19th July - Surprises Everywhere!
General Summary
Reeling from combat that had been quite draining for him, Lars searches the nursery where the spectre was encountered. Lars finds a crib inside, covered with a hanging black shroud, which reveals a tightly wrapped, baby-sized bundle lying in the crib when the shroud is parted.
They notice that the bundle is not moving, not making a sound, and fearing for her new-found friend, Aeli whisks Lars out of the room. Vidar enters, and they decide that the baby must be dead, so to be respectful on their way out, they will take the body and lay it to rest.
Lars feels a breeze against his neck coming from behind the wall he is leaning against. Getting out his torch, he searches the wall and discovers a secret door to a set of stairs that lead up to the attic.
The locked door is no match for Sorrow, who expertly picks the lock to allow the party to enter a bare hall choked with dust and cobwebs.
Upstairs, the adventurers find a dusty chamber packed with old furniture (chairs, coat racks, standing mirrors, dress mannequins, and the like), all draped in dusty white sheets. They spot an unlocked wooden trunk near an iron stove, with skeletal remains wrapped in a tattered bedsheet stained with dry blood partially hanging out. The party, eager to understand what may have caused the skeleton's death, investigates and determines that the woman was stabbed to death by multiple knife wounds.
The next room they investigate is a web-filled room, containing a slender bed, a nightstand, an empty wardrobe, and a peculiar rocking chair that doesn't stop rocking. Even Marcus is not able to determine how/why the chair is rocking.
The group works their way to a door, locked from the outside by a padlock. Vidar is able to open the lock, which proved a little more difficult for Sorrow. The party discovers a room containing a bricked-up window flanked by two dusty, and two wood-framed beds sized for children behind the locked door. Closer to the door is a toy chest with windmills painted on its sides and a dollhouse that’s a perfect replica of the dreary edifice in which the party is standing. Lying in the middle of the floor are two small skeletons wearing tattered but familiar clothing, the smaller of the two cradling a recognisable stuffed doll.
The party leaves the childroom's room undisturbed, and Vidar investigates a dust-choked room with a slender bed, a nightstand, a small iron stove, and a writing desk with a stool. Vidar finds a smiling doll in a lacy yellow dress sitting on the window sill, cobwebs draping it like a wedding veil.
Sorrow and Marcus, hearing sounds behind the door to the childrens room, rush over to keep it locked so that any danger from within can't get to them.
This proves futile as a ghost moves through the door, and the party, to join Vidar in the room and look upon the doll with fondness. The ghosts shows the first signs that of noticing the party and runs back inside her room.
Vidar takes the dolls back to the childrens room, laying it with the skeletons causes two ghosts appear that look like Rose and Thorn Durst.
The ghosts, aware of their deaths, warn the group about the monster downstairs in the basement. To help put them at ease and bring them comfort, Vidar agrees to retrieve their brother's body from his crib downstairs and bring it to Rose.
Thorn wants to play, and becomes obsessed with trying to get Lars to stay and have fun with him.
Lars is able to distract the ghost of young Thorn, and the exits the room, not before noticing that the doll house showed a potential secret door in the storage room. The party head into the room to start their search.
Vidar returns with the bundle from the crib and is surprised to learn that there is no body inside, just tighly bound blankets. This upsets Rose, who believes that the group are friends of their paernts and only there to torture them.
The situation escalates and a fight breaks out. Sorrow, looking for Vidar, makes her way to the room to see the ghost's hostilities and comes to aid of Vidar. Rose reaches out her hand and grabs Vidar then vanishes. Thorn, as retaliation for the attack from Sorrow, reaches out to her and as he grabs her vanishes also.
Unsure of what has happened, Lars, Marcus and Aeli, enquire with their friends if they are ok. Vidar and Sorrow, who moments ago had no control over their faculties, regain their composure - but are they the same as they were when they entered the house?
Sorrow, showing a new fear of dangers lurking around every corner, is finally convinced to continue on their expedition. The adventurers head back to the storage room and easily find the secret stairs down to the basement using what they saw from the doll house.
Vidar, taking charge, leads the group down the eerie stairs and from the moment they arrive, they can hear an eerie, incessant chant echoing throughout. It’s impossible to gauge where the sound is coming from so the adventures proceed cautiously. They find several crypts that have been hewn from the earth, but decide it's not best to distrub whatever is inside.
They find a room with a wooden table and four chairs, and four alcoves containing moldy straw pallets. Stairs leading further into the basedment are ignored and the party backtrack to where they first started.
They enter a dining room with a plain wooden table flanked by long benches and a arkened alcove in the middle of the south wall. The sight moldy humanoid bones lie strewn on the dirt floor causes concern and trepidation.
Lars spots some morving shadows but is not able to convince Vidar to inspect the alcove. Aeli shows her bravery and heads over to be startled by a Grick that emerges and attacks.
The party defeats the Grick and makes the decision to head upstairs and bunker down for a rest. They make their way back to the dining room and barricade it to protect them from the dangers within the Death House!
Report Date
19 Jul 2024
Related Characters
Comments