Old Gods of Appalachia Special Delivery
Granny Amburgey, as most people called her, took in children than no church home or orphanage would. If you had a young'un that couldn't stop hitting the others, or cried all night, or spoke in a tongue that no man has ever spoken, that made the fires burn low and the milk turn sour, you called on Granny Amburgey. If you had a little girl who had seen the worst that man or god could offer and didn't talk no more, who sat all silent and scared all day long and who only made a sound when the moon fell new and her shape and shadow changed to something massive filled with teeth and eyes and vengeance, well then you called Granny Amburgey. She'd come in her wagon (or later on in her long white sedan), pick the child up and carry them off to the Devil's Cradle out between Hardbuckle and the Virginia state line, and you wouldn't hear another word about or from them.
—Season 3, Episode 46: Lay Not Upon Us Innocent Blood
"So you're telling us that three of Granny Amburgey's older children—children everybody would just as soon not remember are out here—are just off on their own, in the woods, around Lost Mountain where anything could happen to them?" —Season 3, Episode 46: Lay Not Upon Us Innocent Blood
With Greta Amburgey's death, the young folks with strange gifts and curses she'd fostered are forced to wander the world without her aid, their powers no longer suppressed. Many try to learn their own mysterious origins that the witch hid from them. Even as their dire abilities quicken without Amburgey's soothing presence, agents of the Inner Dark become aware of them, and attempt to bring them into the fold.
Belongs To: Whatever can individually claim them
Motive: Discover their origins, determine their allegiances
Environment: Almost anywhere, alone or in a group of two or three
Health: 13
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points) (see Unique Ability)
Movement: Short
Modifications: Unique Ability (varies by individual) as level 7
Combat: They seem like regular teens and young adults, unless pushed by urgent need to summon their latent power, unique to each individual "child" of Devil's Cradle. A few options are described under Unique Ability, but many more strange gifts are possible depending on the young adult in question, some almost certainly even more awesome and terrifying than those noted here.
Unique Ability: A given child may be able to call on one of the following abilities.
Rotting Touch. The child's touch attack deals 7 points of Speed damage (ignores Armor) and destroys objects of the same level or lower as they molder and fall into so much dust.
Fury's Scream. The child's scream (made as part of another action) stuns everything in immediate range that fails an Intellect defense roll, preventing them from taking their next turn. Even those who succeed are dazed for one round, hindering their tasks.
Were-Form. The child becomes a level 7 fanged, furred, too-many-eyed were-creature able to attack twice as its action and regain 2 health each round while the sun is down.
Interaction: The one driving force most children of Devil's Cradle have is to discover their true origins and/or why they ended up wards of Granny Amburgey. However, in a pinch, they'll gladly accept a ride, a meal, or a place to stay the night. Those who can help them may expect some aid in return.
Use: Folks driving around a sleek black Cadillac are looking for news of teenage runaways, promising a cash reward. (But they'll likely pay with a bullet.)
Connection: The character has a niece or nephew who went missing some years back—maybe this teenager is them?
GM Intrusions: A child's ability manifests suddenly and wildly, hurting the character.