House of Horrors

TW: Child Death

The cabin sits at the base of the Pianes Mountains just north of the Pianes Climb. It's abandoned, but going inside reveals that it hasn't been like this for long, and that something horrific happened here.

Chairs sit on their sides, and the kitchen table lies broken in two with a bloodied body sitting in its remains. Dishes lay broken on the floor with clothes and other household items scattered across the main room. A journal sits in the middle of the floor, open with blood splattered across the pages. Reading reveals the start of a story with a horrifying end.

Acquisition:

The party, while traveling through the Pianes Climb, passes a cabin with its door wide open and barely hanging from one hinge. If they choose to investigate, they'll find the journal that details what may have happened that led to the tragedy.

The Journal:

Entry 1:

We moved out here for a better life. For years, I've thought of coming out this way to work in the now-abandoned mines that, hopefully, still hold useful resources. It's just me and my son who can work the equipment and search for coal. My daughter is still too young, and my wife...her lungs wouldn't be able to handle the dust. She's always had problems drawing breath.

Entry 2:

My daughter said she hears scratching coming from outside, something moving through the brush, and tapping at the windows. I told her it was just the wind blowing through the trees and insects looking for the light. She seemed so scared that my wife and I have allowed her to sleep with us to ease her worried little mind. She sleeps soundly through the night with us, not waking us with interruptions. I haven't told them that I hear it too.

Entry 3:

Something is following my son and me to the mines. I can feel the eyes on us as we walk there, and I have kept quiet so as not to disturb my son. He worries enough about our presence here. I feel for the lad; this endeavor has taken him away from his friends in Carthin, but it's for the best. I can give them a better life here, a more fruitful one. And it's better than working in that sweatshop of a weaver's house.

Entry 8:

Little Gebra is missing. My baby girl...we've searched everywhere for her and only found torn fabric from her dress. It was covered in blood. I'm worried a mountain lion has taken her from me. We've found no other signs of a struggle, and my wife heard no screams of terror as whatever attacked ran off with her. Oh gods, oh gods, she may be gone forever. Curse this place! I should never have brought them here.

Entry 13:

It's been three weeks and we've given up the search. My son and I have looked for her daily but can find nothing. The sounds on the windows and in the woods at night are getting more persistent. I'm worried that whatever is out there that took Gebra is stalking us now. I don't know what it is—an animal or worse—but it is hunting us.

Entry 15:

My son swore he saw something moving in the woods one evening. Short and standing on two legs. It must be what took Gebra. It must! It can't be anything else...but what that figure is, none of us has any idea.

Entry 17:

This has taken its toll on my wife. Her breathing is becoming more labored, a rattle in each exhale that taxes her so. I can't lose her too, I can't. Please, goddess Leta, don't take my wife from me, too.

Entry 18:

Lyra died in the night. I woke to her cold and still beside me this morning...I feel so lost. Martren and I buried her. We were silent. I saw no tears on his face, but I could see them welling in his eyes. They were ringed with red and full, and his face looked pale as a sheet. He's lost his mother and sister in the span of a month. I would not fault him for blaming me for this tragedy. It is my fault. I brought them out here. We should never have left.

Entry 20:

I've finally seen the shadows. They creep almost silently just out of sight in the trees, stalking us. There's more than one. My son and I have started packing. It's not safe to remain here. We'll come back for Lyra's body, but for now, I need to get Martren to safety. We—

The writing stops abruptly here; the writer was interrupted.

Searching the Home:

Searching the home reveals a young man's body in one of the bedrooms, a spear through his chest. His body is beaten bloody, one arm resting on the ground and unnaturally positioned—broken. The body on the table belonged to the father, and the one in the bedroom belonged to the son. The door to the bedroom was half blocked by furniture from him trying to keep the attackers out.

A noise is heard outside, and leaving the home leads to being surrounded by a swarm of Odafil. They have their spears pointed at the party and waste little time in attacking.

Resolution:

• There should be at least five to six Odafil in the clearing around the party. This encounter is made for a mid-level party.

• Their home isn't too far away from the old mines, maybe a mile, if the party wants to eradicate all of them, and there should be another three to six there, including their chief.

Rewards:

• If the party wants, they can raid the home to see if there are valuables. They'll find a jewelry box with a simple necklace. On the unnamed husband is a thin chain with a wedding ring, belonging to Lyra. He took it from her finger before he buried her.

• These are the only valuable things in the home besides maybe food in a cabinet and a pile of coal in a cart behind the house that's covered with a tarp.

Genre:

• Horror

• Thriller

Triggers:

• Murder

• Child Death

• Blood

Type

Journal, Personal