Editing DRYH: At The Crossroads - Setting Details (section)

=The Crossroads Nightmares=
==Old Scratch - Pain ?==
Old Scratch appears as a shrewd, dark haired fellow with amber eyes, perfectly white teeth, and a finely groomed goatee. He is always seen in an impeccable white shirt, and matching vest and trousers of dark worsted wool and a fobbed pocket watch at his belly. His black leather shoes shine like glass.

Old Scratch is known as the Dealmaker and is often encountered during the Thirteenth Hour, and he will typically only talk Deals. He wastes little time on anything else. He offers no goods or services, only asks what is desired, then names a price to obtain it. Scratch never fails to fulfill a bargain. But he also never fails to collect its price.

Old Scratch's Pain rating is not known.

==The Devi - Pain 3 [5 At The Crossroads]==
It is rumored there are seven of these temptresses beholden to Old Scratch. They appear in whatever form is most appealing to the one they appear to and ply virtue and vice alike. The Devi are Scratch's collectors and enforcers.

==The Hound Master - Pain 4 [6 At The Crossroads]==
The Hound Master is a tall gaunt man with the image of a skull painted on his dark face and a green glint in his eyes. He always manifests shirtless in a tattered black suit with tails and top hat. Two great Black Dogs accompany him at all times, increasing his effective Pain rating to 6. The Hound Master commands the Black Dogs of Hell and can summon as many as he likes at will.

'''Special:''' The Hound Master has a terrible reputation both in and out of the Mad City. Minor Nightmares will avoid the Hound Master and his Black Dogs, fleeing from his presence for dear life. Lieutenant level Nightmares not directly allied with Old Scratch will viciously and immediately attack him on sight. When being attacked by other Nightmares, the Hound Master's Pain increases by 2 (+ 1 for each additional Nightmare beyond the first) to a maximum Pain rating of 12.

If a major Nightmare attacks the Huntsman, he can blow his Horn to summon Old Scratch himself.

'''The Hound Master's Horn:''' The Huntsman bears a bronze bugle etched about with runes that seem to devour any light that touches them. At need he can blow this horn to summon Old Scratch. It is rumored that his ability to add pain against other Nightmares comes from this Artifact.

==Black Dogs - Pain 2 [3 At The Crossroads]==
Massive black hounds with slavering jaws and glowing green eyes, Black Dogs hunt at the behest of the Hound Master. They can scent guilt and fear and track their prey tirelessly. When they have brought their prey to ground, their Howls call the Hound Master to their location.

==Willow Women - Pain 1 [6 During A Forced Gaze]==
Lithe and flexible and tall, the Willow Women are fair skinned with extremely long limbs and hands and feet and toes and fingers, and their hair drops down all about them in a curtain of fine pale braids, like the hanging branches of the willow tree, hiding their faces and most of their form. The Willow Women will not willingly move aside their braids and look directly on another being and tend to keep their heads down and their faces hidden, but if someone were to part those pale braids, stark black eyes with no color or whites would stare back. Anyone caught in that naked gaze faces Pain 6 in a confrontation that cannot be avoided. In this special encounter all 6s rolled for Pain count towards Madness instead when determining dominance.

Not only do the Willow Women never speak, they have no mouths to do so.

'''Special:''' The Willow Women typically do not engage in conflict, but if defeated they (each) add one madness die to the character's next roll, whatever that roll may be, at which time the Willow Woman passes from existence forever. This die does not count against the total madness dice allowed to a character, but any madness dice that come up six during that roll count as two sixes for the purpose of determining strength. Further, any madness dice in the pool when the Willow Women were defeated do not fall off until the end of the next roll. These dice do count against the character's allowed total since they are his own dice, just hanging around for one more roll.

If other characters added dice to help the main protagonist defeat the Willow Women they share his fate on the subsequent roll as well.


----