The Stuff of Nightmares

Strange things happen at night. Sometimes there are horrible creatures. Sometimes dopplegangers of villagers stroll about, exaggerated caricatures of their real selves. Sometimes there are pleasant happy occurrences and wondrous beasts.
All these things are very real, but only for a short time before they disappear into nothingness. At first, only the night watch noticed these things. But now they've begun lasting longer and longer, some lasting into the morning for all the world to witness. People have been hurt. Everyone is afraid.

Structure

Exposition

Players arrive in a new location. Many of the townsfolk appear tired and a bit disheveled. If the party asks, or if they eavesdrop, they will hear people talking about what happened last night. There was loud thumping In every closet in every house, waking the entire village. Inside were only shadows that seemed to slither and move away from anyone who looked. Many people were spooked and for some people it was the last straw and they are going to move out.

Conflict

If the players spend the next night in town, they will experience the following: The thunderous approach of hundreds of horses can be heard. Horses with legs ten meters long and sparkly manes that flowed behind them approach town and will run though the center streets and off into the wilderness. If the characters are asleep, the night watch's alarms will wake them.
In the morning there will be a doppleganger of the sheriff telling everyone in town they're in trouble and they're bad boys and girls. He will give a candy to people he sees being good. The gun he wears is so big it drags on the ground when holstered and his hat is so big it shades him to his feet. The doppleganger dissipates about two hours after sunrise.

Rising Action

Every night something else happens. The villagers admit that it's never the same thing twice in a row, although they have seen some similar things return a time or two.
A nightmare creature will attack the party if they are out investigating at night.
Hands will grab people's ankles if they are sitting on their beds. Otherwise the hands will grope for any exposed skin of sleepers, scratching them and covering them in smelly ooze. One small boy is physically pulled from his bed, screaming, only to disappear under it in a mass of arms. The boys screams slowly weaken as it sounds like they are getting farther and farther away in a long tunnel. An hour later, the arms dissolve into nothing leaving the traumatized boy under his bed otherwise unharmed.
This will continue to occur until the players figure out what's causing it. The GM may need to get more and more obvious with clues and sightings. One way to do this is to have the players note where people are going during the day and make the evening occurrences related to those people and places. Eventually all signs should point to one person by process of elimination.
At some point, there should be a fatal event, perhaps a fire caused by a fire-breathing monster. The obvious trend should be that things are only going to get worse. It is imperative that players come to realize this.

Climax

The climax should be less about combat than about the drama of what the characters should do once they realize the cause of the occurrences.

Falling Action

The fallout from the characters' choices.

Note: If the players somehow send Nicky to The Spirit World, they will see her mature before their eyes into a girl of 18-20 years old. The reason is that nothing ages in the spirit world, but everything exists in its full form. Babies are born fully grown, for instance, unless of course their full form is to be immature (such as with cherubim)

Resolution

The player characters continue on with whatever they had been doing.

Note: If the players somehow are able to send Nicky to the Spirit Realm, the GM must at some point put forth before the players some mention of the mythology of Nyx, who came from Chaos and gave birth to dreams. And the illustration of Nyx is that of the girl when they saw her in the Spirit World. Anyone with knowledge of dimensions, space-time, or The Spirit World will be able to state with confidence that since she is in the spirit world, she exists outside of space and time and could theoretically be the Nyx of Greek mythology.

Components

Goals

Resolve the nightly chaos.

Stakes

If nothing happens, more villagers will perish and the villagers will eventually kill the child. They view it their sad, regrettable responsibility.

Moral Quandaries

The girl is an innocent child, not in control of her dreams. Yet, her dreams are causing harm to others. Do the players make an attempt to weigh the value of one life?

Cruel Tricks

After the player characters arrive in town, the evening events will include something the dreamer witnessed of them. If they interact with the child, their interaction will play out, mutated to absurdity through her subconscious imagination. This could prove harmful to the players if they had been telling stories of their exploits, or it may be a doppleganger of one of the characters who appeared particularly threatening (or heroic), causing the villagers to accse the characters of being and doing what they had not.

Relations

Neutrals/Bystanders

There is a six year old girl named Nicky who has such a strong connection to The Spirit World that her dreams manifest in reality. She is unaware of this, as is everyone else.

Competitors

Anyone with access to The Spirit World will find that realm is also interested in the girl. If the party has no characters able to communicate with the spirits, then the GM is encouraged to insert a Shaman, investigating the phenomenon as well. Appearing a short while after the players, this NPC will be able to make the connection between the dream manifestations and the spirit world.
This NPC will suggest removing the girl from the physical world and sending her to the Spirit World where she will cause no further harm.

Adversaries

Chaz, the father of the girl, calls her Nicks (phonetically identical to Nyx, who gives birth to dreams). He starts the adventure completely ignorant of the girl's involvement. When it is resolved that Nicky is responsible for the dreams, he will defend her at all costs, using lethal force if he must. He will try to escape with her. This could pit him against the player characters as well.