This dilapidated farm house has four stories (including the attic), with two balconies on the third floor—one facing the front of the house, the other facing the back. The house is set upon a hill that overlooks the abandoned remains of
Durstheim, and the surrounding lands.
Background
Death House is the name given to an old farm house about 10 miles outside the
Village of Brashov. The house has been burned to the ground many times, only to rise from the ashes time and again—by its own will or that of something else, none know. Locals give the building a wide berth for fear of antagonizing the evil spirits believed to haunt it.
The wealthy family that built the house practiced the dark arts, forming a cult they called the Priests of Osybus. Through seduction and indoctrination, they expanded their cult to include a small yet nefarious circle of friends. When word got out, the rest of the region turned a blind eye to the house and the nightly debaucheries happening within it.
The cult tried to summon malevolent extraplanar entities with no success. The cultists also preyed on visitors, sacrificed them in bizarre rituals, and hosted morbid banquets to feast on their corpses. When nothing came of these ritualized murders, the cultists’ activities became thinly disguised excuses to indulge their lurid fantasies.
The cultists regarded the
Countess Ravna van Roeyen as a messiah sent to them by the
Dark Powers. Drawn to Ravna like moths to a flame, they pledged their devotion in hope of a promise of immortality, but Ravna rebuffed them time and again, deeming the cult and its leaders unworthy of her attention.
The cult’s downfall ultimately came from within. Gustav Durst, head of the Durst family, sired a bastard son with the family nursemaid, Alina. This earned the enmity of Elsbeth Durst, his wife and leader of the cult. Elsbeth's focus turned darker, the sacrifices more numerous, yet still nothing was gained from the Dark Powers or any other fell spirits the cult tried to reach. Eventually, Gustav even dared reach out to Ravna directly, hoping to gain some recognition for the cult's work, believing it might assuage his wife's insanity. Ravna rebuffed them yet again.
In its last meeting, Elsbeth declared Alina to be their sacrifice of the evening and ordered Gustav to retrieve her. Gustav could not go through with it and hung himself. When she discovered his body, Elsbeth flew into a rage, and instead decided to take the bastard baby Walter as the sacrifice. Alina tried to stop her and Elsbeth stabbed her to death, leaving the body where it fell. She carried the baby to the dungeon where the cult carried out its final ritual. Because of the atrocity of this act, the cult finally attracted the notice of some dark power. Mrs. Durst and the other cultists present at the time were finally granted their immortality... by being turned into ghouls and ghasts.
Years later, the spirits of the cult and Durst family still haunt the house and its dungeons. The building itself, it seems, is unwilling to let their story be forgotten.
Developments
The party finds a dog hiding in the house, which quickly befriends them. Luka speaks with her via magic and learns her name is
Guinefort and that she came with her owner
Gertruda Dargova and her owner's friend Dalvan. The party finds a body of a young man killed by poison darts that they surmise may be Dalvan.
The party successfully puts the ghosts of the family to rest, but not the ghost of the nursemaid Alina. The house crumbles around them, and turns into yet another decrepit structure in the abandoned hamlet.
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