Vampires of the Black Court (Wyrd Sisters Publishing) Paperback – February 11, 2026

The winter isn't weather. It's a tax.Vampires of the Black Court is a 5e-compatible gothic horror adventure for 4–6 players, levels 3–6, designed to run in 4–6 sessions. It is Book One of The Dark of Winter trilogy from Wyrd Sisters Publishing.The city of Vargfell is freezing. Not because of climate or divine punishment, but because of a centuries-old curse anchored to a blood-chalice fused into the stone beneath the Noble Quarter. The Black Court—an aristocracy of vampires—performs a monthly rite to keep the curse from escalating into an apocalyptic True Winter. They are not hiding in crypts. They run the city. They control the food supply, the law enforcement, and the gates between districts. And their leverage is brutally simple: destroy us, and the seal fails.Your players arrive during the Festival of Red Lanterns—a week of bread and sermons by day, and disappearances by night. The city is approaching a breaking point. Mother Elowen, the local cleric, wants enforceable reform. High Inquisitor Kael wants purification through fire. Mara Redhand and the Hungry—the starving citizens pushed to the margins—want survival, and they'll riot if no one listens. Two ticking clocks ensure the city doesn't wait for the party to make up its mind.This is not a "kill all vampires" adventure. That breaks the premise and the city. This is an adventure about what "right" costs when every option has a body count.The adventure uses a gated sandbox structure inspired by Metroidvania-style progression. Two major gates block access to the Noble Quarter and the Hungerhold, each with 3–4 viable keys earned through social maneuvering, stealth, ritual, or combat. Players choose their route. The city reacts to their choices. And the finale isn't a boss fight—it's a treaty negotiation at the source of the curse, where players draft a binding Blood-Tax Compact that determines who feeds, who governs, and who survives.Inside this book you'll find a fully realized city with tiered districts and faction-controlled zones. A dual-clock system (Kael's Escalation and Hungry Desperation) that drives consequence and urgency. A complete node map with gated progression, multiple keys, and branching paths. Morally complex NPCs across every faction—pragmatists, zealots, survivors, and monsters who believe they're necessary. Rumor tables, handouts, key cards, and a 60-minute DM prep guide so you can run Session One next weekend. Plus trilogy hooks that carry player choices forward into Shattered Moon and The Dark of Winter.The Court isn't evil because they drink blood. They're evil because they built a system that makes the blood look voluntary.Your players get to decide what replaces it. Read more