Session Date: 3/8/2024
I missed session 19.
We do have an actual to do list, which Matt outlined for us because we’re all having silly head tonight:
- Re-open the ports within the next week before the Duchess arrives to pick up soldiers and begin the annual wars on the continent.
- Kill the Dread One.
- This may be better to wait until the Duchess is here, as she may be able to assist us with this.
- Find the Colhurstshire Estate & clear it out of whatever nasties we find.
- Find the traitor in the Marquis’ house.
- Interrogate & put on trial Azalais & Iolande.
The party rides out to Colhurstshire without any particular difficulties. We make it to the lake, which is a marshy and foggy place. There is a dell (depression) on the hilltop, so it makes sense that it filled with water to make lake. It makes no sense that the lake mysteriously appeared a few decades ago, though. The lake is lacking something that every other stagnant lake we’re familiar with has had: a bad smell.
As Charity steps forward they see that there is no actual lake: there is a two story manor house with large sections of the roof caved in and all of the windows broken. The building is overgrown with foliage. It looks damp, but it is no longer a lake. The rest of the party does not see this as we did not step forward. Charity tells us to step forward to see what she does, and most of us see the manor while the rest do not. We advise those that do not see through the ruse to stay outside and make sure nobody enters or leaves.
Ships finds three sets of tracks that come and go from three different areas that are not the front door: two sets of broken windows, and a crack in the wall (see the green arrows).
Charity uses an arrow with a rope to climb up and then peeks into the hole in the wall to see if she sees anything at all. There are the wrecked remains of a master bedroom in there. The floor is awful, definitely not safe to walk across. There are two holes in the ceiling to fall into the room below. There are faint lines etched in four places on the floor and very faintly glimmering above them is some sort of magic rune-based defense/trap. (Picture below with the lime green.)
Charity and Ships check the second story above the front door is similar: another poor floor, and there is a singular rune trap above, and right in front of the door there are two runes directly in front of the front door on the inside.
So far, Charity and Ships have not seen anyone around here. They decide to sneak through the manor to try to see if there is anyone left in the building before we do anything rash with regards to disarming traps or trying to climb up to the upper level. Charity confirms that the main hall is clear, so Gwen and Calthel climb up and enter.
Gwen and Clathel work together to help check rooms and identify more traps.
Cal and Charity figure out that there are three places traps have been put: the entrance, and a trap on or near each balcony leading from one floor to the next, and traps on or near every hole that penetrates between floors. They figure out that if any traps start going off then the building might start collapsing as they are set up at the areas that are structurally weak. Calthel feels we ought not try to disarm traps if we can avoid it to discourage the building from collapsing. We start to head down the center set of stairs and Calthel can see that there’s a second set of stairs going to the basement, and both sets of stairs are trapped. Charity sets up a rope from the balcony and we repel down to the floor below instead of bothering with the traps.
Charity and Ships start to look over the doors that lead further into the manor and see that there are no traps, and also that there is a set of footprints that actually go down the cellar stairs. They do not seem to be disturbed by the warding glyph on the stairs. Charity and Ships disable the rune on the cellar stairs and we follow the footsteps down. The hallway below is narrow, but much cleaner. There is no moss or fungus overgrowing everything: someone has definitely been keeping this area livable. There is no light, so Calthel casts dancing lights.
Ships checks under the first door on the left for traps and identifies a warding rune on the other side. Ships and Charity work together to try to disable the trap. Ships opens the door and on the other side are orderly racks and shelves of a small armory. The most notable items are:
- 8 green dragonscale breastplates
- Small weapons:
- White birchwood wand with a cast silver spider at the top
- Wand of Web
- Rod carved out of a red wood with a similarly carved coiled snake wrapped around it → Calthel
- Rod of the Pact Keeper +1
- Whip made out of some sort of greenish leather
- Called the Strangler’s Whip.
- This whip allows you to make two attacks, either of which can grapple, and gives you advantage on Athletics checks made to climb or to tie up enemies. Requires attunement.
- A set of four knucklebone dice with runic markings on them
- These knucklebone dice allow you to cast speak with dead on a corpse once per short rest, even one which does not have a jaw. In addition, if you take a bonus action to roll the dice, you have advantage on Arcana or Religion checks to identify creatures. Require attunement.
- White birchwood wand with a cast silver spider at the top
- Large Weapons:
- Sword
- Shatterspike
- Staff with Green snake
- Staff of the Adder
- Sword
Calthel and Gwen stay behind in the armory to ritual cast identify on each of the items to figure out what they are, and while he does that both Ships and Charity go to investigate the other doors. The first door on the right also has a rune that they disable, and behind this door was obviously once a storage room turned into a bedroom. There is a straw cot in one corner with richly embroidered blankets on it, an empty bookshelf, a wooden with brass fittings bath tub, and a porcelain chamber pot. The pot is filled with very potent caustic acid of some kind, which Ships manages to get on himself. There is a compartment in the bookshelf that Ships finds and whittles “I know what you did” on this.
Ships does some additional looking around and finds 4 platinum pieces that rolled around.
In the third room is two large chests, two medium chests, two small chests (boxes) and one shelf that has four bottles on it.
-
Small box 1 (jewelry box)
- 3 fire opals
- 4 moss agates
- 4 polished red coral
-
Small box 2
- 17 Platinum → Ships takes
-
The remaining 4 chests contain:
- 2704 gold
- 3042 silver
- 338 copper
- 329 electrum
-
Shelf with bottles
- Blue
- Color changing
- 2 probably cure potions
Ships and Charity come back to the armory and we pick up all of the gear to parcel out later (when everyone is together again).