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CORNISH VAESEN
A C O L L E C T I O N O F C O R N I S H VA E S E N A N D M Y S T E R I E S
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This supplement for Vaesen contains setting information for Cornwall in

the 19th Century, as well as new character archetypes and talents and new
Cornish vaesen from folklore and modern mythology. It also contains three
new mysteries that take place in Cornwall, featuring some of the new vaesen
from this book, as well as those from the core game.
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by JVC Parry

This product was created under license. Vaesen and its logo are trademarks of Fria Ligan AB and Johan Egerkrans. This work contains material that is copyright Fria Ligan AB, Johan

Egerkrans and/or other authors. Such material is used with permission under the Community Content Agreement for Free League Workshop. All other original material in this work is

copyright 2021 by JVC Parry and published under the Community Content Agreement for Free League Workshop.
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 · cornish vaesen ·

CREDITS
Author JVC Parry

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Editor Julia King

Layout Design JVC Parry

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Illustrators Steven Bellshaw
Tallulah Cunningham
Ella Sims

INSPIRATION

Vaesen, by Johan Egerkrans [2017] e

Vaesen: Nordic Horror Roleplaying, by Nils Hintze [2020]
Vaesen: Mythic Britain & Ireland, by Graeme Davis [2021]

Popular Romances of the West of England, by Robert Hunt [1865]

Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Vol. 1, by William Bottrell [1870]
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Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall, Vol. 2, by William Bottrell [1873]
Stories and Folk-Lore of West Cornwall, Third Series, by William Bottrell [1880]
North Cornwall Fairies and Legends, by Enys Tregarthen (Nellie Sloggett) [1906]
Cornwall's Wonderland, by Mabel Quiller Couch [c.1914]
An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures, by Katherine
Briggs [1976]
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Demons, Ghosts and Spectres, by Robert Hunt [1991]

Pixie Folklore and Legends, by Enys Tregarthen (Nellie Sloggett) [reprint. 1995]
Cornish Fairies, by Robert Hunt [1995]
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CONTENTS

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Introduction 3 Hawker’s Cove 35
History of Cornwall 4 Treyarnon Bay 35
Mythic Kernow 5 Confrontation 37
Locations in Cornwall 7 Silver and Gold 37

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Truro 7 Aftermath 37
Falmouth 7 Led Astray 38
Penzance 7 Prelude 38
Background 39
Your Player Character 8 Conflicts 39
Archetypes 8 Invitation 40
Fisher 9 Preparations 40
Miner 10 The Journey 40
Smuggler 11 Arrival 41
Talents 12 Countdown and Catastrophe 41
Cornish Names

Supernatural Creatures
Pobel Vean
Other Creatures
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Places
Heligan Estate
Grampound Gaol
The Rising Sun Inn
Tregarden Down
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Where are the Vaesen? 16 Confrontation 48
Existing Vaesen 17 Aftermath 48
Modern Vaesen 21 Bones of the Earth 49
Bucca 22 Prelude 50
Spriggan 24 Background 50
Conflicts 51
Mysteries 26 Invitation 52
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Blood in the Water 27 Preparations 52

Prelude 28 The Journey 52
Background 28 Arrival 53
Conflicts 28 Countdown and Catastrophe 53
Invitation 29 Places 54
Preparations 29 Market Inn 54
The Journey 29 King Doniert’s Stone 55
Arrival 30 Trethevy Quoit 56
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Countdown and Catastrophe 31 Rev. Berkeley’s House 56

Places 31 The Bonney Cottage 57
St. Petroc’s Church & Chapel 31 The Runnalls Cottage 59
Chirgwin Cottage 32 The Carlyon Cottage 60
Padstow Custom House 34 Confrontation 61
Aftermath 61

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Night had fallen, the full moon shining bright over the misty moor. The fog seemed thickest in the
space between a circle of stones, the ancient Duloe circle, in which it twisted into strange, malig-
nant forms. I lifted my lantern to further illuminate the writhing mists. I wish I never had. I
saw, clear as day, a figure crouched between the stones. To my mind they were half-human, half-
skeleton, clad in prehistoric garb and wearing an enormous lunula; a crescent of bronze worn as a

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necklace. As I gazed, horrified, upon the figure, it 's head lifted and stared at me, dead in the eye.
It 's face was withered and contorted with rage, and before I descended into the dark depths of fear,
I saw that it was cradling a shattered funereal urn. When I stumbled back toward the post where
I'd tethered my horse, I found it had gone. Stolen by a 'night-rider' according to the innkeep at the

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Jolly Sailor. It took me six months to muster the courage to return to the Duloe stone circle.

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INTRODUCTION
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This supplement presents Cornwall, a county in and Ireland, and some similar themes to Mythic
the south west of England, during the 19th cen- Scandinavia. It is a place caught up in the boom
tury as a new and exciting setting for your Vaesen of the industrial revolution, but without the infra-
games. While the new Mythic Britain and Ireland structure that other British counties have. Thus,
expansion covers England, Wales, Scotland, and there is great conflict between the traditional,
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Ireland in a holistic fashion, this supplement dives rural ways of life that Cornish people lived, and the
deep into the specific folklore and traditions of new mechanisation and innovations discovered
Cornwall and presents them for both players and and used in the county. Old traditions specific to
characters. The supplement contains a wealth of Cornwall linger here, but they are being stamped
setting information for 19th century Cornwall, as out by constant pressure from Britain at large, and
well as new archetypes and talents for players, and by Christian clergy who see the old ways as pagan,
new vaesen and mysteries for Game Masters. and perhaps even evil. Despite this, there are
Mythic Kernow (the Cornish name for Corn- pockets that remain. The Cornish belief in pobel
wall, which was once a country in its own right) vean, or The Little People holds firm, as do the
has similar strifes to the rest of Mythic Britain tales of the open ocean brought back from fishers,

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sailors, members of the postal service (who oper- the people of Cornwall live a life of hard work,
ated at sea), smugglers, and wreckers. holding out against the elements. As the harsh
While this chapter highlights the general fea- winds batter the coastlines, they head out in boats
tures and atmosphere of Cornwall in the 19th cen- to fish for pilchards, or crawl down mine shafts in
tury, the idea is that you will create your own ver- search of tin. Those who struggle to make enough

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sion of the county which may not be exactly similar to survive turn to wrecking or smuggling to sup-
to the historical one. There is no need to decide plement their meagre income. To combat this
exactly which year your mysteries take place in, for criminal activity, the Coast Guard has been estab-
example, or precisely which technology has been lished, and Methodist preachers take to the pits

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discovered until you need to. to spread their puritan messages in the hopes of
calming the 'unruly poor'.
The importance of mining to the Cornish

HISTORY OF cannot be understated. With the industrial revo-

lution came the innovation of the steam engine,
CORNWALL which was applied to mining throughout Cornwall,
where some of the richest deposits of copper and
The county of Cornwall is rich in folklore and old tin in Britain are found. Inventors such as Richard
traditions. These distinct beliefs are held by the Trevithick, Sir Humphrey Davy, and William Mur-

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Cornish people who, up until the end of the last
century, were considered to be an entirely different
group from the English, much like the Welsh, Scot-
tish, or Irish. Until around the early 18th century
many Cornish people spoke their own language,
doch made advances that enabled more efficient
mining of these precious resources, though unfor-
tunately little of the wealth made from the mines
made its way into the miners' pockets, and many
suffered or died because of the hard labour. As folk
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but with the King's defeat during the civil war, the flocked to Cornwall to try and make money in the
Cornish identity was fast diminishing, and now, mines, infrastructure such as railways were put in
in the 19th century, very place, but living standards fell as cramped rows of
few speak the native houses are precariously nestled onto the cliffsides.
tongue. However, thanks Those who didn't mine were often fishers or
to the isolated nature of sailors of some sort, perhaps on the Packet ships
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the county, there are many that delivered post throughout Britain and the far
who still fly the Cornish flag flung reaches of the British Empire. Much of this
high. These communities activity was based in Falmouth — whose deep nat-
continue to pass on their ural harbour facilitated traders and shipwrights —
beliefs in witchcraft, The but also in smaller towns like Newlyn.
Little People, and Cornish Later during the 19th century an influx of new
Giants. They continue to artists would arrive in the county, drawn by its
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dance the Furry Dance incredible natural beauty. Artist colonies were
on Flora Day in Helston, established in Newlyn, Lamorna, and St Ives by
and bring out the 'Obby painters who had previously travelled in France,
'Oss in Padstow each and continued their 'plein air' painting, depicting
May Day. the Cornish way of life. Newlyn School was the first,
When they're founded by Walter Langley and later invigorated
not dancing in the by Stanhope Forbes. This mixing pot of the tradi-
streets or capturing tional, industrial, and artistic, of finding beauty in
maidens beneath the harsh character of Cornish life and landscapes,
elaborate costumes, is what gives the place its unique character.

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MYTHIC KERNOW all of whom are eventually slain by one of many

Cornish heroes. Upon these ancient giant-made
Cornwall is a place built on mythical tradition. It is structures King Arthur and his court found home
said to be the land of King Arthur, of giants, and of in the Kindom of Lyonesse, which now lies beneath
diminutive fairy spirits called the pobel vean who the Celtic Sea, and in Tintagel Castle which still
help and hinder Cornish folk as their fickle nature stands proud atop its peninsula, and housed Uther
sees fit. Pushing against these pagan beliefs is the Pendragon before Arthur himself. The sites that
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holy Christian spirit, embodied by St. Piran, who Arthur visited while in Cornwall are places of
is shrouded in myth himself. This patron saint of myth, legend, and folklore, and have many tales
tin miners and the Cornish lends his flag to the attached to them. Slaughterbridge marks the spot
county, as is believed to have originally come from of Arthur and Mordred's last battle, Dozmary Pool
Ireland under strange circumstances. is said to be the resting place of Excalibur, and
Most Cornish folklore suggests that the land- King Arthur's Hall can be found on Bodmin Moor.
scape of their homeland was shaped by giants such Much of the Cornish folklore is informed not
as Cormoran and his wife Cormelian, who are said just by the people's own history, but by that of
to have made the island of Saint Michael's Mount, those who visit its shores. Being at the centre of
or Bolster who fell in love with a canny Saint, the naval industry, with the postal 'Packet' ships as

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