“I’ll check this other room then.” Rojer says and opens the door to the southern room.
You open the door to the south and peer into what appears to be some form of Parlour. Gossamer drapes cover the windows of this elegantly appointed hall, which has a brass-plated chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Upholstered chairs line the walls, and stained-glass wall hangings depict beautiful men, women, and children singing and playing instruments. A harpsichord with a bench rests in the southwest corner. Near the fireplace is a large standing harp. White alabaster figurines of well-dressed dancers adorn the mantelpiece.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"You are welcome, Thromlim," Bianka gazes up at the druid, her eyes resembling those of a bird, devoid of expression. It is difficult to discern whether she is pleased or not. "I underwent hard training during my time in the monastery."
The wizard's previously immobile attitude suddenly disappears as the others swing open the library door. "Finally..." Her eyes burn with fervor Bianka dashes into the library, her excitement palpable. Striding Thromlin and Janek without glancing back, the wizard and her familiar scour the chamber, combining their intellect and four eyes like one creature. The wizard snatches up every book within reach, swiftly flipping through their pages before casting them onto the floor. Meanwhile, the bone owl, encircling the library, meticulously examines each tome in the room.
The library is full of interesting books, including books on history, nature, and even fiction and romances. The library even includes some first editions of old texts, but nothing magical and no spellbooks. (Nothing magical, no 'Tome of ...', etc)
While searching through the books, you notice that one shelf - and in particular one book does not appear to be a normal book. You carefully examine it, and realise that it is a switch. You pull on it, and the shelf unlocks, revealing itself to be a hidden door. The door moves smoothly on well-oiled hinges, without any noise.
You peer into the hidden room to find a small space, rightly packed with bookshelves and single wooden chest.
On the shelves is a huge amount of old tomes describing fiend-summoning and necromantic rituals of a cult called the Priests of Osybus. These are mostly in particularly bright shades including jarring light blue, nearly fluorescent pink, shades of yellow, etc. It seems the cult of Osybus has a particularly strong and unusual colour scheme, To understand out what exactly is in those books, you would need to take you a little time to skim through the text and study parts of them. (roll INT if you want to try)
The wood chest stands against the far wall, heavily built and made with clawed iron feet. It's lid is half-open, held open by a corpse stuck in the int the half-closed lid, with its upper torso mostly inside and the legs and bottom half mostly hanging out, is the desiccated corpse of what appears to be a long-dead adventurer or maybe burglar. There is no scent of rot or decay, and the corpse is highly desiccated and decayed, being nearly a skeleton.
(roll Perception if you want to investigate the chest further; you cannot see what is in the chest while the corpse is stuck in the lid, and the lid is half-closed)
Rojer will search the room he is in. (Investigation 11)
You open the chest and pull out the corpse. Still stuck in the corpse are a three darts of some type, although you are unable to work out where they might have come from. You also cannot identify the corpse or draw any conclusions from it.
You are however able to spot the more obvious things: Clutched in its left hand, the corpse holds a letter:
Having removed the corpse, you are now also able to see inside the chest. Within it, you find: Three blank books, one with a red, one with a black, and one with a pink leather cover (you judge them to be worth about 25gp to the right tradesperson). Three spell scrolls (bless, protection from poison, spiritual weapon), the deed to the house, the deed to a windmill, and a signed will. The will is signed by Gustav and Elisabeth Durst and leaves the entire estate (house, windmill, and all other family property) to their two children Rosavalda and Thornboldt. The will bears the same seal as the family crest you came across in the entrance, and thus seems to be written by the owners of the house - the family you saw on the painting in the hall outside the library.
(( In case it made a difference, Alcazar was helping Rojer, so I made a second Investigation roll of 11 -- which didn't make a difference! ))
Alcazar sniffs the mustiness in the room, wrinkles his nose as the corpse is man-handles out of the way, then takes an interest in the deeds. "Fascinating", he says frowning and looking at them more closely.
"It seems to me that foul play is likely. No servants, the owners missing." He shakes his head, doing his best to strike a sombre pose.
"So those..." he says drawing another deep breath and waving a languid finger at the legal documents, "...those should be taken to the children. I fear that they might be the most important things we have found so far. At least until we start finding their bodies, eh?"
Janek moves about the library, trying to avoid being hit by the books as Bianka carelessly throws them about. "For all your avid interest in the books, you seem rather callous in regards to them. I don't think we came in here to ransack the place." As the secret door is revealed he watches as the space is explored, interested in the letter that had been held by the corpse. "People tortured in the dungeon. I presume that means this house."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Amazing..." Bianca's body quivers with excitement, her senses electrified. The vibrant tomes of forbidden knowledge bring a flush of crimson upon her pale, alabaster cheeks. "And how extraordinary! Behold those covers! The author of these books must have been imbued with inspiration from their sinister masters! They have grasped the essence of true chaos." She sighs wistfully, a tinge of regret in her voice. "It is a lament that my sisters are absent and I lack a bag of holding. Otherwise, we might have transported these precious volumes to our revered monastery."
INT: 16 (If I can use Arcane Skill. Please add 2 to the result.)
@Alcazar
Bianka displays minimal interest in the documents and letters from Rose and Thorn's parents. "Ah... those deeds? Yes, they indeed belong to the children. We may need to seek out some lawyers to ensure that Rose and her brother can rightfully inherit them." With an indifferent glance, the wizard swiftly places the three books into her bag, handling the pink one with utmost care.
@Thromlim
Turning to Thromlim, she politely addresses him, seeking his assistance. "Excuse me, my friend. Can you read those scrolls? They contain spells meant for priests, and I am unable to comprehend their contents."
@Janek
Janek's composed voice brings a moment of clarity to the wizard's increasingly agitated mind. "Hmm... You raise a good point. The reality is disconcerting and explains why the parents kept a monstrosity in the basement. We must exercise caution, for we could meet a fate similar to... him." Bianka gestures towards the lifeless man, his chest bearing three venomous dirts.
INT: 16 (If I can use Arcane Skill. Please add 2 to the result.)
You carefully examine the tomes, trying to cover as much material as you can in a limited time. Given your arcane studies and the knowledge you have gained from the teachings of experienced masters in the field, it quickly becomes clear to you that the rituals described here are merely how magic might be described by clueless authors in a work of fiction - but not how it works in practice. Clearly none of the rituals described could hope to achieve what they claim to. You suspect that some unscrupulous bookseller simply created a collection of fake books, to be able to charge far more than for mundane books.
There may the the odd bit here and there that might inadvertently work, as blood sacrifices can occasionally attract some dark being at random, but certainly the 'summoning' and 'control' parts are worthless.
It's likely that the only person who benefited from this library are the forger and bookseller behind it, who clearly overcharged.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Seeing the items from the chest collected, Janek says, "Shall we continue or exploration? I think there is one more room on this floor." He starts to head out of the library, and he will open the final door left unexplored, the one near to the stair landing. Once open, he will peer inside. (Perception: 22)
Alcazar listens to the pronouncements from the loquacious and omnipresent wizard, the expression on his face remaining fixed and seemingly respectful. When she has finished he carefully and silently stows the deeds in his pack and follows Janek out of the room, offering any assistance that he might require.
Seeing the items from the chest collected, Janek says, "Shall we continue or exploration? I think there is one more room on this floor." He starts to head out of the library, and he will open the final door left unexplored, the one near to the stair landing. Once open, he will peer inside. (Perception: 22)
The final room on this floor turns out to be a servant's bedroom. It it neatly arranged, but quite tight and small. There are two beds and two empty footlockers. In the adjoining cupboard you find various servants uniforms hanging up, which appear freshly laundered and well kept. There is also a dumbwaiter, which connects to the kitchen below and seems to go further higher up to the floor above.
Alcazar frowns, "Not even a servant? I expected bodies...not...empty rooms."
He glances at his companions as much for reassurance as confirmation of what he is seeing, "Does this make sense to any of you? There does not even seem to be signs of a fight."
After a few moments he steps back. "It seems to be a very tidy monster, I'll give it that."
"Several spelling mistakes and fake symbols abound in these pages," Bianka murmurs, her eyes scanning the colourful tomes. "How disappointing. It appears the author was not an inspired genius, but rather an ignorant amateur. If the owners of this house had attempted the ritual as these books suggest, they would have surely failed even under the most fortuitous circumstances. Moreover, there is a high probability that the summoning could have resulted in far more dire consequences." She lifts her gaze, meeting the eyes of her companions. "They might have lost control over the very entities they sought to command."
With a sigh, the wizard carefully places the flawed books into her bag. "The answers lie ahead. Let us press on," she declares. As if responding to her words, the wizard's familiar takes flight, ascending to observe the surroundings on the next level.
You watch from the bottom while your owl proceeds up the large opening of the stairs, and comes to a hover at the top be stairwell. At the top of the wood paneled stairs is a small landing, looking over the stairwell below like a balcony. The balcony is covered in dust and cobwebs, with a old and slightly rusty suit of armour - also covered in dust. There are several doors leading from here. One thing that the owl reports back as odd is that this floor of the house does not look clean and well-kept, as the lower levels did.
"Well, looks like up one more floor we go," Janek says as he moves to follow after the owl familiar, once they hear of the report. He holds for a moment, torch still in hand, at the top of the stairs, surveying the surroundings for himself. (Perception: 8)
This time, his help seeming to be not be of any use to the warrior, Alcazar hangs back a little when the others ascend and, as the surroundings become more decrepit he becomes more wary and pleased with his choice. It's as though they have broken through an illusion and now face reality. Looking back, he focuses his mind, trying to see if the lower levels were indeed illusory. ((6))
Failing to see anything different, he continues up, still behind the others.
"It's as though we just passed from illusion into reality ... or I suppose, the other way round." He frowns, trying to make sense of the sudden change. "We have not yet found the children's room, and it makes me wonder how long ago they last lived here..."
His skeletal hand moves to the front and brushes at the webs in part to see if they are real or illusory, and in part to see how old and dusty they might be.
"Well, looks like up one more floor we go," Janek says as he moves to follow after the owl familiar, once they hear of the report. He holds for a moment, torch still in hand, at the top of the stairs, surveying the surroundings for himself. (Perception: 8)
This time, his help seeming to be not be of any use to the warrior, Alcazar hangs back a little when the others ascend and, as the surroundings become more decrepit he becomes more wary and pleased with his choice. It's as though they have broken through an illusion and now face reality. Looking back, he focuses his mind, trying to see if the lower levels were indeed illusory. ((6))
Failing to see anything different, he continues up, still behind the others.
"It's as though we just passed from illusion into reality ... or I suppose, the other way round." He frowns, trying to make sense of the sudden change. "We have not yet found the children's room, and it makes me wonder how long ago they last lived here..."
His skeletal hand moves to the front and brushes at the webs in part to see if they are real or illusory, and in part to see how old and dusty they might be.
As the group approaches the top of the stairs, the stillness of the house is suddenly interrupted by a a metallic shrieking, as of rusty hinges. It only takes you an instant to realise that the dusty Suit of Armor has turned its head (or at least its helmet) towards you, and is now starting to move its arms, raising its weapon.
You open the door to the south and peer into what appears to be some form of Parlour. Gossamer drapes cover the windows of this elegantly appointed hall, which has a brass-plated chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Upholstered chairs line the walls, and stained-glass wall hangings depict beautiful men, women, and children singing and playing instruments. A harpsichord with a bench rests in the southwest corner. Near the fireplace is a large standing harp. White alabaster figurines of well-dressed dancers adorn the mantelpiece.
"You are welcome, Thromlim," Bianka gazes up at the druid, her eyes resembling those of a bird, devoid of expression. It is difficult to discern whether she is pleased or not. "I underwent hard training during my time in the monastery."
The wizard's previously immobile attitude suddenly disappears as the others swing open the library door. "Finally..." Her eyes burn with fervor Bianka dashes into the library, her excitement palpable. Striding Thromlin and Janek without glancing back, the wizard and her familiar scour the chamber, combining their intellect and four eyes like one creature. The wizard snatches up every book within reach, swiftly flipping through their pages before casting them onto the floor. Meanwhile, the bone owl, encircling the library, meticulously examines each tome in the room.
Perception: 15
The library is full of interesting books, including books on history, nature, and even fiction and romances. The library even includes some first editions of old texts, but nothing magical and no spellbooks. (Nothing magical, no 'Tome of ...', etc)
While searching through the books, you notice that one shelf - and in particular one book does not appear to be a normal book. You carefully examine it, and realise that it is a switch. You pull on it, and the shelf unlocks, revealing itself to be a hidden door. The door moves smoothly on well-oiled hinges, without any noise.
You peer into the hidden room to find a small space, rightly packed with bookshelves and single wooden chest.
On the shelves is a huge amount of old tomes describing fiend-summoning and necromantic rituals of a cult called the Priests of Osybus. These are mostly in particularly bright shades including jarring light blue, nearly fluorescent pink, shades of yellow, etc. It seems the cult of Osybus has a particularly strong and unusual colour scheme, To understand out what exactly is in those books, you would need to take you a little time to skim through the text and study parts of them. (roll INT if you want to try)
The wood chest stands against the far wall, heavily built and made with clawed iron feet. It's lid is half-open, held open by a corpse stuck in the int the half-closed lid, with its upper torso mostly inside and the legs and bottom half mostly hanging out, is the desiccated corpse of what appears to be a long-dead adventurer or maybe burglar. There is no scent of rot or decay, and the corpse is highly desiccated and decayed, being nearly a skeleton.
(roll Perception if you want to investigate the chest further; you cannot see what is in the chest while the corpse is stuck in the lid, and the lid is half-closed)
Rojer will search the room he is in. (Investigation 11)
You open the chest and pull out the corpse. Still stuck in the corpse are a three darts of some type, although you are unable to work out where they might have come from. You also cannot identify the corpse or draw any conclusions from it.
You are however able to spot the more obvious things: Clutched in its left hand, the corpse holds a letter:
Having removed the corpse, you are now also able to see inside the chest. Within it, you find: Three blank books, one with a red, one with a black, and one with a pink leather cover (you judge them to be worth about 25gp to the right tradesperson). Three spell scrolls (bless, protection from poison, spiritual weapon), the deed to the house, the deed to a windmill, and a signed will. The will is signed by Gustav and Elisabeth Durst and leaves the entire estate (house, windmill, and all other family property) to their two children Rosavalda and Thornboldt. The will bears the same seal as the family crest you came across in the entrance, and thus seems to be written by the owners of the house - the family you saw on the painting in the hall outside the library.
(( In case it made a difference, Alcazar was helping Rojer, so I made a second Investigation roll of 11 -- which didn't make a difference! ))
Alcazar sniffs the mustiness in the room, wrinkles his nose as the corpse is man-handles out of the way, then takes an interest in the deeds. "Fascinating", he says frowning and looking at them more closely.
"It seems to me that foul play is likely. No servants, the owners missing." He shakes his head, doing his best to strike a sombre pose.
"So those..." he says drawing another deep breath and waving a languid finger at the legal documents, "...those should be taken to the children. I fear that they might be the most important things we have found so far. At least until we start finding their bodies, eh?"
Janek moves about the library, trying to avoid being hit by the books as Bianka carelessly throws them about. "For all your avid interest in the books, you seem rather callous in regards to them. I don't think we came in here to ransack the place." As the secret door is revealed he watches as the space is explored, interested in the letter that had been held by the corpse. "People tortured in the dungeon. I presume that means this house."
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
"Amazing..." Bianca's body quivers with excitement, her senses electrified. The vibrant tomes of forbidden knowledge bring a flush of crimson upon her pale, alabaster cheeks. "And how extraordinary! Behold those covers! The author of these books must have been imbued with inspiration from their sinister masters! They have grasped the essence of true chaos." She sighs wistfully, a tinge of regret in her voice. "It is a lament that my sisters are absent and I lack a bag of holding. Otherwise, we might have transported these precious volumes to our revered monastery."
INT: 16 (If I can use Arcane Skill. Please add 2 to the result.)
@Alcazar
Bianka displays minimal interest in the documents and letters from Rose and Thorn's parents. "Ah... those deeds? Yes, they indeed belong to the children. We may need to seek out some lawyers to ensure that Rose and her brother can rightfully inherit them." With an indifferent glance, the wizard swiftly places the three books into her bag, handling the pink one with utmost care.
@Thromlim
Turning to Thromlim, she politely addresses him, seeking his assistance. "Excuse me, my friend. Can you read those scrolls? They contain spells meant for priests, and I am unable to comprehend their contents."
@Janek
Janek's composed voice brings a moment of clarity to the wizard's increasingly agitated mind. "Hmm... You raise a good point. The reality is disconcerting and explains why the parents kept a monstrosity in the basement. We must exercise caution, for we could meet a fate similar to... him." Bianka gestures towards the lifeless man, his chest bearing three venomous dirts.
You carefully examine the tomes, trying to cover as much material as you can in a limited time. Given your arcane studies and the knowledge you have gained from the teachings of experienced masters in the field, it quickly becomes clear to you that the rituals described here are merely how magic might be described by clueless authors in a work of fiction - but not how it works in practice. Clearly none of the rituals described could hope to achieve what they claim to. You suspect that some unscrupulous bookseller simply created a collection of fake books, to be able to charge far more than for mundane books.
There may the the odd bit here and there that might inadvertently work, as blood sacrifices can occasionally attract some dark being at random, but certainly the 'summoning' and 'control' parts are worthless.
It's likely that the only person who benefited from this library are the forger and bookseller behind it, who clearly overcharged.
Seeing the items from the chest collected, Janek says, "Shall we continue or exploration? I think there is one more room on this floor." He starts to head out of the library, and he will open the final door left unexplored, the one near to the stair landing. Once open, he will peer inside. (Perception: 22)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
Alcazar listens to the pronouncements from the loquacious and omnipresent wizard, the expression on his face remaining fixed and seemingly respectful. When she has finished he carefully and silently stows the deeds in his pack and follows Janek out of the room, offering any assistance that he might require.
The final room on this floor turns out to be a servant's bedroom. It it neatly arranged, but quite tight and small. There are two beds and two empty footlockers. In the adjoining cupboard you find various servants uniforms hanging up, which appear freshly laundered and well kept. There is also a dumbwaiter, which connects to the kitchen below and seems to go further higher up to the floor above.
Alcazar frowns, "Not even a servant? I expected bodies...not...empty rooms."
He glances at his companions as much for reassurance as confirmation of what he is seeing, "Does this make sense to any of you? There does not even seem to be signs of a fight."
After a few moments he steps back. "It seems to be a very tidy monster, I'll give it that."
"Several spelling mistakes and fake symbols abound in these pages," Bianka murmurs, her eyes scanning the colourful tomes. "How disappointing. It appears the author was not an inspired genius, but rather an ignorant amateur. If the owners of this house had attempted the ritual as these books suggest, they would have surely failed even under the most fortuitous circumstances. Moreover, there is a high probability that the summoning could have resulted in far more dire consequences." She lifts her gaze, meeting the eyes of her companions. "They might have lost control over the very entities they sought to command."
With a sigh, the wizard carefully places the flawed books into her bag. "The answers lie ahead. Let us press on," she declares. As if responding to her words, the wizard's familiar takes flight, ascending to observe the surroundings on the next level.
Owl
Perception: 4
Stealth: 10
You watch from the bottom while your owl proceeds up the large opening of the stairs, and comes to a hover at the top be stairwell. At the top of the wood paneled stairs is a small landing, looking over the stairwell below like a balcony. The balcony is covered in dust and cobwebs, with a old and slightly rusty suit of armour - also covered in dust. There are several doors leading from here. One thing that the owl reports back as odd is that this floor of the house does not look clean and well-kept, as the lower levels did.
"Well, looks like up one more floor we go," Janek says as he moves to follow after the owl familiar, once they hear of the report. He holds for a moment, torch still in hand, at the top of the stairs, surveying the surroundings for himself. (Perception: 8)
Rabbit Sebrica, Sorcerer || Skarai, Monk || Lokilia Vaelphin, Druid || Liivi Orav, Barbarian || Vanizi, Warlock || Britari / Halila Talgeta / Jesa Gumovi || Neital Rhessil, Wizard
Iromae Quinaea, Cleric || Roxana Raincrest, Rogue || Meira Dheran, Rogue || Qirynna Thadri, Wizard || Crisaryn Melkial, Sorcerer
This time, his help seeming to be not be of any use to the warrior, Alcazar hangs back a little when the others ascend and, as the surroundings become more decrepit he becomes more wary and pleased with his choice. It's as though they have broken through an illusion and now face reality. Looking back, he focuses his mind, trying to see if the lower levels were indeed illusory. ((6))
Failing to see anything different, he continues up, still behind the others.
"It's as though we just passed from illusion into reality ... or I suppose, the other way round." He frowns, trying to make sense of the sudden change. "We have not yet found the children's room, and it makes me wonder how long ago they last lived here..."
His skeletal hand moves to the front and brushes at the webs in part to see if they are real or illusory, and in part to see how old and dusty they might be.
You cannot find any illusions. The first two stories seem to be real.
As the group approaches the top of the stairs, the stillness of the house is suddenly interrupted by a a metallic shrieking, as of rusty hinges. It only takes you an instant to realise that the dusty Suit of Armor has turned its head (or at least its helmet) towards you, and is now starting to move its arms, raising its weapon.
(Roll Initiative!)
Dusty old Suit of Armor: Initiative 8
Third floor map:
(Only 5 players on the map as we somehow seem to have lost inkedwolves. But I think 5 is enough so let's just carry on)