The House of Thorns Report

General Summary

The Loose Cannons took a day of well-deserved rest before continuing their adventures. During this rest, Elizabet spoke with Agnes about her birth-mother, telling her that her mother had been buried among the honored dead of the Amber Elves. Agnes asked if she could see her mother's grave, and Elizabet said she would she what she could do. Kari dreamt dreams of wolves fighting among themselves, while Kuzuha spoke with Synce in her dreams. Synce explained that both Deidre and thane Inghéan had travelled east to both rein in thane Éamonh, and to confron the East Sceyan Trading Company. They felt guilty that they were not travelling east as well, as inaction sat poorly with them and they were Deidre's greatest champion. Kuzuha convinced Synce to follow their intuition, and accidentally convinced them to travel east as well, especially when Kuzuha told Synce that there may be spies and agents of the Gold Empire working among the Free Sceya alliance. Friedrich spent time meditating with Kari, focusing on his connection to the rune on his shoulder, and he sought out Guowang. He found an old tiefling meditating on a mountain in the Plane of Elemental Air, an enlightened Guowang, who explained that he was spending time in Stormfall, and that he foresaw a role of Fred and the party in Stormfall at his side. Guowang had reached out to his current self in Stormfall, and he was coming to Ravå now to speak with Fred. Or he already has? Or is?
The party spend some time playing poker with brother John White, while Friedrich spoke with master Isibél of the Aontas Feirmeoirí Áitiúla. She told Fred that her and her farmers had lost contact with several villages to the south, on the eastern bank of the Ravå and in the Koldmark-region. Friedrich promised her that the party had contacts investigating the area now, and that they would keep her informed. He also agreed to meet with her sometime when he had time for dinner and to go through her research notes, as she was working on the optimal soil conditions of the Ravå-Koldmark delta.
The party prepared to travel to Herregaard Hviid on the following day, and were met by the Burned Man in Grandal, who led them to the manor. He explained that he would distract the vampires, and that the party would not be attacked so long as they did not attack first. They would have to get a strange black stone knife, called an athame, to Cwenraed, and he would then get them home. Inside the manor, the butler explained to them that in order to get to the dungeon they had to get two keys: one from the throne room and one from the theater.
In the theater, the party played out a story of the manor's descent to death and madness using articulated dolls and a wicked-looking lever, which drained them of life and blood. The story consisted of Mother Hviid seemingly being corrupted by a dark power, and eventually giving her life and her family's fortune to an old and powerful creature crucified on a tree. Upon completing the story, the party were rewarded with a small statue of Grandmother Hviid crucified, which seemed to be the first key.
In the throne room, the party arranged portraits of the Hviid Family in different orders depending on the puzzle at hand, and were rewarded with a small statue of Gulthias, which seemed to be the second key. Using the two keys, the party opened a hidden gate beneath a statue of Grandmother Hviid. The gate led them into the dungeons beneath the manor, where they were met by a Death Giant named Skuggavind, who did not seem hostile. The giant was meditating, and even scared away the butler, who dispelled his illusion and revealed himself as Sebastian Hviid, the undead patriarch of the family and husband of the lady of the house. The party pressed on, with Sebastian promising that they would all be killed, since his wife was gunning for them.
Arriving at the deepest bowels of the dungeons, the party finally came to Cwenraed. Elizebet set him free by picking the locks on the cell and his restraints, and he thanked the party, cutting a hole in reality with the athame and returing them to Grandal. As an expression of his gratitude, he gave Kuzuha one of his fingers, and told her to curl it if they ever needed his help.
The party had thus returned to Grandal, and levelled up again.

Character(s) interacted with

The Burned Man
Sebastian Hviid
Skuggavind