When Aerith places the headband around your brow, something feels ... wrong ... about it. As if it doesn't want to ever come off. Then she removes it, and the sensation vanishes.
B24 - Guest Room
The walls of this room are decorated with a scenic vista of a river valley running through a desert, resplendent with verdant life and greenery near the shores. Only a few pieces of lacquered furniture remain in the chamber. A faint, musty odor of decomposed wood and fabric lingers in the air. A set of doors stands in the western wall.
The body of a human man lies on its back in the small alcove to the east. Unlike the other bodies you've seen, this one appears significantly fresher, although its flesh is in an advanced stage of decomposition. The head is missing.
Epperson’s eyes grow wide at the headband.
”It’s cursed!” he bellows. ”I must hold onto to it, Aerith!”
The dwarf growls as Aerith turns to him.
”That headband is ensorcelled such that it’ll pop your head off and turn you into one of those undead head things should you die whilst wearing it!” His grim visage changes abruptly and the grim dwarf ALMOST smiles.
”I’ll take it for safekeeping and determine if the curse can be removed or if the cursed thing needs to be destroyed! Thankee.”
He holds out his hand towards the elf.
"It's a good thing we've only encountered undead foes so far, because Epperson just alerted any living beings to our presence." Unatti says, shaking her head in dismay.
She turns to the dwarf. "Do you think that perhaps next time we encounter a cursed item, you can maybe be a bit more quiet about it?"
Aerith’s laugh died away when Epperson ranted at her with his grim visage. She took an involuntary step back and her dagger clattered to the ground as her concentration was shattered. She was speechless as her mind raced. Did she get it wrong? Had she come close to killing him? Was he truly this angry at her? She wanted to apologize but no words came out. And then…he held his hand out in a friendly gesture and it became clear that he was joking. He’d faced flushed red at her own foolishness and she let out of relieved laugh of her own while handing over the headband. She was even more relieved when Unatti spoke up and saved her from having to say anything herself. With a thought she caused her dagger to rise off the ground once more.
Realizing the 'magical' folks had stopped to have a philosophical discussion, he calls over his shoulder. "Hey this room has a dead body with no head. Anyone want to take a look?"
As he cautiously moved into the room to look for anything of value he wondered if the poor soul laying on the floor had anything to do with the 'headband' As he checked the bodies pockets he makes a mental note to ask Unatti later.
Inside one of the corpse's pockets is a simple gold wedding ring with an inscription inside the band.
"To Akar from Panhet, Love Eternal"
Potential Loot
Gold Wedding Ring
Epperson grunt at Unatti’s admonishment.
”I will see what I can do,” he delivers.
”Hey this room has a dead body with no head. Anyone want to take a look?"
”Similar to the body in the privy on the floor below,” the dwarf remarks, moving to the catfolk’s side. ”I envision that this cursed item might have some to do with it. It does create those floating heads as part of its profane power.” He dangles the choker on his finger before putting it away in his pack.
Unatti joins Tribim and investigates the body, from afar.
"Epperson, that ring might be cursed. Do you think you could determine that, *quietly*?" She says, placing heavy emphasis on the last word.
Unatti is able to determine that the body is only around a year old and that the head seems to have been pulled off rather than having been cleanly decapitated.
Nodding in agreement with Unatti Tribim hands the ring to Epperson, pointing to the inscription, "It says "To Akar from Panhet, Love Eternal"." He shrugs, "I think it's a wedding ring." Smiling, "Sounds like a curse to me." Winking at the dwarf he moves out of the room.
Moving to the next set of doors, he carefully inspects them, While Epperson looks at the ring. Once it seemed like everyone was ready, he tries to open the doors.
B23 - Office
A large lacquered desk, now in poor condition, sits in the center of this room. Bookcases stand along the eastern and southwestern walls, sagging as if ready to collapse at any moment. Their shelves have fallen out, and the piles of dust at their bases are all that remains of books and scrolls that failed to survive the long years. The lacquered wooden frames of what might once have been divans stretch along the north and south walls, but their upholstery has disintegrated. A single door in the western wall is the room's only exit.
Epperson squints at the ring, trying to determine what - if any - curse is present.
As Epperson looks at the ring, Tribim cautiously moves into the office. Stopping at the desk he rests his ancient spear on top and begins cautiously inspecting the desk for traps or locks.
You don't detect any curses, but that could just mean that the curse is extremely subtle.
You find a brass key in one of the desk drawers. It appears to fit the lock of the trapped chest you found behind the false dresser in the first room you searched on this floor.
”I don’t think that there is a curse to this ring,” Epperson pronounces in a civil tone of voice, ”but it could be subtle. Of course, paranoia is a thing as well.” He hands it back to Tribim.
Epperson walks around the room, leisurely inspecting the state of dilapidation.
Holding up the key he found, Tribim smiles, "Looks like we checked the wrong room first."
As Epperson continues walking around the room, Tribim picks up his spear and moves back to the hallway, watching the dwarven curse finder. Once it seemed like everyone was ready to continue, he moved towards the next set of doors on the second floor and carefully inspects them.
B22 - Bedroom
Most of the contents of this room have fallen apart or otherwise been reduced to dust from the dry desert air. A foul, cloying smell fills the room.
When Tribim opens the door, a winged head opens its mouth and unleashes an ear-piercing shriek.
You recognize this creature as a Vargouille: a horrific daemon from the Plane of Abaddon. In addition to their paralyzing shriek, their 'kiss' can transform victims into a new vargouille. On a positive note, they're quite weak.
This foul creature was clearly created by some horrible curse. It's a pity you weren't here, as you surely would have prevented this from happening.
A flying head? It's clearly undead. Probably the same as those 'beheaded' you found earlier, just in a better state of decay.
You recognize this creature as a Vargouille: an extraplanar creature occasionally called by evil mages to serve as a familiar. In addition to their paralyzing shriek, their 'kiss' can transform victims into a new vargouille, which is how the species reproduces.
"This is a Vargouille, and it might have an evil wizard master here. We should be extra careful from now on." Unatti informs the rest of her companions, before blasting the creature.
Epperson hums at the shriek and counters Unatti’s claims.
”Hmmm. I think this thing’s creation was the result of a curse. It MIGHT have been an evil wizard that set the curse, but it’s equally likely to be some cursed treasure awaiting my vigilance. Either way….”
The dwarf blows a raspberry at the vargouille, then moves to attack it.
Opening the door, Tribim wrinkles his nose at the foul, cloying smell. His eyes widen as he sees the 'flying head.' Spear in hand, he's unable to cover his ears, so twists, and moans. "Owwwww!"
As the sound lightens, he shifts his ancient spear to one paw and reaches back to his pouch and draws a chakram. Asking as he throws it, "Why the heck is its ears wings." Realizing he'd taken his eye off of the Vargouille, he flinches as she bounces his weapon off of the wall.
The young elf said nothing as the dagger fell to the ground, clattering as it did so. Stuck in mid step, it was clear that the magic of the creature had gotten to her. For the next half a minute she was to be completely helpless…
Unable to reach the paralyzed Aerith due to the dwarf in its face, the vargouille snaps at Epperson in apparent frustration.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
”I wonder if ‘Pentheru’ means ‘malevolent flying heads’ in Ancient Osiriani. Stupid things.”
Epperson maintains his malediction and adds a thumb to his nose. He then swings his flail again.
Raising an eyebrow as Unatti says the thing might have a master, Tribim is relieved that his friends magic is able to strike the vile flying creature. Chuckling as Epperson blows raspberries at the thing, he's surprised when the dwarf rushes in and whacks it with his flail.
Hearing someone's dagger hit the ground, Tribim, watching the thing bite Epperson, doesn't turn to see if it's Aerith's or Mahmouds. Instead, spinning his ancient spear, he moves forwards, feinting at the thing with an over hand strike. He shifts his grip and thrusts at its 'underbelly' Under chin instead.
Epperson wallops the floating head, and it responds with another bite.
"Epperson, if you're going to be rushing headlong in fights, let me know. Next time, I can augment your defenses some. This way, I don't have to waste my healing over your being foolish." Unatti says, scolding the dwarf.
She then blasts the wing horror again.
Not sure now was the time to fuss at the peculiar dwarf. Tribim watches as the thing bites his new friend a second time. Frustrated his feint didn't work, he tires it again. Spinning his ancient spear, he shifts his stance, feinting at the thing with an over hand strike. He steps forwards, thrusting at its earwing instead.
The dwarf makes a rude gesture at the vargouille to go along with his short, sharp raspberry. He then comments.
"It's rare that anyone gets to workshop battlefield tactics in real time. It's not that the constructive criticism matters - nothing truly does save for ending this thing's cursed existence - but I appreciate your thoughts, Unatti."
Epperson times the swing of his flail carefully.
You finally manage to dispatch the vargouille. Around ten seconds later, Aerith recovers.
"....argh!" The elf cried as she found herself suddenly falling forward. Luckily, Epperson was in front of her and she caught herself on his shoulder. "That was terrifying!" She exclaimed as she brushed herself off.
Watching as the creature falls to the ground dead, Tribim turns to the elf, "You can say that again." Prodding the dead thing with his ancient spear, he asks "So that headband we found made this thing?"
Stepping around the creature, Tribim finishes looking around the room for anything of value, before he moves to the final set of doors upstairs.
Potential Loot
Small Dagger (rusted)
Handful of Marbles
Ancient Board Game
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
B21 - Bedroom
Dust blankets this room. The walls, once brightly painted to depict life in ancient Wati, are now faded. A smaller room or alcove takes up the northeast section of the room; it was once closed off by a wooden door that since has rotted away, leaving only its hinges in the doorframe. A strong, cloying odor of decay pervades the room.
The source of the odor is immediately obvious: another vargouille!
Potential Loot
Darkwood Hope Chest containing the following:
White Silk Wedding Robe
Jewelry
Strand of Freshwater Pearls
kohl of uncanny discernment
Painting of a Young Woman
Wiping off his blade after it returns to his hand, Mahmoud kicks over the vargouille to make sure it is dead. "Between these two and the ones downstairs, we could build a little monument of heads if we wanted to," he rasps.
Chuckling nervously at Mamoud's jest, Tribim asks Epperson, "Did any of the stuff in the closets look cursed?"
Having helped gather the items of value, he begins to head back to the stairs. "Shall we start with the double doors on the west side?"
Mahmoud follows, nodding amiably.
”That wedding paraphernalia looked cursed,” Epperson quips in dead-pan, offering Aerith a rare wink.
Epperson paws everything save for the silk wedding dress to check for curses.
"Is it?" Aerith asked, and at that exact same moment she failed to pull her hand away from the white silk wedding robe in time. Rather, her fingers brushed alongside of it, and due to age, it disintegrated into dust. With a gasp she took several steps back. "You are right!" She exclaimed. "Thank you for the warning. It would have been horrible to have put it on."
Chuckling at Eppersons observation, as far as Tribim was concerned, all wedding paraphernalia was cursed. Raising an eyebrow as the elf grasps, he resists the urge to ask if she really would have worn it.
Once everyone has joined him downstairs, Tribim will open the double doors, north of the steps in the western wall.
B3 - Garden
The western side of the estate forms an L-shaped yard mostly given to sand, sun-dried earth, and the ancient husks of dead trees. Stone benches line the walls of the yard, and a large tiled pool sits in the southwest corner, dried and partially filled with sand. A short flight of steps leads between a pair of pillars to a set of stone doors in the west side of the house. At the north end of the yard stands a squat stone building with columns at every corner.
As you enter the garden, an enormous centipede clambers out of the pool and rushes toward you!
Not wanting to get anywhere close to the overgrown insect, Aerith sent her dagger flying out towards it. It turned out, though, that avoiding looking at one's target made attacking it very difficult.
Mahmoud steps a little closer, trying to see the creature more clearly, and throws his dagger at it in two direct arcs, setting it ricocheting back each time.
As Aerith's and Mahmoud's blades fly out and back, Tribim starts to wonder if they would be able to kill the giant bug with daggers. Having seen the squat stone building Tribim knew they should look inside. Well, at least he wanted to look inside, no reason not to look under every rock, so to speak. But how could they get to it without having to fight the giant worm.
Furrowing his brow as he draws a chakram, he remembered there were two gates inside the front. As he threw the chakram at the big bug, he asks, "Instead of fighting this thing, what if we bait it to the other side of the house after we've searched there?" Not wanting to be in the way or within reach of the thing, he steps to the side of the door, "We could just close the doors."
Mahmoud considers quickly. "This doorway is a defensible position-- I'd rather stay here and fight than try to lure it into unexplored areas. But I'll follow you if you decide you want to risk it."
Epperson grimaces.
"That thing looks like it's been gorging on something - probably the remainders of the bodies that all those heads came from. Don't fear, Unatti; I'm not rushing in to clobber it just yet."
The dwarf gives a THBBBT at the oversized insect out of the side of his mouth as he fumbles with his wand.
You land a pair of strikes on the massive insect, but it doesn't seem to be unduly bothered. It rushes closer before attempting to bite one of you through the open doorway.