Ermren: You study the shapes and runes carved into the wall. It takes some time so you are predisposed for a while. What you do come up with doesn't make sense. The runes and power lines do not match and honestly, the mathematics of it all doesn't seem to be sound.
Bob: You examine the skeleton in leather armor. The flesh has all but rotted away leaving dried flesh here and there. The three darts in its chest are the apparent cause of death. Clutched in the left hand of the corpse you find a sealed envelope. The wax on the seal bears the image of a double-headed eagle. Breaking the seal you find a letter inside. The print is very elegant and reads:
My most pathetic servant,
I am not the messiah sent to you by Dark Powers of this land. I have not come to lead you on a path to immortality. However many souls you have bled on your hidden alter, however many visitors you have tortured in your dungeon, know that you are not the ones who brought me to this beautiful land. You are but worms withering in my earth. You say that you are cursed, your fortune spent. You abandon love for madness, took solace in the blossom of another woman, sired a stillborn son. Cursed by darkness? Of that, I have no doubt. Save you from your wretchedness? I think not. I prefer you as you are.
Bob cringes at the gruesome corpse before the sound of the trap mechanism and the realization that his friends might be in danger clicks at the same time. He turns and opens his mouth to yell at James to get out of the way when he sees the chest opened and more importantly no darts in James' chest.
"Phew! That could've been bad. Anyone mind if I...?" He pulls the darts free with a cringe and places them in his belt to use later.
He takes the letter and examines it, slowly reading it aloud for the rest of the group to hear. He peers up at the rest of them when he finishes, bemused. "I'm beginning t' think the benevolent lord Strahd isn't as nice as he made oot t' be."
James searches through the chest and finds the following:
The deed to the house in the name of Gustav Durst. A second deed to what appears to be a windmill in the mountains to the east. The will of Gustav and Elisa-beth Durst. it is signed and bequeathed the house to Rosavalda and Thornbolt Durst, presumably their children. There is 1 blank, black leather-bound book in the chest as well.
Reluctantly turning away from his examination of the runes in time to hear about the deed to the windmill Ermren speaks up, “I’m thinking there might be something to this windmill we should check out, these repeated references to it seem like the kind of thing Thautam would do to get me to look into something.”
Gillain speaks up quietly in thought from the back “Rosavalda and Thornbolt Durst? They must be the children out front... Wasn’t the boy named ‘Thorn’?...”.
Then she comments sadly “and a stillborn child... The child upstairs... How awful...”. She clutches her amulet and says a few words to herself that might be a blessing or prayer.
"Interesting these deed my come in handy... perhaps we should hold on to them." Tio will keep the deeds if no one objects. "If there's nothing else in here let's keep searching." Tio will wait outside the room with Gillain.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Felix Windfall (Human-V Lv.7 Rogue) killed in ToA,Vallan Houndstrider (Halfling Ghostwise Lv.1 Fighter) in DiA
Bob scans the letter one last time and looks more confused for it. "But... those kids said there was a baby still in here. If it's stillborn, though..."
He shakes his head to clear it of that particularly ghastly line of thinking before gulping as he rereads the word "dungeon". "Ah. Well. It seems the, erm, man of the house has a dungeon with some sort of sacrificial altar. Maybe we ought to just stick to upstairs, in that case? Right?"
He looks up and sees the party filing out of the secret passageway and groans, shuffling along after them.
Ermren listens to Bob and gives another sigh, "Obviously not, we will have to check this dungeon out. If only to get to the truth of things," the last added with an almost accusatory glance upward.
The party makes its way to the double doors along the west wall of the second-floor main hall. A couple of steps before getting to the doors, the party hears what sounds like a harpsichord being played lightly. You quickly open the doors to find a 60 ft. long x 40 ft. wide room. The room is well lit from 2 large, brass chandeliers that hang from the ceiling at the 15 ft. and 30 ft. spot in the room. Across the room, along the west wall, are several windows with Gossamer curtains hanging in front of each. A slight breeze seems to flow mast the curtains causing them to shuffle in the wind.
Along the walls are several over-stuffed upholstered chairs. An obsidian fireplace takes up most of the south wall of the room and there are 4 alabaster figurines of dancing women on the mantlepiece.
There are a harpsichord and bench sitting in the northwest corner of this room. Several stained glassed wall hangings adorn the room at various points. They each depict men, women, and children dancing and playing various instruments.
There appears to be nothing else in this room.
Amendment: As soon as you open the door all is silent. You see no one in the room.
Bob seems loathe to enter a room where a moment previous there had been music playing and yet now the room appeared empty, but he did anyway. He was far more frightened of being left behind, after all. He followed their usual pattern upon entering a new room in the house, focusing his attention on one aspect of the room while the others did the same. He examines the stained glass windows to see if they have any religious significance.
Ermren doesn't even glance over from his examination of the runes, "What was that noise? And did you find anything interesting in there?"
“Sort of,” James says, hoping no one else noticed.
Paladin - warforged - orange
Ermren: You study the shapes and runes carved into the wall. It takes some time so you are predisposed for a while. What you do come up with doesn't make sense. The runes and power lines do not match and honestly,
the mathematics of it all doesn't seem to be sound.
Bob: You examine the skeleton in leather armor. The flesh has all but rotted away leaving dried flesh here and there. The three darts in its chest are the apparent cause of death. Clutched in the left hand of the corpse you find a sealed envelope. The wax on the seal bears the image of a double-headed eagle. Breaking the seal you find a letter inside. The print is very elegant and reads:
My most pathetic servant,
I am not the messiah sent to you by Dark Powers of this land. I have not come to lead you on a path to immortality. However many souls you have bled on your hidden alter, however many visitors you have tortured in your dungeon, know that you are not the ones who brought me to this beautiful land. You are but worms withering in my earth.
You say that you are cursed, your fortune spent. You abandon love for madness, took solace in the blossom of another woman, sired a stillborn son. Cursed by darkness? Of that, I have no doubt. Save you from your wretchedness? I think not. I prefer you as you are.
Your dread lord and master,
Strahd von Zarovich
Bob cringes at the gruesome corpse before the sound of the trap mechanism and the realization that his friends might be in danger clicks at the same time. He turns and opens his mouth to yell at James to get out of the way when he sees the chest opened and more importantly no darts in James' chest.
"Phew! That could've been bad. Anyone mind if I...?" He pulls the darts free with a cringe and places them in his belt to use later.
He takes the letter and examines it, slowly reading it aloud for the rest of the group to hear. He peers up at the rest of them when he finishes, bemused. "I'm beginning t' think the benevolent lord Strahd isn't as nice as he made oot t' be."
James searches through the chest and finds the following:
The deed to the house in the name of Gustav Durst.
A second deed to what appears to be a windmill in the mountains to the east.
The will of Gustav and Elisa-beth Durst. it is signed and bequeathed the house to Rosavalda and Thornbolt Durst, presumably their children.
There is 1 blank, black leather-bound book in the chest as well.
Reluctantly turning away from his examination of the runes in time to hear about the deed to the windmill Ermren speaks up, “I’m thinking there might be something to this windmill we should check out, these repeated references to it seem like the kind of thing Thautam would do to get me to look into something.”
Gillain speaks up quietly in thought from the back “Rosavalda and Thornbolt Durst? They must be the children out front... Wasn’t the boy named ‘Thorn’?...”.
Then she comments sadly “and a stillborn child... The child upstairs... How awful...”. She clutches her amulet and says a few words to herself that might be a blessing or prayer.
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
James opens the book to read through it
Paladin - warforged - orange
The book is blank
"Interesting these deed my come in handy... perhaps we should hold on to them." Tio will keep the deeds if no one objects. "If there's nothing else in here let's keep searching." Tio will wait outside the room with Gillain.
Felix Windfall(Human-V Lv.7 Rogue) killed in ToA, Vallan Houndstrider (Halfling Ghostwise Lv.1 Fighter) in DiAWhen everyone is ready, Gillain will lead the party back across the way to the next set of double doors, and open them wide...
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
Bob scans the letter one last time and looks more confused for it. "But... those kids said there was a baby still in here. If it's stillborn, though..."
He shakes his head to clear it of that particularly ghastly line of thinking before gulping as he rereads the word "dungeon". "Ah. Well. It seems the, erm, man of the house has a dungeon with some sort of sacrificial altar. Maybe we ought to just stick to upstairs, in that case? Right?"
He looks up and sees the party filing out of the secret passageway and groans, shuffling along after them.
Ermren listens to Bob and gives another sigh, "Obviously not, we will have to check this dungeon out. If only to get to the truth of things," the last added with an almost accusatory glance upward.
Dmitri falls back to the rear once more following behind the two dwarves discussing a dungeon.
James tried not to get lost in looking at the book and keep up with the others
Paladin - warforged - orange
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/16Y2cAxo9dl6wEzDN-N1EY2O4GsCdm3Tt4pHeZaJx7eo/edit
The party makes its way to the double doors along the west wall of the second-floor main hall. A couple of steps before getting to the doors, the party hears what sounds like a harpsichord being played lightly. You quickly open the doors to find a 60 ft. long x 40 ft. wide room. The room is well lit from 2 large, brass chandeliers that hang from the ceiling at the 15 ft. and 30 ft. spot in the room. Across the room, along the west wall, are several windows with Gossamer curtains hanging in front of each. A slight breeze seems to flow mast the curtains causing them to shuffle in the wind.
Along the walls are several over-stuffed upholstered chairs. An obsidian fireplace takes up most of the south wall of the room and there are 4 alabaster figurines of dancing women on the mantlepiece.
There are a harpsichord and bench sitting in the northwest corner of this room. Several stained glassed wall hangings adorn the room at various points. They each depict men, women, and children dancing and playing various instruments.
There appears to be nothing else in this room.
Amendment:
As soon as you open the door all is silent. You see no one in the room.
Gillain is quite taken by the pretty alabaster figurines over the fireplace and goes to take a look...
((OOC: is the harpsichord still playing? Can we see anyone playing it? Also, how big are the alabaster figurines?))
GILLAIN OF ATHKATLA - Human Paladin - Into the Mists PHILLIP THE GRUNG - Grung Eldritch Knight - Tomb of Annihilation
ROBWIN WINDROBE - High Elf Wizard - Dragon of Icespire Peak EVE DARKSHORE - Tiefling Warlock - Rime of the Frost Maiden
ASH OF THE FIRE - Tabaxi Rogue - Ghosts of Marshswamp LIA STARBORN - Aasimar Bard - Out of the Abyss
Tio looks around the room, reminiscing about the time she was a servant. She will investigate the room for any traps or secrets entrances.
Perception: 18
Felix Windfall(Human-V Lv.7 Rogue) killed in ToA, Vallan Houndstrider (Halfling Ghostwise Lv.1 Fighter) in DiABob seems loathe to enter a room where a moment previous there had been music playing and yet now the room appeared empty, but he did anyway. He was far more frightened of being left behind, after all. He followed their usual pattern upon entering a new room in the house, focusing his attention on one aspect of the room while the others did the same. He examines the stained glass windows to see if they have any religious significance.
Religion check: 20
Ermren will move to the harpsicord and start trying to open it up to see if he can figure out if it was a mechanical thing making it play.
Investigation: 12