2/9/21 - Session 2 "Haunted House"

The party finds themselves in an unfamiliar land. The fog seems to be making everything look grey and dreary. They decide to go check out the gates they just walked through. They fin no footprints, no mechanisms and they find the gates locked. Unable to open them they proceed forward looking for civilization. In their travels the sounds of crows and wolves creep just outside the trees. The forest is dense, almost unnaturally dense, it would be almost impossible to traverse through. A half hour of of road following later, Grinfiddeus Nobbles gets the scent of death. They find a body wearing leather armor that's been slash and ripped by wolves. Clutched in the persons hand is a letter (see Handout: Kolyan Indirovich’s Letter on Roll20) The person may have been a courier and this letter has bears the seal of a B. The party looks over the scene, the prints belong to wolves, they are larger than normal and they decide to see where the person came from. A half hour later they see a town, smoke is bellowing from some chimneys, as the reach the town they see two small children. A girl around the age of 10 is attempting to soothe a boy around age 7. She comforts him as they approach. The party inquires about what is happening. "My parents sent us outside so they could deal with a monster inside the house." The party is ready to assist and agree to go inside to assist the children's parents.
The home looks to be in rough shape from the outside. It's not much different from the other houses near it. Inside the upkeep is spectacular. Ornate wood paneling lines the walls with decorative scenes carved into it. The rooms are spotless cleaned. While investigating the main hall the front door slams closed. Grinfiddeus Nobbles checks outside to see who may have done it. He finds no signs of anyone, not even the children. Adrid along with Balasar Norixius begin the process of clearing the house. Checking every room, the first floor if full of hunting trophies. They adore the walls and taxidermied  wolves are in a front room. Grinfiddeus notices that the carvings and painting ain't what they appear. As you get close the paintings reveal more sinister scenes.
Upwards to the second floor they find more adornments of the family that lives here. A painting hangs above a fireplace. It depicts a father, mother and two children. The father holds a swattled baby in his arms. The mother seems to be looking scornfully at the baby. They continue clearing rooms and find a dog. He is rail thin and looks in poor shape. Adrid offers some of his rations to him and the dog eats and appears to be trustworthy of the party. The dog wears a worn leather collar with the name Lancelot inscribed on it. The dog isn't strong enough to fight but manages to follow the party around the house as they continue to search for the parents or the monster. In the study Grinfiddeus finds a secret room. It's stuffed with ritualistic tomes. There is some loot to be had but inside is a chest with a skeleton hanging out. The skeleton is someone who opened the chest and fell victim to a trap. Lilithus is wary to open it but Grinfiddeus assures her it is safe. More loot is inside as well as a deed to the house, a deed to a windmill and a will naming the children the benefactors of the properties if their parents should die. The skeleton held in its hands a letter (see Letter from house handout on Roll20). The letter discussed someone calling themselves a dread lord discrediting their rituals. The writer casts doubt on why they are doing the rituals. It is signed "Your dread lord and master, Strahd van Zarovich"
The party moves up another floor. This time as the reach the landing a suit of armor beings pushing Balasar towards the railing. A battle breaks out. Luckily only minor damage was done as the party defeats their foe. The scenery on this floor is one of a dustier and drearier scene. Things are not as well kept as the first two floors. The party discovers the room of the nursemaid, Margaret is there. She appears as a ghost and is happy in nature. She asks the party why they are here. The party responds by asking if she is a ghost. Ghosts don't like being asked if they are ghosts so she is confused about what they mean. Eventually Margaret worries about the children. She goes to check on the baby and passes through into a nursery. While inside Om Wolfash explains the details of why the party is in the home. The nursemaid is saddened to hear that the parents are battling a monster. Om tells them that the children sent them inside to help. Margaret is confused, the man and woman of the house  never send them outside, also it's a bit dark for them to be out. Suddenly she has the urge to check on them and disappears into the wall.
The wall leads to a secret passage upstairs into the attic. The attic is chock full of dust and cobwebs, its drafty and cold. The party sees several doors one that is secured with a padlock. Adrid uses the key they found in the study to unlock the door. Inside they find two beds, some toys and other belongings of two small children. They party is slowly realizing what it going on. They begin to search the room as the party is stopped by the voice of a small child. "Don't touch my toys!" a small boys voice calls out. appearing under the bed are the two children who were out front. This time they appear a little more deceased than the last time the party saw them. even though they are the same children, they don't seem to remember being outside. The party directs their attention to the skeletons on the floor. This scares the children and is thought to be a terrible idea by no one. The party reassures the children that they are there to help them and their family. The children explain how they came to be locked in the room. "When the monster shows up we are told to stay here. Normally after a while Margaret comes to check on us. This time no one came. We got hungry and called for someone. No one came still, we stayed for a long time. Then we weren't hungry and more and it got cold. So we sat down and then we got sleepy." The party vows to help the children and save their family if they are still alive.