Chapter 33: Nightmare House

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Realizing the nature of the opposition they face and not wanting her mirror image to move closer to the party, the cleric too will target an inanimate object, hoping her double will reply in kind. Speaking words of holy power, Ingrid summons a spectral hammer, 20' south and 5' east of her current position, slamming the hammer into the glass of the mirror, hoping to shatter it and end this threat.

Save vs. Spells (14): [1d20]=11
Spiritual Hammer (18): [1d20]=15; Damage S/M: [1d6]=1; Damage L: [1d4]=2

[ravenn4544]

Mouser has no room to attack. Even a slung stone may hit one of his comrades. He attempts deception. With a whisper that turns into something much more, his spell his cast.

Cast audible glamour - the intent is to create the sound of an angry group coming from the east to attack the mirror clones!

[Urson]

Jerome
St. Cuthbert, aid thy servant! Jerome fiercely attacks his mirror-self.
[1d20+1]=20+1=21 melee
[1d20+1]=13+1=14 melee

Longsword s/m [1d8+2]=6+2=8 x2=16

[Inferno]

Second Story, The Accursed Mansion, The Dreamlands
Day Three. Morning? Monday, December 26th, 576 CY







As if trapped in some terrible dream, the doomed heroes are locked in a life and death battle with sinister reflections of themselves!

(spell resolution from last round...)

Simultaneously, Urdur and his dark doppelganger mesmerize half the combatants of the chaotic fray!



Mirror Ingrid and Mirror Faron are brought under the hypnotic spell of the real Urdur! He commands them to attack their Long Bo!

Concurrently, the real Faron, Mouser and Urdur are beguiled by Mirror Urdur! He orders them, "Enter the magic mirror!" Faron and Mouser enter the mists that seethe from the haunted looking glass and are seen no more! But Urdur cannot comply. For at that moment, Mirror Ingrid the Damned's blasphemous incantation takes effect!






Invisible, etheric tentacles from some frightful otherworldly dimension envelop the bodies of Urdur, Long Bo and Jerome, and they are completely paralyzed! (P)

(this round...)

With hope fading fast, the real Ingrid advances ten feet and conjures a phantom hammer, but the haunted mirror lies beyond its range!

Mirror Urdur breaks the beguilement that holds Mirror Faron and Mirror Ingrid, and their will is restored.

The twisted aspect of Long Bo points at Ingrid and the roiling horde of demonic spiderlings swarm her! (2hp damage, and Ingrid can do nothing except fend off the horde)



Telkis descends the ladder and cannot believe his eyes. The doomed heroes are defeated! He stands alone against seven heinous incarnations of himself and his friends.

Lightning writhes across Mirror Mouser's blades. The chillingly beautiful anti-paladin grips his enchanted black sword and says, "Enter the mirror, Telkis, if you want yourself and your companions to live."


Actions, Telkis?!


Map Detail:

One square = 10 feet. Lighter areas are visible. All else is from memory.

Behind the DM Screen:

No initiative roll needed. These things move simultaneous to the PCs. Initiative is tied.
Real Mouser and Urdur: Save vs Spells: [1d20]=12, [1d20]=4 Both fail.
Mirror Faron, Mouser, Ingrid, Urdur: Save vs Hypnotism: [1d20]=7, [1d20]=12, [1d20]=5, [1d20]=12 Mirror Mouser and Urdur save. Mirror Faron and Ingrid fail.
Real Jerome: Save vs Spells: [1d20]=4 Fails.

Mirror Faron and Ingrid: Save vs Mirror Urdur Spell: [1d20]=1, [1d20]=9 With another Hypnosis spell, Mirror Urdur restores the will of Mirror Faron and Mirror Ingrid.
Mirror Jerome and Mouser cannot charge again. They use movement.

PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 18/22, Glowing Sword
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 4/5: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/21, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 13/25, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 19/23, Laying Hands: 0/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 6: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/41, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, 1/1 4th lvl, Light stone
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 28/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 14/15, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, 1/1 3rd lvl, Torch at feet

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Faerie Fire (Long Bo): Target: Mirror Jerome. Duration: 21 rounds
Hypnotism (Urdur): Duration: 5 rounds
Friends (Mouser): Duration: 2 rounds
Spiritual Hammer (Ingrid): Duration: 4 rounds

Player Resources:

Tale of Terror (the story so far)
A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur remains motionless, unable to act.

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome is frozen in place, unable to do anything but shout prayers to St Cuthbert. His eyes dart around, watching his companions as they struggle with their own troubles.

[OGRE MAGE]

Also unable to function himself, Bo wonders how his heart remains beating if he cant move a muscle.

He starts to wonder how breath and other common bodily functions continue to function despite his current "outer" immobility.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis takes in the scene. His friends frozen, helpless, their doppelgängers gazing at him menacingly. He knows immediately that he cannot win by his usual method...

He looks to the evil paladin and nods, acknowledging his words and the futility of resistance, then begins walking towards the evil mirror. With some of his friends inside, he dare not smash it – what would become of them?

When he finally stands near the artifact and before his evil counterpart, he pauses. Looking him up and down, he makes significant eye-contact before saying, "Just look at yourself." Reaching into his pack he pulls out his small silver mirror and holds it up, reflecting the reflections of the evil gnome and the mirror back at them...

This will either do something cool.... or NOTHING AT ALL. It may be the lamest cool moment ever, but it's all I could think of.

[Inferno]

Second Story, The Accursed Mansion, The Dreamlands
Day Three. Morning? Monday, December 26th, 576 CY







Telkis meets the gaze of his dark reflection!

In what feels like a surreal nightmare, the doomed heroes have been utterly defeated by their identical opposites from the haunted mirror!

Seeing no other choice, Telkis surrenders. He is guarded and escorted to the looking glass.

"It's a good thing the little gnome saw reason," the mirror Faron smiles at the anti-paladin. "I'd hate to see you embarrassed again. That other Jerome had you beaten until Ingrid saved your hide."

"Faron, hold your tongue or I'll cut it out," snarls the mirror Jerome with seething malice.

When Telkis stops before the haunted mirror and unshoulders his backpack to open it and reach inside, his reflection pushes him into the mirror's roiling mists!



With a black chorus of malevolent laughter, the three paralyzed heroes are lifted and thrown in. Then finally, mirror Telkis and mirror Jerome use their shields to push the spider-bedeviled Ingrid into the haunted mirror, and it is done. The reflections are free and the heroes are imprisoned in their place!

There is a strange shift of perspective, a sense of vertigo, and of infinite reflections turning inward upon themselves.



When it finally subsides, the heroes find all sorceries cast upon them are broken. The spiderling swarm, the mesmerism and paralysis are gone. They are all able to act.

Disoriented, their minds try to take in the strange realm inside the looking glass. There is ground upon which to stand. There is gravity. There is air. They can hear and see one another, but little else. All around them is blackness. The only light is from their enchanted swords and Bo's illumination stone.

They have no sense how deep the spectral darkness goes in the eerie void of the mirror realm.

And the mirror they passed through has fallen dormant again. Its ensorcelled glass is as black as the heroes' fate.


Actions?!


Behind the DM Screen:

No initiative roll needed. These things move simultaneous to the PCs. Initiative is tied.
When Telkis stops at mirror, evil Telkis and Jerome push him in. To hit: [1d20]=16, [1d20]=2 Evil Telkis succeeds.

PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 18/22, Glowing Sword
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 4/5: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/21, Spells: 2/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 13/25, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 4/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 19/23, Laying Hands: 0/1, , Glowing Sword
Long Bo, Human Druid 6: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/41, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, 1/1 4th lvl, Light stone
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 28/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 14/15, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, 1/1 3rd lvl

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Spiritual Hammer (Ingrid): Duration: 1 round.

Player Resources:

Tale of Terror (the story so far)
A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[jemmus]

Faron
Well, being trapped inside a mirror isn't something I ever expected. Or really wanted. But on the bright side, there are no evil mirrors selves or spider things attacking us.

[ChubbyPixie]

"Sorry fellas," says Telkis putting his mirror away sheepishly and readying Cranach as he peers into the darkness, "I had the idea that I could... well, I thought, 'What would Urdur do? I can't beat them so maybe I could reflect their reflections somehow?' I don't know. How does magic work, anyway?"

[jemmus]

It was as good an idea as some of us trying to break the mirror, Faron replies. Who knows, it might have worked. If we could have managed to swing our weapons straight and hit it.

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome sags, his face drawn with fatigue and self- hatred. I need some wine... He raises his sword to smash the mirror, then stops.

Mages- if I break the mirror, do I destroy our only hope of escape?

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo tries to figure out what just happened to them. He places one hand on the pane of the dark mirror, to check if it's solid.

"I have a bad feeling we are stuck here unless we try something, Master Jerome."

He shrugs at the idea of smashing the glass, unsure if that is the answer or not.

[SocraticLawyer]

"Sorry fellas," says Telkis putting his mirror away sheepishly and readying Cranach as he peers into the darkness, "I had the idea that I could... well, I thought, 'What would Urdur do? I can't beat them so maybe I could reflect their reflections somehow?' I don't know. How does magic work, anyway?"

Urdur sighs. Despite a lifetime of study, I have no idea. Every time I think I understand the mystical forces of the multiverse, I learn just how wrong I was. The trip to this dreamland has not helped in that regard.

Mages- if I break the mirror, do I destroy our only hope of escape?

That is possible. However, as Bo says, it may be our only option.

Urdur looks around at their current surroundings, hoping to find any clue at all as to escape. If he can find none, he pulls out the mysterious tome, and tries to decipher it.

My best guess is to try Remove Curse or Dispel Magic on the mirror before trying to break it. Urdur doesn't know either of those spells, though.

[jemmus]

Faron
Breaking the mirror may be our only hope. He walks forward a few yards, holds the glowing sword before him, and turns in a circle, looking for any kind of feature at all.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

How does magic work, you ask? Well, the cleric begins, pulling a set of gem-inlaid sticks from her pack. I cannot speak for arcane casters, but for me, she continues as she throws the sticks on the ground and sits down to peer at them. I call upon the power of Holy Tritherion, and He, should He find me worthy, allows a tiny bit of His infinite power to flow through me, allowing me to perform miraculous works in His name. Speaking of which- O, Holy Tritherion, please show me how things may turn out for us if we attempt to destroy the mirror from the inside. She continues to study the sticks, seeking what they may reveal about the party's immediate future.

Ingrid casts Augury.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser holds up a hand, "Hold on the mirror! Breaking it may be our way out - or it may trap us in here forever. Let's first see what this place reveals before taking that step."

He casts dancing lights to help create several torch-like lights to explore the area around them.

[Inferno]

Inside the Haunted Mirror, The Accursed Mansion, The Dreamlands
Day Three. Morning? Monday, December 26th, 576 CY







Through the looking glass, the doomed heroes are trapped within some strange, otherworldly limbo.

Jerome hangs his head as the grey druid places his hand upon the darkened mirror and finds its surface solid, cold and smooth.

Faron, Mouser, Telkis and Urdur cautiously explore the disorienting nether-realm by the light of Mouser's sorcery and Faron's bared steel. They discover other floating panes -some rectangular, some oval, some small, some large - and they can see and hear through them, as if each were a hole in the fabric of space itself!

One depicts a shadowy bedroom where lovers entwine. No. The woman is drinking blood from the man's neck, feeding upon him in mutual ecstasy.

Another "window" shows a dark chamber holding a blood stained altar to an unspeakable god.

One reveals the accursed mansion's dining room of unimaginable feasts! The carcass of Ariadnax is all but consumed by her brood spawn. From somewhere out of sight come the harrowing moans of the living dead!

A fourth presents a small arcane library. Mouser's and Urdur's eyes widen. They are certain that sorcerous tomes lie within.

The last offers a magnificently appointed hallway. Suddenly, the heroes' dark reflections walk down it!
"Now what?" asks the other Mouser, idly.
Mirror Ingrid replies, "We go to Lord Blackchapel, and offer our services to him."
At that moment, the other Long Bo looks directly at Faron, Mouser, Telkis and Urdur!

Meanwhile, behind the explorers of spaces uncertain, Ingrid gives blessed orisons to Trithereon and beholds the myriad pathways of reality itself!



In but one possible future, Ingrid immediately raises her enchanted mace against the haunted mirror and shatters it, freeing the doomed heroes from their interdimensional prison!


Actions?!





PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 18/22, Glowing Sword
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 4/5: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 19/21, Spells: 1/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, Dancing Lights
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 13/25, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 3/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 19/23, Laying Hands: 0/1, Glowing Sword
Long Bo, Human Druid 6: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 31/41, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, 1/1 4th lvl, Light stone
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 28/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 14/15, Spells: 3/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, 1/1 3rd lvl

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)

Player Resources:

Tale of Terror (the story so far)
A Dark and Terrible World (maps)
Blasphemous Iconography (the story so far in images)
Desperate Struggles (clues and player notes)

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Gathering up her sticks and returning them to her pack, Ingrid stands up. Well, I have seen a future where I smash the mirror, freeing us. There are other possibilities, but this is the one that stands out to me. Now, whether it brings weal or woe is unclear, though it seems that it would be to our benefit.