Session 2: Within the Haunted Mansion Report
General Summary
Ned, the Attic, and the Cellar
After the harrowing fight with the spider swarms, Mina feels the expended energy and requests time to sleep and prayer with her god, Istus. You have all been banged around, so the group quickly concedes and you all hunker down behind the door for the afternoon. During the first watch, Leeroy listens as feet stamp closer in the hallway outside, but after a pause the feet fade away again and it remains quiet for the remainder of your rest.Long after the setting sun, you arise, strap your gear back on, and leave the room where the swarms attacked. Approaching the next door, you listen quietly, search for traps, and then open the door. Looking beyond it's yet another completely empty room whose entire left side has decayed and you know that stepping on that floor will have it collapse under you. Most of the group starts to head toward the next door after not seeing anything, but Nar asks "Do you see something at the window?" and starts to move inward. Karia quickly moves with her and together they look outward with a breathtaking view of the Azure Sea under the moonlight. Examining the sill, Karia notices scratches and an indentation where something has been repeatedly placed there. Judging it to be roughly circular and larger than a mug. They then quickly move back across the room and everyone moves onward to the next door where you find the door locked.
Nar steps forward with her lock picking tools in hand and quickly jimmies the lock free as Mina stands up holding a key that she then quickly pockets. Opening the door, you see another room bare of furniture, but with a man tied up and gagged in only his underwear. You move forward, remove the gag, and ask him "how'd you get here?" He's noticeably confused as he responds, "I don't even know where I am. I remember... I remember entering the kitchen and then I'm here." Additional questions get asked like "Who hit you?", "How did you even get to the house?", and so forth. Eventually, you gather that he was travelling from Seaton on his way to Saltmarsh. There was bad weather so upon seeing the house on the hill, he entered in the back and made it into the kitchen and then he woke up with them coming through the door. He shows a bit of fear to head onward to Saltmarsh because he has already been attacked once in this house and asks if he can just follow you. Leeroy readily agrees and all of you head back down the hall toward the backstairs.
Once on the landing, Leeroy tosses Nar upward into the attic who looks around without seeing any threat and then ties a rope to a crossbeam which allows Leeroy to climb upward. Nar can feel the attic slightly shifting with the added weight and then watches as six creatures swarm from the rafters. These creatures have leathery wings, furry bodies, and a long proboscis and look like a bat crossed with a mosquito. They swoop down attacking each of your party, including Ned. Most of them miss, but one lands on Mina and inserts it's proboscis into her thereby attaching itself. Nar jumps down from the attic to join the battle and slowly you kill the stirges while taking significant damage from their bloodsucking. Searching the attic, you find a porcelain sailor doll with jade eyes. After the battle, Leeroy looks at Ned and says "you need to be able to defend yourself" and hands him an axe.
Moving downstairs into the kitchen, you see a door you missed earlier. You enter a scullery with a large broken copper cask and a small heap of crockery shards beside it. Another stairwell leads downward. Leeroy takes a step down the stairs and loud soul tormenting scream bursts forth frightening Nar. Still you proceed downward into the cellar. Lining the north and west walls are bottle racks that appear to be empty with shattered bottles covering the floor. At the foot of the stairs on the east wall are two large metal storage bins that appear to be empty. And in the center of the room lies a human corpse clad in plate armor with a longsword and shield beside him. Leeroy approaches the corpse and two swarms of grubs spill out of the rotting mass. Mina screams in revulsion and throws down her shield on top of one, then jumps and rocks back and forth squishing a swarm. Kira sprays flame from her hands and ignites the corpse. A swarm attacks Leeroy and he squirms in pain as two of the grubs begin to burrow into his arm. Through combined effort the party kills off both swarms and Leeroy burns off the grubs in his arm before they finish burrowing into him. He then salvages the plate armor and replaces his armor with it. Karia also finds a bottle of wine with a label of a jauntily dressed unicorn that indicates a rare vintage.
Heading back up the stairs, you proceed down the hall to a room on the west side. Karia holds Nar back from entering the room while Kira and Mina moves toward the fireplace. Another swarm of spiders springs forth unto Kira. Your group makes quick work of that swarm with Mina scorches it into the ether with her Sacred Flame, but as the last echoes of combat fade three new figures cross into the room. These rough humans draw weapons and engage into combat with Ned joining them. A fierce determined battle ensues Mina takes a hit from a bandit, but retaliates by issuing a Thunderwave that knocks him back. The battle intensifies and Mina receives a crippling attack that knocks her to the floor with blood slowly pooling around her. The battle wages around her with Nar hiding behind Karia and shooting at the miscreants and Leeroy stepping into the middle of the brawl slowly wearing down the opponents. By the time the last bandit falls to the floor Mina is slowly standing back up. Looking back to the fireplace, Kira pulls out a small box containing 30 copper and two small pouches of alchemical powders.
Disgusted by the carnage, the party quickly assesses the remainder of the ground floor with only the final three rooms containing anything else of interest. The western hall has a study on the north with a locked central door. Nar tries to pick it, but is a bit too wound up to pick the lock, so Kira just rips it out and out spills receipts and other old valueless documents. However, a secret compartment is revealed and inside is a small bottle with two swallows of a potion of healing that are quickly drunk by Nar and Mina. Moving across the hall to the southern room reveals a library where most of the books are lost to mildew and mold. However, there are three noteworthy books that capture your eye; The Magical Properties of Gemstones and The Magical Properties of Herbs and Flowers both by the archmage Tenser and The Metaphysics of Mathematics by the mage Nystul.
You move into the final room of the first floor and at first think it's completely empty, but Karia notices footprints in the dust that lead to the center of the room. Walking there, a mocking voice loudly speaks "Welcome Fools! Welcome to your deaths!".
