Fairyland: Cthulhu Dark just got Darker

In the isolated Scottish village of Cullingstone, a young girl disappears every three years. Soon after, the girls return; emotionless, analytical, and supremely intelligent. Fairyland is a Cthulhu Dark scenario, set in 1890s rural Scotland, and written by Scott Dorward.

Investigators take on characters new to the area and opening a new chapter in their lives, perhaps after a difficult past. Two of them are a couple who have just bought an old farmhouse. They have a daughter, Christobelle. Soon after arriving at their new home, Christobelle’s parents realise she has wandered off, and is nowhere to be found. If they search, they will find an item belonging to her, close to the edge of the nearby forest. And so it begins…

Of course, some players may be extremely vigilant and ensure that Christobelle is prevented from running off. This is fine and doesn’t interfere with the scenario. Events occur in and around the Scottish village of Cullingstone, situated amongst rolling hills, and close by a forest named Hob’s Wood. The locals are polite enough, but wary of strangers. Things are not as they seem, however, as the investigators are sure to find.

There are six locations in the town, and two in the woods. Fairyland uses a sandbox structure with events and descriptions that the GM can use to move the action along or deepen the mystery. Fairyland gives players a lot of agency, and GMs a lot of toys to play with. The locations, NPCs and events that unfold build a sense of mystery and dread in and of themselves, but the scenario provides tools, big and small, to ratchet things up if needed.

If Christobelle runs into the woods, the players are likely to follow and things get weird quite quickly. If she doesn’t, then she starts asking her parents if she can go. But in the meantime, the first day at her new school is, let’s just say, quite eventful. Young Lizzie Erskine tugs on Christobelle’s forearm, bruising it and dislocating her shoulder. The schoolteacher clearly hates and fears Lizzie, despite the fact that she is a brilliant student. So brilliant, in fact, that she can recite all of the books in the school by heart. And if the investigators speak to her, they will find that Lizzie is odd. Decidedly odd. And she’s not the only one.

Investigators being investigators, they will of course nose around and there is a lot to be learned in Cullingstone, but it’s likely to lead to more questions than answers. The villagers are hiding a great secret, but aren’t letting on what it is. They’re afraid of something, but what? All of the questions seem to point to the forest: always in plain sight, but impenetrable to the eye. If the investigators want answers, that is where they will need to go.

Once in the forest, it gradually becomes apparent that the normal rules of time and space do not apply. But that’s not the worst of it…

It’s hard to know how to define Fairyland, except that it’s unorthodox. Those more used to the tamer sort of horror that a game like Call of Cthulhu offers may well find it unpalatable. I, myself do not. Fairyland does feature a typical Mythos threat at the core of the mystery, but that part of the scenario is difficult for the players to penetrate: it is Cthulhu Dark, after all, and player characters are fragile and not designed to last very long. The horror journey players are most likely to experience is a slow burn and centres around psychological horror: the slow-dawning knowledge that something is very, very wrong. Only then does it move toward the more familiar Call of Cthulhu tropes but, even then, manages to put a deliciously disorientating spin on things.

The player character fragility I alluded to earlier does have a solution of sorts in Fairyland: Laudanum. Beloved of the Romantic poet Coleridge (of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner fame), it’s a mix of opium and alcohol, and in the game it stops characters from going insane. It’s also highly addictive, which presents its own problems. But if players are smart, they stand a chance of penetrating Fairyland’s core mystery. And it’s a doozy.

But let’s return to the game and the topic of horror. If Christobelle enters the forest, she comes back changed. If not, the threat of her running into it at the drop of a hat provides the necessary suspense. Any investigators entering the forest will make a highly disturbing discovery, perhaps more than one. The fact that the scenario is premised on the disappearance of children probably gives you an idea the nature of the discoveries. Be assured, however, that the horror is titrated and aimed towards the psychological rather than the gruesome (although there is a bit of that). Be warned, but not alarmed: Fairyland is for mature gamers.

This scenario is probably my all-time favourite. It gives players lots of agency with its sandbox structure, and GMs lots of tools with which to build suspense. It features high-end horror without devolving into gruesomeness or excess. The NPCs are interesting, and have their own motivations, but do not give the game away. If the players want to get to the core of the mystery, they can, but it’s not easy. And if they can’t manage it, the plotline is good enough for the GM to be able to wrap things up nicely in the way these stories should be – with a sting in the tail.

Get Fairyland here, and the Cthulhu Dark rulebook here (both in pdf). Free Cthulhu Dark rules are on catchyourhare.com. Cthulhu Dark hardbacks can be found at All Rolled Up in the UK.

Art by Yorgos Cotronis

Check out the Fairyland actual play podcast by Ain’t Slayed Nobody, featuring Scott Dorward as Keeper.

Looking for something longer? Check out Miskatonic Shoreside Conservatory, a limited campaign for Cthulhu Dark

Looking for some extra scary scenarios to run for Call of Cthulhu? Check out Nameless Horrors or Blackwater Creek

Disclaimers:

1) I used the publisher’s game description in the first paragraph; it was too good to pass up.

2) Yes, I know the title doesn’t make sense given Fairyland was published in 2012, but I couldn’t resist. Mea Culpa.