exit. Then,decide if it’s a specific room. Decide if there is a glyph (always painted in red). Decide if an event is going to take place there. Narrate what happens and allow the players to choose their way. Then, follow the appropriate line on the chart on the left to get the type of the next room.

➤Needs: When descending, the characters are going to need four things to survive: sleep, food, water, light. Make up interesting effects for when they lack them.

➤Events: Unexpected happenings that disrupt the characters’ supplies so that it’s more difficult to fulfil their needs. Examples: water feels thicker and has gluey taste; wake up to find bags with food have been opened; earthquake, possessions or characters may fall down.

➤Solution: Using the glyphs, assign the correct letters to each edge on the holy symbol. Each edge corresponds to a direction. When navigating, choose the sequence of directions that correspond to the sequence of letters c-a-u-s-a-s-u-i. For the matter to be laid to rest, the child’s bones need to be exhumed from the basement walls  and then properly buried.

#

km

hh:mm

1

1

00:10

2

2

00:25

3

5

01:00

4

10

02:00

5

17

03:20

6

26

05:15

7

 37

08:00

8

50

10:00

9

65

13:00

10

80

17:00

11

100

20:00

12

125

25:00

...

...

...

➤Holy Symbol: It resembles a cross with one edge bent. Each edge represents a direction and is associated with a set of letters, as depicted on the left.

➤Glyphs: Each represents a projection of the holy symbol to the 2D plane. By combining the information of all of them one can reconstruct the letters that correspond to each edge of the holy symbol.

Prison: 

Stonemasonry, low ceilings, humid, dried stains on the floors and walls, faint smell of chemicals in the air.

➤Room types: ☐ A: Plain corridor. Entrance through uneven stairs carved on rock. Exit through a large wooden door at the end. ☐ B: Square room. Exits through three wooden doors, left, right and straight ahead. ☐ C: Corridor with cells in the left and right. Cell doors are locked tight but can be broken or picked with the right tools. Exits: One of the cells has a spiral staircase leading down; the end of the corridor. ☐ J: Rows upon rows of small square rooms, their walls not reaching to the ceiling, accessible by a small doorway each. Exits: locked door on the opposite side of the entrance; one of the small rooms has a hole on floor. ☐ K: A small balcony standing a few feet over a shallow underground canal of foul-smelling water. The source of the flow is a small round hole surrounded by a thick wall. The canal ends with a deadly waterfall that leads to a large cavern. Exit through another small balcony on the opposite side of the entrance, on your right as you follow the direction of the flow.

➤Specific rooms: ☐ (any B) Dining hall. Rows of large wooden tables, no plates or anything like that on them. ☐ (any C, dream only) Ghost of convict #2 is in the cell with the stairway. He's paranoid, agitated and confused. He tells the story of how he feared that his cellmate had talked to the guards about their escape plan. Quotes: "He did talk, didn't he? That's why they took us back"; "I had to keep him close after we got out, nice and tight, otherwise he'd lead them to me"; "I watched him day and night. He pretended to sleep but I knew better."; "Only after the house took him in for good could I go and rest my weary bones." ☐ (any J) A few of the rooms have torture devices, mostly racks. (dream only) On that rack is the ghost of convict #1. He appears resentful, angry with himself, apathetic. He talks about how one day they took him to the torture room but he was lucky because he fainted quickly and they sent him back. Quotes: "They took out all these teeth with one blow, see? (opens his mouth and points) That knocked me right out."; "Everyone seemed different from that day on. Or maybe I seemed different to them"; "I should have known that my mate was mad when I saw the warning on the door. Did you see it? You have to look really close."; "Follow the red if you must, but the red only cares about itself." ☐ (any K) Instead of water you have a small trickle of a thick liquid

substance. It smells like formaldehyde.

Temple:

Brickworks for walls, marble floors, fainted murals on the walls and ceiling, a constant rhythmic buzz coming from underneath.

➤Room types: ☐ D: Long and windy spiral staircase. No walls or hand railing at the edge. Big fall. At the foot of the stairway is a gigantic circular room. Exits: One directly opposite to the foot of the stairway, one the left and one to the right. ☐ E: Long corridor leading to a small square room. Exits: small hole in the centre of the room with a rope ladder attached that leads down; a door to the left wall as you enter. ☐ F: Big cavern with rows of small stone buildings, like a town. In the centre there is a building that resembles a tower. At the top there is a bell. Exits: tower basement; follow the wall of the cavern on your right and there is an opening. ☐ G: Surroundings change to cave-like. Long passage that leads to a square room. The room is dominated by a large hole that covers almost the entirety of the floor. The hole appears to be what's left of a ruined staircase. Exits: climb down the hole, easier than it looks if you have the right skills and tools; opening opposite to the entrance. ☐ L: Rectangular elongated room. Exits: opposite to the entrance, door on the left. ☐ M: Big square room. Exits: door ahead; door on the right. ☐ N: Winding corridor with tombs on the left and right. At the end there is a fork on the road. Exits: left corridor at the end; right corridor at the end. ☐ O: Long straight corridor leading to a small square room. Exits: two doors, one on the left and one on the right.

➤Specific rooms: ☐ (any M) Rows upon rows of old beds with a rotting mattress each. ☐ (any L) Library. Bookcases filled with old moldy books, rotting away. A few tables. On one of the tables there is a black unnamed book left open. A new chapter starts on that page, titled "Vow of Celibacy". The rest of the page is illegible. There is a bookmark on the book. The marked page is mostly illegible except for one passage that reads: "Once one walks in this cage of order and throws his key away, let him not shout that he wants the choice back. Cursed are those who vow to love the Maker only to abandon him, for they can make no house that will have them." ☐ (any N, dream only) Ghost of the bride walks there, murmuring a lullaby. She seems to be in a mood of sorrowful serenity. She talks about how she is expecting a baby and is waiting for her love. Quotes:

"He said that he would come and take me away and build me a house. I can't remember if he kept his promise any more, I just can't."; "I used to feel his little kicks, but not today, my baby is sleeping now"; "Sometimes I dream of the colour red, I think he wants to come out, but it's not yet the time". ☐ (any E, O) Benches next to the walls. A bare cross-shaped metal object suspended, hanging from the ceiling. Murals are not as fainted as elsewhere: they depict a man surrounded by two snakes, each taking a bite on one of his arms and pulling, tearing him in half. ☐ (any F, dream only) At the top of the prayer is the ghoost of the priest. He seems peaceful and calm. He talks about how he built a house as a safe harbour for himself and his family after leaving a monastic order. Quotes: "The laws of the heart are not below the word of the Maker, otherwise He would have given us no heart."; "It is the red the made the curse and it is the red that wants it lifted. A malevolent but capricious spirit, I love him."; "Did you find my holy symbol? Let it show you your path as it has shown me mine".  

Sanctum:

Same as temple, only the buzz is louder and you can make out that the noise is comprised of the turning sounds of gears and other mechanical parts. The walls are decorated with a mass of linked chains that seem to be moving little by little.

➤Room types: ☐ H: Long corridor that in the middle of which is a crossroads. Exits: a door at the end if you turn left on the crossroads; a door on the right on the crossroads; a door after going straight ahead on the crossroads. ☐ P, Q: Long corridor that leads to a fork. Exits: one corridor on the left  and one on the right.

I: Arched doorway that leads to a chamber with rows upon rows of wheels turning around spinning threads of linked chains. The wheels seem to be operated by levers but there is no one to be seen pulling them. If someone tries to pass the doorway to enter the chamber they are pulled back by an invisible force. Pushing through is painful but if one persists they can power through. If that happens, their silver cord, a bloody linked chain is severed from them, freeing them from this mortal coil and damning them to an eternity turning these wheels. (dead or dream only) The silhouettes of the damned are visible, turning the wheels. Their chanting can be heard: “Pull, pull, to the beds. Pull, pull, to the walls. Pull, pull, underground. Soft earth, underground.