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Pathfinder Journal 12/16/07 Players: Wren the Vaguely Disreputable (Female Human Beguiler 5) – Matthew C “Brother” Connor Mhenlo (Male Human Cleric of Desna 5) – Bill N Druzin (Male Human Factotum 5) – Brett P Ripley Bluefly (Female Gnome Jester 5) – Jenny S Brash Bonecrusher (Male Half-Orc Barbarian 3/Ranger 2) – Sarita T Synopsis: The 13th of Neth, 4706 – Foxglove Manor. Known as “The Misgivings” by the locals of Sandpoint, the massive and bleak building has been dormant and abandoned for years until Aldern Foxglove, great-great-grand nephew of the mansion’s builder Vorel Foxglove, took it upon himself to repair his former home and dispel any rumors of ghosts and hauntings. That work stopped nearly a month ago due to “financial short-comings” on the part of Aldern. The young noble was last seen riding out of Sandpoint (with the young Wren’s interest) towards Magnimar for business. However, after defeating an entire farmstead of ghouls, the party members find themselves in possession of the large iron key to the front door of Foxglove Manor. Heading back to Sandpoint to rest, prepare, and take care of the two survivors from the Hambley farm, they have a decent idea of where to search next. After some thought and deliberation, they soon realize that all the ritualized murder victims are generally covetous and greedy folk. With information gathering done by Ripley, they scout out and alert some potential targets. Sadly though, the next morning (Neth 14th) brings news of yet another murder; the butcher, Chod Bevuk. Luckily though, the corpse has just enough of its jaw intact to perform speak with dead, which Connor does. The poor butcher relates how he was attacked by a creature that “looked like he always wanted to” wielding a gleaming war razor. It had his face, but was lean and dressed in fine noble’s clothes. This macabre mirror image told Chod that it was his greed that placed him in this unwanted position. Another note to “Wren, T.V.D.” (The Vaguely Disreputable) was found at the scene exclaiming “You’ve destroyed my minions, but no matter. Come to my Misgivings! Join my Pack and the killings shall end for your favor!” Their heading clear, they set off along Lost Coast Road and headed towards the manor within the hour. The brisk, near-winter air turns a noticeable degree colder as the party approaches the manor house. All around the area surrounding the path plants and undergrowth are gnarled and twisted, while the sky and surrounding landscape seem to have their color leached from them and are duller and grayer than one would expect. Making their way up the hard-packed dirt road, they find the burnt remnants of what was more than likely the servants’ quarters with a small well in the far corner. A few bedraggled black birds sit upon the well’s rim, eyeing the party impassively. Brash picks up a stone and hurls it at the avians, striking one of them. They all fly off, squawking and landing on the sagging and broken roof. Ripley acquires a “poking stick”, the party investigates the well, finds nothing, and moves on to the house proper. After knocking and receiving no response, they unlock the massive darkwood and iron door and move into the massive entrance hall, the sounds and smells of a decaying house the only things that greet them. Various trophies of boars, lions, and bears adorn the walls while a gigantic stuffed manticore dominates the hall, its poorly maintained hide showing holes and leaking small piles of sawdust. Brash thinks he hears the sound of a woman sobbing for a split second, but since no one else can corroborate, he dismisses it. Ripley puts her poking stick to good use and jabs a few more holes in the dilapidated taxidermy. As Brash moves towards the manticore it suddenly rears back, its face changing from a distorted male’s to a shrieking woman’s and then brings its stinger, ablaze with flame, down into the half-orc’s shoulder. Acting quickly, Brash looses Shackle Breaker and lashes out against the beast, striking true. The rest of the party stares on in wonderment as they watch Brash attack the stuffed, inanimate trophy. Regaining his senses, Brash realizes that the manticore is no longer moving, aside from the sawdust pouring out of the newest hole his chain tore open. Brash tells his companions what he saw and Connor begins examining Brash’s shoulder, which is indeed burned. Something is amiss in the Foxglove Manor, and it’s affecting the party. Moving on, albeit slightly more carefully, the party finds a desiccated monkey head with a bellpull hanging from its mouth and a spiraling stain of mold on the floor between the entry hall and the dining room that looks like a staircase to Connor and Wren. As Connor and Wren examine the moldy stain, Ripley heedlessly yanks down on rope and an ear-splitting screech emanates from the monkey head. After reprimanding the gnomish jester, Connor and Druzin search the doors to the north and south and find two set of stars, on heading up and the other heading down. Deciding that it may be better to clear out the first floor then move on, the party investigates the dining room then the other doors within sight. The dining room, aside from some interesting stain glass windows, turns up nothing of non-natural interest. Connor, Druzin, and Ripley head into the lounge, at first finding nothing but a fungus covered couch and a crumbling fireplace. However, they watch in the windless room as small eddies of dust whirl briefly to life in front of the fireplace, manifesting a footprint for just the barest of seconds. Druzin steps in the path of the phantom footprint and a thought suddenly flashes into his head; “She” must get “her” daughter Lorey out of the house as quickly as possible. Going to grab for the smallest person in the room, Druzin realizes that Ripley isn’t his daughter and that he is in fact Druzin. Wren pokes her head into the next door in the hallway, finding a simple washroom. A slight scratching noise comes from inside the tub. Investigating, Wren sees a foot and a half long rat covered in weeping sores and oozing pustules. As it raises its head and “SCREEEEEEES!” at Wren, she sees that scabrous tumors have grown over its eyes. Without even thinking she casts whelm at the diseased beast, at first knocking it unconscious, then obliterating it with a sickening pop as it bursts from the concussive waves. Brash and Wren then look into the drawing room next to the washroom. Despite the cozy look of the room, it’s marred by an unusual dampness and thick sheet of mold that cling to the lone window. Pushing the curtains aside, Wren sees a beautiful Varisian woman’s reflection in the window, one that’s not her own. Brash too sees the reflection, and watches as it fades from view in moments. Forcing the window, the two of them search the ground outside the window for the possibility of footprints but find nothing. Continuing on, the entire party (brought back together by the sound of spellcasting) heads into the dancing parlor. The once stately parlor has fallen into heavy disrepair; the floorboards are warped, the oak paneling is peeling from exposure to moisture, and a once-magnificent crystal chandelier lies smashed on the floor. A grand piano, covered with spot of splotchy mold, sits in the corner. To much a temptation, Ripley taps out a tune on the keys. As soon as the first key is struck, Connor is suddenly whisked into dance with a beautiful Varisian woman. However, as the dance continues, her beauty rapidly decays away into the hideous face of a corpse. Angry black-and-blue bruises appear on her neck, her eyes bulge and water, and her mouth opens in pain while her tongue lolls as if be strangled. As quickly as it started, the dance ends with an ear-piercing shriek that all can hear. Connor is left weakened by the dance, and the unholy scream did damage to everyone’s sensibility. The party then heads into the library, where they find obvious signs of a struggle: a splash of dried blood on the back of one of the chairs; a stone bookend, carved to look like a praying angel with butterfly wings, is found with one of its wings missing and is spattered with bits of blood, hair, and gore; and a woman’s elegant red and gold scarf. Ripley picks the scarf up and claims it as her own. Upon entering Connor catches sight of the scarf moving of its own accord. Suddenly he sees the scarf fly towards him and wrap around his throat. In his eyes, Connor sees the scarf shift and become the ghostly image of Aldern Foxglove, arms outstretched and strangling him. Shaking off the sight and calling upon the power of Desna, he tries to turn the spirit attacking him but to no avail; the manifestation is too much for him. Feeling his life slipping from him, Connor suddenly feels lost and no longer himself. He knows himself to be Iesha Foxglove, Aldern’s wife. However, the cleric of Desna manages to shrug off the ghostly attack, although he is significantly winded by the ordeal. Having fully explored the ground floor, the party heads upstairs. Exploring the room to the south, the party finds the bedroom of a young boy- Aldern Foxglove. Wren suddenly hears a child sobbing, followed by the vision of “her” mother, wielding a torch, and father, festering with tumors and wielding a silver-handled long knife, both trying to kill the other. The vision passes quickly, and Wren shakes it off as just that. A quick and uneventful check of the eastern musician’s gallery finds some dented instruments and stain glass windows depicting necromantic spell components. Moving to the western-most doors, Ripley, Druzin, and Connor enter into a portrait gallery while Wren and Brash stay outside and guard. The paintings are all covered by thick sheets of dusty cobwebs that obscure them from view and Ripley takes to the task of cleaning off the paintings. She soon uncovers the various Foxgloves who’ve lived in the house. The three to the north depict Vorel and Kasanda Foxglove and their daughter Lorey, while the five to the south illustrate Traver and Cyralie Foxglove, their son Aldern (who is about six in the painting), and their two daughters Sendeli and Zeeva. As Ripley brushes the last of cobwebs from the paintings, the rooms grow noticeably colder and the paintings begin to shift into portraits of death. Kasanda and Lorey slump over into misshapen tumor-ridden corpses. Traver grows pale as a long cut opens his throat and blood washes down his chest. Cyralie blackens and chars, and her arms, legs, and back twist as if broken in dozens of places. Aldern’s flesh darkens with rot, his hair falls out, and he deforms into a ghoul-like monster. Both Sendeli and Zeeva’s portraits frost over but otherwise remain unchanged. Vorel’s entire portrait, frame and all, bulge outward and erupts into a sudden explosion of fungus and tumorous growth. The wave of fungus and disease washes over those in the room, but luckily they shake off the phantom disease and the room reverts to normal. Calling Brash and Wren inside, they open the door to the main bedroom. Aside from a dark stain on the writing desk near the window, the room seems relatively free of water or mold damage. Ripley, the last to enter, feels an odd sensation at the back of her mind. She looks down, and in her hand is a silver-handled long knife. Suddenly, the gnomish jester is overwhelmed by the realization that “she” has just killed the one person she cares about the most. Mad with despair, she grips the handle of the knife and raises it to her throat… and then realizes that, in all honesty, she rather enjoys being alive. Looking down, the silver-handled long knife is gone, her “poking stick” in her hand instead. Shaking her head, she helps search the rooms and finds nothing else of interest. Heading back to the main hallway, they begin exploring the four northern doors. One leads to an upstairs washroom with an iron tub sitting in the middle of the floor. A quick check by Wren found that the floorboards are nowhere near structurally sound, and since none of the adventurers want to take the quick way to the basement, they leave the room alone. They then move on to the remains of the guest bedroom where Druzin hears a young girl’s voice ask “What’s on your face, Mommy?” Druzin then feels his skin crawl as if beset by an unnatural rash. His companions watch in stunned horror as he begins tearing the flesh of his face off with his bare hands and nails. The feeling lasts for a few scant seconds, but the damage is done and Druzin must endure the hideous flap of his cheek until the party can leave and properly heal him. The next room is a once-fine bedchamber that has been torn to pieces. The furniture is overturned and the walls and paintings have been hacked at by what looks to be a knife. Only one painting has escaped the rampage and it hangs backwards with its face to the wall. Ripley, apparently interested in paintings, flips it over and the party sees a beautiful raven-haired Varisian woman, one whose reflection Brash and Wren have seen before; Iesha Foxglove. Wren suddenly becomes dizzy, hearing a shrill woman’s voice ask “What do you get up to down in the damp below?” Immediately she feels a misogynistic hatred well up inside her, but that feeling is dashed when the Varisian beguiler remembers that she is a woman, and she certainly doesn’t hate herself. Leaving the bedroom, the final door leads upstairs to the attic area. Upon reaching the upper-most tier of the house, they party finds many of the rooms have been recently worked on and hold carpentry supplies, home repair items, and pieces of old furniture, lending credence to the stories of Aldern’s work to renovate the manor. Inside a small room with a sloped ceiling, the party finds clothing belonging to Rogors Craesby, the live-in house-keeper. Clothing that matches the attire of the dread ghoul who had the iron key to the manor around his neck at the Hambley Farm. As they exit the cramped room, they hear an unmistakably feminine scream of pain (in a voice that Brash recognizes from the Entry Hall) echo throughout the attic coming from the north. Moving to the next door, the party finds the broken remnants of an observatory. As his party-mates explore the room, Brash suddenly catches the whiff of burning flesh. Reacting instinctively, he backs out of the room and the smell fades. Canvas covers a broken stain glass window. Wren and Ripley examine the scene and find a short drop to the slanted roof below where a wickedly pointed weathervane sits pointed at the window. Below that, the sound of crashing waves waft up from 300 feet below. Brash breathes a sigh of relief; whatever the ghostly malevolence was going to do, he’s glad it didn’t include a trip outside the window. With only two doors left, the party chooses the western room and enters. Inside is the disheveled and cluttered remains of a private study. A quick search turns up another well done painting and some arcane scrolls. Ripley hears the sound of pages rippling in the wind and is unexpectedly caught up in memories that are not hers. However, as she relives scenes of ports of call and exotic travels, something tells her that what she is seeing isn’t what has been, but what could’ve been. With that realization, a great weight of depression hits Ripley for a split second until she once again remember that her life is great (with the exception of being stuck in a haunted house) and the feeling of depression is gone as quickly as it began. Finally, the party closes on the final attic door. It’s locked, but the unmistakable sound of a woman sobbing can be heard from behind it. Wren pops out her lockpicks and has the door opened within a minute. The room is cold and damp; a few crates sit near the wall. In the far corner, a full-size mirror leaves against a brick chimney, angled towards the tiny window. Connor carefully moves the mirror aside and all but Ripley (who is still in the hallway outside the room) see the source of the sobbing; once a creature of beauty, Iesha Foxglove sits crying dry tears at the sight of her desiccated reflection. Iesha Foxglove has become a revenant, the undead remains of a murder victim whose sole purpose is to destroy their killer. As Connor moves the mirror, the undead’s eye snap from baleful sorrow to unabashed rage. Jumping to her feet, she shouts “Aldern! I can smell your fear! I’ll be in your arms soon!” and runs out of the room, acting before any member of the party can. Upon reaching Ripley, Iesha stops at the sight of her scarf and snatches it off the gnome’s person before continuing to run. The party follows suit, but even with Wren casting an expeditious retreat, they can’t keep up with her and loose her once the hit the basement. Wren, being the first to reach the basement, decides to wait for her companions instead of trying to follow the revenant. However, their delay has left the trailing of Iesha cold. As the other party members finally reach the basement, the sound of chittering fills their ears. Waves of oily and diseased rats swarm out of a massive crack at the base of the wall. Luckily, the party had time to prepare and easily defeats the masses of blind and tumor-laden vermin. A lucky eye on the part of Druzin catches that the southern door is ajar and the party is hot on Iesha’s heals again. Rounding the corner of the hallway, the party finds a massive and locked iron door… smashed off its hinges and lying on the ground. Apparently, Iesha’s undead form has given her unnatural strength as well. Entering what was once some sort of workshop, Wren feels a sudden compulsion to read the notes and books scattered about the room. As soon as she touches one of the books, memories not her own shown in a theater of stained glass flood her mind. She begins experiencing Vorel Foxglove's research and journey into lichdom, culminating in Vorel doubling over in agony as his body begins to rot away. A sudden shame and rage at Vorel's transformation fills Wren and the sudden urge to race through the house and rescue her “children” briefly overtakes her, but she shakes it off as she did to the many other strange events that have happened in the mansion thus far. Following the path of open doors, the party finds a pile of broken stones, dirt, and a few ruined pickaxes lining the edges of the next room. In the middle gapes a set of ancient, spiraling stairs. Connor and Wren realize that the moldy stain on the ground floor actually resembles this staircase. As they descend, Wren smells the sickenly sweet smell of decaying flesh. Her vision clouds for a moment, and she suddenly sees Aldern, sweaty, filthy, and wild-eyed, digging away at the stone floor with a pickaxe. Each swing brings and grunting “For you.” Wren knows he is speaking to her and only her. The vision ends as Aldern breaks through the stone floor and a pack of ghouls grab and pull him into the darkness, setting their burning eyes on her. She tries to scream as the ghouls start for her, but it's too late. The party watches as Wren's body jerks as if being savagely attacked, bloody claw marks appearing on her face, arms, and torso, the stink of death accompanying them. Shaken and wounded, Connor does what can to heal Wren, and the party continues downward. Upon reaching the catacombs underneath the manor, only then do they realize just how many undead monstrosities there are in the area. After fighting a dread ghoul dire bat, seven standard ghouls, and four slightly comical goblin ghouls (many of the standard ghouls and all of the “ghoul-blins” are vaporized by the undead turning of Connor and, surprisingly, Druzin) the party members find themselves facing one final closed door. Opening it, they find a macabre noble's chamber. A once beautiful oak table sits on broken legs in the middle of the room, its damp surface covered with bits of what appears to be nothing more than garbage, until Wren realizes that all the items, the used napkins, a half-used makeup stick, strands of hair, a potion stopper, and a missing silver comb, are all things she has used. The only items that don't belong to her are a stack charcoal drawings of her in various states of recline done on damp parchment. On the far wall is a horrific growth of dark green fungi. At the center a patch of tumescent and black fungus grows, its horny ridges and tumor-like bulbs forming what could possibly be construed as a humanoid-like outline. Just below the patch of mold and growth is a shattered golden box with runes inscribed upon its sides. A painting on a rickety easel sit on front of a high-backed leather chair that has seen far better days, its armrests slick with gore and blood. He painting itself jitters and jostles as the being seated hurriedly works on it, muttering to himself about the proper proportions of a face and color of hair are, occasionally pulling a bit of viscera from the armrest and smearing it across whatever was on the canvas before. Lying on the floor behind the easel is the prone form that once was Iesha Foxglove, her body covered in wicked slashes and claw marks, the final blow looking to be her torn out throat. A ghoul dressed in the ruined garb of a butler stands beside the chair holding a silver salver of diced bits of flesh and a crystal decanter full of coagulating blood. He looks at the party indifferently and says “We have guests, my Lordship.” Rising with a half-worried, half-excited look on his face, is none other than Aldern Foxglove. Dressed in regal fineries stained with mud, blood, and gore, Aldern's handsome good looks have been replaced with a rictus of undeath, his eyes glow with an unholy green light, and his hands end in wicked claws. “Fr... Friends!”, starts Aldern, “You've all come. But it is far too soon as I... I...” His voice trails off as his glowing eyes fall upon Wren, who immediately asks what happened to him. Staggering to his feet, he replies in a halting voice “You! You've come to me! I knew my letters would sway your heart, my love! Let us consummate our... our... HUNGER!”, and with that, Aldern's green eyes suddenly burn red. He lunges towards Wren with hungry claws and teeth, taking a bite out of her and leaving one of his disgusting teeth lodged in her shoulder. A quick crack to the head by Connor's morningstar turns the ravenous monster into a mewling fop who drops to his knees and begs forgiveness of his former friends. The ghoul butler follows suit, pleading for mercy. Recognizing an opportunity when she sees one, Wren begins grilling Aldern for information. Aldern explains all he can as quickly as he can, for “the Hurter” may return at any moment. He explains how he contracted a fever while catching rats below the manor, how he's been feeling his great-great uncle Vorel's presence ever since the transformation, and how he's been doing the bidding of someone in the “Brother... Brotherhood of the Sev...”. Before he can finish, he stands and bows, tumbling back and away from his former friends as he produces a gleaming war razor with a flourish. He grins and says, “I wonder how your deaths shall affect your friends. What things might you have done that will go unfinished? What will these broken promises spawn? How will your murders shape the world?” Wren calls out to Aldern in a halting and worried voice, to which the creature responds, “No. Now you face the Skinsaw Man, and you shall be the next my blade tastes!”. Connor recognizes “Skinsaw” as a name used by Norgorber, the god of secrets, poison, greed, and murder. He dons a leathery looking mask and suddenly takes on the form of Wren. Combat breaks out and Brash and Druzin score some solid hits on Aldern/The Skinsaw Man. However, Druzin catches sight of the mold on the wall beside him. Maybe it's a trick of the light, but the patch of mold suddenly resembles his shadow and the only way to regain it is to consume the splotchy fungus on the wall. Luckily, Druzin pushes such thought out of his mind and focuses on the matter at hand once again. After some more strong hits from Brash, Druzin, and Connor, and some spellcasting from Wren and Ripley, Aldern begins climbing the wall out of even Brash's reach and downs a potion of a foul black liquid that reknits his undead form to a degree. Ripley sees an opportunity and casts grease on the ceiling where Aldern was perched, dumping him unceremoniously into the waiting weapons of her party-mates. As the final traces of necromantic energy fades from his crumpled form, Aldern chokes out an apology to Wren. A bittersweet triumph is still a triumph, and the party begins sweeping Foxglove Manor for any valuable pieces of equipment or information. After going through the contents of the room again, the party finds a letter addressed to Aldern and written in a graceful hand that reads: “Aldern ~ You have served us quite well. The delivery you harvested from the caverns far exceeds what I had hoped for. You may consider your debt to the Brotherhood paid in full. Yet I still have need of you, and when you awaken from your death, you should find your mind clear and able to understand this task more than in the sate you lie as I write this. You shall remember the workings of the Sihedron ritual, I trust. You seemed quite lucid at the time, but if you find after your rebirth that you have forgotten, return to your townhouse in Magnimar. My agents shall contact you there soon – no need for you to bother the Brothers further. I will provide the list of proper victims for the Sihedron ritual in two days' time. Commit that list to memory and then destroy it before you begin your work. The ones I have selected must be marked before they die, otherwise they do my master no good and the greed in their souls will go to waste. If others get in your way, though, you may do with them as you please. Eat them, savage them, or turn them into pawns – it matters not to me. – Your Mistress, Wanton of Nature's Pagan Forms” The party realizes that a trip to Magnimar looks like it's in their future. Connor, Druzin, and Wren examine the fungal stain on the wall and come to shocking conclusion: Whatever catastrophe happened in this house had the ruining of Vorel Foxglove's lich phylactery as the catalyst. However, instead of his spirit merely dissipating, in effect, the entire manor became his phylactery. This explains the series of haunts that have been plaguing the party; Vorel has been subtly influencing the house and was trying kill or weaken the intruders. Connor explains that only powerful clerical magics, specifically a consecrate followed by a hallow spell or a dispel evil, will be the only thing that cleanses the mansion. For the time being, the party has no qualms about leaving the place sit. After a thorough and uneventful search of the house, the party heads out the front door to begin the trip back to Sandpoint. However, the silence is broken by the call of a raven: “CAW! CAW! CAAAAAAAW-NOR!” Turning around, the party sees that the few ravens that roosted outside before have multiplied into literally hundreds of birds, all of them with evil red eyes and bits of rotting flesh hanging from their oily black bodies. Connor recognizes these to be carrionstorms, flocks of undead birds that arise after normal carrion birds consume the flesh of ghouls or other undead creatures. Luckily, they are highly vulnerable to turning damage, and the party easily eliminates the last outward signs of an undead presence at Foxglove Manor. Xp Awarded: Burning Manticore Haunt (Brash) CR 3 750 Xp Worried Wife Haunt (All) CR 4 1,000 Xp Diseased Rat CR 1/3 100 Xp Dance of Ruin Haunt (Connor) CR 3 750 Xp Iesha’s Vengeance Haunt (Connor) CR 5 1,500 Xp Frightened Child Haunt (Wren) CR 3 750 Xp Phantom Phage Haunt (Druzin) CR 3 750 Xp Collapsing Floor CR 1 300 Xp Misogynistic Rage Haunt (Wren) CR 3 750 Xp The Stricken Family Haunt (All) CR 3 750 Xp Suicide Compulsion Haunt (Ripley) CR 4 1,000 Xp Plummeting Inferno Haunt (Brash) CR 4 1,000 Xp Unfulfilled Glories Haunt (Ripley) CR 3 750 Xp Iesha Foxglove, Revenant CR 4 1,000 Xp Rat Swarm (2) CR 3 750 Xp each – 1,500 Xp total Origins of Lichdom Haunt (Wren) CR 3 750 Xp Ghoulish Uprising Haunt (Wren) CR 4 1,000 Xp Ghoul Bat CR 5 1,500 Xp Ghouls (7) CR 1 300 Xp each – 2,100 Xp total Goblin Ghouls (4) CR 2 500 Xp each – 2,000 Xp total Aldern Foxglove, the Skinsaw Man CR 6 2,250 Xp Ghoul Butler CR ½ 150 Xp Vorel’s Legacy Haunt (Druzin) CR 4 1,000 Xp Carrionstorms (8) CR 1 300 Xp each – 2,400 Xp total Total 25,200 Xp 5,040 Xp Each + 375 Roleplay Xp Each Total Xp per PC – 5,415 Xp |
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warforged_dm's journal