Wednesday, September 17, 2008

[Adventure Tropes] Rites of Passage Part II: Menarche

You can avoid this one if you wish, or you can use it to show the importance of rituals and mark a radical cultural difference for the setting , I challenge you to take your PCs where they fear to tread. The best way I know how to put this is summed up by Tvtropes.org No Periods Period.

Menarche (Rite of Passage)
When a girl has her menarche in the town of Far-rough, she is henceforth called a woman. An interpreter of dreams (priest, diviner, witch, or somnomancer) is contacted and will speak to her about her next dream, to help guide her choices about the future. A ritual bathing is preformed at the Ceremonium, where the women of the family scrub the girl all over her body; she then is dressed in blue. Invitations for a party are sent out, during which the girl receives money and special gifts.

Adventure Hook:

The Gift: The mother of the woman ordered a very special gift related to her daughter's dream, it has been stolen, and the Mother asks the PCs who were guests at the party to recover it before the party ends.

Carrie: An uneducated and repressed young girl comes screaming to the PCs seeking their help because she has been stricken by a horrible curse, as her witchery powers also manifest at this time.

Not Rite: A young girl is seen by the PCs throwing away bloody stained sheet, she is uncooperative and eventually tries to flee, the young girl is only covering up her first Menarche so that she does not have to perform the ritual but she knows her family will not respect her wishes.

Moonblood: It is not what you think, because at the height of the party the young girl transforms in to a monster, she is suffering from Curse! (Go nuts use the Monstrous Lycanthrope Template from the Advanced Bestiary or the Totem Curses from Diamondthrone.com).

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