Terror in Timischburg

Terror on the high seas! People are missing along the coast in Rozovka and Inganok in particular. A multitude of threats are being blamed for the disappearances; a pale white Leviathan or sea serpent that is attacking ships and eating people off the decks, aquatic sea devils or Deep Ones swarming on shore at night and stealing into homes along the coast, savage war canoes of the previously isolationist Nizrekh people stealing out from their islands homelands in search of some mysterious portent or omen, and perhaps most feared of all, the rumor of vampire-led raiding parties of pirates, looking to take people back to their darkened capital of Grozavest in Timischburg! Of course, Timischburg denies that there are any vampires in their country. Who will lead the charge to investigate these threats? The Lord-Mayor of Rozovka is even offering letters of marque for brave privateers to defend his people.

<  †  >

The game can be played using either the Shadow of Old Night system (preferred) or the heavily modified "3rd Era" system. In a pinch, I can run this for 5e, but there may be some limitation of the races available, since 5e has all kinds of weird pop fantasy races embedded in its core DNA.

It is expected that the first legs of the game will take place along the coasts of Timischburg and the surrounding area, but may get further afield as the game develops, exploring the wild pirate towns of the Corsair Coast or the savage islands of Nizrekh. Possibly, even the depths of the ocean itself can become a destination for adventure... The themes of a Terror in Timischburg game will be about equally split between swashbuckling seafaring adventure and Gothic horror themes. Timischburg itself is similar to a Medieval analog to the stereotypes of Transylvania; dark and resentful Tarushans in the countryside with Romanian-like names, tall, militant nobles with German or Austrian sounding names, and a pervasive hint that just out of sight, something is wrong and sinister, supernatural forces are manipulating all of these peoples like livestock...

Your characters might all be here with slightly different backgrounds and backstories that tie them to the themes of the game and give you hooks that can come up in play. You can, of course, create your own, or you can look at the following list, pick from it, or at least use it for inspiration.

• The Last Cabin Boy: You were twelve when your merchant vessel was boarded by pirates, and then boarded again by something far worse. Pale nobles with blood-red eyes slaughtered everyone except you. Your captain hid you in a rum cask and died buying you time. Years later, rumors reached you discovered the captain who saved you may have returned as a vampire himself...
• The Dhampir Who Doesn’t Know: You grew up in a sleepy coastal village, always a little bit stronger, faster, and oddly bothered just a bit by bright sunlight. Sometimes you imagine that mirrors sometimes show your reflection a second too late. When raiders attacked, one of them took one look at you and whispered, "The admiral's blood survives." Your father may not have been human.
• The Noble Exile: Your family led a prosperous coastal colony until a rival house accused your mother of consorting with foul necromancy and witchcraft. She was burned. Years later you discovered the accusation was true, but the problem wasn't her. It was your father. And he still sits on your family's throne.
• The Cartographer of Forbidden Seas: You were apprenticed to a master cartographer who made maps for kings, merchants, and explorers. You stole your masters atlas and fled when you discovered an island deliberately erased from every chart. Now shadowy figures seem to follow you wherever you go; you are afraid that someone knows what you have and desperately wants it for himself.
• The Salvager: You make your living diving wrecks, prying gold, relics, and secrets from the ocean floor. Most of what you find is harmless. The last ship you explored should not have been intact after two hundred years. Something inside one of the crates came back with you.
• The Noble’s Disgraced Child: You grew up among velvet, silver, and whispered scandals. Then you learned why your family never hosted dinner before sunset. When you refused to "join the legacy," you fled. Now your kin demand that you return home.
• The Village Survivor: The village you grew up in disappeared in a single night. No fire. No battle. Just silence, empty houses, and blood on snow. You were the only survivor. You've spent your life investigating what happened and why you were spared.
• The Choir Below: Your fishing village sang to the sea every new moon. You thought it was tradition—old songs, old nets, old superstitions. Then one night, you heard the song answered. You were the only one who covered your ears. By morning, half the village had walked calmly into the surf, and the other half acted as though nothing had happened. Now, whenever the tide is high, you can still hear the harmony. Sometimes you even catch yourself humming it.
• The Keeper of the Beacon: Your family maintained a lonely lighthouse on a reef no ship ever willingly approached. Your father taught you that some lights guide sailors, while others keep things away. One stormy night, the beacon went dark for exactly seven minutes, and in that time, three ships vanished. And something knocked from the seaward side of the tower. It still knocks on moonless nights. Your father was turned out by the administration, and you were left to make your own way in the world, but you are no closer to understanding the source of your families failure.

<  †  >

The themes of this campaign will include intrigue,  horror, investigation, and swashbuckling action. Imagine a combination of supernatural horror and fantasy, with no doubt a fair bit of dry gallows humor. Think of traditional fantasy meeting the X-files and Jason Bourne, and that's the right tone. This is not a pre-written campaign, so your choices will drive the direction that it goes, and elements of your character design and background are expected to play an important role.