For the next few weeks I will be playing Matthew John's Sworn by Ghostlight tri-fold solo RPG based on the Ironsworn system. You can find Sworn by Ghostlight on his itch.io site. You can check out the first case log here.
Introducing the Case.
Occult detective Tiberius Romulus Remus has worked for the Mónaþstone Police Department since he was a young man. Now, at age forty-seven, Remus is a veteran detective who has seen everything you can imagine--or he thought he had. When the first murder victim was discovered, it made headlines in the City. Not for the violence of the crime, nor even because of the victim but because there was zero evidence of a murder. No trace, that is, except for an effigy of a young woman carved in charred ebony wood in the left hand of the victim.
Since that night, five other murders have taken place, each with the same MO: no signs of struggle, no killing wound, no trauma of any kind, just the charred ebon wood effigy in the left hand. Tiberius vowed to solve the case, and bring justice to those whose lives were cut tragically short. Every night, as he pours over the case notes, or writes his private logs, the faces of the victims stare up at him, charcoal eyes imploring him to bring rest to their restless souls.
When the scuff of a boot and the sound of paper slipping under his door just after eleven on New Year's Eve, Tiberius knows what has happened without reading the note: the killer has struck again.
Detective Tiberius R. Remus.
Tiberius Remus joined the Mónaþstone Police fresh out of the academy at twenty years old. He quickly proved his deftness as an investigator, and was the youngest person to ever reach the rank of detective in the city. Twenty-seven years into his service, Remus has cracked many mysteries and murders, ranging from the mundane to the supernatural. Very few have been blessed with the ability to understand and follow the trail of creatures who cannot even be seen with the naked eye. Moontouched, they call him. Its a blessing and a curse for Tiberius.
When our story picks up, Tiberius is on a downward spiral. His inability to solve this particular string of murders is a burden. He can almost physically feel the weight of the souls whose lives were cut tragically short pressing down on him. In his sleep, their haunting voices call to him, beseeching him to find their killer and bring them to justice. Try as he might, Tiberius has had little luck in deciphering this case. But he is not the type to give up.
Stats.
Edge | Heart | Iron | Shadow | Wits |
3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
The City of Mónaþstone.
The tri-fold states that the City of Mónaþstone is Victorian-London inspired and is in a world where the moon's cracked surface bleeds Ghostlight onto the surface. This Ghostlight festers as ghosts, necromancy, and undeath.
In my take on the city, I have added a bit of steampunk/future tech that the adventure as written does not specify. Therefore, there are cameras, electric lighting (though much of it is spotty at best), cars, and firearms in this world.
Conclusion.
Sworn By Ghostlight is already shaping up to be an excellent noir detective story. Stay tuned every Tuesday for the newest entry in the Case Log. You can check out Case Log 1 today!
