Shinrei halts at the edge of the thinning trees. His eyes flick from the broken tower to the sagging manor, lingering on the dark threshold where the light flickers unnaturally. His expression is calm, but behind his gaze, the folklorist’s mind races, cataloging every omen, every half-remembered scrap of a tale about ruins built atop ruins.
Turrning to the others, Shinrei speaks low: "A fortress first. Then a manor to cover the bones. That which cannot be buried is built upon."
He nods in agreement with Cassian and begins to slowly advance, boots silent in the soft grass. “Pardon the intrusion,”he calls up to the twins, a dry smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. “We saw the light and thought, well, either kind souls or a trap. Figured we’d roll the dice. If it's the former, we’re grateful. If it's the latter. I hope you like stubborn guests.”
Shinrei offers a small, respectful bow, his free hand brushing across his chest in a gesture halfway between a scholar’s salute and a ward against ill omens. “Shinrei Kurayami. A pleasure to meet those brave enough to answer such a summons willingly.”
He straightens, the glint of dark humor never quite leaving his eyes. “Spirits, you say? Good. I was beginning to fear it might be something unusual.” He casts a sidelong glance at the gaping doorway. “And if the house has called us, it would be rude not to answer. I just hope it’s a polite host.”He turns briefly to the others, the faintest grin ghosting across his face, before gesturing toward the darkened threshold. “After all… what’s the worst that could happen?”
Without waiting for an answer, Shinrei steps carefully onto the porch.
Gooterat appeared calm and curious as the women spoke, but his eyes were as large apples and darted back and forth between them and the door. He glances quickly back to the woods at the mention of "everything else". Curious, he thought, everything else, not everyone else... the house called you here... A quick chill ran down his spine, the ensuing shudder had him stepping just a bit closer to the center of the group.
"Well met Laurie and Gennifer, I am Gooterat. You are quite perspective, we seem to be a long way from home."
He studies their body language as closely as their words and foreign accents. He kept to the middle of the pack, so to speak, taking a measure of their intentions before getting too close...
When the twins introduce themselves, recognition flashes across Cassian's face. He presses a hand over his chest in a gesture of respect, bowing his head slightly — a small, old-fashioned sign of greeting from his homeland.
“Weathermay-Foxgrove…” he murmurs, almost to himself. His brown eye widens a little with a mixture of awe and nervousness. Real monster-hunters. Here.
“I-I’ve heard of you,”he says aloud, voice still quiet but sincere. “Y-your work is respected, even in Richemulot. I'm Cassian Beaumont, a paladin. It would be an honor to assist you...Uh, d-does this manor often reach out to people in such a way?"
Alaric, who had been silent up till now, has some realisation as they say the house called people. "The door is open, just like the message said. Well I have no reason to trust any of you, but I have also seen no reason to distrust any of you yet either so for now I will go along with you all. The name is Alaric Bardley, pleased to meet you" and he holds his hand out to anyone who will shake it, the sword previously in it vanishing from existence as he does, before following the instructions he received and stepping through the door
Zepharion, caught mid-crouch, looks at Laurie and Gennifer, then at Cassian, before hastily standing upright with a small bow towards the porch.
"I've read of many haunted places, but to be called to one is quite unique I think," Zepharion said. "Apparently, there is no hiding why we are here, or that we are here, so well met ladies, I'm Zepharion Nightshade."
Plodding along with the rest of the group, Rats steps onto the porch and frustratingly says to himself, "Ahk, more riddles. This is most irksome. How does a house call?" Rats moves toward Shinrei, "You speak in riddles. How does a house call? It is not alive. It is..." Rats trails off and moves away from Shinrei to peer at the door of the house feeling an unease he's not accustomed to. Rats knows monsters, brigands, harsh environments. Rats does not know of houses that call.
Could this house be alive? I do not like this feeling. I do not like this door.
Rats stares into the open door [Perception 21]. Listening, watching, smelling. Looking for any recognition of something he's seen before.
Laurie glanced toward Cassian as they crossed the creaking porch, her hand resting on Gossamer’s hilt. "They say this hill was once home to a warlord’s fortress, a place called Castle Laventz."The warrior said. "The ruins were rebuilt generations later by a merchant family, the Halvhrests … who vanished without a trace."
Gennifer nodded as she removed a candle from her kit. The woman lit the candle with a wave of her hand — magic — a simple charm of some sort. The flame cast flickering shadows across her solemn face.
"Locals call it the House of Lament. Throughout its history, people who dared explore it have gone missing. It’s been quiet for years, but something here stirs again."
The double doors creaked inward on ancient hinges, groaning in protest. One by one, the party stepped into the darkened foyer. The air inside was thick with dust and the faint, cloying scent of decay. Pale wallpaper peeled in curling strips from the walls, and cracked tiles crunched underfoot. A grand staircase curved upward into gloom, giving a wide berth to the chandelier that loomed overhead like a dead thing hung to dry.
At the room’s center stood a peculiar sculpture: a monstrous antlered eagle of tarnished bronze, poised atop a marble pedestal, its outstretched wings thick with cobwebs.
Rats squinted at the statue in the foyer as Gennifer's candle light flickered and danced. [Perception, success] The sculpture cast a long, crooked shadow on the wall behind it — but rather than the shadow matching the outstretched wings of this monstrous bird — it was unmistakably humanoid in form, arms outstretched as if pleading.
Gooterat [Insight, success] feels that he can trust Laurie and Gennifer.
Gooterat and Zepharion have darkvision, but in an area of darkness (that is, a Heavily Obscured area) all of the other characters will have the blinded.
Cassian steps through the doorway with a slow, deliberate breath, the threshold behind him creaking shut as if sealing something in—or out. He glances upward toward the looming chandelier, its frozen shape casting fractured shadows across the walls. The chill in the air settles deep into his bones, heavier than the cold outside.
He removes a small lamp from his belt and lights it with practiced hands. The soft golden glow pools around him, pushing back only the thinnest edge of the gloom. “V-vanished? Could it be that they sent the message...?" The paladin murmurs to himself thoughtfully.
His gaze falls to the sculpture at the center of the room. The tarnished eagle’s antlers twist like branches, alien and regal, and its presence unsettles him in ways he can’t name.
"I-I suppose you suspect a monster is involved, s-since you're here, after all. Any idea what it could be?"
Gooterat's wide eyes take in everything, darting left and right, high and low. "So, the family that built this place vanished without a trace. Then, every curious adventurer who walked through that door," he pokes an accusatory thumb back at the large double doors, "Somehow disappeared too. And now, here we are."
His voice sounded steady, but a bit of sarcasm could be detected at we are . He shifted nervously from foot to foot.
Trying to change the subject and distract himself from a growing sense of unease, he said, "I'm no expert on eagles, but I didnt think they had horns. Anybody know what that thing is, or what its signifiaglance might be?"
As he waits for some insight, he draws on the innate magic that he has just recently discovered. Chanting softly, he extends his arm as if he were reaching out to touch something. When his chanting ended a spectral hand formed near the statue and began carefully picking away bits of web. He guides it carefully, making sure to NOT touch the actual statue.
***OoC: mage hand 1 min 30 ft ; he will move forward a bit if needed to keep it in range***
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
“Let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.” — Elrond
Shinrei pauses at the doorstep. With one hand he lifts his gnarled, black staff. The fingers of his other hand trace a subtle sigil into the air before touching the wood just beneath the twisted crook at the staff’s head. A cold, emerald light spills out from the tip (casting Light on my staff). "So..."he responds to Gennifer, "someone, or some thing in the house has something to say. And we are here to listen. Do you know any other stories about the house? Something more particular that might explain what stirs the spirits of this elaborate tomb?"
He follows Cassian into the entry hall, admiring the craftsmanship of the home. He studies the statute at length, willing his mind to recall its significance (17 Arcana to understand the significance of the statue).
"My eyesight is adequate in these conditions," he says while searching his pack, "but I always keep a lantern on me for night study - It's bad for the eyes you know, reading in the dark. Oh, here it is! Would anyone care to utilize this light source?"
"Rats, Alaric, or perhaps one of our guides into this fine, umm, house?"
"What the house takes, it keeps. You must find it ... before it finds you."
The old woman's words crept unbidden into his awareness. He tried, unsuccessfully, to deny the shiver running down his spine, and his small body quivered slightly.
"What the house takes, it keeps. You must find it... before it finds you." He speaks the words in a soft voice, aloud, but more to himself than anyone in particular. He glances around nervously, then addresses the group. "Those words are tied to the circumfrences of my arrival at the crossroad."
"Well then, we better make sure the house does not take us. Let us be the first ones to enter the house and leave again." and in his attempt to make sure that it isn't instantly futile, once everyone has entered he tries to walk out of the house again to see if it is still possible.
Rats turns to Zepharion, "No no. Thank you thank you. I have this." And he produces a torch which he lights with the druidcraft cantrip. "It is much better. Better for lighting campfires. Better for hitting small things that get close to the campfires."
Rats steps inside along with the party and heads towards the statue, alongside Shinrei, pointing out the shadow he spotted earlier. "It is a bird statue. But it is a person shadow. Clearly the bird man? I will look for clues of him." [Investigation: 4]
The group gathered in the foyer (except for Alaric, who went back to the porch). The bronze statue at the room’s center watched in silent judgment, its wings poised, antlers dull with age.
After a few moment's study, the statue is determined to be that of a peryton. [Arcana, success]
After Shinrei questioned the twins on the history of the house, Laurie chuckled grimly. "The tower you saw was once part of Castle Laventz, a fortress taken by a warlord named Draz Volen — a vicious man, leader of a band of cutthroats."
Gennifer stepped forward, the candle in her hand casting flickering shadows along the cracked wallpaper. "But he wasn’t the end of it. Mara Silvra, daughter of the original lord that had built the castle, returned to reclaim her home. She slaughtered Volen and his men. Later, she exacted vengeance upon the nobility who failed her family. She vanished soon after."
"Locals say she never left the castle at all."
"This house was built over what’s left of that place." Laurie added.
Assuming that the porchway has not sealed itself to us, Alaric returns to the group. "Well if people do not return, it seems like something happens to them in the house, rather than the house sealing itself. Unless we have a limited time to change our minds as our exit seems to still be open."
Provided that people don't mind waiting, Alaric then will ritually cast detect magic, particularly focused on the statue but also useful for the following 10 minutes as they progress to the next room.
Shinrei halts at the edge of the thinning trees. His eyes flick from the broken tower to the sagging manor, lingering on the dark threshold where the light flickers unnaturally. His expression is calm, but behind his gaze, the folklorist’s mind races, cataloging every omen, every half-remembered scrap of a tale about ruins built atop ruins.
Turrning to the others, Shinrei speaks low: "A fortress first. Then a manor to cover the bones. That which cannot be buried is built upon."
He nods in agreement with Cassian and begins to slowly advance, boots silent in the soft grass. “Pardon the intrusion,” he calls up to the twins, a dry smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. “We saw the light and thought, well, either kind souls or a trap. Figured we’d roll the dice. If it's the former, we’re grateful. If it's the latter. I hope you like stubborn guests.”
(Persuasion: 20)
Shinrei offers a small, respectful bow, his free hand brushing across his chest in a gesture halfway between a scholar’s salute and a ward against ill omens. “Shinrei Kurayami. A pleasure to meet those brave enough to answer such a summons willingly.”
He straightens, the glint of dark humor never quite leaving his eyes. “Spirits, you say? Good. I was beginning to fear it might be something unusual.” He casts a sidelong glance at the gaping doorway. “And if the house has called us, it would be rude not to answer. I just hope it’s a polite host.” He turns briefly to the others, the faintest grin ghosting across his face, before gesturing toward the darkened threshold. “After all… what’s the worst that could happen?”
Without waiting for an answer, Shinrei steps carefully onto the porch.
Gooterat appeared calm and curious as the women spoke, but his eyes were as large apples and darted back and forth between them and the door. He glances quickly back to the woods at the mention of "everything else". Curious, he thought, everything else, not everyone else... the house called you here... A quick chill ran down his spine, the ensuing shudder had him stepping just a bit closer to the center of the group.
"Well met Laurie and Gennifer, I am Gooterat. You are quite perspective, we seem to be a long way from home."
He studies their body language as closely as their words and foreign accents. He kept to the middle of the pack, so to speak, taking a measure of their intentions before getting too close...
Insight: 16
“Let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.” — Elrond
When the twins introduce themselves, recognition flashes across Cassian's face. He presses a hand over his chest in a gesture of respect, bowing his head slightly — a small, old-fashioned sign of greeting from his homeland.
“Weathermay-Foxgrove…” he murmurs, almost to himself. His brown eye widens a little with a mixture of awe and nervousness. Real monster-hunters. Here.
“I-I’ve heard of you,” he says aloud, voice still quiet but sincere. “Y-your work is respected, even in Richemulot. I'm Cassian Beaumont, a paladin. It would be an honor to assist you...Uh, d-does this manor often reach out to people in such a way?"
Alaric, who had been silent up till now, has some realisation as they say the house called people. "The door is open, just like the message said. Well I have no reason to trust any of you, but I have also seen no reason to distrust any of you yet either so for now I will go along with you all. The name is Alaric Bardley, pleased to meet you" and he holds his hand out to anyone who will shake it, the sword previously in it vanishing from existence as he does, before following the instructions he received and stepping through the door
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Zepharion, caught mid-crouch, looks at Laurie and Gennifer, then at Cassian, before hastily standing upright with a small bow towards the porch.
"I've read of many haunted places, but to be called to one is quite unique I think," Zepharion said. "Apparently, there is no hiding why we are here, or that we are here, so well met ladies, I'm Zepharion Nightshade."
Zepharion follows the rest of the party.
Plodding along with the rest of the group, Rats steps onto the porch and frustratingly says to himself, "Ahk, more riddles. This is most irksome. How does a house call?"
Rats moves toward Shinrei, "You speak in riddles. How does a house call? It is not alive. It is..." Rats trails off and moves away from Shinrei to peer at the door of the house feeling an unease he's not accustomed to. Rats knows monsters, brigands, harsh environments. Rats does not know of houses that call.
Could this house be alive? I do not like this feeling. I do not like this door.
Rats stares into the open door [Perception 21]. Listening, watching, smelling. Looking for any recognition of something he's seen before.
Laurie glanced toward Cassian as they crossed the creaking porch, her hand resting on Gossamer’s hilt. "They say this hill was once home to a warlord’s fortress, a place called Castle Laventz." The warrior said. "The ruins were rebuilt generations later by a merchant family, the Halvhrests … who vanished without a trace."
Gennifer nodded as she removed a candle from her kit. The woman lit the candle with a wave of her hand — magic — a simple charm of some sort. The flame cast flickering shadows across her solemn face.
"Locals call it the House of Lament. Throughout its history, people who dared explore it have gone missing. It’s been quiet for years, but something here stirs again."
The double doors creaked inward on ancient hinges, groaning in protest. One by one, the party stepped into the darkened foyer. The air inside was thick with dust and the faint, cloying scent of decay. Pale wallpaper peeled in curling strips from the walls, and cracked tiles crunched underfoot. A grand staircase curved upward into gloom, giving a wide berth to the chandelier that loomed overhead like a dead thing hung to dry.
At the room’s center stood a peculiar sculpture: a monstrous antlered eagle of tarnished bronze, poised atop a marble pedestal, its outstretched wings thick with cobwebs.
Rats squinted at the statue in the foyer as Gennifer's candle light flickered and danced. [Perception, success] The sculpture cast a long, crooked shadow on the wall behind it — but rather than the shadow matching the outstretched wings of this monstrous bird — it was unmistakably humanoid in form, arms outstretched as if pleading.
Gooterat [Insight, success] feels that he can trust Laurie and Gennifer.
The double doors to the south lead outside (this is the way you came in).
There are four other doors in this room (one east, two west, and one north) as well as a staircase that leads up to the next level.The interior of the house is completely unlit.
Gooterat and Zepharion have darkvision, but in an area of darkness (that is, a Heavily Obscured area) all of the other characters will have the blinded.
Gennifer has a lit candle.
From this point forward, any other light sources will be whatever the party has on hand.
Cassian steps through the doorway with a slow, deliberate breath, the threshold behind him creaking shut as if sealing something in—or out. He glances upward toward the looming chandelier, its frozen shape casting fractured shadows across the walls. The chill in the air settles deep into his bones, heavier than the cold outside.
He removes a small lamp from his belt and lights it with practiced hands. The soft golden glow pools around him, pushing back only the thinnest edge of the gloom. “V-vanished? Could it be that they sent the message...?" The paladin murmurs to himself thoughtfully.
His gaze falls to the sculpture at the center of the room. The tarnished eagle’s antlers twist like branches, alien and regal, and its presence unsettles him in ways he can’t name.
"I-I suppose you suspect a monster is involved, s-since you're here, after all. Any idea what it could be?"
Gooterat's wide eyes take in everything, darting left and right, high and low. "So, the family that built this place vanished without a trace. Then, every curious adventurer who walked through that door," he pokes an accusatory thumb back at the large double doors, "Somehow disappeared too. And now, here we are."
His voice sounded steady, but a bit of sarcasm could be detected at we are . He shifted nervously from foot to foot.
Trying to change the subject and distract himself from a growing sense of unease, he said, "I'm no expert on eagles, but I didnt think they had horns. Anybody know what that thing is, or what its signifiaglance might be?"
As he waits for some insight, he draws on the innate magic that he has just recently discovered. Chanting softly, he extends his arm as if he were reaching out to touch something. When his chanting ended a spectral hand formed near the statue and began carefully picking away bits of web. He guides it carefully, making sure to NOT touch the actual statue.
***OoC: mage hand 1 min 30 ft ; he will move forward a bit if needed to keep it in range***
“Let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.” — Elrond
Shinrei pauses at the doorstep. With one hand he lifts his gnarled, black staff. The fingers of his other hand trace a subtle sigil into the air before touching the wood just beneath the twisted crook at the staff’s head. A cold, emerald light spills out from the tip (casting Light on my staff). "So..." he responds to Gennifer, "someone, or some thing in the house has something to say. And we are here to listen. Do you know any other stories about the house? Something more particular that might explain what stirs the spirits of this elaborate tomb?"
He follows Cassian into the entry hall, admiring the craftsmanship of the home. He studies the statute at length, willing his mind to recall its significance (17 Arcana to understand the significance of the statue).
Zepharion pulls off and untied his pack.
"My eyesight is adequate in these conditions," he says while searching his pack, "but I always keep a lantern on me for night study - It's bad for the eyes you know, reading in the dark. Oh, here it is! Would anyone care to utilize this light source?"
"Rats, Alaric, or perhaps one of our guides into this fine, umm, house?"
"What the house takes, it keeps. You must find it ... before it finds you."
The old woman's words crept unbidden into his awareness. He tried, unsuccessfully, to deny the shiver running down his spine, and his small body quivered slightly.
"What the house takes, it keeps. You must find it... before it finds you." He speaks the words in a soft voice, aloud, but more to himself than anyone in particular. He glances around nervously, then addresses the group. "Those words are tied to the circumfrences of my arrival at the crossroad."
“Let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.” — Elrond
"Well then, we better make sure the house does not take us. Let us be the first ones to enter the house and leave again." and in his attempt to make sure that it isn't instantly futile, once everyone has entered he tries to walk out of the house again to see if it is still possible.
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)
Rats turns to Zepharion, "No no. Thank you thank you. I have this." And he produces a torch which he lights with the druidcraft cantrip. "It is much better. Better for lighting campfires. Better for hitting small things that get close to the campfires."
Rats steps inside along with the party and heads towards the statue, alongside Shinrei, pointing out the shadow he spotted earlier. "It is a bird statue. But it is a person shadow. Clearly the bird man? I will look for clues of him." [Investigation: 4]
The group gathered in the foyer (except for Alaric, who went back to the porch). The bronze statue at the room’s center watched in silent judgment, its wings poised, antlers dull with age.
After a few moment's study, the statue is determined to be that of a peryton. [Arcana, success]
After Shinrei questioned the twins on the history of the house, Laurie chuckled grimly. "The tower you saw was once part of Castle Laventz, a fortress taken by a warlord named Draz Volen — a vicious man, leader of a band of cutthroats."
Gennifer stepped forward, the candle in her hand casting flickering shadows along the cracked wallpaper. "But he wasn’t the end of it. Mara Silvra, daughter of the original lord that had built the castle, returned to reclaim her home. She slaughtered Volen and his men. Later, she exacted vengeance upon the nobility who failed her family. She vanished soon after."
"Locals say she never left the castle at all."
"This house was built over what’s left of that place." Laurie added.
Peryton, a vicious stag-eagle monstrosity with a penchant for eating the hearts of its victims ... and casting humanoid shadows.
Assuming that the porchway has not sealed itself to us, Alaric returns to the group. "Well if people do not return, it seems like something happens to them in the house, rather than the house sealing itself. Unless we have a limited time to change our minds as our exit seems to still be open."
Provided that people don't mind waiting, Alaric then will ritually cast detect magic, particularly focused on the statue but also useful for the following 10 minutes as they progress to the next room.
After joining more my signature got out of hand so I am now a proud member of the extended signature club!! :)