The Haunted Mansion

Even a century ago the Koba family were rich and powerful merchants. In part they owed their success to the Occult secrets they and their partners shared. Generations of sons and daughters judged as worthy or not worthy to be inducted into the family secret. They also had gang and criminal associations.  In the past century things went down hill.  A new section of the city was opened, with a new and better gate and became the new entry to the city and the new trendy fashionable area.  The old main gate was sealed over and left a smaller side gate.  The neighborhood declined and new tenements were built.  The old mansion is just one of a few older homes of once ruling families in the area.

About 50 years ago the Koba family suffered a tragic collapse. On the wedding of the inheriting daughter to the son of a supporting family, most of both houses were struck by a sudden illness and died within days. There are many rumors - tainted food at the banquet, a guest bringing plague, assassination by a rival House with poisons, a jilted lover, a rebellious slave or servant, a curse from one factor or another.
The sole survivor of the Koba was young Master Dom. Unfavored and prone to moods and fits, it was said that Dom sought training in sorcery and tried to become a warlock but lacked the discipline and always gave way to drink and comforts before rigorous practices. After the deaths of the family Master Dom became steadily more withdrawn and paranoid.  Yet somehow he acquired a wife- a mysterious robed and veiled wife who never left the house or spoke when guests, deliveries or workers visited. Neighbors heard music and lights from torches and lanterns.  Dom was a wastrel and paid little heed to the family farms, lands and properties aside from the income. He engaged in no trade. Over the years the couple were seen less and less and none have spoken to the residents in the past 10 years, though figures are seen in upper floor windows occasionally and light, as a candle might move from room to room.
The house is now widely assumed to be haunted, or perhaps Mad Dom or his strange wife lurk in the unkept shadows. It is said that she murdered him for his cruelty and perversions. Or that she was some demon or devil creature and devoured him, leaving his ghost to haunt the family home.  Or that the old man had murdered his strange wife and her ghost  wanders the house. The farms and properties are now effectively owned by the managers. The shops that used to be outside the front courtyard are mostly empty- except old Senti the cobbler and drunk.  He toasts the master of the house each night and leaves out a glass at the Gate to the house proper.  The Blackcoat gang  keep the old bargains and slip over the walls or by a secret entry to hide in the front courtyard and rooms, paying the gold coins on the stone table in the antrum.  The gang promotes the haunting and ghost stories. But they do not go past the reception rooms.  The neighborhood children taunt and dare each other to squeeze past the warped gate to spend an hour or night inside.  Some have never been seen again- assumed run aways or gone to the gangs or other misfortunes.

Structure

Resolution

Components

Hooks

• The Mansion is haunted. An exorcist priest had claimed to have cleared the building of the ghost(s). They failed. Find out why. Some say it is actually a demon in the house.
• An important and wealthy person has bought the mansion. They want it checked out for the ghost and other rumors. Reward offered.
• The party has heard about the haunted house and the treasures supposedly to be found within.
• The gang, the Blackcoats, use the house as a hideout and the whole "haunted" thing is a cover to keep people away. They have stored stolen goods in the house.
• The Ghost of Dom Koba has some hidden fetter keeping his ghost in the house. Find it and destroy it. The Tax Assessors of the city want to sell the house and a bounty is offered.

Relations

Protagonists

The "ghosts":  None is a proper ghost.  They are puppets that act as subordinate spirits to the house, or alternate personalities.  They are not illusions. They all have use of an air control magic:  thin the air - makes it hard to breathe and acts as suffocation that can work at upto 30 ft (10 meter) or Gust of Roaring wind:  Rank 6 (or dice) strength gust of wind able to shove something upto 220lb (100kg)(resist w STR): it throws back subjects 10ft (3m) for damage equal a 10ft fall.  This can cover all facings as waves out from any "ghost". The wind may counter missile weapon attacks. They do not have a mind of their own and are just projections.  Any magical attack can damage them. They will have 5 dice/ hits.  Each costs Domus 1 pt to create.  They may be recalled/ dispelled by Domus at any time- mostly to create fear (so if any is hit in a combat).


The veiled woman: she is only about 5'5" (1.65 m). She is gowned and veiled and has glowing orange eyes. Black talons can be seen. Her skin is green and scaled with black edges to the scales. She hisses. She yowls and screeches. She is hardest and claws do middle range damage. The scaled skin acts as leather curiass armor. 

Dom: Fat old man with hollow sunken eyes, long jowls and saggy skin and a pendulous belly. He is dressed in pale colored robes with stains and is semi transparent. He shouts in a deep voice.  "My house! Mine!"  "My house, my home. Go away!" "No interlopers!" "Get out!".  He manifests the Accident power to cause attack by seeming accidents. ( the floor gives way, a beam breaks and falls on characters, roof tiles fall in courtyards, doors stick).

The child:  Young boy or girl, age 6-7 . Runs, hides. says they are scared of the lady. Vanishes when not being watched.

The Thief: Young man in a dark cloak, red vest, dark brown trousers. soft leather boots. Short sword.  He hides just inside rooms - tells characters to keep back. He doesn't want to hurt them. He will frequently act as a focus point while the House changes location of rooms and hall ways.

Outside of the House and sometimes inside is the House's ally:  A spirit called an All Fears.  It will make offerings of raw emotion or smaller spirits to the House which will devour them- 1 Spirit restores 1 pt Spell Points or 1 pt health.  The All Fears:  bulgy eyes in a sharp face. Large claws dripping blood. Hissing whisper voice. White as bone and covered in oozing boils of pus, with pale white eyes, It eats the food, and smears it with filth. It steals coin. It awakens sleepers, sitting on their chests and stealing breath.  It has  INT 3 rank (3d6 in D&D), 3 pips or 1d8 in some other systems. Spirit Power/ Magic is Rank 4. Health 3. It is only really harmed by magic, or fire if materialized. Physical attacks cause it to become immaterial.

It's powers cost 1 spell point to activate:

Change condition: 

It is naturally an Immaterial spirit in the physical world - invisible, silent and unable to physically interact with anything.  It may be considered Astral or Ethereal and may reach across with powers or assume full or partial material form with 1 or 2 spell points.  If killed with magic while in the astral or ethereal it is destroyed and leaves an ectoplasmic slime that is stable in astral or ethereal.  The ectoplasm evaporates in 2-3 rounds in the material world unless contained magically.
Manifestation:  It becomes a transparent vaporous figure in the physical world.  Attacks with objects, magic or fire do 1 pt and cause it to revert to Immaterial and leave ectoplasmic slime which evaporates.  Manifested allows it to open and close doors, move things or produce frightening results from sitting on a sleeper or pawing at them.
Materialize:  This is the full physical form.  The physical form may be destroyed by magic, fire or physical attack - all of which leave a pool of ectoplasm that evaporates while the spirit reverts to Immaterial.  It's claws attack twice per round as rank 3 weapons. 

Illusion: it feeds on fears and creates illusions that promote that: blood spatters, bones,  dead mutilated bodies of  companions if the party is separated.  Food and rations appear maggot ridden and rotten. Water or other drinks become blood.  Save vs the illusion. Lie to players that it is perception. Failed rolls "catch themselves" before eating/ drinking or stumbling over bodies.  Success see through the illusion.

Allies

The House eats other spirits - including the Hammer-headed spirits of decay attracted to the house. That they are eaten means it stays in stasis.

Adversaries

The actual adversary is Domus. The awakened and hungering House spirit. It has learned to feed on fear and creates fear. KIt is the spirit manifestation of the house, awake and aware. It can't be dispelled. It isn't a spell or enchantment. It can't be exorcised -it IS the house.
Abilities  are Intelligence ( slightly above average human scale, rank 3) , Spirit ( Epic at rank 6/ 6 pip.  Counts as 6 dice 'spell points' ) and health/ substance at about rank 5. It's spell like effects and level equivalent is lvl 8.
Powers:  each costs 1 spell point.

• Puppets:  See above for "protagonists". Domus will act via the Puppets typically or as a Ripple.
• Perception: Domus is aware of all said and done inside the Villa. It. is unable to reach beyond the Villa walls.
• Accident: it can cause structure of the house to fail  so that characters fall through floors, roof tiles or bricks come loose and fall on them, doors stick or suddenly give way.  It may spend 1 point per point to buy down a character roll into a fumble.
• Hold: Floors and walls become sticky ( strength =5 pip, dice, or d12 effective strength). They will produce mild acid each round after the first.  Water washes away/ weakens the acid if applied each round.
• Travel:  Domus may transpose or move rooms around, change doors or warp distances adding or subtracting 12 m or 40 ft in a round.
• Ripples are 5-6 ft (2 m) long lumps bulging out approx 1 m (3 ft) from walls, floor or ceiling that move 10 m (3 ft) a round.  They appear as if something is moving through the walls/ceiling or under the floor.  They can cause stumbling (agility/dex roll) or an impact for rank 2 or 3 damage ( 1d6 to 1d8 typically).  They will be used as distractions and another attack mode.
• Suggestion: The breeze is a rattle of dried leaves, creakings and groanings that sound like whispers.  The House will use suggestions of fear. Paranoia -watched, followed.  Attack. Kill.
• Wind: Rank 6 (or dice) strength gust of wind able to shove something upto 220lb (100kg)(resist w STR): it throws back subjects 10ft (3m) for damage equal a 10ft fall. This can cover all facings as waves out from any "ghost". The wind may counter missile weapon attacks.  Thin air: - this makes it hard to breath and follows drowning/ suffocation rules in most systems.

If the House is viewed from the Astral or Ethereal the windows look like eyes, the gate has spikes like teeth.

Backdrops

Past Events

The House- Domus - was awakened by the mass killing at the wedding which Dom initiated with sorcery. ( I am using Sorcery here in the context of the Sorcerer RPG by Ron Edwards). He did this because he was blocked from inheritance and entry to the family secrets by his older sister. He hated his father. His sister. His siblings and his mother who was doting on the older daughter and the wedding. He learned the magics from Nava, an estatic drug, dance and orgy style Sorcerer who has also has killed several rounds of students to harvest magic to bind and confine his ghost (or personal demon) so he can't die.  Nava shaped the young teen, but Dom was fundamentally a wealthy flop who quickly lost interest if anything was difficult or time consuming. He did all his bindings in the hidden cellar and made it into a locus accidentally. Nava actually sent a demon to kill Dom about 20 years ago. The veiled lady was one of Dom's demons....now long gone but remembered by Domus. The empty house caused Domus to hunger as fewer and fewer normal household spirits, or malign ones even, were present in the empty house.  The snacks of fear and pain became the main source of power and food, filling the house with that resonance energy.

Maps:

by Mutterwolf

.
Other levels

by Mutterwolf

Guide: Ground Level

:
Brick maker shop: empty dusty. One brick drying kiln in the corner close to the outer wall. The upstairs apartment has a rotten straw mattress, broken chair and bird droppings and owl pellets with rat bones, dust and broken pottery bits.
Cabinet maker: a few small and broken bits of wood litter the floor along with a deep layer of dust and dirt with rat droppings. There is a work bench. Bent and broken tools, a dull scraper and broken hinges. The apartment shelves have come down. Nothing else is present.
Carpet maker: empty pegs on walls bits of cord and a chewed roll of rope that is 50% likely to fail if used. Dust, dirt and signs of rodents...at least many bones.
Senti The Cobbler. Basic shop with leather, wooden foot forms, chalk and cord and glue, cutting tools, an iron pot and a small charcoal stove. See Persons list.
The Gate to the Villa: The heavy wood and iron gate is chained closed with the lock on the inside. If the chain is broken it will be repaired within 1 hr - by Domus's action, not the chain. The wood and iron will take a heavy battering ram and at least 4 to break down. Unlocking spells work, as does flight over the wall or short distance teleportation.
#7 Side secret entrance: The Blackcoats come and go via a false stone in the wall. Behind that is a mechanism that pivots out a crawl space that comes in behind the Garden statue of a heroic man wrestling a Minotaur. This is easy for small beings, a tight fit for a standard human and very difficult or impossible for anything larger than human sized. The crawl space is about 10 ft ( 3 m) long under the wall.
#9 Delivery gate. This back gate is rusted iron bound wood. There is a large lock of iron- also rusted and 50% harder to pick than it should be. Behind the gate is a passage through the 7 ft deep Villa wall. There is also a spring loaded trap that drives 4 ft long blades up from between stones. The crank and lock are inside the house behind the inner door which is barred on the inside. It will take heavy battering to bring down the door. Domus will reset the trap via one of the Puppets -the Lady, Dom or the Thief. Domus will also repair the door if broken.
Front Garden: The Chimera -lion, goat and serpent head with a dragon tail. dry. A search will find bones against the wall behind the Carpet marker. Just under the soil and covered with overgrown dead grass. Guard House: there is a small metal stove. Collapsed corroded chests. Rotten lumps that had once been beds. A crushed and flattened tin mug. In the dirt and debris of one collapses chest are 3 rusted longswords and 3 daggers. The family Shrine: double doors that swing out. The walls over the shrine shows the Good Gods of Light or local equivalent. The walls are covered with death masks of the family. The Shrine has incense stands, blobbed wax that were once candles, dried and decayed flowers, hard shriveled husks of fruits that resemble small brown rocks and jars with ashes the Koba who died in the wedding. The shrine has a Stone top with wood sides of wooden slats. These push in to unlock the shrine. It then lifts up to reveal the secret passage.
Secret Passage: This passage is about 1 meter wide and 1.5 m high. It is very dusty and has no tracks.
Atrium: The two doors slide to the side. One is open just enough for a thin person to slide in. Inside the atrium is a pile of wax from candles on a long polished stone table. A dozen decayed and broken chairs are scattered. careful search will turn up 2d6 small coins -silver/ brass. Beyond the table is a Dias with fire sconces at either side and a ruined cushioned chair. Behind this is a fresco screen of a well dressed man- arms upraised with sun beams radiating out from behind him. The ground has wagon trains, ships, farms, livestock, casks and crates in transit. These represented Koba official business. On the right is an open door and on the left a closed one.
Reception/ dining room: the wooden table is ready to collapse. the chairs are broken. Cabinets that held ceramics have broken and spilled plates, dishes and cups. Appraised as valuable ceramic dishes imported and centuries old if any have the right expertise as merchants or traders. a moderate number may be salvaged. The secret door opens by pressing a brick in the wall and was used by servants.
Sitting room: is in fair repair with a pile of new blankets on a good couch. there are several sitting pillows with fresh covers. A few wine bottles - some full and some empty. 3 jugs of water - fresh. bag with dried fruit and meat. The Library Door is locked. The Dom Puppet will appear here when the door is opened and he will shout "Go away!" The walls feature taxidermy mounted heads of boar, deer, wolves, big cats, and a few monsters. The book shelves have mostly history and travel journals, a few books of poetry and literature. Whole shelve are trade records - farm records - ship records and shipments - warehouses. Many books are weevil and silverfish eaten and will crumble. There is a fine tropical wood desk in good condition (it is actually valuable). ink stone. the ribs of some quills in piles of dust. There is a hidden compartment with 1d4x 100 coin. Also a narrow bone with bulging ends that is a few inches long. It has a string through one end. It is a finger bone.
Rooms 1-6: Staff rooms decayed, broken. Room 6, has the dried out remains of a body under the remains of a collapsed bed. Room 1: under a tile is a box with 1d4 x100 coins. Room 3 has a ceiling board that moves: there is a bag with 1d6 x100 coins. room 5 has a secret wall panel that has a dagger with ivory and gems.
#8: in the secret passage is a spiral stair going down about 30 ft (10 m). Secret Passage: This passage is about 1 meter wide and 1.5 m high. It is very dusty and has no tracks. There are peep holes into the rooms - they are twist lockwith built in key: turn and pull to open or push in and twist to put back.
#10: fireplace with ceramic pipes that go to heat the floors of the upper rooms on cold days.
Back garden: Pillars support the walkways on the upper floors. There are 2 spiral stairs up. The Fishpond has a slimy stale water later about 1 ft deep. The pond is 5 ft deep. The Fountain is a leaping fish. The plants of the garden are dry and dead.
Guestroom: A collapsed bed frame. a solid chair. a wardrobe. One floor plank may be found as loose with a search. Once the plank is pried up. A chest is in the space under the floor (5ft deep). The chest has a lock (poisoned needle). Inside the chest are a collection of acids, and other chemicals. If the chest is roughly handled, they break and will release a 10x10 cloud of brown poison gas.
family Dining Room: Wainscoting and a plate rail ledge with a few plates still up, as well as small statues on the corners ( Fortuna goddess of luck holding a horseshoe, and 4 leaf clover, a coin spirit, a spirit of trade, and a centiped - snake representing a road spirit. Under each is a high value coin. - platinum or such) The large fireplace has a metal hook and a metal reflector. Pushing the metal hook anchor up engages the secret door and pulling the hook into the room opens the door (pushing into fireplace closes) Pushing down on the mount locks the secret door for 3 turns. The table is scratched but valuable. Chairs are 50% broken and 50% usable. They are moderate value wood, well carved with padded seats that need recovering. The secret door to the kitchen is just a spring and magnet: push on the wall- there is heavy wear on the wainscoting where it has been pushed by a foot for decades. Domus will use Dom here.
Kitchen: Large oven with dust covered pots and pans. A pile of fire wood. Dried husks of withred apples. Knives are dull and rusty. There is a ceramic jar with a wax seal containing pickles. Some small jars -also wax sealed contain jellies and jams. The jars with spices and herbs are dry, dusty and barely retain any clue of what they once were.
The storage rooms:  the bones of a hung up side of beef lay on the floor in the room closest to the Kitchen. The stacked boxes and crates have collapsed and rotted. In the outer storage room under debris and rotted sacks and boxes the floor has a loose tile.  Under this are a stash of gold coins 1d6x10.
Slave Pens. The door is locked on the outside. It has a metal slide panel to allow looking inside.  Rusted closed.  Mechanical or crafting skill can get it working in 1-4 rounds with skill roll.  The pens all have latches with places for locks.  They contain straw mattresses. buckets. The distal end pen contains human bones - enough for 2-3 people.  1d10 low value coins may be found in a pen if  GM rolls "6" on 1d6 for search. There were slaves once. Dom just put the bodies in the last pen.
Latrines.  smelly. The holes to the city sewers are small - about 10 cm/ 6 inches. The sluice buckets are still here, one is rusted out across the bottom.
Guard post: a collapsed wooden frame with termites and a straw mattress that is just dust. The dresser collapsed with termites also. A dagger and a mace can be found in the mess.
Hypocaust: The room still has a stack of wood, floor to ceiling. 1 layer deep.  some wood scattered across the floor. The delivery door is heavy and barred twice - high and low. See #9 There is a lever and crank to reset the trap. there are latches to lock it in disabled mode. There is a spiral stair. It goes up to the terrace level or  down to the hypocaust and a cellar. The Hypocaust is a 5ft (1.5 m) metal stove with pipes leading out to heat the floors of the ground level and the hot water bath in the Baths. In the ashes in the stove are 3 gold rings and a necklace of moderate value. The stairs lead to a  cellar where roots and apples were once stored and bottles of wine are kept.  There are still 3d6 bottles - labels unreadable from moisture, rodents and insects.  "5" on 1d6 determines the bottle has turned to vinegar or "6" gone bad. Otherwise the wines will be very fine.
Baths: the inner was the hot bath and cold was the outer closer to the door. Both are empty and dry.

( continue walk thru notes)

Terrace Level:

At each corner are secret doors to the long wall passages between the guard station barracks rooms. and the front balcony. They are simple sliding door mechanisms. The passages are dusty with no tracks in the dust- aside from small rodents.
The lower left and right guard rooms have 2 bunks for 4 guard in the back rooms. Empty storage chests. The front have Tables, chairs, weapon and armor racks. (empty) . The guards left long ago and took all their stuff.
The sun terrace: There are hooks for laundry lines and canopies. There are the ruined remains of a table and stacked chairs. There is also a metal grill with brick fire box. several empty planter boxes are also around the terrace. Windows with wooden shutters look out from rooms onto the terrace.
Lower left: spiral stair to laundry room and servant quarter. Trap door to the hot water bath with bucket line. A second person downstairs could scoop up cold water from the cool bath. There are several wash buckets, a ceramic tub of bleaching salt, another of shaved soap powder. Shelves (collapsed) that used to hold sheets, towels, linens and such - now hopelessly chewed and nested in by rodents and only bits of rag. There were 2 cots and 2 personal chests- now collapsed and corroded.
Large personal room: Good wood panels on the walls. Collapsed book shelf with rotted, torn and chewed books. Heavy wooden bed frame with a secret compartment containing a stiletto dagger and a key to cellar level gate #2.
Small personal room. The front is a shambles of broken furniture and ripped up books. The back area contains a bed and in the collapsed mattress is a human skeleton. The one time Dom Koba. On the body are several keys - for the main gate, the side entry, the various rooms.  There are shattered glass bottles and cups against the walls.
Second Small personal room:  This has a sagging sofa that was once fine material but is now a nest to a set of Giant Rats. There are 6 that nest in the sofa and will attack - standard Giant Rat  per your game system.  They have a collection of  1d4x100 coin in the nest if the sofa is destroyed.   The back room door is locked. The key is on the ring on Dom Koba's bones.  The chamber contains shelves of linens and tunics, sheets and blankets for 20.  There is a chest (locked key on Dom's ring) that contains 1000 Gp ($1000 value) of treasure in coin.  10 bags of 100 each.  There are also 2 bags with just 2d6 coins.
Left Hand Master:

The Secret Basement level:

Domus will use the Puppets and powers to defend this area.
1) Torture and "experiment" room: immediately left of the stair entry is a rack. Beyond that 2 sets of manacles in the wall. There is a desk (fine wood, valuable. Craft or wood work skill to figure out how it disassembles) with locked drawers (Key is in the Terrace level lady's sitting room) containing: coins 3d6x10. Ritual dagger wrapped in felt cloth. Gold cup. wrapped in felt cloth. Vial of healing potion (bright green). vial of sleep poison/ potion ( grey-cloudy with iridescent flakes). If the drawers are pulled from the desk a hidden compartment may be found with pages containing a ritual feast: a victim is fed an enchanted formula of herbs and ingredients in a meal. The spell caster(s) then must kill the victim and eat them while performing another spell. The spell casters may then take finger bones and summon a shade of the victim with a third spell on the pages. Only the ones who cast the spell may use the bones. The shade is a weak ghost with no special attacks, dispelled on 1 pt damage, normally invisible and insubstantial. It can manifest to be seen and use items as a normal living person. It has no free will and no independent mind and will perform as directed upto 3 moderate difficulty sentences of instructions. It can speak and hear. The Kobas used them as spies and to frighten others.
There is a book shelf with a human skull (in the skull is the key to #3 door) , candles, small bags of herbs and supplies gone to dust. There is a book on enchanting with diagrams and patterns for a simple circle of protection, an enchanting circle and a group magic circle. There are several books of occultist "lore" mostly false - on summoning demons, controlling demons, on summoning the ghosts of the dead ( make a blood potion, get something that belonged to or came from the dead, stir counter clockwise 5 times while chanting the "spell", dip item in the blood potion, stir clockwise 9 times then back once while reading "spell" backwards) or placing curses on people - by hanging a rat upside down above their door, smearing a herb mix on them, burning a bat in a fire of special woods with herbs while making a chant. Anyone with a magic skill will be able to tell it is. all fake.
The cages : one contains animal bones..dog. One has elf remains (hired to hunt wolves eating sheep, but it wasn't wolves - a bigger monster and elf failed and was poisoned and imprisoned on reporting to old man Koba 100 yrs ago. The elf had also failed on 1 other job.)
Garbage pit: this 1 ft wide hole drops 100 ft. Garbage, bones, broken glass and ceramics and 1 moderate value necklace are down the hole.
2) This is an Iron gate: It is locked. The key is on the terrace level - large room opposite the Lady's sitting room. The floor is rigged with several pressure plate stones that cause spears to thrust out from the walls - the crank to pull them back and set the springs, is in the 3rd cubicle most distant from the gate. The first cubicle contains a chest with old moth eaten clothes. The second has a chest full of black candles, 2 curved bladed daggers, bowls and pouches of herbs turned to dust. There is also a bag with 4d6x 10 of coin.
3) The entry arch is closed by a locked door. The key is in the skull at #1. Attempts to pick the lock cause release of crystals that vaporize and cause 1d6 turns of sleep if inhaled. The gas dissipates over 10 mins. Save to resist avoid inhaling. The cubicles contain chests: the first with a coffer of 12 old finger bones. all wrapped in fine linen. 10 middle value gems (80 gp in D&D), a ring of similar value. The second with a smaller coffer with a lock. The Coffer is actually a puzzle box - roll vs INT challenge to figure it out. Inside are 900 cp, 400 Cp, 290 gp or comparable treasure.
4) The entry is a gate. it is locked. In #4 can be seen a chain and a large empty dog collar with spikes. If the gate is unlocked or lock picked -it activates a summon of a demon dog guardian. The gate and the collar are magically enchanted. The gate can also be lifted and forced up into the ceiling - this doesn't activate the summoning. Demon dog. is rank 4, attacks at lvl 5, bites twice for 1d12. It is dispelled until re-summoned if slain by nonmagical weapons or attacks. The first cubicle contains a chest with a large black scale leather bound book: it is a spell of summoning an eldritch demon ( no binding, banishings, control or limits- it just calls up the demon free and clear). The second contains a collection of bags: 1500 cp, 550 sp and 490 gp (or comparable). There are also 3 tokens with letters stating moderate (about $1000, or 1000 gp each) amounts on deposit with money lenders or banks (depending on your game) along with number codes for the 3. There is also a bag of gems worth another 500.
5) The door is locked. It only opens on the magical command of "Money, money money." (this might be revealed with "object reading") attempts to pick, or break the door release a gush of poison rank 4. The poison spreads on contact dropping 1 rank - so anyone attempting aid will be affected.Poison save or resist per your system.
This room contains the Pentagram inscribed for magical rituals. It is the Locus (rank 2) on which the house spirit Domus is centered. The room has a very slight tilt to the drain. (upper right). Lower left is a sluice chute, which is now dry. It6 was once used to rinse/ wash the floor. By the sluice is a broom of high quality. Chests are in the other two corners: Upper left contains Candles, 4 sheets of elf-skin translucent parchment, 4 knives including a skinning knife. A set of 6 plates, 6 clay cups, a small charcoal grill, a bag of charcoal, flint and steel, sawdust bag, a rug worth 100 coin. Lower right: 2 coffers of good quality on top of several sq meters of fine cloth and some furs. Under these are about 25 finger bones. The first coffer has silver highlights. It contains 80 small gems of 10 coin value each. There is a bag containing a dozen rings- each worth about 100 Gp in standard D&D, $100 or similar value. Another bag cotains 858 gp / coin. The second coffer is fine wood with copper hinges and corners. It contains 6 light healing potions, 1 potion of speed/ haste. 106 yr old Property deeds on 3 farms outside the city - all now lapsed for failure to pay taxes and taken by tenant farmers as their own for the past 20 years.
In the astral or other planes the house spirit can be found. It may be summoned or bound here. It may be destroyed with normal attacks but will retreat to a pocket dimension and re-emerge in the astral or ethereal plane/ shadow in 24 hrs. Magic can destroy the spirit. The spirit is equal to lvl 10, INT 5 dice/ ranks. POWER 10 Force 8. 50 essence points- each puppet or power costs 1. Each hr at the locus allows the spirit to recharge 2 points. It also gains 1 pt for each rank of any other spirits it consumes or fear failure rolls for another 1 point. The house spirit Domus confuses itself with Dom and will appear as the heavy fat old man but with a spider like face where the eyes are windows and the teeth are metal portcullis bars.