Ghostly Hauntings: Martta Kari

CE female human ghost (in life, fighter 6/thief 3/bard 4)

Detecting Martta’s Presence: Appearing as a young lady dressed in a fitted black dress, Martta lingers around the Prying Eyes river tavern. She often leads patrons to an old rickety bridge nearby. When they fall from it—after she possesses them—she leads them to their untimely demise somewhere in the nearby dismal, boggy swampland.

This beautiful, but stern, women wears a fitted black dress, and a white shawl about her slender, bony shoulders. 

Martta Kari performed many times at the Tivoli—a well regarded local theatre. She was also the well-known owner of the Prying Eyes tavern (where she also performed nightly). 

She, however, was secretly working with a gang of river pirates called the Patseys. She passed on information about her customers, many of whom ended up dead in the swamp after the Patseys robbed them.

However, the river gang didn't know the swamp was cursed by an evil warlock, only finding out when their victims’ animate bodies staggered and squelched out from the marsh. In a vicious cycle of violence all the river pirates were soon dead. However, they also returned as undead and used Martta to entice yet more unfortunate creatures to their deaths in the swamp.

Being the adventurous sort, Martta wanted to sell her tavern to new owners and move on. Unfortunately, she made the fatal mistake of seducing a local paladin who was working for the local lord. She accidentally revealed the location of the Patseys hideout. The result was inevitable; she was arrested and sentenced to death. Her body was buried in an unmarked grave close to the inn, but the cursed swamp grew, swallowed up her grave, and awoke her restless, black-hearted spirit.

Personality: Martta always appear willing and able to perform for any character or party that stops for the night or stays until late at the Prying Eyes.  

Mannerisms: Martta always appears charming. She is of great assistance to any evil character staying at the Prying Eyes in the hopes they help her lure yet another group of victims to their doom in the swamp.

Rest in Peace: Martta will rest if she can find a way to dispel the swamp’s ancient curse. Obviously, she needs minions—or willing fools—to help her. Lifting the curse will release her spirit. 

Want More?

The material in this article appears in 20 Things #61: Ghostly Hauntings by Simon Butler and Rikh Hart.

Members of our Patreon campaign got the book free as a thank you for their awesome support. Join today!