It was nice getting the youth’s together so many times in the last few weeks since my own game was on hiatus. They are still plowing through the main floor of the mansion but I ramped up the “haunted” this session since they decided to make camp within one of the living room areas. There was still the “herding cats” feeling on my end as I did my best to keep the game focused and moving along, but as long as they are having a good time, it’s working for me.
Write up follows:
The party decided to reenter the mansion, staying just inside the foyer while they discussed either returning to Saltmarsh or staying out here. The decision was made to stay out here for now and to further explore the remainder of the main floor for any signs of the haunting or things of interest/value. Talion lit a fresh torch, the group taking a quick count of what was remaining and we decided we had enough possible light sources for today and tomorrow for now.
Magnus took the lead, taking us down the east wing from the foyer where there were 2 doors on the right hand side. The first door was fairly swollen, blocking the frame and preventing it from opening. A shove on the knob had the entire thing break off in his hand and a hole in the wet wood of the door itself. Valerie helped shove the door open and we had a chance to look in.
It was a living room of some sort, but there was no furnishings left anymore, the fireplace on the right had a ring of red toadstools surrounding the hearth. A 2nd doorway on the left wall most likely led to the same last room as indicated in the hall. No one wanted to mess with the ring but Magnus was willing to take the lead. He crept up to the ring, scimitar out, and carefully…slit one of the toadstools near the base. Nothing happened. He did the same again and again…and then he felt confident and cut huge swaths of the mushrooms out.
Valerie informed us the toadstools were edible and we bagged them for now to add to our dinner later. As for the hearth and fireplace, Deja was on point and after verifying no spiders waiting within, gave it a once over and was happy to see another hidey-hole up near the back by the flue. She moved the stones aside and felt within for a cracked and dry leather bag. After pulling it out she could see it held a small yet nicely cut purple amethyst which the party pocketed with aplomb and good cheer.
As for the rest of the room, nothing else was of note so with care, they looked through the east door to the last chamber. It was a mirror image of this living chamber except the ceiling was in very poor condition and broken plaster littered many places. The naked floorboards above were visible and there was suspicion that they sagged, meaning the floor above this room was going to be a mess if at all stable to walk upon.
Deja quickly checked the fireplace in the 2nd living room but once she was sure it was empty, returned to the party and we all went outside the mansion. We had checked out the entire lower floor and wanted to rest before attempting the 2nd floor and eventual basement. At first we talked about camping outside the mansion but we had no tents, no shelter out here, and no place to stay warm and dry. With trepidation, we opted to camp within the mansion for now.
We went back to the east wing and the room that at one time held the toadstools. While a few of us swept the floor clean, Valerie and Magnus went to the dining room and gathered up the fallen table there while Talion went to the library and brought as many shelves and books he could to be used as kindling and fuel source for the night. We propped the door back up in its frame and then shoved the table in front of it just in case. A fire was lit and we heated up our food with some pots scavenged from the kitchen, also toasting the mushrooms as an added treat. We felt good after eating and set up a round of watches to start about 8:00 or so with Deja, Magnus, Veldryn, Talion, and then Valerie taking turns. While the fighter types were tending to their weapons and gear, Deja was reading through the notes taken from the desk in the study, and Veldryn was reading the difficult pages from the Metaphysics of Math and Magic tome.
By 8 everyone was tired, the room was warm and toasty, and the group settled down to sleep. Deja was able to note that the alchemist had ordered many things but there were 5 odd items he ordered continuously that ranged from Greenblood Oil to Brain Juice. Yes, Brain Juice. Juice from a brain. And someone who supply it to him. Like 15 plus times over a period of 2 or 3 years. Admittedly most of these orders were 20 years out of date, but when we returned to Saltmarsh, it was something that the party was going to want to investigate and review.
The group slept while Deja kept watch. Shortly into her time though she heard movement throughout the mansion, footsteps from somewhere. She woke up Magnus who used his connection with Tyr to detect evil and found 1..2..3..4 sensations of evil to the north at the limit of his reach. One of them went up and then moved about upstairs, coming closer and then a bit overhead. The decision was made to awaken Veldryn next since she had detected skeletons earlier in the day somewhere below us and the thought was these were the same.
However when she awoke she yelled in fear and we heard the running footsteps upstairs run back to the north and Magnus lost his concentration. We waited but whatever it was and whoever it was did not come to investigate us on the main floor and we assume went back to the basement. With an unsure confidence, the party went back to sleep and Deja’s watched passed without further incident. Magnus and Veldryn had the same quiet watch, the Speaker for the Dead no longer needing to sleep, instead she went back to reading her tome while Talion kept watch.
And then the house shook, waking the party up. There was a scream form somewhere which had the group on edge. Veldryn called on Hel to remove fear in Talion who was getting shaken, not only fixing his fear, but also removing his concern about the room on the west wing that had a voice yell at us yesterday.
The noises did stop and the group hunkered back down to sleep, the party eventually awakening together but no one getting a “great” night’s sleep. We broke our fast, ate quickly, and the paladin, druid, and cleric all spent an hour praying. By 6:30 we were ready to go and the party all discussed last night as well as what Deja had learned from her notes.
The decision was made to go upstairs and check out the second floor for two reasons – to make sure nothing was left unturned, and to make sure that no one was “behind” us waiting on the floor above. We climbed the stairs from the Foyer and looked around. The floor to the left over the foyer was a bit suspect but we could see with a fresh torch hallways going to the north and west wing. However, we wanted to head east (where we heard noises AND where the ceiling/floor here was in poor condition) and make sure the area was explored first. Three doors and we went to the first one where Deja assured us it was unlocked and untrapped. She opened it to reveal a small room that was pretty webby and dusty, but there was something glinting in the fireplace.
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