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

Game Master Arrius

1. Take Arline to a hospital (hospitalize her stressful breakdown)

Thaddeus stumbles out of the doorway, nearly falling over from exhaustion. There is a fleeting thought in his mind, a twinge of his previous desire to see the house in cinders. However, mere steps away from the threshold, he has a hard time mustering an ounce of that conviction. It is not as if the horrors he had witnessed had never happened—they just felt hazy, unreal like a half-remembered dream.

He wanted nothing more than to leave that place behind, forever.

"Let's get her to the nearest hospital," the doctor says to his cousins. "Or even a temple."

Casting one last look at the house, Thaddeus takes Arline's shoulder and turns towards the gate. "There is nothing for us here..."

The next few days passed slowly on the Duseks. Arline was in a daze following the ordeal, and it took its toll on the rest. Maddox insisted Thaddeus sleep over in his guest room, and woke up late to work on every day. The spring skies alternated between clarity and cloudiness, as if reflecting the tempestuous emotions felt by the people of the earth below.

Arline herself was admitted to the mental ward of the old Ardis hospice the morning after the events.
The cold silent halls betray a once-lively institution which saw better days, Thaddeus remembered. Many wards that used to be open lay closed for lack of patients and doctors as the state cut funding. The hospital was too large for the declining populace of Ardis.
The matron of the ward, an old and learned sagely doctor, suggested shock, which was met with tired and understanding nods from the Duseks and a crestfallen expression from Malakai Iwan. She added that she will get an expert to study this case, and ushered the Duseks (and Malakai) out. The confusion and fear in the eyes of Arline's two sons caused 'auntie Agatha' to avoid their answers or to promise that it's nothing and their mother is 'just tired'. The way she looked back at them always made Maddox scratch his wounded knee nervously, as if being wracked by guilt.

Mr. Iwan burned with questions regarding his wife's wellbeing, but Maddox said nothing constructive, Edric was evasive, and Agatha avoided direct answers, and said that there is nothing to worry about. He asked about the ghost girl, the house, and what they faced, but the answers only increased his helpless frustration.

[How did Thaddeus handle the aftermath of the events?]

"I have everything we need," Agatha said two days after the events in the manor, pointing at leather containers that smelled of kerosene and alchemical fire. They were situated in Edric's living room, much to his wife's irritation and his daughter's fascination. Edric dismissed his daughter and returned with a, "And what is this for?"
Maddox gave his twin a blank stare, and said, "The house. We'll do it tonight. Coming?"
Agatha looked as if she was about to add something, but held her tongue and looked hopefully at her brother and cousin.

[How did Thaddeus handle the aftermath of the events?]

Thaddeus does his best to forget what occurred in the manor, moving on in the only way he knows how. He throws himself wholly into his work, starting an earnest search for a space to set up a practice. The doctor begins by establishing whatever connections he can with the medical experts still residing in the old capital, starting with the hospice in which Arline has been admitted to. At the same time, he does his best to keep appraised of her condition, visiting as often as he is able. He offers Malakai whatever assurances he can, but has little to offer when it comes to diseases of the mind. Overall, he spends much of his time on his own.

"I have everything we need," Agatha said two days after the events in the manor, pointing at leather containers that smelled of kerosene and alchemical fire. They were situated in Edric's living room, much to his wife's irritation and his daughter's fascination. Edric dismissed his daughter and returned with a, "And what is this for?"

Maddox gave his twin a blank stare, and said, "The house. We'll do it tonight. Coming?"
Agatha looked as if she was about to add something, but held her tongue and looked hopefully at her brother and cousin.

Thaddeus silent for a long time. He removes his spectacles and rubs his eyes, weary from sleepless nights spend poring over his papers.

"I understand how you feel," he says in a resigned tone. "And two days ago I might have agreed with you. However, I am no longer so certain that this is a wise avenue of action. To seek to destroy something is to give it credence, and that is just what we swore to avoid. As long as we keep to our oaths, there should be nothing to fear. So why should we prod and poke where ought to keep our distance? Mayhaps we might go to our graves looking over our shoulders, but at least we can take comfort in knowing we made it through, together..."

The doctor sighs deeply. "I am a hematopathologist, not an arsonist. Nor am I an exorcist or a Pharasmin inquisitor, for that matter. I am sorry, but I cannot go back."

Thaddeus silent for a long time. He removes his spectacles and rubs his eyes, weary from sleepless nights spend poring over his papers.

"I understand how you feel. And two days ago I might have agreed with you. However, I am no longer so certain that this is a wise avenue of action. To seek to destroy something is to give it credence, and that is just what we swore to avoid. As long as we keep to our oaths, there should be nothing to fear. So why should we prod and poke where ought to keep our distance? Mayhaps we might go to our graves looking over our shoulders, but at least we can take comfort in knowing we made it through, together..."

"I am a hematopathologist, not an arsonist. Nor am I an exorcist or a Pharasmin inquisitor, for that matter. I am sorry, but I cannot go back."

Silence descended on the group. Agatha's face was downturned.

Paths
1. Does Thaddeus change his mind and finish the job?
2. Does Thaddeus suggest he supervises Arline while his cousins arson the house?

2. Does Thaddeus suggest he supervises Arline while his cousins arson the house?

Well, now that you mention it...

Thaddeus wrestles with the issue for a moment, unable to look his cousins' in the eye.

"Do what you have to do," he says in a hollow tone. "I will go see to Arline. She should not be alone, not now..."

In the mental ward, Thaddeus found Arline, sleeping. The understaffed hospital yet had nurses, but they did not bar Thaddeus's way, although they said Arline's doctor will come soon. Thaddeus heard of a few doctors who handled her, but they stated that they will look for more expert opinions, and stopped at that (uncomfortably hinting at the state of their hospital or a dead-end thankless job in a forgotten city).
Thaddeus also found children's toys on the far table which weren't there the last time Thaddeus visited, as well as a symbol of Erastil hanged over the bed, the lord and protector of families. A simple drawing of a knight in crayons was set on the bedside table.

Outside, the dusky sky was clear and bright with a navy hue, as the sun splashed the skies with gold and red before surrendering to the night. The silent city went to sleep, hearing only the calls of mockingbirds and crows and other evening avians' songs.
Thaddeus found a file at the foot of Arline's bed.

Music

Once the sun fully set, the room was lit only by the enchanted silver lamp near the door. Thaddeus's cousins should be setting out now to burn the house.

The door to Arline's room swung open, and in came an old lady on a wheelchair, driven by a muscular young man with hair nearly as silver as the old lady's and a face as smooth as hers was wrinkled. Accompanying them was the hospital matron.
The old lady looked up, surprised there was someone in the room, and said with an air of light cheer, "Hello. Excuse me."

Thaddeus looks through the file, but finds little there was not expecting to find... save the very last words, which he finds confusing. He mills around absently for a moment, rearranging things in the room without any clear goal for doing so, and then spends some time looking over his paperwork, sitting at the foot of Arline's bed. However, he finds himself distracted by thoughts of conflagration.

The sudden entry of other human beings startles him, causing the doctor jolt up from his seat.

"Good evening," he says warily. "This a rather late hour to be visiting..."

His eyes glance from the old lady to the file and back again, but he does not immediately voice his suspicions.

No, it could not be her...

"It is, isn't it?" she said cheekily, reaching a withered hand for Arline's file. The same hand that wrote the fuel to Thaddeus's imagination decades ago.

The man who accompanied Ailson Kindler removed a medical satchel and placed it at the nearby table, gently moving away the toys left by the Iwan boys. Lady Kindler almost seemed to forget about Thaddeus as she observed Arline, before she began describing the formula for a prescription, as the white-haired man drew out several vials and began mixing their contents together deftly.

"We've drawn out so much of her blood, I believe I might actually be growing fangs," said the lady introspectively with a grin. "What a twist."

Thaddeus's Craft Alchemy roll: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (14) + 10 = 24
Thaddeus's Heal check: 1d20 + 12 + 2 ⇒ (13) + 12 + 2 = 27 +2 circumstance bonus from occupation)

The white-haired man frowned at the joke, as Kindler spoke to Arline loudly, "Mrs. Iwan?"

Arline's eyes opened slowly, eyes quite red from exhaustion and haunted. The sun's light was only a hint in the horizon, as silver light quickly dominated the room.

"Good evening, dear," Kindler said.

Arline's head slowly turned to face Thaddeus, not noticing Ailson Kindler, locking her eyes onto his.
If eyes truly were windows to the soul, then it was laid bare here. A dozen emotions swam behind her irises. Emotions that fermented here for decades, ever since Thaddeus left Ardis, emotions that came back to haunt all the once-children.

Lady Kindler's voice seemed to be coming from far away, as she continued, "...so, erm, we'll something experimental this night to treat your heart flutter. Once your blood pressure is back to normal, we will get Dr. Redwood to follow-up the..."

As she spoke, the young man laid the needle of the mixture against Arline's virgin vein, and she showed no reaction to the needle, but disengaged her eyes from Thaddeus's own and snapped her eyes to the window.

A line of smoke began arising on the horizon against the incomplete dark. The nurse gasped in surprise, as a soft green glow shone from under the distant smoke.
Kindler frowned at the nurse, but then noticed the smoke herself. She peered at the window.
The smoke started by the river that cut Ardis.

As the smoke thickened and took a brownish hue, curling and uncurling in a way that was almost organic on its ascending journey to the sky. From outside, a distant rumble echoed, as if the earth was sighing. Another flash of emerald lit up the cloud of smoke from below, as if Thaddeus's cousins lit up a fire that happened to be poisonously green in color.
Arline's eyes were yet fixed on the window, but she sagged visibly, as if she had been tensed even during sleep. Color rapidly returned to her, despite the pale sheen imposed by the silver torchlight, and her hand warmed.
She turned to Thaddeus, and weakly and silently reached towards to pull him into a tight embrace, eyes glistening wetly.

Thaddeus, still feeling like he is in a dream, simply stands there mouth agape, looking disbelievingly at Kindler. Of course, he had seen pictures of the world-famous writer, but she looked.... older... than he had thought. She had always seemed immortal to him, like only a literary character could, existing solely as written word, and the figments of their reader's imagination.

As her assistant starts administering to Arline, however, the doctor snaps out of his fugue, and is about to object, or at least demand some sort of an explanation. Then, he notices the distant fire, as well as Arline's sudden revitalisation. He hurries to her side, ignoring the smoke in the horizon as he crouches next to her and takes her hands in his.

Arline's voice softly and weakly whispers in Thaddeus's ear, "W-why...did you leave...me?"

Somewhat awkward in the sudden embrace, Thaddeus tenses up and swallows hard at the question.

"I... I do not know," he mutters back. "I had to leave. This place seemed so... dead, somehow. Nothing could thrive here, or so I thought. I felt like there was nothing here for me, except stagnation..."

"...or was there?"

"But I am here now, Arline. I am not going anywhere..."

Following Arline's embrace (or lack thereof), she returns to sleep almost instantly. In fact, it felt for a split second that she was half-asleep when she turned to Thaddeus in the first place.

As the light beneath the column of smoke began to fade, the nurse exclaimed, "That's the old manor by the river!"

The white-haired man turned to old lady Kindler expectantly, but she said nothing for a while, before she smiled distantly, and said, "The Khadrevs. Now that's one old regret I can do without."

Ailson then turned to the nurse, adding, "Since she awoke, my role here has ended. Get the doctor. I'll be leaving now."

She then left, pushed by the white-haired man, who looked curiously back at Arline and Thaddeus before the two left. From the corridor, Kindler's cackle could be heard, laughing, "What a night of horrors!"

Fallout
None of the people of Ardis seemed to take the news negatively--the house truly was feared by all.
The town newspaper instead relayed the hidden relief of the townsfolk. The librarian, who the newspaper described as 'close to the owner of the estate', expressed willingness to sell the land. Ardis law enforcement stated that they are conducting an investigation, but they suspected a prank-turned-arson. After all, only children approached the scary haunted house.

The End
Epilogue
Does Thaddeus choose to set up practice in Ardis, or will he continue on the road, or back to the University?

Epilogue

Does Thaddeus choose to set up practice in Ardis, or will he continue on the road, or back to the University?

Thaddeus Dusek never returned to Lepidstadt.

After a while, those at the University started wondering about their colleague's sudden disappearance from academia, but their letters were met with requests of privacy, as well as limiting any correspondence to purely professional matters. The Sovia Arcana took notice as well, but those few reporters that braved the Old Capital found only a maddeningly staid medical doctor, working out of a modest clinic in a shut-down barber shop. Having re-dedicated himself to aiding the destitute, as well as deciding to spend his remaining years in the city of his birth, he had little to say on matters relating to any strange or supernatural phenomena. Much reduced in his bearing, the harrowed healer was quick to denounce any connection to "Doctor Occult" and his past deeds, shooing away those curious few that sought him out. Eventually, the fad passed, allowing him to fade into obscurity.

The ravages of the mind are not so easily expunged, however.

While he might otherwise have remained merely a footnote in the weird histories of Ustalav, in his later years Doctor Dusek was inspired by his childhood favourite, the famed Ailson Kindler, to write down his experiences in the form of a novel. More of a method of self-administered treatment than a serious attempt at literature, his first book was self-published, and copies of it remain rare today. While this seminal work—titled The Misty Manor—was not met with the same praise as Kindler's classics, those in the know about occult matters find his writings similarly grounded in reality, hinting at ancient evils and inconceivable horrors lurking right in our midst...