"Never Winter, Seldom Spring" - A Loose Collection of Adventures

[ooc you can only have one light on at a time]

(OOC: Oops! You're totally correct. "The spell ends if you cast it again." ...I missed that bit.  In any event, Abner will plan to recast it as the party moves.)

[ooc, to make it easier on our good DM, I think the upshot of our discussion was - correct me if I am mistaken - 

We go down the ladder Adri, Broz, Abner, Red, Therne
We use pitons &/or kenku bits (if it lays flat) to keep the hatch open
We check out using darkvision, then if safe to do so Abner Lights up the ceiling
Therne does Detect Magic as ritual right before going down

all right?

[OOC: Sounds good to me.]

Once you have all shaken off the last sluggish remnants of your sleep, you each prepare for the cellar descent. Therne casts goodberry, distributing a pair of berries to each of her companions before beginning to cast detect magic. As she sits cross-legged in the kitchen to begin the ritual, Abner looks over the shrine that they found earlier. Aside from the religious symbols - which he has been informed represent Sune - he cannot find anything else of note or remark except for the fine craftmanship that went into producing it.

Once Therne has finished with her spell, Adri and Brozak pull the trapdoor open and wedge it so with bits of broken masonry and cutlery bent into the shape of pitons and struts. Adri looks down into the darkness and feels the sharp drop in temperature as she begins to descend the ladder. The rats near the base begin to scarper quickly as her feet hit the compact dirt. Brozak lingers near the opening, waiting on a signal from the half-orc. As she sweeps around, she cannot see much in the small room, but it doesn't appear to be stocked.

With a request of aid from Abner, the sorcerer's arcane light adheres to the wooden ceiling of the room and lights the place up. sure enough, the room is 25 x 15 ft. and is almost entirely empty. Hard packed dirt makes up the floor, and the walls support against collapse with sturdy oak planks. To the south of the room is a small 5 ft. wide hallway that extends into an adjacent basement, within which crates and barrels are illuminated by the gentle glow of Abner's spell.

As Adri calls to her companions that the room is safe, each of you descend the ladder into the cold cellar. Abner recasts his spell further along into the next room, and the group gingerly moves through with Adri and Brozak leading, followed by Abner, Red and Therne. 

As the cleric steps into the room, she sees a few old crates and barrels standing around the edge of the room, but it's the large ornately-framed mirror 15 ft. away in the far corner that immediately catches her eye. As she notices the mirror, she is surprised to see that the reflection within is not her own. Instead, a beautiful woman gazes back, a look of distress clear upon her fair features. But then the image changes, the woman's face seemingly melting away to reveal a horrific countenance beneath, and without warning she unleashes a spine-chilling wail that echoes against the walls and attacks the mind of all who entered the depths of Redmane Manor.

Charisma Saving Throws:

Abner: 22

Adri: 7

Brozak: 16

Red: 16

Therne: 12

Adri and Therne take the full force of the psychic assault as the echoes attack the front and back of your group. They each take 2 psychic damage and are frightened of the mirror until the end of their next turn. The rest of you manage to resist the mental barrage.

The terrifying visage in the mirror ceases her wail, but then appears to be preparing herself to unleash another.

Initiative:

Abner: 19

Adri: 14

Brozak: 11

Red: 16

Therne: 15

Order of Initiative: Red, Therne, Adri, Abner, Brozak.

[OoC]: Thanks for waiting for me guys. Had a good weekend but back to work now. Props to skuk for tl;dr-ing the plan of action too - very helpful. As always, if you have any questions, stick them in the message thread.

Abner

"Ohhhh - Whoa!  How do you fight a mirror?  Are we smashing it?"

Abner touches the mirror with a Shocking Grasp

Attack: 18 . (Is it made of metal? Does he have advantage? Here's a second roll: Attack: 22 )

Lightning Damage: 6

As Abner runs towards the mirror and plants his hands onto the surface, a flashing light from his hands leaps across the metal frame in small jumps - leaving small scorch marks. The ornate mirror appears to be only slightly damaged, but the image in the centre doesn't react at all to the spell.

[OoC]: I'm not too bothered about the initiative order for this part, it's more just to give a little structure and to indicate that you each get a single turn to act before the mirror recharges.

I wish we knew what to do - I hope this is the right answer. If fighting doesn't work, turn it to face the wall? 

Red will thrust Redmane's rapier at the image, trying to imaging the mirror is an opening

Rapier Attack 10 if hit damage is 4

And as bonus action, Way up, way up, way up to the moon! Boy it's good to know I got a bud like you!

 granting Bardic Inspiration to Brozak (add 1d6 to any attack, save, skill roll w/in 10 min, you may choose to see d20 roll before you decide to add the d6)

Red's attack seems to be unable to damage the surface of the mirror - the rapier's sharp tip glancing off the glass.

18OOC: Therne has advantage on saves against being frightened, so I’m going to roll a second time: 14

Nope.

CON save for Detect Magic: 

If Therne is within 30 feet, she’ll try to hit it with produce flame: Attack: 6 Damage: 5

Ack! That’s not manipulated, the dice roller just hates mobile. Anyway, that save was a crit fail, which means I can reroll it anyway: 20

 OK, so with concentration on Detect Magic maintained, does Therne see anything?

The flames crash into the mirror, spreading out across the pane. The glass appears to flex slightly - distorting the image. Cracks spiderweb across the surface, but quickly recede. It appears as though the mirror absorbed most of the damage from the spell, but a few tiny cracks still remain present.

Adri will cast Sacred Flame in her frightened state. 

"I do not believe this is a good idea. That mirror looks dangerous."

Sacred Flame damage: 5

Flames envelope the mirror entirely as if plucked from some divine realm. As they dissipate, the mirror remains, with some minor damage to the frame. Again, it appears that whatever enchantment or curse plagues this heirloom is absorbing the damage being dealt to the object.

Order of Initiative: Red, Therne, Adri, Abner, Brozak.

[ooc mirror description?I was picturing free-standing mirror with the pivot on each side. Or is it hanging on the wall?]

Quote from skuk >>

[ooc mirror description?I was picturing free-standing mirror with the pivot on each side. Or is it hanging on the wall?]

[OoC]: Free standing with silver metalwork.

"Magic is nice, but sometimes things just need to be hit."

Attack: 10 Damage: 7

As soon as Brozak's hit barely scrapes the silver trim around the mirror, the horrifying screech bursts from the glass again, assailing the minds of each of you.

 Charisma Saving Throws:

Abner: 6

Adri: 17

Brozak: 10

Red: 17

Therne: 17

Therne claps her hands over her ears and cries out as she takes 1 psychic damage from the blood-curdling scream of the petrifying visage and becomes frightened. 

The mirror does appear to have taken damage, but some foul magic is lessening the effect.

[OoC]: pocketmouse, I'll apply the damage to your sheet.

Therne extends her hand and produces a small mote of flame, which she hurls in the direction of the mirror. Her panicked expression and fear-stricken form appear to be affecting her ability to think, and she quickly flees back into the room with the ladder - ducking between the legs of those who are in her path.

Produce Flame to hit: 11 Damage: 8 fire

Nevertheless, her hastened ball of flame smashes into the upper corner of the mirror, causing a crack straight down the middle which almost seems to automatically stop before propagating further.

Wait, this must be wrong. Help me turn it please

Red steps to the side, out of the reflection, and tries to tip the mirror - if it doesn't have pivots, he'll just lower it face down on the floor. If it does, he checks as it pivots - if there is another mirror on the back he'll stop at the horizontal, if no mirror on the back, all the way top-side-down and facing the wall