Chaos Revealed - Entry 6

Entry 12

The next morning we wake rested and healed from our confrontations the previous day. After checking the goblins and distributing the various weapons we find. The Dwarf tries to insist I take a +1 magic short sword we find, but I refuse, being more comfortable with my matched pair long and short sword. Tristan supports my decision saying he has seen me use the pair and am very proficient with them. I blush slightly at the praise.

After finishing stacking the Goblin bodies and sorting their gear for later retrieval, we move to check the other wing of the basement level.

There we find a wine cellar. The majority of the group moves into the room while Crystal and I again take up guard positions.

Without warning, the door slams shut, forcing the newest cleric to join our party, Clon out of the room. He tries to force the door and I unable to open it. Crystal charges the door and while it bows slightly she also fails to open it. I retrieve a potion of Bull Strength from my pack and give it to Crystal then return to my guard position. Crystal quaffs the potion and again attempts to force the door. Again, she fails. On her third try, she is finally able to wrestle the door open, she struggles to keep the door open as it continues to try and force itself closed. As she struggles with the door, several of our companions make their way out of the area. After several minutes, the door manages to close itself again this time trapping Crystal inside.

The Dwarf immediately begins hacking at the door with his great axe. Three powerful swings and the door is splintered. Sabin immediately sprints out of the room and collapses. He looks to be in the worst shape of the party – followed very closely by Tristan who was drug out by the dwarf when he initially exited the room. I glance around the group and note Crystal and Clon are not with us. Shouldering my bow, taking a deep breath, I draw my swords and entered the smoke filled wine cellar.

Listening carefully, I locate Clon and Crystal in the far back corner and move to join them. A figure is in the corner and she calls forth a globe of fire and hurls it at us. She misses and on of the wine bottles on the rack behind us bursts and the alcohol catches fire. The figure then moves past us down the hall, I again listen carefully and follow her. I am able to take one strike at her as she passes hitting her with my short sword. I can tell that she felt the blow, but it wasn’t enough to put her down. Crystal and Clon follow me. Clon charges past Crystal, grappling with the creature and preventing Crystal or I from taking clean strikes at her for fear of hitting him. After a moment, she calls forth another globe of fire and hits Crystal with it doing minimal damage. The creature moves past us and down the narrow hall between the wine racks and I follow – telling the others to follow me. We corner the creature in one of the nooks and Crystal is able to finally dispatch her with her Bane sword. Grabbing the body, we exit the room as the smoke begins dissipating.

Around the corpses neck is a gold pendant with four pictures; the Duvall children. The youngest one matches the girl from my vision. The party takes the time to rest and heal the wounds they received before we plan our next move. I approach Sabin, who is being healed of his wounds by Jorell to find out what happened in the room.

“As we entered the wine cellar I move to the far corner on the wall with the door and begin a search of the wine racks and the area. The others begin moving out to search other areas of the cellar.

As I was searching, a thick black cloud of smoke began engulfing the area. Our sorcerer’s hawk appeared out of that cloud and landed beside me. I also heard what I believed might be the door to the cellar closing. Straining my ears, I listened carefully, trying to distinguish where my companions were and what might be going on. I heard movement in various areas of the room, but could not pinpoint anyone in particular. A sudden flash of light filled the room and I heard Tristan yell some thing like “Where did that come from?” he then added that someone moved past him before coughing loudly. I drew my rapier and took a guard position. I did not wish to move into the smoke and was uncomfortable with the idea of fighting in the dark when I could not clearly see my opponent or more importantly my allies.

As I waited for the right opportunity, the smoke filled the area where I was and I could feel my lungs and throat constricting and burning as I fought its effects.

I was finally able to locate our opponent, I hope, in the nook across the narrow hall from my nook and I moved into a position where I could attack if the opportunity presented itself. I noticed the Hawk finally moving out of the area and I hoped his master was able to protect him. Listening carefully, I thought I heard some of my companions moving out of the room.

I joined one of my companions at the entrance to the nook and noticed the creature as she called forth a ball of fire and hurled it at me. My neck and arms burned as the fire struck me. I retaliated and managed to deal a weak blow to the creature. The person I was next too, Tristan I think, reached out and grabbed another person, pulling him into the nook before he retreated out of the area. The new person, Clon, I believe, raised something and it began glowing. A turn undead spell. The symbol dims and his hands drop slowly as if he was fighting against some unseen force.

The smoke continued to damage my lungs as I tried to breath. I again attacked the creature again causing minor damage. She again hurled her globe of fire. I finally realize I could not stay in the room any longer and moved toward the door, which I hoped was open. I passed someone in the hall, but was coughing too hard too see who it was. I reached the door and realized it was shut and collapsed against one of the wine racks, my strength fading.

A crack appeared in the door and I said a silent prayer that someone would get through the door so I could escape the smoke. Finally, the door splintered and I sprinted out of the room, barely dodging Thorlien, the dwarf, and collapsing on the floor.

Shortly after I left the room, I saw you coming out of the room followed by the others, carrying a body. The rest you know.”

As soon as the party was healed, those devoted to Athena began to cleanse and bless the area. The rest of us moved out of the house and onto the chapel.

The outside of the small building in lined with beautiful windows and the doors are carved with draconic runes. Outside the hall we have been joined by another adventurer. He wears the clothes of a Druid and is accompanied by a wolf. My mind reaches for my memories of Shadow and Smoke and I ask Dwycia and Frayrith to watch over my companions until I can get home. Our new member translates the runes:

“Here is a temple to one of the houses that has served Athena so well for so long. All Hail its Lord. All Hail its God.”

Inside we find ourselves in a small foyer with two sets of stairs leading up. We take the stairs and find ourselves on a small balcony overlooking the main temple. In the center of the balcony is a suit of plate armor. Looking down at the temple there is a woman’s body on the altar and several other bodies scattered between the pews. I look down and note two depressions/scratches on the floor. My gaze goes from the scratches to the suit of armor and back. At this moment, the armor begins to move.

We surround the armor and defend ourselves. The druid notices a specter hovering at the ceiling as it moves toward us. It casts a spell and touches the armor. The Druid casts a spell also and some force flies past me. He is a wizard also!

The fight takes a long time as we slowly make progress against the armor, fortunately it is not intelligent and does not seem to plan its attacks. After we defeat the armor, we move to the main floor. The bodies belong to goblins. The woman is the Lady of the House. We encountered her spirit when we first entered the manor. The cleric, Derek Venteric, apologizes for the automatic defense and offers to assist as he can in our quest to cleanse the estate. We now have a place of security and healing that we can come to.

He gives us several items to help our cause. He also gives us a bag of gold that had been the family’s gift to the church of Athena to pay for his services at the wedding. I pledge to pass the gold on to one of the clerics in our party so that it will still be given to the church where it belongs. He seems pleased by my pledge.

He tells me that the eldest son killed him first. Somehow, his spirit was trapped here. He tells how he watch Rinehart bring his wife’s, Nisa, body here and lay her out on the alter then return to the house. He also tells us that Alsendra committed suicide so her spirit could continue to protect the house and thwart the plans of the eldest son.

We thank him and head back to the house.

Stepping outside, we realize that the Druid has vanished. For a moment, I wonder if he was sent to aid us in the temple by one of the Gods of this land.

We meet back with the rest of the party and proceed to speak with Alsendra again. We inform her of our progress so far and she tells us that Creed Lawton was not killed by her grandson and may have been laid to rest by the destruction of the stable. She also tells us that the tutor’s locket may provide some protection from the various spirits wandering the grounds.

I ask her about Rhineheart. He was the last to die in an area below the basement – entrance can be found through the kitchens or basement. She also reminded us that we have not completed clearing the house, as we have not explored the kitchen/dining hall or library.

After a brief discussion, we decide to find the tutor’s body and remove the locket. When we return to the wine cellar, we find the damage has been repaired and the body is back in the corner where we originally found her. We pick up the body and carry her to the abandoned cemetery, there the cleric blessings the body and removes the locket without a recurrence of the smoke.

Tristan identifies the pictures in the locket as Melissa – the youngest daughter / Lorissa – the eldest daughter and one getting married / Kristen – his father / Mykel – the eldest and the apparent perpetrator of this horror.

From the cemetery, we proceed to the Hedge Maze. The entrance is overgrown and a canopy of vines covers the path, blocking much of the light creating an artificial twilight. At the entrance is a weathered sign greeting the guests and announcing a contest of sorts for the wedding. I carefully check the ground for tracks and find no signs of human passage. Being a Ranger, I take the lead as we enter the maze.

Foolish me, I don’t think to cast my Detect Traps and Snares spell until I fall into a pit created by a group of centipedes digging under the path. I get out without injury and we proceed along a different path.

The spell, designed for natural pits and snare doesn’t warn we about the assassin vine that drops on me. I’m getting a little tired of assassins, whatever their form, in this world. I quick battle with the assassin vine and the rest of the growth in this part of the maze and we are able to proceed.

A few dead ends and another pit and we find ourselves in an open area with a large statue of a female figure. Her eyes are gazing off into the distance behind and to the right of us – toward the center of the maze. We press on.

Around several turns, we hear the sound of dogs, or other canines in the bushes tracking us. Presently we come to another alcove with another statue along with a pile of rubble. Without warning the statue moves and attacks us – it is a gargoyle. As we battle the gargoyle, I hear the distinct sound of growling coming from the back of the group – the dogs are attacking us also. I move toward the back of the group, leaving those with magic weapons to battle the gargoyle so I can see what is happening with the canines.

When I get there, I see two misshapen creatures that may have once been dogs, probably mastiffs, but now, they have been corrupted, changed by the evil that is infecting this place. It with sorrow and compassion that I dispatch them after our mage casts a sleep spell over them.

The battle with the gargoyle completed, we regroup and continue on our way.

The rest of the trip to the center of the maze is uneventful. Uneventful that is until we get there. The corridor opens up a bit and the paladin and I lead the way into the center. As we step forward, I am struck by a spell of cold, Crystal and the others seem to be unaffected, perhaps it is an area spell, I take another step and the bitter cold still surrounds me.

In the far corner lies the body of a young girl, Melissa, the youngest daughter of the family and the girl I saw in my vision. Next to her is a large dog, his body decaying. Suddenly the plants in the area, begin growing, and entangle spell has grabbed us. Vines reach out and the large dig grows even larger as they fill in his body.

Against all common sense, our mage steps out into the clearing to face the dog and in immediately struck down by three spikes the dog flings at him from his back. Crystal charges in and grabs the mage’s body and pulls him out of clearing, then heads for the maze only to be stopped by a wall of thorns growing up before her.

I fight against the entangle spell as Sabin, the Dwarf and Tristan move into the clearing. I watch helplessly as I struggle against the plants holding me. Without warning the plants before briars, scratching and cutting as we fight against them.

Tristan suddenly flings himself across the body of Melissa, calling her name softly. The dog turns to attack him and stops, frozen, his teeth only inches from Tristan’s neck.

As Tristan cradles the small body, the entangle spell fades and the rest of the party moves to engage the dog protecting Melissa. It takes several blows, before the creature falls, but we manage to defeat it. As I examine the body, I see that nothing of the original creature is left, it is now nothing more than a plant construct. A well preserved collar still encircles its neck and radiates of magic. I remove the collar and place it in my pack.

The dwarf picks up the body of Melissa and we carry her to the chapel and lay her with her mother.

Thinking about our next move, we head back to the house and consult with Alesander’s spirit. We tells us that Melissa was the first member of the family to be betrayed by her brother. Nissa was the second. She then tells us that the third place Mykel attacked was the servant’s quarters, which was burned to the ground, followed by the Guest Quarters.

We thank her and head back to the chapel to rest. Before we leave the house, we see Nissa’s spirit standing at one of the large windows, staring out toward the maze. Tristan asks her what she is looking for and she tells us she is waiting for her daughter Melissa. She says Melissa likes to play in the maze at night.

With heavy hearts we tell Nissa that her daughter has died. She nods her understanding then asks us where her body is. We tell her we carried her to the chapel. Nissa’s spirit accompanies us back to the chapel, and joins with her daughter’s.