Chapter 33: Nightmare House

[jemmus]

Faron is about as close to death as a person can be. Damned if you do and damned if you don't in this damned place. Agreed, we have to find some way to rest in the house. My longsword will provide some light. Maybe that will help keep the nasties at bay.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo looks around at the immediate area outside the door for any signs of life or habitation before they move back inside.

"I agree we must rest, but where? The rooms we have found in here so far do not seem safe. Do we head upstairs in hopes to find an empty bedroom to fortify?"

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Upstairs seems as good an option as anywhere else. In the meantime... Ingrid casts Cure Light Wounds on Faron.

Ingrid will lead the way, holy symbol at the ready. If there is time, she will also heal Mouser, Jerome, and Urdur.

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=1
That was underwhelming.

[jemmus]

Faron
It seems that upstairs may be the only choice. We know that everywhere else we've been has no safe place for resting.

That CLW doubled Faron' HP!

[Urson]

Jerome
I wish we had the manpower to send a scout, so he could find us a safe place. We don't really have that option. Let's go- stay close, eyes open.
He lifts his cudgel in a salute. ST. Cuthbert, guide your servant.

[Inferno]

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







Trapped between the spaces they know, the doomed heroes recoil in horror.

As Ingrid heals Faron (+1hp and +1 STR), the grey druid peers out at the changed world. The abandoned manor now resides in a completely other place; one of stone ruins infested by unearthly fungi, beneath a terrible, writhing sky.

The displaced adventurers urgently need rest and recovery, but where can they find sanctuary in this otherworldly nightmare realm? Bo, Faron and Ingrid suggest the unknown upstairs. Jerome and Urdur, the dining room of unspeakable feasts.


Actions?!


Map:

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





PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 2/22, Glowing Sword, -6 to STR
Grey Mouser, Half-Elf Magic-User/Thief 3/4: Move: 9", AC: 5, HP: 1/19, Spells: 0/2 1st lvl, 1/1 2nd lvl, -7 to STR
Ingrid Esthof, Human Cleric 5: Move: 6", AC: 3(1), HP: 14/25, Spells: 0/5 1st lvl, 2/5 2nd lvl, 0/2 3rd lvl, Torch
Jerome, Human Paladin 4: Move: 9", AC: 3(1), HP: 2/23, Laying Hands: 0/1, -9 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: 3/11, Spells: 0/3 1st lvl, 0/2 2nd lvl, Torch, -8 to STR

PC Magic:

Protection From Evil, 10' Radius (Jerome)
Glyph of Warding (Ingrid)
Fairie Fire (Bo): +2 to hit S3 and S4. Duration: 11 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)

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Since no consensus has been made on where they are going, Ingrid will take a moment to heal her companions. Laying her hands on Grey Mouser, she intones divine words of power, feeling Tritherion's healing glow flow through her.

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=4

The cleric then does the same for Jerome

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=7

and Urdur.

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=6

[ravenn4544]

Mouser thanks Ingrid for the blessing. "Upstairs has to be worse - we've never even been up the stairs yet... I think we hole up in the kitchen area back here or risk one of these rooms down the hall to clear out then defend for the night.."

[SocraticLawyer]

Spjöll fira, says Urdur to Ingrid, thanking her in the language of the gnomes.

I agree with Mouser. The kitchen seems as defensible a place as we will find here. The sooner we rest, the better.

If the group agrees, Urdur makes for the kitchen, torch aloft. He looks around for any of the shadow creatures. He also looks for anything of value, in case the group makes it back to reality.

Urdur stays with the group, even if they decide to rest somewhere else.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo advises against resting in a room already containing spiders or shadows, but otherwise follows along with the group.

[jemmus]

Faron
I see your point, Bo. But "Better the devil you know than the one you don't." And we're not in much shape for exploring new places. I agree with Mouser and Urdur about taking our chances-- slim chances-- in the kitchen. He again regrets not packing any oil.

[ChubbyPixie]

Telkis looks back and forth, following the debate about where to hole up.

"The one room we can be fairly certain is empty, the one the abominations escaped only to burn, regrettably no longer has a door..." he says, "Still, the kitchen isn't secure, either."

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

I really do not feel good about the kitchen. If we are not going upstairs, I think we should take a different room in that hall, something with a door we can close and barricade ourselves in. If there were more of those creatures, they likely would have left a room to deal with us. That doesn't rule out more rats or spiders, but I think we should take our chances instead of trying to defend two or three entrances.

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome frowns, trying to remember something. Wasn't there another doorway in the kitchen? One we didn't investigate, because of the spiders?
On the map, there's a corridor marked heading East. Maybe, if Inferno is kind, there's a pantry we can hole up in.

[Inferno]

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







The doomed heroes cannot agree on where best to hide in the ominous mansion that somehow exists across the bipolar reality of Man.

As they weigh the terrible options before them, Ingrid heals Mouser, Jerome and Urdur. By her sacred blessings, they feel their stolen strength recover. (+4hp and STR, +7hp and STR, and +6hp and STR respectively)

Urdur scans the grand entry hall and notes exquisite candelabra and statuary. But they find no refuge. The upstairs is unknown. The kitchen has no doors.

Desperate and in peril, they edge through the dining room of unspeakable feasts. The fire is out and the immense carcass of Ariadnax is now both home and food supply to her heinous, crawling young.



The hideous sight is juxtaposed sharply against the sublime magnificence of the formal table. Once more, Long Bo's memory tingles with deja vu. Had he dreamt of Ariadnax... in the Dreamlands?

They inch east toward the open door and breathlessly give it a gentle push. It opens wide on moaning hinges to reveal an abandoned, water-damaged chamber (room 11). Once a servants' work room, it is now devoid of life.



Another door is set into the far wall, also slightly ajar.


Actions?!


Map Detail:

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

Map:






PC Status:

Faron, Human Thief 5: Move: 9", AC: 4, HP: 2/22, Glowing Sword, -6 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: 1/5 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: 8 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]

Once they are through Telkis will shut the door to the grand dining room and see if there is a means of securing it. If there is no obvious bar or latch, he'll jam each of his two daggers into the crack of the door near the hinges to prevent it being opened from the other side.

[Scott308]

Ingrid Esthof

Do we have any spikes left, so Telkis doesn't have to use his daggers?

The cleric uses her final spell to heal, laying her hands once more on Faron.

Cure Light Wounds [1d8]=3

[SocraticLawyer]

Urdur moves through the door. He hands two spikes to Telkis to secure it behind them.

Iron spikes removed from inventory.

[OGRE MAGE]

Bo states the name "Ariadnax" out loud as he passes the spider filled corpse, the annoying tickle in his brain growing to a crescendo.

Once inside the room, he uses his spear to push the next door open from a distance.

"It seems the illusion of opulence doesn't cover the back rooms."

[Urson]

Jerome
Jerome nods grudging thanks to Ingrid
He enters the workroom, tapping at the floor with the tip of his sword to check for rotted floorboards. He's heading for the other door, intent on making sure these rooms are secure.