DM Shade's The Misty Manor [Solo] (Inactive)

Game Master Arrius

Thaddeus moves through the grounds in tense anticipation, carrying his bag in one hand and gripping his cane with the other. It had been years since he had drawn the blade hidden within, at least with the intent to harm another, a principle he broke only in the utmost urgency. Not that a steel blade was likely to make any difference against an apparition...

"What was that?" he asks Arline, jumping slightly as she breaks the prevailing silence.

"I...was answering your question. Yes, I remember," She turned to Thaddeus. The waning moonlight reflected her confusion.
"During that sunset--days before we stopped visiting her. I told Shiraz I was afraid, and she said to me, 'afraid while I'm with you?'. You were the one watching the two of us, right? After that day, I knew I had to put a stop to this."

Thaddeus' own confusion is quite apparent. He shakes his head at Arline and mutters to himself, trying in vain to put his memories in order.

"I do not..." he starts. "No. I was the one who said that... I think. Someone was watching, but..."

The doctor shakes his head one more time, somewhat more violently. "Regardless, I did not ask you anything. What did you hear?"

"Nothing...Nothing," said she, shaking her head, putting a hand over a sweating brow. Arline looked pale, and turned to the veiled windows of the silent manor.
The two continued past the left side of the house to the end, coming by the back, where the fire pit (and its old and now-broken and rotted seats) sat. An ivory-colored angelic statue had her back to the house, pointing to the riverbank beyond the garden, clasping her hands together in prayer and on her knees.

"I remember this statue," said Arline. "I thought it was very beautiful. Shiraz loved it, too."

Soon, a golden light emerged from the right side of the house, and Thaddeus's cousins appeared, following Maddox, who carried a shovel in two hands. He relaxed when he neared the fire pit, and sat, wiping sweat off his brow. They seemed terribly unnerved, and Edric was shaking visibly.

Knowledge (religion): 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26

Thaddeus eyes the sacrilegious sculpture with some suspicion, but chooses to not share his consternation with Arline. Having set down his bag—which had proved heavier than he had anticipated—his free hand wanders to the ankh in his pocket, feeling its now familiar etchings. His mouth felt dry for some reason, and for a moment he curses himself for not bringing any non-consecrated water with him.

This is not a picnic, that much is for certain... more of an expedition into unknown wilderness, and an awfully ill-prepared one at that.

For a moment his mind wanders back to Lepidstadt, and the discussion he had shared with the young woman in the messenger tower. What was her name...? Katalin, Katenka, or something to that effect. The fact that he could not remember gnawed at him. Thaddeus wonders what she was doing right at this moment, as he waited in the dark. She had told him he would master fire, yet he had not even remembered to bring a lantern...

As his cousins finally emerge from behind the manor, the doctor swallows and turns to meet them.

"Report," he says a bit more sharply than he had intended. "Did you see anything useful?"

Maddox lowered his napkin (now drenched with sweat), and said, leering at his twin, "Yes. Edric saw a hand in the garden pool."
"Trick of the light," returned Edric sharply.
"Then why did you hide behind Agatha and scream? That yell would have awoken the dead."
Agatha displayed a cold grin and shrugged to Arline (who was still too unnerved to shrug back).

"Did you see anything useful?"

"All the windows are veiled with curtains except the one at the attic," said Agatha. She paused, and turned to the statue.

Agatha's Knowledge (Religion) check: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (17) + 5 = 22

"W...wow. I didn't even notice this when I was a kid," said Agatha. Maddox sat up, squinting at the statue. "The sculptor must've been feverish to make this."
She turned away from the statue, then to the window over the firepit. It was not veiled. "And the outer kitchen's window over there."

Maddox stood up, approaching the statue.

Being quite inured to upper-class irreligiosity, Thaddeus quickly disregards the statue as merely an irreverent affectation of the manor's previous owners. Instead, his practical mind is running through different approaches to the house itself. The doctor picks up his bag and starts walking towards the house. After a few steps, he turns aback and casts a glance back at Maddox and the sculpture.

"Leave that thing to the priests," he calls back "We should go and see if we can see something from the kitchen window. I might need a boost..."

Maddox turned back, nodding to Thaddeus.
The window was within Thaddeus's vision; 3-feet wide, 5-foot tall arched window looked into the dark kitchen, where the soft half-moon's light illuminated a pale bust and the edges of the selfsame dining table where the now-adults drank strangely-colored orange juice and jello.
Cobwebs hanged from the ceiling, and a spinning wheel lay in the corner, half-covered with a white cloth. A giant china vase was at the end of the long table (below a half-visible frame of a mirror, which was too dark to observe). Several candlesticks sat on end tables, reaching to the high ceiling, where a pale candle chandelier hanged.
Agatha followed, handing Thaddeus her sunrod, illuminating more of the dark kitchen--but as the light passed the tarnished, yellowing window, it reached much further than it normally did.

"The coast seems clear," Thaddeus says to the others.

The doctor produces a crowbar from his bag, handing it to Maddox. "Give me a hand, will you?"

I assume he is the buffest of the bunch, going by previous descriptions.

Maddox looked at the crowbar, taking it. He thought a moment, and turned to Arline. The obesity of the two didn't allow them to climb through windows.
"Sure. But where do we come through?" asked he.
"Front door," said Arline, looking at the window.
"We have rope. That way, we won't have any more shut doors," Edric commented, pulling out a roll of rope.

Agatha turned to Thaddeus, frowning in the light of the sunrod, and said, "Should we split up to cover more ground?"

Hello?

Thaddeus nods at Arline. "Yes, you two should go to the front door and wait there. The rest of us will open it from the inside, and then we will secure it with the rope. I do not think we should split up any more than that, at least until we are all inside and have a reliable way of getting in and out of the building. We must be smart about this..."

The doctor looks to Maddox with the crowbar. "Now, get that window open, if you would."

"Yes, you two should go to the front door and wait there.

We must be smart about this..."

Agatha rummaged in her backpack, and cried softly out in relief, drawing out a hooded lantern.

If everything is OK (made decisions and dialogue), give me your action and I'll continue on to what you see.

Agatha left a two whistles to the men, and (with some hesitation) gave Thaddeus the Erastilian holy book.

"I suppose you might need this," she said carefully. "Since we don't know what we're dealing with--better not take chances, right?"

Thaddeus shakes his head slowly at the offer, but does tuck the book into his bag—mostly for Agatha's peace of mind. "I suppose it won't hurt. Be safe, okay? We will head straight for the front door..."

Assuming there is no immediate oddities or threats, Thaddeus will start heading towards the front of the house.

Agatha nodded thankfully, and also handed Thaddeus her lantern. Edric dutifully poured some lamp oil, and lit it. Edric and Thaddeus entered (supported with Maddox).
The dining table, surrounded by its high-backed nightmarish chairs...the enormous vase and old candlesticks...the heavy curtains hiding parts of the wall, and the distant, blurry mirror at the end...the bronze statuettes were twisted, formed in what could have been an attempt at seduction--if the statuettes had distinct figures.
Edric helped his twin up. After a brief struggle, Maddox was with the group, clutching his leg.
Walking through the room, the men's lights cast a thousand shadows that seemed to be dancing.
Edric whispered, "Do you remember the novel Grandness? That one scene where the old lady who died in her house, and how her food remained untouched and edible for a hundred years?"
A study and fireplace down the hall carried the indistinct shadows of mounted animal heads in the darkness. The stairs to the upper floors looked to be consumed by pitch darkness.
Maddox looked in short supply of patience, and whispered back, "I don't read the crap you do, and now's not the time to demonstrate how well-read you are."
The front door was in sight--a pale light beyond (doubtlessly from the Sunrod) was blurred from behind rippled glass.
"I can't help it--everything I experience reminds me of another in a novel or a--w-what was that?!"
A soft cold wind passed through the three men. Just as it came, it went. It was around two feet from the door.
Thaddeus can turn the lock and open the front door now.

"Get your rope ready," Thaddeus says to Edric.

The doctor sets down his bag and readies his cane, watchful for more trickery as he unlocks the doors.

"Get your rope ready," Thaddeus says to Edric.

The doctor sets down his bag and readies his cane, watchful for more trickery as he unlocks the doors.

Meow...

Meow...

Thaddeus scoffs at the cat, simultaneously startled and almost annoyed by the mundanity of the occurrence. He makes no move to drive the critter off, however.

It is hardly your fault, is it? We are the ones intruding in your lair...

"It's foolish for all of us to explore at once," suggested Agatha at Thaddeus and his cousins. "If something unexpected happens, I'll be ready to send for help."

The doctor sighs, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"You are entirely free to come or go as you please," he says coolly. "I never asked any of you to come along in the first place, but you insisted. Now that we are here, however, I think that it would be best to stay as a group. What will you do if Shiraz—whatever she is—comes for you directly?"

DM Shade wrote:

"It's foolish for all of us to explore at once," suggested Agatha at Thaddeus and his cousins. "If something unexpected happens, I'll be ready to send for help."

The doctor sighs, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"You are entirely free to come or go as you please," he says coolly. "I never asked any of you to come along in the first place, but you insisted. Now that we are here, however, I think that it would be best to stay as a group. What will you do if Shiraz—whatever she is—comes for you directly?"

"That was then," said Arline evasively, avoiding Thaddeus's key question. "And somebody needs to be here to see to it that the door doesn't shut and lock you in, too. I'll watch the rope."

"Sigh...It can't be helped," said Maddox, looking back from his sister Agatha to Arline, and said, "You have a whistle and a light source, right?"

Arline nodded, as Agatha handed her the sunrod. Arline held the metal-tipped wooden rod in her hand as if it were a sword, and with her other hand, held the rope tied to the door.

Thaddeus can convince someone else to stand by the door instead, or move on.

Remaining aloof, Thaddeus moves to check that the rope in attached securely, making sure that there are no immobile objects that it could be tied to.

"We need to move," he says to Edric and Maddox. "We will go through all the rooms in order, and stay together. I repeat: stay together at all times. Understood? Good."

The doctor picks up his bag and heads to...

What are my options on the first floor? Of course, any rooms that would have had special significance to Shiraz would be the highest priority.

Thaddeus's cousins nodded quietly.

"If you want to come by again, please feel free to consider this your home."

Flashback to how it was years ago.

The main hallway or foyer had a stairway to the second floor, shrouded in darkness. The house creaked, as if it's very spirit sensed intruders. Old statues lurked in the darkness at the edge of light, and dusty red-and-violet drapes hanged from the ceiling, torn at the bottom. A chandelier from above tinkled softly from a hidden breeze.
The scent of rot, dust, and ancient wood pervaded the Dusek Family's noses--intercepted only with a faint ancient perfume.
Edric began humming nervously a familiar tune.

Paths
* Music Room: Here is the room Shiraz once complained about having too many piano lessons. There was a tune she always liked to play...
* Library/Study: Shiraz hated coming to this room, but this was where her mother always stayed
* Family Room: Shiraz loved playing in this room--this is where Shiraz sometimes played board games with the kids, as Arline looked sullenly outside through the window at a rainy day.
* Guest Bedroom 1: One of the rooms that were always locked when the kids were there years ago is now open, and has the cat.
* Guest Bedroom 2: Another room that was always locked. It was closed.
* Basement: The basement was always in the worst repair. Gods know how it is now.
* Dining Room & Kitchen: Investigating the kitchen and dining room might yield clues.
* Second Floor: Investigating the bedrooms for any clues of what killed the Khedrevs might lie in their bedrooms

* Library/Study: Shiraz hated coming to this room, but this was where her mother always stayed

Ever a man of learning, Thaddeus feels drawn towards the familiar. Perhaps there was some document that would shed light on the situation...

The library was dark as the rest of the house. The scent of rot was powerful here, and a thin mist coated the floor, rolling in with the opening of the door.

Several large tomes were strewn about the room--some on antique book stands. The first word that came to Thaddeus's mind was maps. Maps of all sizes and shapes and of projections that caused dizziness with those who knew their letters. One feature that was nearly always present in the maps (regardless of region or projection) were small black painted gates with a star over them. The maps' focus on water was also frequent.
Some ill-preserved parchments of maps hanged on the walls, some painted over world globes, and some drawn in the insides of china bowls.
Thaddeus found a nearby book with unusual old Varisian script that read roughly as 'Our History'.

As Thaddeus and Maddox examined the library from the inside, Edric and Agatha waited outside the room, whispering to themselves nervously.

Paths
* Try to find more links between maps [Knowledge (Geography)]
* Read the lady's notebook
* Use an extract
* Ask cousins why they aren't coming in

* Use an extract

Thaddeus soon becomes lost in the mystery of the library, barely noticing his cousins' apprehension. Curious about whether or not it will work, Thaddeus hastily produces some components from his bag, and mixes them quickly in a small vial: carbon dust and a simple saline solution commingle with more esoteric reagents, producing a milky liquid with flecks of silver floating languidly through the turbidity.

The doctor instantly downs his concoction, looking back through the books and maps for any previously unrecognisable forms of written communication.

Mixing and drinking an extract of comprehend languages. That'll last for twenty minutes at 250 words per minute, so I will try to save some of that duration for the journal, if need be.

Setting his lantern on the study to perform a quick mix, Thaddeus imbibed the potion, reaching out with his gaze to study anything--anything--with letters. Beetles and moths flew out as Thaddeus ruffled through a half-filled bookshelf, but the answers were maddeningly evasive.
Handling old scrolls carefully and strangely-projected maps, Thaddeus could not find a single letter other than the few titles on certain books.
As Thaddeus approached the windowsill to check the journal, the curtain shifted imperceptibly. Almost haunted-like, he reached to open the graying notebook, which looked to be bound in violet leather once upon a time.

Make a linguistics check to read through the scribbles with +4 from Comprehend Languages, and an intelligence check to recognize the last girl on the left.

Thaddeus fixes his spectacles, squinting at the note and picture in turn.

Linguistics: 1d20 + 8 + 4 ⇒ (13) + 8 + 4 = 25
Intelligence: 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (19) + 3 = 22

Merely handling the journal evoked a strange sensation in Thaddeus--as if he was handling something touched by otherworldly powers. It seemed (as nearly everything else in the house) inherently dark, as if handling an idol of a long-dead, gods-forsaken tribe. The book itself seemed to be a witness of the weird things it survived.

Play: 'World War Z'

Linguistics to distinguish text
The note was covered in heavy red scribbles--one of the few distinct colors in the study. The text was in a mature hand, while the scribbles must have been done by a hand that didn't often use a pen.
The scribble obscures the writing 'witch-boy'. Thaddeus could almost see the hand that scribbled it out from her mother's journal--a delicate, crystalline, pearl-like hands of Shiraz decades ago.
Why would Lady Khadrev write 'witch-boy' on a picture of her child amidst other children? Why would Shiraz scribble it out with such zeal? Moreover, why would this text alone remain?

The light in the lantern flickered as the curtain shifted again against a hidden breeze.

Intelligence to recognize
Taking another look at the familiar girl on the far left, Thaddeus recognized the general features. The heavy-set eyes were a storyteller's eyes--and the hair color of the girl, Thaddeus knew, was auburn (hidden by the yellowish color of the slate).
A ten-year old Ailson Kindler looked out of the photo to Thaddeus, hand-in-hand with a smiling Shiraz. Thaddeus could almost hear a young girl's voice say to someone, "I'm Alison. Now we're not strangers anymore."

"You know what they say about meeting your heroes, though. I think people are almost invariably disappointed..."

A heavy daze nearly overtook Thaddeus. Maddox moved towards him, bleak horror in his widened eyes. He opened his mouth, but Thaddeus barely heard him--finally perceiving his voice...a voice that came as if he was shouting from underwater. "Thaddeus?! ...!? Thaddeus?! They're--gone!"

Dazed as he is, it takes some time for Maddox's words to register. Thaddeus looks at his cousin, and then back at the engraving. "No, they are... right here..."

The doctor trails off, suddenly feeling the icy tendrils of dread snake up from his gut. He shoves the engraving back in between the journal, and the journal into his bag, and rushes back into the foyer.

Following Maddox to the lobby, Maddox searched for his siblings, calling out.
Once Thaddeus retrieved the lantern and reached where his cousin was, he noticed the door outside. It was shut, and a rope dangled.
Something terrible must have happened to Arline.

Maddox was shaking, and jumped once he heard a creak upstairs. Beginning to pray under his breath shakily, he asked, "W-where did they go? We told them to wait right here!"
His voice cracked, and he began wringing his hands together.

It seemed like a storm was picking up outside--and just as the wind howled, the two men heard a piano note drop from the music room.
From upstairs, Thaddeus heard something heavy drop on the floor.

Another piano note echoed in the house, and Thaddeus recognized the music--Edric was humming it when he first entered the house.

Paths
* Music Room: Investigate the music room
* Upstairs: Investigate the noise upstairs

Thaddeus huffs in frustration, all his feelings of anger and fear mixing into a veritable frenzy. The sudden realisation that he had allowed his family to enter such a place without knowing what he was facing, and had let his curiosity lure him somewhere where all his accrued knowledge amounted to nothing—it was nothing short of excruciating. The doctor kicks over a ceramic pot, spilling dried soil all over the floor.

"Enough is enough!" he growls. "We need to find them, and then we will burn this place to the ground. Come on!"

After making sure he has a vial of holy water at an arms reach, Thaddeus draws his sword cane from its sheath and rushes up the stairs. "Arline! Agatha!"

Drawing his cane-sword seemed to set a fire to Maddox's blood. The two Ustalavians rushed up the creaking stairs, lantern-light leading the way.
The house creaked, and the dark corridors stretched far in the second floor. The floor of the second floor hall was blanketed with a violet carpet Thaddeus recognized from decades ago. Just as the two reached the second floor, the two heard a weak voice cry softly, "No...please..."

"Aggie!" Maddox shouted, before rushing to a nearby room, pushing open the unlocked door.

The door was the upstairs sitting room. A wired-shut fireplace sat in the corner, and amid a circle of chairs, sat--

"Shh. You'll agitate the snakes," came a familiar voice from atop a drawer. Two white legs swung back and forth.

--a paper-white Agatha was sitting on the floor, holding her leg painfully. Four dark-gold snakes sat flanking her. Agatha's head turned up from her doom, and saw her brother and Thaddus enter the room, and hope flashed in her teary eyes. She mouthed a word of help, clutching one leg tightly.

"Don't you miss our little games?" asked Shiraz in a friendly tone. "I sure do."

"YOU DAMNED BI-" Maddox started loudly, but the snakes looked up, causing Agatha to shirk back, and Maddox to fall quiet.

Shiraz tutted, and said from the darkness, "These snakes are easily startled. If I were you, I'd try to find a way to solve this intelligently."

Thaddeus says nothing, still struggling to believe that what he is seeing might actually be real. He calms himself for just a moment to assess the immediate, material danger.

Knowledge (nature): 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (6) + 8 = 14

What kind of snakes are these, and are they venomous?

The snake is the Wyrwood Adder. Their venom paralyzes and causes cardiovascular failure (dex and con damage).

Thaddeus quickly sets down his bag, rummaging through its contents. With shaky fingers, he produces two vials of antivenom. He chugs one on the spot, clutching one in his hand as he starts advancing on the adders. The doctor makes no sudden movements, barely lifting his feet as he moves. His sword is raised high, ready to stab down at the first sign of serpentine agression.

"Let her go," he says to Shiraz, trying to buy himself a few seconds. "I will play with you, just... stop this."

"What makes you think I control them?" came the childish giggle in the darkness. "How silly--I don't even speak snakish."

Paths
1. Thaddeus and Maddox could try force by engaging in combat to fight the snakes, but it may be unadvised.
2. Thaddeus could try to remember anything that could draw the snakes away (Nature check)
3. Thaddeus could try to mix up something to repel the snakes (Alchemy check, and turn 2 alchemical mixtures in current inventory into some snake repellent)

3. Thaddeus could try to mix up something to repel the snakes (Alchemy check, and turn 2 alchemical mixtures in current inventory into some snake repellent)

Considering Shiraz's words, the doctor freezes in his tracks and backs away slowly. Diving back into his bag, he grabs two more vials and smashes them on the floor near the serpents, one after another. The first container spills a crumbly yeast-like substance across the boards, while the second bursts open with a violent corrosive sizzle.

"Now!" he calls to Maddox as he rushes in.

Craft (alchemy) to craft an alchemical item: 1d20 + 10 + 2 ⇒ (2) + 10 + 2 = 14

Mixing vermin repellent and a vial of acid, with the intention of creating some sort of a foul-smelling vapour. Probably as awful for everyone else as the snakes, but at least they would be busy slithering away from the irritant while Maddox and Thaddeus run in to grab Agatha. The priority would be to get her out of the room, and then give her the antitoxin immediately after.

As Thaddeus threw the two vials, they collapsed into a corrosive, foul-smelling mixture on the wooden floor. Thaddeus rushed in, sword cane in his hand.
Maddox moved ahead, accidentally kicking the lantern as he moved to get his sister. The lantern flew up, smashing into the mixture, setting a foul-looking green flame that lit the room, revealing up to Shiraz nose in the shadows. Her lips parted in a smile as the green light lit the room.
Maddox then stopped dead at where Agatha was sitting--there was nothing there.
Maddox's face was pale in the green firelight, as his gaze didn't move from where Agatha once sat.
No cousin, no snakes, and no Shiraz. There was nothing other than the echoing childish laughter, and a flickering, foul-smelling green fire.

Maddox's eyes turned to Thaddeus's slowly, and his empty expression screamed for an explanation.

Thaddeus shakes his head slowly, his look of surprise solidifying into a scowl. He picks up his pack and hands the lantern back to Maddox, shoving it hard against his chest. "Come on, let's go check the music room. They have to be here somewhere..."

Though not quite as mad with rage as he was rushing up the stairs, the doctor is having trouble being as cautious as he was when they first entered. He half-runs downstairs, heading straight towards where he heard a piano being played earlier with his sword at the ready.

"She's...toying with us," said Maddox shakily, throwing a heavy blanket over the green fire, before taking up the lantern from his cousin. He assessed the remaining oil, and nodded, before following Thaddeus.

"That tune---Edric was singing it," said Maddox, his face pinched in concentration. "Remember? He sometimes--"

Edric's Serenade

Thaddeus and Maddox stopped before the music room. Three things met their gaze amid the broken-down piano, dozens of musical instruments covered with white sheets, and the mess of music sheets about the room.

"Yes--Edric always loved music," came Shiraz's voice. "It's a shame he didn't go to bard school."

A heavy object was tied to the ceiling as a chandelier. It was human-sized, and was struggling, making muffled noises.
On the floor under it were long jagged wooden stakes rising to meet the body, vicious-looking caltrops, and a shortsword or two jammed into the gaps between the wooden floor panels.
And hanging on the chandalier itself, poking the rope with a dagger, was Shiraz. She turned to smile down on them, long hair covering half her face.

Under Maddox's lantern-light, he saw Edric's face as the object turned on the rope, gagged with a thick sock. When he saw his twin and cousin, he struggled, voice muffled.
"MUPHHH! UPH!!" he uttered, swinging on the rope. He was hanging nearly ten feet above the floor from the high ceiling. The rope was old and frayed, and seemed to be tearing up.

"It's good you came at this point, dears," said Shiraz happily, taking back her dagger and waving a conductor's rod like a wand against a small black music box next to her in the shadows, silencing the hymns the cousins followed. "I don't know how long Edric can wait. He sure shouldn't struggle this much. After all, he's not exactly a featherweight."

Thaddeus stops for a moment, his mind racing with possible avenues of action. There was little he could do from the ground level, at least without harming Edric as well. Was there even any sense in playing into these cruel games? She could kill them all if she wished, he thought. The doctor takes a deep breath and produces the journal he found in the study, presenting it to Shiraz while slowly moving towards the blades. He was not quite sure if he was acting out of curiosity, or merely to buy some more time to think. Though he suspected trickery, he was no going to risk his cousin's life to call her bluff.

"Listen," he pleads, his voice thick with desperation. "We came here to help you, but you need to tell me what we need to do. None of this makes any sense. What happened here? What has Ailson Kindler have to do with any of this? Who is... who in the Nine Hells is the witch-boy?!"