Session 4: Trollskull Manor

General Summary

In the morning the Adventurers decide to head to the manor to see the new property they now owned. Before the adventurers head out from the Yawning Portal Volo greets them “By the way, I almost forgot. There supposedly of poltergeist living -eh I mean residing in Trollskull Manor’s taproom. As far as I’ve been able to gather, it’s a former resident. Half the reason I bought the place, really. You see I’m writing a book on spirits.. Ah well, that’s neither here nor there. From what I’ve heard the spirit is quite possessive- no pun intended- but not malicious. Seems he just misses his old job, is what I have been told perhaps fixing up the place is enough to get on his good side!”   Hearing this the adventurers decieded that they might need a little extra muscle. They decide to recruit two traveling adventurers newly arrived to Waterdeep. Fizzy and Lorin! Arriving at the Trollskull manor they find it a wreck, the tavern’s taproom is filled with broken furniture, tarnished silverware, casks of wine that have turned to vinegar, and worthless detritus. The tavern’s other rooms are all empty, except for cobwebs, dust, and harmless rats. After inspecting Trollskull the adventurers decide that their best use of the property is to renovate the property and try to run the bar themselves.   The adventurers go in search of new tables and bar equipment from the neighboring shop named the Bent Nail. They are able to discuss setting up an order for all the tables and equipment they would need. Also they learn from the owner Talisolvanar “Tally” Fellbranch that they would need to get into contact with the guilds to negotiate the terms of setting up the repairs for the tavern. He agreed to help them get in contact with Broxley Fairkettle the guild representative for the Fellowship of the Innkeepers.   Over the next few days strange occurrences began to start happening. Mostly innocent pranks and noises that make the teams doing the repairs nervous. As time goes on the pranks become more and more frequent. Detalosi and some of the other adventurers attempt to make contact with the spirit but are unsuccessful.   Feng and Lily used there connections with the harpers to get in contact with Mirt a famous old adventurer, who had retired very wealthy and who was known to be very eccentric. Renear Neverember arranges for them to meet Mirt at his residence in the Castle Ward. Once they arrived at the house they were escorted in and found the house to be large but filled to the brim with so many unusual odds and ends that it was almost difficult to move around in the house itself.   Meeting Mirt Lily and Feng find him to be a portly older man with a very jovial, loud attitude. He greets them and happily agrees to help them with a loan for the bar saying “ Ever since that lazy dullard Durnan bought the Yawning Portal, I’ve been wanting to have my own tavern. Now your telling me I can own one without any of the glass cleaning and chair stacking that old fool is spending his days with? Count me in! Mirt agrees to give the adventurers a 5000 gold loan. When Lily and Feng returned they negotiated with Broxley to get the repairs done to the tavern over the next 2 weeks.   Later that day Fizzy headed down to the cellar to investigate a noise. As Fizzy arrived down in the cellar she cant find the source of the noise The basement is in bad disrepair. The old bricks molder while a steady drip of water leaks from the wall. The air is stale, stuffy and oppressive. As Fizzy turned towards the stairs to head up, the hatch slammed shut! Fizzy was sealed into the darkness, she tried to pull and pull but the door would not open! She pounded and yelled on the door to get attention of her companions.   The adventurers run the rescue and are able to muscle the door open and free Fizzy. The adventurers begin to worry about the seriousness of the poltergeist and continue to try to communicate with Lif. Lif doesn’t seem to want the adventurers there and his appearances become more frequent over the next few days and more forceful. The adventurers began to have nightmares and wake feeling like someone having hands throttle their throats hearing whispers saying “Closing time.”   Aden had moved in with his friends at the Trollskull tavern as the completion date of the repairs neared. He is awoken from his sleep with the last whispers of a nightmare still fresh in his memory.. In the nightmare down through the depths he fell, tasting salt and blood on his lips while water rushed into his lungs. The depths were dark but not empty and the dead wail together as one haunting chorus. As the seas churned and drug him deeper, he burst free from the nightmare with a sheen of sweat on his flesh. The night was cold. Try as he might Aden could not sleep as long as he can taste that blood on his tongue and salt on his lips.   As he tries to drift off to sleep once more, his tongue scrapes against something in his mouth- a chunk of flesh. Salted, wet and fresh. It isn’t his. Sickness blooms in his belly as he reached into his mouth and pulled out a small wet chunk. He held it up to the moonlight- and sure enough its viscera. Actual viscera. Aden Began to wretch as he realized what it was.   Gnosh reading in the Library late the next night, studying by candlelight. Midnight has come and gone. As he pours over old tomes and scrabbled notes his eyes begin to droop. As darkness presses in on his vision, a chill wind sweeps through the library. .. and on it, rides a voice:   “Who’s that trip trapping over my bridge? Roared the troll” and old woman crows to a crowd of restless aweing children. “Why I’m off to eat sweet, green grass! Said the Little Billy Goat Gruff. “ No your not,” roars the troll “Because I’m gonna gobble you up!” The Library erupts into a tangle of children’s shouts of surprise as the old woman snatches up a youngster, laughing and cackling- but when Gnosh lifts his eyes from the desk, you find nothing and no one in the library but him. Was it all a dream? Exploring the library he finds a tome open on the floor A Hundred Tales of Fae and its open to Three Billy Goats Gruff. Looking at the book he finds an inscription “Children, Know that Mama Esther will always love you.”   The next night Detalosi hears the ceiling groan under the pitter patter of little feet upstairs. Who’s in the manor? Going to investigate he finds three children. Their flesh seems to shift, not wholly transparent but not wholly solid their voices come from another world, echoing off every floorboard and wall with an ethereal quality. The children appear very scared and are very timid at first. Detalosi convinces them to introduce themselves and to trust him. The three orphans are Gron, a half-orc boy of 8; Matilda, and 11 year old human girl; and Victor, a 13 year old human boy. All are hiding behind furniture. Detalosi discovers they are scared because Mama Esther has been eating the children and that she’s coming home to finish the job. Lif is the only thing keeping her at bay.   Detalosi informs the others and they tell the children that they will keep Mama Esther from getting them. Detalosi gets the children to communicate with Lif and he eventually agrees to let the adventurers to release him. Detalosi returns his remains to the soil using the Decompose spell and the binding is released. He then locates the children’s anchors and tries to do the same. The children’s soul anchors seem to have other magic holding them to the Manor.   Suddenly the adventurers hear a noise echoing from the taproom below. The very floorboards shuddered from the unnatural song. A foul stench drifted up from between the cracks and water drips loudly below. The hatch to the basement rattles in its frame as the song draws the adventurer closer and closer. The adventurers seeing the horrifying amalgam of the orphaned souls consumed by Esther. The screaming and unnatural soul makes horrifying sounds which make the adventurers terrified! As the adventurers deal the final blow to the horrifying entity. Esther arrives her voice slips through the manor – both whisper and thunder, both omen and off key: “Hush little orphans, don’t cry no more-momma Esther’s at the door. Winters quite long and money’s tight, but Mama made dinner for to-night.”   The Children scream clinging to the adventurers then run to hide behind furniture as Matilda warns, “Mama’s home! Mama’s Home!” The Crone continues the wretched song as the floorboards- all floorboards squeal and groan and the winds outside worsen to a gale: “ So hush little orphan, the stew is hot. Hush little orphan, get in the pot. Hush little orphan, Mama’s got you. I’ve got you right where I want you.”   The Elderly woman appears as a dark shadow half corpse. The hunched old woman staggers on a ravenous smile upon her lips. Her eyes cloudy discs of red and milky white, her voice made their very skin crawl. “They’re mine, they’ve always been mine. Now and forever” her smile stretches as she calls out “Its suppertime children!”   The adventurers jump into action defending the children as the crone attempts to reach the children. Fizzy is grabbed by the crone! She is flung across the room. The battle is long and dangerous by the adventurers prevail. After the battle Detalosi is able to release the children’s spirits. All seems put to rest and the repairs are finalized to the Troll Skull Tavern. A few days after the spirits are freed a female shield dwarf named Ulkoria Stonemarrow checks out the tavern. Ulkoria tells them the dark history of the tavern. Back in the day I used to own this place. Did pretty well I think too, but the time came to move on and I sold it to a family of shield dwarves. They didn’t do well, and sold it to a woman by the name of Esther Greybrow. The crone turned the manor into an orphanage, but the kids kept going missing. Turned out that Esther was a hag…and no matter how many pennies had to be pinched, there was always meat for the stew.