@Onyx As Onyx puts himself in front of the double doors, the rest of you are lined up in BEST fashion. Onyx reaches out to open them..........
........and they open without an issue. You look in and see a warm, inviting, cozy room lit by yet another fireplace (so many fireplaces!). Red velvet drapes cover the windows of this room. An exquisite mahogany desk and a matching high-back chair face the entrance and the fireplace, above which hangs a framed picture of a windmill perched atop a rocky crag. Situated in corners of the room are two overstuffed chairs. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves line the east wall. A rolling wooden ladder allows one to more easily reach the high shelves.
At the sight of the books, Bertolt seems to relax and push his way ahead. It seems as if he has a child like wonder in his eyes, going over to the nearest bookshelf to peer at the books.
Eyes raised at the enthusiasm the old folk seem to have for books, Talion turns to Erven, "Let's start with the desk. Give them a chance to ... do whatever they do."
Talion will help Erven with any perception check for traps or other things that look out of place, then move on to a more thorough search.
The door opened without an incident, Sho sees his companions start searching the room, and apparently they were already skillful enough to have a routine. He enters the room behind them, the two most prominent rows of bookcases in the room were filled with books, and he surveyed the shelves, looking through the displayed book spines.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
When he's finished with the desk, Talion will go over to the bookcases with Ervan, again looking for anything out of place. Books. Not my thing. That's what bards are for. He glances at Bert, "Anything catch your interest?"
Onyx You walk into the room cautiously, peering around at the shadows and the flickering fire...so far, nothing seems amiss - other than the general weirdness and off-putting nature of the room itself. It looks as if someone was just here a moment ago, reading a book comfortably.
@Bertolt You can make a perception check to look for something specific, but otherwise you notice what's in the Bookshelves description and what Sho notices below. Lots of books on various topics and luckily, they seem to be in some sort of order (by topic, loosely - no Dewey decimal system here! Lol!)
Desk
As Talion and Erven search the desk, the notice several items resting atop it: an oil lamp, a jar of ink, a quill pen, a tinderbox, and a letter kit containing a red wax candle, four blank sheets of parchment, and a wooden seal bearing the Durst family's insignia (a windmill). There is also a drawer, and when you open it, also contains a couple of items: an iron key, some drawings, likely from children, and a manuscript of what looks to be (a quick skim and scan) a raunchy romance novel partially completed by Gustav Durst.
Bookshelves
The bookshelves hold hundreds of tomes covering a range of topics including history, warfare, and alchemy. There are also several shelves containing first-edition collected works of poetry and fiction. As you walk through the books, you hear disjointed and dissonant whispers mingled with a children's laughing. There are "shushes." At one point you think you hear a dog barking and a man's voice yelling. While you stand still, wondering what is going to jump out at you, the sounds slowly fade...
@Erven and @Talion As you examine the bookshelves, there is a spot on the bookshelf on the east wall that garners your attention. Erven notices a red-spined book that he thinks is strange and possibly not what it seems. When he voices his suspicion, Talion investigates and deduces that it is indeed some sort of switch which can be pulled or pushed or manipulated in some way. Do you want to press/pull it?
@Sho You look at the large swathe of books and notice the huge amount of titles. There are many but none of the titles jump out at you in any particular way.
Talion chuckles at the novel and tosses it onto the table top after a quick perusal, "Now I know why you old folk are all so interested in the book shelves."
He shows the others the key, then puts it in his pack, before pointing out the paper to Bert, "You seem to like that sort of thing" he says.
He moves on to the shelves, and when they find the switch, Talion looks at Erven. "That..." he says, indicating the switch, "...should be pressed from a distance. It's probably another trap."
Turning to his companions, "When everyone is finished, we should stand back and see what this switch does."
When people seem to be ready, Talion suggests the BEST formation, but this time within the room, and with Talion moving out of formation only as far as he needs to manipulate the switch...We could all do with some armour...
Bertolt will not, taking the paper after he grabs a few of the books, carefully stacking them and holding them between his arm and side. It is rather comical as he draws his crossbow while having the books held under his other arm.
Erven takes the iron key, the raunchy romance novel (what the heck, maybe there's a bathroom in this place and I'll need a little reading material) and the wooden seal with the wooden seal with the family insignia (windmill). He stands back against the opposite wall and tells Talion to use his mage hand to flip the switch.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Talion takes his spot at the mouth of the narrow aisle and tries to manipulate the book. It's a but tricky as it's hard to see but he makes it work. You all stand behind him in some fashion [I envision you all trying to look over his shoulder in a comical way]. The book is rocked back a bit and catches. You hear a grating sound as something heavy turns. There is a heavy audible sigh and a whoosh of cold air as the whole section of bookshelf pops forward a bit. A couple of books fall on the floor from the mechanism and springs.
Nothing else that you can see from here happens. [I assume one of you goes forward to check]
This secret, unlit room is a narrow one, about 10 feet in length. It contains more bookshelves packed with tomes. A heavy wooden chest with clawed iron feet stands against the east wall, its lid half-closed. Sticking out of the chest is a skeleton in leather armor....
...But that's all you see at a glance because you hear a clicking sound - something clearly mechanical - and the bookshelf begins to close and right itself. In a matter of about 30 seconds, it closes and is again indistinguishable from the other shelves....
Sho tries to look over Talion's shoulder as he opens the secret door and reveals a dark room beyond. Catching sight of more bookshelves lined inside and a wooden chest containing a skeleton... There goes everyone's got a skeleton in their closet, it seems. But this house probably has more secrets than that. The vision closes as the mechanism of the bookshelf closes itself. Sho sighs, "someone has to go in... and someone would have to stay on this side to open the door."
Onyx readies his sword and shield and steps up to the where the shelves separated.
"I don't mind going in - I'm curious about how that poor soul got themselves stuck in a chest. Someone else can probably fit in there with me. Maybe one of you more accomplished readers?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
Erven says "I'll stand guard here, shout out to me and I'll open the door when you need me to." He opens up the romance novel and starts to read, intrigued.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
"Let me go with you." Sho offers. He couldn't help but bemused as he watched Erven flip through a romance novel with a straight face. The soot that had been left on his face when they had just engaged the flaming bats had left nothing but paleness. He gestures towards the bookshelves, "shall we?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Talion puts a hand in front of Sho, trying to stop him, "Wait! We should check what's with the skeleton...it'll likely going to attack us, and you're in no fit state for that."
If Sho pauses, then Talion nods, and turns to Onyx, "Give me a hand will you?"
Gods above and below! No survival instinct, that one.
Sho was silent for a moment and paused in his steps. He looked into the dark room revealing from the separated bookshelves, the chest containing the skeleton, a long vertebrae, curved spine, ribs holding up the leather armour. Based on their experience in this house, zombies, dire wolves, there was indeed a good chance that the skeleton would rise up and attack them the next moment. "Call out if you need help." He compromises and eyes Talion as he goes in with Onyx.
@Onyx and @Talion You both head into the room, which soon becomes bathed in darkness once more. It doesn't bother either of you and you can see fairly well and the room, albeit dim to your eyes, is discernible. In this environment, a few things to note. The bookshelves are lined with books on rituals, sacrificial rites, and dark, necromantic magic. You note several tomes that seem to be made of dried leather... Several of the spines have the words "Priests of Osybus" or "Osybus." You're not sure what that is. There are shadows that move here. Nothing substantial or physical but flickers in the dimness of the room that catch your attention but as you turn your head, they flit away into deeper shadows.No colour is visible, only shades of gray, which makes it even stranger. You begin to hear scribbling, as if someone in the room is writing on paper. You turn around and watch as an apparition, glowing blue, steps towards you gingerly, looking around at the small room. It doesn't take any note of you. It actually passes through both of you, and you feel chilled but excited at the same time. It kneels down at the chest and begins working on it. In a few seconds, you see the apparition pull back and clutch its hand - a trap! The apparition pounds the top of the chest in anger. You see it take out a dagger, hesitate, then chop it's hand off! You hear it's scream in your head and you instinctively cover your ears. The action is futile however, and the poison from the trap has done the necessary damage. The apparition slowly opens the now-sprung trapped lid and looks inside. It pulls something out - a piece of paper. It looks like it reads it. It begins to laugh - a raspy wheeze that becomes more difficult. Soon the apparition slumps to the ground and shakes until it is still. The blue glow disappears...You hear another low rumble of laughter in the room, condescending and terrible. Then it stops.
Slumped against the open chest is a skeleton in studded leather armor. Close inspection reveals that the skeleton belongs to an elf who triggered a poisoned dart trap. Three darts are found - two stuck in the armor and one near the separated hand bones. The dart-firing mechanism inside the chest no longer functions. Clutched in the skeleton's left hand is a letter bearing a seal with what looks like a flying raven against a tower. Written in flowing script, the letter reads as follows:
Letter
TEXT if you can't read the letter:
My most pathetic servant,
I am not a messiah sent to you by the 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 altar, 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 writhing in my earth.
You say that you are cursed, your fortunes spent. You abandoned love for madness, took solace in the bosom of another woman, and sired a stillborn son. Cursed by darkness? Of that I have no doubt. Save you from your wretchedness? I think not. I much prefer you as you are.
Your dread lord and master,
Strahd von Zarovich
CHEST Looking in the chest, you find some cool stuff. The chest contains three blank books with black leather covers; three spell scrolls [you might need someone more arcane-y to figure out what spells they are based on their seals]; the deed to the house, the deed to a windmill, and a signed will. The windmill referred to in the second deed is situated in the mountains east of Vallaki. The will is signed by Gustav and Elisabeth Durst and bequeathes the house, the windmill, and all other family property to Rosavalda and Thornboldt Durst in the event of their parents' deaths.
@Onyx
As Onyx puts himself in front of the double doors, the rest of you are lined up in BEST fashion. Onyx reaches out to open them..........
........and they open without an issue. You look in and see a warm, inviting, cozy room lit by yet another fireplace (so many fireplaces!). Red velvet drapes cover the windows of this room. An exquisite mahogany desk and a matching high-back chair face the entrance and the fireplace, above which hangs a framed picture of a windmill perched atop a rocky crag. Situated in corners of the room are two overstuffed chairs. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves line the east wall. A rolling wooden ladder allows one to more easily reach the high shelves.
What would you like to do in here?
MAP/VISUAL
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons
"Huh," shrugs Onyx. "Guess I'm just good luck."
He moves over to the bookshelf. He's sure there's some nasty surprise there, but relief and curiosity both have clouded his caution.
Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
At the sight of the books, Bertolt seems to relax and push his way ahead. It seems as if he has a child like wonder in his eyes, going over to the nearest bookshelf to peer at the books.
Eyes raised at the enthusiasm the old folk seem to have for books, Talion turns to Erven, "Let's start with the desk. Give them a chance to ... do whatever they do."
Talion will help Erven with any perception check for traps or other things that look out of place, then move on to a more thorough search.
Investigation (searching desk area): 20 (advantage)
( Passive perception: 14 )
Erven examines the desk and the bookcases with the help of Talion, looking for anything interesting, any clues about the house or interesting items.
Perception : 23
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
The door opened without an incident, Sho sees his companions start searching the room, and apparently they were already skillful enough to have a routine. He enters the room behind them, the two most prominent rows of bookcases in the room were filled with books, and he surveyed the shelves, looking through the displayed book spines.
Perception: 7
When he's finished with the desk, Talion will go over to the bookcases with Ervan, again looking for anything out of place. Books. Not my thing. That's what bards are for. He glances at Bert, "Anything catch your interest?"
Investigation (bookshelves): 15
Onyx
You walk into the room cautiously, peering around at the shadows and the flickering fire...so far, nothing seems amiss - other than the general weirdness and off-putting nature of the room itself. It looks as if someone was just here a moment ago, reading a book comfortably.
@Bertolt
You can make a perception check to look for something specific, but otherwise you notice what's in the Bookshelves description and what Sho notices below. Lots of books on various topics and luckily, they seem to be in some sort of order (by topic, loosely - no Dewey decimal system here! Lol!)
Desk
As Talion and Erven search the desk, the notice several items resting atop it: an oil lamp, a jar of ink, a quill pen, a tinderbox, and a letter kit containing a red wax candle, four blank sheets of parchment, and a wooden seal bearing the Durst family's insignia (a windmill). There is also a drawer, and when you open it, also contains a couple of items: an iron key, some drawings, likely from children, and a manuscript of what looks to be (a quick skim and scan) a raunchy romance novel partially completed by Gustav Durst.
Bookshelves
The bookshelves hold hundreds of tomes covering a range of topics including history, warfare, and alchemy. There are also several shelves containing first-edition collected works of poetry and fiction. As you walk through the books, you hear disjointed and dissonant whispers mingled with a children's laughing. There are "shushes." At one point you think you hear a dog barking and a man's voice yelling. While you stand still, wondering what is going to jump out at you, the sounds slowly fade...
@Erven and @Talion
As you examine the bookshelves, there is a spot on the bookshelf on the east wall that garners your attention. Erven notices a red-spined book that he thinks is strange and possibly not what it seems. When he voices his suspicion, Talion investigates and deduces that it is indeed some sort of switch which can be pulled or pushed or manipulated in some way.
Do you want to press/pull it?
@Sho
You look at the large swathe of books and notice the huge amount of titles. There are many but none of the titles jump out at you in any particular way.
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons
Talion chuckles at the novel and tosses it onto the table top after a quick perusal, "Now I know why you old folk are all so interested in the book shelves."
He shows the others the key, then puts it in his pack, before pointing out the paper to Bert, "You seem to like that sort of thing" he says.
He moves on to the shelves, and when they find the switch, Talion looks at Erven. "That..." he says, indicating the switch, "...should be pressed from a distance. It's probably another trap."
Turning to his companions, "When everyone is finished, we should stand back and see what this switch does."
When people seem to be ready, Talion suggests the BEST formation, but this time within the room, and with Talion moving out of formation only as far as he needs to manipulate the switch...We could all do with some armour...
Bertolt will not, taking the paper after he grabs a few of the books, carefully stacking them and holding them between his arm and side. It is rather comical as he draws his crossbow while having the books held under his other arm.
Erven takes the iron key, the raunchy romance novel (what the heck, maybe there's a bathroom in this place and I'll need a little reading material) and the wooden seal with the wooden seal with the family insignia (windmill). He stands back against the opposite wall and tells Talion to use his mage hand to flip the switch.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
Onyx dutifully assumes the best position. Best case, it was a poison trap. Worst case, it was . . . well, there were a lot of worst cases.
Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
Talion takes his spot at the mouth of the narrow aisle and tries to manipulate the book. It's a but tricky as it's hard to see but he makes it work. You all stand behind him in some fashion [I envision you all trying to look over his shoulder in a comical way]. The book is rocked back a bit and catches. You hear a grating sound as something heavy turns. There is a heavy audible sigh and a whoosh of cold air as the whole section of bookshelf pops forward a bit. A couple of books fall on the floor from the mechanism and springs.
Nothing else that you can see from here happens. [I assume one of you goes forward to check]
This secret, unlit room is a narrow one, about 10 feet in length. It contains more bookshelves packed with tomes. A heavy wooden chest with clawed iron feet stands against the east wall, its lid half-closed. Sticking out of the chest is a skeleton in leather armor....
...But that's all you see at a glance because you hear a clicking sound - something clearly mechanical - and the bookshelf begins to close and right itself. In a matter of about 30 seconds, it closes and is again indistinguishable from the other shelves....
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons
Sho tries to look over Talion's shoulder as he opens the secret door and reveals a dark room beyond. Catching sight of more bookshelves lined inside and a wooden chest containing a skeleton... There goes everyone's got a skeleton in their closet, it seems. But this house probably has more secrets than that. The vision closes as the mechanism of the bookshelf closes itself. Sho sighs, "someone has to go in... and someone would have to stay on this side to open the door."
Onyx readies his sword and shield and steps up to the where the shelves separated.
"I don't mind going in - I'm curious about how that poor soul got themselves stuck in a chest. Someone else can probably fit in there with me. Maybe one of you more accomplished readers?"
Another medical problem. Indefinite hiatus. Sorry, all.
Erven says "I'll stand guard here, shout out to me and I'll open the door when you need me to." He opens up the romance novel and starts to read, intrigued.
A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to.
"Let me go with you." Sho offers. He couldn't help but bemused as he watched Erven flip through a romance novel with a straight face. The soot that had been left on his face when they had just engaged the flaming bats had left nothing but paleness. He gestures towards the bookshelves, "shall we?"
Talion puts a hand in front of Sho, trying to stop him, "Wait! We should check what's with the skeleton...it'll likely going to attack us, and you're in no fit state for that."
If Sho pauses, then Talion nods, and turns to Onyx, "Give me a hand will you?"
Gods above and below! No survival instinct, that one.
Perception (traps!): 22 (Passive 14)
Investigation (Chest/Skeleton): 8
Sho was silent for a moment and paused in his steps. He looked into the dark room revealing from the separated bookshelves, the chest containing the skeleton, a long vertebrae, curved spine, ribs holding up the leather armour. Based on their experience in this house, zombies, dire wolves, there was indeed a good chance that the skeleton would rise up and attack them the next moment. "Call out if you need help." He compromises and eyes Talion as he goes in with Onyx.
@Onyx and @Talion
You both head into the room, which soon becomes bathed in darkness once more. It doesn't bother either of you and you can see fairly well and the room, albeit dim to your eyes, is discernible. In this environment, a few things to note. The bookshelves are lined with books on rituals, sacrificial rites, and dark, necromantic magic. You note several tomes that seem to be made of dried leather... Several of the spines have the words "Priests of Osybus" or "Osybus." You're not sure what that is.
There are shadows that move here. Nothing substantial or physical but flickers in the dimness of the room that catch your attention but as you turn your head, they flit away into deeper shadows.No colour is visible, only shades of gray, which makes it even stranger. You begin to hear scribbling, as if someone in the room is writing on paper. You turn around and watch as an apparition, glowing blue, steps towards you gingerly, looking around at the small room. It doesn't take any note of you. It actually passes through both of you, and you feel chilled but excited at the same time. It kneels down at the chest and begins working on it. In a few seconds, you see the apparition pull back and clutch its hand - a trap! The apparition pounds the top of the chest in anger. You see it take out a dagger, hesitate, then chop it's hand off! You hear it's scream in your head and you instinctively cover your ears. The action is futile however, and the poison from the trap has done the necessary damage. The apparition slowly opens the now-sprung trapped lid and looks inside. It pulls something out - a piece of paper. It looks like it reads it. It begins to laugh - a raspy wheeze that becomes more difficult. Soon the apparition slumps to the ground and shakes until it is still. The blue glow disappears...You hear another low rumble of laughter in the room, condescending and terrible. Then it stops.
Slumped against the open chest is a skeleton in studded leather armor. Close inspection reveals that the skeleton belongs to an elf who triggered a poisoned dart trap. Three darts are found - two stuck in the armor and one near the separated hand bones. The dart-firing mechanism inside the chest no longer functions. Clutched in the skeleton's left hand is a letter bearing a seal with what looks like a flying raven against a tower. Written in flowing script, the letter reads as follows:
Letter
TEXT if you can't read the letter:
My most pathetic servant,
I am not a messiah sent to you by the 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 altar, 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 writhing in my earth.
You say that you are cursed, your fortunes spent. You abandoned love for madness, took solace in the bosom of another woman, and sired a stillborn son. Cursed by darkness? Of that I have no doubt. Save you from your wretchedness? I think not. I much prefer you as you are.
Your dread lord and master,
Strahd von Zarovich
CHEST
Looking in the chest, you find some cool stuff. The chest contains three blank books with black leather covers; three spell scrolls [you might need someone more arcane-y to figure out what spells they are based on their seals]; the deed to the house, the deed to a windmill, and a signed will. The windmill referred to in the second deed is situated in the mountains east of Vallaki. The will is signed by Gustav and Elisabeth Durst and bequeathes the house, the windmill, and all other family property to Rosavalda and Thornboldt Durst in the event of their parents' deaths.
DM - And In The Darkness, Rot: The Sunless Citadel
DM - Our Little Lives Kept In Equipoise: Curse of Strahd
DM - Misprize Thou Not These Shadows That Belong: The Lost Mines of Phandelver
PC - Azzure - Tyranny of Dragons