Woses of the Black Wood (1987) is the first of two MERP modules I happened to pick that are set in the same region, Eryn Vorn, a wild forest on the south coast of Eriador, near the mouth of the Brandywine River. In the game (I’ve no idea of Tolkien mentioned the region in his writing), the rough country on the forest outskirts is home to some scant humans with some Welsh cultural flavor. The woods themselves are the refuge of a population of Woses, Middle-earth’s answer to the Medieval idea of the “Wild Man,” hill-dwellers who live an uncivilized life mostly in secret. Then the cape, with its many rocky islands, is the haunt of pirates. As a setting for adventures goes, it's pretty good.
The first scenario is yet another haunting. So many MERP adventures involve spectral figures and what to do about them! This, however, is the first I’ve encountered that involves what I’d consider a typical haunting where the point is to lay the spirits to rest in a somewhat typical, real-world fashion. I have a desire to stick this basic plot in my West Marches campaign to see if the pretty simple real-world solution is naturally obscured or complicated by the fact that it is happening in a fantasy world (the ghosts in question were being tormented by a demon, who was recently released, accidentally, by now-dead dwarven adventurers). I like this one quite a lot.
The first scenario leads into the second: one of the ghosts was tormenting a girl in the settlement who plugged her ears to block out the spectral whispering. Free now of the ghost, it’s discovered she has injured her hearing in a way that only the local hermit herbalist can heal. Unfortunately, the demon from the first scenario has taken up residence in the herbalist’s house and hi-jinx ensue.
That these nicely interlocking mysteries give way to a dungeoncrawl in the third scenario is somewhat disappointing. The dungeon itself is large and dangerous and there are at least three factions — an undead Wose sorceress and her legion, a Wose party exploring the complex with the aim of resettling (most of the group is neutral but they are led by an evil sorceress) and a renegade troll warrior. The mix is interesting and complex, and any confrontations are further complicated by traps and the narrow confines of the dungeon. I just wish it was more like the previous scenarios.
Good maps and Liz Danforth’s illustrations are always a highlight. Angus McBride on the cover. Love the composition and the movement, especially enjoy the carved stone faces (they remind me in the slightest way of Arthur Machen’s “The White People”) but I don’t love the choice of making the Woses look like Neanderthals. I don’t hate it, either, but I think there is maybe a better visual solution.
