Mythos Society Guide to New England: Bonus Character - Goodie Hallet, the Witch of Wellfleet!
Maria Hallet, nick-named Goodie, from the common form of address ‘Goodwife’, was neither good nor a wife, at least according to legend.
The art for this post is Witch Time, by Nookiew. His amazing art may be found here.
And you should check out The Mythos Society Guide to New England too!
It is said that Goodie Hallet was an innocent girl until she became the paramour of the famed pirate, Samuel ‘Black’ Bellamy, Captain of the ship ‘Whidah’. One version of the story relates that, when Bellamy betrayed her, Maria sold her soul, and possibly that of her unborn child as well, to the Devil for the power to destroy her former lover. According to some versions of her legend, after drawing their ship to its doom off the coast of Cape Cod, Goodie Hallet raised captain and crew of the ‘Whidah’ as animated corpses to serve her.
It is known that Hallet spent considerable time in Eastham Prison after her child’s death, mad with grief and more, but escaped again and again. The villagers, shocked by her manner and appearance, cast her out, such that she took to living in a wretched hut on the seashore, possibly at Wellfleet, on Cape Cod. There she made pacts with all manner of terrible creatures, acquiring a shape-shifting familiar, and gained the power to called and command the demon whale, such that she might ride in its belly at will.
Hundreds of years after her supposed death, Goodie Hallet is either an undead sorcerer of great power, or one who has sustained her living existence for more than two centuries. Although she is undoubtedly mad, she is not immediately malevolent. A keeper could use her as a terrible enemy to good effect. She might instead be carefully appealed to by those bold enough to risk her wrath, and could prove extremely helpful, both in terms of knowledge and power, which brave or desperate investigators might require. For instance, she might impart some vital clue, Augur the future for them, or even be prevailed upon to carry the investigators in the belly of her pet demon whale to a submarine stronghold of the Deep Ones. If you use the option provided for the demon whale of being an enemy of the Deep Ones, perhaps Goodie Hallet is as well, and will happily see the plans of those inhuman things thwarted for her own ends.
Goodie Hallet
STR 11
CON 16
SIZ 12
INT 17
POW 27
DEX 15
APP 16
EDU 36
SAN 0
HP 14
Damage Bonus: 0
Weapons: Witch’s staff [Enchanted with Enchant Cane] 50%, 1d8 Damage.
Armor Points – 1d10 – Skin Charm.
Skills: Astronomy 30%, Cthulhu Mythos 51%, Fast Talk 60%, Hide 55%. History, 50%, Occult 84%, Persuade 70%, Poisons 55%, Sneak 69%.
Spells – Attract Fish, Augur, Bind Enemy, Black Binding, Blight/ Bless Crop, Breath of the Deep, Bring Haboob, Call Demon Whale, Cast Out Devil, Cause/ Cure Blindness, Command Shark/ Porpoise, Contact Nyarlothotep, Death Spell, Deep Ones Offering, Evil Eye, Dominate, Healing, Implant Fear, Skin Charm, Wrack.
Sanity Loss: Lose 0/1d4 Sanity Points to see Goodie Hallet or her magicks.
Items: In addition to her enchanted staff [which will generally have 3d6+6 POW stored within it] Goodie Hallet will have various powders, poisons, philters, and tokens secreted on her person, as well as a necklace with three different flakes of wizened flesh suspended from them. Each is a Skin Charm Talisman, one for her, one for her familiar, and one for her demon whale.
Goodie Hallet has a number of spells of her own devising:
Deep Ones Offering – [2 Magic Points per person affected] Whether through her service to the Deep Ones, or the Witch ripping this power from them, Goodie Hallet has acquired a secret by which she can temporarily grow gills like a Deep One hybrid. She can call or dismiss them at will on her own body, though she often forgets to bother removing them. Others who ‘benefit’ from the spell might not be so lucky. Each such investigator should make a Luck roll. On a simple failure, the gills remain for several days before they eventually fade of their own accord. On a Fumble, the keeper might rule that they are permanent, or even that they begin the transformation into a Deep One. [SAN loss – 1d4 to caster, and/ or target]
Call Demon Whale – [10 Magic Points] Through a long and arduous ritual conducted on the seashore, and requiring the presence of a large amount blood, or dead or dying creatures [Hallet often uses ‘Attract Fish’ to call a school of mackerel to their doom on shore] the sorcerer can summon a demon whale from the depths. Once it arrives the caster must allow it to consume the offering, then may bargain for a service with a POW. Vs. POW roll. Goodie Hallet has already ‘contracted’ her demon whale to bear her at will. But other services might include sending the creature to terrorize or destroy, or to guard an area of ocean. The demon whale is fully intelligent and capable of reason, and may, if convinced, take on quite complicated instructions [SAN loss – 1d10 to caster, the normal SAN loss for seeing the Demon Whale might also apply to the caster or to witnesses]
Skin Charm – This spell requires a piece of the hide of the creature to be warded, which is pickled in a briny brew, boiled in a black-iron cauldron with diverse horrible ingredients, until it is a tough scaly scrap. So long as the scrap is intact, the charm protects the original owner of the bit of hide from wounds, even critical hits. One protected by the Skin Charm gains 1d10 points of Armor, which is rolled each time the affected creature is struck. This armor stacks with any other protection the affected creature might already possess. In addition, the affected creature may turn a critical hit against it into a normal hit, with a successful POW x3 Check.
The Skin Charm also leaves a terrible scar somewhere on the body, where the piece of hide was cut out. If the charmed scrap of hide is destroyed, the Charm instantly ceases to function. In addition, if the affected creature is struck with a 01% on an attacking die, the attack has struck the scar, which is not protected by the magic of the Charm.
Note: Goodie Hallet’s Demon Whale has been subjected to the Skin Charm and will have an additional 1d10 AP.
Squanit, Goodie Hallet's Familiar
Goodie Hallet’s familiar’s natural shape is a large, scraggly, feral looking black cat with the oblong-pupiled eyes of a goat. It can adopt the form of a black goat or a porpoise, either of which Hallet has on occasion ridden. In any form the familiar is unnaturally strong and vigorous, cantankerous and malevolent. If you wish to play Goodie Hallet as in any way sympathetic, you may use her familiar as the ‘devil on her shoulder’ urging her to terrible things.
Familiar [Squanit, or choose another name to suit your purpose]
STR 16
CON 16
SIZ 2 or 20# [the familiar may change its size at will when in any of its three forms – cat, goat, or porpoise]
INT 9
POW 18
DEX 15
APP 6
HP 16*
Move 8/ Swim 8
Damage Bonus: +1d6#
Weapons: If SIZ 2, damages are then 2, see below [Shapeshifter]
Bite 45% 1d6+ Damage Bonus
Claw 60% 1d4 + Damage Bonus
Rip 85% 2d4 + Damage Bonus
Armor Points 2 AP, +1d10 for Goodie Hallet’s Skin Charm.
Skills: Climb 70%, Hide 85%, Occult 67%, Persuade 70%, Sneak 69%, Swim 95%.
Spells: Alter Shadows at will.
SAN Loss – 0/ 1d3 on seeing Squanit do something unnatural. The familiar can speak in a wheedling, malicious voice, but usually will only condescend to converse with its master.
*The familiar has 16 HP, regardless of SIZ. If it is killed, Goodie Hallet will immediately know, and will lose 2d6 permanent POW as a result.
#Shapeshifter – this creature can take the form of a black cat, a black goat, or a porpoise, at will. If it must fight, it will adopt its full size to attack, then shrink if it must flee or hide. Attack values are assuming it is SIZ 20. If it fights at size 2 for some reason, substitute, 2 damage points for all damages and remove its damage bonus.
Alter Shadows – Squanit can control the depth and position of existing shadows in a room, allowing it to hide, or simply to gow or shrink, deepen or lessen unnaturally.
