Chapter 33: Nightmare House

[ravenn4544]

Mouser is grateful to be able to walk on his own again. Once inside, he'll stuff whatever he can under the door to keep the baby spiders from squirming in. Once done, he'll check out the rest of the rooms for any interesting secrets before approaching the cracked door.

[jemmus]

Faron offers his one iron spike, if it will be of any use for anything. He stands and holds his glowing sword for a light source.

[Inferno]

The Accursed Mansion, The Dreamlands
Day Three. After Midnight. Monday, December 26th, 576 CY







In the house of nightmares, nothing of value is discovered in the servant's workroom (area 11), long ago given over to disuse and decay. The smell of mold is thick.

Telkis and Urdur spike the door behind the doomed heroes as quietly as they can manage. Ingrid expends the last of her holy power to heal Faron once again. (+3hp and STR)

With Jerome and Mouser beside him, Bo pushes open the eastern door with his spear. Beyond lies another musty, forgotten room (area 12). It is filled with furniture covered in sheets, dust and cobwebs. A servants' staircase leads up.


Actions?!


Map Detail:






PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 5/22, Glowing Sword, -3 to STR
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 5/19, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl, -3 to STR
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 14/25, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 0/5 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl, Torch
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 9/23, Laying Hands: 0/1, -2 to STR
Long Bo, Human Druid 5: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 27/38, Spells: 2/6 1st lvl, 0/4 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl, Torch, -8 to STR
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 27/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 4: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 9/11, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, 0/2 2nd lvl, Torch, -2 to STR

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Glyph of Warding (Ingrid)
Fairie Fire (Bo): +2 to hit S3 and S4. Duration: 6 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)

[ChubbyPixie]

"We could, perhaps, seal the first room and try to get some sort of rest... though I fear sleeping here is not the best idea..." says Telkis. "Still, dying from our wounds is not a great idea either..."

[ravenn4544]

Mouser urges no one to touch the sheets just yet. "Who knows what's under them!" he whispers. "that stairs is a good find for another way up - later. Let's go back to room we spiked and seal this door and rest. There is no better place that I can think of?"

[jemmus]

Faron
Perhaps we should spike to door to the room (12) as well. I don't know if I could rest knowing that any sort of nasty thing could come through it. He takes his one spike out of his pack.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur agrees with Faron and helps to spike the door if he can. With both doors spiked, Urdur suggests the group rest here.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

I really like the idea of spiking that other door closed and resting here. After a rest and some more healing, we can try those stairs, but not until we're in better shape.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo takes a cautious look around the covered furniture, making his way towards the back stairway to determine if another door is present above.

If he finds nothing off about the storage room, he picks out a nice divan or couch he can rest upon.

“I hate to pass up this abandoned furniture room to sleep on the floor of the heavy mold room. Maybe we can at least drag a few of these pieces inside before we spike them all away?”

[Urson]

Jerome
You make a good point, Bo. If we can be sure there are no threats here, we should move some of the heavy pieces into the other room to help barracade the doors.

[Inferno]

The Accursed Mansion, The Dreamlands
Day Three. After Midnight. Monday, December 26th, 576 CY







In the accursed mansion, the floorboards creak beneath Bo's steps as he creeps among the shrouded furniture in the dusty, cobwebbed room (12). Nothing seems amiss and no door is spied atop the servants' staircase.

The doomed heroes retreat back into the first room, dragging some covered furniture with them. There, they secure both doors with iron spikes and makeshift barricades, and rest at last.

The watch passes without incident. Once, in the night, they hear blood-curdling laughter, but it soon passes.

When they sleep, they dream of being in Hookhill, back on Oerth.



















When they awaken, at what they believe to be morning, they feel somehow different.

They feel as if they are dreaming this.




Did the world change? Or did they? No matter.

There is a calm acceptance, like in a dream, as if everything that is happening is normal. Memory and motive are hazy now but that's not important.

Hookhill. Is that even a real place? Or had they merely dreamt it?


Actions?!
(Nightly healing is accounted for below. STR has returned. You may roll for additional healing as per the house rules.
Casters may pray or study to replenish their spell slots.
And a new Experience Point Award is here. Congrats and thank you.)


Map Detail:

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





PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 6/22
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 4/5: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 6/19, Spells: 3/3 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 15/25, Spells: 5/5 1st lvl, 5/5 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, Torch
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 10/23, Laying Hands: 1/1
Long Bo, Human Druid 6: Move: 9", AC: 2(1), HP: 28/38, Spells: 6/6 1st lvl, 4/4 2nd lvl, 2/2 3rd lvl, 1/1 4th lvl Torch
Telkis Brassfang, Gnome Fighter 5: Move: 9", AC: 0, HP: 28/37
Urdur Shimmerstone, Gnome Illusionist 5: Move: 12", AC: 4, HP: 10/11, Spells: 4/4 1st lvl, 2/2 2nd lvl, 1/1 3rd lvl, Torch

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

After waking and feeling...odd...but still rested, Ingrid takes some time to pray for more spells. The cleric then heals Faron

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=4

and Mouser

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=3

before sending Tritherion's healing power through their paladin.

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=1
Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=8

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis rests fitfully, yet somehow this place seems less strange when he wakes. It takes him a moment to remember why they are here and what they are searching for, which causes a vague sense of unease.
Extra Healing (20% chance): [1d10]=5

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome Lays Hands on Faron (+8 hp). He spends a long time in prayer, desperate for reassurance that St Cuthbert has not abandoned him.

When everyone is healed, fed, and geared up: Let's head up these back stairs. There may be an advantage to using the old 'servant's entrance'.

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur finishes up his studies after a resting. The strange runes and incantations seem to make more sense in this weird reality. He wonders, idly, what reality even means. Is it malleable, controllable, the way one might learn to control dreams? Could a powerful enough illusionist learn, somehow, to Alter Reality itself?

Urdur gets ready to continue through the mansion. He relights a torch. He concurs with Jerome's plan.

1 ration and 1 torch removed from inventory. Urdur also retrieves his spikes from the door if that is feasible.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo rises and stretches his old, creaking bones, glad he suggested using the actual furniture to sleep on.

He seems his usual chipper self in the morning. "I don't understand this place at all. I was nearly depleted completely when I fell asleep, but I feel stronger than I have ever felt before upon awakening?..........I am starting to wonder if we are each already dead."

The druid takes longer than normal to meditate upon rising to the new day, if that is indeed what just happened. Once complete, he eats sparingly and eventually joins those ready to head upstairs to explore.

"I somehow feel like I could summon an animal using my magic today. I wonder what horror I would attract in this gods forsaken dreamland?"

Anyone think we should check outside the door again to see if we have converted back to Hookhill?

[jemmus]

Faron
Thank you, Ingrid and Jerome, for the healing. I feel like myself again. He attempts to take his spike from the door. Something seems different. I'd like to see if normal Hookhill has returned. That would be a relief-- even as nasty as normal Hookhill is.

1 day of rations marked off.

[ravenn4544]

Mouser is grateful for the healing, once more. He awakens to find his spell book is somehow more intelligible. Praise Sheelba! He takes a few minutes to study and learn the new spells that may lend some aide to what is bound to be horrible in the upper floors.

[jemmus]

Faron
Maybe there's a window upstairs overlooking Hookhill we could check? Not that we could ever fully trust our eyes in this place.

[Inferno]

Urdur also retrieves his spikes from the door if that is feasible.

It is. And thanks, everyone for the quick consensus on next steps. Onward...