(painting of the Latvian impersonation of Death - Nāve meaning "Death", by Janis Rozentāls)
1. What is the encounter?
The players encounter Death, wandering around in the wilderness, trying to find some souls to take to the land of the dead. It my own world Death is also the god of the wilderness and sometimes called "Wolos", which I took from Slavic mythology, and therefore an encounter with Death in the woods or out in the wilderness would actually make a lot of sense, and you could perhaps do the same thing in your own world.
2. What are the first perceivable clues the encounter is coming?
As the characters are walking, every living thing around them has greyed and grown withered. Above them the sky is a melange of darks and blood reds. The ground below them is charred and ash black. As they walk they grow older and older and their hair starts to grow grey.
3. What is the first event of interaction with the encounter?
After a while of walking the characters finally encounter Death who is sitting on a rock, eyes closed and thinking, waiting for them. As the characters approach Death opens his red eyes and stares at them without speaking. Death never breaks the silence until several moments have passed, however if a character speaks Death will respond to the character. Death will tell them that they are due to die unless they can win at a game of their choosing. Only one character can participate in the match.
4. What is the fall out if they players fail?
If the character lose then the whole party will be sent down to the underworld. They might be able to try to bargain for their life with Death if the lose, or try to bribe him. Death will certainly accept if the characters offer to serve Death for the rest of their life in servitude.
5. What is the reward if the players triumph?
The characters get to live and they get to level up. Plus, they get to tell everyone that they won against Death. Once they win, Death will disappear and return to the land of the dead, and only be allowed to go out soul hunting after a week has passed. Additionally, the characters will return to their original ages when they set out and to prove their encounter with Death to other they each get a silver ring with a skull on it.
6. You do you!
There is a poem about Death and his encounters with people.
Death walks
Around him
Flowers wilt and wither
They grey and die
Crawling critters slowly stop their work
They fall on their backs
They grey and die
And proud, tall trees
They too wilt and wither
They too grey and die
When Death walks
The ground beneath him cracks and blackens
And the birds stop singing and fall from trees
And they stop their chittering and chatting
When Death walks.
A man walks in the forest
On Death's cracked, blackened path
Around flowers have wilted and have withered
They have greyed and died
Crawling critters have slowly stopped their work
They have fallen on their backs
They have greyed and died
And proud, tall trees
They too have wilted and withered
They too have greyed and died
On Death's cracked, blackened path
The ground beneath has cracked and blackened
And the birds have fallen silent
And they have stopped their chittering and chatting
On Death's cracked, blackened path.
One step
Two steps
Three steps
Death walks
The man walks
On the cracked and blackened path.
One step
Two steps
Three steps
Around them all has wilted and withered
And on the cracked and blackened path they both walk.
One step
Two steps
Three steps
Before the man is Death
His red eyes wide open
Staring
And Death has caught his soul
And the man has caught his death.
