{"id":50,"date":"2026-10-10T20:39:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-10T20:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=50"},"modified":"2026-10-10T20:39:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-10T20:39:19","slug":"stahlburg","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/stahlburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Stahlburg"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<aside aria-label=\"Dancing Plague chapter index\" style=\"clear:both;float:none;position:static;box-sizing:border-box;width:100%;max-width:100%;margin:0 0 1.5rem;padding:14px;background:#27211e;color:#e8d4a6;border:1px solid #9c804c;border-radius:4px;font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:.9rem;line-height:1.4\"><div style=\"font-size:1.1rem;font-weight:700;color:#e5c27c;margin-bottom:10px\">Adventure Index<\/div><nav style=\"display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(min(100%,210px),1fr));gap:0 12px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=43\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">GM ONLY: Background (spoilers)<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=46\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">Introduction<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=48\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">GM ONLY: Synopsis (spoilers)<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=50\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">1. Stahlburg<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=52\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">2. Rumors and the Raid<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=64\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">3. The Funeral<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=89\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">4. Roadside Ambush<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=92\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">5. Return to Stahlburg<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=97\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">6. Tracing the Order<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=102\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">7. The Laboratory<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=105\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">8. Following the Trail<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=107\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">9. The Suppressed Inquiry<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=108\" style=\"display:block;padding:6px 9px;color:#e2c487;text-decoration:none;border-bottom:1px solid #5a4b39;line-height:1.35;overflow-wrap:anywhere\">10. Final Reckoning<\/a><\/nav><\/aside>\n\n\n\n<nav aria-label=\"Adventure chapter navigation\" style=\"clear:both;display:flex;gap:14px;flex-wrap:wrap;margin:1rem 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=48\">\u2190 Previous chapter<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/\">Home<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=52\">Next chapter \u2192<\/a><\/nav>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-23-2026-07_00_57-AM-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-51\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.4979520187244002;width:542px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-23-2026-07_00_57-AM-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-23-2026-07_00_57-AM-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-23-2026-07_00_57-AM-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ChatGPT-Image-Sep-23-2026-07_00_57-AM.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Arrival in the Afflicted City<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The city of Stahlburg should be placed wherever it best fits the Game Master&#8217;s campaign. It is a prosperous walled city situated along an important trade route, large enough to support several churches, guild houses, markets, and a substantial population but small enough that news travels quickly through its streets. Farms and smaller villages surround the city, although several poor harvests have strained the countryside and driven increasing numbers of displaced families toward Stahlburg&#8217;s walls. Under ordinary circumstances the city would be crowded, noisy, and commercially important. When the characters arrive, it is crowded and noisy for a very different reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The characters hear the music before they reach the city center. Drums beat somewhere beyond the gate, joined intermittently by pipes, bells, and the shouts of a crowd. Inside, normal commerce continues uneasily around scenes that become stranger the farther the characters travel. A woman dances alone beside a shuttered shop while her husband pleads with her to stop. Two men carry an unconscious boy toward a church. A group of children imitates the afflicted until an angry parent drives them away. At a fountain, a priest throws blessed water over a trembling man while several onlookers argue about whether touching him will spread the sickness. Notices posted by the city authorities warn against public disorder, while other notices direct families of the afflicted toward designated gathering places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The largest of these gathering places occupies a public square near the center of Stahlburg. Following the advice of local physicians, the authorities have cleared the square and erected several rough wooden platforms where the afflicted are encouraged to dance. Musicians have been hired to provide a steady rhythm, and attendants stand nearby with buckets of water and cloths for bleeding feet. The stated belief is that the sickness represents an excess within the body that must be exhausted through movement. Whatever the intention, the result is horrific. Some victims dance with frightening energy while others barely remain standing. A few have ropes tied loosely around their waists so attendants can catch them when they fall. Families watch from the edge of the square, uncertain whether they are witnessing medical treatment or an execution conducted one exhausted step at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The characters&#8217; writ from Prelate Anselm Rott grants them access to the officials overseeing the response, but it does not immediately make them welcome. Stahlburg&#8217;s physicians resent outsiders questioning their methods. Some clergy believe the investigation implies that the Church has failed. City officials are primarily concerned with preventing panic and keeping trade moving. Everyone has an explanation for the sickness, and almost none of them agree. Depending upon whom the characters ask, the dancers suffer from corrupted blood, divine punishment, demonic influence, poisoned food, foreign sorcery, or the work of a necromancer said to reside somewhere beyond the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the Characters Know<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At this point, the characters know only what Rott told them. A strange affliction has appeared in Stahlburg, several people have died, and the Church wants its cause determined. They have heard that similar reports may have come from elsewhere in the region, but no reliable connection has yet been established. Nothing in their briefing suggests that particular victims are being targeted, and the characters have no reason to know that the secret Order exists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Game Master should allow the characters to decide how to begin. Most investigations will eventually lead toward five broad avenues: the afflicted themselves, the physicians treating them, the city&#8217;s water supply, rumors concerning a suspected necromancer, and reports of another afflicted settlement. None is intended as the single correct starting point. Information discovered through one avenue should naturally suggest one or more of the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Afflicted<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Examining or questioning victims establishes the basic nature of the sickness. The afflicted remain conscious during at least part of their ordeal and frequently describe an overwhelming need to move. Tremors usually precede the dancing, followed by sweating, confusion, heightened anxiety, and eventually hallucinations. Some victims claim to hear music when none is present. Others describe bells, whispering voices, or indistinct figures watching them from the crowd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Divine or magical examination should produce an important early result: there is no obvious curse upon the victims. Spells or abilities capable of detecting poison, disease, or abnormalities within the body may provide stronger evidence depending upon the rules system being used. The Game Master should reward such abilities without allowing a single spell to solve the entire mystery. Detecting poison establishes <em>what<\/em> is happening to the victims; it does not reveal who poisoned them, how the toxin entered their bodies, or why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A physician or healer who has examined many victims can provide another useful observation. The sickness does not seem to pass predictably between family members. Husbands remain healthy while wives become afflicted. Children drinking and eating beside one another may show completely different symptoms. This argues against ordinary contagion, although the significance may not become apparent until the characters investigate what the victims consumed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Physicians<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stahlburg&#8217;s physicians provide both information and frustration. Their leading theory is that some imbalance within the body is producing unnatural heat and agitation. Their current treatment\u2014encouraging movement until the condition passes\u2014has the support of the city government despite growing evidence that it is making matters worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The physicians can nevertheless provide valuable records. They have names, addresses, approximate onset times, and notes concerning many of the victims. Characters who examine these records can discover that cases are concentrated in several neighborhoods rather than distributed evenly throughout Stahlburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the characters actively compare addresses, onset dates, and sources of food or drink, they may notice an important pattern. Do not volunteer the common factor merely because the party spoke with a physician.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many affected households draw water from the same public wells. This is a reward for examining the records closely, not an automatic discovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This does not immediately prove poisoning. It does, however, give the characters their strongest practical lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Wells<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Stahlburg maintains several public wells and cisterns. Not every one has been contaminated. The affected neighborhoods primarily draw from two wells connected to the outbreak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Close examination reveals traces of an unusual residue around one of them. The substance has largely dissolved, and identifying it should require appropriate alchemical, medical, herbal, or magical expertise. Even without identifying the substance, the characters can determine something important from the pattern of illness: households using these wells have suffered far more cases than those obtaining water elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the characters convince the authorities to close the wells, new cases begin declining. Existing victims do not immediately recover, preventing the discovery from ending the crisis overnight, but the evidence becomes increasingly difficult to dismiss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the characters deliberately investigate the wells and obtain convincing evidence, they may conclude that someone has poisoned Stahlburg. Otherwise, this conclusion waits until the discoveries in Vauclerc and the party&#8217;s return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is an optional early breakthrough earned by testing the water supply; do not reveal it automatically during the first visit. The raid and the news of Vauclerc should provide momentum to travel before the party has solved the cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=48\">Synopsis<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/?page_id=52\">Necromancer, Rumor and Raid<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/\">Home<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adventure Index GM ONLY: Background (spoilers)IntroductionGM ONLY: Synopsis (spoilers)1. Stahlburg2. Rumors and the Raid3. The Funeral4. Roadside Ambush5. Return to Stahlburg6. Tracing the Order7. The Laboratory8. Following the Trail9. The Suppressed Inquiry10.\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"","_aioseop_title":"","_aioseop_description":""},"class_list":["post-50","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261,"href":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50\/revisions\/261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.savevspodcast.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}