Splitz holds back from the sword at the last moment.
It appears as if the sword could easily be plucked from the wall. As you send out your divine sense you do not sense any celestials, fiends, or undead. And as you call out for the parents your words are met with cold silence.
Can any of you magical types determine if this sword has magical properties? Splitz asks nonchalantly.
Let me see
With that Diaz flips his whip and attempts to grab the sword off the wall without physically touching it.
With a crack of the whip you are able to pull the intricate blade off the wall as it clatters to the ground. Nothing else happens.
It appears the sword is not trapped and does not fly. Diaz says dryly with a slight smirk.
Nothing in this room appears to be magical including the sword.
Diaz will peak into the room on the other side, just opening the door enough to look in and ready to slam it closed if needed
After finding it is not magical Splitz will pick up the sword and replace it on the wall. Testing the weight of it as he does.
While the others examine the sword, Ash remains in a guarded stance, stoically looking at the other doors, expecting trouble. I do not understand. This place feels full of malice and those 2…”children” seemed to lure us in here for some nefariousness. However, Eldath has not revealed to me any foul creatures. What torment awaits us here?
Opening that door you see this oak-paneled room looks like a hunter’s den. Mounted above the fireplace is a stag’s head, and positioned around the outskirts of the room are three stuffed wolves.
Two padded chairs draped in animal furs face the hearth, with an oak table between them supporting a cask of wine, two carved wooden goblets, a pipe rack, and a candelabrum. A chandelier hangs above a cloth-covered table surrounded by four chairs. Two cabinets stand against the walls.
Splitz enters and walks over to the hearth.
Oh I quite like this room.
He picks up a goblet and attempts to fill it from the wine cask.
The goblet fills up with a red wine.
This is not what I expected, The baron says as he takes a sip and continues to look around the room.
Nothing looks out of the ordinary in this room and the wine looks like wine.
Oh I don't see the harm in it, Del. Oblivious to any possible danger.
Now I think we should get on with finding out why we have ended up here.
He exits the room and moves across to the other side choosing the door furthest to his left. He opens it and looks it.
Hello is anyone at home?
Once again you are greeted by silence and no one responds. The centerpiece of this wood-paneled dining room is a carved mahogany table surrounded by eight high-backed chairs with sculpted armrests and cushioned seats. A crystal chandelier hangs above the table, which is covered with resplendent silverware and crystalware polished to a dazzling shine. Mounted above the marble fireplace is a mahogany-framed painting of an alpine vale.
The wall paneling is carved with elegant images of deer among the trees. Red silk drapes cover the windows, and a tapestry depicting hunting dogs and horse-mounted aristocrats chasing after a wolf hangs from an iron rod bolted to the south wall.
Diaz you open the door next to the door that Splitz just opened and find a cloakroom. Several black cloaks hang on hooks on the wall and large black top hat sits solitary on a high shelf.
This place is lovely, reminds me of my home. You almost think you hear the Baron get a bit choked up.
Hard to imagine anyone suffering here.
He walks in the dining room and stares at the painting of an alpine vale. Lovely.
Shaking his head almost interceptively at the baron, Ash moves to the final door and listens before easing it open with his shield.
Diaz puts on the top hat and compares the quality of cloak to His own and will upgrade if it is better.
I always wondered what I would like with one of these. Does it cover the horns well?
With Diaz's horns taking precedence at the front of his head the top hat sits toward of Diaz's head, definitely looks a bit strange with the horns. Ash hearing nothing at the final door opens it with his shield revealing a kitchen.
The kitchen is tidy, with dishware, cookware, and utensils neatly placed on shelves. A worktable has a cutting board and rolling pin atop it. A stone, dome-shaped oven stands near the east wall, its bent iron stovepipe connecting to a hole in the ceiling. Near the stove is another door and a small dumbwaiter door is in the southwest corner of the kitchen.
|
Del moves into the kitchen to examine the dumbwaiter. He opens the door to the device but doesn't engage the elevator lift.
Reminds me of our home, Ash, don't you think?
Del shuffles his shoulders as he pokes around, making sure his shield and mace are settled well in his hands.
Looks like we'll have to head upstairs unless someones hiding in that back storage room.
Ash looks over the tidy kitchen with its well organized stock and the dumbwaiter. Frowning, he curtly nods at Del. Yes brother. It is similar to how I remember our home once was, but this is much smaller. But just as our home became accursed, this is not a good place for us to be. Let us finish our search and be gone. I suspect pain and hardship await us in this strange home, but I cannot ignore the plea of those "children". If they were indeed children.
He peeks his head in the back storage room before moving back out into the hall to begin climbing the stairs.
Behind a small door in the southwest corner of the kitchen is a dumbwaiter—a 2-foot-wide stone shaft containing a wooden elevator box attached to a simple rope-and-pulley mechanism that must be operated manually.
Behind the stove and to the left is a thin door leading to a well-stocked pantry. All the food in the pantry appears fresh.
|
|
Del mumbles to himself in a soft whisper, Thought for sure those kids would be strung up dead in the pantry....
Turning back to Ash, he motions and heads back to the central area of the 1st floor.
Nothing on the first floor, on to the second! After you Baron. He finishes his pronouncement with a little bow.
The Baron bows back and then moves carefully up the stairs. Looking up to try to catch a glimpse of whatever is ahead.
Unlit oil lamps are mounted on the walls of this elegant hall. Hanging above the mantelpiece is a wood-framed portrait of a family a small name plate at the bottom of the portrait reads "The Durst Family". The portrait has five figures, two you recognize as the children you met outside. The other figures are clearly the mother and father, who don't look as described and a baby who is cradled in the arms of the father. The father does not look decrepit with a cane. And the mother doesn't look sickly but does little to hide the hint of scorn she has for the infant.
Other than the portrait are four standing suits of armor flank wooden doors in the east and west walls. Each suit of armor clutches a spear and has a visored helm shaped like a wolf’s head. The doors are carved with dancing youths.
The red marble staircase that started on the first floor continues its upward spiral. A cold draft can be felt coming down the steps.
Diaz glances at Del, I noticed your frown of disapproval when I knocked the sword off the wall. I apologize, I was just being cautious. However, these suits of armor remind me of several books I have read, where the suits began moving on their own attacking people. I have always wanted to knock one of these things over. Would you be offended if I did so?
Are we agreed, this house is not at all what it appears. We have seen no one inside. If the children were real and concerned about their parents, shouldn't they have came in with us. Is this another one of Strahd's games? Should we just leave or make enough noise to get a response if people are in fact in need? What do you think? Ash, you seem to have misgivings as well.
Is that a draft coming from above..brr. Perhaps we should check these rooms before heading up.
When Diaz mentions knocking down the armor, Splitz replies Go right ahead. I doubt anything that lives is here.
He then opens the single door to the right. As he does he comments,
I should have refilled this cup before coming up.
An undecorated bedroom contains a pair of beds with straw-stuffed mattresses. At the foot of each bed are footlockers. A dumbwaiter in the corner of the west wall has a button on the wall next to it.
with that Diaz does a very creative spin and "trip" pushing the suit of armor into the way adjacent to it
The Baron who was busy scanning the bedroom, leaps in surprise as the suit of armor crashes to the floor! Even though the conversation was going in that direction, he was really expecting it. He darts back to the door to see what is happening.
Ash also nods at Diaz, affirming his desire to crash over one of the suits. When he sees the tiefling spin to knock over the armor, he readies himself with his shield, expecting...and perhaps hoping... for the worst.
The suit of armor clatters to the ground. Nothing else happens.
Splitz opens the door to the next room and will examine within; if he doesn't encounter anyone or anything, he proceeds across the hall and checks that out as well.
The door you open is a closet. Tidy servants’ uniforms hang from hooks in the adjoining closet.
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 south wall. A rolling wooden ladder allows one to more easily reach the high shelves.
Gossamer drapes cover the windows of this elegantly appointed hall, which has a brass-plated chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Upholstered chairs line the walls, and stained-glass wall hangings depict beautiful men, women, and children singing and playing instruments.
A harpsichord with a bench rests in the northwest corner. Near the fireplace is a large standing harp. Alabaster figurines of well-dressed dancers adorn the mantelpiece.
Ash protectively trails his brother during his search and then up the stairs.
Diaz pauses for a moment and notes the windmills. perhaps one of these tomes will provide answers. Give me a moment to study them
[ooc] back from hunting. It was cold. Tent temp was 22 one morning and temps were in the teens or lower every night. Pulled rafts in the kodukuk River north of the Arctic circle 15 miles south of the town of cold foot for 3 days snowed most days. The areas we were hunting required you to go in 5 miles before you could hunt. Didn’t kill anything. The thought I am missing gencon for this crossed my
Mind several times.
You don't notice any books that stand out.
You climb the red marble staircase to its full height finding a dusty balcony with a suit of black plate armor standing against one wall draped in cob webs. Oil lamps are mounted on the oak-paneled walls, which are carved with woodland scenes of trees, falling leaves, and tiny critters.