This is a map of all the major known cities in the world. There are many smaller villages and towns not on the map. It is possible there are also major cities that have stayed hidden as well.
Your adventure begins in Maplebrooke, a small, sleepy town near the great religious city of Glimmerhold. Whether through rumor, through Help Wanted signs, or through random chance, you're all here for one reason: They have a haunted house that needs dehaunting. Long ago, the house was owned by the wealthiest couple in town. They were generous and giving, and were loved by the town. However, somehow it came out that they were in fact cultists, and their generous appearance was a front to gain the town's trust and lure people for sacrifice. They were burned and their house left vacant, as a reminder for the town not to be so foolish again.
For as long as anyone in the town can remember, the house has been creepy, but everyone kept their distance, and had no trouble. However, recently, the citizens have felt a "presence" near the house. Strange shapes have been seen in the gaps in the boarded up windows. Awful laughter and chants in unknown languages have been heard. Weather has been constantly dark and dreary. Citizens have gone missing, and everyone has started freaking out. The mayor, a meek and frail human of middle age, has offered 50 gold each, a very large sum, to cleanse this house of the evil. Otherwise, he says, the population may abandon the town, or worse.
"How fortuitous all of you happened to show up at about the same time," The mayor exclaims. "None of my citizens will enter, and everyone I've hired haven't come out. Please, cleanse this house and free this town from this awful burden."
I ask they Mayor how long it has been since the last person was sent into the creepy house, what kind of preparations they took, and how large the reward was at that time.
"It was about a month or so ago. Two dwarf brothers who swore they'd get it done in no time. Said they've cleared creepy caves and other weird phenomena. Said to have the reward ready for them. I'd say at this point they aren't comin' back. Not too sure what all they had. I know they each had a large, mean lookin' axe. They also had a backpack that seemed pretty full. I was so sure we finally were in the clear. Besides that, old Herb also disappeared a week or so back. He was scared t'death of the place, so I know he didn't go willingly.
At the time I offered 25 gold each, which is still pretty generous. However, either word has gotten around that no one's come back, or 25 gold didn't seem worth it to any prospective adventurers. Now, 50 each may very well bankrupt me, but I don't know what else to do. If something happens to us, the money wouldn't really matter anyway, I suppose."
Chuckling, I stepped forward towards the mayor, and in a heavy northern accent "Back in my hometown we had saying, you never trust a dwarf as far as you can throw them." Then with a sigh, "But Ven'Kesh will take up job, he needs more coin for food and bed. But first Ven'kesh wants to know why silly mayor is so scare of this house, it is easy to light on fire and walk away. Also Ven'Kesh wants to know why you think this Herb fellow is connect to the house, he could have easily run away from this village if house scared him so bad" As I finish I cross my arms.
[OOC] Thanks for hosting this up Cagney, Sorry for the delay in my posting.
I say collect as much information as possible about the house, the land it was built on, the timing of the chants, the timing of when the weather started changing, the timing of when the shapes in the house appear, and any patterns in the timing of these events. Also, ask the mayor why they decided to burn the cult leaders rather than imprison them. If all checks out, investigate the house.
I first would want to know what else was known about the cultists. Then, scope out the house from a distance to observe the strange presence, and see what other information can be gathered.
"Heh, you think we haven't tried setting that...that atrocity on fire? We have. Many, many times. It just comes back the next day, and always seems angrier. The reason we think it took Herb was that he was the last to torch it. He was drunk, pissed, and blamed the house for his crops dying, and took a torch to it. No way he would have left on his own. His wife is still here and he loves her more than anything. Night after he set it ablaze, he was gone. No trace."
The mayor turns to the aarakocra. "The house is just on the edge of town. You may have seen it depending on which way you came into town. Biggest building in the damn town, can't miss it. I don't rightly know if there's anything special about the specific land it was built on. Mind you, this whole thing took place I wanna say 150 years ago, or so. The only things I have to go on are tales passed down by our ancestors, and a few diary entries left over. The weather started getting worse a year or so ago. We didn't think anything of it, until it just never went away. The sky is always dreary, fog rolls in every morn, We haven't seen the sun proper in just as long. Chants don't seem to have too much of a pattern. I'd say somewhere between midnight and 3? Though the day is always different too. Could be back to back nights, could be weeks apart.
I don't rightly know too much as to why they burned 'em. My guess is that they were angry. They blamed them for the deaths of their loved ones and wanted them to hurt. They were probably embarrassed too. Folks tricked them for a damn long time, and they were embarrassed. Probably blamed themselves for their relatives dying. If they had figured it out sooner, they wouldn't be dead. Probably burned 'em out of fear as well. You got cult leaders with ties to the evil and unknown. How do you know for sure a prison will even hold 'em? What if that makes them angrier? Could they still do their foul magic from a cell? What if they summon more like'm to break them out? Probably just easier to burn them for peace of mind."
"I'm terribly sorry, I've been so rude so far. I don't think we've even made any proper introductions. I'm Cyrus, the mayor of this once beautiful village. May I ask all of your names?"
Cyrus looks down at the gnome. "I'm afraid I don't know too much about the cultists who lived there. I believe they were youngish, had a couple kids, pets, seemed like a normal family. As for who they worshipped, I gotta think it was most likely one of the bound gods. Ain't that who all cults worship? Not sure which one though. All the same to me. If you all want to take a look at the house, it's right over there, just past that hill."
He points outside. You can just make out a roof past the crest of the hill, a bit into the distance.
You all are welcome to make either a history or religion check to see what you know about the bound gods. Go to your character sheet, see what bonus you have towards history and religion, and pick the higher bonus. Roll a d20, add your bonus, and that's your score. You can also roll from this website if you aren't on mobile. Click the dice icon in the reply box, add your bonus, and roll the d20.
Welcome to the world of Ithea:
This is a map of all the major known cities in the world. There are many smaller villages and towns not on the map. It is possible there are also major cities that have stayed hidden as well.
Your adventure begins in Maplebrooke, a small, sleepy town near the great religious city of Glimmerhold. Whether through rumor, through Help Wanted signs, or through random chance, you're all here for one reason: They have a haunted house that needs dehaunting. Long ago, the house was owned by the wealthiest couple in town. They were generous and giving, and were loved by the town. However, somehow it came out that they were in fact cultists, and their generous appearance was a front to gain the town's trust and lure people for sacrifice. They were burned and their house left vacant, as a reminder for the town not to be so foolish again.
For as long as anyone in the town can remember, the house has been creepy, but everyone kept their distance, and had no trouble. However, recently, the citizens have felt a "presence" near the house. Strange shapes have been seen in the gaps in the boarded up windows. Awful laughter and chants in unknown languages have been heard. Weather has been constantly dark and dreary. Citizens have gone missing, and everyone has started freaking out. The mayor, a meek and frail human of middle age, has offered 50 gold each, a very large sum, to cleanse this house of the evil. Otherwise, he says, the population may abandon the town, or worse.
"How fortuitous all of you happened to show up at about the same time," The mayor exclaims. "None of my citizens will enter, and everyone I've hired haven't come out. Please, cleanse this house and free this town from this awful burden."
What do you do?
I ask they Mayor how long it has been since the last person was sent into the creepy house, what kind of preparations they took, and how large the reward was at that time.
"It was about a month or so ago. Two dwarf brothers who swore they'd get it done in no time. Said they've cleared creepy caves and other weird phenomena. Said to have the reward ready for them. I'd say at this point they aren't comin' back. Not too sure what all they had. I know they each had a large, mean lookin' axe. They also had a backpack that seemed pretty full. I was so sure we finally were in the clear. Besides that, old Herb also disappeared a week or so back. He was scared t'death of the place, so I know he didn't go willingly.
At the time I offered 25 gold each, which is still pretty generous. However, either word has gotten around that no one's come back, or 25 gold didn't seem worth it to any prospective adventurers. Now, 50 each may very well bankrupt me, but I don't know what else to do. If something happens to us, the money wouldn't really matter anyway, I suppose."
Chuckling, I stepped forward towards the mayor, and in a heavy northern accent "Back in my hometown we had saying, you never trust a dwarf as far as you can throw them." Then with a sigh, "But Ven'Kesh will take up job, he needs more coin for food and bed. But first Ven'kesh wants to know why silly mayor is so scare of this house, it is easy to light on fire and walk away. Also Ven'Kesh wants to know why you think this Herb fellow is connect to the house, he could have easily run away from this village if house scared him so bad" As I finish I cross my arms.
[OOC] Thanks for hosting this up Cagney, Sorry for the delay in my posting.
I say collect as much information as possible about the house, the land it was built on, the timing of the chants, the timing of when the weather started changing, the timing of when the shapes in the house appear, and any patterns in the timing of these events. Also, ask the mayor why they decided to burn the cult leaders rather than imprison them. If all checks out, investigate the house.
I first would want to know what else was known about the cultists. Then, scope out the house from a distance to observe the strange presence, and see what other information can be gathered.
"Heh, you think we haven't tried setting that...that atrocity on fire? We have. Many, many times. It just comes back the next day, and always seems angrier. The reason we think it took Herb was that he was the last to torch it. He was drunk, pissed, and blamed the house for his crops dying, and took a torch to it. No way he would have left on his own. His wife is still here and he loves her more than anything. Night after he set it ablaze, he was gone. No trace."
The mayor turns to the aarakocra. "The house is just on the edge of town. You may have seen it depending on which way you came into town. Biggest building in the damn town, can't miss it. I don't rightly know if there's anything special about the specific land it was built on. Mind you, this whole thing took place I wanna say 150 years ago, or so. The only things I have to go on are tales passed down by our ancestors, and a few diary entries left over. The weather started getting worse a year or so ago. We didn't think anything of it, until it just never went away. The sky is always dreary, fog rolls in every morn, We haven't seen the sun proper in just as long. Chants don't seem to have too much of a pattern. I'd say somewhere between midnight and 3? Though the day is always different too. Could be back to back nights, could be weeks apart.
I don't rightly know too much as to why they burned 'em. My guess is that they were angry. They blamed them for the deaths of their loved ones and wanted them to hurt. They were probably embarrassed too. Folks tricked them for a damn long time, and they were embarrassed. Probably blamed themselves for their relatives dying. If they had figured it out sooner, they wouldn't be dead. Probably burned 'em out of fear as well. You got cult leaders with ties to the evil and unknown. How do you know for sure a prison will even hold 'em? What if that makes them angrier? Could they still do their foul magic from a cell? What if they summon more like'm to break them out? Probably just easier to burn them for peace of mind."
"I'm terribly sorry, I've been so rude so far. I don't think we've even made any proper introductions. I'm Cyrus, the mayor of this once beautiful village. May I ask all of your names?"
Cyrus looks down at the gnome. "I'm afraid I don't know too much about the cultists who lived there. I believe they were youngish, had a couple kids, pets, seemed like a normal family. As for who they worshipped, I gotta think it was most likely one of the bound gods. Ain't that who all cults worship? Not sure which one though. All the same to me. If you all want to take a look at the house, it's right over there, just past that hill."
He points outside. You can just make out a roof past the crest of the hill, a bit into the distance.
You all are welcome to make either a history or religion check to see what you know about the bound gods. Go to your character sheet, see what bonus you have towards history and religion, and pick the higher bonus. Roll a d20, add your bonus, and that's your score. You can also roll from this website if you aren't on mobile. Click the dice icon in the reply box, add your bonus, and roll the d20.
With a wide grin, "Ven'Kesh Voxner, lovable mercenary at your service. You name it I kill it."