"Maybe we should head back down to the basement, then. The ghouls seemed to be coming from here, but we've certainly seen no sign of them upstairs. Just ghosts and murderous furniture."
"Damp down below. Yeah, it does sound more like we should go downstairs, as maybe whatever that's on about is the cause of all this?"
”I agree. It sounds like something strange was going on down below, and we know someone was trying to become a lich. Say, liches are undead. Maybe the experiments have something to do with the ghouls.”
"Well, we know what's downstairs. I'd really like to finish looking through all the rooms so we have some idea of what we're dealing with." Druamin stands in the main hallway on the second floor. The others are around him. "So these doors head to the sitting room." He points to the east double doors. "But what about these other doors?" He reaches for the double doors on the west side of the hallway. "Should we check this out?"
Faywen tries to position herself where she can keep both Druamin and Erond in sight. "If you insist. Just, be careful."
"Basement, perhaps. But there's a level a bit lower we didn't finish explorin'. Why not check that out first? There were undead but none of these haunt-things."
A stone fireplace sits in the northwestern portion of this chamber. Paintings hang on the walls to the north and south, each covered over with a thick sheet of dusty cobwebs that obscures its subject from view.
Cordwin, always curious, will blow the cobwebs off one of the paintings.
Skarn is entirely too skittish to be disturbing anything!
Cordwin clears away the cobwebs to reveal the picture of another young woman, Cyralie Foxglove based on the plaque attached to the painting. Cyralie is a young woman with long red hair and an impish smile.
Skarn averts his eyes. ”don’t look at it, you fools!”
René continued to wait in the hallway. If he heard screams, he was ready to rush in but saw no reason to get caught in any area of effect hauntings.
She is an attractive lass-for a human, Cordwin muses.
Faywen continues her watch near the doors, growing more tense as time passes. A steady stream of water runs from her hands, but the drops never seem to make it to the floor.
Faywen continues her watch near the doors, growing more tense as time passes. A steady stream of water runs from her hands, but the drops never seem to make it to the floor.
Trox quietly looks around staying close to everyone. With nothing to add all he can do is look at wait for the inevitable thing to go wrong.
Wiping away the dusty cobwebs over the paintings reveals portraits of the previous tenants of Foxglove Manor. The three to the north depict Vorel and Kasanda Foxglove and their daughter Lorey. Vorel is a tall, middle aged man with long dark hair, a clean-shaven face, and dark blue noble's clothes, while Kasanda is a stern-faced brunette woman with wisps ofgray in her short hair and a flowing blue dress.
The five to the south show Traver and Cyralie Foxglove (already uncovered), their son Aldern, and their two daughters Sendeli and Zeeva. Traver, like Vorel, is tall and thin, but with an even narrower face and a thin mustache. Each painting bears a plaque that identifies those pictured within.
+2 stonework, +1 vs giants
As the last is uncovered, many of you notice that the temperature suddenly drops in here.
"Quite a gallery. I can certainly see the family resemblance in some of these." Druamin examines each of the portraits. The Foxglove family certainly had a good number of members. "So do any of you know anything about these Foxgloves? Are any of them even alive still?"
Drumain rubs his hands together for warmth. "And is it my imagination or did it just get colder in here?"
"That's never a good sign, Druamin. I think you should step out of the room."
Druamin gets a little nervous about the room. "Yeah, maybe we should just leave this room alone. But I'm really curious about what's on the other side of those doors." He moves to the double doors and tries to open them.
spoiler=THE FOXGLOVE LEGACY]
Built nearly 8o years ago by a Magnimar merchant prince named Vorel, Foxglove Manor was one of the first homes raised along the Lost Coast. One day, though, the manor went quiet. When nothing had been heard from Foxglove Manor for days, visitors found the family and servants dead of a mysterious disease. Disposal of the bodies was handled with utmost secrecy by the surviving Foxgloves of Magnimar, and they shunned Foxglove Manor for decades to follow.
The building stood vacant for nearly 40 years before Traver Foxglove decided to move his family into the manor to reclaim his heritage and expunge the sour taint of the house's reputation. His wife Cyralie gave birth to Traver's only son, Aldern, not long after they moved in. For 6 years, it seemed as if whatever was wrong with the manor had corrected itself. Traver's son and daughters were growing into fine young aristocrats and his fortunes seemed to be booming.
Again, suddenly, misfortune hit. Smoke from the fire was seen as far away as Sandpoint, and when townsfolk arrived to investigate, they found the servants' outbuilding burnt to the ground and Traver dead by his own hand. His wife's body was found burnt and dashed against the rocks below. Cowering in a second-floor bedroom, though, the townsfolk discovered the Foxglove children. Aldern and his older sisters spent time in a Magnimar orphanage before they were claimed by Traver's second cousin and brought to the city of Korvosa to be raised.
Fifteen years passed before Aldern, now a grown man and a successful merchant himself, returned to the Lost Coast. Rich and popular, he secured a townhouse in Magnimar and set into motion his claim to the family manor. But Aldern Foxglove had trouble finding skilled laborers and servants to aid him in restoring his family estate. Foxglove Manor's reputation as a bad place had had decades to take root in local superstition. Worse, the manor's cellars were infested with rats-horribly diseased and aggressive rats that kept to themselves as long as no one ventured too far into the basement. The job was enormous, from the need to patch the leaky roof in dozens of places
to dealing with the strange and repugnant fungus that grew so tenaciously in the basement.
It was about this time that Aldern, returning from a visit to Sandpoint, happened upon a group of Varisians on the moor not far from Foxglove Manor, trapped by the terrible gale he himself was trying to get home through. Aldern brought the dozen Varisians home with him, inviting them to stay in his manor until the storm had ended. And in doing so, he brought Iesha into his life. Iesha was surely the most beautiful woman Aldern had ever met, a goddess with raven-black hair and luscious curves, the voice of an angel and the heart of a lion. Aldern fell wildly and passionately in love with the Varisian woman and proposed marriage to her before dawn broke. Overwhelmed by the man's handsome looks, social standing, apparent generosity, and wealth, Iesha accepted, and they were married within the week. This was about 8 months ago.
Then you met Aldern in Sandpoint, about 1 month ago. He didn't mention his wife.
Another odd rumor you have come across:
The Foxgloves have traditionally been associated with the Brothers of the Seven, a secretive gentlemen's club based in Magnimar and consisting of merchants or thieves, depending on whom you talk to. Members of the society periodically visited Foxglove Manor at night during the years the manor went unlived-in, perhaps to check up on the building and make minor repairs-or perhaps for more sinister pursuits.
[/spoiler]
Since no one reacted (much) to the cold...
Breath frosts in the air and fingers of rime slither acros s the walls . The figures depicted in the portraits suddenly shift from paintings of living people to those of dead folk. Kasanda and Lorey slump into misshapen, tumor-ridden corpses. Traver grows
pale as a long cut opens in his throat and blood washes down over his chest. Cyralie blackens and chars, and her arms, legs, and back twist as if broken in dozens of places . Aldern's flesh darkens with rot, his hair falls out, and he deforms into a ghoul-like monster. Both Sendeli's and Zeeva's portraits frost over but otherwise remain unchanged. Vorel's entire portrait, frame and all, erupts into a sudden explosion of fungus and tumorous growth. This wave of fungus and disease washes over the entire room in seconds!
Then the room suddenly reverts to normal.
Druamin then checks the next set of doors.
The furniture in this bedroom, while dusty and unkempt, does not exhibit any major signs of water or mold damage. The one exception is a dark stain on the desk near the northern window.
[ooc] Oh come on! [/oo]
Having already considered himself quite robust Trox is surprised to once again fall victim to more ghost type nonsense.
Druamin shudders as paintings shift into horrific images of death. He almost stops to exit the room but then the paintings return to their normal state. Shaken, and feeling a little off, Druamin continues to the double doors.
Once open he looks inside. "This room has a dark stain that looks suspicious. Any of you going to check it out with me?"
Faywen sighs but nods and joins Druamin in the room. She stands next to the stain and examines it for anything useful.
[b]I don't feel so good.[b] Cordwin says.
As soon as Druamin comes within 5 feet of the desk, he visibly shudders.
He moves to the desk, retrieves what appears to be a silver-handled dagger
from it, and tries to cut his own throat.
Druamin picks up the dagger. His arm shakes and he slowly raises the dagger up towards his own neck. Wide-eyed, Druamin watches his arm move while he seems unable to stop it.
The "silver dagger" turns back into a piece of wood.
"How y'all doin' in there? The ghosties managed ta kill ya yet or are ya startin' ta see my point?" René called from safely outside in the hallway.
"Not quite yet," Faywen calls back.
Druamin drops the piece of wood back onto the desk. He shudders. "Ok. That was was too scary." He backs out of the room. "Don't get close to that desk," he says to Faywen as he passes her.
Hearing Rene call from the outside. "Still alive, but I'm really not liking this place."
Druamin goes all the wait out to the hallway.
"The only unexplored area still up here is that locked door at the end of the hallway. Should be check that out or just go straight down to the basement?"
With a sigh Trox heads for the locked door.
"Lets not leave more nonsense behind us. Anyone able to open a lock or should I just open it the hard way?"
Reynard gets out his thieves tools. "Just a moment. Let me see what I can do." Reynard says, and gets to work.
Reynard tries, but the lock won't give. Not giving up right away, he continues to try - but no luck.
Trox then kicks it in.
It reveals stairs up to the next floor.
"Up into the attic of the haunted house?"
Druamin sighs and nods to Faywen. "I was really hoping that this was just going to be another closet." Even though he has tried to remain unaffected by the horrific and frightening images that they have been repeatedly shown, Druamin finds himself becoming anxious to just get this over with. "I think we need to see what's upstairs. Hopefully nothing. And then we can go back to the basement and deal with the ghouls." He chuckles and shakes his head. "I never thought I'd look forward to facing ghouls..."
He pats his leg to call Kobu to him then starts up the stairs.
As you finish climbing the stairs, you are surprised to find a long hall way filled with doors.
Cordwin will go up to the 1st door and listen.