In Search of an Exit

Plot points/Scenes

DAY ONE:

• exposition
• catch them up to what's going on
• ghost is only ever active around 12am
• haunting has been going on for three weeks, began 2 days after the death of Seraphina Whitblade
• don’t go in Nadia's room when she's not there
• tower doors are locked
• learn map

NIGHT ONE:

• players are in Seraphina's old room?
• stroke of midnight, ghost appears
• combat? talk to it? who knows. prepare stats jic (cr 6 or 7)
• if defeated she will disappear
• if spoken to she will repeat 'I WILL WHAT I WILL WHAT I WILL' in an ever increasing wail until contact is broken or she disappears.
• crash downstairs, family portrait has been flung from the wall, and there is a ragged gash between Nadia and Seraphina (wow how symbolic)
• nothing else happens that night

DAY TWO:

• long rest before morning, they get up at around 9
• Theodore and Elzira are gone for the morning, their rooms can potentially be searched
• staff can be questioned
• Nadia is in the library with Frift
• Hélena is out on the patio with Samirah
• Marge is in the workshop
• Ravi is on the lawn
• Darcy is in the kitchen with Mathias and Ansley
• it is melina's day off
• Hélena's room is locked, attempts to pick it set off floorboards and alert Marga and Nadia
ITEM: note on the table in the master's dining room (theo's note)ITEM: note tacked onto the door of the Deepsun's quarters (Elzira's note)
• Ansley, Darcy, and Mathias can be questioned about the ghost
• Mathias believes it to be the work of some local pranksters, but notes that lady Whitblade and her children have been looking more and more haggard as time goes on. expresses sympathy for theo.
• Ansley has not seen it, but has noticed things going missing (a few loaves of bread, a jar of honey, two or three pieces of silver, some dried meats)
• Darcy is cheerful but tired, not having gone to sleep for hours after the ghost's appearance last night (he is the only one of the 3 to live on the grounds) and had to get up early to open the gate since he owed Frift a favor and agreed to open the gate this week.
• Post comes at noon, darcy asks that they grab it for him if they're going to be outside at that time
• Marga can also be questioned about the ghost, she thinks its Seraphina herself and reminisces about time spent in this workshop.
• Nadia asks that she be alone until after lunch, she has business to attend to.
• Ravi can be questioned, but won’t answer until he gets some help with cleaning up the fallen tree. He's been dealing with no end of hardship since the ghost appeared, with windows being broken from the inside, the tree being toppled, and 'NADIA' being painted over and over again on the wall of the grounds.
• Hélena stops her conversation when approached. Samirah introduces herself, but Hélena insists they have things to do in town and they depart.
ITEM: post comes, and players can pick it up from the front gate. inside are several wax sealed letters for Nadia from various people, an envelope tied shut for Frift, a strange letterlocked message for Hélena, and a poorly sealed box for Ravi. DC 15 sleight of hand check: inside, padded by some wool, are some fairly nice cufflinks.
• After the post comes, Theodore and Elzira come back, holding several bags of clothing. Everyone sits down for lunch
• Things To Be Learned: Nadia does not like that theodore is sewing. Hélena is absent.
• After lunch, Theodore, Frift, Elzira and Nadia can be questioned.
• Nadia claims that she does not know why she is being haunted
• Theodore believes the ghost to be his grandmother. DC 14 persuasion check: He worries that it is because he is continuing the family business that the ghost is appearing, but this is not enough to stop him from his work.
• Frift is cagey and defers to Nadia for most things.
• Elzira slept fine last night, though she woke up a bit before sunrise because she heard some noises outside her door. She didn’t think much of it. She loved Seraphina, she was nice and made her pretty dresses in exchange for stories and games.

NIGHT TWO

• Nadia sleeps in the drawing room, asking players to keep watch in her room
• At the stroke of midnight, no ghost appears. DC 17 perception check: you hear a large door shut downstairs. It sounds like its on the main floor.
• 12:05: DC 8 perception check: out of the corner of your eye, you see movement through the window, out on the lawn. Looking out, you see a small figure outside, dressed all in white.
• 12:10 get outside, Elzira is wandering the lawn. she does not respond to any calls or questions, and seems in a trance. DC 16 strength contest to restrain her, she seems to have strength beyond what her small body should contain. Trance ends 12:20 whether restrained or not. She is continually headed for the tower, which is still locked
• 12:15 Ravi runs out, scared out of his mind. He woke up when people came downstairs, noticed Elzira gone, and ran out. He yells and shakes her, pleading for her to respond.
• once trance ends ravi and Elzira come back inside. Elzira seems dazed, ravi refuses to let her be questioned and sends her to bed. He and darcy talk in the servant's dining room until 1

DAY THREE

• Marga has the tower key
ITEM: tower key
• its raining
• Hélena has gone missing (she's at Samirah's until nightfall)
• Theodore is acting strangely and is staying in his room
ITEM: Hélena's letter
• Nadia is gone after Hélena, her room is searchable
ITEM: banker's note
• Melina is in the kitchen and refuses to leave
• Ansley and Mathias are in the kitchen comforting her, though Mathias may wander up to bring Theodore food if Ansley doesn't stop him.
• Frift is in the drawing room gathering pieces of piano
• Ravi is in his quarters and the servant's common room, no work for him today. Elzira is with him
• Darcy is helping Frift but slips away to visit Ravi
• Marga is in the workshop, reminiscing

NIGHT THREE

• Once again, nadia sleeps in the drawing room.
• at the stroke of midnight, she is awoken by the piano playing. DC 16 perception check to hear it, if not she will come up at 12:03. (if she comes up, disadvantage on INT check later)
• MUSIC: PIANO CODE The piano is playing something rapidly and repeatedly. DC 12 INT check: the piano is playing some message in morse code, but because you came into the room in the middle of it, you don't know where it begins and ends, and you cant tell where words start and stop, or if you've gotten it down correctly. It is all you na do to write down what you hear. DC 15 INT check: you listen a few times and think you've discovered where the pattern repeats. You manage to write down what you hear, but don’t know where the letters start or end yet.

DAY FOUR

• PIANO CODE: 'what was mine what is yours' figure it out
• Nadia returns in the afternoon saying she has 'taken care' of the situation with Hélena and that she will be home soon enough. she refuses to explain her time away.
• Melina is in the dining rooms
• Ansley is in the garden
• Mathias is in the kitchen
• Theodore is making excuses to be in the kitchen
• Ravi and Darcy are out of the house
• Elzira and Marga are on the patio
• Frith is in the Library

NIGHT FOUR

• 12:00 there is a noise like a hundrew loosed bowstrings, a musical abomination that ends in a crash and a thud. in the drawing room. Nadia is alone and frightened, the piano disassembled around her. DC 17 investigation check: the keys are arranged in a pattern, not simply at random. INT check of 15: it is morse code, spelling out a message. the message is 'WHAT WAS MINE. WHAT IS YOURS.'
• 12:10 While everyone is distracted with the exploded piano, Ravi runs in, disheveled and yelling that Elzira is gone from her room again
• nobody knows where she is, staff search the grounds, Nadia/Marga/Theodore search the house
• Elzira is entranced again, this time she gets into the tower.
• Seraphina speaks through her, tells them about her will and what its contents were, gives them a copy she had kept in her desk

ITEM: Seraphina's will
• explains that Nadia had never wanted the life she got. She didn't want the business, she didn't want Seraphina as a mother, none of it was ideal for her
• Seraphina expresses regret at how she raised (or rather, failed to raise) Nadia and how she tried to do better by her grandchildren, but it was too late
• Nadia had fallen in with a bad crowd, and since then had been a [unsaved]

DAY FIVE

• SUNRISE: the ground trembles and it wakes you from fitful sleep. As you peer out the window into the grey morning, sky streaked with dark clouds, you can see a massive shape approaching, its details obscured by a long, dark, ragged cloak
• as you rush downstairs, you can hear the house in a commotion. you see bags and boxes sitting on the servant's dining room table, evidence of Elzira and Ravi's commitment to the move. They aren't moving now, however, as you see them and everyone else crowded around the dining room door.
• The grass outside is wet, still dripping from the morning dew, and it quickly soaks your socks if you're wearing them. The pounding is louder here, a deep, resounding thrum that thuds out every time the figure takes a step. It is moving slowly, maliciously, as if it is relishing in the fear it creates.
• Nadia is white-faced and silent. she does not respond if spoken to.
• as the figure draws closer and closer you can hear the beginnings of a deep, gravelly laugh starting to bubble out from underneath the cloak. Finally, step after achingly slow step, the figure steps over the garden wall like it's nothing, and stands in front of you, easily as tall as the house. the first thing that hits you is the smell. its dark and old, like a cave, if the cave had been full of rust and metal. After that, you realize that the cloak, ragged at the ends and dark as pitch, is billowing, though there is no wind. the figure raises its arm, skin grey-blue and void of any life, and points one long, thin finger past you, and into the open doorway.
• you turn and see the crowd of servants and family members, all frozen in terror. Elzira is towards the front, her face pale, but Darcy stands in front of her, his arms spread as if to protect her from the monstrous gaze.
• "YOU." the oni whispers, voice ringing out like a bell in the silence of the morning.
• However, it is not elzira that he is pointing to. Instead, Nadia pushes to the front. "You have not upheld your end of our bargain." her voice shakes.
• "WE MADE A DEAL. WILL YOU GO BACK ON IT NOW?"
• nadia shakes her head. "my daughter. Hélena first."
• "THOSE WERE NOT OUR TERMS."
• "they were! you would bring me Hélena, and I would...pay the price"
• "I REQUIRE PAYMENT..... UP FRONT."
• the oni shrugs the cloak off its shoulders, revealing an emaciated form covered in rags. the cloak hangs loosely around its neck.it reaches behind its back and retrieves a massive glaive, hoisting it up and slamming it into the grass. "WILL YOU PAY? OR WILL YOUR DAUGHTER SUFFER IN YOUR STEAD?"
• roll initiative

Structure

Exposition

In the large town of carus, near the border of Aspea and Strouca, there is an old estate belonging to the longrunning family of dressmakers, the Whitblades. Soon after the natural death of the matriarch Seraphina, strange occurrences began on the grounds of the Whitblade estate. It started small, with windows being blown open and things being misplaced, but it has since escalated to dishes being thrown, rooms being ransacked, and even sightings of an armor-clad ghost roaming the halls. Nadia, the now-owner of the Whitblade's dressmaking business and head of the estate, is growing desperate. She has called in a small group of adventurers to investigate and solve her supposed ghost problem before it escalates further.

Conflict

Nadia is a very controlling and stern woman, and often clashes with her two children, Hélena and Theodore. Hélena shows no interest in continuing her mother and grandmother's tradition of dressmaking, and Theodore is proving to be less than the scholar his mother hoped for. The issue of the ghost is only making things worse, driving a rift between all three of them as they argue over the origin and intent of their spectral guest.
Naturally, there is also the ghost to deal with. All signs do point to a ghost, as there are no signs of trespassing and all the staff corroborate each other's stories of spectral activities. Nadia in particular is eager to have the ghost gone, as it seems to be targeting her above all others. She has been woken every night with a ghastly wail, every time the same creaky voice repeating "WILL WHAT I WILL WHAT I WILL WHAT I WILL" in increasing volume and speed, until at last it ends with a shriek at the exact moment of dawn.

Components

Goals

Rid the Whitblade estate of its ghost, help Hélena and Theodore to achieve their respective goals, put into action Seraphina's will and keep Elzira from the clutches of the grandmotherly ghost.

Hooks

A notice put up on boards in the area:
TO THE NOTICE OF: all adventurers willing and able

REQUIRED: some experience with fighting foes corporeal and non-corporeal, ability to interpret Dark Omens and Ill Portents, discretion in private affairs, ability to commune with the dead a plus.
IF INTERESTED, PLEASE INQUIRE NO MORE THAN ONCE AT WHITBLADE ESTATE NO MORE THAN ONE FORTNIGHT FROM POSTING.
The esteemed family of Whitblade is now accepting applicants for a most sensitive and necessary position.
Expected length of employment is no more than one week from time of hiring, negotiations may occur should more time be needed. Full payment upon completion, and not before. Chosen applicants will be fed and housed by the Whitblade Estate and expenses (should they occur) can be negotiated.
Exact details of the job will be provided after application is completed and accepted, any attempt to determine requirements before acceptance will disqualify you from the position.
YOU WILL BE WORKING WITH OTHER APPLICANTS WITHIN THIS POSITION. THOSE WITH POOR PEOPLE SKILLS NEED NOT APPLY.
REWARD: 200GP PER PERSON
SIGNED: Nadia Whitblade, Lady of Whitblade Manor

Relations

Allies

Theodore Whitblade: the grandson of Serphina Whitblade, a quiet young man who wants nothing more than to follow in his grandmother's footsteps as a dressmaker, even though his mother will have none of it. Hélena Whitblade: the grandaughter of Seraphina Whitblade, a quick witted and arrogant young woman who desperately wants to escape the walls of her family home, against the wishes of her mother. Marga Celdarne: Elzira Deepsun:

Neutrals/Bystanders

Ansley Celdarne: Ansley is a quiet, thoughtful young woman not prone to much talk. She spends much of her time in the deep kitchens of the Whitblade estate, helped by her elderly sister Marga and her apprentice, Mathias. Ravi Deepsun: The father of Elzira Deepsun, Ravi is a kindhearted but lonely man who loves his daughter, but finds her difficult to raise on his own after her elven mother disappeared when Elzira was a baby. Darcy Lazdi: Darcy is a charismatic, charming man with no end of jokes and stories, which he will tell whenever he can manage it. He works as a manservant in the Whitmore's house, and is a close friend of Theodore's, as he can keep a secret and gives good advice. Melina Sask: Nervous, jumpy, and gloomy, Melina Sask is the maid-of-all-work at the Whitblade estate. She enjoys her work, though you'd never know it for how much she complains about it, and when it really comes down to the wire, she is a very competent woman. Samirah Stonesnow: A bubbly, excitable girl, Samirah is a friend of Hélena's and cares for her horse when Hélena cannot (which is often). She is most often found at the stables, helping her family to care for the horses they board for the occasional traveler. Brant Frift: The joyless butler of the Whitblade family, Frift is as no-nonsense and strict as they come, enforcing rules as best he can and informing Nadia of all goings on.

Adversaries

Nadia Whitblade Seraphina Whitblade

Related Characters

• Hélena Whitblade
• Nadia Whitblade
• Seraphina Whitblate
• Theodore Whitblade